The first Sprint Cup Series race in California this year was less than thrilling, as a drive down the interstate would’ve been more exciting than Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway. It took just five races for Monday Morning Crew Chief to dish out the first 1 Star Rating of the season.
Congratulations to Tony Stewart, at least he had one of the best cars in the field Sunday. The green-flag racing also wasn’t a problem. NASCAR maintains integrity when it doesn’t throw debris cautions to bunch up the field, and letting a race go green decreases the chance of a fluke winner because of a restart.
Still, this race was two-and-a-half hours that most NASCAR fans will quickly forget. Nothing memorable happened, and then the race was shortened by rain with 71 laps remaining.
Those are the ingredients for a pretty boring race.
I actually had hopes for an exciting Sprint Cup Series race this weekend after watching the Nationwide Series race. Saturday’s race had the top five drivers all within a few car lengths of each other and the lead changed several times before Joey Logano crossed the finish line first.
That, however, certainly did not transfer over to Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch took the early lead, eventually Stewart ran him down to take over the top spot and then it rained. That was it.
Shoot, some fans might not have digested their Sunday fried chicken before the race was over.
The other issue that plagues races at Fontana is the fact that only drivers on big teams do well at the track. There are no surprises in the running order. The final results might as well have a dollar amount for how many resources the team can put toward a car’s performance.
I’m not saying NASCAR shouldn’t have tracks such as Fontana on the schedule. This track is a good test of a car’s performance. However, the teams that have the best handling cars are the teams with the most money and therefore run up front at large tracks where handling and aerodynamics matter a great deal. Thankfully, Martinsville is next week, and handling and aerodynamics hardly matter at all there.
The one lesson to take away from Fontana is that Stewart might have the best overall team right now. He has won seven of the last 15 races, including last year at several different types of tracks.
But, his two wins this year have been at Las Vegas and Fontana, the two intermediate tracks where the series has run so far. That could make for some Stewart domination this season because most of the schedule is made up of tracks similar to where he has already won.
In any case, feel free to quickly dispose of Sunday’s race and move on to next week at Martinsville. The paperclip racetrack has been the site of some of the best racing in the last few years and the sport sure could use a little bit of a pick-me-up as momentum has slowed since a wild Speedweeks in February.
It’s time to get folks excited again, and Martinsville might be just the place to get things fired up.
Showing posts with label Auto Club Speedway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auto Club Speedway. Show all posts
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Rating the Auto Club 400: 4 Stars ****
Kevin Harvick came up and crashed Kyle Busch’s and Jimmie Johnson’s party in the closing laps in California in what turned out to be the most-exciting finish in the history of the track. The one and only race this season at Auto Club Speedway gets a 4 Star Rating.
It took 195 laps, but when the drivers decided to turn on the afterburners, they certainly did. Johnson laid back for most of the race, and Harvick pulled his typical restrictor-plate move and burst to the front in the final five laps.
The end of the race was shaping up to be incredibly similar to last year’s event. No, Johnson didn’t dominate the afternoon, but he was still up front at the end with Harvick closing fast. Last year Harvick pushed the envelope too far and got up against the wall on the final run, but this time he kept himself under control and executed his moves perfectly.
On the third side of the battle, Busch finished third in what turned out to be quite and up-and-down weekend. Well, not too much down, but Busch sometimes treats third place the way other drivers treat 30th place.
Busch had the third-best car in the Nationwide race Sunday, and was going to finish behind Harvick and Carl Edwards, but he took two tires on the final stop and held on for the win. Then Sunday he ran in first all day but couldn’t hold on and was overtaken by both Johnson and Harvick. While Johnson led three laps and Harvick led one lap and the race, Busch led 151 of the 200 laps and lost the race.
As for the other 95 percent of the race, it was typical of California. Lots and lots of green-flag racing, which is good, but there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of action.
Still, it was nice to see the leader not be able to automatically check out from the field. Busch led 75 percent of the race, but he usually didn’t have a huge lead on the second-place car, which for most of the race was Tony Stewart.
