Ask The Insiders Wednesday #20

We’ve made it to the 20th edition of Ask the Insiders Wednesday! All three NASCAR series are in action this week with the Trucks at Kansas, and Nationwide and Cup at Talladega. But until they get after it, we’ll get into another round of reader questions. If you don’t know what this post is, until further notice, we will be answering any and all reader questions every Wednesday, right here. So if you’ve got one, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send one to us. On to the questions…

1. From Ben:

Quick and easy. Have either of you ever won a NASCAR championship? Whether it be Trucks, Nationwide/Busch, or Winston Cup/Sprint/Nextel. And if so do you guys get rings or a bonus or anything?

For obvious reasons I can’t tell you whether either of us has been involved with a championship winning team. But what I can tell you is that there are almost always large bonuses involved (the amount is heavily dependent upon the team) and there are rings for the team members. Rings are also awarded for wins at the Daytona 500 and at the Brickyard. – Journo

2. From Tony:

Any idea what JJ Yeley is doing these days? I know that he has struggled in Cup, but it seems that the talent is there and I would have thought that he would have surfaced in the Nationwide or Truck series.

Funny you should ask Tony. JJ is actually on the entry list for the truck series race this weekend at Kansas. He is running with a start-up team out of Oklahoma. If you want a little more information, check out Jayski’s truck series page. Best of luck to those guys this weekend. – Journo

3. From Scott:

I’ve been reading since the first post (redirected from Jayski) and I love the site. Quick question about the lug nuts. I wonder if the tire changers could switch to a wider lug nut to compensate for the longer stud. Would that level out the amount of time to get the lug on/off and bring the motions of the changers back to ’08 rhythms?

Thanks for the love! We are glad you have enjoyed the site. On to your question, I’m not really sure what you mean but a “wider” nut, but the problem isn’t necessarily the stud’s length. It’s the fact that there are now more threads on the stud, and it takes more turns to get the lugs off. Also, NASCAR mandates the size of the nuts teams can use. – T.C.

4. From Norm:

Where do the Toyota teams get there Sprint Cup engines from and who builds them? Who’s design is it since Toyota hasn’t had a pushrod engine in many years. I don’t recall them ever having a pushrod V8. An early photo of the heads look curiously like a Ford Cleveland head. Finally, is NASCAR still considering one engine design for all manufacturers?

Most Cup teams get their engines straight from Toyota Racing Development (TRD). The lone exception is Joe Gibbs Racing, who builds their own Toyota engines. Toyota’s engine was initially designed a few years back when they decided to enter NASCAR competition. The engine was designed and built from the ground up as Toyota didn’t have a pushrod engine. I would imagine they used the best ideas from Ford, Chevy, and Dodge and then made their own improvements. And as far as I know, NASCAR is not looking to make a move to a standard engine design for each manufacturer. – T.C.

5. From Stacy:

Why would A.J. sign with Richard Petty for 2010 when they cannot even find enough sponsorship for 2009? Would that not take A.J. off the table for a different team, with full-time sponsorship, to try to contract him as a driver? If Petty connot obtain sponsorship for 2010, will they still have to provide a full-time ride for A.J.? This just seems to me that maybe A.J. is putting the “cart before the horse”.

I don’t know specifics of AJ’s contract, but a couple of things here. First him being locked into a contract with the team is going to look a lot more attractive for perspective sponsors. They won’t have to worry about him going anywhere. Second, should they be unable to put something together for AJ I highly doubt they would hold him to his contract. At the end of the day this is really just security for AJ. As a side note, given the stellar performance to date of more than one of AJ’s teammates I wouldn’t be surprised to some sponsorship shifting at the end of the season. – Journo

6. From PJ:

What did Robby Gordon say in the garage during the PIR race? Will there be a new driver of the 55 next year?

Let me first give you some quick background. Early on in 2009, Michael Waltrip came out in the media and said if his own performance didn’t improve drastically over what he did in 2008, he would replace himself in the #55 car. Fast forward to Phoenix. Waltrip and Robby Gordon get into an incident on track. From what I understand, during his TV interview, Robby said that he was “looking forward to having a new driver in the 55 next year.” He was insinuating that Waltrip hasn’t improved. As to whether or not there will be a new driver next year for the #55, that’s up to Waltrip. – T.C.

