California Instant Replay with Ryan McGee

Past races: Daytona

NASCAR'S NEW IRON MAN

Ryan from Hampstead, Md.: Ryan, can you do me a favor? Lately, everyone has been calling Mark Martin the "Ironman" of NASCAR. Please set these writers straight, and let them know that Mark Martin has never been the "Ironman" rather it was Terry Labonte who earned that nickname in the 1990's, other than Cal Ripken Jr. of course.

Ryan McGee: You're right. Terry Labonte is the original Iron Man of NASCAR, and we named him that back in the late 1990's when he broke Richard Petty's record for consecutive Nextel Cup Series starts. Labonte raced in 655 consecutive races, but since that streak ended, Ricky Rudd set a new level of 697 consecutive races although Rudd had his semi-retirement last year and that streak ended.

The reason they keep referring to Mark Martin as the Iron Man is he is the current Iron Man with the longest current streak. He's started 619 consecutive races. Assuming he gets out of the car for Bristol — three races from now which is what the plan is — Jeff Gordon will take over with the longest current streak. Gordon, once known as "The Kid," has run in almost 500 consecutive races.

But you're right, as far as I'm concerned, and as far as any old-school NASCAR fan is concerned, Terry Labonte is the actual Iron Man of NASCAR.

POSTRACE

McGee: Kenseth led 131 laps, the most by nearly five times anyone else.

McGee: Other notables: Burton hung on for fourth. Mark Martin finishes fifth. Stewart bounces back to eighth. Kevin Harvick went from second to 17th with that flat tire.

David Ragan is the highest finishing rookie in 16th. Not bad considering he was spinning so long ago.

McGee: This is the first win for Roush-Fenway Racing, the new 50-50 partnership between Jack Roush and the owners of the Boston Red Sox.

McGee: Vickers did earn the first top ten for Toyota and Red Bull Racing, finishing 10th.

McGee: Kenseth wins at California for the second time and earns the 15th win of his Cup career...and he sweeps the weekend in SoCal, Busch and Cup.

McGee: Gordon is holding Johnson up just enough to let Kenseth run away with it.

McGee: Brian Vickers trying to hold off all those cars with four fresh tires to give Toyota its first ever top 10 in Cup.

McGee: And another bad break for RCR...Burton spun his tires on the restart. Cold tires with a little of Stay-Dri powder on them are slick...and I bet that's what burnt Burton.

GREEN FLAG, LAP 246

McGee: Wow! Flat tire on Harvick's car. I bet he ran over a piece of debris from the Reutimann wreck.

McGee: These guys that are pitting now are really rolling the dice. The idea is that there aren't many cars on pit road, so you aren't losing much track position...but with only a handful of laps to go, I don't know that four fresh tires is going to give you enough of a boost to make those positions up. Then again, I'm not a crew chief...I'm just a Virtual Crew Chief, which pays much less.

McGee: During the downtime...let's hit some stats. We've had nine cautions so far, second highest total in the 10-year history of this track. We've also had 29 lead changes, which is one less than the track record of 30, set Labor Day weekend of 2005. I have a feeling we'll at least equal that mark. The closest finish in track history came one year ago when the difference was .231 seconds, when Greg Biffle beat Jimmie Johnson. I'm betting we'll beat that today.

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 243

McGee: Kenseth is on an island. He is followed by two teammates in Harvck and Burton and three teammates in Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch. But any team strategy that might be talked about here will apply to the first couple of laps only. When we get to the final lap, all bets — and all friendships — are off. Reminds me of the '97 Daytona 500 when three Hendrick Motorsports cars ganged up on Bill Elliott on a late restart. They worked together to get by him, then raced the hell out of each other to the finish.

McGee: Right now teammates are really communicating to teammates. Drivers are on the radio to each other to see what they can do to help each other out. Crew chiefs are instant messaging each other from their pit box computers.

