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Author: Tucker White

  • IMS President Boles explains why Brickyard 400 returns to July in 2020

    IMS President Boles explains why Brickyard 400 returns to July in 2020

    INDIANAPOLIS — May is the month of the year around which the NTT IndyCar Series revolves. It begins with the IndyCar Grand Prix on the grand prix circuit of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then on Memorial Day Sunday, the cannon fires at 6:00 a.m. (which indicates the gates are open) and over 200,000 people pour into the facility to drink the day away, take in a concert in the Snake Pit and watch the annual running of the Indianapolis 500. Afterwards, the turnaround at Indianapolis begins for the next major event, the Brickyard 400; be it in September this year or on Independence Day weekend in 2020.

    On March 26, 2019, NASCAR announced that as part of its major schedule realignment, the Brickyard 400 will take Daytona International Speedway’s spot on Independence Day weekend in 2020. This comes only two years after it was moved from late July to Richmond Raceway’s slot in mid-September.

    SEE ALSO: NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    Aside from the lackluster quality of the racing, especially compared to the Indianapolis 500, one of the biggest reasons cited for the Brickyard 400’s well documented declining attendance was the extreme heat in summertime July.

    “…one of the things, when we moved to September, we said there were two things that were really important,” track president J. Douglas Boles said. “One was getting out of the heat. The other one was we wanted a weekend that meant something, and so last year and this year were the last race leading into the Chase, or the playoffs, the last race of the regular season.”

    Given this, one might wonder why it’s moving back to July.

    At his press conference Friday at Indianapolis, Boles said that NASCAR approached them with several options, which included Independence Day weekend, as it looked to align its schedule in a manner that would “grow the sport of NASCAR racing,” and that the decision was a joint one between NASCAR and Indianapolis. He also noted that the track was “limited in the number of dates that worked for their schedule.”

    “When we looked at the date options we had, July 4th has a lot of impact,” he said. “…it’s a weekend that means an awful lot from our country’s standpoint. You think about we kick summer off on an important American weekend, so if we can kick it off for IndyCar and have NASCAR on an important American weekend, that felt really good to us.”

    While heat was an obvious issue, he believe that “a lot of other activities” can overcome that (what that entails, he didn’t mention).

    The move to Independence Day weekend in 2020 brings with it a short turnaround between the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day Sunday and the Brickyard 400. There’s concern that the short turnaround might cannibalize the Indianapolis market. That’s not new for the track, however, as from 2004-2007, Formula 1’s United States Grand Prix ran in late September, three weeks after the Indy 500.

    “In a lot of ways our staff is excited about it because you can just think about those two huge events all right together, so it’s a little bit longer run where when we’ve been late in July or even in September, we get through May and then there’s a little bit of lull and then you pick back up,” Boles said. “So, it comes with challenges and opportunities, and we’re really focused on the opportunity that it brings, and I think we’re going to find that the recall of July 4th for fans is going to be easier to remember when the Brickyard is.

    “And the one positive that we haven’t talked about is we’re not going head-to-head with the NFL, we’re not going head-to-head with the Colts, and I think at the end of the day, we’re going to find that this weekend works out okay.”

  • Truex runs away with win at the Monster Mile

    Truex runs away with win at the Monster Mile

    A mistake by Alex Bowman on the final lap of the second stage let Martin Truex Jr. pounce on and pass him to win the stage. After that, the Gander RV 400 was his race to lose.

    Lap traffic allowed Kevin Harvick and Truex to reel in Bowman. Harvick tried, but failed to overtake him, as did Truex. On the final lap of the second stage, however, Bowman went too high in Turn 1 and Truex made the pass underneath him to win the stage.

    For the final 160 laps, nobody could catch Truex. Aside from a pit cycle under green, he didn’t lose the lead and drove to his 21st Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory, and third at Dover International Speedway in his 488th start.

    “What a race car we had today,” he said. “(This) SiriusXM Camry was just incredible. Thanks to everybody at the shop…

    “We came here with a new setup this time, because we had kind of an older setup that we won with in 2016. We’ve been good, but not good enough.

    “Just hats off to Cole (Pearn) James and all those guys, everybody at (Toyota Racing Development) back in California, Costa Mesa for some awesome engines, awesome horsepower.”

    He started from the rear of the field, after his car failed pre-race inspection, and ended the race with a nine-second margin of victory. But he swore that it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

    “It was a lot of work,” he said. “It was tough, but this race car, man, it was just incredible.”