This weekend we saw several important trends develop, including the fact that right now there are four organizations that are extremely competitive with Hendrick, Childress, Gibbs and Roush. Those organizations have each had their own struggles at different points early on, but they seem to be rounding into form and will fill this season with some pretty intense battles.
Also, we saw the new nose configuration in action on an aero-sensitive track. Combined with the spoiler, this setup looks like it will provide better racing where the leader doesn’t always drive away from the field, and while it’s not easy to pass somebody, it can certainly be done. As far as competitive racing is concerned, the aerodynamics of the cars are as good as they’ve been in quite some time.
Next week its back to short-track racing as the series heads to Martinsville. This track has produced some pretty exciting battles of late, and there’s little reason to think that will change. If anything, it might be amplified on NASCAR’s shortest track.
It took 195 laps, but when the drivers decided to turn on the afterburners, they certainly did. Johnson laid back for most of the race, and Harvick pulled his typical restrictor-plate move and burst to the front in the final five laps.
The end of the race was shaping up to be incredibly similar to last year’s event. No, Johnson didn’t dominate the afternoon, but he was still up front at the end with Harvick closing fast. Last year Harvick pushed the envelope too far and got up against the wall on the final run, but this time he kept himself under control and executed his moves perfectly.
On the third side of the battle, Busch finished third in what turned out to be quite and up-and-down weekend. Well, not too much down, but Busch sometimes treats third place the way other drivers treat 30th place.
Busch had the third-best car in the Nationwide race Sunday, and was going to finish behind Harvick and Carl Edwards, but he took two tires on the final stop and held on for the win. Then Sunday he ran in first all day but couldn’t hold on and was overtaken by both Johnson and Harvick. While Johnson led three laps and Harvick led one lap and the race, Busch led 151 of the 200 laps and lost the race.
As for the other 95 percent of the race, it was typical of California. Lots and lots of green-flag racing, which is good, but there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of action.
Still, it was nice to see the leader not be able to automatically check out from the field. Busch led 75 percent of the race, but he usually didn’t have a huge lead on the second-place car, which for most of the race was Tony Stewart.
This weekend we saw several important trends develop, including the fact that right now there are four organizations that are extremely competitive with Hendrick, Childress, Gibbs and Roush. Those organizations have each had their own struggles at different points early on, but they seem to be rounding into form and will fill this season with some pretty intense battles.
Also, we saw the new nose configuration in action on an aero-sensitive track. Combined with the spoiler, this setup looks like it will provide better racing where the leader doesn’t always drive away from the field, and while it’s not easy to pass somebody, it can certainly be done. As far as competitive racing is concerned, the aerodynamics of the cars are as good as they’ve been in quite some time.
Next week its back to short-track racing as the series heads to Martinsville. This track has produced some pretty exciting battles of late, and there’s little reason to think that will change. If anything, it might be amplified on NASCAR’s shortest track.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Exciting or not, Fontana is a good measuring stick
After a fast, exciting start to the 2011, NASCAR is all of a sudden in a tough position this weekend as the sport heads to the much-maligned Auto Club Speedway in Southern California.
The season started surprisingly well. With a still-stagnant economy, attendance and TV ratings were both up in the first three races. Then, after an off week, the bottom dropped out at Bristol when, optimistically, 120,000 filled a track that can fit 160,000.
Reality quickly jumped back up and slapped everybody in the face. Sparse crowds such as the one at Bristol are supposed to happen this week at California, not at what many consider a marquee track on the NASCAR schedule.
So, what does this week mean in terms of the business side of the sport? Well, two weeks of bad attendance aren’t much in the long run, and it was quite optimistic to think every race this season would see improvement in those areas from last year, and there is reason to believe the stands will be a bit more full this weekend.
However, unless the race is sold out (and it won’t be), people are going to spend all of next week talking about how bad the attendance numbers were, which is unfortunate and at this point would just beat a dead horse.