McGee: Seven to go and we have a late dash to the checkered flag...again. A lot of people have a problem with these late red flags, but if it means a chance to give us a genuine green flag finish, then I am all for it. The only problem it creates is that we might end up with another big wreck. As Larry Mac likes to say — cautions breed cautions.

RED FLAG, LAP 243

McGee: We might have a replay of last week. A late restart with the field bunched up. Exactly what Harvick wanted...but exactly what Kenseth did not want.

McGee: What did I tell you about another yellow? Here it is.

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 242

McGee: We were talking about the draft...Harvick is searching for the slipstream behind Kenseth. Kenseth counters by moving his car up and down the track, making Harvick hunt for that draft. Just like when you're playing NASCAR on EA Sports.

McGee: And the Penske Dodges of Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman are solidly in the top 15.

McGee: Before we get to the end, let's give a nod to some surprising guys near the front — J.J. Yeley is in the top ten. Brian Vickers is looking to hand Toyota their first top 10 in Red Bull's first race.

McGee: With 15 laps to go, if we make to the end without our ninth caution of the day, I will be shocked.

McGee: Here come the RCR cars, Burton and Harvick. You can draft at California with two cars, but nothing like you can at Daytona.

McGee: Yikes...just like Saturday night's Busch race, Kenseth took off and left everyone on the restart.

GREEN FLAG, LAP 230

McGee: Now its Matt vs Chevy. He has nine bowties behind him.

McGee: This restart is going to wild. Everyone knows that Kenseth is wicked fast and this will be their one last shot to get him while the field is bunched up.

McGee: We had seven cautions over the first 125 laps of the race...and waited 100 for the eighth.

McGee: That, ladies and gentlemen, is why the No. 17 crew is widely considered to be the best pit crew in the business.

They just handed their driver the lead with 23 laps to go. Kenseth has four fresh tires, all the fuel he needs, and now he has the lead. The Killer Bees have done their job. Let's see if Kenseth can close the deal.

McGee: Wow! Remember that caution we were talking about? The one everyone wanted? Here it is. No. 8 on the day. Everybody within 20 miles of the track will be pitting now and fuel mileage is no longer an issue.

Now it is all about track position. Two tires or four? One can of gas or two?

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 227

McGee: Remember when we talked about this becoming fuel mileage race? Well, this is where the gas specialists earn their keep. We told you when the race started that the pit window was 42-44 laps. Well, everyone is pitting here with 45 or so laps to go...which means everyone is right on the edge. The gas men would really, really like one last yellow flag to make sure their math isn't relevant.

Meanwhile, crew chiefs will be asking their drivers to stay light on the throttle when they can...which is like asking Joan Rivers not to ask stupid questions in a red carpet situation...it defies their natural places in the unvierse.

McGee: Speaking of preaching patience, that's what Greg Zipadelli has been doing to Tony Stewart for the last ten laps after his driver was hit with that pass-through penalty for pit road speed. Tony's back up into the top ten now. He had a similar situation last week where he dominated early, had to come back to the front, then dominated again. How great would it be to have a nice normal day?!

McGee: If you're wondering where Jeff Gordon came from, the explanation is simple yet complicated. He won the pole, but crew chief Steve Letarte told Jeff before the race started that he would likely fall back because the car was set up for long runs and late-day conditions. Teams will set up a car tight or loose in anticipation of changing track and/or tire conditions. Drivers have to live with it in the short term knowing that car will come back to them...just as the No. 24 has come back to Gordon this evening.

The trick is explaining to a driver that he has to be patient. That's like telling Bill O'Reilly not to yell at people.

McGee: Well, folks...if you've read my columns or visited us here at Instant Analysis before (and we truly do appreciate it) then you know what my next rant will be...

Wouldn't this race be better served at 400 miles instead of 500? Wouldn't it be awesome if we were already talking end-of-race strategy? Instead we have 90 laps remaning and we'e already been racing for two and a half hours.

