Post by dalejrfan on Jun 24, 2005 1:08:02 GMT -5
ELEVATORS
UP arrow for ROUSH RACING
Four of the team's cars in the final top five? Come on, that's just showing off.
DOWN arrow for JEFF GORDON
Right now he'd be out of the Chase. Think he's glad there's a road course race next?
DOWN arrow for FORMULA ONE
It's been a long time since NASCAR threw up on itself like F1 did Sunday at Indianapolis.
OBSERVATIONS
--Everybody who has anything to do with where NASCAR's going needs to remember one fundamental point: What's always distinguished stock-car racing is competition, and competition means passing. Track position has become the absolute trump card, and that must change. That's the single most important issue the sport faces.
--What does a car owner who has four cars the top five in the same race do afterward? If you were Jack Roush, you fret about your fifth car. Kurt Busch faded on old tires in the final 10 laps and finished 12th. "It means I'm going to have kind of a rock and roll day with the 97 trying to figure out what happened to them," Roush said. "I am sure it's my fault in some way and that how will become clear to me on Tuesday."
--Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 17th on the lead lap despite still feeling ill from flu-like symptoms and starting 41st, his worst career Cup starting spot. It's nothing to throw a party about, but it was better than the recent trend. And teammate Michael Waltrip finished in the top 10 for the sixth time in his past nine races.
--Instead of putting cars on a chassis dynamometer after the race, NASCAR took the engines from 10 cars and will test them this week at its research and development center in Concord. The engines came from the cars driven by Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears.
Winner Greg Biffle's engine couldn't be part of the test since it was torn down in postrace inspection.
PIT STOPS
Martin's Ford best at the last
Mark Martin said his No. 6 Ford was as good as it was all day at the end of Sunday's Batman 400, and that helped him fight his way back from ninth on the final restart on Lap 174 to finish third.
"I couldn't be more pleased," Martin said after a third straight top-10 finish left him fifth in the Nextel Cup standings. "This reminds me of the old days and how my car is running."
Three of Martin's Roush Racing teammates have won points races this year - Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch. Martin won the Nextel All-Star Challenge, but hasn't won a points race. But he said Sunday that he's keeping his focus on the goal of making the Chase for the Nextel Cup in his final year of full-time competition.
"It's still really, really tight," said Martin, who is just 105 points ahead of 11th-place Jamie McMurray in the standings. "Broken parts and wrecks can destroy the opportunity for us to make the Chase. ...We can't afford to have that happen."
Tire wear a bigger story early than late
Several teams had tires worn down to the cords when they came in for their first pit stops in Sunday's race, but the problem seemed to lessen somewhat as the race went on.
One early victim was Brian Vickers, who crashed coming onto pit road on Lap 41 for that first stop.
"We picked up a vibration and tried to make it to our fuel window," Vickers said. "We were going to wait another lap and that's all it took. It got out under me getting into Turn 3 and I saved it, but it came apart on pit road."
Vickers spun into water barrels protecting the Turn 4 end of the pit wall and brought out the first yellow. He finished 41st.
Hendrick teams have an off day
While Roush Racing continued to sail along successfully, the other team that has shared dominance in Nextel Cup this season had a rough Sunday.
Brian Vickers finished 41st after his early crash. Jeff Gordon's car was non-competitive all day and he finished three laps back in 32nd. Jimmie Johnson hung onto the lead lap but finished 19th.
Kyle Busch did finish ninth despite struggling most of the day to keep his tires under him. "After about 32 laps if felt like something internally was going wrong with them," Busch said. "We're not quite sure what that was about."
Gordon was even more vexed after having a similar problem.
"We were just lost today," he said. "We just wore the right-side tires to the cords. We started backing off and it was pretty good, but the car would just jump sideways on me. I would have something that sounded like the it was breaking apart in the tire and we'd come in and find nothing wrong with the tire."
Johnson managed to hold the points lead, by 49 points over Greg Biffle. But Gordon dropped three spots to 12th in the standings and is now 406 points behind Johnson. That means that if the Chase for the Nextel Cup started today, Gordon would not be part of it.
"I'm just looking forward to going to the road course," said Gordon, speaking of next week's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., where Gordon has four wins.
Waltrip, Nemechek back up good runs
Michael Waltrip and Joe Nemechek both had top-10 finishes for a second straight week, with Nemechek sixth and Waltrip seventh.
"We're kind of disappointed with sixth," said Nemechek, who was third last week at Pocono. "I think our car was a lot better than that. We got two tires on that last stop and for some reason the car got really tight into and loose off of the corners.
"I went to pass the 97 (Kurt Busch) and he took the air off the spoiler and got me loose. Three or four cars got by me and I had to work to pass them back before the end of the race."
Waltrip was fifth after winning the pole last week at Pocono in the same car.
"It's a good car," Waltrip said. "I am encouraged about the direction we're headed in and what we've accomplished over the past few months."
Dodge doesn't dazzle the chief
Dr. Deiter Zetsche, the president and chief executive officer of DaimlerChrysler, was in Indianapolis on Sunday to attend the U.S. Grand Prix.
But that event devolved into a debacle, with 14 teams refusing to run the race unless the Indianapolis Motor Speedway course had a chicane added at the last minute and Formula One's governing body refusing to do so.
So Zetsche summoned a helicopter and rode up to Michigan International Speedway to watch the Dodges race in Nextel Cup. He went home disappointed, however, as Rusty Wallace's No. 2 Dodge finished 10th to lead the Charger fleet.
"I'm not saying the Charger isn't a good car," said Kasey Kahne, who finished 18th. "It's a great street car. But we just can't get a handle on the race car."
