A different perspective

[buckaroo]

Many of you live outside the south, or any other part of the country that carries local interest in racing or at least NASCAR. Not having lived here for most of my life, I know how you feel, or at the very least, what you are missing. While I don't listen to the nightly shows each and every night, (actually, I only catch them whem I'm traveling in my car when they are on) I do get a different perspective on the sport that normally isn't presented. I caught a little of one of the shows tonight. I don't know whether it was Benny Parson's show or Ralph Shaheen's. I know I heard the both of them at one point and they were on different stations. So forgive me that I don't remember who's show I heard. Let's just call it CRS and let it go at that. Anyway, they had Jimmy Finnig as a guest and from what I heard, it was a great show. Yeah, if you've heard one of these shows, you've heard them all, but did you really listen to what was said? Each and every raceday, there are 43 combantants who are vying for the win, but we all know that realistically, there are only about 15 or 20 of them that are really capable of winning on raceday, and on that particular day, maybe only five or six really have a shot. It all boils down to the right setup and that's what is so important. After a 36 race season, those guys who are at the top of the points have really done something. I've heard it said that it boils down to three things for a team. One third of it is driver, one third is the crew and one third is luck. I certainly agree that those three things are important, but are they the only things that count? How about chemistry? You can have the best crew in the world, but if they don't agree with each other and can't get along, that part of the equation counts for zilch. So we must include chemistry with the crew as a part of the equation, but how much is it worth? That is something that is worth a good debate here, but we'll leave that for another thread if someone wants to start it. What I'm trying to say here is that when you listen to a crew member talk about the season, you'll hear things that you normally won't hear on TV and for the most part, on the radio. We've all heard the gripes from the crew members and drivers about how long the season is and what it does to the men, but keeping that in mind, think about what it takes to keep a top level team going all those weeks. It's got to be really hard and everyone has to stay at the top of their game. One last thing, just think about going up against Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace or any of the other top line drivers who have won and won again. It's got to be something else.

 

[pbunch]

With all due respect to Jr fans this ingrediant you speak of is missing at DEI Buck. Untill he takes the friends first , team after approach he may have a problem. Taking some of the fam out of his venture may help this cause too.

 

[DE_Wrangler_2]

Not much of an argument about something missing in the DEI teams. I'm not sure it's so much the family thing as it might be they are experimenting with setups and such trying to get an edge on the competition (remember, they did that with restrictor plates....but the competition is catching up fast). It seems when they have a bad day, they are stuck with it.......they can't seem to adjust their way out of it like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and others. That's just something I've sort of caught on to listening to how terrible things are with car and no matter what they do they can't seem to fix it..........if the car was setup similar to, say a Hendrick or Roush car, logic would tell you that they could adjust it and make it better. I think the chemistry's there........but not everyone's on the same page about what to do with the car when they are trying something new. It's going to be interesting if they ever do "solve" whatever it is they need to solve. But that's just DEI........and I don't think this thread was directed specifically at DEI.

Bucks comments are interesting.........and they do explain quite a bit about teams rearranging and reorganizing in an effort to be more competitive.

 

[Patrick9999]

If I were Earnhardt I'd tell DEI to boot those Eurys or I'm walking.

 

[Bucky Badger]

If I were Earnhardt I'd tell DEI to boot those Eurys or I'm walking.

I don't know if the problem is the Eurys, but if it is, I bet it would be hard to let family go.

 

[Patrick9999]

I don't know any of them personally but I can see/hear when people don't get along. I seen a rift there ever since Eury Sr ran him out of gas - which, IMHO, looked intentional. The Eury's just seem a bit to standoffish. Maybe it's jealousy..I don't know.

 

[Steve007]

Two years in a row they have run crappy at Homestead. Even after testing there. If they can't figure it out, they should bring in someone who can.

 

[4xchampncountin]

I tend to think that chemistry is slightly more important in a team than technical knowledge, although both are obviously important.

I believe that is what allows Robbie Loomis to do well with the 24 team. In my opinion, Jeff is a much better driver than Loomis is a crew chief. But they do seem to get along well together when Jeff is on the track. You can't have griping going on between the driver and CC when the driver's concentration is most critical (during the race). Robbie used to defer to Jeff a little too much, and I think that has hurt them in the past. Robbie finally figured out that the driver (no matter who that driver is)always wants 4 tires whether it is really a good idea or not. Jeff had to reassure him over and over that his input was welcome and critical.

While Robbie is an average crew chief at best, they won a title in 2005 and came within a few positions of winning another one this year. Sometimes a team can be better than the sum of it's parts.

 

[DE_Wrangler_2]

While Robbie is an average crew chief at best, they won a title in 2005 and came within a few positions of winning another one this year.

Man, that's a hell of a team to do that!!

 

[kat2220]

Well, I believe that a TEAM is based on the strongest member, but it IS ALL about teamwork, chemistry, and so much more.
Talent helps as well.

Great post Buckster!