JENSEN: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly
Written by: Tom Jensen
Harrisburg, N.C. – 3/19/2007
This decade, race fans have witnessed the most radical changes in the history of NASCAR, with the advent of a new points system and title sponsor in 2004, the return of Dodge, the departure of Pontiac, the arrival of Toyota, and, as of the next race, competition debut of the Car of Tomorrow. Unleaded fuel is new this year in the Nextel Cup Series, next year the Busch Series will have a new title sponsor … the list just goes on and on.
Yet, the scene in victory lane and at the top of the points chart remains eerily familiar. Since 2000, the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship has been held by only three teams: Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon, 2001, and Jimmie Johnson, 2006), Roush-Fenway Racing (Matt Kenseth, 2003, and Kurt Busch, 2004), and Joe Gibbs Racing (Bobby Labonte, 2000, and Tony Stewart, 2002 and 2005).
With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway came down to a battle between Johnson and Stewart, a battle won by the defending series champ with a dramatic pass three laps from the end. Nor should it come as a surprise that Kenseth finished third or that exactly half of the top 10 in points is occupied by drivers from Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs. The more things change, etc.
Johnson, Stewart and Kenseth, the top-three finishers at Atlanta have to be regarded at this point as the most likely to earn repeat championships this season, along with Hendrick’s Jeff Gordon and two of Richard Childress Racing’s drivers, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. These guys all were really good last year - although Stewart fell out of the top 10, he won five races – and they’re all still really good this year.
So what’s to sustain fan interest this year in the wake of an overwhelming wave of same-old, same-old? Three things: One good, one bad and one ugly.
THE GOOD Juan Pablo Montoya was arguably the biggest story at Atlanta, scoring a fifth-place finish in just his fifth NASCAR Nextel Cup race and flashing moments of brilliance as he rode the high-side of the notoriously fast 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval.
In the process, he earned high praise from his fellow drivers, including Stewart, who said Montoya was far better in his first Atlanta race than Stewart was in his. Kenseth said he thought Montoya might even win, at least before the Colombian scraped the wall late in the race.
In addition to obvious driving talent, Montoya has something else going for him that many of his peers lack: Personality. He’s aggressive, high strung, complains about other drivers on the radio and is generally a polarizing figure that some fans love and some will loathe, at least once he starts beating their favorites.
Note to NASCAR: Personality is good. Montoya adds energy, color and a flavor to the series that was lacking before and that ultimately will be a great thing for NASCAR. How he does the rest of the season will be one of the year’s compelling storylines.
THE BAD The Toyota trainwreck continued to unravel at Atlanta. While four Camrys made it into the field for the Kobalt Tools 500, none was competitive and all four finished 27th or worse. Right now, Dale Jarrett is the only Camry driver in the top 35 in owner points and he’s 33rd. He’s also used four of his available six past-champion’s provisionals.
Starting with Martinsville in two weeks, only the top 35 in 2007 owner points will be guaranteed starting spots in each week’s race. And with Bristol and Martinsville being Car of Tomorrow races, who knows how that’s going to jumble things up.
I absolutely believe Toyota will work with its teams to get them going in the right direction, but to do so likely will require some major and perhaps gut-wrenching changes in personnel. For example, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield are both 0-4 in qualifying attempts this season. If they both miss the next two races and D.J. uses his remaining two past-champion’s provisionals, would one of the Toyota teams go after Bill Elliott or Terry Labonte, who would guarantee they make at least six races? Will one or more of the Toyota teams make a full-court press for a big-name crew chief or two?
Long-term, to run with Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs, Toyota needs a team of that caliber, which it does not have right now. Two of its three current teams are startups, and the other, Bill Davis Racing, has won as many races (5) in 14 Nextel Cup seasons as Tony Stewart did himself last year. That’s no disrespect to BDR, just the facts.
As noted, Toyota absolutely will get its act together. How they do it, though, that will be fascinating to watch. Especially if they make a serious run at an established, top-line team. If they can sign a consistent top-10 team for 2008, that will shift the balance of power in NASCAR.
THE UGLY The Car of Tomorrow will race on Sunday at Bristol. I can’t wait to see the race, just to see what happens. Everybody has opinions, ideas and possibilities about what might happen at Bristol Motor Speedway, but right now it’s all conjecture. It could be great or a horror show or anything in between. We won’t know until the green-flag falls.
We know the COT will be safer than the current car and likely will help teams save money eventually. But it ultimately will succeed or fail on the basis of one question: Will it make the racing better? Only time and a bunch of races will tell. No one knows yet whether these funny looking cars with wings and splitters will result in races that fans get fired up about.
But I’m OK with not knowing yet. The truth is, some unpredictably is a good thing, because so far this year, the season’s results have been all too familiar.
See you in Bristol.
