Ask The Insiders Wednesday #31

While he is off doing some Yahoo! Sports blogger stuff, Jay Busbee featured this post and a few of our more popular questions today on his blog, From the Marbles.  Thanks Jay!  In case you don’t already, stop by his site, he updates throughout the day and always has good info and off beat posts.  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 Neil:

Kyle Busch has taken quite a bit of heat regarding the restart wreck [at Loudon].  If he lifts for Truex, what are the odds that all 30 guys behind him lift and magically avoid the big wreck?

I think the odds were pretty good. Drivers spinning the tires and checking up on restarts is not an uncommon thing. Kyle’s problem though wasn’t so much that he didn’t lift but he didn’t lift and went where there wasn’t room for him. – Journo

2. From Christopher:

This may be a bit of a newbie question, but can you explain to me the whole concept of pitting under green vs. yellow, and the dangers of a caution coming out during/after pitting under green.  I just can’t wrap my head around it.  When I see the driver I root for pit, I don’t know what to be “afraid” of happening.

The only danger of pitting under caution is if your driver has a bad pit stop, they will lose a ton of positions.  Pitting under green is very different.  Depending on when a driver pits and when/if a caution comes out, the outcome could be different.  Say your favorite driver pits under green, and subsequently goes down a lap.  Before everyone cycles through, a caution comes out.  Now your favorite driver is caught a lap down.  Next, say your favorite driver stays out longer then everyone else hoping to stretch fuel mileage.  Before he comes to pit road, a caution comes out.  Now, he must come to pit road, and everyone else can stay out, and he loses every bit of track position he may have gained.  Green flag stops make teams nervous because it’s difficult to judge what the consequences could be if a caution comes out. – T.C.

3. From Steven:

With Jeremy Mayfield’s injunction being granted, I must ask: Is this the first time a driver (Or anyone else with a NASCAR license) has ever challenged NASCAR in court and succeeded? I know based on recent history (Particularly the defamation case against Tim Richmond and NASCAR’s recent attacks against Mayfield) that NASCAR as a sanctioning body is particularly brutal against anyone who questions their authority, but has anyone other than Mayfield been able to pull something out of their hats and one up NASCAR’s despotism?

Off the top of my head I can’t think of one. Any lawsuit brought against NASCAR I can think of was settled out of court or they won. Can anyone think of a lawsuit where NASCAR lost? – Journo

4. From Bob:

Does NASCAR limit the amount of fuel available on pit row for each car during the race?  I know there are limits on fuel cell size for each race series, but I am asking about the overall fuel available for the race?  Did NASCAR ever have limits on the amount of fuel available?

Yes, NASCAR limits the amount of fuel the teams get for a race.  No matter what happens, a team is only going to need a certain amount of fuel to run the race.  NASCAR will usually gives the teams that amount plus a little extra. – T.C.

5. From Savannah:

Hey guys, since the court ruling lifted the injunction against Jeremy Mayfield, will there be any drivers who may refuse to race with a “drug addicted” at the wheel?  I read that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had completed affidavits for the court case for NASCAR stating they did not feel safe having a driver with questionable drug use.  If a driver felt that they were endangered by Mayfield, would NASCAR take any action such as not allowing him to drive?

You won’t see any drivers refuse to race. Beyond the financial and other commitments they have, they know NASCAR won’t allow Mayfield on track without thoroughly testing him. If a driver did refuse to race I don’t really see any penalties NASCAR could levy against them. Their team owners are another story though. Remember the drivers are independent contractors and don’t have *driving* contracts with NASCAR. – Journo (Apparently this was not clear. I apologize for any confusion).

6. From Kim:

Okay. I am really confused. What is the “wave around” rule and why would it affect the lucky dog?

I’m going to try my best to explain this one, so stay with me.  The wave around rule with the new double file restarts affects cars that are a lap down.  Normally, when a caution comes out, lead laps cars pit first.  This puts all the cars that are a lap down behind the pace car.  If they want to pit, they come down pit road the second time by.  But, if a team now wants to get a lap back they can stay out behind the pace car (and in front of the leader) and not pit.  As the field is coming to take the green, NASCAR will wave these teams around (so they don’t restart in front of the leader) and they can get a lap back.  But, the kicker is that they cannot pit until after the green flag is out.  So they benefit by being able to get the lap back, but they may be taking a big risk by not pitting.  This wave around rule doesn’t affect the lucky dog, as NASCAR still gives the highest scored team laps down a lap back. – T.C.

7. From T:

How do the drivers really feel about the fanzone at Daytona?  Is it an obligation to the owners or NASCAR? how do the crew members feel about it?

I think it’s one of those things it takes a little while to get used to, but you reach a point when you don’t even notice it any more. For drivers being gawked at all the time is nothing new, especially when they’re at the track. As far as crew members go I can tell you they feel like they’re zoo animals, but they too get used to it after a while. Remember Las Vegas is like that too. – Journo

8. From George:

Here is what I would suggest to NASCAR, bring in a competent medical staff to handle the racers, pit crews and officials at all the races.  Require all drivers, crew members and officials to provide information as necessary about medical conditions, medical hsitory and medications.  Have the staff at the infield care center to supervise treatment of injuries or other medical emergencies.  The medical director would be able to evaluate all driver’s who are on medication and make a determination on their fitness to race.  Same for crew members.  Here is where the question comes in:  How would you feel about a designated medical official to oversee drivers, officals and crew members medical conditions and medications?

