Word on the street is that Chad Knaus told Jimmie Johnson over the radio that if he won the NASCAR Talladega race, to intentionally damage the rear end of the car.
The instruction was made by Knaus over the radio in case the car was not within tolerances. His reasoning was if all the bump-drafting had tweaked up the back end to make it out of tolerances, well, I surmise, he didn’t want to take that chance.
Which has me wondering a few things.
First up, is it me, or do you think that NASCAR officials are pretty on-top of their game and understand in-race damage? Yep, that’s what I thought. So I’m ixnaying that excuse!
And Knaus has a history of bucking the system right into and past the grey areas of the rulebook.
Which has me wondering just what was done for that tiny bit of advantage at the restrictor plate race, and why in god’s green earth he’d say that over the radio? What happened to the “check your tach” code, which means go to a private channel???
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Do You Really Think There Aren’t NASCAR Team Orders?
An NBaP Opinion piece:
Back at Richmond, there seemed to be a questionable scenario where one driver seemed to be in cahoots with other drivers and spun his car during the NASCAR Sprint Cup event, bringing out a caution which gathered up the field and gave Kevin Harvick the shot he needed to win the race while he was trying to beat Jeff Gordon. And that other driver is, in a fashion, associate with Kevin Harvick’s team.
At first I wasn’t sure. But watching the video tapes of radio chatter that we were pounded with during last week’s rain delay, well, it sure does look fishy. And obviously, the driver forget his code for changing radio channels.
Now there’s an interesting perspective that when J.J. Yeley pushed Matt Kenseth around the track on the last lap at Chicago, that he was running under suggestions from a fellow Ford team.
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The Ugly of the Reality
To be honest, no matter how you cut it, no matter what really happens there’s bound to be things that take place between teams that are in some way, related teams. Considering there are really, it feels like, only four, five huge entities in the sport and where they’re not in a garage, they’re leasing engines or chassis to other teams.
Plus, I think we get caught up in the spin we are subjected to (That might be too harsh a term), where everyone is, more or less, super nice to the world outside the sport of NASCAR. It is a family oriented sport, is it not?
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This article is an opinion on the performance of NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson and how consistently he has performed since his rookie year, no matter what points system or car type he’s been in. After I’m done, you just might understand why I’ve started see Johnson’s performance for what it is .
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I’ve always been a bit confused about a vocal part of the NASCAR fan base who have such a rage-on for Jimmie Johnson.
It’s amazing how people can dig up the hate on the guy. An acquaintance of mine had spouted his distaste for Jimmie after he won his fifth straight championship. According to his opinion, my peer declared that NASCAR made sure their golden boy won his fifth title and went on to declare that it was a crock of refuse. (But with the grittier word in place of refuse.)
NASCAR’s Golden Boy
But if you really have to know, NASCAR’s golden boy is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who accounts for over 50% of all merchandise sales of diecast, clothing & accessories of the sport. And as his performance has been declining, so too have been the sales, and NASCAR feels that pinch, whether you realize it or not.
If NASCAR were to actually back their “golden boy,” they’d do everything they could to get Dale Eanrhardt Jr. in the winner’s circle and out of his business suit where Dale Jr owns a lot of companies like television production companies, race tracks, race teams, real estate offices, bars and what not. They wouldn’t be applying so much parity to the sport to spread the wealth of winning if they had a “golden boy.”
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This is it, the Ford Championship weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Their website splash screen says that the top three positions between Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are separated by 46 points and that tickets start at $55 at Homestead, so if you live in the area and are inclined, it could be worth it to see some form of NASCAR history be made. The other series championships have already been decided so there’s only one national series that the media hoopla can be built up on and that’s the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
They are also advertising a meet & greet with Danica Patrick at Homestead on November 20th & 21st. But right now, that’s not what we’re focused on. I’m focused on who is going to take the championship and how are we going to handicap this event to pick the winner of the championship. But I have to be honest with you in that on initial look, I don’t think Jimmie is going to pull this off. The only way I think he can is if he unloads from the hauler race-ready. Otherwise, it will be an all-day battle!
Handicapping the Top-3
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According to The Inside Groove, Carl Edwards has the best average finishing record in the last five races at Homestead Miami. Here’s the list: (races other than 5):
- Carl Edwards
- Martin Truex Jr. (4),
- Kevin Harvick,
- Jeff Gordon,
- Greg Biffle,
- Matt Kenseth,
- Mark Martin (4),
- A.J. Allmendinger (2),
- Denny Hamlin,
- Kasey Kahne, and then
- Jimmie Johnson.
The average finishing spots for the three Sprint Cup Title contenders are:
- Harvick (7.4)
- Hamlin (10.6)
- Johnson (15.2)
If these average finishes could be used to accurately predict the outcome, then Harvick will be getting 146 points, Hamlin – 134 & Johnson would get 118 points. (Barring bonus points)
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The controlling body of NASCAR is contemplating a few rule changes. They’ve already changed up the Budweiser Shootout rules, as far as who can run in it? Now word is that the NASCAR governing body is looking to swap the COT wing out for a spoiler or blade.
