April 26th, 2009 
T.C. It came out last week that following the Cup race at Talladega, Casey Mears and Kevin Harvick’s teams would completely switch places. Everyone from the crew chief to the transporter driver would swap. The only remaining pieces would be the drivers and their spotters. So Todd Berrier and Co. will now be with Mears, and Gil Martin and his crew will now be with Harvick.
Both teams are currently within the top 25 in points, but neither has shown much in the way of performance. Richard Childress says the swap is aimed at making both teams “stronger and more successful.”
Team chemistry is extremely important to being successful, and Childress must believe that chemistry isn’t there right now. Harvick and Berrier have been successful in the past, including making the Chase in 2008. But Harvick hasn’t won since the 2007 Daytona 500 and is off to a mediocre start to 2009.
On the other side, Casey Mears jumped into a ride and team that made the Chase in ’08 and finished third behind Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards in the final standings. But through nine races this season, Mears and the Martin led crew have yet to record a top five or top ten finish, and sit 21st in points.
Looking ahead, I think this change could be great for Harvick. Martin has proven he can lead his teams to victory and contend for championships. And Harvick has the talent and the drive to be an elite driver in the Cup Series. If they can get on the same page right away, look for this swap to pay big dividends.
For Mears, don’t expect things to change much. Multiple crew chiefs at multiple teams in multiple rides over the last several years has warranted about the same results. Journo documented Mears’ mediocrity in a post earlier this season. I believe Berrier is a good crew chief, but he certainly isn’t a miracle worker. Richmond will be his first opportunity to attempt what Jimmy Elledge, Donnie Wingo, Darien Grubb, Alan Gustafson, and Gil Martin couldn’t do; make Mears a contender. I’m not going to hold my breath.
Talladega
First, I want to wish the eight fans who were injured in the grandstands during the horrific Carl Edwards crash a speedy recovery. It was a frightening accident, and it was good to hear that they only suffered minor injuries.
In regards to the crash itself, I don’t think we can lay blame on either driver. Brad Keselowski had the inside position, and knowing what happened last season, he wasn’t about to drop below that yellow line. Edwards on the other hand was trying to keep Keselowski behind him and just didn’t realize in time that the #09 car was under him. It was just “one of those racing deals” that unfortunately turned ugly. It’s a testament to the safety of these cars that both Ryan Newman and Edwards were able to walk away.
In terms of NASCAR, I think they’ve painted themselves into a bit of a corner at the superspeedways. They created the yellow line boundary to keep cars on track and hopefully aid in safety. But the tight packs, limited track space, and big runs these cars get often create very dangerous situations. What makes a bad situation even worse, is that the drivers say the COT is difficult to keep under control at the big tracks. We saw graphic examples of that today.
I couldn’t even begin to tell you what a solution to this problem is, as I just don’t know. But hopefully NASCAR and the drivers will figure out how to make these races safer before somebody really does get hurt.
Related posts:
Posted in 
I agree. I don’t think blame can be laid anywhere for the incident. Brad shouldn’t have just moved over and let Carl take him…nor should Carl have been content to just follow. I mean technically isn’t that what racing is suppose to be? Sometimes things happen- it comes with the territory. Thank goodness for the safety features of the cars and the track. That wreck (as could have Matt Kenseth’s in the NW race and really any of the wrecks all weekend) could have been a lot worse.
I hope that the fans that were hurt during the race aren’t hurt too seriously and are back at the track soon!
The only solution is to take out the banking at this track, but then we’re back to boring.
I love the Talladega races and it was certainly an exciting finish yesterday! I always fear for fans who are so close to the track and was happy to hear that there were only minor injuries after seeing how forcefully Carl’s car hit that fence!
I couldn’t help being a little upset at the use of the Lucky Dog yesterday to move Burton up from three laps back. I understand from the commentators that he won one lap back by being in front of the leader when a caution came out, but it makes me wonder if it is fair to cars who remain on the lead lap for someone to be able to use the Lucky Dog more than once during a race. Has there ever been discussion of limiting the number of times a driver can get the Lucky Dog during a race?
I think everyone, but Richard, is overlooking something in this crew swap. The Transporter Driver. To have not included this key individual would have led to instant chaos. Both teams would have been lucky to have recovered their former mediocrity by seasons end. Now this should be a seamlessly successful move. WTG Richard!
OK…..a bit of a rant and a solution.
Kennseth: a capable driver, but omg someone sit Matt down & teach him how “not to” cause two wrecks by making really dumb moves within 24 hrs. On Sat, at least “he” was the one to bear the brunt of his actions. On Sun, a bunch of others were stuffed on his actions. A rookie catches hell for those moves.
Lucky Dog: eliminate it altogether! Problem solved Kathy.