Written by: Tom Jensen
Harrisburg, N.C. – 3/19/2007
This decade, race fans have witnessed the most radical changes in the history of NASCAR, with the advent of a new points system and title sponsor in 2004, the return of Dodge, the departure of Pontiac, the arrival of Toyota, and, as of the next race, competition debut of the Car of Tomorrow. Unleaded fuel is new this year in the Nextel Cup Series, next year the Busch Series will have a new title sponsor … the list just goes on and on.
Yet, the scene in victory lane and at the top of the points chart remains eerily familiar. Since 2000, the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship has been held by only three teams: Hendrick Motorsports (Jeff Gordon, 2001, and Jimmie Johnson, 2006), Roush-Fenway Racing (Matt Kenseth, 2003, and Kurt Busch, 2004), and Joe Gibbs Racing (Bobby Labonte, 2000, and Tony Stewart, 2002 and 2005).
With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway came down to a battle between Johnson and Stewart, a battle won by the defending series champ with a dramatic pass three laps from the end. Nor should it come as a surprise that Kenseth finished third or that exactly half of the top 10 in points is occupied by drivers from Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs. The more things change, etc.
Johnson, Stewart and Kenseth, the top-three finishers at Atlanta have to be regarded at this point as the most likely to earn repeat championships this season, along with Hendrick’s Jeff Gordon and two of Richard Childress Racing’s drivers, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. These guys all were really good last year - although Stewart fell out of the top 10, he won five races – and they’re all still really good this year.
So what’s to sustain fan interest this year in the wake of an overwhelming wave of same-old, same-old? Three things: One good, one bad and one ugly.
THE GOOD Juan Pablo Montoya was arguably the biggest story at Atlanta, scoring a fifth-place finish in just his fifth NASCAR Nextel Cup race and flashing moments of brilliance as he rode the high-side of the notoriously fast 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway oval.
In the process, he earned high praise from his fellow drivers, including Stewart, who said Montoya was far better in his first Atlanta race than Stewart was in his. Kenseth said he thought Montoya might even win, at least before the Colombian scraped the wall late in the race.
In addition to obvious driving talent, Montoya has something else going for him that many of his peers lack: Personality. He’s aggressive, high strung, complains about other drivers on the radio and is generally a polarizing figure that some fans love and some will loathe, at least once he starts beating their favorites.
Note to NASCAR: Personality is good. Montoya adds energy, color and a flavor to the series that was lacking before and that ultimately will be a great thing for NASCAR. How he does the rest of the season will be one of the year’s compelling storylines.
THE BAD The Toyota trainwreck continued to unravel at Atlanta. While four Camrys made it into the field for the Kobalt Tools 500, none was competitive and all four finished 27th or worse. Right now, Dale Jarrett is the only Camry driver in the top 35 in owner points and he’s 33rd. He’s also used four of his available six past-champion’s provisionals.
Starting with Martinsville in two weeks, only the top 35 in 2007 owner points will be guaranteed starting spots in each week’s race. And with Bristol and Martinsville being Car of Tomorrow races, who knows how that’s going to jumble things up.
I absolutely believe Toyota will work with its teams to get them going in the right direction, but to do so likely will require some major and perhaps gut-wrenching changes in personnel. For example, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield are both 0-4 in qualifying attempts this season. If they both miss the next two races and D.J. uses his remaining two past-champion’s provisionals, would one of the Toyota teams go after Bill Elliott or Terry Labonte, who would guarantee they make at least six races? Will one or more of the Toyota teams make a full-court press for a big-name crew chief or two?
Long-term, to run with Hendrick, Roush and Gibbs, Toyota needs a team of that caliber, which it does not have right now. Two of its three current teams are startups, and the other, Bill Davis Racing, has won as many races (5) in 14 Nextel Cup seasons as Tony Stewart did himself last year. That’s no disrespect to BDR, just the facts.
As noted, Toyota absolutely will get its act together. How they do it, though, that will be fascinating to watch. Especially if they make a serious run at an established, top-line team. If they can sign a consistent top-10 team for 2008, that will shift the balance of power in NASCAR.
THE UGLY The Car of Tomorrow will race on Sunday at Bristol. I can’t wait to see the race, just to see what happens. Everybody has opinions, ideas and possibilities about what might happen at Bristol Motor Speedway, but right now it’s all conjecture. It could be great or a horror show or anything in between. We won’t know until the green-flag falls.
We know the COT will be safer than the current car and likely will help teams save money eventually. But it ultimately will succeed or fail on the basis of one question: Will it make the racing better? Only time and a bunch of races will tell. No one knows yet whether these funny looking cars with wings and splitters will result in races that fans get fired up about.
But I’m OK with not knowing yet. The truth is, some unpredictably is a good thing, because so far this year, the season’s results have been all too familiar.
See you in Bristol.
