Monday, March 19, 2018
COMMENTARY: NASCAR Made The Right Move To End Pre-Qualifying Debacles
Last Friday, 13 Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series teams failed to pass pre-qualifying technical inspection at
Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. As a result, those 13 teams – fully 1/3
of the field -- did not make qualifying runs, relegating themselves to the rear
of the field for Sunday’s running of the Auto
Club 400.
That sounds like a significant
penalty, but it’s not.
In a 400-mile marathon event,
a 100-yard disadvantage is negligible, at best. And on a track like Auto Club Speedway,
where tire falloff begins virtually at the drop of the green flag, the ability
to start the race on new tires – rather than tires with a minimum of six
qualifying laps on them – is seen by many observers as an advantage.
Polesitter Martin Truex, Jr.,
was candid in his assessment Friday, saying that unless a driver was starting
in the front two rows, it would be advantageous to start at the rear of the
grid, on new rubber.
Dealing with what former
NASCAR official Jim Hunter affectionately called “bamboozlement and chicanery”
is nothing new. The winner of NASCAR’s first sanctioned race in 1949 was
disqualified for utilizing non-stock suspension components, and the
technological tug-of-war between racers and officials has continued unabated,
ever since.
NASCAR's Miller: "Too many illegal cars."
But at Auto Club Speedway, a
two-mile oval where aerodynamics are critical to a car’s performance, the
temptation for teams to grab every possible advantage was apparently too much
to resist. Team after team tested NASCAR’s new Optical Scanning Station Friday,
failing multiple pre-qualifying inspections in an embarrassing sideshow for
both them and NASCAR.
“This is one of the more aero-dependent tracks
on the circuit,” explained NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller.
“So it’s no surprise that they would be pushing the limits on that. The faster
the race track, the more important the aerodynamics are.”
Asked whether there was an
issue with the OSS system, he replied tersely, “Too many illegal cars.”
Todd Gordon, crew chief for Joey
Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford, went a step further, telling Sirius XM NASCAR Radio that he believes some teams intentionally failed pre-qualifying
inspection Friday, in an effort to start the race on new tires.
“The problems in inspection
were not procedural problems,” said Gordon. “They were, to some extent,
intentional problems.”
Late Friday evening, NASCAR
responded to its latest rules controversy, announcing that drivers who had made
qualifying attempts would be allowed to bolt-on new tires for the start of
Sunday’s race.
The
following day, the sanctioning body went a step further, telling Xfinity Series
competitors that teams failing pre-qualifying inspection
would be required to pit on the opening lap of the event for a “pass-through”
penalty, leaving them at least one lap down to the field.
Not coincidentally, every NXS
team passed pre-qualifying inspection, with flying colors.
While altering procedures in
the middle of a race weekend is not ideal, NASCAR can be forgiven for shuffling
the deck at Auto Club Speedway. The sanctioning body should never allow teams
to profit from creating – intentionally or not -- the kind of debacle witnessed
at Auto Club Speedway last Friday. And they should never reward teams for
giving anything less than their best.
The sanctioning body’s new “first
lap pass-through” policy is expected to continue this weekend at Martinsville
Speedway and for the remainder of the season. Hopefully, the new sanction will convince
teams to arrive at the speedway with legal race cars and race them to the best
of their ability.
Monday, March 05, 2018
COMMENTARY: Moffitt's Vegas Traffic Issues Are Part Of The Game
Brett Moffitt was an unhappy camper following
Friday night’s Stratosphere 200
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race.
Despite being passed for the win in the late
going by Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series invader Kyle Busch, Moffitt expressed
no animosity toward either Busch or the NASCAR policy that allows Cup regulars
to drop down and compete in the Xfinity and Truck Series. Moffitt’s unhappiness
stemmed from difficulty navigating lapped traffic in the closing laps,
including a door-banging session with Michel Disdier that allowed Busch to slip
past and claim the lead.
“I
respect Kyle a lot with everything he’s done,” said Moffitt after a
disappointing third-place showing. “It’s fun to race door-to-door with him. People
don’t like him coming and racing in the Truck Series, but I love it. Being able
to run with him and learn off him is really good for my career and helps me
out.”
He was critical of lapped drivers, however,
saying, “It’s fun racing with (Busch) because he can drive. Half of them can’t.”
Moffitt’s unhappiness stemmed from a pair of
scuffles with lapped cars in the final 25 laps. The
first involved Myatt Snider – who had just returned to the track after serving
a pit road penalty and falling two laps down -- and Michel Disdier, who banged
doors with the leader while being lapped.
Moffitt (16) hounded Busch to the finish.
“When
(Snider) pulled out from the pits a couple laps down and side drafted us for
the lead, it allowed Kyle to close in,” complained Moffitt afterward. “I tried
to go to the bottom of a lapped car (Disdier) and he turned down into us.”
Moffitt’s
bid to regain the lead ended when Norm Benning – multiple laps down after being
black-flagged by NASCAR for failing to maintain minimum speed earlier in the evening
– crowded the runner-up’s line and broke his momentum.
“It’s
frustrating because when you’re out of the race, you shouldn’t get in the way
of the leaders,” said Moffitt, who locked himself into the NCWTS playoffs with
a win two weeks ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It’s just a bittersweet race.
“It
was just uncalled for.”
While
Moffitt’s anger is understandable, incidents like those experienced Friday
night are not uncommon in the Camping World Truck Series.
Brett Moffitt
As
the lowest of NASCAR’s three national divisions, the Truck Series attracts
drivers with less big-track experience than their Xfinity or Monster Energy
brethren. At your local short track, the closing rate between leaders and
lapped cars is relatively low. On a smoking-fast half mile like Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, however, the difference between the “haves” and “have nots” can be as
much as 20 mph.
Combined
with a lack of experience, those sky-high closing rates can (and do) result in
some anxious moments for race leaders; some of whom are also relatively low on
the experience ladder.
In
the aftermath of Friday night’s race, it would be easy to overreact. Some observers
have done exactly that, calling upon NASCAR to black-flag all lapped machines
with 20 laps to go, clearing the field for race leaders to compete unimpeded
for the win.
Others
have advocated for the sanctioning body to immediately disqualify any vehicle
unable to maintain minimum speed; parking them for the day after a single infraction.
At
the end of the day, however, no major changes are needed. Part of learning to
race at the highest levels of the sport is learning how to deal with lapped
traffic, and how to conduct oneself as a lapped vehicle.
Those
skills don’t come from a rulebook. They are learned firsthand, on the race track.
And
sometimes, mistakes are the best teacher.
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