The Top Ten Things To Watch For In NASCAR This Year
An Opinion
Follow Kim On Twitter
January 15, 2012
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
We are back on track!
OK, so it is only testing, but for a race starved fan like myself, the ability to log on to the internet and listen to cars racing on the track -- the sounds of the engines, the drivers talking about how their cars are running, watching the cars make their way around the 2.5 mile Daytona track -- it lets me know that the 2012 NASCAR season is just around the corner.
As I sit here and watch the cars taking test runs in pairs down in Florida, I started to think about the season to come.
Last season was amazing -- seen as one of the best NASCAR seasons in the history of the sport. So how can they top 2011 in 2012? Well, I have come up with ten things that I plan on watching.
First, can Tony Stewart repeat as champion with new crew chief Steve Addington and former crew chief Greg Zipadelli taking the reins of Stewart Haas Racing as Competition Director? The bar is set very high for both of the newest members of SHR, coming on as the reigning NASCAR Champion is looking to go for his fourth Championship and keep Jimmie Johnson out of the top spot for a second year in a row.
For Addington, it will likely seem like heaven having spent the last six years dealing with first Kyle and then Kurt Busch.
Zipadelli, who teamed with Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing to win two NASCAR Championships, will be overseeing the operations at SHR, as well as acting as Crew Chief for Danica Patrick for her ten Sprint Cup races in 2012.
Second, can Carl Edwards overcome losing in the championship in a tiebreaker when all he needed to have done over the last 10 races was pass just one more car? Losing is never easy, but losing in a tie breaker when you know that one single car could have made the difference has to cause you to bang your head against a wall.
Edwards said that his wife reminded him that he lost the Championship, but he tied the winner, and that has to be worth something. But when you have now lost the championship by fewer than ten points twice in your relatively young career, you have to think that you either let it eat at you, or drive you to resolve the problem.
In 2009, Denny Hamlin lost the Championship to Jimmie Johnson by losing the points lead in the final race of the season. Last year, he seemed to have a really hard time bouncing back from that, winning only one race after winning eight in 2010, and spending more time visiting the infield care center than the media center.
Will Edwards be more successful than Hamlin, or will he find bouncing back is hard to do?
Third, can Jimmie Johnson overcome not being a factor in the race for the championship in 2011 after winning five championships in a row?
One of the running jokes this week in Daytona is that Jimmie couldn’t find his hauler because not only wasn’t it in its usual spot at the front of the garage, it wasn’t even close to it. The five time Champion finished a career worst sixth in points last year, and now has to deal with being “just one of the guys” instead of “Defending Champion.”
It is a position that the driver of the No. 48 has never been in before, and it will be interesting to see if he and Crew Chief Chad Knaus can overcome the disappointment of last year, or if the small rift we saw forming in their once impervious team becomes something that will require a trip to Rick Hendrick’s office and will involve glasses of milk along with a plate of chocolate chip cookies.
Fourth, will Danica Patrick be a factor in the Nationwide Series -- or the Cup Series -- and will she win a race in either series? Patrick, and her Cup Crew Chief Greg Zipadelli, seemed to have some pretty big smiles on their faces during testing in Daytona this week. Patrick is no longer “that IRL driver who is dabbling in NASCAR” -- she has made her selection and is dedicating herself to becoming the first truly successful female driver in our sport.
Last season, she learned from those willing to work with her, including new boss Stewart, and was not only a factor at Daytona but led laps at the track. Now that she is solely focused on NASCAR, and has mentors like Stewart and Zipadelli, how long will it take for the tiny Go Daddy Girl to truly make her mark on the testosterone-driven sport?
My bet is we will see her in victory lane at least once this season.
Fifth, will all the shakeups in staffing over the off-season cause problems, or provide success for the teams that are affected?
I lost track of the number of silly season switches that happened -- it was well over 60 at last count. We have drivers dealing with new teams, new Crew Chiefs, even new spotters as they prepare for 2012. In some cases, you have them dealing with all three.
They are also dealing with a new engine set up as NASCAR moves from carburetors to fuel injection, which will provide new challenges for everyone. We had shake-downs this week where everyone was able to work together for the first time in groups and we saw new teammates working together seemingly well. We’ll know more as we get past Daytona and into the early part of the season.
Along those lines, in sixth, will Kurt Busch be a factor bracing for Phoenix Racing or will he be in also-ran and backfield filler? Kurt Busch has a very short fuse, and he was getting frustrated early and often in Penske equipment last year, which led to the final straw in the release of the 2004 Cup Series Champion after a video of his verbal abuse of Dr. Jerry Punch in Homestead last fall was released to the public.
