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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Talkin’ Smack With Pedley & Minter
With point counter point for SpeedTV.com, here is the Pedley vs. Minter heavyweight bout for this week...
Jim Pedley  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted January 20, 2010   Charlotte, NC
The new NASCAR Nationwide Series car shown testing at Richmond International Raceway in 2009. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Editor’s note: Welcome to this week’s edition of Talkin’ Smack. The premise is simple: Every Thursday, two prominent motorsports journalists sit down and discuss the relevant topics of the day.

This week’s contributors are Jim Pedley, founder of www.racintoday.com and a longtime motorsports editor for the Kansas City Star, and Rick Minter, a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1991 covering motorsports as well as serving as a bureau chief and now contributes to racintoday.com

With 2010 season getting ready to fire up, we turn them loose on the hot topics at hand.

TRUE or FALSE? Casey Mears deserves another shot with a top-tier Sprint Cup team.

Rick Minter – True. Too many drivers take up for him for him to have no talent. When he left Hendrick, his peers there were complimentary of him. Last week at Preseason Thunder, his former Richard Childress Racing teammates had nothing but good things to say about him. Most importantly though is the fact that he’s yet to be tested in equipment and with a team that has proven they can win. When he was at Ganassi they weren’t winning. At Hendrick, it seems they can only get two or three of their teams in winning form at the same time. And at RCR, all four teams slumped last year.

Jim Pedley – False. There is a difference between being a talented driver and being a winning driver. Mears has just not been able to produce victories or Chase berths on teams which have had every other driver in the stable do that. I think Mears could help an up-and-coming team with his experience and knowledge but top-tier teams just cannot afford to take another chance on the guy.

TRUE OR FALSE? NASCAR's policy of listening to teams and fans will improve the series.

Rick Minter – False. Tinkering with the rules to appease fans and the competitors will be trading one problem for another. Going back to the spoiler likely will bring up unforeseen aerodynamic issues that negate any gains. Relaxing the rules at Daytona and Talladega only raise the possibility of people getting hurt on both sides of the catch fence. It’s supposed to be about racing, not bumper cars and musical chairs at 200 miles per hour. Fixing the race tracks would be a better solution. What NASCAR needs is leadership with its own vision and the know-how to carry it out.

Jim Pedley – True. It will not lead to giant steps forward as NASCAR attempts to find a solution to what fans and drivers alike perceive as dull racing. But, a small step or two would be kind of nice at this point. It also can make for a better relationship between the sport and its paying customers. As long as NASCAR keeps a white-knuckle grip on the reigns, and decision are made on the basis of what’s best for the sport, listening to diverging opinion can only help.


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Jim Pedley

RacinToday.com

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