Post by dalejrfan on Mar 18, 2006 17:55:19 GMT -5
Team leaders could have better strategies if planning from home
HAMPTON, Ga. -- David Pearson laughed at the notion that the four-race suspension NASCAR gave crew chief Chad Knaus has been a harsh punishment for Jimmie Johnson's team.
"He sets that thing up at the shop before he leaves,'' said Pearson, who won three championships and 105 races from 1960-1986. "What they do at the shop, that's it. What else can they do? NASCAR tells them what to run, what gear, what shocks, what springs.
"I understand now they're telling them what tire pressure they've got to run.''
Johnson's results show the team hasn't suffered much since Knaus was sent home for rigging a device to raise the back window for an aerodynamic advantage during qualifying for the Daytona 500.
He has two wins and a second, and tops the Nextel Cup points standings heading into Sunday's Golden Corral 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Some say it may actually be an advantage having Knaus at home because he has more time to work ahead while other crew chiefs are focused on the race at hand.
"Well, he's got more time to cheat,'' joked seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty, who along with Pearson was one of the grand marshals for Saturday's Busch Series race.
All joking aside, Pearson and Petty agree that the role of a crew chief has changed to make that person arguably more valuable at the shop than at the track.
"Used to the crew chief did all the work,'' Petty said. "Now the crew chief is about half politician keeping all the people together, keeping all the sponsors together and doing all the technical things.''
Larry McReynolds, a former crew chief who is an analyst for FOX Sports' NASCAR coverage, said Johnson's success could be an argument for having a crew chief at the track and at home.
"This could open some people's eyes about how things need to be structured,'' he said. "I know three weeks in our sport isn't long-term. I would be very interested to see if what they've got going here would last long-term.''
Johnson said there's no doubt his team has "hit on something'' during Knaus' suspension. Without elaborating, he said the structure would not return to the way it was with Knaus making most of the decisions when Knaus returns next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Johnson and interim crew chief Darian Grubb already have admitted that the race-day communication has been a lot calmer than it was with Knaus, who was more hands-on and excitable.
"His goal is to come back and try to expand on what we've done,'' Johnson said. "It's been visible to everyone that the team is changing some and it's been some sort of a transformation.
"Chad came to me and said, 'Hey, the last thing I want to do is come in and mess up what's going on. So let's figure out how I can come back and keep this momentum rolling.''
But Johnson said there's no plan that would exclude Knaus from being at the track to help with decisions, such as the ones made during a lengthy meeting following Saturday's practice in which Johnson was 25th-fastest.
"It's such a disadvantage to not have him that ultimately I wish he were here,'' Johnson said. "But we can't argue the fact that we're all stronger through this.''
Matt Borland, the crew chief for Ryan Newman, said there's probably something all teams can learn from this situation. He has no doubt he could put to good use time at the shop during a race weekend.
"When you're on the road all the time you're ready to crash by the time you get home, and the next thing you know you're going back for the next weekend,'' he said. "There's definitely advantages there, but there are disadvantages at the track.''
McReynolds said Johnson's success is more of a tribute to the depth of Hendrick Motorsports and to the organization Knaus has helped structure.
Most in the garage agree only the top 10 to 15 teams are deep enough to lose their crew chief and maintain the level of excellence Johnson's team has.
Jeff Burton, who will start third Sunday for Richard Childress Racing, isn't sure it's that high.
"There's four to five teams at the top of the heap that could win races if the guy stays at home,'' he said.
Tony Eury Jr., the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr., said there never will be a structure where the crew chief stays at home regardless of the advantages.
"The sponsors and the team owner hires that one person to hold the responsibility to know what's going on with everything,'' he said. "In the same light, if I had to stay at home next weekend, I've got enough confidence in these guys to know it wouldn't bother us a bit.''
Eury Jr. agreed with Pearson that most of the important decisions are made before the team unloads.
"The guys that come here prepared, they're not sitting here working on their cars and fixing little problems,'' he said. "If your car is prepared when you get here the only thing you're doing is fine-tuning on the track.
"Ninety percent of the time what you come off the truck with is pretty much what you're going to have for the full weekend.''
Burton said it doesn't take a scientist to figure that out.
"Watch the first two to three laps of practice, see who's at the top of the board, and on Sunday afternoon those cars will be back at the top of the board,'' he said. "Because they unloaded that way. You don't unload 40th and work to first.
"It's a simple game.''
Todd Berrier, who was suspended for multiple races twice last season, would like to think the time he spent at home contributed to Kevin Harvick's win at Bristol.
"The racing is done at the shop,'' Berrier said. "Like it or not, you have what you have when you get here. ''
Buddy Baker, also one of the legendary grand marshals, said technology makes the role of the crew chief today less critical.
"A lot of the teams now have a staff of people back home that they feed information from practice to,'' he said. "They actually come up with a formula and send it back to the track.
"It's getting pretty tough to say because Chad Knaus was not in the garage area that he was not a part of the wins Jimmie Johnson has had. He's certainly an active player in the whole scheme of things.''
That doesn't mean Knaus is in constant communication with the team. Johnson said there's not time to get him on the phone or exchange e-mails when making changes during practice.
He said Knaus certainly doesn't have a live feed into his radio on Sunday.
"I'm pretty sure if he was on the radio communicating with us that would be a big problem [for NASCAR],'' Johnson said.
McReynolds reminded that missing the first four races -- Daytona, California, Las Vegas and Atlanta -- isn't nearly as big of a deal as missing four in the middle of the season because teams spent most of the offseason testing and preparing for them.
"If you had to handpick four races to miss, this may have been the optimum four,'' he said. "Their stuff was already laid out and prepared to go.