If I were running NASCAR (and I'm obviously not) then the only races that would be 500 miles would be the Daytona 500, the second Talladega race, Darlington, and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Everything else would be 400 miles or less. If tracks insist on using the magic number 500 then let them do what Phoenix does — 500 kilometers.

OK, I had to get that off my chest.

McGee: As we hit lap 148, Matt Kenseth is getting ganged up on, desperately trying to defend Ford's honor. The seven cars around him are all Chevys and Robby Gordon is the next Ford, back in 11th. After Chevy's 1,2,3,4 Daytona sweep, this trend can't be sitting well with the brass at Ford HQ in Detroit.

McGee: You think Richard Childress Racing came to play this year? After finishing 1-3 in the Daytona 500, RCR has all three of its Chevys running in the top seven and Clint Bowyer is trying to join Jeff Burton as a race leader.

McGee: Let's give a nod to Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota. He qualified very well on Friday, this after missing the race at Daytona, and has been in the top 10 for nearly 40 laps so far. Keep in mind that his crew chief is our old buddy Doug Richert, the man who called the shots for Dale Earnhardt's first Cup title back in 1980 and turned Greg Biffle into a title contender over the last few seasons at Roush.

David from Gastonia, N.C.: I'm watching the Auto Club 500. The announcer stated that Dale Earnhardt Jr. had lost a cylinder, and his crew was going to repair it. I didn't think you were allowed to do engine work during a race. Please inform me about the rule.

McGee: David from Gastonia...I know another David from Gastonia, David Poole of The Charlotte Observer, one of the best in our business. Anyway, teams can work on engines all they want during a race, but they can't change engines. In other words, you can replace a cracked cylinder, but you can't replace the entire engine with the spare that all teams bring to the track. If a team changes engines during practice, they have to start the race in the back, no matter where they qualified. Back in the day, teams could change engines during a race, but that practice was thrown out during the 1980's.

Denise from New York: Could the drivers that had problems with their engines be because of them switching from leaded gas to unleaded? Martin Truex Jr.'s blew up, Dale Jr. had problems and I thought I heard Paul Menard say something about his engine.

McGee: I think the switch to unleaded fuel could be a factor, according to conversations I had this week with some Cup engine men. Also, the weather is a lot cooler than the conditions we had for practice on Friday and Saturday. That means speeds are higher — you can see on FOX's telemetry that cars are topping 200 mph on the straights — and if the engines are tuned for warmer, slightly slowly conditions then they might not be ready to handle the new, harsher conditions.

GREEN FLAG, LAP 125

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 121

GREEN FLAG, LAP 120

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 115

McGee: What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is a classic Matt Kenseth performance. He qualified poorly (25th), but by the end of the first round of pit stops he was in the lead and so far he's spent half the race in the lead and 2/3 of the race in the top 10.

McGee: Speaking of Ford...Robby Gordon, who made the switch to Ford this year, is up in the top 10. He grew up not to far from Fontana, down in Orange County. But while other kids were living the O.C. life and sufring, he was in the desert with his dad building racecars.

Ross from Star, Idaho: Mark Martin is a career Ford guy. How embarrassing to Ford and Roush Racing is his hot start this year in a Chevy?

McGee: Ross, the image of Mark with a bowtie on his hood is an image that is giving Ford officials headaches and heartburn. His departure from the Camp of the Blue Oval was the final straw for a lot of Ford loyalists after they had already lost Dale Jarrett to Toyota and Elliott Sadler to Dodge. They had their chance to keep him, but they couldn't make the deal happen and Ginn Racing could.

Just imagine if he had won the Daytona 500!

GREEN FLAG, LAP 96

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 91

McGee: 165 to go and the cars up front are starting to eat the slower ones. Jeff Burton and Tony Stewart with a big orange draft that is putting some very good rides one lap down — including Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin during the last two laps. This is what happens when we have long green flag runs. Good for the guys up front...bad for everyone else.

