Earlier this week, the #5 Mark Martin car and the #48 Jimmie Johnson car, both owned by Hendrick Racing, were found to be 'close' to the tolerances allowed. Johnson's car was found to be over the limit mandated by NASCAR. The cars had been taken as a routine check to the NASCAR R&D facility in Concord, NC.
Courtesy of Fox Sports:
The buzz within the NASCAR community suggests that the offset on the tail, which helps the rear of the car stick to the ground instead of spinning out, of the #5 Kellogg's Chevy just made the tolerance. NASCAR allows a tolerance of 0.070 of an inch for the body off of the center line of the car. Suffice it to say, JJ's #48 car didn't make it. But by how much? NASCAR claims it was .006 over the tolerance. That's about the thickness of two sheets of copier paper. Others in the garage hint at a charitable disposition on the part of the sanctioning body. So how did NASCAR view the situation with the Hendrick cars? "The 48 and 5 were brought back to the (Research and Development Center)," according to a NASCAR statement. "We've been doing this since the inception of the new car as a part of routine post-race inspection. We bring the winner and a random pick back to the R&D Center after each event. While both cars passed postrace inspection, we informed the 48 and 5 they were extremely close on some of the tolerances.
Leave it to NASCAR to only admonish the two teams leading the points in the 'Chase for the Cup.'
Um, 'too close to the tolerances,' eh? In the olden days this was called C-H-E-A-T-I-N-G.
How about some penalties? Oh, that's right -- these cars belong to Rick Hendrick. Never mind....
Friday, October 2, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
NHRA: John Force's Tanking It Is a Slap in Women Racers' Faces
Anyone who knows me knows a few things. I love racing. All kinds of racing, whether it's NASCAR, IRL, CART, F1, ALMS, NHRA or Thoroughbreds. I love the sport of racing itself. And, I have always maintained that a talented woman racer can compete on equal levels in the sports if she has the same talent, sponsorship and equipment of the top males competing.
Women have had to work to get where there are in this male-dominated sport. Whether it be pioneers like Shirley Muldowney, Lyn St. James, Janet Guthrie or Louise Smith. Then there are the women of the mid-1990s who tried to break into NASCAR - Patty Moise and Shawna Robinson in particular - and there are recent or current racers such as Hillary Will, Melanie Troxell, Shelley Anderson, Angelle Sampey, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, or Sarah Fisher, women continue to strive to make their mark in racing, often still in lesser quality equipment or with lesser support.
That's what is so disturbing, I think, about the Funny car final rounds at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the US Nationals. Ashley Force has already proven that as a racer she is equal to any male driving in top fuel. Ashley has the talent, nerve, courage and ability, not to mention the famous Force name fielding her car with personal hands-on support from her father, 14-time champion John Force.
It was painfully obvious that Force tanked his round to let Robert Hight win to make the NHRA's version of NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, and in the finals, Hight veered off the line and Ashley Force-Hood became the third woman to win at the US Nationals, and the first to win in Funny Car.
Folks have actually defended this as 'team orders' and a 'time-honored tradition in racing.' Those must be the same folks who put convicted felon Rick Hendrick on a pedestal and really believe Hendrick racing dominates because of the drivers' talents and not the millions of dollar spent on R&R, cars, equipment and etc. every season.
It disparages Ashey's accomplishments to win such an honored and esteemed event based on team orders. Somehow, that doesn't make it quite as spectacular as a win back in the day by Shirley Muldowney or Lyn St. James, who literally had to fight their way to the top. I've long been a critic of NASCAR's WWE-type staging. Now, apparently, the NHRA is proving they are not exempt from these tactics if it helps gain an audience. Too bad--Ashley has talent and ability on her own. She doesn't need 'team orders' to win. By making it happen that way, it lessens this young woman's accomplishments in racing.
Women have had to work to get where there are in this male-dominated sport. Whether it be pioneers like Shirley Muldowney, Lyn St. James, Janet Guthrie or Louise Smith. Then there are the women of the mid-1990s who tried to break into NASCAR - Patty Moise and Shawna Robinson in particular - and there are recent or current racers such as Hillary Will, Melanie Troxell, Shelley Anderson, Angelle Sampey, Danica Patrick, Milka Duno, or Sarah Fisher, women continue to strive to make their mark in racing, often still in lesser quality equipment or with lesser support.
That's what is so disturbing, I think, about the Funny car final rounds at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the US Nationals. Ashley Force has already proven that as a racer she is equal to any male driving in top fuel. Ashley has the talent, nerve, courage and ability, not to mention the famous Force name fielding her car with personal hands-on support from her father, 14-time champion John Force.
It was painfully obvious that Force tanked his round to let Robert Hight win to make the NHRA's version of NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, and in the finals, Hight veered off the line and Ashley Force-Hood became the third woman to win at the US Nationals, and the first to win in Funny Car.
Folks have actually defended this as 'team orders' and a 'time-honored tradition in racing.' Those must be the same folks who put convicted felon Rick Hendrick on a pedestal and really believe Hendrick racing dominates because of the drivers' talents and not the millions of dollar spent on R&R, cars, equipment and etc. every season.
It disparages Ashey's accomplishments to win such an honored and esteemed event based on team orders. Somehow, that doesn't make it quite as spectacular as a win back in the day by Shirley Muldowney or Lyn St. James, who literally had to fight their way to the top. I've long been a critic of NASCAR's WWE-type staging. Now, apparently, the NHRA is proving they are not exempt from these tactics if it helps gain an audience. Too bad--Ashley has talent and ability on her own. She doesn't need 'team orders' to win. By making it happen that way, it lessens this young woman's accomplishments in racing.
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