UP arrow for ROUSH RACING
Four of the team's cars in the final top five? Come on, that's just showing off.
DOWN arrow for JEFF GORDON
Right now he'd be out of the Chase. Think he's glad there's a road course race next?
DOWN arrow for FORMULA ONE
It's been a long time since NASCAR threw up on itself like F1 did Sunday at Indianapolis.
OBSERVATIONS
--Everybody who has anything to do with where NASCAR's going needs to remember one fundamental point: What's always distinguished stock-car racing is competition, and competition means passing. Track position has become the absolute trump card, and that must change. That's the single most important issue the sport faces.
--What does a car owner who has four cars the top five in the same race do afterward? If you were Jack Roush, you fret about your fifth car. Kurt Busch faded on old tires in the final 10 laps and finished 12th. "It means I'm going to have kind of a rock and roll day with the 97 trying to figure out what happened to them," Roush said. "I am sure it's my fault in some way and that how will become clear to me on Tuesday."
--Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 17th on the lead lap despite still feeling ill from flu-like symptoms and starting 41st, his worst career Cup starting spot. It's nothing to throw a party about, but it was better than the recent trend. And teammate Michael Waltrip finished in the top 10 for the sixth time in his past nine races.
--Instead of putting cars on a chassis dynamometer after the race, NASCAR took the engines from 10 cars and will test them this week at its research and development center in Concord. The engines came from the cars driven by Tony Stewart, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears.
Winner Greg Biffle's engine couldn't be part of the test since it was torn down in postrace inspection.
PIT STOPS
Martin's Ford best at the last
Mark Martin said his No. 6 Ford was as good as it was all day at the end of Sunday's Batman 400, and that helped him fight his way back from ninth on the final restart on Lap 174 to finish third.
"I couldn't be more pleased," Martin said after a third straight top-10 finish left him fifth in the Nextel Cup standings. "This reminds me of the old days and how my car is running."
Three of Martin's Roush Racing teammates have won points races this year - Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch. Martin won the Nextel All-Star Challenge, but hasn't won a points race. But he said Sunday that he's keeping his focus on the goal of making the Chase for the Nextel Cup in his final year of full-time competition.
"It's still really, really tight," said Martin, who is just 105 points ahead of 11th-place Jamie McMurray in the standings. "Broken parts and wrecks can destroy the opportunity for us to make the Chase. ...We can't afford to have that happen."
Tire wear a bigger story early than late
Several teams had tires worn down to the cords when they came in for their first pit stops in Sunday's race, but the problem seemed to lessen somewhat as the race went on.
One early victim was Brian Vickers, who crashed coming onto pit road on Lap 41 for that first stop.
"We picked up a vibration and tried to make it to our fuel window," Vickers said. "We were going to wait another lap and that's all it took. It got out under me getting into Turn 3 and I saved it, but it came apart on pit road."
Vickers spun into water barrels protecting the Turn 4 end of the pit wall and brought out the first yellow. He finished 41st.
Hendrick teams have an off day
While Roush Racing continued to sail along successfully, the other team that has shared dominance in Nextel Cup this season had a rough Sunday.
Brian Vickers finished 41st after his early crash. Jeff Gordon's car was non-competitive all day and he finished three laps back in 32nd. Jimmie Johnson hung onto the lead lap but finished 19th.
Kyle Busch did finish ninth despite struggling most of the day to keep his tires under him. "After about 32 laps if felt like something internally was going wrong with them," Busch said. "We're not quite sure what that was about."
Gordon was even more vexed after having a similar problem.
"We were just lost today," he said. "We just wore the right-side tires to the cords. We started backing off and it was pretty good, but the car would just jump sideways on me. I would have something that sounded like the it was breaking apart in the tire and we'd come in and find nothing wrong with the tire."
Johnson managed to hold the points lead, by 49 points over Greg Biffle. But Gordon dropped three spots to 12th in the standings and is now 406 points behind Johnson. That means that if the Chase for the Nextel Cup started today, Gordon would not be part of it.
"I'm just looking forward to going to the road course," said Gordon, speaking of next week's race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., where Gordon has four wins.
Waltrip, Nemechek back up good runs
Michael Waltrip and Joe Nemechek both had top-10 finishes for a second straight week, with Nemechek sixth and Waltrip seventh.
"We're kind of disappointed with sixth," said Nemechek, who was third last week at Pocono. "I think our car was a lot better than that. We got two tires on that last stop and for some reason the car got really tight into and loose off of the corners.
"I went to pass the 97 (Kurt Busch) and he took the air off the spoiler and got me loose. Three or four cars got by me and I had to work to pass them back before the end of the race."
Waltrip was fifth after winning the pole last week at Pocono in the same car.
"It's a good car," Waltrip said. "I am encouraged about the direction we're headed in and what we've accomplished over the past few months."
Dodge doesn't dazzle the chief
Dr. Deiter Zetsche, the president and chief executive officer of DaimlerChrysler, was in Indianapolis on Sunday to attend the U.S. Grand Prix.
But that event devolved into a debacle, with 14 teams refusing to run the race unless the Indianapolis Motor Speedway course had a chicane added at the last minute and Formula One's governing body refusing to do so.
So Zetsche summoned a helicopter and rode up to Michigan International Speedway to watch the Dodges race in Nextel Cup. He went home disappointed, however, as Rusty Wallace's No. 2 Dodge finished 10th to lead the Charger fleet.
"I'm not saying the Charger isn't a good car," said Kasey Kahne, who finished 18th. "It's a great street car. But we just can't get a handle on the race car."