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CUP: Not All Issues Mechanical
Written by: Rick Minter
RacinToday.com   http://www.RacinToday.com
11/13/2009
Charlotte, NC
 
In spite of the best efforts of both Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Left) and crew chief Lance McGrew (Right) the team is mired in 23rd position in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. (Photo: LAT Photographic) ยป More Photos

Racing success and failure is often more about mechanical issues than many casual fans sometimes realize. Then again there can be factors that no engineer or mechanic can fix. During the press conference at Talladega a couple weeks ago, in which Lance McGrew officially lost the “interim” part of his job title, he said that when he took the job he found Dale Earnhardt Jr. to be in a worse state of mind than he expected.

“I was really surprised when I first started working with Dale, and his confidence was beat down as much as it was,” McGrew said. “I expected him to be a lot more positive and a lot more understanding of the situation I guess you’d say.”

The pressures of living up to the expectations that come with being the sport’s most popular driver and the son of the Intimidator likely would break the average person. It’s a good thing for the sport that Dale Jr. is much more than an average person.
—
Last Friday at Texas Motor Speedway reporters did their duty by querying NASCAR drivers about the possibility of Danica Patrick joining the fendered crowd, as various published reports are suggesting.

Perhaps the best answer came three laps into the race on Sunday afternoon when a once-established Indy Car star took out points leader Jimmie Johnson.

As Johnson pointed out, Sam Hornish Jr. does seem to wreck a lot. And he’s been running in the Cup Series for nearly two
full seasons. Patrick apparently only plans to run a partial NASCAR schedule, likely in the Nationwide Series, in addition to a full Indy Car run.

Odds are she’ll have as much difficulty making the transition as other drivers who have tried before. And many of them came to NASCAR with stronger credentials than Patrick.
—
Talladega Superspeedway, where many observers including those in the TV booth labeled the most recent race as a boring run for the most part, has answered it critics with a press release touting loop data statistics that show 13,438 green-flag passes during the Nov. 1 AMP Energy 500.

The problem with turning to such statistics is that there’s no way to quantify passion – on the part of drivers or fans.

In a totally unscientific poll of randomly encountered racing folks, the common response is that they still follow NASCAR, on TV and through the media, but not a fervently as they once did.

Some don’t like today’s stars, like Jimmie Johnson, as much as they liked the Allisons, Earnhardts and Bakers of years gone by. Others don’t like the Chase or the Car of Tomorrow. Many don’t like the commentators of today as much as Buddy Baker and Ned Jarrett and their peers. Some find it hard to identify with drivers who have become very wealthy, travel in luxury jets, live in million-dollar motorcoaches, appear content with “a good points day” at the track and often seem more concerned with pleasing sponsors than letting their true emotions show.


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