TC played the ‘NASCAR homer’ in his post yesterday, so I figured I’d balance out the week and criticize NASCAR today.

The Truck Series is making their Pocono debut this weekend and you can count me among those not excited. In fact I’m a little irritated the sanctioning body added this event to the schedule (though I’m excited for Darlington).

For a long time around here I’ve been making the argument that the Truck Series needs a purpose – desperately. It lies somewhere in between the Friday night show and the senior tour. It’s fun to watch, but in the grander scheme of the sport it doesn’t really have much value.

Personally I’d like to see the sport take up something resembling the role it had when it debuted back in 1995: tough trucks with tough drivers and rough racing on short tracks in areas that don’t normally get big time NASCAR racing. I digress.

Pocono is just not the right place for the series. How many have you have watched an ARCA race at Pocono? It’s a miserable experience. You spend a good portion of the race under caution because half the field has wrecked; when they finally do race, it’s follow the leader.

Guess what you can expect from the Trucks on Saturday? The same thing. With Denny Hamlin, and Kasey Kahne in the field, I think it’s probably a good bet that it’s not going to be a great race for the series regulars. On top of that, it’s Pocono.

Sure they’re changing the qualifying procedure, but really do many of you watch Truck Series qualifying? Do you care?

I don’t mean to be down on this, really. The Poconos are beautiful and there really is a great fan base up there. It’s just that the track doesn’t generally provide for much excitement.

Perhaps this thing will be successful. I hope for the sake of the series it is. But given the less than spectacular history of Pocono, and a field that includes two Cup Series regulars (and Pocono vets),  I’m putting my money on it being a boring race, with a Cup driver winning.

Series Director Wayne Auton is very excited for this. I guess that’s a good thing – at least somebody is.

I really didn’t want to have to write this post.  I figured that everyone was smart enough to really see things clearly and think logically, but I’ve been proven horribly wrong.  After Jenna Fryer’s AP story about NASCAR “secretly” fining drivers that appeared this week, there has been a ton of discussion about the topic.  I can respect people’s opinions on both sides of an argument, as everyone is entitled to what they think, but in this case some out there have completely lost it.

Before I even say what I want to say, I’m going to do you a favor.  What I’m about to write will probably make some of you angry, and I’m cool with that.  So before you call me a “NASCAR homer” in the comment section, stop.  I’m going to side with NASCAR on this one, and I already know where this is leading.  So save your energy.

Now, as everyone seems to know, NASCAR is currently in a tough spot.  Attendance has been falling at tracks across the board and TV ratings continue to slump.  NASCAR has made a ton of changes to try and fix what they believe the problems to be, and more changes are coming.  NASCAR hopes these changes will bring people back to the track and get more people watching on TV, which in turn will hopefully bring sponsors back to racing that left, and also attract some new ones.

As NASCAR attempts to get back what they lost, what they really don’t need is a ton of bad press.  And what do drivers do that continually bad mouth the sanctioning body and its decisions to the public?  Create bad press.

ESPN has reported that they know who the drivers are that were fined by NASCAR, but to me, it doesn’t matter.  What all of the drivers need to realize is that the media and the fans listen to what they have to say.  If people didn’t care what they had to say, nobody would interview them.  And don’t even try to tell me that fans don’t need to listen to the drivers to see how bad things are with NASCAR.  If Dale Jr. can convince JR Nation to go out and buy Amp to the point that Amp’s sales go up 70% in the first year of the sponsorship, and Amp’s market share jumps from sixth in the category to fourth, this guy and all the other drivers can affect fans’ opinions.

Right now, it seems that fan frustration is pretty high.  We read comments and emails from folks all the time about how they are close to quitting all together, and more from people that have given up.  By criticizing NASCAR to the media, the drivers are just adding to the fan frustration and helping drive more of them away.  And when fans leave, so do sponsorship dollars.  So really, these drivers are really just hurting themselves, because with less sponsorship, there will be less rides for them to occupy, and less money available to pay them big salaries.

With all of this said, NASCAR must do all they can right now to protect their brand.  They cannot afford to lose any more of the race fans.  NASCAR wants the fans to be happy, because happy fans buy race tickets and merchandise, and watch on TV.  So when a driver becomes overly critical of the sport, action must be taken.  In this case, NASCAR decided fines were necessary to show not only the offending drivers, but everyone else that this would not be tolerated.  What’s interesting to note here, is that according to spokesman Ramsey Poston, NASCAR warned all the drivers about the possibility of fines months ago.

