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Obviously the Cup boys are not racing this weekend, but the truck bunch is in Kentucky and the Nationwide gang is in St. Louis. So there is racing to be watched this weekend. But still, I have had a little time to sit and think about issues that have come up so far this season.
One thing I hear people talking about is Silly Season, which I just have to say is a "silly" name. Silly Season started earlier than normal this year. There's a good reason for it. Having owned a team, I can tell you back in the day some 17 years ago now, we had a very small operation. We had a small facility, we had one hauler and we had 20 employees. It was nowhere near the undertaking these teams go through now.
Back then, we could finish our sponsor negotiations late — even as late as October or November — and still get our cars and hauler painted in time for Daytona. Everything from getting press kits to diecasts and other souvenirs done in time for Daytona wasn't a big deal.
But now, think about Tony Stewart over there now with his huge facility. He has people to get in place, driver or drivers to announce. He has multiple sponsors both big and small to get announced. Things have to get done now, not during the holidays.
These days the season ends right before Thanksgiving. The teams take their much-deserved vacations. Sponsors do the same. Some businesses even shut down between Christmas and New Year's. So every year things have to get done and approved much, much earlier.
If you want to have diecasts to sell in time for Daytona, you have to have everyone, and I mean everyone — team, driver, sponsors — all signed off on it, and then it takes roughly 120 to 180 days to get it back from China.
The other thing to remember is that budgets and fiscal years don't run January through December. Some companies' 2008 fiscal year ended in June. Advertising and marketing budgets for 2009 were planned in April and May of this year. So things are getting done a lot earlier than we ever experienced.
Look at how early last year Dale Jr. made his announcement. Look at Tony making his announcement and leaving Joe Gibbs Racing. It just takes that much lead time to get everything ready in this day and age for the next Daytona 500.
See, the thing is, if you aren't ready for the Daytona 500 both on and off the track, well guess what? They are going to run it whether you are there or not.
The other issue that doesn't get a lot of notice is the travel. Think about what it takes to get these teams to racetracks for testing and for the races. You have airline flights, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc. Now think about those teams who have three or four teams.
Those are things that have to be coordinated well in advance because you really don't want your teams sleeping on cots at the track. It's just another piece of the puzzle.
In Stewart's case, I think it is important for folks to realize that he is not starting from scratch. Using a house analogy, the house is already built and very well furnished. Tony's basically been handed the keys. All he has to do is move in. Everything is already in place. All Tony has to worry about is going in and putting the Tony Stewart touch on it. His deal is a lot different than others who started from ground zero. I don't mean that as a negative. I have always said the way he is doing it is smarter than any of us ever did.
This isn't a plug to buy my book, well, OK, maybe just a little, but if you want to read what starting a race team from scratch was like, go to www.dwstore.com and buy my autobiography "DW — A Lifetime Going Around In Circles." I think you will find it very interesting.
As a car owner I learned a lot of valuable lessons — some good and then some not so good, and honestly, some horrible lessons, too. I think it would be a good read for some of you new fans, but it will also help to show folks the huge difference of what Tony is attempting to do than maybe what some of us others tried to do.
Leading the way
People want to talk about how many races Toyota has won, but look closer. Specifically, it's Joe Gibbs Racing that is winning in the Cup and Nationwide Series. I wonder two things: I wonder how NASCAR is liking their tapered spacer, and my bigger question would be, I wonder how much money it is actually saving the teams. I wonder if they are actually using those engines longer than in the past. It looks to me like that tapered spacer may have completed some more than others, if you know what I mean.
Going back to Joe Gibbs Racing, don't forget that they could have won a lot more races last year in their Chevrolets. Remember when Tony had fuel-cable problems? They had fuel pickup problems. They had flat tires. Tony and Denny Hamlin had a number of races that just slipped through their fingers. Who was the beneficiary of most of those issues? Hendrick Motorsports. Who are the beneficiaries of the ones slipping out of Hendrick's hands this year? That's right, Joe Gibbs Racing. There's an old saying in racing, "What goes around truly comes around," and I believe that.
