Ask The Insiders Wednesday #56

From the last to the first!  Yes, it’s the first Ask The Insiders Wednesday of 2010, so lets get this year started off right.  If you don’t know what this post is, we answer 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 yankeegranny:

I was very surprised to hear that the over the wall pitcrew member who recently passed away from h1n1 possibly was a “contract” employee and didn’t have health insurance.  Is that common with race treams? It seems to me that the only contract employees would be the drivers. Is it common for race teams to offer health insurance to some employees (shop workers) and not others?.  Seems to me that could be a PR nigntmare for Childress as far as sponsorship is concerned.  Who wants to be associated with a team that doesn’t  offer basic things such as health insurance, but makes millions, or appears to be.

Yes, there are certainly crew members who are contractors just like the drivers.  The guys who are just weekend warriors are the ones treated as so.  Full time guys who work both in the shop and/or at the race track are usually provided with benefits.  But contract employees are paid a flat rate for their services, and that is it.  RCR is not alone in it’s hiring of contract workers, as most race teams use them at one time or another.  And I believe that contract workers in any industry are not provided with benefits, so this isn’t a practice just found in racing. – T.C.

2. From Dan:

Hey Journo after reading your “Undeniably A Decade Of Change” and seeing Casey Atwood’s name I was wondering what went wrong on his drive to the top. He seems to have fallen off the radar. Did he not meet expectations or was he just shoved aside by some other shining star? If I remember there were high hopes for him. What happened? Any info? Thanks.

I think there are a couple of factors here. First and most obviously sometimes drivers don’t pan out. Whether they aren’t given enough time to develop or just aren’t any good sometimes things just don’t work. Casey was also very young when he got pushed up to Cup. He had one full Nationwide season where he performed well and then was thrown into a brand new Cup team. When he didn’t perform well quickly he was booted down. Casey and Reed Sorenson are very similar in this respect. Reed was very young and performed OK in the Nationwide Series and then was thrown into a Cup ride. Neither panned out for whatever reason. Remember too, Dodge has struggled through the years to compete with the Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac and then Toyota teams. They had that good season with Sterling Marlin early on, but that was about it. I don’t think there was one thing though. – Journo

3. From Daddy Wiltone:

Ok I will pose this as a question. In a recent article about the Bud Shootout. These names were in question about thier relavency Derrike Cope, Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte, Geoff Bodine, and John Andretti. A few of these guys still have a huge fan base not to mention name recognition. Do you think NASCAR added these guys to generate interest from the “discarded” fans of the 80,s 90,s base?

To be honest, no.  I think they just happen to be eligible with the new requirements NASCAR has put in place for the race.  Remember too, just because one of these drivers is eligible doesn’t mean they will actually participate in the race.  It’s certainly possible you won’t see Schrader, Bodine, or Andretti run. – T.C.

4. From Willy:

Why is it that you guys have to be so secretive about your ID’s.  FYI I definately love your site. It works so well on my dial up. I wish the whole internet was still like this.

Well I’m glad it works on your dial-up. I can’t imagine how hard it is to load a flash site. We’ve chosen to keep our identities secret because it allows to talk about things and bring you news without compromising ourselves professionally or anyone around us. Our anonymity allows us to bring you news and rumors that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to bring you. We understand it takes a little bit of trust in us, but it helps us protect ourselves. At the end of the day neither one of us needs any glory from doing this, we just have fun with it and sometimes it lets us get things off our chests. – Journo

5. From DexterMorgan:

Is there any hope that NASCAR will abandon its use of the phantom debris yellow? Very little ruins the credibility of this sport than mercy cautions.

Well, I don’t think you can definitively say they even exist.  And for NASCAR to do away with them, you’d have to get them to admit they actually happen.  I don’t disagree that there aren’t some very suspicious cautions at times, but I think no matter what happens there will always be caution flags that NASCAR fans don’t like.  Remember too, the TV people don’t always show the reason for a caution.  They may tell you it’s for debris, but don’t think it’s worthwhile to show you the debris on the track. – T.C.

6. From Ric:

Do Pit Crews try different routines in practice in hopes of finding a better / faster way method? Do you try different things just in case you need to do it at the race?

Teams and crews will experiment from time to time with different methods of servicing the car.  The casual fan won’t notice, but many guys do things differently.  There are three distinct methods in indexing a tire, changers have different ways of pulling tires and moving around the car, and some jackmen have little differences.  Each guy has his own philosophies, as do coaches.  In terms of trying things in practice, we do prepare for situations like flat tires, dead pit guns, and damage repair. – T.C.

7. From Kevin:

Hey guys, watching a football game I saw the ad for the 500, its coming fast!! Feb 12th is a little over a month away.  What exactly is the stage of preparation right now for the cars that will go to Speedweeks? I know most guys take very little vacation, but when exactly will people hit the shop again full time 100% looking towards Daytona?

PS-Is the Fox crew gonna be back fully intact this season?

PSS-for Journo – What is Ricky Craven getting into, I saw that he left Yahoo, I like the stuff he did over there, he had a nice perspective on things.  I hope he is gonna be writing somewhere else.  Any idea?

Everybody is back 100% right now. Most teams give pretty nice vacations through the New Years holiday (though that’s not universal) and then it’s full steam ahead after that. Right now they’re building those cars that are headed to Speedweeks. Teams are testing, going to the wind tunnel, going to the k-rig. To your second question I believe so. There’s been nothing to the contrary. And to your final question I’m not 100% sure but I believe he’ll be back on NASCAR Now at the very least. – Journo

8. From Tony S.:

What is ask.com doing for 2010?

All I know is that they weren’t sure they’d be back. I would guess they’ve entertained some teams, but I honestly haven’t heard who those teams might be. They entered the team sponsorship arena to legitimize they’re involvement as an official NASCAR partner. If they were happy with growth and ROI, then they’ll probably be back. If not, obviously, they won’t. – Journo

9. From Ric:

At a track are you allowed to return tires if you feel there is a problem with them?

Certainly if you find a problem with a tire, it can be returned to Goodyear.  If a tire is damaged, or won’t hold air, or has some other problem, they can be returned.   – 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!

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