muggle not
Team Owner
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
- Messages
- 10,253
- Points
- 1,033
What do you think?????
Johnson Is Better Off As Lone Entry
By TONY FABRIZIO
It's probably coincidence that Hendrick Motorsports, with only Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Championship, leads the standings, while Roush Racing, with five drivers, doesn't have a guy in the top three.
Even so, it has become apparent heading to Sunday's UAW 500 at Talladega that Johnson has some advantages over his Roush rivals.
Johnson, as Hendrick's only title hope, is getting the company's best cars, strongest engines and first technical improvements. If he needed, say, a faster right-tire changer, he could probably snap his fingers.
The best and brightest of Hendrick's 500 employees are tuned into Johnson's title bid. Robbie Loomis' switch from Jeff Gordon's crew chief to consultant on the No. 48 team is only one example.
"We have every resource at Hendrick focused in on the championship," Johnson said Tuesday. "I'm not sure if we could quantify what each one is worth, but Robbie Loomis, Rex Stump chassis engineer, Ken Howes vice president of competition, Doug Duchardt VP of development, the entire engine shop and all the top designers and engineers we have there, the other crew chiefs we have, they're all trying to help the 48."
Roush, with five drivers racing for the same prize, has to distribute its cars, engines and brainpower equally.
Of course, there are four other teams in the Chase. Joe Gibbs Racing has Tony Stewart in and two drivers out, but JGR doesn't have the depth or internal cooperation that Hendrick has. Penske Racing South has two drivers in the Chase, Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman, who don't like each other. Evernham Motorsports has Jeremy Mayfield in and Kasey Kahne out, and Mayfield doesn't have much hope.
No team has the dynamics that Hendrick does: one strong team in and four strong and willing-to-help teams out. That was evident at Dover, where Johnson blew to victory and then credited teammate Kyle Busch for collecting the data during a Dover test that helped give him the right setup.
The cooperation factor could play out on the track, too. Johnson should get help from his teammates, although Busch didn't make his Dover win easy. But the Roush drivers, at least at this early stage of the Chase, can't afford to give each other two inches.
"I think I'm in the best situation," Johnson said. "I have all of my teammates outside of the Chase. I think it puts me in a little better position, where, if you look at the Roush guys, when it comes down to three laps to go, if they're running one through five, each one of those guys needs the points. They want to win the race to get maximum points. And there's no guarantee their teammate is going to be content with second."
Matt Kenseth, one of the Roush five, insists the Roush teams are working together as well as they did during the regular season. But he concedes there could be some conflicts of interest.
"Yeah, there may be other things that could pop up in the next eight weeks that could be a little advantage to Hendrick because they only have one car in," he said. "Like, if Jeff Gordon's leading the race, and he lets Jimmie lead and get the bonus points because he's not in it -- things like that.
"But I think as far as the testing and sharing information and all of that, I think that would be the same if all of the Roush cars were in the Chase, or none of them were in."
FIRST DOWN: Hall of Fame Racing, owned by ex-Dallas Cowboys Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, along with Bill Saunders, has hired Philippe Lopez as its first crew chief. Lopez was working in research and development at Richard Childress Racing and was a crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Texas Instruments has signed on as a primary sponsor, and Joe Gibbs Racing has agreed to supply cars and engines. The team doesn't have a driver.
"Have a lot to do between now and the 2006 Daytona 500," said Lopez, who was born in France and grew up in San Antonio, Texas.
Johnson Is Better Off As Lone Entry
By TONY FABRIZIO
It's probably coincidence that Hendrick Motorsports, with only Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Championship, leads the standings, while Roush Racing, with five drivers, doesn't have a guy in the top three.
Even so, it has become apparent heading to Sunday's UAW 500 at Talladega that Johnson has some advantages over his Roush rivals.
Johnson, as Hendrick's only title hope, is getting the company's best cars, strongest engines and first technical improvements. If he needed, say, a faster right-tire changer, he could probably snap his fingers.
The best and brightest of Hendrick's 500 employees are tuned into Johnson's title bid. Robbie Loomis' switch from Jeff Gordon's crew chief to consultant on the No. 48 team is only one example.
"We have every resource at Hendrick focused in on the championship," Johnson said Tuesday. "I'm not sure if we could quantify what each one is worth, but Robbie Loomis, Rex Stump chassis engineer, Ken Howes vice president of competition, Doug Duchardt VP of development, the entire engine shop and all the top designers and engineers we have there, the other crew chiefs we have, they're all trying to help the 48."
Roush, with five drivers racing for the same prize, has to distribute its cars, engines and brainpower equally.
Of course, there are four other teams in the Chase. Joe Gibbs Racing has Tony Stewart in and two drivers out, but JGR doesn't have the depth or internal cooperation that Hendrick has. Penske Racing South has two drivers in the Chase, Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman, who don't like each other. Evernham Motorsports has Jeremy Mayfield in and Kasey Kahne out, and Mayfield doesn't have much hope.
No team has the dynamics that Hendrick does: one strong team in and four strong and willing-to-help teams out. That was evident at Dover, where Johnson blew to victory and then credited teammate Kyle Busch for collecting the data during a Dover test that helped give him the right setup.
The cooperation factor could play out on the track, too. Johnson should get help from his teammates, although Busch didn't make his Dover win easy. But the Roush drivers, at least at this early stage of the Chase, can't afford to give each other two inches.
"I think I'm in the best situation," Johnson said. "I have all of my teammates outside of the Chase. I think it puts me in a little better position, where, if you look at the Roush guys, when it comes down to three laps to go, if they're running one through five, each one of those guys needs the points. They want to win the race to get maximum points. And there's no guarantee their teammate is going to be content with second."
Matt Kenseth, one of the Roush five, insists the Roush teams are working together as well as they did during the regular season. But he concedes there could be some conflicts of interest.
"Yeah, there may be other things that could pop up in the next eight weeks that could be a little advantage to Hendrick because they only have one car in," he said. "Like, if Jeff Gordon's leading the race, and he lets Jimmie lead and get the bonus points because he's not in it -- things like that.
"But I think as far as the testing and sharing information and all of that, I think that would be the same if all of the Roush cars were in the Chase, or none of them were in."
FIRST DOWN: Hall of Fame Racing, owned by ex-Dallas Cowboys Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman, along with Bill Saunders, has hired Philippe Lopez as its first crew chief. Lopez was working in research and development at Richard Childress Racing and was a crew chief at Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Texas Instruments has signed on as a primary sponsor, and Joe Gibbs Racing has agreed to supply cars and engines. The team doesn't have a driver.
"Have a lot to do between now and the 2006 Daytona 500," said Lopez, who was born in France and grew up in San Antonio, Texas.