    DOVER, Del. – MAY 06: Alex Bowman, driver of the #88 Nationwide Small Business Chevrolet, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 6, 2019 in Dover, Delaware. Photo: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

    Alex Bowman, who started in the rear for failing inspection, finished the afternoon in second for the second weekend in a row.

    “Talladega (Superspeedway) is a speedway and it’s a lot of luck involved,” Bowman said. “But to come here to, in my opinion, the hardest race track we go to and run from the back of all things was pretty special.

    “Just proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for all the improvement we’ve made over the last year or so, and we’re gonna keep it going.”

    While Kyle Larson fought a tight-handling car early in the race, he got the car handling right and rounded out the podium for his best finish of the 2019 season.

    “And in the last run there, after cycling through green-flag stops, I was really loose and got stuck in traffic and then was just looser in the dirty air,” Larson said. “So, I had to just make sure I hit the bottom lap after lap to hold (Kevin) Harvick off. So, it was good to finally have a clean race. I don’t think we’ve had a clean weekend all year long. And we’re 11 weeks into the season. So, it’s good to finally get a clean day, like I said, and thanks to our race team. Our pit crew did a good job today as well. It was a nice day.”

    Harvick and Chase Elliott, who led a race high of 145 laps, rounded out the top five.

    “…we just fell off there at the end of that second Stage,” Elliott said. “That was the time of the race that we needed to be controlling it and not falling back. Just a bad time to have a bad half of a run and that is kind of what happened. So, we were fast, just not fast enough when it really mattered.”

    Erik Jones, Joey Logano, William Byron, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.

    RACE SUMMARY

    Chase Elliott led the field to green and led the first 108 laps. After Ricky Stenhouse Jr. cut a right-front tire, hit the wall in Turn 1 and brought out the caution on Lap 106, Joey Logano took just right-side tires and exited the pits with the lead. He drove on to win the first stage.

    DOVER, Del. – MAY 06: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400 at Dover International Speedway on May 6, 2019 in Dover, Delaware. Photo: Chris Trotman/Getty Images

    Logano pitted during the stage break, which handed the lead to teammate Brad Keselowski. He led for 57 laps, before he pitted from the lead under green on Lap 181. After a few drivers took turns in the front for nine laps, Elliott cycled back to the lead.

    Thanks to lap traffic, Bowman pulled up to his teammate and passed him entering Turn 1 on Lap 223. Likewise, lap traffic allowed Kevin Harvick and Truex to reel him in. Harvick tried, but failed to overtake him, as did Truex. On the final lap of the second stage, however, Bowman went too high in Turn 1 and Truex made the pass underneath him to win the stage.

    Truex lost the lead for 27 laps, while Daniel Suarez stayed out hoping to catch a caution. When that strategy failed, he pitted on Lap 347 and Truex led the rest of the way.

    Who had a good day

    After starting the day in the rear, Bowman drove through the field and led 16 laps, on his way to a runner-up finish.

    Teammate Elliott led a race high of 145 laps, on his way to a fifth-place finish.

    William Byron earned his second top 10 finish of the season, with an eighth-place finish.

    Kyle Busch finished 10th to extend his top 10 streak to 11 races. He tied Morgan Shepherd for the longest top 10 streak in the Modern Era of NASCAR.

    Who had a lousy day

    Denny Hamlin, who started the day in eighth, quickly fell through the field as his car’s handling went loose. He finished the first stage in 23rd. His afternoon crossed the Mason-Dixon Line when he cut a tire, couldn’t get to pit road and spun in Turn 1 on Lap 265.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted three hours eight minutes and 37 seconds, at an average speed of 127.242 mph.

    There were 15 lead changes among 11 different drivers and six cautions for 31 laps.

    Kyle Busch leaves with a nine-point lead.