Is Fontana the best place for racing? No, but get over it. It’s now just one week, and the race always provides a pretty good indication of which teams have their act in gear as far as engines and chassis are concerned.
Speaking of the racing, that will actually happen this week, as well, and this race is one where the big teams generally strut their stuff. It will be interesting, however, to see how many blown engines happen since the race is now fifth on the schedule as opposed to second.
There likely won’t be as many since the race is now just 400 miles, but in the past teams haven’t had all of the bugs worked out of the engines by the time they come to one of the most demanding tracks on the schedule.
Anyway, there will still probably be a surprise or two in the front half of the field, and those teams will show the NASCAR world they came to play this season. The Earnhardt-Ganassi cars did it last year as Jamie McMurray won the pole for both races at the track, and maybe this year a team such as Richard Childress Racing will get all of its cars up toward the front and show it isn’t just a Paul Menard powerhouse.
The season started surprisingly well. With a still-stagnant economy, attendance and TV ratings were both up in the first three races. Then, after an off week, the bottom dropped out at Bristol when, optimistically, 120,000 filled a track that can fit 160,000.
Reality quickly jumped back up and slapped everybody in the face. Sparse crowds such as the one at Bristol are supposed to happen this week at California, not at what many consider a marquee track on the NASCAR schedule.
So, what does this week mean in terms of the business side of the sport? Well, two weeks of bad attendance aren’t much in the long run, and it was quite optimistic to think every race this season would see improvement in those areas from last year, and there is reason to believe the stands will be a bit more full this weekend.
However, unless the race is sold out (and it won’t be), people are going to spend all of next week talking about how bad the attendance numbers were, which is unfortunate and at this point would just beat a dead horse.
Is Fontana the best place for racing? No, but get over it. It’s now just one week, and the race always provides a pretty good indication of which teams have their act in gear as far as engines and chassis are concerned.
Speaking of the racing, that will actually happen this week, as well, and this race is one where the big teams generally strut their stuff. It will be interesting, however, to see how many blown engines happen since the race is now fifth on the schedule as opposed to second.
There likely won’t be as many since the race is now just 400 miles, but in the past teams haven’t had all of the bugs worked out of the engines by the time they come to one of the most demanding tracks on the schedule.
Anyway, there will still probably be a surprise or two in the front half of the field, and those teams will show the NASCAR world they came to play this season. The Earnhardt-Ganassi cars did it last year as Jamie McMurray won the pole for both races at the track, and maybe this year a team such as Richard Childress Racing will get all of its cars up toward the front and show it isn’t just a Paul Menard powerhouse.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rating the Pepsi Max 400: 2 Stars **
After the race at Kansas it looked like as many as 10 drivers had a chance to make a run at the championship. Just one week later, that number has been cut in half. The final fall race at California gets a 2 Star Rating.
I said last week it would be important for every Chaser not named Jimmie Johnson to have a good week so they didn’t fall too far behind. Well, many of them are now too far behind. While Jimmie Johnson posted a third-place finish Sunday, every Chaser except Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin had significant issues throughout the day. Who said Johnson wouldn’t recover after New Hampshire? He has a win and an average finish of second in the three races since.
As for the race itself, it was typical NASCAR at California. The racing was pretty good for the first third of the race, but then drivers started to stretch out long leads and the cautions kept falling like leaves off of trees.
The three debris cautions are what they are. This race wasn’t good enough to have a lot of integrity to protect, and NASCAR had been doing a better job in the several races leading up to this point. Also, the debris-caution issue has come up in three of the last five races at California. Does NASCAR just come into these races knowing the race will have to be manipulated because the track is so darn boring? In any case, this one did not provide much drama. The ARCA race Saturday at Rockingham showed where the race should have been this weekend.
Once again, Stewart became the beneficiary of the debris caution pit stop, as he has been for his last three wins. Had he not run out of gas at New Hampshire, Stewart would be a major player in the Chase. He lost 94 points when he crawled across the finish line in 24th in that race. Had there been another half gallon or so in that tank, Stewart would be right on Johnson’s tail, just 12 points behind. But, such is the case in many aspects of racing. The gamble he took in the first Chase race was the correct call, even though things didn’t turn out the way they had hoped.