"We may never know the answer if this would work long-term, because Chad will be back next week at Bristol.''
HAMPTON, Ga. -- David Pearson laughed at the notion that the four-race suspension NASCAR gave crew chief Chad Knaus has been a harsh punishment for Jimmie Johnson's team.
"He sets that thing up at the shop before he leaves,'' said Pearson, who won three championships and 105 races from 1960-1986. "What they do at the shop, that's it. What else can they do? NASCAR tells them what to run, what gear, what shocks, what springs.
"I understand now they're telling them what tire pressure they've got to run.''
Johnson's results show the team hasn't suffered much since Knaus was sent home for rigging a device to raise the back window for an aerodynamic advantage during qualifying for the Daytona 500.
He has two wins and a second, and tops the Nextel Cup points standings heading into Sunday's Golden Corral 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Some say it may actually be an advantage having Knaus at home because he has more time to work ahead while other crew chiefs are focused on the race at hand.
"Well, he's got more time to cheat,'' joked seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty, who along with Pearson was one of the grand marshals for Saturday's Busch Series race.
All joking aside, Pearson and Petty agree that the role of a crew chief has changed to make that person arguably more valuable at the shop than at the track.
"Used to the crew chief did all the work,'' Petty said. "Now the crew chief is about half politician keeping all the people together, keeping all the sponsors together and doing all the technical things.''
Larry McReynolds, a former crew chief who is an analyst for FOX Sports' NASCAR coverage, said Johnson's success could be an argument for having a crew chief at the track and at home.
"This could open some people's eyes about how things need to be structured,'' he said. "I know three weeks in our sport isn't long-term. I would be very interested to see if what they've got going here would last long-term.''
Johnson said there's no doubt his team has "hit on something'' during Knaus' suspension. Without elaborating, he said the structure would not return to the way it was with Knaus making most of the decisions when Knaus returns next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Johnson and interim crew chief Darian Grubb already have admitted that the race-day communication has been a lot calmer than it was with Knaus, who was more hands-on and excitable.
"His goal is to come back and try to expand on what we've done,'' Johnson said. "It's been visible to everyone that the team is changing some and it's been some sort of a transformation.
"Chad came to me and said, 'Hey, the last thing I want to do is come in and mess up what's going on. So let's figure out how I can come back and keep this momentum rolling.''
But Johnson said there's no plan that would exclude Knaus from being at the track to help with decisions, such as the ones made during a lengthy meeting following Saturday's practice in which Johnson was 25th-fastest.
"It's such a disadvantage to not have him that ultimately I wish he were here,'' Johnson said. "But we can't argue the fact that we're all stronger through this.''
Matt Borland, the crew chief for Ryan Newman, said there's probably something all teams can learn from this situation. He has no doubt he could put to good use time at the shop during a race weekend.
"When you're on the road all the time you're ready to crash by the time you get home, and the next thing you know you're going back for the next weekend,'' he said. "There's definitely advantages there, but there are disadvantages at the track.''
McReynolds said Johnson's success is more of a tribute to the depth of Hendrick Motorsports and to the organization Knaus has helped structure.
Most in the garage agree only the top 10 to 15 teams are deep enough to lose their crew chief and maintain the level of excellence Johnson's team has.
Jeff Burton, who will start third Sunday for Richard Childress Racing, isn't sure it's that high.
"There's four to five teams at the top of the heap that could win races if the guy stays at home,'' he said.
Tony Eury Jr., the crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr., said there never will be a structure where the crew chief stays at home regardless of the advantages.
"The sponsors and the team owner hires that one person to hold the responsibility to know what's going on with everything,'' he said. "In the same light, if I had to stay at home next weekend, I've got enough confidence in these guys to know it wouldn't bother us a bit.''
Eury Jr. agreed with Pearson that most of the important decisions are made before the team unloads.
"The guys that come here prepared, they're not sitting here working on their cars and fixing little problems,'' he said. "If your car is prepared when you get here the only thing you're doing is fine-tuning on the track.
"Ninety percent of the time what you come off the truck with is pretty much what you're going to have for the full weekend.''
Burton said it doesn't take a scientist to figure that out.
"Watch the first two to three laps of practice, see who's at the top of the board, and on Sunday afternoon those cars will be back at the top of the board,'' he said. "Because they unloaded that way. You don't unload 40th and work to first.
"It's a simple game.''
Todd Berrier, who was suspended for multiple races twice last season, would like to think the time he spent at home contributed to Kevin Harvick's win at Bristol.
"The racing is done at the shop,'' Berrier said. "Like it or not, you have what you have when you get here. ''
Buddy Baker, also one of the legendary grand marshals, said technology makes the role of the crew chief today less critical.
"A lot of the teams now have a staff of people back home that they feed information from practice to,'' he said. "They actually come up with a formula and send it back to the track.
"It's getting pretty tough to say because Chad Knaus was not in the garage area that he was not a part of the wins Jimmie Johnson has had. He's certainly an active player in the whole scheme of things.''
That doesn't mean Knaus is in constant communication with the team. Johnson said there's not time to get him on the phone or exchange e-mails when making changes during practice.
He said Knaus certainly doesn't have a live feed into his radio on Sunday.
"I'm pretty sure if he was on the radio communicating with us that would be a big problem [for NASCAR],'' Johnson said.
McReynolds reminded that missing the first four races -- Daytona, California, Las Vegas and Atlanta -- isn't nearly as big of a deal as missing four in the middle of the season because teams spent most of the offseason testing and preparing for them.
"If you had to handpick four races to miss, this may have been the optimum four,'' he said. "Their stuff was already laid out and prepared to go.
"We may never know the answer if this would work long-term, because Chad will be back next week at Bristol.''