This year, Kurt will be in a car that has never won a race, and hasn’t even really been a contender for anything that just staying in the top 35 in points. Sure, the equipment is provided by Hendrick Motorsports, but can that keep the volatile older Busch brother from losing his cool when he isn’t winning or finishing in the top ten every week?
Busch jokingly said this week that he had never raced a Chevrolet before, so he was having fun learning the dynamics of the car. He was also fast in testing, topping 206 mph in the pack on Friday afternoon, one of the fastest cars on the track. He was also one of the fastest cars on Saturday morning as he teamed with Mark Martin in a pair going around the track. But will that speed result in good finishes?
Busch said after his release from Penske that he was missing the “fun” in racing, and wanted to find it again. Hopefully this will give him what he is looking for.
Seventh on my list, will the financial hardships in finding a good solid sponsorship for team’s across-the-board cause a lack of success on the race track regardless of the size of the team?
When you can’t find money to sponsor the cars of former champions, you know times are tough. When successful owners like Jack Roush are running into problems finding money to cover his Nationwide teams, one of which won the Nationwide Championship in 2011, you have to wonder just how bad things have gotten.
It is well known that running these teams is not a cheap proposition. One of the running jokes of being an owner is “How do you make a small fortune owning a NASCAR Team? Start with a big fortune.” Just last week, we saw Rusty Wallace close his doors because he couldn’t find enough sponsorship to run his two car team. Roush has said he won’t run his defending Nationwide Championship team out of his own pocket if he can’t find sponsorship to at least help defer some of the costs.
Sure, the economy is tough, but have we hit a point where the price of running a team has outpaced the ability to find the sponsorship to pay for it? And if so, how does that get fixed?
Number eight, will having a carburetor in the engine in the Cup Series cars provide good racing or bad racing in 2012? At Daytona, they are noting that there is a bit more of a delay in starting the car, but other than that, they appear to be having more of a problem with overheating and the new radiator set up than the new fuel injection. The true test will come in the races that have been decided in recent years by fuel mileage -- how will the fuel injection affect the ability to play the fuel game? Only time will tell.
Ninth on my list, will we still have bad turnouts at tracks or will we have a higher turnout at tracks due to the kind of racing that we saw in 2011? Despite the amazing races and finishes we saw last year, turnout was still down at tracks pretty much across the board.
Tracks like Bristol, that used to be impossible to get tickets for a race, were shown on race day with empty seats. Track owners have been working to lower ticket prices, get hotels near their venues to lower minimum stay requirements and rates, and are trying to find ways to bring new fans in to see a race in person for the first time (if you have never been to a race, you really ought to give it a try. I can’t tell you how different it is in person vs. on TV!)
TV ratings were on an upswing by the end of the season last year, and if the fact that Jimmie Johnson seemed to be unbeatable truly was a reason that fans decided not to go to a track, then proving he is indeed beatable should bring folks back to see if he can be beaten again. I’d love to see the stands full of fans, new and old, cheering on their favorite drivers or teams, because there is nothing like being there in person on race day.
Finally, number ten on my list is, will the Busch brothers find a way to behave in 2012 or will they still be acting up? If anything could create a reality check for the brothers Busch, it was the fact that Kurt lost his seemingly secure ride at Penske despite making the Chase in 2011.
The other reality check was the close call that Kyle had with almost losing primary sponsor M&M’s after his meltdown in Texas where he took out Camping World Truck Series Championship contender Ron Hornaday Jr. after feeling Hornaday had done him wrong. My guess is that the next meltdown that Kyle has may be his last so far as M&M’s Mars is concerned.
The threat of losing that big of a sponsor in this tight of an economy might force Joe Gibbs’ hand as an owner. The Coach has stood behind his driver in the past, and after close to a decade dealing with a younger, more volatile Tony Stewart has made him a good fit for dealing with temperamental drivers, but my guess is that there is only one more straw before the camel’s back is broken in Kyle’s case, and he would be wise to follow his brother's lead and deal with a sports psychologist to try and get his temper under control before it costs him his job.
Kurt’s situation has shown that no matter how talented you are, or the fact you have a past Champion’s provisional, doesn’t guarantee that you will be picked up by a top tier team if you are dropped by another top tier team. Having to go to a small team with limited funding might just be the humility check that Kurt needs, and Kyle would be wise to pay attention and learn from his brothers mistakes.
There are many more things to watch in 2012 -- I could easily do another ten, but I only have so much room this week. Let me know if you agree with my ten things to watch, or if you have other things that are even more important to look out for this season!
Until then, stay warm and safe, and have a great week!
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
You can contact Kim at..