The Frontstretch Newsletter - July 30th, 2008
Frontstretch.com
The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 30th, 2008
Volume II, Edition CXLIII
Today's Top News
by Bryan Davis Keith
Better Late Than Never? NASCAR Apologies for Brickyard 400 Debacle
Following one of the worst Cup races in recent memory on Sunday in Indianapolis, NASCAR's Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton came before the media with guns blazing, adamantly disavowing the severe shortcomings of the event as well as the responsibility of the sanctioning body and Goodyear for the results.
But by Tuesday afternoon, those guns were busy shooting nothing but white flags.
After a vocal and unanimous chorus of criticism from NASCAR fans and journalists, Pemberton was singing a different tune during a video teleconference with the media. "I can't say enough how sorry we are, and it's our responsibility being NASCAR that we don't go through this situation again," he said in apologizing for the 400-mile debacle on behalf of the sport. "The race didn't come off like we had hoped, the fans didn't get what they exactly wanted, and we'll do everything in our power... it won't happen again, I can tell you that much."
Pemberton revealed that Goodyear will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year to conduct further tire testing, and that NASCAR is working on a new plan that will afford greater freedom to all teams to test a greater percentage of NASCAR tracks in the future. The sport further acknowledged that there was nothing wrong with the surface of IMS, and that it was a question of tire compounds that needed resolving before the series returns in 2009.
No comment was made on possible refunds or other means of compensating fans who attended the 400-mile race on Sunday.
Indianapolis TV Ratings Up Slightly
Despite the tire problems and competition cautions at Indianapolis, the TV broadcast continued to hold an audience throughout the event. Overnight ratings for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard scored a 5.1, up 3% from last year's 4.9. Those numbers made the event the most-watched NASCAR race on ESPN in their nearly three decades of covering the sport. An estimated 4,888,964 households tuned in, up 5% from last year's 4,657,433.
ESPN's Nationwide Series race also scored solid numbers, up to a 1.6 rating from last season's 1.5.
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Today's Featured Commentary
Full Throttle
Tires Should Never Be A Problem In Racing
by Mike Neff
The 2008 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is clearly one of the biggest debacles in the history of NASCAR. In terms of mistakes made this decade, the event ranks right up there with the disaster that was held in Charlotte after the levigation of the track back in 2005. In fact, the end result here was almost as bad as the first race at Talladega in 1969, where the biggest name drivers of the sport refused to race over the speed that the cars were traveling on the new, high-banked speedway. It was, quite simply, the worst excuse for a stock car race in the history of the sport.
Everyone and their brother is chiming in with their opinions about who is at fault and why things went so wrong... but not everyone is coming up with a solution. If people are going to complain and point blame, they need to offer an answer as to how to prevent it from happening again ... and that's what I'm going to try and do for you today, while referencing a little conversation with NASCAR Competition Director John Darby in the process.
But first things first: the fact that Goodyear chose to bring a tire to the track that was unable to last more than seven laps after the initial drop of the green flag is inexcusable. Whether the thought existed that the track would take rubber as the race progressed or not, the simple fact is that even when the track is "green," the tires need to last at LEAST 20 laps. This sport has raced at Darlington for years, and used to race at Rockingham, where the surfaces were likened to a cheese grater. Teams would not even roll their tires down the pit lane to their pit stalls because the surface would cause the tires to wear; and yet, we have never seen tires go south so quickly than we saw this past weekend. After the tire test in April where the engineers saw cords on tires after five laps, there should have immediately been a red flag that went up and the compound should have been revisited to ensure that, even on a green track, the tires would survive for 20 laps.
If the engineers at Goodyear cannot figure out how to make a tire that can survive that well on a fresh, unrubbered race track, they should contact the people at Firestone. Since Goodyear was pushed out of open wheel racing and Firestone took over, there have never been tire issues at Indianapolis. Open-wheel cars create far more side load than a stock car, and yet, the tires that they run at Indy are always able to last full fuel runs without failure and with enough grip for the drivers to run at full speed. Granted, the downforce that open wheel cars create is greater, but the effective weight of the cars is also greater when they are at full speed because of that downforce. Regardless, it is Goodyear's job to create a tire that can handle the forces that are being placed on them based on the cars that are being placed on the track. The track was diamond ground in 2005 and this new car design has been around for two years: there is no excuse for the engineers at NASCAR's sole tire supplier to not have done enough research and effort to create a tire that will survive for full fuel runs and allow drivers to compete at full speed.
Now that we have survived this aberration, what can we do going forward that will prevent it from ever happening again? First of all, NASCAR should hold a full field tire test at Indianapolis this Fall. All 40+ teams should be taken to the speedway and run as many tires as Goodyear wants to test until they can figure out what they want to bring back to the speedway for this new car on the existing surface. Then, another tire test should be held again in the Spring, again having every race team there to ensure that the compound chosen will rubber in the track and also be able to make full fuel runs when the track is green so that there is no need for any kind of caution at the beginning of the race for tire wear.
The other option that Goodyear and NASCAR should seriously consider is giving the teams an option with tire compounds. For anyone who is a dirt racing fan, they know that teams are given a choice of multiple tire compounds for a race weekend. With the limitations that teams have for adjustability on the new car, it would afford crew chiefs an option for how their cars handle. Goodyear could make three different compounds -- a soft, medium and hard compound -- and teams could choose which one they wanted to run before qualifying and stick with that tire all weekend. Having that option would allow Goodyear to build three tires for the whole season instead of having to build unique tires for almost every track on the circuit.