For those of you who claim these fines violate free speech, try again.  NASCAR did not fine these drivers because they had an opinion.  They fined them because they chose the wrong forum in which to express that opinion.  If the competitors really have a problem with the way things are being run, they need to take those opinions directly to Mike Helton, John Darby, Joe Balash, and Wayne Auton.  Complaining to the media and fans won’t get them anywhere.

Moving on to this idea of “secret” fines, at what point did anyone say these fines were secret?  There is a big difference between “secret” and not making something public knowledge.  The original AP story has quotes from Poston in which he acknowledges that action was taken.  He didn’t deny it, nor were these drivers told to keep the fines a secret.  NASCAR is allowed to deal with problems internally, and not everything warrants a press release.  The last time you were written up at work for being late 47 days in a row, something tells me your HR manager didn’t send out a press release to the local paper.

I also want to point out here that if NASCAR wanted something to be secret, it would remain secret.  The community is extremely small, and if you think there aren’t things you don’t know about, then you are sadly confused.

With all of this being said, I’m not the enemy here.  I agree with you that the drivers need to have their own personalities, and be able to speak their minds.  Showing emotion is what makes us love and hate these guys.  But drivers can show emotion without bashing NASCAR every five minutes in their post race press conferences.  There is already way too much negativity in the press, the drivers don’t need to help.

I’m siding with NASCAR on this one because they were right to do what they did.  Myself and thousands of other people depend on this sport and the jobs provided by it to pay our bills and feed our families.  Fans not showing up and sponsors pulling out affects me and a lot of other people I know personally.  I’m lucky to still have a spot in racing, but I know a ton of guys who don’t.

So the next time a driver wants to bitch and moan in an interview about what they perceive to be phony debris cautions, maybe they should think a little more about the ramifications of their words.  It just might turn out that they unknowingly killed their own career.

It’s back to the Tricky Triangle this week.  The Cup Series makes its second stop of 2010 to Pocono, along with the debut of the Truck Series.  The Nationwide Series is off to race in front of what hopes to be a sold out crowd at Iowa Speedway.  While another week rolls along, we’ve got more reader questions for you.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Allen:

I’m going to try and make this easy to understand, but back in March I was attending the Kobalt Tools 500… well I noticed about 50 laps in when certain cars went by the engines sounded a little different. Some had a “BUZZ!” rather than a “ROOM!” if that makes sense… I believe it was the Toyotas though I’m not 100% sure. Was this just from letting off the gas or what?

Teams have some freedom when choosing the type of exhaust components they use.  To get the optimum horespower out of the engines, teams will try different headers and exhaust pipe combinations.  Between that and the differences between each manufacturer’s engines, you will have some different sounds for each engine. – T.C.

2. From Garry:

…another Chicago question…I did not want to “hog up” the thread, so I wrote them down, and only ask one question per week. Why dont they let/make them practice and qualify under race conditions. If they race at night, why dont they qualify at night? PS swamisez … ummmmmprediction…. Jeff Gordon wins the 2010 Brickyard 400 (posted on July 21,2010)

It really depends on the scheduling for each weekend.  Remember that very often, NASCAR must fit in practice and qualifying sessions for more then just one series.  Also, some tracks have noise ordinances that go into effect at certain times at night.  Often though, while they may not get to practice at the exact same times as the race, they usually get close. – T.C.

3. From Tom:

After seeing the fine NASCAR hit Carl Edwards with, I got to wondering something. When a driver, owner, crew chief (etc) gets fined, where does the money go ? It also seems to me that a points penalty would hit home to a driver much more than a monetary one.

All money collected from NASCAR fines is given to the NASCAR Foundation as per NASCAR policy. Certainly points penalties are far more damaging than monetary fines (unless you’re an underfunded driver or team). – Journo

4. From Kate:

What happened between Jeff Dickerson and Kyle Busch? Why isn’t he spotting? I will miss his dry humor on the radio. Is he still his agent? Being a fan of both, I hope it was an amicable split.