Finally, the three Roush-Fenway Racing Chasers all had issues Sunday and will need to be perfect the rest of the way just to get back into contention. Plus, Johnson, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, the three drivers who are most likely to go into Homestead with a chance to win the title, will all have to get caught up in the Big One at Talladega.
Next week the series moves to the only night race of the Chase, and one of the best. Charlotte usually puts on a good show, and Johnson has had some issues at the track recently, which just means he will go out and dominate this week. But hey, there’s hope somewhere. Anyway, Chase or no Chase, the race at Charlotte should be a bit more fun than the last couple races have been. Have a great week.
I said last week it would be important for every Chaser not named Jimmie Johnson to have a good week so they didn’t fall too far behind. Well, many of them are now too far behind. While Jimmie Johnson posted a third-place finish Sunday, every Chaser except Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin had significant issues throughout the day. Who said Johnson wouldn’t recover after New Hampshire? He has a win and an average finish of second in the three races since.
As for the race itself, it was typical NASCAR at California. The racing was pretty good for the first third of the race, but then drivers started to stretch out long leads and the cautions kept falling like leaves off of trees.
The three debris cautions are what they are. This race wasn’t good enough to have a lot of integrity to protect, and NASCAR had been doing a better job in the several races leading up to this point. Also, the debris-caution issue has come up in three of the last five races at California. Does NASCAR just come into these races knowing the race will have to be manipulated because the track is so darn boring? In any case, this one did not provide much drama. The ARCA race Saturday at Rockingham showed where the race should have been this weekend.
Once again, Stewart became the beneficiary of the debris caution pit stop, as he has been for his last three wins. Had he not run out of gas at New Hampshire, Stewart would be a major player in the Chase. He lost 94 points when he crawled across the finish line in 24th in that race. Had there been another half gallon or so in that tank, Stewart would be right on Johnson’s tail, just 12 points behind. But, such is the case in many aspects of racing. The gamble he took in the first Chase race was the correct call, even though things didn’t turn out the way they had hoped.
Finally, the three Roush-Fenway Racing Chasers all had issues Sunday and will need to be perfect the rest of the way just to get back into contention. Plus, Johnson, Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, the three drivers who are most likely to go into Homestead with a chance to win the title, will all have to get caught up in the Big One at Talladega.
Next week the series moves to the only night race of the Chase, and one of the best. Charlotte usually puts on a good show, and Johnson has had some issues at the track recently, which just means he will go out and dominate this week. But hey, there’s hope somewhere. Anyway, Chase or no Chase, the race at Charlotte should be a bit more fun than the last couple races have been. Have a great week.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Rating the Auto Club 500: 3 Stars ***
An odd day in Southern California for the second race of the season included lots of green flag racing, a touch of rain, and the default winner. Add it up and this race gets a 3 Star Rating.
He just keeps on keeping on. Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team put a scare into the rest of the field and the entire NASCAR fan base as he came back strong in California after having mechanical issues in Daytona. The fantasies of Speedweeks are gone. Jimmie Johnson is still good and Dale Earnhardt Jr. still has a lot of work ahead of him.
Besides Johnson, there was actually a decent mix of cars up front throughout the race. The Richard Childress Racing cars picked up where they left off at Daytona and had the best overall day of any organization. Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer look to have things turned around after last year’s debacle. I don’t like to make rushed statements after only two races, but something out of their control is going to have to happen to keep any of the RCR cars out of the Chase.
Also, the battles between Johnson and Harvick throughout the race were fun to watch. Had Harvick not pushed the envelope too far there at the end, he may have been celebrating in Victory Lane. I don’t understand why he felt that move had to be made coming out of Turn 4. Johnson was intentionally running the high line because he saw Harvick coming up there, yet instead of cooling his jets and waiting another lap or two, Harvick decided the move had to be made right there. Yes, he had an awesome run there, but he had gained on Johnson so much in the last few laps, he probably was going to be able to make the pass anyway if he had just been a bit more patient. Instead, Johnson goes on to easily capture win #48.
