So Far, The Boys Aren't Having At It

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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Interesting look at the 2012 season to date.....

Cautions have dropped 35 percent so far this season, and there's been a decided lack of on-track drama. So what gives?

When it comes to rivalries, wrecks and drama – the stuff that adds the spice to NASCAR – this has been quite the tame year so far.

Through seven races, the biggest in-race development has been Juan Pablo Montoya blowing up a jet dryer. There have been no major driver vs. driver altercations (although there was the everyone vs. David Reutimann incident at Martinsville), and the dominant topic of conversation on Saturday night at Texas was the wind – not the racing.

Cautions are down a whopping 35 percent this season, which adds up to three fewer yellow flags per race (40 this year compared to 61 at the same point last year). Any thoughts that NASCAR uses phantom debris cautions to enhance the show are long gone.

And when there are cautions, very few involve incidents with multiple cars – the kind of action that leads to headline-grabbing confrontations between drivers.

Let's look at the last five races as an example:

• Las Vegas had eight cautions, but none were listed as multi-car incidents on the official race report.
• Bristol had just five cautions, the fewest since 1996 (a span of 32 races). The race was so uneventful that the track is planning changes to the racing surface.
• Fontana, though shortened by 142 laps due to rain, had just one caution (fewest in track history). The caution was for rain, and there were no incidents.
• Martinsville had just seven cautions, which, like Bristol, was the fewest number at the track since 1996. Though Clint Bowyer made an ill-advised three-wide move and took out the leaders, the most talked-about moment was Reutimann stopping on the track.
• Saturday night's Texas race had just two cautions, the fewest in track history (the previous low was five). There were no multi-car incidents.

So what's behind all this? There's no definitive answer for that, though several drivers said it's simply circumstances that dictate how the races have unfolded.

"I'm sure everyone is trying to get off on the right foot and trying to ... get in position to race to get into the Chase," Kevin Harvick said prior to the Texas race. "Everyone is trying to win races, so you need as few enemies as possible at this point."

Texas race winner Greg Biffle suggested the strong winds on Saturday night prompted drivers to give each other more racing room than usual. And Jeff Gordon said the impending weather at Fontana and the untimely caution at Martinsville perhaps prevented some memorable finishes.

"I still think it's early in the year," Gordon said.

Whatever the reason for the lack of drama, the trend isn't doing much for NASCAR's TV ratings. The overnight ratings were off slightly for the Texas race, and the ratings have dropped in every race so far this year except Bristol, which saw a 2 percent gain.
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From here.
 
Been thinkin about that too, dpk . Carl ,Kyle , Tony and Brad all seem to be maturing and each have their own race issues to deal with. Course the situations haven't really presented themselves either . There aren't really any new guys out there dive bombing for attention . Guess we'll just have to wait and see as the temps go up this summer and pressure to win builds .
 
I was thinking the same thing Saturday, I said to myself the cars,tracks and drivers are all "too" safe, there has to be a time when you knock someone out of the way though. Like Johnson should of put Newman into the wall, bringing out the the caution, which of would not only helped him, but two of his teammates, who were running fast lap times at the end, only to be ten seconds behind the leader.
 
Even Kyle has been watered down this year, I don't know it might have to do with the lack of sponsors, sponsors don't want to see wrecked cars and they are not has they used to be.
 
It's surprising to see who IS driving with a little attitude. Jr. He boots both Mark Martin and Labonte for holding him up. It was strange watching Jr plow through that Martinsville mess while Mr have at it himself, Brad, played the patient professional and lost 5 spots.
 
FenderBumper said:
It's surprising to see who IS driving with a little attitude. Jr. He boots both Mark Martin and Labonte for holding him up. It was strange watching Jr plow through that Martinsville mess while Mr have at it himself, Brad, played the patient professional and lost 5 spots.
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He is much more aggressive and it stands out because nobody else is, even the guys known for it. Like I thought Saturday Kyle was gonna put up a fight against Jr, he just pulled aside and went go ahead.
 
I think it's because of Kyle Busch's suspension and NASCAR fining drivers for speaking their mind about the quality of racing. The drivers are afraid they'll be docked money if they say what's on their mind or will be suspended if they get in to a wreck with another driver.