New car thoughts
This new car continues to remind me of the trucks. One of the things we had to do on the trucks was to put wicker bills on the front fenders. That's a little lip that sticks out in front of the tire. That creates an incredible amount of downforce on the nose. That would be a simple thing they could do to these cars that would give them grip and give them a whole lot more front downforce. I think it would be something the drivers would like and it's only a minor change.
NASCAR is so sensitive to doing anything to this car. I just hope they realize before too much longer that they need to make adjustments on this car. I've said this before and will say it again: This is not a bad race car, but it does need some work.
I laugh when I hear these drivers complain about being loose in. I watched them during our FOX part of the season and now I am watching from my living room, and it's no reason they are loose in. No wonder they are loose in. They are sideways going down the straightaway, for pete's sake. They have these things all cocked to the right and they look like they are about to spin out before they get to the corner.
So in my mind, sure, they are probably going to be a little loose in.
Kool Kyle
The way Kyle Busch keeps winning, he could start the Chase with over a 100-point lead over second place. If he does, I'm sure there will be folks fussing about how many bonus points they give for wins and need to take that away. But you know what, that's what those bonus points were intended for. If you dominate the regular season, you are supposed to have an advantage when you start the Chase.
But believe what I am about to tell you: Kyle is going to need as many points as he can get. The No. 48, No. 99, No. 88 and No. 17 cars are all coming on strong. I think you are going to see a big turnaround in performance in the next few weeks out of the Roush Fenway cars and the Hendrick cars. Kyle and his team better be working hard and loading up all the points he can, because I think he is going to need them.
Last year they took 400 points away from Jeff Gordon and this year it will be about the same from Kyle. I'm sorry, but it is just not right. We need a regular season champion who gets a regular season trophy.
Richmond to me is exciting. When you get to Richmond, the most exciting part is who is in and who is out. A couple years ago we had folks going in and out of the Chase within the race itself. Now that was exciting to watch. If they could figure out a way to make that happen each week during the Chase, then they would really be onto something.
See, once you get into the Chase, it is simply business as usual. It's the same point system. So all you have to do is be fairly consistent and try to get Top 10 finishes. In Kyle's case, when you factor in all the bonus points he will have, all he has to do is basically keep his nose halfway clean and stay out of trouble, then he will have it pretty easy.
I know that's not what NASCAR likes and it's not its intention, but that's the way this year is shaping up. We all know this kid could break a lot of records, like most wins and a lot of other things. We all need to be excited when we see someone doing something exceptional. That is what Kyle is doing, and if he can keep it up he is going to have one of the greatest seasons any driver in our history has had. We should be excited about that, not complaining about it.
Oh, by the way
Did you all see NASCAR's proposed new testing policy? Wouldn't you have loved it if the folks would have told the teams it was the new drug testing policy and not the car testing policy? I bet that would have got some people's attention, huh?
Oh, by the way too
On a more serious note, our NASCAR community lost a true friend this week. I have known Steve Peterson for a number of years. I met him in the Midwest working on ASA cars. He was a really sweet, kind-hearted man. He just loved racing. The thing I remember most about Steve was that he had a computer before anyone else and knew what they were. He used to come over and show me all kinds of things on his laptop when the rest of us were using a pencil and paper. He always had something that was a little bit ahead of everyone else. He has done a lot for racing. His shoes are going to be hard to fill. He was a good friend and a good man. So my condolences go out to his family and friends.
That man is going to be dearly missed.
One final "Oh, by the way"
Another good friend of mine also passed away a few weeks ago — "Bullet" Bob Reuther. He was an incredibly good racer. He was quite a character too and brought a lot of flavor to racing back in the day. You should Google his name sometime and learn all about him. We will miss him and my condolences to his family.
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