    Monster Energy Cup Series Race Number 11
    Race Results for the 50th Annual Gander RV 400 – Monday, May 6, 2019
    Dover International Speedway – Dover, DE – 1. – Mile Concrete
    Total Race Length – 400 Laps – 400. Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos Pts Status
    1 13 19 Martin Truex Jr. SiriusXM Toyota 400 0 1 50 Running
    2 5 88 Alex Bowman Nationwide Small Business Chevrolet 400 7 2 48 Running
    3 3 42 Kyle Larson Credit One Bank Chevrolet 400 4 6 46 Running
    4 6 4 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John’s Ford 400 5 3 47 Running
    5 1 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Brakes Chevrolet 400 3 4 47 Running
    6 15 20 Erik Jones Sport Clips Toyota 400 9 10 34 Running
    7 4 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 400 1 0 40 Running
    8 2 24 William Byron Axalta Chevrolet 400 6 0 34 Running
    9 10 14 Clint Bowyer Mobil 1 Ford 400 10 9 31 Running
    10 22 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 400 0 8 30 Running
    11 14 41 Daniel Suarez Haas Automation Ford 400 0 0 26 Running
    12 9 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Ford 399 2 5 40 Running
    13 19 1 Kurt Busch Monster Energy Chevrolet 399 0 0 24 Running
    14 12 48 Jimmie Johnson Ally Chevrolet 399 0 0 23 Running
    15 11 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Duracell Ford 399 8 7 29 Running
    16 7 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 399 0 0 21 Running
    17 18 21 Paul Menard Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 399 0 0 20 Running
    18 21 6 Ryan Newman Wyndham Rewards Ford 398 0 0 19 Running
    19 16 3 Austin Dillon AAA Chevrolet 398 0 0 18 Running
    20 17 95 Matt DiBenedetto FDNY Foundation Toyota 398 0 0 17 Running
    21 8 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 397 0 0 16 Running
    22 25 13 Ty Dillon Twisted Tea Chevrolet 397 0 0 15 Running
    23 30 37 Chris Buescher Degree Chevrolet 397 0 0 14 Running
    24 26 34 Michael McDowell Dockside Logistics Ford 395 0 0 13 Running
    25 23 8 Daniel Hemric # Caterpillar Chevrolet 394 0 0 12 Running
    26 24 38 David Ragan MDS Transport Ford 393 0 0 11 Running
    27 27 43 Bubba Wallace World Wide Technology Chevrolet 393 0 0 10 Running
    28 29 47 Ryan Preece # Kroger Chevrolet 392 0 0 9 Running
    29 28 32 Corey LaJoie CorvetteParts.net Ford 392 0 0 8 Running
    30 36 15 Ross Chastain(i) Low T Center Chevrolet 389 0 0 0 Running
    31 31 0 Landon Cassill(i) KODRA Communications Chevrolet 389 0 0 0 Running
    32 32 36 Matt Tifft # Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford 387 0 0 5 Running
    33 20 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Little Hug Ford 386 0 0 4 Running
    34 33 51 Cody Ware(i) Jacob Companies Ford 383 0 0 0 Running
    35 37 27 * Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 356 0 0 2 Engine
    36 35 77 Quin Houff Chevrolet 168 0 0 1 Too Slow
    37 34 52 BJ McLeod(i) Chevrolet 96 0 0 0 Engine
  • Bottas takes points lead with win in Azerbaijan

    Bottas takes points lead with win in Azerbaijan

    Ferrari paced the field all weekend in practice, but then qualifying came and Charles Leclerc, who led the Ferrari charge, crashed in the second round of qualifying. Instead, Mercedes locked out the front row and it was Valtteri Bottas’ day on the streets of Baku.

    Bottas held off Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap score his fifth career Formula 1 victory. He even passed Charles Leclerc for the lead on the pit straight on Lap 32.

    The always humble Finnish driver wouldn’t say it was an easy race, even though “not that much (was) happening up front.”

    “I did not do any mistakes, but everything was under control,” Bottas said. “I’m happy to see the checkered flag and get this first place.”

    “It’s incredible as a team on which kind of level we’re performing now. I would say to the guys I’m so proud to be part of that, and we’re all performing really, really well.”

    While he missed out on the bonus point for the fastest lap, Bottas overtook Hamilton for the championship lead.

    Hamilton made a run at Bottas in the closing laps, getting into DRS range, but couldn’t catch him.

    After he congratulated Bottas, he said that his chance at victory “was all lost in qualifying.”

    Sebastian Vettel rounded out the podium.

    Max Verstappen and Leclerc, who earned the bonus point for posting the fastest lap at 1:43.009 (a new track record), rounded out the top five.

    Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top 10.

    Race summary

    After locking out the front row, Mercedes led the field on the start, with Bottas taking charge for virtually the whole race.

    He surrendered the lead on Lap 12 to pit, and Leclerc, who started the race on medium tires, took the lead.

    His tires started to wear as he neared his stop, and Bottas ran him down and passed him on the pit straight on Lap 32.

    Hamilton pulled within DRS range in the last three laps, but couldn’t make a pass on his teammate. He ran wide in Turn 16 on the penultimate lap and couldn’t take the fight to Bottas for the final lap.

