Tough to find a victim in Junior/Edwards flap
By Marty Snider, Special to NASCAR.COM
August 21, 2006
02:47 PM EDT (18:47 GMT)
It was a moment I will never forget.
Minutes after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had wrecked Carl Edwards to win Saturday's Busch Series race at Michigan there was still a palpable feeling of "man, did you see that," hanging in the air. There I was standing on pit road with Robby Gordon when Junior climbed out of his car in Victory Lane to a resounding chorus of boos. We turned to each other and said, "Wow!"
For a while Carl Edwards was the victim this past weekend and for a while Junior deserved the boos. Edwards had the best car in Saturday's Busch Series race and yes -- Junior did wreck him to win. In that regard, I feel bad for Carl Edwards. He has been the victim too many times this season, twice just in the past month of racing (Pocono with Tony Stewart and this past weekend).
But no matter how many times you are victimized, you cannot use your car to retaliate. Once you retaliate you're no longer the victim, you're the perpetrator. It's a hard lesson Edwards is learning. It's a lesson that he will learn this week through both his wallet and his points bank account.
The Bank of NASCAR giveth and the Bank of NASCAR taketh away and in this case rather heavily. You don't intentionally hit the favorite son.
Carl Edwards is one of NASCAR's most promising stars, his trademark winning post-race flip is marketable worldwide. The fans love him, sponsors want him and he's an awesome driver. What more could you want? But just like Kevin Harvick was reigned in early in his career, Edwards is awfully close to the same line of schooling.
Make no mistake about it -- in NASCAR's eyes Carl Edwards has two strikes against him. Even this weekend at crazy Bristol, Edwards will be afforded no mistakes. So much for that Tony Stewart payback.
When handed down, this week's penalty will hurt, but he likely won't be forced to sit out a race. But his next retaliation will likely come with a vacation.
Penske mess
There's no other way to say it -- things were just a mess with Penske Racing and the No. 2 team this past weekend. Kurt Busch was extremely upset about the way his cars handled all weekend. The way the Penske engineers like to set up a race car just does not seem to jive with Busch's driving style, the intermediate track program has especially struggled.
The verbal jabs Busch was giving his crew over the radio on Sunday were softened by the venerable Roger Penske constantly trying to keep everyone calm.
It's no secret that both Penske teams are really struggling this season. In the past, they have always been able to engineer their way out of their problems but the technical expertise just doesn't seem to be working this season. So here's one suggestion that could possibly cure a couple of problems at the same time.
In my opinion one of the most talented crew chiefs in the business might be available and would be an outstanding hire for Penske.
After he failed to get Jamie McMurray's team going in the right direction early in the season, Jimmy Fennig was in essence benched by Roush Racing. Sent to the Busch Series to run Matt Kenseth's program, Fennig is extremely under utilized. How can that much talent be at home watching races on Sundays?
Teams pay big bucks to land someone who can not only set up a race car, but more importantly call a good race on Sunday's and here is one without a Cup Series job. In the case of Penske, sure they could use a little setup help, but more importantly Busch really needs someone who understands what he's all about. What he wants in a race car, what he means when he says he can't drive this car, and what he really means when he says he doesn't care if he pits or not.
Remember just two years ago Fennig and Busch won a championship together -- proof enough that the two know how to get along together and win races at the same time.
So here's my grand suggestion: Why not keep Busch's team intact with current crew chief Roy McCauley running the chassis show and Fennig calling the race day shots? McCauley is one of the smartest people in the garage area, Fennig one of the wisest and Busch one of the most talented -- sounds like a good combination to me.
Sad day
I talked with Hermie Sadler this past weekend and he told me that this will likely be his last season in Nextel Cup. It's just too hard to keep up. It's not fun for the independent racer to drive in Nextel Cup anymore. It takes too much money, it hard to make the field, and you just can't be competitive. Who wants to go out there and run 40th every week? Unfortunately, it's a sign of the times in Nextel Cup Series racing.
Next season, we will see teams with tremendous financial backing not making the field. Drivers from multiple-car teams will fail to qualify for races in 2007, simple math tells you that.
But the day when the independent racer becomes an anomaly is a sad one to me. I've been there with my cousin (Jay Hedgecock) who was a local North Carolina short track racer. When we tried to go make a Busch Series race or a Cup race, it was a big deal to us. We would plan for a whole year and work for several months on one car, for one race. To make the race was like winning the lottery.
It used to be fun every year to see the likes of Delma Cowart try make the field for the Daytona 500. He rarely did, but every February for years he never gave up the dream. That day and age in Nextel Cup is over. Some call it progress -- bigger money, bigger teams, better competition. I call it sad.
