On Type Delay: Loudon I

Often when I think of New Hampshire, I think of the beautiful mountains and countryside. I live in Colorado, and love it, so I must be a fan of beautiful mountains and countryside. After that, since I'm a racing fan, I think of New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The first think (sic) that comes to mind is how great it is that the New England race fans pack the seats at NHMS every time the NASCAR Cup series races there. Okay, maybe they didn't pack it this time--not everybody has the money to go to races these days--but it did seem as though there were nearly as many people on the concourse between the seats and the fence as there were empty seats in turn three.

There is also this predisposition to think of the races at New Hampshire as being a parade of cars going single file all the way around the track. But those days are over. The track at Concord Loudon seems to be one of those that somehow fits the new car better than it does the aero cars that were in use there before 2007. As a result, we have seen much more side by side racing and racing for the lead in the more recent races there than we have in the past.

Because qualifying was cancelled due to rain, the race starts with the cars in position according to owner points. That puts Tony Stewart on the pole, Jeff Gordon second, Jimmie Johnson third, and so on. Gordon gets an excellent start and takes the lead right off the bat. Kurt Busch, starting in fourth, also starts well, and he is battling Gordon at every turn--excellent racing from the get go. We are also seeing, thanks to the excellent camera coverage from TNT, lots of racing throughout the pack, with cars going three wide at times. Kurt Busch takes the lead on lap 7.

There are three incidents before the scheduled competition caution on lap 35, so we get to see three of the new double file restarts, and the competition caution is rescheduled for lap 45. Perhaps the fact that the double file restarts and the wave-around keep the cars closer together breeds more cautions, but it does produce some interesting racing, and it is fun to watch. No restrictor plates are necessary to keep the cars close together.

Things settle down, eventually, and we get a long green flag run. Even though cars get spread out to some extent, and cars begin to get lapped, the lapped traffic holds up the leaders. Jimmie Johnson, who took the lead on lap 50, does get held up and has Jeff Gordon on his tail.

But though Gordon races him for the lead, Johnson maintains position, until a caution for debris comes out on lap 152. Johnson stalls at the beginning of pit road, most of the leaders take two tires, and the top five at the restart on lap 158 are Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

It looks like Jr's new team is beginning to gel. He has a car he likes, and is competing well with the top drivers. He even gets a chance to take a look at the lead when Gordon and Kurt Busch bump shortly after the restart. Things are looking up for Jr Nation.

There is another caution on lap 169, after the front left wheel on Paul Menard's car locks up and he goes into the wall. The leaders stay out, and the restart at lap 174 is led by Jeff Gordon, followed by Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Tony Stewart, and Martin Truex, Jr. Jr gets a bad start, spinning his rear tires, the Truex checks up behind him, and Kyle Busch gives the haters something more to hate him for. Truex, McMurray, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers, and David Ragan all get caught up in the result. We'll let the haters draw their own conclusions, with the reminder that hate kills and doesn't make one look very smart. Anyway, the race is red flagged for cleanup.

The race returns to caution and pit road is open on lap 177. The leaders stay out, while Ryan Newman, Joey Logano, Casey Mears, and David Reutimann, among others stop. Casey Mears will make several pit stops for repairs and stay on the lead lap.

Jeff Gordon leads the restart on lap 180. Kurt Busch is second, Tony Stewart third, Jimmie Johnson fourth, and Dale Jr is fifth. As on every restart with Gordon first and Busch second, there is a battle for the lead, and Gordon once again prevails. There is another caution as Joey Logano cuts a tire on lap 182.

The restart is on lap 187, with Jeff Gordon still leading. The first four remain the same, but Mark Martin has moved up to fifth. Tony Stewart gets by Kurt Busch, as Busch gets loose. Jimmie Johnson gets caught up in Busch's bad fortune and loses five spots. Then we get another caution on lap 189 as Scott Speed goes into the wall. We are getting worried about rain, at this point. Green flag at lap 195, and the leaders are Gordon, Stewart, Kurt Busch, Sam Hornish, Jr, and Mark Martin.