    What else happened

    Alexander Albon clipped the outside Turn 1 wall on the opening lap, and a second time halfway through the race.

    Robert Kubica, who started the race from pit road, was handed a drive through penalty for “car being driven to pit exit too early.”

    Romain Grosjean locked up and ran off track in Turn 15 on Lap 25, and later retired from the race for unrelated reasons.

    Daniel Ricciardo locked up and slid off into the runoff area in Turn 3. He was to the inside of Daniil Kvyat and collected him. While neither car was damaged by the slide, Ricciardo reversed into Kvyat. Both retired from the race, as a result.

    Pierre Gasly brought out a virtual safety car, when his car suffered a power failure and pulled into a runoff area on Lap 40.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 31 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 124.200 mph.

    There were two lead changes among two different drivers and one virtual safety car period for two laps.

    Bottas leaves Baku with a one point lead over Hamilton in the drivers championship.

    Mercedes leaves with a 74-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship.

    Formula 1 returns to action in two weeks, when it heads to Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona to start the European stretch of the schedule.

  • The White Zone: Let’s retire the All-Star Race

    The White Zone: Let’s retire the All-Star Race

    Wednesday, on NASCAR Race Hub, NASCAR announced the format for this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race.

    Over its 35-year history, it’s had 15 different formats. Three of them have come in the last five years.

    Does the All-Star Race excite anyone, anymore?

    What’s even the most notable thing that’s happened in this event in the last 10 years? Probably 2012, when NASCAR incentivized the segment winners to sandbag, until the final pit stop (to their credit, however, they changed that the following year to best segment average finish).

    This isn’t your father’s All-Star Race, where Rusty Wallace turned Darrell Waltrip to win the event or Davey Allison got turned, as he crossed the finish line. This is an event that’s become a victim of the aerodynamic-centrism that’s made races at 1.5-mile tracks so maligned. This is a race where the guy who exits pit road first on the final stop wins it nine times out of 10.

    It’s yet another race in a season that’s already too long.

    And unlike other All-Star Games in the stick and ball world, you’re not seeing players that, if you follow Major League Baseball, you’d only see three or four times a year (or 20 times, if you’re a fan of a division rival) in a 162-game season. You’re seeing the drivers that already race 36 times a year.

    So what made it stand out? It was the gimmicks.

    It made sense until 2004, when this was a race with gimmicks, during a season when the championship was decided in a season-long points format. But with all the gimmicks that permeate NASCAR now (and yes, stage racing and playoff points are gimmicks), what makes this race any different from a race during the season?

    Is it the million-dollar prize? Aside from it not being the only race with a purse that large, what about that is supposed to appeal to the blue-collar worker that earns $31,900 a year? For context, the median household income in the United States (and this number can vary by source) in 2017 was $61,372.

    It’s time to accept that the All-Star Race has run its course. The event, every year, is so over-hyped and enrages fans when it disappoints.

    What if instead of the All-Star Race, we use it as an actual off weekend for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. And while it’s off, let’s run the NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS) and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) at a short track, like — say — Hickory Motor Speedway or Myrtle Beach Speedway.

    Then the next weekend (if we must run the NGOTS and NXS at Charlotte), run the NGOTS race on Thursday, NXS on Saturday and the Coca-Cola World 600 on Sunday evening.

    Right now, as it is, the All-Star Race is just another race weekend taking up space in an already crowded schedule.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Dixon earns final podium spot, after blocking call on Rahal

    Dixon earns final podium spot, after blocking call on Rahal

    Scott Dixon parked his car right in front of Graham Rahal on pit road in the staging area, following the final lap of the NTT IndyCar Series’ annual trip to Long Beach, Calif., because he believed Rahal would lose the final podium position for blocking him on the backstretch.

    And he was correct, because race control came on the radio moments later to announce that Rahal made an illegal block which moved Dixon up to third.

    Dixon had a run on Rahal exiting Turn 8 and racing down the backstretch on the final lap of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, when Rahal moved down the track to block his advance.

    “I moved right as quick as I could, out of the corner, as you can see,” Rahal said to Marty Snider of NBC Sports, pointing at a TV monitor. “Then I gave him a lane.

    “By the rules, you’re allowed to make your move, which I did, on the exit of the corner, and that was it.”

    “As the rule is, you can’t come back to defend if somebody is already there,” Dixon said. “And that’s what happened.”

    Rahal didn’t deny that he blocked. He even out-right admitted that he did.

