Why would teams sandbag?

sdj

sdj

Just a race fan
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Messages
7,629
Points
943
Location
In the woods (as much as possible)
I have read a lot here, about some folks stating teams sandbag.

Help me out here.

To what end would sandbagging benefit teams? :idunno: The idea makes absolutely no sense to me.
 
sdj said:
I have read a lot here, about some folks stating teams sandbag.

Help me out here.

To what end would sandbagging benefit teams? :idunno: The idea makes absolutely no sense to me.
Click to expand...
No a bit of sense to me either. They have everything to gain by running to the best of their abilities throughout the season and throughout the race. Today's season is nothing like the previous ones in this Chase format.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
No a bit of sense to me either. They have everything to gain by running to the best of their abilities throughout the season and throughout the race. Today's season is nothing like the previous ones in this Chase format.
Click to expand...
They were not sand bagging in the first part of the season, they were working on getting maximum value for the new nose. Once they got the balance adjusted so that all drivers had the cars they wanted, they didn't tip their hand by running away with the series. Rather, spend time making sure the cars responded under all conditions. Now it is to late in the year for Nascar to take any action, they can now dominate and take home the 2017 Monster Championship. That is what it is all about to begin with.
 
Team Penske said:
They were not sand bagging in the first part of the season, they were working on getting maximum value for the new nose. Once they got the balance adjusted so that all drivers had the cars they wanted, they didn't tip their hand by running away with the series. Rather, spend time making sure the cars responded under all conditions. Now it is to late in the year for Nascar to take any action, they can now dominate and take home the 2017 Monster Championship. That is what it is all about to begin with.
Click to expand...
NASCAR can/will do anything/anytime that they want. You're a long time fan. You already know that.
 
Correct. You sandbag so you don't show your hand and get some sort of rule change to either negate your gain or improve your competitors. Maybe you hold just a little back in practice and qualifying. Maybe you don't lead EVERY lap you can. You can STILL win the races, you just do it by a half second instead of five seconds. In the immortal words of Bill France Jr, "You can win the race, but don't stink up my show!"
 
Formerjackman said:
Correct. You sandbag so you don't show your hand and get some sort of rule change to either negate your gain or improve your competitors. Maybe you hold just a little back in practice and qualifying. Maybe you don't lead EVERY lap you can. You can STILL win the races, you just do it by a half second instead of five seconds. In the immortal words of Bill France Jr, "You can win the race, but don't stink up my show!"
Click to expand...
I agree so they let the #78 be the show all season. Who is going to complain about a little team?
Now watch JGR mainly the 11 and 18 start to dominate.
 
Team Penske said:
they didn't tip their hand by running away with the series.
Click to expand...

So, Team Penske showed their hand too early when Joey's win was encumbered? This is just a case of great engineering and car development. Doubtful that you could convince drivers/sponsors/owners to sacrifice wins early for the sake of the title later. The theory makes sense, but I'm not buying it. TRD has had a great year so far. Period. No scheming NASCAR. No planning. Just a great year so far.
 
Team Penske said:
I agree so they let the #78 be the show all season. Who is going to complain about a little team?
Now watch JGR mainly the 11 and 18 start to dominate.
Click to expand...

Come on man.
 
Truex Jr. deployed a spike strip on his own tire at Darlington
 
I doubt anyone's sandbagging. The Toyotas are just far away superior to the rest of the field so far and have been for a couple years now.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I doubt anyone's sandbagging. The Toyotas are just far away superior to the rest of the field so far and have been for a couple years now.
Click to expand...
Except when they had to acclimatize the new nose early this season. Please don't quote anything KB does in the minors to indicate they were top notch.
 
some presser coined that phrase. Kez never said that. he said they might not bring their best stuff when there was the threat of Nascar taking the cars apart and putting them in the wind tunnel. Sandbagging is a hell of a lot closer to what Jimmie and Chad have been accused of doing, playing the system. Sure looked that way last year right? Came alive in the playoffs. hmmm wonder about this year? If the yotas continue to do what they have done all thru the playoffs yeah they are faster, they have a mechanical downforce advantage that is hard to deny, but it ain't over till its over. All last year all you heard was Yota winning this or that. They didn't win the big one. There wasn't a Toyota in the top 5 at Homestead. WTF.
 