As for the crazy weather, could it be that the target on NASCAR’s back has moved? After dealing with major rain issues the past two seasons, a potential race-ending storm moved just north of the speedway, with only a momentary pause for a brief shower. Darrell Waltrip summed up NASCAR fans’ frustrations with rain as he saw the storm barely miss the racetrack and Mike Joy said someone’s garden was getting soaked.
“I don’t care about the man’s garden,” he said. "I just don’t want my racetrack wet.”
This marked the third year in a row that one of the first two races of the season has been affected by rain, but it also caused the least amount of delays out of the three years. There was also only one debris caution. While there should not be any debris cautions in racing, this is still better than the last few years. At one point NASCAR was looking for debris but actually kept their finger off the button and allowed the race to continue. Remember, 55 mph is not what fans come to watch. The 190-200 mph speeds are what get them excited.
Next week the series rolls into Las Vegas, always one of the more interesting races of the year. Bruton Smith has put loads of money into the facility and it has paid off. The cars are always on edge at this track, especially coming out of Turn 4, similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Have a good week everybody. Just remember, a NASCAR race awaits when it is over.
He just keeps on keeping on. Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team put a scare into the rest of the field and the entire NASCAR fan base as he came back strong in California after having mechanical issues in Daytona. The fantasies of Speedweeks are gone. Jimmie Johnson is still good and Dale Earnhardt Jr. still has a lot of work ahead of him.
Besides Johnson, there was actually a decent mix of cars up front throughout the race. The Richard Childress Racing cars picked up where they left off at Daytona and had the best overall day of any organization. Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer look to have things turned around after last year’s debacle. I don’t like to make rushed statements after only two races, but something out of their control is going to have to happen to keep any of the RCR cars out of the Chase.
Also, the battles between Johnson and Harvick throughout the race were fun to watch. Had Harvick not pushed the envelope too far there at the end, he may have been celebrating in Victory Lane. I don’t understand why he felt that move had to be made coming out of Turn 4. Johnson was intentionally running the high line because he saw Harvick coming up there, yet instead of cooling his jets and waiting another lap or two, Harvick decided the move had to be made right there. Yes, he had an awesome run there, but he had gained on Johnson so much in the last few laps, he probably was going to be able to make the pass anyway if he had just been a bit more patient. Instead, Johnson goes on to easily capture win #48.
As for the crazy weather, could it be that the target on NASCAR’s back has moved? After dealing with major rain issues the past two seasons, a potential race-ending storm moved just north of the speedway, with only a momentary pause for a brief shower. Darrell Waltrip summed up NASCAR fans’ frustrations with rain as he saw the storm barely miss the racetrack and Mike Joy said someone’s garden was getting soaked.
“I don’t care about the man’s garden,” he said. "I just don’t want my racetrack wet.”
This marked the third year in a row that one of the first two races of the season has been affected by rain, but it also caused the least amount of delays out of the three years. There was also only one debris caution. While there should not be any debris cautions in racing, this is still better than the last few years. At one point NASCAR was looking for debris but actually kept their finger off the button and allowed the race to continue. Remember, 55 mph is not what fans come to watch. The 190-200 mph speeds are what get them excited.
Next week the series rolls into Las Vegas, always one of the more interesting races of the year. Bruton Smith has put loads of money into the facility and it has paid off. The cars are always on edge at this track, especially coming out of Turn 4, similar to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Have a good week everybody. Just remember, a NASCAR race awaits when it is over.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Rating the Pepsi 500: 3 Stars ***
Everybody came home Sunday night unsurprised as Jimmie Johnson once again took home the trophy from Southern California. A normal California race that was made eventful late, earns a 3 Star Rating.