    “You’re allowed to block in this series,” he said. “You’re allowed to make a move. I made a move. That’s allowed.”

    Rahal said afterwards that it wasn’t a tough result to swallow, because his used red front tires were shot, and that he had no grip, but he wanted an explanation for what was wrong with his move.

    “The problem is we see such large discrepancies in what is a block, what’s not a block.

    “It’s fine. We just need to go forward and understand it better.”

    At the end of the day, however, while he believed he deserved third, he was happy with the good points day.

    “We haven’t had a lot of luck this year,” he added. “So I’ll just take it as it is and move on.”

    For Dixon, the podium finish salvaged a pit road mistake, where the crew couldn’t fully connect the fuel hose to the car for a few seconds. Running the start of the race on used reds wasn’t the right call, according to Dixon.

    “Definitely the last stint was strong for our car. It’s unfortunate we had the fuel probe issue. I think we could’ve had a great race for second there.”

    Dixon leaves Long Beach third in points, 33 back of Josef Newgsarden. Rahal leaves in ninth, 76 back of Newgarden.

  • Rossi puts on clinic in Long Beach

    Rossi puts on clinic in Long Beach

    LWe were all just living in Alexander Rossi’s world on Sunday, as he won on the streets of Long Beach for the second year in a row.

    The Andretti Autosport driver dominated from pole position, from the drop of the green flag, as he led all but six laps to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

    His 20.236 second margin of victory is the largest at Long Beach since Al Unser Jr. beat Scott Pruett by 23 in 1995.

    Even at a track where he’s led nearly 150 laps over the last two years, he didn’t think he’d be this dominant.

    “We knew it was going to be a really hard fought battle, but the NAPA Auto Parts crew gave me such a great car.

    It’s his fifth career victory in 54 career starts in the NTT IndyCar Series. He’s the eighth driver to win in back-to-back years at Long Beach. It’s also the 200th victory for Andretti Autosport.

    Points leader Josef Newgarden finished second, his 25th career podium finish.

    Following a last-lap blocking penalty assessed to Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon overcame a pit road miscue to round out the podium.

    Rahal and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five.

    Rahal said the call was “not that tough to swallow,” as he was going to lose the position if he didn’t block, because his used red front tires were all used up.

    “I had no braking grip whatsoever,” he said.

    Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, Takumo Sato, James Hinchcliffe and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 10.

    Who had a good afternoon

    Despite the last-lap blocking penalty, Rahal earned a top five finish for the second time this season. It ties his best finish of the season.

    Dixon rebounded from a pit road miscue on his final pit stop, when his team couldn’t get the fuel hose to connect, to salvage a podium finish.

    Who had a bad afternoon

    After a strong start to the season, including a win at Circuit of the Americas, Colton Herta retired from the race, after suffering damage to his front wing from snapping loose and hitting the wall in Turn 9.

    He’s finished last in back-to-back races.

    What else happened

    The only caution of the race flew on the first lap for a three-car incident in Turn 2, that involved Spencer Pigot, Jack Harvey and Marcus Ericsson.

    Nuts and bolts

    There was one caution for four laps and five lead changes among three different drivers.

    Newgarden leaves with a 28-point lead over Rossi, who overtakes Dixon for second in points.

    IndyCar returns to action on May 11 in the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to kick off the Month of May that leads up to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

  • The White Zone: Thoughts on Texas

    The White Zone: Thoughts on Texas

    Race No. 7 of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season is in the books, and I have some thoughts to share with the class.

    The race

    Kyle Busch leads a line of cars down the front stretch at Texas Motor Speedway, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. Photo: Don Dunn/SpeedwayMedia.com

    If you follow me on Twitter, you know my thoughts on races at Texas Motor Speedway already. For those who don’t, I’m not a fan of the racing at Texas. For years, it’s been unwatchable, single-file snore-fests. And the fact that both races at Texas are 500 miles in length made boring races there more agonizing to watch.

    Maybe it was my low expectations for races at Texas, but Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 was good.

    The field didn’t get exponentially stretched out as the race progressed, and the leader didn’t simply pull away from the car in second.

    It was the race that I thought we’d get at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a few weeks ago.

    With that said, however, there was still the ever present fact that passing the leader was a Herculean task. Yes, the number of lead changes were up from 2018 (26 among 13 different drivers in 2019 vs. 16 among eight different drivers in 2018), but by my count, only five of them happened on track under green. The rest were a result of pit stops, which tends to inflate the number of lead changes.