McGee: Kasey Kahne, one of the pre-race favorites, behind the wall. Again, this track is hell on engines in any condition because they are run at such a high RPM rate all day long and for 500 miles. With the added extra variable of unleaded fuel, we might see a lot more smoking engines like Kahne's.

McGee: Uh oh...with 186 to go Dale Jr. radios in that he's seing a big drop in oil pressure. Sounds like he might be down to seven cylinders. Remember when Martin Truex blew up at the start of the race? That's Dale's teammate...which means DEI has issues. Whenever a member of an multi-car team has a mechnical problems, it makes te other teams very nervous. If a bad part is in Jeff Gordon's car, then the same piece is probably in the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Casey Mears...and that's a bad thing.

GREEN FLAG, LAP 58

McGee: Keep in mind that we are running a slightly smaller fuel cell than in the past, which means we will see more stops than we're used to. If we were making the long green flag runs that everyone was expecting, teams should make it around 42-44 laps before pitting for fuel. There is one member of each pit crew who has the job of figuring and refiguring fuel mileage all day long. Why? Because races at California always seem to come down to fuel mileage thanks to a low number of cautions and long runs. So far today, we haven't seen that. But we will.

Stephanie from New Oxford, Pa.: Is it true that the same guy who didn't call the caution for Martin was the same guy who cost Martin the championship in 1990 by screwing up the restrictor plate for the team? Have to admit, seems pretty fishy... Please set me straight if I am mistaken in my information, because this truly seems as if it is a malicious act towards Martin...

McGee: Stephanie...You are talking about Robin Pemberton, who is now NASCAR VP of Competition, but was Martin's crew chief during the early days at Roush Racing. But to blame both situations on Robin isn't fair or accurate. It was a crew member on the No. 6 back in 1990 who made that carburator spacer mistake at Richmond, yet Robin has always taken the fall himself. And Robin would have been one of the men in Race Control at the end of the Daytona 500, but the split-second caution decision was likely made by event coordinator David Hoots with the approval of his bosses around him. Yes, Pemberton is tied to both incidents, but there's no vengeance going on. Heck, his little brother Ryan Pemberton is Martin's crew chief!

McGee: Caution is out...Sterling Marlin into the wall hard after a pit stop. This was bad for the guys who had just pitted. Now they will go a lap down or to the end of a very long line behind the cars that had yet to pit. Jimmie Johnson is the big winner in this situation, as is Hendrick Motosports teammate Kyle Busch, who gets the "Lucky Dog" free pass back onto the lead lap.

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 53

Neal from Stratford, Conn.: Did DW and Neil ever Shake 'n Bake when they drove for Junior Johnson?

McGee: Neal...DW and Neil never did the Shake and Bake because they were too busy hating each other's guts. Actually, it was more their teams that didn't get along than the drivers. Junior Johnson was really the first team owner to take a crack at a two-car team, adding Neil after DW had already become a Cup champ. The experiment went so poorly that it actually kept a lot of teams gun-shy about going to a multi-car model. Obviously, they eventually realized that it was the way to go.

McGee: A lot of empty seats at California today. That's becoming a regular occurance at this track. Track officials are saying that they're being hurt by the fact that the Oscars are tonight. Are race fans really the kind of folks that are going to miss a live Nextel Cup race just so they can be home for Ellen's opening monologue? Hmmm...I think it might have more to do with the fact that there is a race just a few hours down the road in Las Vegas two weeks from now. Where you would rather go: Fontana or Sin City?

GREEN FLAG, LAP 23

McGee: That's three caution flags already today. In 13 previous races at this track, we've only broken double digits in caution flags two times — 11 each in the fall events of 2005 and '06. In the other 11 races we averaged only seven yellow flags. Looks like we're going to top that before we even get to today's halfway point!