Coming into the event, Johnson was clearly the favorite to win on Sunday. Once he took the lead at any point in the race, he absolutely drove away from everybody else in the field, at one point having over a seven-second lead. The only reason Johnson didn’t lead 90% of the laps was because he consistently lost positions on pit road. Even in traffic he was able to move up better than anyone else. The #48 team definitely has Auto Club Speedway figured out.
Other than Johnson winning again and taking the points lead, the only other issue of the day was, once again, debris cautions. NASCAR made a great move last week in announcing that the start times will be moved up for next year. Now, the next move they need to make is to quit throwing debris cautions. Finally, a driver made my case for me this weekend.
“NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris…that caused the whole next wreck on the frontstretch,” Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, said. “It’s disappointing we had a bad race because kind of a caution to put a show on for the fans…we have to keep the fans excited, but sometimes it ruins people’s days and today it was our day.”
Now I will ask you, NASCAR fans. Is this the kind of show that we want? Would it have been alright for the final 68 laps to go green and Johnson win the race anyway? Yes, I know Tony Stewart was spared a bad finish because of that caution, but in saving on Chasers day, NASCAR ruined three others. Kahne, Biffle, and Hamlin are all pretty much out of championship contention because of the debris caution Kahne spoke about earlier. Maybe, things could play out naturally and it would still come down to multiple drivers having a chance to win the cup at Homestead. I thought that was why the Chase was created in the first place. If everything is going to be controlled by cautions, let’s dump the Chase because a close points finish could be manufactured anyway. The way Stewart was running for a few weeks combined with what Johnson is doing would certainly have made for a close finish.
Alright, I want to thank Kasey Kahne for speaking out against the ongoing debris problem. Next week everyone comes back home to Charlotte. Now, Lowe’s Motor Speedway usually produces good racing, so long as Johnson doesn’t stink up the show. But, even if that happens, he has earned the right to blow everyone else away. He should not have to line up double-file with 20 laps to go because he was too far ahead.
Coming into the event, Johnson was clearly the favorite to win on Sunday. Once he took the lead at any point in the race, he absolutely drove away from everybody else in the field, at one point having over a seven-second lead. The only reason Johnson didn’t lead 90% of the laps was because he consistently lost positions on pit road. Even in traffic he was able to move up better than anyone else. The #48 team definitely has Auto Club Speedway figured out.
Other than Johnson winning again and taking the points lead, the only other issue of the day was, once again, debris cautions. NASCAR made a great move last week in announcing that the start times will be moved up for next year. Now, the next move they need to make is to quit throwing debris cautions. Finally, a driver made my case for me this weekend.
“NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris…that caused the whole next wreck on the frontstretch,” Kasey Kahne, driver of the #9 Budweiser Dodge, said. “It’s disappointing we had a bad race because kind of a caution to put a show on for the fans…we have to keep the fans excited, but sometimes it ruins people’s days and today it was our day.”
Now I will ask you, NASCAR fans. Is this the kind of show that we want? Would it have been alright for the final 68 laps to go green and Johnson win the race anyway? Yes, I know Tony Stewart was spared a bad finish because of that caution, but in saving on Chasers day, NASCAR ruined three others. Kahne, Biffle, and Hamlin are all pretty much out of championship contention because of the debris caution Kahne spoke about earlier. Maybe, things could play out naturally and it would still come down to multiple drivers having a chance to win the cup at Homestead. I thought that was why the Chase was created in the first place. If everything is going to be controlled by cautions, let’s dump the Chase because a close points finish could be manufactured anyway. The way Stewart was running for a few weeks combined with what Johnson is doing would certainly have made for a close finish.
Alright, I want to thank Kasey Kahne for speaking out against the ongoing debris problem. Next week everyone comes back home to Charlotte. Now, Lowe’s Motor Speedway usually produces good racing, so long as Johnson doesn’t stink up the show. But, even if that happens, he has earned the right to blow everyone else away. He should not have to line up double-file with 20 laps to go because he was too far ahead.
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