All we’ve heard about the situation is what’s been reported. Jeff Dickerson is no longer Kyle’s agent, or business manager, though Kyle is still with Motorsports Management. Was it amicable? I’m not privy to their personal relationship, so I won’t speculate. Dickerson is a very good spotter though. -  Journo

5. From KathyCalculates:

We’ve seen the Parade of Haulers at Vegas and here in Indianapolis and wondered if they do this coming into all the venues and whether or not they travel across country in a sort of caravan or if they meet up near town in order to arrive together. It is so thrilling to witness!

No, they don’t do those in every city – they are very cool though. As far as travel goes, some teams require their drivers to run together, others don’t. Most of the time, regardless of company policy, hauler drivers will run with a couple of others. No big caravans normally, though during NASCAR’s run in Mexico they did run in large caravans with police escorts into Mexico City. And to your last question, the haulers are required to be at the track at a certain time on a certain day, usually Thursday morning (for the Cup Series) where they are put in order and brought into the track. – Journo

6. From Jerry:

Guys where did all this talk come from about a triple crown that includes the Indy 500. This kind of TV promotion seems to take away from the importance of our on Nascar triple crown.

I have no idea where it came from – and I’ll be honest, I don’t think the Daytona 500, the Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 constitutes a “Triple Crown” of American motorsports. It seems to me you’d need to replace the Brickyard 400 with the 24 Hours at Daytona or the maybe the US Nationals. I don’t think it diminishes anything in NASCAR but even if it didn’t make a “triple crown” it was still a big accomplishment for Chip Ganassi, and his organization. – Journo

7. From Sterling:

Hi there… great blog. Keep up the great work I found it to be a curious comment made early during the broadcast about the lack of fans in the stands at the Brickyard and how the commentators wouldn’t be getting into it on air. After they made the comment I couldn’t stop looking at how empty the seats were all over the track. I know times are tough and fan attendance has been down at some tracks but can you shed some light on the Brickyard specifically and why they would reference this on-air with no follow up explanation.

Thanks for the love!  Without much empirical evidence, my own personal opinion is that attendance was down at the Brickyard for a few reason.  First, and most obvious is the economy.  Fewer fans can afford to attend races than in the past.  Second, I think the tire debacle at Indy in 2008 is still having an effect.  That race was a complete nightmare, and many fans haven’t forgotten.  Third, I just don’t think the racing at Indy is all that great.  The track wasn’t really built for stock cars, and it’s difficult to pass which means not a ton of action.  And finally, I believe the novelty of stock cars at Indy has ended.  While the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is still absolutely hallowed ground, it’s just not as big a deal anymore that NASCAR goes there.  And I believe it wasn’t fully explained on TV because ESPN wanted to focus on the racing in their first race of 2010.  More of a glass half full stance. – T.C.

8. From Phil:

The Chase…I realize that NASCAR is attempting to create season ending excitement. But I hate the orginal Chase, the revised current chase, and the anticipated elimination style chase. Here’s my reason, which may I add, I’ve never heard anyone raise. Unlike all other sports, NASCAR participants can be victims of circumstances totally beyond their control. Flat tires, failure of a part that causes the engine to blow, a caution just after you’ve made a green flag stop, another driver makes a bone head move and takes you out, etc. Under the pre-Chase 36 race format, these should even out between drivers and a true deserving champion determined. With the 10 race Chase and even more so under an elimination format, these factors are more likely to impact and determine the championship outcome. Other sports do have to overcome injuries beyond their control, but otherwise their play dictates the championship. Like I said, I understand the reasons for the Chase, however the excitement NASCAR is trying to create seems forced, artificial and contrived. Just my own opinion but I’m curious the hear how insider’s feel, if you agree or disagree. BTW, love your column!!!

First off, thanks also for the love!  I’m not personally against the Chase in it’s current form.  The whole reason the Chase was implemented in the first place, was because we’d seen many drivers run away with the title, and guys like Kenseth win it while only winning a single race all season.  Nobody seems to remember this, but fans used to complain about the old system like they complain about the Chase now.  The Chase certainly creates some season ending drama, which I think is good.  I think the elimination style Chase that has been proposed is a mistake however.  In my opinion, I think NASCAR needs to get as much feedback as possible from all involved (fans, drivers, media, teams, sponsors, etc.) and completely rework how the points are awarded.  The current system rewards consistency, and I think they need to figure out what they want a champion to be. – T.C.

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!

And in turn making Chip Ganassi, Johnny Morris and Kevin Manion look pretty good.