With Kyle and BradK, NASCAR sent a message last year that there is no "Have at it".
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I think it's because of Kyle Busch's suspension and NASCAR fining drivers for speaking their mind about the quality of racing. The drivers are afraid they'll be docked money if they say what's on their mind or will be suspended if they get in to a wreck with another driver.

With Kyle and BradK, NASCAR sent a message last year that there is no "Have at it".
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they say have it, BUT just remember, there is still consequences for having at it, I am sure that is what Helton says in every drivers meeting. Police yourselves, just know we will be policing you too and we have the final say.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I think it's because of Kyle Busch's suspension and NASCAR fining drivers for speaking their mind about the quality of racing. The drivers are afraid they'll be docked money if they say what's on their mind or will be suspended if they get in to a wreck with another driver.

With Kyle and BradK, NASCAR sent a message last year that there is no "Have at it".
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I don't think any driver wants to do what Kyle did to Hornaday, so I doubt that plays any part in it. "getting into a wreck" has never gotten a driver suspended.

I think it's a combination of things.

1) NASCAR backed off the 'throw a caution whenever possible' attitude.
2) Did the end of tandem racing lower the yellows at Daytona?
3) Bent cars are hard to bear in these days of lower budgets.
4) EFI has brought a little less jump to the gas pedal and less disparity in pedal response. Both prevent a lot of backend hits.
 
JimmieGordon2448 said:
they say have it, BUT just remember, there is still consequences for having at it, I am sure that is what Helton says in every drivers meeting. Police yourselves, just know we will be policing you too and we have the final say.
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I hope the message is more like "Police yourselves, just don't go all Dirty Harry when you do it".
 
How is efi slower to get gas to the motor? Look at sprint cars with carbs and efi, the ones with efi are faster off the line.
 
Lap3Forever said:
How is efi slower to get gas to the motor? Look at sprint cars with carbs and efi, the ones with efi are faster off the line.
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Accelerator pump vs injector duration. If you've driven a well tuned 4 barrell carb, you know the jump I'm talking about.

EFI faster off the line? Many drivers said the opposite. They don't get that same jump in power when first mashing the gas, which did sometimes cause contact with the car in front or a higher likelyhood of wheel spin.
 
FenderBumper said:
I don't think any driver wants to do what Kyle did to Hornaday, so I doubt that plays any part in it. "getting into a wreck" has never gotten a driver suspended.

I think it's a combination of things.

1) NASCAR backed off the 'throw a caution whenever possible' attitude.
2) Did the end of tandem racing lower the yellows at Daytona?
3) Bent cars are hard to bear in these days of lower budgets.
4) EFI has brought a little less jump to the gas pedal and less disparity in pedal response. Both prevent a lot of backend hits.
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Yeah , I 'm not buyin any of those things . Nascar will throw a caution whenever it is necessary, bent race cars have been expensive since day one and irate drivers have never stopped to consider that , drivers are still quite capable of spinning their tires on restarts with or without EFI , and tandem racing was likely safer than three wide racing .
 
It seems as if the drivers have cooled it some compared to last year. Whether what Busch did had anything to do with it or something else is going on remains to be seen.
 
with just 249 days left before we all check out maybe everyone is trying to be extra nice to get a favorable rating for the afterlife.
 
SlowNeasy said:
with just 249 days left before we all check out maybe everyone is trying to be extra nice to get a favorable rating for the afterlife.
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To hell with that

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MRM said:
It seems as if the drivers have cooled it some compared to last year. Whether what Busch did had anything to do with it or something else is going on remains to be seen.
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Yeah no one wants to get in trouble with Nascar.
 
I agree that everyone seems to be playing it safe BUT don't be surpised if, after considering the last two races, the HMS boys turn on Newman - particularly #24 & #48.
 
I think it has more to do with no one wanting to make an enemy that will exact payback in The Chase. Everyone knows how important a single point can be.
 