TC wrote about the safety crew a while ago and I don’t really have a good answer as to why NASCAR does not have one. We are both advocates though. As far as a medical staff goes, NASCAR actually does have one that is familiar with driver medical histories and travels to each track. The medical liason team consists of four RNs and three physician consultants. Obviously the medical staff is only going to know as much as the drivers want them to know as they aren’t their practicing physicians. For crew members and officials I honestly don’t really think it’s necessary. Because these positions are all so interchangeable and constantly in flux I think it would become very cumbersome trying to maintain medical histories. As far as medications go, drivers are required to notify NASCAR and Dr. David Black what they are taking.- Journo

9. From Dave:

Why do teams do wind tunnel testing if modifications to the body, of the car, aren’t allowed?

While NASCAR’s rules for the COT and it’s body are much more stringent then they were for the previous car, the teams still do have a small gray area in which to work.  Modifications to the body have not been outlawed completely.  So teams can still make gains in the wind tunnel and through R&D efforts. – T.C.

10. From Kevin:

Hey guys, what do you think are the main problems at RCR?  They are flat out TERRIBLE right now.  I mean, just downright ABYSMAL.  RC cant be happy about how his teams are performing.  They have got to have by far the worst investment to results ratio among all of NASCAR’s teams.  Harvick and Mears have been non-existant.  And Burton and Bowyer havent been much better.  Also, showing how little they know, the announcers were lamenting RCR’s bad luck, but IMO they havent run well in months.  They havent seriously challenged for wins all season on the Cup Level.  What gives?

I don’t really have a good answer for you. Between the three drivers at RCR last season they had three wins, 21 top-fives, 54 top-10s and all three were in the Chase. From then to now their average finish has dropped from a combined 13th, to 19.4 and only Clint Bowyer is within striking distance of the Chase. Obviously you have to look at what’s different at RCR? The only major change that occurred in the off-season was the fourth team. Could that be a factor? Possibly. They may not have been ready for the addition. Could it be bad luck? Possibly. I believe this is a question Richard Childress and Mike Dillion ask themselves every morning, every afternoon and every night. If they knew the answer I can guarantee you the team wouldn’t be struggling like they are. – Journo.

11. From GreenMeansGo:

I hope you don’t think this is a silly question, but it’s been bugging me since I was at Daytona for qualifying last year.  After the qualifying run, there was a NASCAR official standing at the opening to the garage area on pit road blowing a whistle.  I can’t imagine the drivers being able to hear it so what is it for?  Thanks for all you do!

There are no silly questions here.  The NASCAR or track official who blows the whistle as the cars come off the track is there to warn anybody walking in and around the garage opening that a car is coming through.  It basically means, “hey, get out of the way!” – T.C.

12. From Ric:

I have heard a crew chief  tell his driver about the status of other cars, as in “Everyone is complaining about their car being tight”, or “About half the field looks like they will be short on fuel” etc. Do teams monitor other teams radio traffic? How do various teams get info about other teams? Are there any rules related to this?

Teams can monitor each others’ radios by using the same type of scanner that fans do sitting in the stands.  In some cases, teams will know certain strategy issues just because of how the race has played out.  But it is not uncommon to eavesdrop on another team’s frequency.  There are not rules to govern this type of thing. – T.C.

13. From Dave:

I’ve heard, for years, that getting a copy of the official NASCAR rulebooks is nearly impossible. Why are “the rules” such a closely guarded secret?

The rules aren’t a closely guarded secret.  Anybody who has a NASCAR license gets a copy of their series’ respective book when they sign up for the license.  NASCAR just doesn’t make the book available to the general public.  They will come up for sale on eBay periodically if you really want one, but I think if you did buy one, you’d be disappointed.  It’s mostly technical information and boring stuff on race procedure. – T.C.

14. From Kim:

We hear a lot of discussion about tire wear.  My question is: Does the driving style of the driver influence tire wear, or do all tires for a specific track wear the same?

The driving style absolutely affects tire wear.  If a driver over-drives a car early on, he will burn the tires off quickly and have nothing left for the end of the run.  Really good drivers find a way to not abuse their tires so they have grip throughout a race run.  Think about this, if you were to drive a Cup car around a track at ten miles an hour, the tires won’t wear very quickly, as there isn’t a whole lot of strain on them.  If you drive around at 180 MPH, the tires must do a lot more work, and will wear much quicker. – T.C.

15. From Kenny:

Is there a penalty for running over a hose entering the pit or backing up to reposition the car?  Will Bootie Barker move to the 56 team with Martin Truex, Jr.?

As long as the team rolls the car back over the hose, there will be no penalty.  And there is no penalty from NASCAR for moving the car during a pit stop, as long as the car is legal in the box.  I haven’t heard yet who will be Truex’s crew chief for next season, but I would imagine it will either be Kevin Manion or they will hire another big name crew chief. – T.C.

16. From Ric:

How often is the same chassis and / or engine used. My brother tells me he heard they will replace a chassis after it has been used three times due to the stresses put on it.  I find that a little hard to believe, I would think you would get more use out of them.

Engines (except in the case of this new sealed engine rule) are gone through after every race.  Teams will not use the same engine multiple times.  Chassis are different though.  As long as there is no damage, chassis can be re-used over and over. – T.C.

17. From Ken:

Where were the old NASCAR tracks around Columbia, SC?

There were actually three old NASCAR tracks in the vicinity of Columbia. The biggest was the old Columbia Speedway in Cayce (2001 Charleston Highway, Cayce, SC, 29033), which is still standing. It’s in pretty rough condition though. Here is an article about it. There were two other tracks in Newberry and Hartsville, but they are long closed. – Journo

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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