Since returning to his old home at Ganassi Jamie McMurray looks like a new man. Just past the halfway point of the season he has won (or almost won) the three most prestigious events on the NASCAR schedule. McMurray’s got two wins, three poles, six top-fives, seven top-tens, and has led 228 laps (the most of any year in his career). Despite three DNF’s, and some bad luck, McMurray is having one of the best years of his career.

The same can’t be said for the guy McMurray replaced.

Martin Truex Jr. was folded into the Ganassi organization at the beginning of last season, and quickly established his desire to be somewhere else. By July of ’09 he had announced his intended move to Michael Waltrip Racing.

Truex, with very similar equipment and team personnel to McMurray (same engines, same crew chief, though some differing chassis) was lackluster at best last season. In the same year his teammate made the Chase, Truex was only able to take three poles, one top-five and six top-tens. He finished 23rd in the points. This season he’s running just slightly better with an average finish of 19.3.

And how about Jack Roush? He gets rid of McMurray and the kid starts winning. In fact, McMurray started winning before he left Roush – he has the most recent Roush and Ford Cup Series win.

At this moment Roush has three drivers in the Chase, and one 24th in the points (McMurray is 16th). I’m not saying Roush should have gotten rid of David Ragan, but it’s gotta stink to see McMurray over winning big races while they struggle to get over their performance hump.

All the above about Roush said, I don’t think you’ll hear too many arguments that McMurray’s move to Roush wasn’t for the best – on the same token, not too many are saying right now his move away from Roush (as if he had a choice) was bad.

One guy who was a Jamie McMurray skeptic coming into this season was sporting goods mogul Johnny Morris (CEO of Bass Pro Shops). It took some convincing to get Morris to go along with the plan – and let’s be honest, outdoorsman is not the first word that comes to mind when you think of Jamie McMurray.

Though maybe not the best ambassador of the brand off the track, McMurray has shown he has what it takes to represent Bass Pro Shops on track. If you saw victory lane on Sunday, you saw Morris is a skeptic no more. He has even taken Chip Ganassi and McMurray out hunting (I’ll bet that was interesting).

You never know how things are going to turn out. That is a fact of life. And the story of Jamie McMurray and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing are a prime example of that. Just ask Ty Norris.

“I don’t think the stability to be able to compete against the Hendricks and the Roushes and the Gibbses has been (at Earnhardt Ganassi) because it has been something different for six months, and fortunately for him, we offered (Martin Truex Jr.) a safe haven” – Ty Norris – July, 2009

My how things change.

Before I really get into this post, I wanted to share a quote from Michael McDowell that he posted tonight on his Twitter page (@Mc_Driver).  McDowell has been driving the #55 for Prism Motorsports this season, and is one of the start-and-park crowd’s usual suspects.  There was some discussion about the reasons often given for why these teams fail to finish, which are usually bogus, and McDowell had a great response.

“They get mad at me when I tell them ‘I was going down the straight away and the funding fell off.’”

It was a bluntly honest comment from a good kid who is just trying to make it in racing, and I wanted to share.  Keep fighting McD…

Over the last few seasons, starting and parking has become a regular part of the sport.  Fewer teams and less available sponsorship dollars have contributed to the phenomenon.  Lately though, it seems that the number of teams doing it has increased in the Nationwide and Truck Series.  I believe it is a frightening trend, as most of these are victims of sponsorship losses.

Instead of trashing these teams though, I wanted to hopefully open up your eyes about the practice.  While there are certainly those teams out there who are doing it for nothing but the profit, for many, this isn’t exactly the case.

Lets picture for a moment that you are a NASCAR car owner.  Your team runs mid pack each week, but it’s a solid operation and it’s respectable.  Then something unforeseen happens and you lose your sponsorship.  Maybe you only had a partial deal, or maybe an agreement fell through.  And now, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t find a replacement.  What do you do?  You really only have two choices: shut down completely because of lack of funding; or trim down your staff and begin starting and parking until something comes along.

This exact scenario is what many are now starting to face.  Instead of putting entire shops of people out of work, owners are using the start-and-park startegy to weather the storm and keep the doors open until they can put money together.  It buys the owners more time to find sponsorship, and it keeps the employees’ paychecks coming on time.  Knowing that, it’s hard to really blame them for it.