    It was more of the varying pit stop mistakes and cycles that made the race compelling to watch. Last season, races at Chicagoland Speedway, Las Vegas in September and Homestead were great races, because of the racing product, not pit road mistakes.

    Which is why I don’t believe this high downforce package is the right direction for the sport.

    Yes, it was entertaining, but it was in spite of the racing on track, not because of it.

    Compare it to the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier in the day. It had a great mix of pit stop strategy and on track competition that made it legitimately good racing.

    I know that “we’re in the entertainment business,” but I believe that NASCAR should treat its events as a sports competition first.

    Jimmie Johnson’s afternoon

    Jimmie Johnson races, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo: Kathryn Gaskill/SpeedwayMedia.com

    In 2018, Jimmie Johnson led a grand total of 40 laps, and didn’t lead more than 13 in one race. On Sunday, he led 60 laps, 150 percent more than he did in 2018.

    And while he didn’t lead a second time in the race, he maintained the second-highest running average all race at 7.78.

    Johnson had a race that was a step in the right direction. His car was great in clean air and had speed.

    “It was a little evil in traffic, and I had a heck of a time on green flag restarts, but really worked hard to get it up underneath me and tightening the car up a little bit for us to race,” he said. “Ended up having great pace and decent drivability, so are working in the right direction.”

    For the first time in quite a long time, Johnson was a legitimate threat to win, and at a mile and a half track.

    If he continues this at Kansas Speedway in a few weeks, we can truly say he’s back.

    Qualifying

    Let’s just get something out of the way. NASCAR brought this on itself.

    If you missed qualifying Friday, there were multiple instances of drivers blatantly violating NASCAR’s new impeding rule. Most egregious was Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer.

    And what did NASCAR do? They did nothing. All they had to do was enforce the rule they put in place, and we’re not talking about this.

    And now, we’re seriously discussing the possibility of returning to single-car qualifying for mile and a half tracks, because NASCAR didn’t enforce its own rules.

    This same thing happened with the restart zone four years ago and the overtime line two years ago.

    NASCAR, if you want these games to stop, enforce the rules you put in place, unless you want the inmates to continue running the asylum. If not, don’t have these rules in place.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • Hamilton steals victory in Bahrain

    Hamilton steals victory in Bahrain

    Lewis Hamilton wasn’t the dominant driver, Sunday, and he probably wouldn’t have won without misfortune befalling Charles Leclerc. But as the old saying goes, “It doesn’t matter how you won. It just matters that you did.”

    Leclerc was well on his way to his first career Formula 1 victory, until the energy recovery system failed on his No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari SF90 with 11 laps to go. At that point, he was chum in the water.

    Hamilton ran down and passed him going into Turn 14, with 10 to go, and cruised to his 75th career victory.

    “We were definitely lucky today, but you have to take it as it comes,” Hamilton said. “Ultimately, I still gave it everything in the race, and I pushed as hard as I could.”

    Valtteri Bottas finished runner-up.

    Like Hamilton, he didn’t dance around the luck aspect of their finish, especially when he noted that the balance of his car was “beat everywhere.”

    “We did no mistake, as a team, and the car was very reliable,” Bottas said. “And that’s the win today. So all the hard work at the factories is paying off, like this.”

    A timely safety car saved a podium finish for Leclerc, who was quickly losing time to fourth-place Max Verstappen.

    “I’m extremely disappointed, like the whole team, but it happens in the seasons,” he said. “I think we made the best out of it.”

    In the moment, he found it difficult to look on the bright side.

    “…as I said a lot in the past, I’m never really looking at the result, and I’m more looking at the (indiscernible) of what to do better. Today, third was not our place, but yeah, very happy anyway.”

    Sebastian Vettel, after a spin just past halfway and losing his front wing, rallied to a fifth-place finish.

    Lando Norris, Kimi Raikkonen, Pierre Gasley, Alexander Albon and Sergio Perez rounded out the Top-10.

    Race summary

    Vettel took the lead from Leclerc going into Turn 1, on the first lap. On the fifth lap, Leclerc used a run down the pit straight to overtake Vettel going into Turn 1.

    After ceding the lead for one lap, Leclerc cycled back to the front on Lap 16.

    Hamilton pitted from second on Lap 36. Vettel followed suit on Lap 37. Leclerc and Bottas pitted the next two laps.

    For two laps, Hamilton and Vettel battled for third, in Turns 5, 6 and 7. On Lap 38, Hamilton used DRS (drag reduction system) and a massive head wind to overtake Vettel, going into Turn 4.