Stewart Fan said:
Yeah no one wants to get in trouble with Nascar.
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I certainly would not assume that anything has changed with 'boy's have at it' . Nascar has made no announcement that I have seen. If the boys are all of a sudden afraid of Nascar , why didn't that stop them before? If one is going to make the statement that Nascar has changed it's policy , I think there should be a link to their statement posted. Let's all try to keep the facts separate from the bs .
 
ted@economy said:
I certainly would not assume that anything has changed with 'boy's have at it' . Nascar has made no announcement that I have seen. If the boys are all of a sudden afraid of Nascar , why didn't that stop them before? If one is going to make the statement that Nascar has changed it's policy , I think there should be a link to their statement posted. Let's all try to keep the facts separate from the bs .
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They made an example out of Kyle didn't they? No one wants to suffer that same fate....

I don't believe anyone ever said Nascar changed anyhthing.
 
Stewart Fan said:
They made an example out of Kyle didn't they? No one wants to suffer than same fate....
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That was pretty extreme though. I don't think any of the drivers think that if they wreck someone under green or pay someone back that they will be penalized. The Kyle incident isn't relevant to this discussion.
 
ted@economy said:
I certainly would not assume that anything has changed with 'boy's have at it' . Nascar has made no announcement that I have seen. If the boys are all of a sudden afraid of Nascar , why didn't that stop them before? If one is going to make the statement that Nascar has changed it's policy , I think there should be a link to their statement posted. Let's all try to keep the facts separate from the bs .
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I don't see any such statement in this thread.

If Martinsville wasn't proof enough that 42 drivers are being cautious so far this yer, I don't know what is.
 
Popular thread all of a sudden.

IMO:

Nobody is pushing the envelope right now. Why? Only YODA could imagine.

Let's ask him. Anybody got YODA'S phone number?
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I think it's because of Kyle Busch's suspension and NASCAR fining drivers for speaking their mind about the quality of racing. The drivers are afraid they'll be docked money if they say what's on their mind or will be suspended if they get in to a wreck with another driver.

With Kyle and BradK, NASCAR sent a message last year that there is no "Have at it".
Click to expand...

#17D500winner said:
I don't see any such statement in this thread.

If Martinsville wasn't proof enough that 42 drivers are being cautious so far this yer, I don't know what is.
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I guess that I was referring more to Andy's statements "there is no 'have at it' and 'will be suspended if' ..should have considered the source ...sorry my bad
 
Or, maybe a lot of Crew Chiefs are getting sick of fixing smashed cars because some 2 year old with a million dollar ride can't think and act like a professional.

YEAH, I like that. That's my opinion now.
 
ted@economy said:
I guess that I was referring more to Andy's statements "there is no 'have at it' and 'will be suspended if' ..should have considered the source ...sorry my bad
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I think we should all know by now that 99% of what Andy states as fact is in fact his opinion ;) Nascar has never released any such statement bringing an end to "Boys have it".

What Busch and Keselowski did had nothing to do with what Nascar meant by saying that, IMO.
 
Some drivers had at it last year, and just learned there are repercussions.


Vickers isn't going to do a Martinsville 2011, he almost lost his career for the privilege.


Kyle thought he was untouchable, and the RCR Pop Pop incident insulated him more. I don't think the Hornaday incident represents boys have it, but it did represent Kyle's invincible attitude.
The Busch brother's castration was an inevitable procedure that had to happen.


Harvick isn't getting any younger and that's a factor too.


In terms of HMS, has there ever been a better way to Metrosexulize the cave man? A brilliant owner, but when you have most of the Chevy power, and the Rousch Ford Juggernaut, you are still going to get substance, but it will be housebroken. Trained to kiss the bosses bottom, so expect generic drivers that hiccup the aroma.


The handwriting was on the wall about 20 years ago.
 
I think that Greg has the generic driver thing pegged pretty well. The Jeff Gordon , Jimmy Johnson , ideal driver prototype every owner was looking for. But there was a definite move toward a hungrier ,meaner driver after that ,Bad Brad , the Busch Brothers , Cousin Carl , Smoke , Harvick , and others...passing fad ? maybe ?
"have at it boys " was implemented to bring back the edginess and I think that it was the best thing that Nascar came up with in years . So again , like every other argument , does it come back to the economy ? Are the problems with getting and keeping sponsors too big part of this ?
 
Pretty soon drivers will start asking for permission to pass someone. They won't wanna hurt anyone's feelings or anything.
 
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