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Tag: Middlebrook

  • NASCAR’s Losing Streak – Will They Make Changes?

    NASCAR’s Losing Streak – Will They Make Changes?

    After a week of tremendous joy with David Ragan slaying the giant on Sunday, things got a little testy on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. First, NASCAR’s Chief Appellate Officer, John Middlebrook, weakened NASCAR’s penalties to Penske Racing’s No. 2 and No, 22 teams. The next day, the three member appeal board really lessened the penalties to Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 team. NASCAR officials were not pleased, as you can imagine.

    Both organizations had pretty good arguments. Penske claimed they were working in the gray area of the rule book, though there was a potential performance advantage in what they did. Gibbs probably had a better argument. Gibbs gets their engines from a provider not really connected to their race shop. TRD, the Toyota engine supplier for Joe Gibbs Racing, made a mistake apparently and built an engine that did not meet the NASCAR rule book’s specifications. They bolted the engine in and went racing, trusting the engine supplier. The penalty was severe and the board saw fit to lessen the blow, but NASCAR was not pleased. Check out NASCAR’s Kerry Tharp’s comments. They were clear in not agreeing with the result of the hearing.

    Penske had a tougher sell. Penske engineers had modified the rear suspension parts on its two cars. Middlebrook shortened suspensions while keeping fines intact. Unlike the Gibbs decision, point penalties were not changed, which probably fits the so-called crime. Although not much comment from NASCAR was heard, they had to be upset by this. Two days and two losses seemed to send a message. The Appeals Board and the Chief Appellate Office thinks the penalties are too stiff except for the fines. The big question is will NASCAR change their penalties (they say not) or will NASCAR change the appeals process?

    I can see both sides of this situation. I’m sure Penske Racing saw the slap on the wrist given Rick Hendricks’s No. 48 team last year and assumed that working in the gray area was alright. I also can see the problem with giving Joe Gibbs Racing a major penalty reduction. Outside of Jack Roush and Richard Childress among major teams, most get their engines from third party suppliers. Roush-Yates engine supply most, if not all of the Ford teams. TRD supplies most of the Toyota teams. Either Hendrick or Earnhardt-Childress supplies the Chevrolet teams. What if there is a problem in the future with one of these supplied engines? Can we expect any penalties to be reduced? It’s really going to be interesting.

    Once upon a time, NASCAR controlled the sport to the point that it was dictatorial. That’s not the case anymore and it has to be unsettling to them. The urge to take over control has to be there, but will they?

  • Problems and Solutions – NASCAR’s Bad Start

    Problems and Solutions – NASCAR’s Bad Start

    Never let it be said that I don’t have an opinion. The events of the past week have been monumental for NASCAR. I think a lot of folks don’t realize that what has happened will change the way things are done inside the sanctioning body in Daytona Beach for a long time. Can you imagine that the day would come where a track owner would poll the fans to see what they wanted? Can you imagine the day when the sanctioning body would be embarrassed by its own hand-picked appellate officer? Lots of questions and more surprise and confusion.

    NASCAR, though they are a dictatorship, has always prided itself as being fair. It doesn’t always appear that way, but that is the intention. Early on, they appointed an appeals committee made up of respected industry insiders. Teams also had the right to appeal to a one-man judge who could overturn any penalties somewhat like the United States Supreme Court of Appeals, except in this case, it’s not seven judges, but only one. NASCAR has always appointed former industry officials for this office. I can remember it was once Bunky Knudson, the former Pontiac and Ford CEO, and since it didn’t seem to matter over the years, I didn’t pay much attention after that. It seems that no matter how fair CAO John Middleton was in his decision in the Hendrick Motorsports/Chad Knaus vs. NASCAR case, some things were not well thought out.

    Fans will immediately take sides because that is their nature, but NASCAR left some holes in their thinking. Why in the world would you name an executive from a manufacturer as your CAO? Further, why would you name an officer who had a personal relationship with some of the principals? Apparently Rick Hendrick spoke at Middlebrook’s retirement dinner. I’m not saying that this had anything to do with the decision, but it opens up a lot of questions in the minds of fans, other teams, and the media. What were they thinking? The fallout will be huge. Every penalty will be appealed to the CAO and the minute that someone, anyone, doesn’t get a “get out of jail free card” like the Hendrick team did, it will inevitably be because they weren’t John Middlebrook’s friend.

    The boys in Daytona Beach have a lot of thinking to do over the next few months. What did they do wrong? Why did a panel of many decide the penalty should stand while the appellate officer decided that the penalty should be reduced? Why was the fine allowed and the points penalties and suspensions be waived, given the reputation of the principals involved? Complicating all of this is the fact that we’ll never know. If one appeals to the US Supreme Court (in the example I used earlier), there is a paper trail that reveals the thinking of the court. In this case, I don’t imagine anything else will come to light as to the thinking of the CAO. Game over and maybe game on.

    This brings us to the whole Bristol Motor Speedway situation. The half full racetrack over the weekend, which I have commented on earlier, apparently struck a nerve with Speedway Motorsports owner Bruton Smith. After earlier statements that the low crowd, about half capacity regardless of what the “official” estimates were, was caused by bad weather (it rained in the morning, but cleared up for the race), the attendance at Saturday’s Nationwide race should have given the brain trust a clue. The near empty campgrounds should have been another clue. Smith has his underlings conduct a Twitter and email poll on what the fans wanted. The result was over 70% of fans not only didn’t like what they saw, but demanded that the track be put back in the configuration it was before the 2007 reconfiguration of the track. Always wanting to give the fans what they want, Smith declared last night that it would be done. How refreshing was that? But the media and some drivers protested. Smith was firm. “The fans are always right,” Smith said. We’ll see if it really happens, but I applaud Smith for listening to fans and not the competitors. Fans pay the bills, and over the weekend, not many were there. Yes, a crowd of 80,000 is pretty good, but in a place built for twice that, it had to hurt.

    So for a year that started with a rain out, a big Monday night prime time race that had great ratings, and finally a great facility that appears to be decline. Lots of problems everywhere.

    In my opinion, it’s a cop-out to blame everything on the economy as has been done for so long over these last four years. It’s time for the sanctioning body to take the bull by the horns. Bruton Smith reacted swiftly and decidedly, as he always does. It’s time for NASCAR to do the same I hope they do. I think they will, but all is not rosy.