When John Darby was asked about this option, he explained that it wasn't feasible because the construction of the tires, and not just the compound, has to be developed for each track. For example, the loads on the tires at Talladega are far less than they are at Martinsville. Tires at Talladega only experience around 1,500 pounds of load, while tires at Martinsville go through approximately three times that much -- almost 4,500 pounds. It would seem that Goodyear could develop the tires to be able to handle the maximum possible loads and bring that tire to all of the tracks with the three different compounds. Teams would simply have to make adjustments for their cars to handle the stiffer spring rate of the tires due to their construction for the higher loads.
The bottom line in all this is that tires are quite possibly the most important element a race team has to deal with during a weekend event. A car can have tons of horsepower and the most advanced suspension in the business, but if the tires don't allow that technology to be transferred to the race track, it is all for naught. Obviously, the current methodology of having a unique tire for each track is not providing the best racing that the sport can provide. It is time for NASCAR and Goodyear to reevaluate the way they are doing business together before they chase away the rest of the fans that the sport still has or worse yet, gets a driver seriously hurt.
Mike Neff is a Senior Writer at Frontstretch.com. You can reach him at mike...@frontstretch.com and don't forget to check out his weekly Power Rankings on Wednesdays and Picks N Pans column on Thursdays!
Still haven't joined the Frontstretch Forums? Here's a peek at what you're missing this week:
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Frontstretch On The Radio:
Strap on a set of non-Goodyear tires and join Frontstretch's Tom Bowles and Matt Taliaferro for their weekly version of the Frontstretch.com / Athlon Sports Racing Podcast Powered By Pepsi. This week, Tom and Matt will be joined by host Patrick Snow as they ponder the future of the sport after the Great Indianapolis Debacle of 2008. Questions abound about who's at fault, why it happened, and most importantly ... what happens from here. We don't promise to have all the answers, but we'll do our best to keep you informed as we look ahead to Pocono and an August in which NASCAR will attempt to salvage its damaged reputation.
Unsure when to tune in for the podcast? Well, the newest version usually comes out by Thursday night and gets archived at racetalkradio.com each Friday. Download us by heading over to http://www.athlonsports.com/racing/inside-racing-powered-by-pepsi, and don't forget to listen in on iTunes each week!! We're under "Athlon Racing Podcast."
And if you're up for it, we're always looking to hear from the fans; be sure to write in and give feedback at inside...@athlonsports.com! Tell us a topic we haven't been chatting about, and we'll be sure to mention it on the air. Of course, the two individual hosts can also be reached at tom.b...@frontstretch.com and matt.ta...@frontstretch.com.
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Kyle Petty's Time To Step Down: It's Not Personal, It's About Performance
by Tommy Thompson
Mirror Driving: Assessing Indy Blame, Fixing Goodyear Tires, And Replacing Mexico City
by the Frontstretch Staff
Did You Notice ... Teresa Earnhardt's Silence, NASCAR's Ugly Economy, And Points Racing At Indy?
by Tom Bowles
NASCAR's Top Ten Excuses For The Indianapolis Race
by Kurt Allen Smith
Frontstretch Sprint Cup Power Rankings : Top 15 After Indianapolis
by Mike Neff
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA
Q. He was the first stock car driver featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Who is he?
Check back Thursday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Tuesday's Answer
Q. The merger of these two sanctioning bodys produced NASCAR's convertible series. What was the other sanctioning body that merged with NASCAR in 1956?
A. In 1956, NASCAR merged with the Society of Autosports and Fellowship Education (SAFE), a Midwestern sanctioning body. The merger between the two organizations produced the NASCAR Convertible division that season; forty-seven Convertible races were run during the course of the year, with three-time winner Bob Welborn beating 22-time winner Curtis Turner in the final point standings.
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee; If we mess up, you get the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to tri...@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt. Free
Tomorrow In The Frontstretch Newsletter:
- Find out What's Vexing Vito this week, as he rants and raves about pop culture … and NASCAR, too.
Matt McLaughlin Mouths Off
by Matt McLaughlin
Marcus Smith knows what you need to make your race weekend more affordable, and this week Matt tells you what the new Lowe's Motor Speedway President and COO is doing to make sure that you get to keep more of your hard-earned dollars.
Fanning the Flames
by Matt Taliaferro
Some say that there are no stupid questions, but you'll never know until you send yours into Matt! He's out to answer questions and comments directed at him by you – our loyal fans! If you've got something to say, don't hesitate to email him at matt.ta...@frontstretch.com.
Voices From the Heartland
by Jeff Meyer
Roses
are red, Violets are blue. Jeff's our favorite satirist, and we can't
find a word to rhyme with satirist. Be sure to check him out Thursday!
Only on the Frontstretch.
Fantasy Picks 'N' Pans: Pocono
By Bryan Keith & Mike Neff
How hard could this column be to write? We were just there at Pocono two months ago! You'll still want to check in, though, as Bryan and Mike run down both their picks and their pans for the sequel at this tricky triangle.Beyond The Cockpit: NASCAR's New GPS
By Tom Bowles
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