We get to see some great racing for the lead as Stewart and Gordon battle it out. Racing doesn't get much better for fans than watching two of NASCAR's greatest drivers go wheel to wheel against each other. Stewart takes the lead on lap 196. The race goes on another long green flag run, as Stewart leads. Gordon nearly catches him a few times, but can't pass. him.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 233, when Kyle Busch pits. The leaders all pit together on lap 235. Tony Stewart's crew gets hung up on the right front tire, causing him to lose a second or two in the pits. After the pit stops cycle through, Ryan Newman and Joey Logano have not pitted, putting Newman in the lead, and Logano second. Their crew chiefs are taking a gamble that the rain would come soon. That's the way it works--if you have a car that is not as good as those that have led most of the race, go for position and run the car until it rains or it runs out of gas.

Newman holds the lead until lap 263, when he runs out of fuel. Joey Logano takes the lead. Jeff Gordon has raced his way to second place, and Tony Stewart is in fifth. On lap 266, caution is called for rain. The race goes red as the track gets too wet on lap 273. The race is called, and Joey Logano gets his first Cup victory, and is now the youngest driver ever to win a race in the Cup series.

It is always good to see a rookie get his first win. Logano has come a long way since he was allowed to take the fender whiskers off of his car, and he did what he needed to win. Greg Zippadelli, his crew chief, should be proud. His gamble paid off.

The final top ten finishing order was Logano, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, who ran a great race for Penske, David Reutimann, who also stayed out during that last green flag pit cycle, Tony Stewart, who was making a big move to the front when the rain came, Brad Keselowski, another driver who didn't pit when everyone else did, Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish, Jr, also driving for Penske and whom nobody thought would get this good, Jimmie Johnson, and Kasey Kahne. Tony Stewart retains the top spot in the standings, and the race to be in the top twelve is beginning to shape up.

Again, TNT's camera work was wonderful, and we wish the other networks could do what TNT has done in that department. The next race is July 4 at Daytona, where the double file restart should be interesting.

The height of stupidity

It is one thing to cheat to win a race. Everybody, it seems, cheats in some way, at least tweaking the "gray areas" in the rules. But they are cheating to get an edge on the competition, not to reduce their chances of winning a race. That is, unless they are very prone to making dumb mistakes.

After last week's Nationwide race at Michigan, NASCAR planned on running chassis dyno tests to see how much horsepower was being transferred to the rear wheels of selected cars from the race. . Before they ran the test, the NASCAR technicians inspected the cars and found that the #20 and #18 cars of Joe Gibbs racing had been tampered with. To be specific, a magnet was placed between the accelerator pedal and the firewall on each car, to prevent the throttle from opening all the way, therefore preventing the engine from producing the full amount of horsepower of which it is capable. In effect, the two teams were caught sandbagging.

This raises the question "why?" Sandbagging in any sport works against the competitive spirit of the sport. Throwing a race is a blow to the integrity of the sport. If a race could be thrown in such a way, it raises questions of gambling involvement, for example.

The two teams had nothing to hide. The cars and the engines were built within the specifications NASCAR requires, and there was nothing in the set up of the cars that would cause a penalty. Except for the extra accelerator stop.

Taking a look back, after the Nationwide race at Chicagoland a few weeks ago, NASCAR pulled the motors from nine different cars and engine dyno-ed them. Because the engine from David Reutiman's Toyota produced 2 horsepower more than David Ragan's Ford, NASCAR saw fit to even things down by implementing a new rule that required the teams with engines that had a cylinder gap of 4.08 inches or more to use a spacer with smaller air intake holes. This reduced the Toyota's output by about sixteen horsepower. Toyota's hp production was accomplished within the rules, but NASCAR had to implement a new one in order for the horsepower advantage to transfer to the Jack Roush Nationwide Series cars. It doesn't matter if that is fair or not, rules are rules. Personally, we would have liked to see the other teams step up to the level of Toyota, rather than seeing Toyota have to step down.