    “I just gave it everything and braked later than usual and dived down on the outside,” Hamilton said.

    On exit, Vettel got loose and spun out. He recovered and drove on. A few moments later, however, Vettel’s front wing fell off and he was forced to pit (rejoined the race in eighth).

    This set up the aforementioned finish, in which Leclerc’s power unit had a component failure and Hamilton passed him to win.

    “It happens. It’s part of motorsports,” Leclerc said. “Unfortunately, today was not our day, but I’m confident that our team has done an amazing job to recover the lack of pace in Australia.”

    “I’m sure it was a devastating result for (Leclerc), obviously, because had done the job to win the race,” Hamilton said.

    What else happened

    Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo both suffered power failures in Turn 1, with four laps to go. This necessitated a safety car period, and the race ended behind the safety car (the eighth time in Formula 1 history).

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 34 minutes and 21 seconds, at an average speed of 122.047 mph.

    There was one safety car period for four laps and four lead changes among three different drivers.

    Bottas leaves Bahrain with a one-point lead over Hamilton in the drivers championship.

    Mercedes leaves with a 39-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship.

    The next race is in China on April 14.

  • The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    The White Zone: Thoughts on 2020 schedule

    On Tuesday, NASCAR announced the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment in over a decade. After sleeping on it overnight, I have some thoughts on the matter.

    Championship race moves to Phoenix

    I’ve heard people call for the championship race to rotate among different venues for years, but to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway?

    Were people really clamoring for this? Was there really a major push from fans to move the championship race to Phoenix? I don’t know. I’ve heard more people argue that it should go to Talladega Superspeedway.

    Furthermore, why move it from Homestead-Miami Speedway? It’s the best mile and a half track on the schedule and does an awesome job as the host of the championship race.

    NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell said as much during the NASCAR teleconference on Tuesday.

    He did, however, note that running the same tracks year after year might favor some drivers more than others. Which doesn’t make sense, when you compare the number of lead changes at Phoenix (in the fall) and Homestead.

    It’s also worth noting that Homestead has produced different winners since 2010. At Phoenix, Kyle Busch rides a two-race win streak.

    This isn’t a knock against Phoenix. I’ve never worked a race there, but I’m told by colleagues of mine that it’s a Grade-A sports facility, thanks to the recent 175-million dollar renovation.

    But the racing at Phoenix tends to be hit and miss, and the recent race a few weeks back doesn’t inspire optimism.

    If this is just a one year thing, and the title race rotates among venues every year, I can live with this. Although O’Donnell gave a conflicting answer to that.

    “Yeah, I think our hope would be to stay there for a little while,” he said. “I can’t say how long. I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Bristol moving into the playoffs

    In terms of NASCAR, this isn’t really an Earth-shattering move. In terms of the state of Tennessee, however, this is major.

    Bristol Motor Speedway moves from its traditional August date to Sept. 19, which puts it on the same date as a home game at Neyland Stadium for the Tennessee Volunteers.

    In regards as to whether Bristol requested this, according to Becky Cox of Bristol Motor Speedway (she’s one of their main PR people), it was a “collaborative process with NASCAR stakeholders (teams, tracks, TV partners) while incorporating NASCAR fan feedback.”

    Roughly a 90-minute drive from Bristol, Knoxville, Tennesse is both a major ticket market for the track and a lodging area for fans going to Bristol who don’t want to pay the hiked up prices for hotels in the Tri-Cities area.

    Moving this race into football season complicates this immensely.

    For you non-Tennessee natives and/or residents, Volunteer football trumps all in this state. While Knoxville is a major NASCAR market, when talking about TV ratings, Volunteer football comes first in this city.

    Even though the Vols are at their nadir, in terms of football performance, they still averaged close to 93,000 fans for every game in 2018 (the lowest attendance was 86,753).

    Given the aforementioned aspect of Knoxville being a major NASCAR TV market, I’m willing to bet that there’s a large crossover of NASCAR/Volunteer football fans in this city. By moving it to September, that cuts into the number of people in Knoxville, as well as Tennessee, who’ll buy tickets to Bristol. Not to mention that it cuts down on the number of hotel rooms available in Knoxville for race fans.

    Granted, the game in question on Sept. 19 is against a Division I FCS school (Furman), but 95,855 fans showed up to the Vols matchup against FCS team ETSU in 2018. That probably had more to do with it being the home opener for the Vols that season, but the point is that Volunteer football towers over all in Tennessee. And given the well publicized sagging attendance at Bristol, they aren’t doing themselves any favors with this move.