By Marty Snider, Special to NASCAR.COM
August 21, 2006
02:47 PM EDT (18:47 GMT)
It was a moment I will never forget.
Minutes after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had wrecked Carl Edwards to win Saturday's Busch Series race at Michigan there was still a palpable feeling of "man, did you see that," hanging in the air. There I was standing on pit road with Robby Gordon when Junior climbed out of his car in Victory Lane to a resounding chorus of boos. We turned to each other and said, "Wow!"
For a while Carl Edwards was the victim this past weekend and for a while Junior deserved the boos. Edwards had the best car in Saturday's Busch Series race and yes -- Junior did wreck him to win. In that regard, I feel bad for Carl Edwards. He has been the victim too many times this season, twice just in the past month of racing (Pocono with Tony Stewart and this past weekend).
But no matter how many times you are victimized, you cannot use your car to retaliate. Once you retaliate you're no longer the victim, you're the perpetrator. It's a hard lesson Edwards is learning. It's a lesson that he will learn this week through both his wallet and his points bank account.
The Bank of NASCAR giveth and the Bank of NASCAR taketh away and in this case rather heavily. You don't intentionally hit the favorite son.
Carl Edwards is one of NASCAR's most promising stars, his trademark winning post-race flip is marketable worldwide. The fans love him, sponsors want him and he's an awesome driver. What more could you want? But just like Kevin Harvick was reigned in early in his career, Edwards is awfully close to the same line of schooling.
Make no mistake about it -- in NASCAR's eyes Carl Edwards has two strikes against him. Even this weekend at crazy Bristol, Edwards will be afforded no mistakes. So much for that Tony Stewart payback.
When handed down, this week's penalty will hurt, but he likely won't be forced to sit out a race. But his next retaliation will likely come with a vacation.
Penske mess
There's no other way to say it -- things were just a mess with Penske Racing and the No. 2 team this past weekend. Kurt Busch was extremely upset about the way his cars handled all weekend. The way the Penske engineers like to set up a race car just does not seem to jive with Busch's driving style, the intermediate track program has especially struggled.
The verbal jabs Busch was giving his crew over the radio on Sunday were softened by the venerable Roger Penske constantly trying to keep everyone calm.
It's no secret that both Penske teams are really struggling this season. In the past, they have always been able to engineer their way out of their problems but the technical expertise just doesn't seem to be working this season. So here's one suggestion that could possibly cure a couple of problems at the same time.
In my opinion one of the most talented crew chiefs in the business might be available and would be an outstanding hire for Penske.
After he failed to get Jamie McMurray's team going in the right direction early in the season, Jimmy Fennig was in essence benched by Roush Racing. Sent to the Busch Series to run Matt Kenseth's program, Fennig is extremely under utilized. How can that much talent be at home watching races on Sundays?
Teams pay big bucks to land someone who can not only set up a race car, but more importantly call a good race on Sunday's and here is one without a Cup Series job. In the case of Penske, sure they could use a little setup help, but more importantly Busch really needs someone who understands what he's all about. What he wants in a race car, what he means when he says he can't drive this car, and what he really means when he says he doesn't care if he pits or not.
Remember just two years ago Fennig and Busch won a championship together -- proof enough that the two know how to get along together and win races at the same time.
So here's my grand suggestion: Why not keep Busch's team intact with current crew chief Roy McCauley running the chassis show and Fennig calling the race day shots? McCauley is one of the smartest people in the garage area, Fennig one of the wisest and Busch one of the most talented -- sounds like a good combination to me.
Sad day
I talked with Hermie Sadler this past weekend and he told me that this will likely be his last season in Nextel Cup. It's just too hard to keep up. It's not fun for the independent racer to drive in Nextel Cup anymore. It takes too much money, it hard to make the field, and you just can't be competitive. Who wants to go out there and run 40th every week? Unfortunately, it's a sign of the times in Nextel Cup Series racing.
Next season, we will see teams with tremendous financial backing not making the field. Drivers from multiple-car teams will fail to qualify for races in 2007, simple math tells you that.
But the day when the independent racer becomes an anomaly is a sad one to me. I've been there with my cousin (Jay Hedgecock) who was a local North Carolina short track racer. When we tried to go make a Busch Series race or a Cup race, it was a big deal to us. We would plan for a whole year and work for several months on one car, for one race. To make the race was like winning the lottery.
It used to be fun every year to see the likes of Delma Cowart try make the field for the Daytona 500. He rarely did, but every February for years he never gave up the dream. That day and age in Nextel Cup is over. Some call it progress -- bigger money, bigger teams, better competition. I call it sad.