Last lap: just the same wreck that was supposed to happen last Oct between Stewart vs Smith. JR seemed so surprised the Carl/Brad train caught up. Why? Did his spotter not tell him Hamlin was pushing single cars up the outside all day long w/ great success? Pay attention JR.
Fans: Just move ‘em back 50 ft and up, plus loose the restrictors.
Plate racing sucks & I hate to see wrecks like we saw yesterday. Let’s not forget about Rob Gordon’s nose dive right into the inside wall. Here’s my solution which I’m sure will be called dumb. Cut the length of these plate races in half. If NASCAR won’t address “the big one,” at least cut the riding around portion of the race out so we can get right to business. That’s apparently what the fans want to see right?
This was one of the ugliest Talladega races I have ever seen!
NASCAR lied when they said they were going to police over-aggressive bump drafting. Instead, twenty or so teams are looking over their trashed cars this morning.
Another 50 to 100 feet further down the track and Robby Gordon would not still be with us. Why does the fastest and most dangerous track in NASCAR not have SAFER barriers on all the inside and outside walls?
They put a car in the fence & innocent fans were hurt. I guess restrictor plates and roof flaps didn’t do their job?
The “yellow line” rule has failed to make for safer races. And at what point does NASCAR call out a driver for dangerous, aggressive driving? It sure looked to me like Kesselowski tried to wreck Edwards for the win.
Back before restrictor plates wrecks at Daytona and Talladega were just as scary as they are now. The difference is they usually involved a single car. Nascar felt adding the restrictor plate would make the racing safer. I don’t really think it has done that, it’s just made a different type of racing and a different type of wreck.
If the COT is so much safer, and I think we will most all agree that it is, why not test some cars without a restrictor plate? See what happens.
T.C. and Journo can correct me if I’m wrong but I think the restrictor plates being added had more to do with the safety of the fans than the drivers. After Allison took out a big portion of the fence in 1987 and fans were injured was the last time unrestricted cars were on the 2 superspeedways.
Roof flaps generally seem to do a good job keeping the car on the ground, they were introduced in 1994. Has any testing ever been done on the stability of an unrestricted car with roof flaps?
Kathy- I agree about the Lucky Dog Rule. Last year at the July race in Daytona, Ruetimann got 5 or more laps back towards then end of the race. That allowed him to finish in the lead lap ahead of all the cars that were involved in the last lap wreck. If you are that many laps down at a plate track, you don’t deserve to get that many laps back through the lucky dog. If you had something go wrong and your car was good, get yourself ahead of the leader and wait for the inevitable caution.
I am glad to see that no one was fatally hurt yesterday. I hope that all those that were injured make a speedy recovery.
Carl is probably right. As soon as we kill somebody, NASCAR will take steps. Plate racing in it’s current form SUCKS, unless you like wrecks. It cannot be done safely for 500 miles, partially because of the COT, and also the close proximity of the drivers at those speeds.
The solution: Despain said it last nite. Drop the banking, and take off the plates. Simple as that. If Talledega does’nt want to spend the money, Bye,Bye. Open up North Wilksboro, or etc. for another 2 races somewhere else.
People make it sound like the Lucky Dog is a recent introduction that’s bad for racing. It improves the racing by keeping people in the game (if you manage to get multiple laps back because you’re the only car down, more power to you!). NASCAR has always allowed a driver to get back a lap after the yellow comes out. The Lucky Dog was simply meant to make the race safer by eliminating the race back to the start/finish line. It’s a long-standing NASCAR tradition, but should it be eliminated now?
And I’m very surprised that after what just happened on Sunday, people are actually advocating the removal of restrictor plates. We had two Big Ones on Sunday, with Montoya hitting the inside wall *straight on* at a scary speed. The catch fence *barely* held Edward’s car and kept it from causing disaster in the grand stands. Removing the restrictor plates and adding more speed to these cars would be irresponsible. Who knows if that catch fence would have held up the way it did if Edwards had been 30mph faster?
As a fan, when I sit close to the track, I am aware of the dangers. I am sorry that anyone was injured and I pray for their speedy recovery, however, sitting that close also provides a different excitement than sitting in a further away location.
“The solution: Despain said it last nite. Drop the banking, and take off the plates. Simple as that. If Talledega does’nt want to spend the money, Bye,Bye. Open up North Wilksboro, or etc. for another 2 races somewhere else.”
#10: I like Dave Despain as much as the next guy, but that suggestion sounds like a recipe for disaster. By taking away the banking and removing the restrictor plates, you’d most likely turn Talladega into a “Super-California”, with long, drawn-out fields, few yellows, boring racing and boring finishes. Which is all the more ironic because one of the most commonly made suggestions on how to “fix” California is to put in progressive banking and turn it into a restrictor plate track!