At first I thought it was just a marketing ploy to get more drivers into the event. But now that Kenny Schrader is in the event, I’m good! LOL. (I guess the new rules worked!)
Over the last week, there’s been noise about NASCAR contemplating a few more changes to make the day more of a challenge for the drivers and teams.
One of the changes is removing the wing from the C.O.T. and returning to the era of the wing.
The wing showed up on the COT to remove a vehicle’s dependence on aerodynamics but it seems to have fallen short of that goal as drivers have complained that the car is hard to drive as it is, and fans don’t like the look.
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Just an FYI on Jimmie’s status at Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson signed a contract extension with Hendrick through 2015.
His present contract was set to expire after the end of the 2010 season.
Also in the contract extenstion news is that Lowe’s reupped with Hendrick and Jimmie as being the primary sponsor on the No. 48 Chevy through 2013.
Since we’re talking contracts, remember, Mark Martin is signed through 2011, Dale Earnhardt Jr. still has 3 years left in his contract and Jeff Gordon is just a given… isn’t he?
Contract negotiations have begun with Chad Knaus.
Joining the press corp of reporters on teleconference the other day was Rick Hendrick. The owner of Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, and now four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jimmie Johnson.
Rick Hendrick and his organization made NASCAR history at the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson clinched his fourth title in four years, something no other NASCAR driver has done in its history.
RICK HENDRICK: It was a great weekend. We’re very, very thankful to be able to close the deal.
Q. You’ve got these records under your belt, your team finished one, two, three in the points this year, (NBaP: First time a team has done that in NASCAR) you have a four-time consecutive champion. You’ve got two four-time champions under your belt. What goals do you have possibly that you could fulfill next?
RICK HENDRICK: My priority right now is Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 team. We’re working on them to try to make that team stronger and get all four teams in the Chase.
Seeing the competition get stronger, like the Childress and Gibbs and the Penske cars that it’s going to be a dog fight.
But we’re very, very thankful of what we’ve gotten done. These guys kind of set their own goals. You know, I believe that as soon as they finish this one Chad was thinking about number five, and Jeff and Steve are thinking about beating those guys. The planning and the execution have already started.
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Jimmie Johnson won the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship and by doing that, he’s the first driver in the 61 year history of NASCAR to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship title 4 years in a row. He stands alone in the record books. And we the fans were here to be a part of that event. What awesomeness be actually watch this happen.
This achievement seems more monumental than yesteryear because the parity that NASCAR has tried to deploy has pretty much affected everyone except the Lowe’s No. 48 team. The combined keen eye of Chad Knaus and wheel skills of Jimmie Johnson, supported by a dedicated Hendrick Motorsports team has made this team shine throughout the last four years.
No one can take this from them, ever.
During the race there were a few instances of entertainment. Juan Pablo Montoya thwacked Tony Stewart, then Tony came down on Montoya in response, inadvertantly cutting his tire. Then when Montoya, acting like Hamlin did on Saturday with Keselowski, got back on track, he blatantly spun Stewart… getting himself a 2-lap penalty.
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This is part 2 of a 2 part series from a media teleconference interview that Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson participated in with the media… huh, that’s redundant. Media teleconference, with the media. Eh… It’s Friday!
PART 2 of 2 (See part 1 of the Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson intervew)
Q: In terms of sort of intensity of sitting atop the pit box, where does that race rank?
CHAD KNAUS: Right now not as intense as Homestead this weekend is going to be.
The one thing that I think you have to have in this industry is a short term memory. I can’t exactly tell you how that all played out that weekend. I know the stress level was high and intensity was high. The 97 car sat on the pole, the 24 car qualified well, we qualified well.
Q; Ray Evernham said that in order to be a really great crew chief you’ve got to have the willingness to kind of give up the other portions of your life while you’re doing it. Do you find that’s true, in order to be really dedicated to the team, that you have to let some other things go?
ALAN GUSTAFSON: Yeah, it’s definitely a balance, and those are decisions that you’ve got to make. … Somebody is going to dedicate their life 24/7, 365, to their trade and their sport and their craft and they’re going to continuously get better.
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This if the first of a 2 part series
On Tuesday Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson were gracious enough to participate in a media teleconference to chat about a few things.
Hmm, what could be on everyone’s minds this week? Let’s find out! The following are excerpts from the teleconference.
How Alan Gustafson Views How 2009 Went
It’s been a real successful season for us. You know, getting Mark on board was obviously a huge step in the right direction, and being able to win five races and contend down to the wire for the championship and have a shot at Homestead has been good. It’s been a great season, and the guys have accomplished a lot and really looking forward to going to Homestead. It’s a really fun track to race on.
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