Ask The Insiders Wednesday #41

The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship officially gets under way this Sunday.  The Nationwide boys are off, while the Truck Series joins the Cup cars at Loudon.  And since it’s Wednesday, we’ve got more of your questions and our 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 Doug in CA:

Two unscientific questions:  NASCAR has its annual “most popular driver” award, voted by the fans.  If the voters were the folks in the garages – crew, drivers, etc., who would win?  Second, directed at Journo:  it’s a rain delay.  Who do you look for to fill some interview time?

To the first part of your question, that’s a tough one. There are a lot of guys that are well liked throughout the garage. I don’t think I can give you one answer for that. Without giving away too much, I’ll tell you if you’re running a TV broadcast it’s really a matter of whose available and willing to come participate. That’s why you’ll see a wide range of people end up on TV during those times. For other forms of media, it’s a very similar situation. – Journo

2. From Ric:

Since nothing is stock on the cars any more, and the look of the car is painted / decaled on what is the big deal on what model the car company says is the race car. Couldn’t they change it half way thru the season if they wanted to?

I believe NASCAR still wants the cars to be mid-size sedans, either two or four door.  And no, a manufacturer couldn’t change mid season, because NASCAR must approve all changes, and except for some sort of weird drastic situation, they would never approve a mid year change over. – T.C.

3. From Deborah:

How do you get tickets for NASCAR banquets? My bff and myself are great fans to NASCAR. We would love to go. Have been to a few of the tracks. If you could give me any information. Thank you Deb.

So far all we know is that the Chase teams will have access to about 300 tickets. It will be up to them to decide how to give them away. Look for different contests and promotions. It’s likely going to be a very difficult ticket to come by. Here is the information from NASCAR. – Journo

4. From Randy:

Is Budweiser going to sponsor a #9 ford?  Please tell me no!!

I’m afraid you’re going to have to deal with a #9 Budweiser Ford. Off the top of my head I couldn’t tell you the length of Bud’s sponsorship with RPM, but they have repeatedly expressed their pleasure with Kahne. There have been no indications they are going anywhere. – Journo

5. From Jeanette:

In his Victory Lane interview, Denny Hamlin mentioned that he was wearing the same fire shoes he had on in his Pocono win, had the same good luck chain in the car, etc. Are many NASCAR drivers superstitious? What funny or odd things do drivers and crews do along these lines?

Yes, there are certainly drivers and crew members with superstitions.  Common avoidances are green race cars, peanuts, and $50 bills.  Individual superstitions really run the gamut.  Favorite pairs of shoes, underwear, coins and other trinkets, and anything else you can think of are often involved. – T.C.

6. From Ric:

Since the 36 week schedule is long, with few breaks. The only time to really take a break is in the offseason, which means a fair amount of people gone about the same time. Do shops shutdown for a couple of weeks, or do they run on skeleton crews for a month or so. Do you plan thing together, or get as far away from each other as possible? Do you find yourselves running into each other at the same vacation spots?

Most teams go offline the couple of weeks between Christmas and New Years. The offseason though is not generally a vacation. On the shop floor you have everyone working to get new cars built for the next season and there are usually pretty intense testing schedules. In the front offices you have everyone working to prepare everything with sponsors for the next season. So while they aren’t racing, they aren’t necessarily vacationing. I actually wrote a couple of posts about this last year. They are here and here. -Journo

7. From Don:

I noticed a new ad campaign from Budweiser where they state “Hey Kasey, We’ll bring the beer. You bring the Cup” and it reminded me about something that has always puzzled me. When Nextel came in they redesigned the trophy and eliminated the “Cup” from it’s design. So why is it called the “Sprint Cup Championship” if there is no “Cup”?

Historically, at least during the modern era, the top series has been the Cup Series with one sponsor or another. I think because it’s so ingrained into the sport, the powers that be didn’t want to change that. Certainly the trophy is no longer a “cup”, but it’s still the Cup Series. – Journo

8. From Ross:

Hey T.C., is that you in the Boost Mobile/Danica commercial?  If so, you’ve gotta tell me where you got those heels!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lGA0VTRNhI

Yes, it is me.  I made a special, one day appearance in the IRL to change tires.  I got the heels at Nordstrom during the big Semi Annual Sale. – T.C.

9. From Fran:

I was at the race Saturday night at Richmond.  I noticed that one official, starting at the back of the field, walked to each car and received a sheet of paper from another official standing next to the car they monitor.  What is that sheet of paper and what is the purpose of this?

I’m not 100% sure on this one, but I believe it’s a checklist that each official uses to check over the cars before the race.  It’s honestly something I’ve never paid attention to.  Maybe there is a NASCAR official who reads this blog who could enlighten us. – 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!

Related posts:

• Ask The Insiders Wednesday #71
• Ask The Insiders Wednesday #80
• Ask The Insiders Wednesday #82
• Ask The Insiders Wednesday #83
• Ask The Insiders Wednesday #58

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