More importantly, though, you do not tell a track like Talladega to “change it or shove it”. There’s multi-year contracts in place, the track is located in a huge market, and Talladega is owned by ISC, anyway – which means that while NASCAR doesn’t own the track legally, they certainly own it by association. For any changes to happen at the track, NASCAR and Talladega need to work on the solution together, not by mandate.
Look, stop pretending that these cars are anything but race cars. They are not Ford’s, Chevy’s, Toyota’s or Dodge’s, other than the nose decals.
Sit the driver in the middle of the car so he’s far enough from the accident, put skirts down both sides, fit some sensible size rubber so that when they turn sideways the tire still has grip, allow overtaking below the yellow line on the last lap. I’m forever impressed that the drivers are dumb enough to get in these cars every time at Daytona and ‘Dega knowing that there will be the “Big One”maybe more than once every race. They earn every penny and should get more!
Childress needs to go back to business school and learn how to run a team in a 36 race series so he can stop messing peoples lives around. He, or his HR department employed these people, to just swop them around is an insult to the sponsors, and the people involved. If that’s the best you can do, stick to growing grapes, or get new HR people that know what they are doing, because you just demonstrated you don’t. I seem to recall Bobby Hutchen’s once worked for Richard, I wonder if his current boss would do the same thing?
Tony, I don’t believe Childress is a business school graduate. He is a racer, and one of the most successful owners in the history of Nascar. He did not get that way by being stupid. Although I do question his decision to hire Casey Mears. If he was not sure changing everything around would improve his team he would not be doing it. Crews, crew chiefs, and divers have a limited life together. After awhile it stops working. History has shown that, and anyone involved with racing will agree.
I saw many wrecks yesterday but really no more than usual. I am surprised about all of the sudden outcry about how dangerous Talladega is. I’m pretty sure Daytona has more ghosts than Talladega does. I agree completely with Dale Jr. saying that Nascar and the media have hyped up “the big one” to gain more interest, now they are doing a 180. It’s all about blaming someone else.
We all saw Elliott Sadler get airborne two races in a row a few years back, Kenseth on saturday, It happens. Where was the outcry then? Why the sudden chance and throwing blame around?
If the drivers don’t want to race they don’t have to. Nobody is making them get into those cars at gunpoint. It may have an effect if they refuse. Somehow I can’t see Brian France suiting up and racing at Talladega like his grandfather did………
The Lucky dog is called “manufactured racing”. Just like the phantom debris. The purpose is gone…..so scrap it.
I also like Despain, but the hi-banks should (MUST) remain. Homestead fans look to be in a safe position. Apply it to Dega.
Edwards threw “the block”, hey it just didn’t work out for him. Ya’ll may have lost your favorite driver in one of the three malaise. If so, sorry about that, but you just gotta admit the final 5 was a hoot.
Right on Stacy #5. Taste the rubber and smell the fumes. Better than a chil-cook-off.
Sure seems to me that reducing the size of the engines might solve a lot of problems with Cup racing as Robert Yates suggested years ago – unfortunately making significant changes is not likely to be possible until the economy (hopefully) recovers.
Kathy did not here crying at atl. on lucky dog. JR got 4 laps back.if no lucky dog it may kill JR! if not for THE DALE JR CAUTIONS {yes he is that bad}
The easiest way is to use the infield road course
Bobby#7–they already tested the COT without plates. Cars went way too fast and they put them right back on.
Smaller engines would probably help. I agree with Despain on the banking–and you don’t thave to make it *flat*, just make it progressive with *some* banking. Then perhaps they could actually race instead of three hours of watching a pack move around or long freight trains. The only excitement is waiting for someone to make a mistake–I don’t need that kind of ‘hoot’, thank you very much. I don’t like the analysts acting as if ALL fans love it, this fan *hates* it. I’d rather watch 10 Richmond races in a row than one plate race.
Had NASCAR left well enough alone last year, and let Regan Smith’s win stand, nothing would be there to take away from Brad Kaselowski’s first Cup win. They had the solution fduring the truck series race – if you can see the checkered flag, it’s open season. When they penalized Smith, the Edwards wreck was just a question of time, and of who would be involved.
The Childress switch, based on the PC comments of all involved, sounds like he may have played the same card once too often. Judging by the comments I’ve read, it appears to have been a surprise, and not a pleasant one, for all involved. I hope I’m wrong, and it does help, but with no testing, and Berrier never having worked with Mears, and Martin having not worked with Harvick in 7 years, I can’t see it being too pretty. Why would Childress put Harvick and Martin together again, when they just didn’t have chemistry all those years ago? It’s not like they didn’t get along, they just didn’t light it up. It would be surprising for that combination to suddenly click.