Last Saturday, it was fairly obvious that Toyota had found a way to overcome the disadvantage imposed on them by NASCAR, as the JGR cars could nearly keep up with the Fords on the straightaways. Even though the cars had passed pre-race inspection, somebody in the Gibbs organization saw fit to limit the amount of throttle that could be used during the race. Whether it was to avoid further restrictions, allow an excuse to protest Ford's horsepower advantage, or to hide technology from the competition, it was just plain wrong. Nobody will argue that point--it possibly changed the outcome of the race. If Tony Stewart had been able to use the full throttle, he arguably would have won the race.

It was blatantly stupid. The team's Nationwide series engine tuner, both car chiefs and both crew chiefs were suspended indefinitely from NASCAR. Both crew chiefs were fined $50,000 each by NASCAR, the teams each lost 150 owners points, and Joey Logano and Tony Stewart lost 150 championship points. In addition, Joe Gibbs has promised that those who were responsible for the incident would be fined within the organization as well.

It should be noted that neither driver was involved in the incident, if they were, NASCAR would likely have suspended them as well, and there would have been a monetary fine. Joe Gibbs also acknowledged that neither driver knew anything about the incident.

But for David Rogers, Jr, his brilliant career has ended, all because of a moment of extreme stupidity.

NASCAR's first points race in the rain

It is much better to be sceptical of something, and be pleasently surprised afterwards, than it is to be optimistic and be bitterly disappointed. This is what we have learned over the last two weeks.

NASCAR had to have a lot of guts to experiment so soon after the tragic excuse for a race at the Brickyard last week. As far as this fan is concerned, it paid off.

NASCAR's experiment was the Nationwide Series NAPA 200 race in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since rain was forecast in the area, NASCAR made the decision earlier this week to go with rain tires if they needed to. They did need them eight laps into the race.

There were some stumbles, and a little bit of stammering. But they somehow got it right. The first competition turn in the rain was not the disaster predicted by some--nobody crashed on the first turn--and there was actually some passing. In fact, Marcos Ambrose immediately passed Scott Pruett for the lead.

One of the things the teams learned was that, in the rain, they wanted the car to roll more as it turned, as the weight shift actually helped the car through the turns. So, some teams disconnected the sway bars when they switched tires. When it became evident that the track would stay wet, the other teams followed suit.

There were very few mishaps under green, and more racing than was expected. The drivers who had little experience in rain, gradually learned what they could and could not do, while the ran veterans ran quite competitively. Marcos Ambrose took a huge lead, but there was plenty of hard racing going on for second through tenth places behind him.

There were actually green-flag pit stops. Ron Fellows, driving the #5 car for JR Motorsports, pitted for fuel twelve laps ahead of schedule, hoping to gain positions when the other teams pitted. While the rest of the field pitted, beginning with around thirty-four laps to go, some teams took tires, while others took fuel only, and others had to stay in the pits to fix the windshield wipers or disengage the sway bars, if they hadn't already done so. Marcos Ambrose got caught speeding, on both the entry and exit on the pit lane. The drive through penalty didn't hurt him that much, as, after the pit stops cycled through, he came out in third. But third place was forty-seven seconds behind race leader Ron Fellows at that point.

Then the rain started to come down very hard. There is a point where the race just has to stop because of too much rain. The visibility was very bad, between the rain and the lack of light, so the caution came out. The visibility was so bad that Jaques Villeneuve hit the car in front of him, under caution, hard enough to damage his car beyond the ability to finish the race. This is where we learned that there is not much difference at all between a Villleneuve fan from Quebec and a Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fan from North Carolina. The stands more than half-emptied at that point as the disappionted Villeneuve fans decided the race was over for them.

As it turned out, the race was over for everybody. Joey Logano, who had been doing a spectacular job in his first road race and rain race, running as high as fifth, lost traction, still under caution, and hit the wall hard. NASCAR red-flagged the race with 23 laps to go, giving Fellows his fourth Nationwide Series victory. Not bad for a part-time driver.