Something else to consider is how this affects these owners and teams.  Remember that people get involved in racing because they want to compete.  They want to go out each weekend and try and be the best.  Starting and parking though, goes against the very idea of competition.  Pulling out of a race after only a few laps with a perfectly good race car is a very difficult thing to do.  Add on top of that the fact that most fans and NASCAR itself severely disapprove of the practice, and you begin to see how demoralizing it can be.

In a perfect world, we’d have 43+ fully funded teams showing up to the track each weekend to race the full distance.  But we don’t live in a perfect world.  In reality, the world is a very tough place to try and race.  I know for many of you, the simple mention of the phrase “start-and-park” gets your blood boiling.  Trust me, I understand.  It makes me sick to my stomach to watch these cars pull into the garage each weekend after a few laps. 

Do me a favor though?  Don’t forget that sometimes bad things happen to good people, and tough choices need to be made.  Not all of the start and parkers are the enemy.

NASCAR rolls into Indianapolis this week with some familiar storylines. For the third time in a year it was Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards that led the headlines. After conflict at the Nationwide race at Gateway NASCAR penalized Carl Edwards 60 driver points and $25,000, and Jack Roush 60 owner points. Both Keselowski and Edwards were put on probation through the end of the year. In other news, speculation continues about the future of the Chase. The talk out of recent town hall meetings included eliminations and a final race showdown for the championship. This is the NASCAR week that was, July 18 to 24, 2010.

Former employees carry on RJR’s legacy in NASCAR

Action on track isn’t helping NASCAR attendance, ratings

NASCAR analysis: ‘Have at it’ means don’t involve others

ESPN Hopes Fourth Time Is A Charm

(Indy) Drivers now tussle through Twitter posts

Vintage Insiders

NASCAR Needs Dan Patrick

Some Races Just Can’t Get Enough

**Remember if you have a NASCAR blog or website and would like a recent article you wrote featured in this section email me and you could be part of next week’s NASCAR Week That Was. Please only send stuff you have written.**

NASCAR Hard Card: The annual credential issued to NASCAR officials, drivers, media, and team personnel.

One of the most important articles I bring with me to the race track each weekend is my NASCAR hard card.  A hard card is a plastic ID card that is very similar to any school or employer ID card.  It’s about the size of a credit card and has my picture, my name, what series I work in, and what team I work for on it.  On the back of the card is a NASCAR disclaimer statement, and a place for the holder to sign.  This very important piece of plastic grants me access to the infield, garage area, and pit road.  Without it, I’m stuck on the outside of the fence looking in.

I’ve often been asked how or where somebody can get their own hard card, or if I will let them buy or borrow mine.  I obviously can’t help with either request, but it shows how sought after these credentials can be.

While we are at the track, our cards must either be displayed on our person (as they say) or somewhere very close by.  If you get the chance to get into the infield, you’ll notice that many choose to wear their hard card on a lanyard around their neck.  When one receives their card from NASCAR, they usually provide a lanyard for you.  For some however, the basic lanyard just isn’t good enough.  The many wives and girlfriends, along with the many PR and business women are the usual offenders for elaborate and ornate hard card display devices.  I guess they figure if they are going to wear a piece of plastic around their neck, they might as well bling it out a little.  Bedazzler sold separately.

On the flip side, many crew guys choose to just leave them in their wallets, as wearing it around their neck can cause issues while they are working on the cars.  For the rest, the standard lanyard works just fine.

For the young or up and coming crew guy, obtaining that first hard card almost becomes a career goal.  It signals that you’ve made it to a solid place in your advancement.  Why is this so?  It boils down to money.  Everyone that works at the track for a NASCAR team must have a NASCAR license.  This license costs around $500-$600 a year.  A hard card however, costs a few thousand dollars for the year, and means it’s owner can forgo standing in line at the NASCAR credential trailer to get a paper pass each weekend.  Only teams with a solid footing can afford to get hard cards for their employees.  So having the plastic means you will probably be at the track each weekend and you work for a solid team.

The next logical goal once someone obtains the hard card, is figuring out how to keep it.  Racing is a tough, performance driven business, and hanging onto this little piece of plastic can be very difficult.  When a guy is fired from a team, the hard card must usually be returned before the last paycheck is given.  The reason being that hard cards are transferable, and teams can use it for someone else over the course of the season.  Having to give back the card when you aren’t ready to sucks.

