September 8th, 2009 
T.C. Thanks to the long holiday weekend, we now have a short week. In just a few days, both the Nationwide and Cup cars will race under the lights at Richmond, while the Truck Series heads to Gateway International Raceway. Before that happens though, we’ve got more questions and answers. 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 Kathy:
I was watching “This Week in NASCAR” a few weeks ago and the guys were talking about a race that Mark Martin was leading and lost because he thought the race was over and left the track. I’ve been trying to find out more about when it happened but haven’t been able to. Are you familiar with this story and is it common for the driver to not know if they are on the finish lap or not?
I’m not aware of the specific incident with Mark Martin that you are referring to (maybe a reader does?) but it is not unheard of for a driver to not know what lap it is. Unless they can see a scoreboard or they are getting updated by their crew chief, a driver wouldn’t know. – T.C.
UPDATE: As I thought they might, the readers have come through on this one. See the comment section below for more on the incident with Mark Martin, including a link to a video clip… – T.C.
2. From Bryan:
I’m a huge Jeff Gordon fan. The last few years, Jeff hasn’t had the type of seasons that people expect from him. In my opinion, he has struggled more since Steve Letarte took over as crew chief . My questions are: what do you guys think of Letarte? Wouldn’t he and the team have benefitted from him working as a crew chief in either the Truck series or Nationwide series for a while before being given one of the highest pressure and highest profile crew chief positions in the garage?
Last season was definitely not Gordon’s best year. That being said he still finished seventh in the points. The year before he had six wins, 21 top-fives and 30 top-tens. He finished second in the points. This season he only has one win, but he still has been running very well. Remember he is second in points right now. We have gotten this question before, and I just think it’s a none issue. If he were 15th in points I think you could make an argument that Latarte’s not getting the job done, but Gordon has been very competitive. I don’t think spending time in the Truck or Nationwide Series would have made him a better crew chief, not to say he is a bad one. A lot of great crew chiefs don’t have experience as a crew chief in a lower series. Chad Knaus and Larry McReynolds for instance. I have little doubt in Steve Letarte’s ability. – Journo
3. From Anonymous:
Ok sorry if I have missed something here but have you guys heard anything about Ford using the Mustang for the NNS COT? If that is true you got any pictures? lol I have to see this…I mean really why don’t they just use the ford GT =P
Yeah, absolutely. Ford is using the Mustang, Dodge is using the Challenger, Chevrolet is using the Impala and Toyota is using the Camry. Click this link for more info about the Mustang COT and a picture. – Journo
4. From Jerry:
Guys I am reading about something called ” push to pass” alot lately. What does this mean. Thanks.
Push-to-pass is something utilized in the IRL. It is a button on the steering wheel that can be used a certain number of times during a race by drivers to get a small horsepower boost. See more about it here. – T.C.
5. From Mike:
How do you determine who goes out first during practice / happy hour.
There aren’t any rules in the rulebook about it. It’s really a matter of who gets lined up first. There aren’t really any advantages or disadvantages to who goes out first, second or third. – Journo
6. From Dan:
Tuning in late for the Cup qualifications I noticed that most drivers only ran 1 lap while a few ran 2 laps. Why? Seems a driver would be out there to run the fastest lap possible. Why not run 2 laps? Do the times fall off on the second lap that much or do they feel it’s not worth the effort if the first lap time is good enough to make the show? Am I missing something here? Thanks for any info.
Usually when you see teams only run the first of the two laps during qualifying, it’s because the tires fall off significantly from lap one to lap two and there is no reason to attempt the second lap. Certain tracks are very hard on tires, and lap times will fall off a lot from the beginning of a run, to the end. So if a driver puts in a good first lap, there is no reason to even bother with a second. – T.C.
7. From Matt:
What are the average costs to run a Nationwide car and Cup car for a river to be able to hit the top 10?
That is a hard thing to say. In the Cup Series, with a good team, sponsorships run in the neighborhood of $20 million. You’re probably going to be in that neighborhood to be competitive. In the Nationwide Series though, things aren’t quite as clear cut. Gibbs spends a lot more on their Nationwide program for Kyle Busch than say Braun does for Jason Leffler. They’re both competitive, but have different resources. You’re probably looking at $10-12+ million for a competitive Nationwide team. The trouble is there just isn’t a lot of concrete information available about costs and money within the sport. – Journo
8. From Ric:
I know that sometimes the tires on the right side use a different compound than the left side. About how often are the tires different? Is there any difference from the front to the back? Do you HAVE to use the left side on the left side, and vice versa?
This doesn’t happen sometimes, it happens at every track except the road courses. Goodyear will bring one tire for the left and one tire for the right. Besides compounds, tire stagger is a main difference from left to right. See more on stagger here. There is no stated difference from front to rear with the tires. There is a rule in the rule book that says tires must be used in approved positions, but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of a team being penalized for putting the lefts on the right and the rights on the lefts. The penalty from diminished performance is usually enough. – T.C.