NASCAR's first ever points race in the rain was not a disappointment. We really didn't think the 3400 lb cars could put on a decent show in wet conditions, but they did. It wasn't the jump-up-and- down-yell-at-the-TV-set good of the the races we saw at Phoenix, Talladega, Lowe's, Richmond, and Martinsville, but it was chuckle-in-appreciation-and-rub-the-hands-together-in-gleeful-satisfaction good. There was more action than anticipated, and less tragedy than expected. And plenty of drama.

NASCAR had to put on a good show after the Brickyard, and, even though it wasn't the best race ever, making history was good this time.

The New Young Guns are making their mark

Has anyone noticed how exciting the Nationwide Series races have become now that the series regulars are becoming more competitive? With the new "Young Guns," such as Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Kelly Bires, and Brad Coleman, and the veterans becoming more competitive, a championship or even a race win is no longer a given for the "claim jumpers"--the four Cup drivers who are racing full time in the Nationwide Series. This is what we mean when we write about "evening up" rather than "evening down."

Drivers like Jason Keller, Jason Leffler, Mike Bliss, and David Stremme are the ones who will ultimately give the series its own identity, but the Cup bound young guns have given notice that if you are going to be competitive in the Nationwide Series, you better be prepared to race hard and be able to take some dents, dings, and bruises.

It would be nice if the Cup teams were limited as to how many cars they can run in one weekend in all three of the top series, but we don't advocate that NASCAR should tell any teams at any level what drivers they can use. Just imagine if NASCAR did do that. It would start with "you can't put Dale Earnhardt, Jr in the #5 Nationwide Series car at Daytona, because he is a Cup driver, and Michelle Theriault needs a ride." That would open a door for them to tell HMS, "Jeff Gordon already has eighty wins and four championships, so you can't race him in Cup any more. Instead, you have to put Landon Cassill in the #24 Sprint Cup car."

Get my point now?

That is a moot point, now that the Nationwide Series teams and drivers are stepping up. Drivers like Keselowski and Logano have said things like, "it doesn't matter who is in that car, it is just another car I have to pass."

I just love that attitude.

Returning to the subject of this post, which is supposed to be about the Camping World RV Rental 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, it seemed like the best race so far this year for the Nationwide Series. The racing started early, as it should at a one mile track in a 250 mile race. Pit strategy shouldn't really matter here--ideally such a race is about "go-go-go."

And Brad Keselowski went, leading the race from the pole for nearly 170 laps. Logano, was right behind him for many of those laps. With around eighty laps to go, Logano makes a move to race Keselowski for the lead. They race side by side for several laps, then, unfortunately, Logano gets loose while trying to pass Keselowski low. Keselowski's car happens to be in a position to keep Logano's car from hitting the wall, but unfortunately that causes damage to his car, and spins him out.

This was really unfortunate, because it messed up what looked like a great race between two of the Nationwide Series' top young guns, but when they are racing hard like that, something bad has to happen. Unfortunate, also, because now Dale Jr fans have another reason to hate another JGR driver. We have been pulling for Keselowski, because he has a chance to be the first series regular to win a championship in three years, so we didn't care much for this chain of events, either.

Another reason it is unfortunate is that it gives the Series' points leader, Clint Bowyer, the race lead. Another claim jumper, Carl Edwards soon catches him, and hits him hard with around thirty laps to go to pass him. Meanwhile, Keselowski has made it back to the top five, but the real threat remains to be Joey Logano, who has passed Bowyer and is running in second.

Caution with less than twenty laps to go. Logano asks his crew chief, Dave Rogers, "You know that 'give and take' thing? Is it more about taking now?"

"Yes," Rogers replies, "Take, take, take!"

But, in spite of hitting his marks perfectly, and in spite of the alleged "extra horsepower" of the Toyota engines, Logano can't catch Edwards, but does stay ahead of Bowyer, who is running third.

