Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Rating the Subway Fresh Fit 600: 4 Stars ****

The Sprint Cup Series played out in the desert Saturday night for the first scheduled night race of the season, even though Daytona turned into a night race. As has been the trend this season, everything came down to what decision was made on pit road with less than five laps to go. The entire race, however, was rather ordinary, but an exciting finish and more three-wide battles on a short track in the closing laps helped the Phoenix spring race move up to a 4 Star Rating.

As the night wore on, it was obvious how much the track conditions affected the handling of the cars. To begin the race, Juan Pablo Montoya established himself as the dominant car on the track. Through dusk, Jimmie Johnson took control of the race. And at night, Kyle Busch certainly had the car to beat. But, none of those drivers brought home the trophy Saturday night as Ryan Newman found himself on the front row for the final restart.

Congratulations must go out to the entire #39 team. Newman did not necessarily come out of nowhere, as he ran in the top 10 much of the evening, but to jump out to the lead from the bottom lane was surprising. The high lane had been by far the dominant line on restarts all night.

However, it is surprising somebody didn’t stay out with such few laps to go. Somebody like Scott Speed, Greg Biffle or Tony Stewart could have stayed out since they were running near the tail end of the lead lap anyway. Even if they didn’t win the race, they likely would have ended up with a better finish with such few laps left in the race.

Every season there is an odd trend that shows up during the first part of the season, and this year it is the extremely late cautions in each race. What’s even more remarkable is these cautions have, for the most part, been legit. Yes, there was the brake duct caution at Bristol, but that was a rather large piece laying on the track. Overall, NASCAR has done a much better job this year when it comes to debris cautions.

Finally, the extension of the race from 312 laps to 375 laps was a nice addition. Everyone always complains that the races are too long. I ask, what is wrong with a long race? These things only happen once a week.

Part of what makes NASCAR better than other racing series is the fact that nearly half of the races are 500 miles. Watching Mark Martin consistently pick his way up to the top 5 was a thing of beauty. Longer races allow for more variables to come into play, as they did Saturday night. If short races are what you want, there are plenty of small dirt tracks around the country. Sundays are reserved for the big time.

So, next week things get fired up in Texas where the speeds will be awesome and the new spoiler will have its first true test. Don’t expect much difference though. Maybe the leader won’t jump out to a huge lead each restart, but the setups look to be adjusted to compensate for the spoiler and now mandatory shark fin. Also, after Texas, things only get better as the race at that rather large track in the middle of Alabama looms on the calendar. Have a great week.

6 comments:

  1. 4 stars also just cuz JJ didnt win! It was a LONG race in person - and not just cuz Kurt was out of it so early but that certainly did not help matters. It also didnt really affect pit strategy...biggest concern the teams had were burning up their brakes.

    The fin will be 3.5 inches at Texas, a full inch higher than it was in PHX. Will be interesting to see how it affects the car.

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  2. 4 star rating agreed. I didn't think about one of those guys staying out on the final caution, but that would have been really good strategy. I guess the Hamlin thing at Martinsville spooked them too much...

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  3. klvalus - Yes, amazingly we already have five different winners in just seven races. Although Johnson could have six wins if things fell just right. The fin will be an interesting factor. Usually the things that affect side force tend to have a rather large affect on the car, such as having the back end yawed out.
    Thanks!

    Gonger - That may have been the thinking, but I'm still shocked what Hamlin did would have that much of an effect. As we saw Saturday, that type of charge is still something that happens only once or twice a season, not something that should regularly be factored into a team's race strategy.
    Thanks!

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  4. jmayer, good insights as usual. However, I would have to give it a 3.5 star rating. The racing got better as day transitioned into night. You had the drivers that were strong in the daytime struggle at night (Montoya, Harvick), and vice versa (Martin, Logano).

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  5. I would have preferred the race to be the old, shorter distance. Then there wouldn't have been a G,W,C, or surprise winner. LOL

    Gonger...I think Kyle's charge on Friday night was probably what spooked them. X)

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  6. jon_464 - That is one of the great things about this sport. It can be as unpredictable as any sport out there, and certainly any racing series. Also, you are right. Logano had a terrific race. Don't be surprised to see him in the mix for a Chase spot come Richmond.
    Thanks!

    Gene - To each his own. lol. It seems the series goes stretches of a particular style of finish. Sometimes its all about fuel mileage, and right now it is all about tires and how many to take on the final stop.
    Thanks!

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