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 19

GREEN FLAG, LAP 18

McGee: Wow! Two cautions in 15 laps. At this race, we typically don't have the first yellow flag until we're at least 100 miles in. A lot of crew chiefs and engine builders are going to be snooping around to find out what happened to Martin Truex's motor. There has been a lot of talk about the switch to unleaded fuel, which took place this weekend. Team owner Robert Yates, one of the great motor men in NASCAR history, says that losing the lead means losing some of the natural lubrication that teams have always counted on in the past. Lack of lube means the potential for a lot of friction and that means burned up engine parts. Hopefully Truex will be an isolated incident and not an indicator of a day-long pattern.

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 14

GREEN FLAG, LAP 13

McGee: When we say downforce, we're talking about air pressing down on the car and keeping it stuck to the racing surface. At 200 mph, these cars want to take off like airplanes, but th shape of the nose, roof, and that big rear spoiler catch the air and push that car down. When the pushing stops, the car does whatever it wants whenever it wants.

McGee: Wow...Scott Riggs got very loose and hung a hard right. It looks like David Reutimann got up behind Riggs and maybe sucked the air off his rear spoiler. You take any downforce at all off of these cars, the car comes unglued and unsteerable.

YELLOW FLAG, LAP 7

McGee: As soon as those cars crossed the start-finish line you saw them fan out into a bunch of different racing grooves. Drivers love this track because it is wide, smooth, and there is a lot of room to race. If your car is loose or tight you can chase it up the track and still be okay. At a place like Daytona or a tighter layout like Texas, one little wiggle can put you in the wall in a hurry. Fontana gives you space to make a correction.

McGee: Boogity boogity boogity!

GREEN FLAG

Leslie from Pleasantville: Why is Sunoco making a big deal about about Shell being on Kevin Harvick's uniform and helmet? You don't see an issue being made by Cup's title sponsor about Cingular being on the No. 31 car and uniform.

McGee: Hey, Leslie, I watched Pleasantville on cable two nights ago. Reese Witherspoon before she was famous! The big deal about the Shell logo on Harvick's car was that NASCAR approved the No. 29 sponsorship with pretty strict parameters that Pennzoil was the title brand, not parent company Shell. NASCAR and Sunoco felt that Shell was abusing a favor that had been done to even allow them to be on the car. As for Cingular, there is actually a big stink being raised by Nextel, because Cingular is now owned by AT&T and they want to put AT&T on the hood of the No. 31. Nextel won't let that happen and Richard Childress is in a world of hurt. John from Chemung, N.Y.: How far do the officials tear down a race car and its engine when pre-race inspecting? There seemed to be a traffic jam in the garage on Friday.

McGee: John from Chemung, N.Y....always great to hear from the hometown of the Bodine brothers! John, the pre-race inspection is process is maddening for all parties involved, especially at Daytona. Fifty NASCAR inspectors pore over every inch and part of every car, especially during initial Friday morning pre-qualifying inspection. Thirty-two aluminum templates are laid across all the outer surfaces while every part on the inside is checked for legality. Engines are tested to make sure they meet the right compression and size requirements and the car is weighed. Inspecting up to 60 cars at Daytona can take up to 10 hours!

WJC from New Vernon, N.J.: I raced before and against Ray Evernham at Flemington, N.J. fairgrounds. He would have used your heart if he thought it was better than his own. How do you think his teams will do today in their second week without their crew chiefs?

McGee: Hey WJC...I have heard that same type of sentiment from a lot of New Jersey short-trackers. I think Ray is happy to see Fontana on the schedule this week and then the off weekend next week. Evernham Motorsports is money on these 1.5 to 2-mile intermediate tracks, particularly with Kasey Kahne behind the wheel. The off week will let Ray do what he does best, which is circle the wagons and get organized. Plus, it lets those banished crew chiefs to have a maximum amount of direct exposure with their crews.

FYI...Ray says he is willing to live with the monetary and points penalties, but he is appealing the suspensions. Stay tuned...