Joe Gibbs Racing swaps crew chiefs; Hamlin and Grubb part ways

haywired said:
If they get Matt's up to snuff, that will be good enough for me. Most of the problems, if I remember right, were valve springs and maybe they started getting them from a different vendor.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the valve spring thing was more of an issue Daytona '13 and into the open motor season. TRD actually went to Germany to address the issue with the manufacturer, and in customary TRD fashion kept the resolution to the situation quiet. Shortly thereafter, Toyota was reeling off wins, but blowing motors. Matt had the light con rod issue, and then they scaled back on HP to try to get everything in order. They were slow, and then got a bit better toward the end of the season. This year, they took a conservative approach. The new qualifying rules and Chase format kind of caught them off guard, and you saw what happened. I believe that they have been balls to the walls on the motor for next year (as has everybody). TRD is hell bent on the complete package for next year. This year was painful. You saw at least a couple of races where Matt was in position to win, but simply did not have the car. Again, I feel like a portion of the blame has to be be on JGR given that they never figured out the chassis until late in the season. I think that next year's package will be more to their drivers' liking, and that TRD will be ready. I am looking forward to a huge season. Matt knows a thing or two about how to get around Daytona. Just sayin'.
 
Revman said:
Yeah, the valve spring thing was more of an issue Daytona '13 and into the open motor season. TRD actually went to Germany to address the issue with the manufacturer, and in customary TRD fashion kept the resolution to the situation quiet. Shortly thereafter, Toyota was reeling off wins, but blowing motors. Matt had the light con rod issue, and then they scaled back on HP to try to get everything in order. They were slow, and then got a bit better toward the end of the season. This year, they took a conservative approach. The new qualifying rules and Chase format kind of caught them off guard, and you saw what happened. I believe that they have been balls to the walls on the motor for next year (as has everybody). TRD is hell bent on the complete package for next year. This year was painful. You saw at least a couple of races where Matt was in position to win, but simply did not have the car. Again, I feel like a portion of the blame has to be be on JGR given that they never figured out the chassis until late in the season. I think that next year's package will be more to their drivers' liking, and that TRD will be ready. I am looking forward to a huge season. Matt knows a thing or two about how to get around Daytona. Just sayin'.
Click to expand...
There were a couple of teams that didn't have the chassis figured out, JJ and Jiminy Cricket weren't their usual dominate selves and Harvick was the only good SHR car, the Roush cars were :bleh:. The only good Fords were Pete's.
 
haywired said:
There were a couple of teams that didn't have the chassis figured out, JJ and Jiminy Cricket weren't their usual dominate selves and Harvick was the only good SHR car, the Roush cars were :bleh:. The only good Fords were Pete's.
Click to expand...

Such an interesting proposition to me....those set ups. Obviously, Champion Harvick took to it like a duck to water while Childers got a lot of credit. Wondering how much of all of that was just package suited to Champion Harvick's driving style. We will see if he can adapt. Thinking that JJ will be back in the game as will JGR. The CC swap will get some credit, but again, I am wondering how much of this is simply the package. At the point the driver hates it, I wonder if the CC tries to give it a feel the driver likes, or if the driver changes his style if possible. It would seem that they would need to meet somewhere in the middle, but that would really screw up the communication when you think about it.
 
Revman said:
Such an interesting proposition to me....those set ups. Obviously, Champion Harvick took to it like a duck to water while Childers got a lot of credit. Wondering how much of all of that was just package suited to Champion Harvick's driving style. We will see if he can adapt. Thinking that JJ will be back in the game as will JGR. The CC swap will get some credit, but again, I am wondering how much of this is simply the package. At the point the driver hates it, I wonder if the CC tries to give it a feel the driver likes, or if the driver changes his style if possible. It would seem that they would need to meet somewhere in the middle, but that would really screw up the communication when you think about it.
Click to expand...
There were a handful of teams and drivers that had it figured out at the rest were playing catch up. It will be interesting to see who can maintain and who will catch up.
 
haywired said:
There were a handful of teams and drivers that had it figured out at the rest were playing catch up. It will be interesting to see who can maintain and who will catch up.
Click to expand...

But is it just about figuring it out? Last year's car had an incessant "push" to it. I don't think anybody ever got that out of it. That's why your drivers who are agreeable to such a feel excelled, and some of the other big guns never got it right. Jimmie is viewed as having an off year. I disagree. Four wins in a car he couldn't stand isn't bad. I do believe that the new rules package is designed to allow the push to be tuned out in addition to increasing competition. The question becomes, will Champion Harvick maintain his stranglehold on the field if/when everybody else starts getting better? Will the new package give Champion Harvick the feel he liked this year? Can he adjust if it doesn't?
 
Revman said:
Such an interesting proposition to me....those set ups. Obviously, Champion Harvick took to it like a duck to water while Childers got a lot of credit. Wondering how much of all of that was just package suited to Champion Harvick's driving style. We will see if he can adapt. Thinking that JJ will be back in the game as will JGR. The CC swap will get some credit, but again, I am wondering how much of this is simply the package. At the point the driver hates it, I wonder if the CC tries to give it a feel the driver likes, or if the driver changes his style if possible. It would seem that they would need to meet somewhere in the middle, but that would really screw up the communication when you think about it.
Click to expand...

I think the car has a lot to do with who sits on top. JJ didn't have any history but he sure got the most from the COT early versions while Junior and Jeff Gordon fell of the map. The funny thing is that Jeff Gordon would have won a couple more championship had they kept the scoring system from the 90's. Even in his bad years he was top 5.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom