One Chase race down, nine to go. It’s Wednesday again, so if you’ve got questions, we try really hard to have 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 Pat:
Simple question: what tool do the pit crews typically use to pry the fenders up off the tire after contact? Is it just a pry bar or something more specialized? Thanks!
Teams use everything from their hands, to hammers and baseball bats, to specialized tools. Roush has a fender rolling tool they developed some years back that some teams use. – T.C.
2. From Ric:
I have heard that the Michael Waltrip we see on TV is not the real Michael Waltrip. That he just plays the country boy / hick / hillbilly / country bumpkin / image. Any truth to that? Are other drivers out there that are totally different on TV / in front of the fans, then they are in real life / behind the scenes?
I think to some extent the TV side of Michael you see isn’t real. He’s not quite as funny and goofy as he’d like you to think he is. And I think because of how corporate NASCAR has become, drivers are more polished when they are on TV and in front of the fans. They are going to be a little different when they are just around friends or their teams and can loosen the collar a bit. – T.C.
3. From Matt:
What plans does Hendrick have for Landon Cassill? I thought he would have been a perfect driver for the 88 car in NW.
I honestly don’t know of any plans. I believe he is still doing testing for Hendrick and he is running some dirt modified races, but as far as next year goes, I haven’t heard anything. I too think Landon would have been a good candidate for that ride, but with Bires you get someone with a bit more experience and a little bit more assurance. – Journo
4. From Steve:
Each team has their tires for the race laid out in rows behind the pit box. Is there anything to this, are the tires in any particular order? Or is a tire a tire? And while I saw pressures being checked before the race, are pressures double checked just before they’re used?
Before the race, all sets of tires will be numbered and then will be used in the race according to a specific order. The tire specialists will match tires according to stagger, and strategy will dictate which order the sets are used (for example, when to use stickers and when to use scuffs). – T.C.
5. From Kenny:
What do you hear about the #9′s engine? I kinda wonder if someone who was upset about the lay-off notices at RPM might have just forgotten to tighten a bolt, or fasten a nut…
We actually heard it was a broken crankshaft that did Kahne in. Honestly I can see where all the conspiracy theories are coming from, but it’s just not true. Not only would the sabotage have had to have been the greatest the sabotage ever (he makes it 66 laps, qualifying and several practice sessions?), but despite many of these guys probably losing their jobs at the end of the season, they are still looking at bonuses if Kahne wins the championship. In the end they would only be hurting themselves. I honestly believe it was nothing more than a coincidence. – Journo
6. From Amy:
My question revolves around Tony Stewart’s loose (broken?) axle cap at Louden. One of the announcers said during the broadcast that they probably didn’t even need to bother to fix it? If that is they case why did the team take the time (losing positions) to fix the issue?
The rear axles actually have two caps. The first is a flat cap that actually holds the axle in the tube. The second cap screws to the first cap and is a cone shape. It aids the tire carriers in indexing the new tires during pit stops. The cap that gave Stewart trouble was the outer, cone shaped cap. It sounded like the screws were not tightened properly and came loose. Not fixing the loose cap wouldn’t have led to any mechanical failures, but it would have made subsequent pit stops very difficult for the rear tire carrier, probably resulting in slow pit stops. – T.C.
7. From Amy:
Here is another question I just thought of- this one is directed more towards T.C. In the last two races, two different crew members have sustained hits on pit road during stops. In this article on NASCAR.COM (http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/features/09/22/five.things.dwayne.moore.dreutimann/index.html) Dwayne Moore (hit by Tony Stewart at Richmond) mentions that drivers who hit crew members should get penalized (he specifically mentions tail end). Do you think this is a good idea? When you are over the wall how much trust do you put in the drivers around your pitstall? Is there a way to make it safer?
It might not be a bad thing to consider. If drivers knew they would be penalized for hitting a guy, they might be more careful. But the problem is, is none of these incidents happen on purpose. Drivers aren’t trying to hit guys. These end up being wrong place, wrong time type of situations and there just isn’t enough time for either party to react quickly enough. When I’m over the wall, I just have to hope that my guys around me will watch my back and that the drivers are paying attention. But part of doing what we do is knowing that there is a chance you could get hit. That is why we now wear firesuits and helmets. – T.C.
8. From Doug:
I feel the new restart rule in the cup series has had an unexpected fall out. It seems now since the lap down cars don’t get any air time (by starting on the inside of the front runners), that sponsors are pulling out and will continue to do so. Since NNWS has gone to this rule you’ll start seeing this trend also.
I’m not really sure what evidence there is of this. I can promise the recent announcements by Jack and Jim had nothing to do with the restart rule. Other than them, I can’t think of any sponsors at any level pulling out. The TV the back markers get really wasn’t all that great before the restart rule, and still remains not great. TV exposure while important, is not the only reason a company sponsors a Cup car though. I don’t think the restart rule has/will have any effect on sponsorships. – Journo
9. From red8814:
Hey TC, when a car ends up backwards in the pit like Ragan did this past weekend, are there any changes in who does what on the stop? Also, can you extend our “get well soon!” thoughts to Clint Pittman? You guys in the pits don’t get enough credit for everything you do in the middle of that chaos!
Teams will usually keep their positions, but the problem lies in the tires. With fronts now in the rear, the rears now in the front, and the sides swapped, guys have to be real careful about knowing which tires they are putting on. They end up needing to swap tires front to rear, and left to right. – T.C.
10. From ronfrankl via Twitter:
Which teams are likely to have sponsorship issues in the closing weeks of the season? Any teams that might fold?
None that I’m aware of before the end of the season. As far as next season goes, look to those teams, even individually within bigger organizations, that have lost sponsors or are having trouble finding sponsorship. Most of those problems are ones that have been well publicized. – Journo
11. From 4wide via Twitter:
With 5 tracks in the Chase that have lights, why only one Saturday night race and the rest on Sunday against the NFL?
I think this is simple. ABC needs something to go against the NFL on Sundays and they have NASCAR. While in a lot of situations the NFL game is going to do better than the NASCAR race, it will still give ABC a formidable NFL opponent. – 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!
Related posts:
- Ask The Insiders Wednesday #38
- New Pit Road Rules for 2008
- Ask The Insiders Wednesday #43
- Ask The Insiders Wednesday #86
- Ask The Insiders Wednesday #44
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on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 8:42 am
On Question 8, you said “TV exposure while important, is not the only reason a company sponsors a Cup car though.”
What are the other reasons for companies to sponsor teams? Can you specify, since I am always curious why anybody would ever pay to be a Robby Gordon sponsor, or a David Stremme sponsor, etc. These guys are just awful.
And those “local businesses” that supported Bobby Labonte – I never even found out what those companies were. Isn’t that just money down the drain for them?
I’d love some thoughts on this.
on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Lee – One thing to remember is that most of these brands are already household names. Tide, McDonalds, Home Depot, Old Spice, Jack Daniels, Shell, UPS, Miller, Bud, M&M’s. You do not need to be reminded they exist.
What the sponsor is buying is something to leverage in their overall marketing programs.
Think about walking through the grocery store and seeing Dale Jr standups in the energy drink aisle, Greg Biffle & his dogs on the Milk Bone boxes, Dale Sr on the Oreo package, Kahne in his Bud uniform. All of those things are done to entice you to buy their product over the competitor…as you are actually making the buying decision.
Think about all of the sweeptakes….”enter to win a trip to meet Jr, Tony, Jimmy, Jeff, etc…. Tour the Roush shop. Be a part of the pit crew.” Those companies want to know your name, where you live, how old you are, etc so they can send you more information about their product.
Think about those corporate suites. The salesman invite their customers (the buyers of Kroger, Safeway, Food Lion) to spend some time with them. Plus they get to meet the driver. Get a picture taken. Get an autograph. Then they can tell the buyers about new products, promotions, pricing. “what can we do to help you sell more product?” Think about how much easier it is to talk to a customer when you have them relaxed with their family, watching a race, maybe had a beer or three vs in the stuffy conference room and they are bouncing from one meeting to the next.
