Despite issues, Martin continues to shine
A week after all of the distractions that came about because of the tire issues at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we experienced something new at Pocono Raceway: This new car is getting better and better.
We had a lot of good racing throughout the field Sunday. The race might have been for third or it might have been for 12th position. I think we will continue to see this good racing as time unwinds. Some of that is the benefit of going back to these racetracks a second or third time. Teams seem to be learning a little more each time back about the car and what it needs.
But of course, and I know it sounds redundant, with Pocono it always seem to come down to pit strategy and fuel mileage no matter how good the action is.
There were a lot of crew chiefs that were going to be absolute heroes or zeroes depending on whether they got that race restarted or not. Kenny Francis with Kasey Kahne comes to mind as do Bob Osborne for Carl Edwards and Steve LeTarte with Jeff Gordon.
The guy I just feel for and it seems to be a characteristic of his career the last few years is Mark Martin. It seems like no matter what, they can't get the stars lined up to get him back to Victory Lane. I don't know how many times I can look back and count the number of races that Mark had the car to win the race but because of bad pit work, or bad fuel calculation or rain or whatever, he just couldn't close the deal.
I really do feel for the guy because he is one of the most intense racers we have out there even at the age of 49. He absolutely loves what he does. He is moving over to Hendrick Motorsports next year and will be 50 years old but talent-wise, stamina-wise, health-wise, you know I would easily put him up against guys 20 years younger than him.
It's just like the guy has no luck, but maybe the move to Hendrick Motorsports is just what the doctor ordered. It will be a fresh beginning for him and he will be returning to full time Cup racing too. It's not that the No. 8 team has not been competitive. There are a number of races this year that had the luck meter turned the other way that Mark and that team could have had a handful of wins. So that is a positive for Mark, crew chief Tony Gibson and the whole DEI team.
Still, you feel for Mark and you feel of that whole race team. You can tell it from his interviews that Mark wants to win a race so badly with the No. 8 bunch before he leaves at the end of the year.
Every point matters
We are now halfway through what we call "The race for the Chase." We only really have a couple of normal races, you might say, left in these five races before the Chase starts. Those two races are Fontana and Michigan. The other three not only are you dependent on how you perform, but you are also at the mercy of your competitors. Those three races where you can get caught up in someone else's mistakes are Watkins Glen this weekend, Bristol and then the other short-track race at Richmond.
I think the top five or six teams in the points right now are safe. Granted, mathematically those top six are not locked in, but I just feel they are safe where they are for making the Chase. Drivers seventh through 12th in the standings are the ones that can't let up because I honestly believe there are two guys that can still get back in this thing.
Think about it, Matt Kenseth finished 11th at Pocono last week, which isn't a bad finish, but gets knocked out of the top 12 in points because Kevin Harvick had a really good run. Also, you've got hungry guys just sitting on the outskirts of the Chase field, like David Ragan, who are ready to pounce if somebody in the top 12 falters. That young man just won't go away. His fifth place finish Sunday went a long way to propel him forward for possibly making the Chase.
While they are in trouble and not officially out, things aren't looking too good for Ryan Newman and Brian Vickers. There are still five races to go, but I just have my doubts. Don't get me wrong, Brian is running pretty well but his luck has just gone south on him. It looks like it's going to be an eight-man race for those final six spots in the Chase. It's just very, very tight back there.
The guy that needs to turn bad runs into decent runs and turn decent runs into good runs is the No. 07 car with Clint Bowyer. That's what you have to do when you are running for a possible championship. That team definitely did that at Pocono by finishing sixth.
It would have been really interesting if that race had not re-started Sunday following the rain shower. We had a lot of names in the top 10 of the running order that aren't your normal top 10 names. It would have been interesting from the perspective of the effect on the top 35 points position. It also would have had an interesting perspective on our top 12 in points. Don't get me wrong, I am glad they got it restarted -- I don't like rain-shortened races because I feel bad for the fans who are sitting in the stands. We sometimes take it for granted because, from our side, ending the race early means we pack up, go home and then head to Watkins Glen this weekend. For many of those fans in the grandstands, this might be the only race they get to see in person all year, so you are always glad to get the whole race in.
Final thoughts
You know, we have been dabbling with rain tires for 10 or 12 years. We actually did stuff with rain tires at Suzuki Japan in 1997, which was our second trip over there. We actually did all of our practice and qualifying on Saturday over there on the rain tire. Come Sunday over there it was a beautiful sunny dry day so we were back on the regular tires.
It was neat seeing the Nationwide cars race on rain tires for the very first time. It is a neat mark in the history of NASCAR to see that happen. We won't run a race on the Sprint Cup side on rain tires. NASCAR has already made that call.
Fans always ask why only run rain tires on road courses and not on ovals. I am going to explain this at length on our NASCAR Performance show this week on SPEED. To go over it briefly, the loads are distributed between both sides of the car when you are on a road course. On an oval though, you are always turning left so the load is always on those right side tires and the wear factor on the right side tires is very high.
We also got a lot of e-mails asking why did NASCAR call the race in Montreal because of the rain? Well while you can race on rain tires, you simply can't race in a monsoon and with standing water up to your ankles. That simply doesn't work even with the rain tires.
Make sure to tune in this weekend and learn all about the tires.