9. From Ric:
How is information communicated to the pit crew on what changes are being made? When listening to the teams on the scanner I don’t here anything about what they are going to do different, other than a general comment like “Air pressure change.” Is this to keep info out of the competitors hands, or keep the chatter down the driver hears, or something else?
You will hear some specific changes mentioned on the radio. But the reason you don’t hear about some adjustments on the radio is a little of both, keeping chatter down and keeping info from the other teams. Teams can use a second channel on the radio to communicate with crew members, some crew chiefs have dry erase boards they will display changes on, and others are just hollered out. – T.C.
10. From George:
What are the chance Danica will hook up with Junior’s Nationwide team? It seems a perfect fit. She is sponsored by Go Daddy and so is he.
I think there’s a chance. I wouldn’t read too much into the sponsorship thing, but with the scenario that is being floated that is certainly a viable option. – 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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“I’m a huge Jeff Gordon fan. The last few years, Jeff hasn’t had the type of seasons that people expect from him. In my opinion, he has struggled more since Steve Letarte took over as crew chief.”
Remember that the only time that Jeff Gordon didn’t make the chase was the year *before* Steve Letarte became crew chief of the 24 team. Ever since then, Gordon has been competitive, and almost won the championship in 2007.
“Guys I am reading about something called ” push to pass” alot lately. What does this mean. Thanks.”
To see the button in action, watch the last 5 laps of the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma here: http://www.worch.com/2009/09/01/indycar-at-infineon-raceway-2009/ The “overtake button”, as the announcers have come to call it, made a huge difference on the race and added a lot of entertaining action that we haven’t seen from the IRL cars in a long time. Definitely a good addition in my mind.
The incident in question with Mark Martin happed during a Busch Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mark was leading when the caution flag came out with only a few laps to go. Mark pulled down pit road before taking the checkered flag. If memory serves me correctly, David Green took the checked flag on the race track and was declared the winner.
TC and kathy, mark martin pulled into the pits a lap early at bristol, 1994. the race was finishing under a yellow and he was leading but he thought the race was over and pulled in for the “victory” celebration — and obviously lost the race. you tube has a video but it’s so cringe-wrothy that i can’t wait it all the way thru — and i’m not even a big mark martin fan!
too early for my lap top: the word is “cringe-worthy”! sorry . . .
RE: Mark Martin.
It was a Busch race at Bristol that MM pulled off the track too early and lost the race. The race was finishing under caution with a couple laps left and everyone was pulling up to MM to give a thumbs up and he thought since they done this the race was over and came down pit road. David Green was awarded the win.
the Mark Martin deal was at bristol.a caution came out with only 2or 3 laps to go and instead of staying on the track to take the checkered flag under caution he pulled down pit road,handing the win to the 2nd place car. i dont remember when,but it was quite a few years ago
You Tube video of MM’s big mistake
The Mark Martin incident was quite a few years back when he was in the #60 Winn Dixie Busch car. There was a caution with I think 2 laps to go and Mark thought the 1st caution lap was actually the final lap of the race, so coming off of turn four to take the checker flag he pulled down pit road allowing most of the field to get to the start finish line before him. I might be wrong about his but I think that David Green won the race for his 1st career Busch race.
In regards to Kathy’s question. It was in, what was then, the Busch Series. Mark was driving the #60 for Roush, there was a few laps to go and the caution came out. He passed the finish line, behind the pace car, and got the white flag. Instead of going around to get the checkered he pulled onto pit road, therefore handing the win to the person in second. I can not recall what track it was or how long ago it was, but I do remember that happening.
Regarding question 5 – Sometimes they go out by points, with the reigning champion going out first. I remember a driver asking his cc once about that.
There is sometimes an advantage to being one of the first cars on the track. Since there is not as much traffic, those that go out first tend to be at the top of the speed chart, which fans, broadcasters, and probably sponsors use to gauge how the car is. Of course the fastest lap doesn’t have much to do with how the car is handling or will race, so it’s not a good gauge of anything other than how fast the car can go for 1 lap.
I think Jeff Gordon fans, myself being one, are questioning the 24 team’s performance over the last few years because they’re seeing the 48 team performance being head and shoulders above the DuPont team. If anyone would research the win numbers between the 2 teams since Johnson came into Cup I think they would find the 48 team with a good many more wins then the 24 team in the same time period. It seems the Lowes team has been setting the performance standard, especially the last 3 years. Hey it’s tough seeing the employee outshine the boss. With that said I think Gordon is doing very well, but just not as good as Johnson. What is going to be hard to deal with is when Johnson passes Gordon on the number of championships.
If things continue the way they are with the 48 team 7+ championships are not out of the question.
I remember Earnhardt using the push to pass button some:-)
LOL Holmes!!
wow so there gonna have the challenger and mustang in Nationwide….. Chevy should throw in the Camaro lol