Daytona Rules Changes Seem Never Ending This Season
I asked when the insurance company would force NA$CAR to slow the cars down and every time the Cup and Busch Series cars got above the 200 MPH limit, a new set of rules and specs were issued. We were assured that after the grill changes nothing else would be done. Well, guess what? Both the Cup and Busch Series were made to run smaller restrictor plates. So all the testing the teams did over the off-season at Daytona was for nothing. About the only info that was useful was the tire wear info and I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the tires were the next thing changed before Sunday’s race. And I also wouldn’t be a bit surprised if NA$CAR did something else to make the races even worse than what they’re going to be. Maybe have the teams carry an extra 1,000 lbs of ballast or a boat anchor to “improve the show”.
Safety Concerns
Something that has been mentioned since the introduction of the generic race vehicle has been the inability of the drivers to see out the rear of the car or to see through the car ahead of them leaving drivers to pretty much drive blind when they’re on the restrictor plate tracks. This is a major safety issue which seems to have fallen on deaf ears just like what the fans really want. For once, it would be nice if NA$CAR actually was pro-active with safety rather than their usual reactive. Like maybe using Lexan for the rear spoiler so the drivers can see who’s behind them or through the car ahead of them. They use it for the “glass” in the cars. So why not use it for the spoiler to give the drivers more visibility.
You’re Bias is Showing
During the coverage of the practice session in which Jr wrecked his car, it didn’t take long for someone to find a scapegoat. They placed blame on Robby Gordon. Last season, Robby was partially immune from criticism of anything happening on the track in close proximity to him because of the make of decals that were on the generic kit car he was driving. Now that he’s sporting Dodge decals on the generic machine, he’ll be the official scapegoat of anything that happens within 100 yards of him. Even if it’s 100 yards behind him, it’ll be Robby’s fault. Just watch.
Keeping the Records Straight
I’ve mentioned from time to time that NA$CAR needs to correct the record of Bobby Allison to show he has 85 wins and not 84. For some reason they steadfastly refuse to give him credit for a Winston Cup win he got driving a Mustang in 1971 at Bowman-Gray Stadium even though Bill France Sr. asked him to enter the race and run the Mustang.
Another bit of record-keeping NA$CAR refuses to acknowledge is the 1982 Sam Ard actually won 16 races. According to NA$CAR, they didn’t start keeping track of the Busch Series records until 1983. However, some recent records were turned up that showed Sam had 16 wins that season which means that his actual record is still intact and that Shrubbery still hasn’t broken it.
I think an unbiased, outside source needs to come in and correct the record books so that drivers get the credit they’re due and that history and any integrity that might possibly exists in the grout of the bathroom floor next to the mold and mildew of NA$CAR can be maintained.
Promises Promises
I don’t know how many folks remember a tune of that name but having been a musician in my youth it was a song I was familiar with. It seems that during an interview last year with a female reporter from MRN that Kyle “Shrubbery” Busch made a promise to once again help out Sam Ard when he officially broke his record. Now don’t get me wrong here folks. I know what he did when he tied Sam’s record. He made a $100,000 donation to help Sam and Jo Ard out and it was very much appreciated by them and by a lot of race fans whose opinions of Shrubbery aren’t exactly that great. However, if he’s going to make a promise to help the Ard’s out a second time, then he needs to step up and do it. Let the fans know he’s a man of his word.
Tim Kohuth Sentenced
Tom Kohuth, who was the shop chief with Ultra Motorsports when I had a chance to work with them and first started writing for Laidbackracing.com, was sentenced to a minimum of 9-½ years in jail after a plea agreement on 2nd degree murder charges back in September of last year. This info seems to have been kept very low key. He was driving under the influence when the rollback he was driving crossed a media and hit another vehicle killing the driver. If Tim’s name might sound familiar, he’s part of the reason why Kenny Schrader give us 1-½ thumbs up. My thanks to Ray Dunlap from Speed TV for the info.
Another Interesting Point on Ethanol
Floyd brought this one to my attention. Since ethanol has reduced our gas mileage it means we have to fill up more often. And since we have to fill up more often, we’re helping to fill up the state and federal coffers more often through taxes placed on gasoline by both state and federal governments. Is it any wonder the states aren’t complaining about the reduced gas mileage and why E-15 is being pushed? Less mileage, more fill-ups, more tax revenue.
More on Fuel Injection
My buddy and fellow military veteran Richard was listening to Sirius 128 when they had someone on talking about the pending move to fuel injection. And the interviewee said something that is very, very true when you really look at it. Since the cars will all have to have NA$CAR’s password code to run the fuel injection system and use NA$CAR’s software to run the engines, NA$CAR has effectively created a spec series engine for the cars. It won’t matter what make the car engine is, they’ll all be running the same program which makes them all equal just like a true spec series engine. Just when the snail’s pace towards returning some branding to the cars was happening, we get NA$CAR making something else on the car just like the old IROC cars. You can bet the Big 3 won’t be happy when they figure that one out especially as they want the current, state-of-the-art technology to be used and not the antiquated technology NA$CAR keeps using.
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