Then to driver appearances. They go to trade shows to draw people to the sponsors booth. They go to corporate sales meetings and talk to people about team work, never give up, etc. They go play golf or have dinners with senior management of big customers and distributors.
They are featured in commercials and print ads. Think about Old Spice trying to change their image from the old man cologne to something cool. Bring in the funny commercials with Tony. Dale Jr and Wrangler. The Tony Stewart home Depot spots of the renovations he did to his house around race wins. Jimmy & Kobalt commercials.
So, no, the tv exposure during a race is not that important.
I do not know for sure, but I bet the companies that helped BL probably had a tent or suite and invited customers. Maybe BL had dinner with some cusomters. They met Bobby, got autographs, etc… Then the really excited customer that “will never forget that” is likely to buy more product from you.
On Robby, from what I have heard from the Beam people is that he is great with their distributors and customers. A lot of their marketing is around the “genuineness” of their product…and Robby is a genuine guy. You may not like him, but what you see is what you get. I heard he once drove the infield on a golf cart and was passing out Jim Beam apparel, banners, hats, etc… He would stop and say hello to fans, take pictures, etc… Pretty good for leaving a good impression with Joe Consumer.
on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 2:34 pm
knobcreekfan basically nailed it.
Think of the lesser drivers as a discounted NASCAR sponsorship. If you sponsor a Jimmie Johnson, you’re going to have to spend big bucks and get everything- including the massive amount of money to be all over the car.
Well, what if you don’t want to spend that money- but still want the smaller-priced perks a Robby Gordon can bring you? You sponsor him.
Companies have complex marketing schemes, and don’t always need the greatest exposure for every piece of their marketing campaign.
on Sep 23rd, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Lee- Knobcreekfan hit just about everything. These sponsorships are full scale marketing efforts that are being used by these companies in a lot of different areas. Look at Conway Freight. Does it matter if they end up on tv a lot? Not really because their services aren’t being sold to an average consumer. They use their sponsorship as a rallying point for employees, for representation in advertising, for entertaining and attracting partners and to give themselves legitimacy. Look at Target. They have been with Chip Ganassi for 20 years. They have been in NASCAR as long as he has. And as long as there is a Chip Ganassi Racing (or some variation of it) Target is likely to stick with him. The reason for this is because Target’s $50+ million sponsorship (two IRL teams, one NASCAR team) doesn’t cost them a dime. They use their sponsorship program just as much for their partners as they do for themselves. Ganassi has set up a program where Target’s partners sign up and they get special instore and advertising privileges as well as space on the car.
If you were simply looking for TV time you would buy advertisements during the broadcast, which would cost you substantially less than a full scale marketing campaign. It’s when these companies no longer find value in these campaigns, or believe they have already gotten all they could get that they pull out. Jim and Jack have decided that having at track hospitality, on track representation, driver appearances, etc. aren’t giving them the return they need.
This idea that they are just using it for TV advertising though couldn’t be farther from the truth. Think bigger scale marketing campaigns, think less about just TV time.
on Sep 28th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Hey guys, thanks for all the great replies and information. I really appreciate everybody spending the time to write up such thorough answers.
on Sep 28th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
This weekend, the rain washed off the rubber at Dover before the race and had to be built back up. Can you explain how rubber on the track affects the cars. Does in increase or decrease grip? Increase or decrease tire wear? Does it make the car tight or loose? Does it make passing easier or harder? Sometimes it seems if it’s hot, the announcers say it makes the track greasy and slippery. Other times, if the track has no rubber, it seems like the announcers and drivers look forward to getting rubber build up. I’m totally confused!!!!!
Incidentally, as a side story, my only experience with rubber on the track is walking on the track at Bristol before a race. I told my wife to climb to the top of the banking in turn 4 while I stood at the bottom to take her picture. She got up there but was afraid to walk back down for fear of falling so I had to walk up and hold her to walk back down. The rubber on the track was like walking in glue and I almost walked out of my shoe. We looked like total idots in front of 100,000 people!!!!