The license and hard card are also used by NASCAR as a way to have power over the many team personnel.  As a form of punishment for some infractions, NASCAR sometimes pulls hard cards from their holders.  NASCAR can also refuse to give people these credentials, if for example, a fine hasn’t been paid or suspension served.  No hard card and license, no access.

So as you can see, these pieces of plastic we often wear around our necks carry an awful lot of power.  Mine gets me access to places others can’t go, but it can also be used against me.  And that’s the mystique of the NASCAR hard card.

After a couple of days of what I’m sure was intense hand wringing and some serious questions, NASCAR announced Wednesday the punishment for Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski after their last lap melee at Gateway. As I’m sure most of you saw, NASCAR docked Edwards 60 driver points and fined him $25,000 and docked Jack Roush 60 owner points. Both Edwards and Keselowski were placed on probation until the end of the year.

After the announcement Twitter was a buzz with speculation about what this would mean for NASCAR’s ‘boys, have at it’ policy. Many decried this as inconsistency, others said it would have a chilling effect, and still some applauded it.

Wherever you stand on the penalty, I thought the insistence by some that this would kill the new, more open policy was interesting – especially after the intense discussion on the matter leading up to NASCAR’s Wednesday afternoon announcement.

I personally tend to think this penalty won’t have a great affect on the current atmosphere. Certainly I think Carl’s penalty will make guys think twice about paying somebody back on track, but in the heat of the moment I believe we’re still going to see retribution.

Perhaps if this had been the first penalty issued after NASCAR instituted the policy it would have not changed the way things operated. Guys would have seen that NASCAR wasn’t serious about the change. Consider though what NASCAR has allowed drivers to do this season.

Denny Hamlin was wrecked under caution after Clint Bowyer returned to the track – Bowyer got probation. Carl Edwards returned to the track after getting repaired at Atlanta and wrecked Brad Keselowski – Keselowski ended up on his top in the fence and Edwards got parked and put on probation.

Drivers have seen what NASCAR has allowed others to get away with. The key lesson to all of this is, if you have spoken with John Darby, Mike Helton or both already regarding an incident with a fellow competitor and they’ve told you to cool it, you better cool it. If something blatant goes down on track you’re probably going to have a harsher penalty as a result.

Still NASCAR knows what a success this policy has been, and how good the racing has been this season. The last thing they want to do is murder the thing that has helped them get to this point – and I think most drivers know that.

Some More Penalty Thoughts

I think it’s important to remember Carl is a repeat offender – and these two have a long history. Was this weekend’s wreck any more or less blatant than anything anyone else has done this season? I don’t really think so. I do think though at some point NASCAR was going to have to draw a line and say “enough is enough.” This just happened to be the point.

Was it inconsistent? Maybe in the sense that they’ve chosen not to punish offenders quite so harshly this season (Carl among those). It’s unfair to compare this to previous seasons though as NASCAR was operating under a different policy. That said, NASCAR could stand to use some consistency. At times they’re definitely making up penalties as they go.

It hurts the credibility of the sport when the sanctioning body isn’t consistently enforcing things, or drawing clear distinctions ahead of time for what is and is not OK.

I know we and everyone else has spent a lot of time talking about this, this week (and generally we hate to have two posts of similar topics on the same week), but we like to be able to foster and facilitate discussion. Overall I think this week has been interesting in the development of this new doctrine – though I honestly don’t believe anything will change.

We are off to the Circle City this week.  Friday and Saturday night shows at ORP for the Trucks and NNS cars lead up to Sunday’s Brickyard 400.  While we work through another hump day, here’s the 84th version of Ask The Insiders.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here.  So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us.  On to the questions…

1. From Zach:

During practice sessions, why are some cars allowed to skip past the line of cars that are waiting on pit road to get onto the track? While at Chicagoland I noticed several cars bypass the line and head straight to the track from the garage.

The higher a driver is in the points, the earlier they get to go out in practice.  So I’m guessing that what you probably saw was these drivers getting to blow past those who are lower in the points. – T.C.

2. From Dan:

Do you know what’s going on with Ray Evernham? Is he attached to RPM and if so in what capacity? What happened to the connection with Dodge? Just haven’t heard much about him lately. Seems to me with the talent he had shown as a crew chief years ago he would still be at the forefront of the sport or maybe he just wanted out. I do remember him doing some work for one of the networks at one time.

