Happy Hour: Dissing on ‘Dega

OK, I know this is late notice, but we’re making a rule change this week: No complaining about Talladega.

Let’s see how that works out.

Let’s get to the mailbag:

NASCAR got what it deserved Jay. Why did NASCAR decide to spring a new rule on drivers a few hours before the race? What other major sports organization changes the rules just hours before a game?

Instead of an exciting race that will naturally play out over 188 laps and maybe a natural “big one” to happen, NASCAR made sure that it happened within the last 20 laps.

NASCAR needs to find a real solution to the perceived problem of bump drafting. I didn’t think it was a problem at Talladega in April or Daytona in July. Maybe the racing below the yellow line rule should be thrown out coming out of turn 4 on the final lap. That is how the two big crashes happened in the last two plate races and also how Regan Smith lost the fall race last year.

One thing we all can agree on is that NASCAR needs to at least address the problem and NOT changes the rules the morning of a race.

Dean Dziasek
Eagan, Minn.

Let me start by defending NASCAR, to some degree. When it comes to Talladega they have a very difficult job. Do they side with the fans who, by and large, love the show put on by using restrictor plates or do they side with the drivers who hate racing there?

Jimmie Johnson recommends bulldozing the corners and flattening the track. That would certainly eliminate the Big One, but it would also produce Pocono South. Do any of you want that?

Regarding the yellow line, you aren’t the only one who thinks allowing racing underneath it on the final lap would eliminate some of the problems. But I think that would only serve as a bandage on a much, much bigger wound.

I do agree with you that changing a rule only a couple of hours before the race is amateurish. It reminded me of how, when I was 10 playing football on a field with trees in the middle of it, we made up rules mid-game about interference.

NASCAR should not have made such a dramatic change so late in the game. That said, there is no solution for Talladega that’s going to make everyone happy.

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Hi Jay and thanks for your columns. Why do we have a stupid chance spectacle mixed in with a series of sporting event races that require skill, talent, teamwork, etc? What a fiasco!

I wish all drivers would simply boycott this blight and end it once and for all. I want to watch some of the world’s greatest drivers and teams display their great skills. I have no interest at all in a demolition derby of chance. Why is this anomalous abomination included in a race series?

Dave
Lubbock, Texas

Some people like the anomalous abomination, Dave. While I do appreciate the unpredictability of Talladega, I don’t like how for the most part it comes down to luck.

What is hard to figure out is exactly how it got to be this way. Yes, there has always been a certain amount of chance at Talladega, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t win four in a row there by chance. Senior didn’t win there 10 times by chance.

I appreciated the skill involved in winning a restrictor-plate race. Unfortunately, skill seems to have given way to luck.

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Jay, first thanks for all you do in providing NASCAR fans great insight on so many issues.

I have just watched another bad race. NASCAR has done it again not letting the drivers race. I have followed NASCAR for many years, (68 years old) and the racing is not getting better. I just have realized that NASCAR does not want the drivers to race.

Johnson, riding around in the back to win a championship is not racing. Talladega was not a race. Newman said it best.

Terry Ven Roy
Colorado Springs, Colo.

P.S. Trying to stay with NASCAR but it is getting very hard to do so.

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Just thought I would bring everyone the points as they stand if we still used the Bill France system, as opposed to the Brian France system: #1 Johnson, #2 Stewart -7, #3 Gordon -79.

Brian France’s way: #1 Johnson, #2 Martin - 184, #3 Gordon -192.

Thank you Brian France! You truly are the savior of NA$CAR! Whatever would we do without you!

Eric Campbell
Hickory, N.C.

Well, there is something to this. In the six-year history of the Chase, the standings would actually be closer at this point in the season in three of those. But again – and this is something I’ve said before – you can’t assume all things would have played out the same. Teams changed their strategies when the Chase was implemented.

So while in theory only seven points would separate Jimmie Johnson from Tony Stewart, it’s impossible to know how Stewart and his team would have fared the last seven weeks had they not had a 179-point lead erased. There’s no way to know if Jimmie Johnson wouldn’t have had to take certain chances to make up that deficit.

In other words, simply comparing the old and new systems doesn’t account for all the variables.

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How’s Larry [Beil] doing? I’ve noticed lately that we see more Raj Mathai than Larry. I hope he’s doing great. The ‘stone cold locks’ doesn’t sound the same with Raj (not saying that Raj doesn’t make it, they are just different).

Alberto Cruz
Carolina, Puerto Rico

Larry is doing just fine. Scheduling sometimes gets in the way of him hosting our video segments, so when it does Raj steps in. And let me tell ya, Raj is working on that stone cold delivery. He’s going to get it down, and that’s the bottom line.

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Strange question for you. Is there a particular reason the races run in a counter clockwise direction around the track? Given the need to protect certain tires on the cars, would it be difficult to set up a car to run the other direction? Just curious!

Eric
Cambridge, Mass.

It’s pretty simple, Eric. Racing counterclockwise puts the driver sitting on the inside of the track rather than against the wall, which, if you think about it, is much safer.

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Jay, I don’t quite understand the media sometimes. You all say Dale Jr. is overhyped or overrated as a race car driver, yet you continue to write about him. Why not leave him alone and let everyone forget about him?

Well, I can answer that for you. Quite simply, most fans won’t read your piece unless it contains information about him. Case in point is how Yahoo, without shame, puts pictures of him or the 88 on the front of the article even though it is not about him. I understand, you’re playing the click game, more clicks your piece gets the better you look. Well, with that said, why don’t you guys realize you shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds you?

Ahyodha Kishna
Cleveland

You couldn’t be more right … and wrong, Ahyodha. You’re right, Junior does “click,” but if clicks are what feed us, wouldn’t biting the hand that feeds us actually mean ignoring Junior?

For the record, I’ve never said Junior is overrated. He gets more attention than his performance warrants, but that doesn’t make him overrated. It simply means the media is providing readers with information they want to read about.

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Hey Jay – This is the first time I’ve e-mailed you. I always enjoy reading Happy Hour and I appreciate your perspective. I’m fairly new to NASCAR but would appreciate your thoughts on this: If Chad became the crew chief for Dale Jr. and any other crew chief were to go to Jimmie in your opinion who would end up higher in the standings at the end of one year? While I don’t think Chad has magical powers I’ll bet you could GUARANTEE that Jr. wouldn’t be missing his pit box.

Wendy
California

Success in one situation doesn’t automatically translate to success in all situations. In other words, just because Chad Knaus has helped Jimmie Johnson to three, going on four titles doesn’t mean Knaus could do the same for Junior.

To borrow from the NFL, Bill Belichick flamed out in Cleveland, then won three Super Bowls in New England. Joe Gibbs won three Super Bowls in his first stint with the Redskins, but didn’t win a single playoff game in his return to Washington.

It’s impossible to know if Knaus could build the same chemistry with Junior as he has with Johnson. My gut tells me no. My gut also tells me Junior needs more of a father figure on the box, and Knaus certainly wouldn’t be that.

So, to answer your question, I’d have to go with Jimmie Johnson. He’s simply a more talented driver than Junior.

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Did Donnie Wingo ever live in Moncks Corner, South Carolina?

Adena Forren
West Columbia, S.C.