    But they must’ve had more fans requesting this move than I thought.

    Daytona moves off Independence Day weekend

    As a bit of a traditionalist, this one kind of stings.

    Since Daytona International Speedway opened in 1959, it’s always been a staple of Independence Day weekend. Starting in 2020, however, it moves from that to the regular season finale.

    NASCAR didn’t make this decision lightly, according to O’Donnell. They wouldn’t have moved it from Independence Day weekend if it was to a point other than the end of the regular season. Drivers and teams told NASCAR that the regular season should begin and end in Daytona.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said. “That kind of started the thinking.”

    Overall, I’m fine with this.

    Rain has plagued this race for years. It’s also very hot in Florida this time of year. Also, we don’t run it on Independence Day anymore, and this race hasn’t fallen on Independence Day since 2009.

    I also love the idea of a restrictor plate race deciding who ultimately makes the Playoffs, even if plate racing now is more akin to a game of Russian roulette than actual racing.

    With that said, however, I don’t understand moving Indianapolis Motor Speedway back into July, when track president J. Douglas Boles cited heat as a major reason for wanting a date in September.

    It also doesn’t help that Indy has had well-publicized attendance woes for nearly the last decade.

    We’ll have to see how that one pans out.

    And the rest

    As for the rest of the changes, I don’t really have that strong of an opinion on them. I like that Richmond Raceway’s first race is going back to Sunday afternoon and I’m intrigued by the prospect of a Cup Series double-header at Pocono Raceway, but that’s about it. I’m indifferent to Martinsville Speedway getting a night race and Kansas Speedway going from night to day.

    Overall, NASCAR hit this out of the park. They did great with these changes to a schedule that had been stagnant for over a decade now.

    Of course, these changes will be for naught if massive changes in 2021 don’t happen as well.

    For now, however, let’s just see how this goes.

    That’s my view, for what it’s worth.

  • NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    NASCAR announces 2020 schedule

    Heresay started 24 hours ago that the 2020 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule would be released sometime this week. Then it came out that it would be released on Tuesday. NASCAR built up the anticipation with the announcement earlier today that the official schedule release would happen at 4 p.m.

    The time came, and the changes were announced.

    NASCAR announced on Tuesday the 2020 schedule for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. It’s the biggest schedule realignment the Cup Series has undergone in over a decade.

    The major changes were as follows:

    The championship race will move from Homestead-Miami Speedway to ISM (Phoenix) Raceway. It will move to Veterans Day weekend, rather than the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, which the championship race has been held on.

    The reasoning, according to NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O’Donnell, was to prevent one driver from gaining a competitive advantage by running at the same track year after year.

    “Obviously a ton of investment has gone into ISM Raceway,” O’Donnell said. “We thought it was natural for us to make that rotation this year and see how it plays out, also put Miami in a date that works for them, as well.”

    He added that this probably isn’t a one year thing.

    “I can’t say how long,” he said. “I think with any venue, you want to see it have a chance and grow a little bit, see how that works. We’ll certainly take a look at it as we look at 2021 and beyond, see what’s on the table in terms of venues.”

    “But this wasn’t a decision we said, ‘Hey, let’s go there for a year and rotate it.’ Our intent is to stay for a few years and see how we net out.”

    Daytona International Speedway’s second race moves from Independence Day weekend to the regular season finale, which will now be in August.

    Given the attendance and weather issues that have plagued Daytona in July, NASCAR talked to drivers and teams on the matter, and they said, according to NASCAR, that Daytona at the end of the regular season was the best way to end it.

    “Everyone felt Daytona belonged there and that track deserved to potentially be in that date,” O’Donnell said.

    The Indianapolis Motor Speedway moves from September to Independence Day weekend.

    Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race moves from its August date to the Cup Series Playoffs on Sep. 19.

    “If NASCAR fans thought they’ve seen tempers flare and sparks fly under the lights at the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, just wait until they experience a real pressure-packed NASCAR playoff elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway,” said Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Pocono Raceway’s two dates will move to one date, as part of a double-header for the Cup Series.

    Martinsville Speedway’s first weekend moves from late March/early April to Mother’s Day weekend, and will be run on a Saturday night on May 9.

    Darlington Raceway remains in its Labor Day weekend slot, but will now open the Playoffs.

    There’s some other date shuffling.

    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com
    Screenshot from NASCAR.com