StandOnIt said:
some presser coined that phrase. Kez never said that. he said they might not bring their best stuff when there was the threat of Nascar taking the cars apart and putting them in the wind tunnel. Sandbagging is a hell of a lot closer to what Jimmie and Chad have been accused of doing, playing the system. Sure looked that way last year right? Came alive in the playoffs. hmmm wonder about this year? If the yotas continue to do what they have done all thru the playoffs yeah they are faster, they have a mechanical downforce advantage that is hard to deny, but it ain't over till its over. All last year all you heard was Yota winning this or that. They didn't win the big one. There wasn't a Toyota in the top 5 at Homestead. WTF.
Click to expand...
But they did win the manufacture title last year, which for Toyota and TRD was a big one.
 
FWIW talking heads blabber on win and your in, win and your in..hell of a lot more important to win when you are IN. Any driver that gets on a hot streak in the playoffs is what is important. Winning during the stages is good, but if likes were likes comparing last year to this, points didn't mean squat when any driver wins three races in the playoffs.
 
How could anyone believe Truax is sandbagging any this year? Kyle Busch has been fast enough to be almost as dominant too, they just have not put together as many complete races.
And I really want to hear someone make the case that he ever holds back.

If they are sandbagging, they suck at it.
 
I think it would be pretty stupid to sandbag and let Truex build up the points he has. If he just runs halfway decent in the playoffs he is through to Homestead.
 
StandOnIt said:
some presser coined that phrase. Kez never said that. he said they might not bring their best stuff when there was the threat of Nascar taking the cars apart and putting them in the wind tunnel. Sandbagging is a hell of a lot closer to what Jimmie and Chad have been accused of doing, playing the system. Sure looked that way last year right? Came alive in the playoffs. hmmm wonder about this year? If the yotas continue to do what they have done all thru the playoffs yeah they are faster, they have a mechanical downforce advantage that is hard to deny, but it ain't over till its over. All last year all you heard was Yota winning this or that. They didn't win the big one. There wasn't a Toyota in the top 5 at Homestead. WTF.
Click to expand...

and they learned that lesson, this year 2 of the 4 will be challenging.
 
jws926 said:
But they did win the manufacture title last year, which for Toyota and TRD was a big one.
Click to expand...
Championship trophy gets you a heck of a lot more free media coverage all season
and lends itself to showroom advertising on a much bigger scale.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I doubt anyone's sandbagging. The Toyotas are just far away superior to the rest of the field so far and have been for a couple years now.
Click to expand...

Don't know about far superior, but what is impressive is that they have been fast over the last two years with two different bodies. Some pretty damn good engineering right there IMO.
 
jws926 said:
But they did win the manufacture title last year, which for Toyota and TRD was a big one.
Click to expand...

Not nearly as big as the Drivers Championship. A Manufacturers Championship serves Toyota. A Drivers Championship serves Toyota, teams, owners, sponsors. David Wilson has said that the prize is the Drivers Championship. Make no mistake....last year was crushing for Toyota even with the Manufacturers Title.
 
Because winning involves taking chances.

If a team/driver takes a chance and crashes out they don't get maxium points.

Sooooo...its about points not winning.

I keep saying - the true champion is the driver with the most wins!
 
bustedknee said:
Because winning involves taking chances.

If a team/driver takes a chance and crashes out they don't get maxium points.

Sooooo...its about points not winning.

I keep saying - the true champion is the driver with the most wins!
Click to expand...
It's about both. A win by just about any winless driver this weekend will push them into the post season. For those that are winless the points are going to get them there. Jump back to the final race of this current elimination style format in previous years, our eventual Champion has always been crowned after winning that final race at Homestead. Not defending this format in the least as I am completely opposed to it but one thing it does do is reward both points and wins.
 
bustedknee said:
Because winning involves taking chances.

If a team/driver takes a chance and crashes out they don't get maxium points.

Sooooo...its about points not winning.

I keep saying - the true champion is the driver with the most wins!
Click to expand...
wrong. The reason why this whole jackpot started in the first place years ago is because a driver (Kenseth) didn't have enough "wins" compared to another driver (Newman). Apparently the ruling fiefdom decided that showing up every week, placing well, and accumulating enough points to win the championship wasn't good enough. In doing so "they" have created a diminishing championship that does nothing but reward wins. One win and drivers with not that great season performance can compete for a championship that they have no business even being close to. So we have a champion that was injured by a driving mistake in a lower series crowned a champion, and a driver last year that although there is no way of proving it is being accused of sandbagging until the Chase/playoffs. If Truex doesn't win it this year, there is the third year of controversy with this system.
 
Last edited:
You sandbag when you don't want anyone to know what you're capable of doing... therefore IF a team felt they had an edge, maybe they don't want attention on them all season because every eye in the garage will be trying to figure out what exactly their cars are doing... eventually someone will figure it out and there's no edge there anymore.

Not saying I agree or disagree that any team is or has done it this year... just saying I could see where a team would atleast entertain the concept from time to time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom