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The bumpy California road of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

 

   Most Sprint Cup Series teams had no tire problems in Sunday's Auto Club 400, including race winner Kyle Busch. Several did - and there seemed just as many explanations for the issues as there were teams that experienced problems.

 

   The aging pavement at the 2-mile track has been credited for helping to produce an exciting style of racing in recent seasons, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes the root of tire problem may not rest with teams or Goodyear, but instead of some sizable bumps on the track.

 

   After Sunday's race, Earnhardt spoke at length about what he perceives as an issue with the California track.

 

   "To be honest with you, the back straightaway is very rough and I think the tire can’t handle the load that it goes through on that back straightaway. And it’s just tearing the tire up where the sidewall and tread are put together. There ain’t another race track on the circuit besides Kentucky that has bumps like that. They’re incredible huge, huge bumps. And I think that plays a big role in it because the tire must see astronomical loads through that section of the race track that it never sees any other time at any other circuit," he said.

 

   "So, I don’t think it’s good to cycle a tire through bumps like that. I think that’s why the tire comes apart. I think that’s why a left rear here and a left front there and it’s not air pressure and things like that. We’re moving air pressure around and it ain’t saving the tire. There’s bumps on the back straightaway that get worse and worse. They don’t need to pave the race track. Just pave the back straightaway. Not very cheap, but I’ll bet you won’t have any tire problems anymore.”

 

   Earnhardt was asked if the tire issue some teams experienced was a result of the cars coming off or running over the bumps on the track.

 

   “They show it in slow motion during practice all the time. Like the Nationwide guys, they were just banging through there and the cars are moving six to 10 inches in travel; and that’s ridiculous. We run these cars and work within sixteenths of an inch getting them around the race tracks. And for it to be going through that much movement, that many times through the back straightaway can’t be good for the tire. You’re just taking the tire and it’s like taking a piece of aluminum and just keep twisting it back and forth and it’s going to break in half," Earnhardt said.

 

   “The bumps are getting worse and worse and are too bad now. I don’t think it’s low air pressure. That doesn’t help when you get down too low. I imagine that Goodyear is going to look into that. But I’m telling you, the bumps back there and unlike any other thing we see. If they don’t tear the tire up, I don’t care that it’s bumpy. You just go through them and fix the track whenever you feel like fixing it. But, if it’s tearing the tires up and if that’s why, we need to look into it. Us, as a team, the team’s got to fix it all the time. It might be something fundamental like bumps on the race track there. They’re really bad on the back straightaway.

 

   “I feel bad for Goodyear. I think the tire is fine. I like the tire. It’s just those bumps. If you watch the cars go through there in slow motion, it shouldn’t be like that. And grinding them, they tried to grind them and they’re huge. You’d have to grind into the ground into the dirt to get those damn things to move."

Denny Hamlin to miss Sunday's race at Fontana

 
   It's become an unwelcome yearly visit to a California hospital.

   Less than 30 minutes before the start of Sunday Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin was being transported to a local hospital for vision problems related to a sinus infection.

   Hamlin will miss Sunday's race. Sam Hornish Jr., who runs a partial Nationwide Series schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing, will drive Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota in Sunday's race.

   One year ago, Hamlin was transported to a local hospital following the race after suffering a serious back injury in a last-lap wreck with Joey Logano.

Three observations heading into Sunday's NASCAR race at Fontana

   Observations

   • Four different winners in as many races in the Sprint Cup series this season has suddenly added fuel to the idea there well could be 16 or more different winners in the first 26 races of the season, somehow diluting the idea a win all-but guarantees a berth in the Chase. Well, when was the last time this phenomenon happened? Uh, last season, when the year began with five different winners in the first five races. By race No. 26, there were still only 13 different winners. Rest easy, folks. Win and you’re in.

   • In four races so far this season, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has one top-five and two top-10 finishes, including a career-best second last weekend at Bristol, Tenn. In all of last season – his rookie year in Cup – Stenhouse had one top-five and three top-10s. Clearly, he is a good example of a driver making progress the more time he spends on the track.

   • Something I don’t quite understand: Each time Fox broadcasts knockout qualifying sessions it typically ends up about 12-15 minutes behind live action simply because it insists on showing every minute of on-track action in each round. Yet on race day – which is far more relevant than qualifying – the network has no problem breaking away from live action in the race in order to run commercial breaks. What gives?

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/22/4786787/nascar-sprint-cup-series-raceday.html#.Uy8TToJhh6s#storylink=cpy

Tire problem at Bristol not "our fault," Jimmie Johnson says

 

 

   Jimmie Johnson’s chance at a victory or good finish in last weekend’s Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol, Tenn., was cut short after his left-front tire shred and came apart midway early in the event, putting him several laps down.

 

   Goodyear officials said at the time the car setup contributed to the problem. Johnson discussed the issue Friday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

 

   Q: Last week, (crew chief) Chad Knaus made the comment on the radio, something like 'I suppose that is our fault, too.' What was that about?

   Johnson: “Definitely frustrated and then if you look at how things transpired from there when Goodyear had a chance to respond it was our fault. That is what Chad was preparing us for. That of course it was going to be our fault. I went in the truck and sat down and talked with (Goodyear's) Rick Campbell and I get along with Rick great and we had a great conversation about the wear on the tire and what potentially could have happened. From a team standpoint we are still very adamant that the wear on the tire was not the issue. A lot of guys had left-front wear and issues with the left-front and some stuff going on there. We are very confident, and the tire was still intact. Just a half inch strip came unwound from the inside corner of the tire and it was some 60 feet long. We laid it out from the front of the truck all the way to the back of the trailer. We could see every wear hole on it. It wasn’t worn out. That is all Chad was kind of referencing is that it would be our fault in the end and it was blamed as our fault.”

 

   Q: Did you get any answers that made you feel better about it from Goodyear?

   Johnson: “At that point there is not a lot that you can do. We just try to learn from it and try to give them the tire and all the information we can so they can make a better product. They tested there in October or something last year and the temperatures were far different. It became apparent to everybody early in practice that the temps weren’t the same and the tire wasn’t acting the same. It’s not an easy job that they have, but I think we can come back with a little better tire there.”

Miss Sprint Cup, Brooke Werner, resigning for 'personal reasons'

 

 

   Miss Sprint Cup Brooke Werner posted the following message on her Facebook page announcing she was resigning from the Miss Sprint Cup program for 'personal reasons':

   Here was the message:

   "Hey fans, difficult decisions are always tough to communicate to people you love so much…like you guys. I recently made the hard decision to resign as Miss Sprint Cup for personal reasons (all good!) and hang up my firesuit. It's been one of the greatest times of my life and I have you all to thank for that. I'll miss you all very much but I know that you'll all be excited to meet the new Miss Sprint Cup soon! " -BW

   Werner is one of three women who serve as Miss Sprint Cup throughout the NASCAR season. Kim Coon and Madison Martin are the others. This is Werner's second season in the program.

 

Three observations from Sunday night's race at Bristol

   Three observations from Sunday's race:

   - Long after Sunday night’s race was over, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, Robin Pemberton, provided a thorough, clear explanation of why caution lights inexplicably came on with two of 500 laps remaining. Unfortunately, Pemberton’s explanation wasn’t the only one offered by NASCAR after the race. Even if the original explanation – a mechanical malfunction – was honestly thought to be the correct one at the time, NASCAR should never issue statements or explanations until it is certain it has the right one. The best of intentions can easily be overshadowed by a mistaken perception of a cover-up, or even worse, incompetence.

   - If there is one sport whose fans should always be wary to assume a particular outcome, it’s NASCAR. How many of the sport’s most famous race finishes came about because something unexpected happened on the final lap of a very long race? Dozens. It is silly to suggest ‘the right driver’ won Sunday night’s race simply because it was the same driver leading before the caution miscue. We know who won because of a mistaken caution and subsequent downpour. We have no idea who would have won had the race remained under green.

   - On the surface, both Jimmie Johnson (19^th) and Joey Logano (20^th) had average finishes in Sunday night’s race. It would have been interesting to see how the outcome may have changed if both had not suffered issues during the race – Johnson with a shredded tire and Logano with broken power steering. Both were very fast early in the race.