The last I heard he and RPM were working with lawyers to end his relationship with the team. He hadn’t had any real role with the team for quite some time. Not sure if that’s been resolved. Other than that he is working as an analyst for ESPN, he owns East Lincoln Speedway in Stanley, N.C., and he’s working with wife Erin on her Sprint car career. There has been some rumbling that he may be interested in getting back involved in NASCAR in some capacity, but I think otherwise he’s pretty happy where he’s at. – Journo

3. From Cinde:

During qualifying, why do the drivers go down on the apron and then back up on the track as they come across the start/ finish line? Thanks for your writing! Facebook, twitter, email!! You keep me informed.

Remember that the fastest way around a track is the inside line.  Some drivers think that by dropping down on the apron, they are actually cutting down the distance to the start finish line, which will result in a faster lap time.  Does it actually work?  Maybe a little. – T.C.

4. From Garry:

Sorry if this is a dupe question, but during the Chicago race ( I actually wrote several question that night but did not want to flood you) …..anyway.. I noticed on some cars on later pit stops that THE FREEKIN BRAKE PAD WAS ON FIRE!!! (I think it was the brake pad ) …anyway…something was on fire..and la-de-da…the badass tireman changed the wheel as if nothing was happening except… THE FREEKIN THING WAS ON FIRE!!! ….HOLYCOW TireMan!!!… Do you ever fire extinguish that thing? It seems the new tire rubber could catch if they dont haulass out of there… looked scary, but not even the commentators mentioned it.. WHAT IS THE DEAL?

A little flame from the brakes is certainly not uncommon.  During race conditions, brake pads, calipers, and rotors can reach 1,200 degrees or more.  And all it takes is a little rubber build up over the course of a run to give all that heat something to burn.  Unless there is actually brake fluid coming out that is causing the fire, you won’t see the flame extinguished.  Once the car is rolling again, and the rubber is burned off, the flame will go away.  That’s why tire changers wear gloves… - T.C.

5. From Marcus:

What is your guy’s opinion on the Carl Edwards vs. Brad Keselowski deal? As an Edwards fan I am definitely with him but I am just wondering what you guys think. You don’t need to pick a side I am just wondering what you guy’s think about it. Thanks!

Honestly, I see both sides of the argument.  Carl probably didn’t need to right-rear BK down the straightaway, but BK started it.  If he would have raced Edwards clean, he probably wouldn’t have gotten wrecked coming to the checkered.  Keselowski has shown that he isn’t against laying the bumper to somebody, and sooner or later it was going to catch up to him.  Does Carl deserve some sort of penalty?  Who knows?  I’d be really surprised if we saw something significant however, with NASCAR’s new stance.  A meeting with John Darby and Mike Helton is probably inevitable for both drivers though. – T.C.

6. From Steve:

In the Nationwide race, Ryan Truex, a MWR driver, ended up in a Gibbs car. It looked like Truex’s 99 car could have gotten back on track after his brush with the wall Did Gibbs borrow/buy/rent Truex from Waltrip, presumably to turn in laps and score some points? Has this been done before, where a driver has left a drivable car and started driving another owner’s car?

The #00 was not driveable (Trevor Bayne was in the #99). Even if it could have been repaired there was no point in putting him back out there – they aren’t running for points, just seat time. I can’t say with 100% certainty he didn’t get paid, but he didn’t get paid. He was available, and I’m sure very willing to jump in a car for Joe Gibbs. Dale Jr. did this a couple of years ago. Kyle Busch wrecked a car while he was still at Hendrick and was so angry he got out of his car and left the track. The team got the car repaired and Dale Jr. (who was also out of the race) jumped in it and finished the race. – Journo

7. From Kevin:

How much longer do you think NASCAR will continue to stick their head in the sand with ol’ Horse Face? Need I remind everyone that Kevin Harvick was once parked in a Cup race for actions in a lower series. But I would bet a pretty penny NASCAR’s golden boy from Missouri wont face the same punishment. But it has nothing to do with Jack Roush’s boy handing out the punishment, nothing to see here, move along…. Really it doesn’t matter anyway though b/c the 99 car is so far from being a championship contender he could miss 4 races and we wouldn’t notice him being one, other than Brad actually being able to finish a race and all.

