Eyes in the Sky: NASCAR's Abbott and Costello
by MIKE CALINOFF, Special to FOXSports.com
However, every so often, he'll come out with something that makes me laugh. Case in point: Riding around under caution at the onset of a rain shower for the Auto Club 500 this weekend, Dario started this dialogue:
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DARIO: Hey, Calinoff...
ME: Yeah?
DARIO: You know what?
ME: What?
DARIO: If this were sports-car racing we'd get out the wets.
ME: The whats?
DARIO: The wets.
ME: The WETS?
DARIO: What?
ME: Did you say wets?
DARIO: Yeah, the wets.
ME: What are wets?
DARIO: What?
ME: I said, what are wets?
DARIO: Rain tires.
ME: Why didn't you just say that?
DARIO: Say what?
ME: Rain tires.
DARIO: What about them?
ME: Are you trying to confuse me?
DARIO: Absolutely.
Like I said, no language barrier here. And by the way, if you are too young to understand the Abbott and Costello reference go to Google and search for, "Who's on First," and you'll be able to appreciate the above exchange.
Practice
Our preseason test at the newly renamed Auto Club Speedway was decent. We learned a lot about the attitude of the new car and Dario, who's won there in an Indy car, started to get used driving a stock car around the track. But still, going into the race weekend we really didn't know what to expect.
Our first laps in the Sprint Cup car were not spectacular, but we improved throughout the session. By the end of the practice, which was cut short by rain, we were about one second off the leader's time.
On the other hand, our practice times for the Nationwide Series session were really good. Dario was very happy with the car and we all had strong expectations for the race.
The whole deal with practice is usually a moot point anyway since the track surface is totally different from the time we practice to the time we race. In this particular case, it was dramatically different because of the weather issue.
Ooops!
You're probably going to think I'm nuts for telling you this, but Franchitti scraped the wall in practice and I was really happy about it. Now, why would I possibly be happy about making contact with the wall? Well, it tells me that Dario is really starting to find the edge in these cars. Sometimes you just have to scuff the wall a few times to be able to judge how far away it is from the car. It's all part of the learning process.
Monday, Monday, Monday!
Get ready for the 600
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Can you dig it?
I'll be honest, the prospect of spotting two races in one day (I don't even count the Sunday night affair) didn't have me jumping for joy. The whole spotting process has changed for me anyway because I have to give a lot more information in the same short instance as I have in the past. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining (I actually love it), but it's a little more pressure sensitive than in the past.
The Sprint Cup race started out a little hectic for everyone as the Sunday night setup was different than the Monday morning racetrack. But, crew chief Steven Lane and our Target crew made adjustments throughout the day to make our car better. I guess 'better' might be a poor word choice; tolerable probably makes better sense. At this point in Dario's transition we have to make him comfortable with what he is driving, and these cars are really a handful.
Finishing 32nd is less important than the overall result, which was that Dario learned a great deal. As I have said from the very beginning, the main objective for these first five or so races is to finish. After that, I believe everything else will begin to fall into place.
We got through that race totally unscathed which is something that a lot of others can't say — including our teammate, Reed Sorenson, who had his Energizer Dodge obliterated when he was hit from behind while slowing for a wreck.
Round Number Two
There was about an hour between races that I absolutely welcomed. A short amount of sleep and large amount of talking during the first race had me a little worn. Adrenaline would soon kick in as the green flag flew for the Nationwide Series race.
I knew that we had a pretty good car in practice, but again, I had no idea what we would have for the race. I quickly learned that we had a really strong car. Franchitti immediately got in a rhythm and began picking off cars one at a time.
It was pretty awesome to see him navigate through traffic and head to the front. We went from starting 26th to running 10th in short order. I think that running about 300 miles in the Cup car was helpful to Dario, and he ran really well in comparison to a few others who had also just finished the same task.
The unfortunate part of the day came with just a few laps to go. Dario felt a vibration that was severe enough to cause us to pit under green. We lost a lap in the process and never got it back. A 24th-place finish was really a disappointment because of the great run that we had, but it showed a lot of people just how good this guy is going to be.
It's really just a matter of seat time right now. There is little doubt in anyone's mind that Dario Franchitti will achieve success in the world of stock-car racing — we just need some time.
It's a pretty neat gig
I always tell people how fortunate I have been to have an awesome career in the sport. Just to be one of 500 guys who is part of a NASCAR team is something in itself, but to be working with a driver like Dario Franchitti is really cool. He's a lot of fun and he's going to get good really fast. For me, it's gotten to the point that I can't wait for a race to be over — just so I can start thinking about the next one.
Mike Calinoff is a championship winning NASCAR spotter and an independent Driver Development Specialist who will be working with Dario Franchitti and the No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Dodge team this season. He will be contributing his experiences with the team throughout the NASCAR season with FOXSports.com
To learn more about Mike, visit his website mikecalinoff.com .
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