7. From Steve:

As I understand it,the function of the restrictor plate is to restrict the amount of airflow thru the carburetor thereby depriving it of power. The downside being all the engines are choked up equally which causes the big pack. Why can’t there be a smaller carb/intake manifold package for these races? That would also restrict the airflow being taken in but wouldn’t it at least allow the engines to perform at peak efficiency and maybe not bunch them up as bad? I’m sure some engineer or somebody knows but I’ve never heard a reason for this and I’d be happy to be enlightened.

I’m certainly not an engine builder or tuner so I don’t know for sure what NASCAR’s reasoning is behind the plate. If somebody reading this knows more, certainly feel free to chime in. I would venture to guess that by changing the carb/intake package that engines would have to be reconfigured quite a bit and that would cost teams more money. At the very least, it forces teams to have those parts specifically for those tracks. Also, the plate allows NASCAR to keep a very tight grip on the parts and methods for restricting engines, as all plates are issued by NASCAR. – T.C.

8. From John:

I heard last week that Mike Wallace Nationwide team bought a cup COT. A couple thought they might try to qualify for a cup race, but Mike said the car was 1st generation COT and a heavy car. I thought the COT was a basic chassis design by NASCAR and couldn’t be altered. So how can one be heavier then the other? What is the difference between 1st and 2nd generation cars. Thanks.

First, I believe it was Kenny Wallace that was rumored to be possibly running a Cup race, not Mike. And while NASCAR does have very strict rules regarding the COT’s bodies and chassis, teams still have some space to work with. As teams move forward with the COT, they will certainly find ways to improve the chassis and how it is built. These organizations are spending millions of dollars and have the very best engineers working around the clock to make these cars faster. Teams will have made improvements in terms of materials used, overall design, and construction methods. – T.C.

9. From Las Vegas Greg:

I’m curious about the covers that adorn the cars prior to the races. Are the teams hiding proprietary information and some of their methods or is it just a style thing? Something else? Thanks for what you do here.

Car covers are used to keep cars dry, clean, and cooler on the inside. Hiding proprietary information can be tough to do in the garage area, as everything is so open. And usually if NASCAR thinks you are trying to hide something from the other teams, they will make you take off any covers. They have the open garage policy to help ensure fairness and equality. Want to know what a team is doing? Just walk over to their car and look. It certainly makes it tougher to cheat. – T.C.

And that brings yet another “Ask The Insiders Wednesday” to a close. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. And remember, if you’d like to be a part of next week, click on the ”Ask the Insiders” tab at the top of the page and send your question in!

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5 Comments on “Ask The Insiders Wednesday #20”

#1 Alan
on Apr 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 am

#6 – Remember that Robby and Mikey have some history – though they usually get into it in NH. His comment on-camera in the garage was good, but the comment he made to his crew on the scanner was even better. As he was pulling into the garage: “I don’t know why he’s still driving. He couldn’t drive a greased nail up a frogs a**.”

Clearly Mikey didn’t do it intentionally, and Robby even admits he shouldn’t have let himself get in the situation where Mikey was passing him on the inside in turn 3. But you really have to feel Robby’s frustration – he had a good run going, and desperately needs the points.
#2 Alan
on Apr 22nd, 2009 at 9:04 am

#7 – I’ve had questions similar to Steve’s. Instead of mucking with the engine HP (and as a result the engines responsiveness), why couldn’t the same speed-limiting effect be achieved by changing the gearing? Couldn’t NASCAR mandate and provide a rear-end gear that would limit top speeds of the car? Acceleration and throttle response would not be hampered, and I’d think it would eliminate some of the downsides of the current restrictor-plate controls.
#3 Norm Arizina
on Apr 22nd, 2009 at 11:19 am

Hi I think nascar should go to a 300 cu. inch engine in the restrictor plate races and later switch it to all races. they could do this by changing the bore and stroke and use the same basic components. Keep the speed down and have good safer races.. N B
#4 Zieke
on Apr 22nd, 2009 at 1:22 pm

#6
The truth be known, there are no drivers that want Waltrip close to them due to Mikey’s propensity to think he can drive on the “edge” without wrecking. Of course he most always proves that he will wreck himself and drivers around him at some time in a race. Wal-Mart is taking applications Mikey, and don’t forget to fill one out for DW too.
#5 ginger
on Apr 22nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm

As far as Mikey not driving in 2010, he said early in the year that Napa had given him 1 year to improve or they would not sponsor him in 2011. It won’t be his decision but Napa’s.