I’m assuming by ‘ol’ Horse Face’ you mean Carl Edwards. Remember NASCAR instituted this new ‘boys, have at it’ policy this season that has loosened up their enforcement of things like on-track retaliation. It has nothing to do with the driver in question – it isn’t just Carl that’s gotten away with stuff this season. Remember Clint Bowyer during the Nationwide race at Dover, leaving pit road and wrecking Denny Hamlin under caution? He was only placed on probation. NASCAR has a different doctrine in place (I think for the better), then it did back when. Now whether Carl gets penalized because he is a repeat offender is yet to be seen. Expect news on that tomorrow. – Journo

8. From Denny:

I noticed on the Cup-Lite pre-race, last Saturday evening, right before the starting of the engines, they showed a close-up of the #99 and there was one guy with a Triad Racing pit suit, standing right behind, maybe the car-chief, who was giving Trevor instructions before the car moved down pit road. I think the 99 runs a Prism engine. Is this an engine tuner? BTW, I attended an ARCA race in Springfield IL, last season, and I also saw a couple of Triad Racing pit-suits around the Eddie Sharp Racing cars, as they pitted directly across the track from where I was sitting.

Triad Racing Technologies is the main engine supplier for Toyota.  So, except for the Gibbs cars, whenever you see a team with Toyota power, a Triad employee is not far away.  Part of the engine program for most builders includes the builder sending a tuner to the race track.  So you will see guys in Triad firesuits in every series from ARCA to Cup supporting the Toyota teams.  And Prism doesn’t build engines, they actually use Triad power as well. – T.C.

9. From Dave:

I think Carl Long just ran the truck race at Gateway. Does that mean that he paid that huge fine to NASCAR?

You saw correctly. He was suspended, but he wasn’t fined. The fine was imposed against his crew chief Charles Swing – I believe if he wasn’t able to pay it, it then it fell to Long’s wife as she was the car owner (it was never Carl’s responsibility). As far as I know the fine was never paid. – Journo

10. From riterchick:

How do crew members view rivalries? Do they want their driver to go for blood, or is it more a “don’t wreck the car, nitwit!” feeling. I should think it’s hard to see all your work destroyed just because of a testosterone surge on the race track.

Well that depends.  If your car is already wrecked anyway, a little revenge certainly wouldn’t make it worse.  I am personally of the mind that confrontations should stay on the race track and crew guys don’t need to get involved unless absolutely necessary.  Fixing a ton of wrecked race cars will definitely wear on the guys at the shop though. - T.C.

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close.  Thanks to everyone who sent in questions.  And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!

By now, I’m sure most of you have heard the audio from Bristol earlier in the season where Lance McGrew keys his mic and tells Dale Jr. to not lay down on him.  The team was facing some adversity with track position, and McGrew was afraid Dale Jr. had thrown in the towel for the race.  In typical Earnhardt fashion, Jr. responds angrily with a few choice words for his crew chief, and tells him not to talk about this stuff on the radio.  While it may have been a stupid thing to say, McGrew’s fears were not unfounded.  There are plenty of drivers out there who, when faced with adversity, will just plain give up.

I’m not going to name any names in this post, but I’m sure if you pay attention to the drivers and get to listen to some scanner audio, you could probably figure it out for yourself.  To me personally, there isn’t a bigger sin in any form of competition than to give up.  If somebody is just going to give up when the going gets tough, then they shouldn’t be be competing.

I don’t know at what point a driver decides that this is okay behavior, but somewhere along the way some decide that unless the car is handling perfect and the race is playing out in their favor, they can lay down.  It’s sort of a “well since the car sucks and we aren’t going to win anyway, I don’t need to try” attitude.  For those who work long hours and bust their asses to build race cars, it’s pretty much a giant slap in the face.

What’s interesting to note about drivers and adversity, is that while some choose to give up, there are others who fight harder.  That’s the guy I want to work with.  It’s a horrible cliche, but “when the going gets tough, the tough get going” describes these guys.  We’ve seen plenty of times over the years where a driver got flat, or had a bad pit stop, or was involved in a wreck, only to fight back and finish top ten, top five, or even win.

The fact that this happens at all really makes me ill.  It makes me feel bad for the guys that work on the teams with these drivers.  How do you possibly stay motivated to perform at your best when you know your driver is just out there riding around waiting for the race to end?

So to all the race drivers out there, remember that it’s not just about you.  If you want max effort from your crew all the time, then you should give them nothing less than max effort behind the wheel.  Anything less is unacceptable.