Joey Logano finishes the race in second place, and ends up being the only Nationwide Series driver to end up in the top five. Keselowski finishes in eighth, unable to hold his position against claim jumpers David Ragan and David Reutimann, who finish fourth and fifth respectively. It is enough to keep Keselowski in second place in the championship points, but now he is 188 points out of first, and only two points ahead of David Ragan in third.

Carl Edwards impresses us by using his victory celebration to pay tribute to Milwaukee native Alan Kulwicki, who originated the "Polish Victory Lap." Edwards takes the checkered flag and circles the track clockwise, to salute the fans, and Kulwicki. He also refuses to perform his customary back flip, because he doesn't feel it would be appropriate after the news of the death of Scott Kalitta. We have to respect him for that, it was a very honorable thing for him to show that consideration.

While we once thought Logano might be too boring to be a candidate for favorite driver when Stewart retires after next year, that thought has been changed. Logano has little respect for the veteran drivers, does not apologize, and does not even mention his slide that damaged Keselowski's car and possibly prevented Keselowski's second win of the season. A driver who does nothing more than thank his crew and mention his sponsors would be boring even if he won thirty-six races in one year, but Logano does not come across as boring at all. He, like Keselowski and many of the other Nationwide Series regulars, is in racing to do one thing, and that is to win.

With the announcement last week that Casey Mears will not be returning to race the HMS #5 car in Cup next year, we expect Hendrick to be putting Keselowski or Cassell in that car next year--most likely Keselowski. This will once again take a great driver from the Nationwide Series, which has been sorely in need of great drivers. Since Brad Keselowski has yet to race in the Cup series, we don't know for sure if this is a good move. He has shown that he can beat Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series, however, and that, somehow, justifies the claim jumpers.

The Future makes History

In what was only his third Nationwide Series race, the future of NASCAR made NASCAR history. Only twenty-two days ago, Joey Logano was too young to race in the top tier of NASCAR, and now he has become the youngest driver to win a race in one of NASCAR's premier series.

Logano, who has shown exceptional talent in racing since the age of six, passed the race dominating Kyle Busch with around forty laps to go and took off with the lead. He never looked back. With thirty-six laps to go, Kyle Busch lost the handle of his car and spun out, and Logano no longer had to look back even if he wanted to.

The feat surprised no one. It was certain that Logano, given his natural talent, would win a race. That it was in the Joe Gibbs #20 Nationwide Series car was no surprise either, for it has been the winningest team in the series, under the leadership of Dave Rogers. Four different drivers have won six races in that team.

Still, it was a moment to be marked, as Logano is expected to be the next big thing in NASCAR racing. Only time will tell if he lives up to those expectations, and, right now, it is looking as if he will.

Speaking of expectations, we can probably expect talk of Kyle Busch spinning out intentionally. Thirty-six laps was within the fuel window, for the teams to make it to the end of the race. The timing couldn't have been better. Since Busch is not running the full Nationwide Schedule, and therefore, not in the running for the championship, it could have been on his agenda to let Logano win.

But Rev' Jim's RantsnRaves remains skeptical of conspiracy theories, and even though we may have originated this particular theory, we feel that the chain of events was only a coincidence. We can only speculate as to whether Logano could have won if Kyle Busch had stayed in the race.

In the meantime, Brad Keselowski, finishing fourth in the race, has moved up to second in points in the series, 170 points out of the lead. A championship win by a series regular driving for a non-Cup team, if JR Motosports can truly be considered as such, would be just what the series needs to regain its legitimacy. For the rest of the season, we will be rooting for Keselowski to beat the "claim jumpers" from the Cup series in every race. Lets hope he can keep up the good work.

Other notable Nationwide regulars finishing in the top ten at Kentucky Motor Speedway were Scott Wimmer (2nd), Mike Wallace (3rd),Bryan Clauson (5th}, Marcos Ambrose (6th), Mike Bliss (8th), and Jason Keller (10th).