The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has been making a considerable amount of noise over the past few days as the series and its teams scramble to get ready for a new season.
The big news, of course, comes in the form of new rules aimed at helping teams manage costs. NASCAR will limit teams to 12 active crew members for each race, a total that includes driver, crew chief and spotter, and will allow only five men over the wall on any pit stop. Teams can no longer change tires and add fuel on the same stop. And beginning after Daytona, they can’t go more than three straight races without using an engine that has been used in a previous event.
Those rules make sense, at least at first glance. I have for a long time wondered why the Sprint Cup Series doesn’t take a cue from the Nationwide and Truck series and set limits on things like how many sets of tires a team can use in a race weekend.
I am not sure an “active crew” limit works in Cup since multicar teams could play all kinds of games with such limits. But I am in favor of just about any idea that takes the racing off pit road and puts it back on the race track
We also now know where Mike Skinner will drive in 2009.
Skinner was with Bill Davis Racing, but when that team was basically sold out of business a few weeks ago Skinner was cut loose on the market.
He has wound up in the No. 46 for Randy Moss Motorsports. That team announced earlier this week it’s switching to Toyotas. Tayler Malsam, who is 19, will drive the No. 81 truck as Skinner’s teammate.
“Being able to bring Toyota over there is the biggest thing to me,” Skinner said. "I've had a great relationship with Toyota and the Tundra brand and support from them since the Truck Series started with Toyota in 2004. To be able to keep that marriage alive and keep Toyota as our partners, that means a lot. That's what I bleed, that's what is in my veins.”
Another veteran driver, Stacy Compton, will race with Wyler Racing in the No. 60 Toyotas this year. Shane Sieg will drive the No. 15 for Billy Ballew Motorsports in the first four races as the team looks for more backing to keep going beyond that. Richie Wauters will work as crew chief with that team while Doug George will work with the No. 51 that Kyle Busch will drive in selected races.
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The No. 96 Fords at Hall of Fame Racing has picked up sponsorship for five more races from Academy Sports & Outdoors. The company will be on the car at Bristol, Darlington, Daytona (July), Atlanta and Talladega. This deal supplements Ask.com’s sponsorship of the team.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Some interesting ideas in new Truck rules
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19 comments:
Unfourtunately this year, the truck series is shaping up to be between a few of the Toyota teams, the racing on pit road may have been the most exciting thing they had going.
Well, they've managed to ruin the last real racing series.
LIKE THE CHANGES.
I would take it further and just allow TWO over the wall on pit stops.
CUP & GRAND NATIONAL should adopt these rules.
The truck series used to be great to watch in person and on TV.
These rule changes are the old rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic type of thing at this point.
Racing in the USA is all about Ford versus Chevy. Without that who cares. I am not spending time or money to see Toyotas race each other.
From a TV stand point, If Mikey Waltrip is doing the race I turn it off. I refuse to watch him yap.
Without having competitive pitstops during the race, It really takes the TEAM concept out of the race at the drop of the green flag. Turning it into a bigger driver issue than it is already. Even though the quarterback is the highest paid on the team, he could not do it without a O-line. A good pit crew on sundays can makes up spots a driver cant sometimes. Thats what makes this sport cool.Its called racing. Its both expensive and dangerous. Removing all the dangerous and expensive aspects of the series will only turn it into a ballet. They have series that are cheaper and are less dangerous. They are called the Frank Kimmel Street Stock series.........
The way NASCAR racing is shaping up, I can see more USAC midget and sprint car racing in my future. I especially will not pay one red cent to watch the pablum they call NASCAR racing!
Anonymous #5 - interesting comparison to the quarterback and offensive line, given that O-lines regarded as best often do well because the quarterback is excellent at mobility; in contrast a good O-line is sometimes blamed because the quarterback is stupid (cough, cough, Brett Favre, cough cough).
Taking the pit crew out of the equation is not a bad thing, because at heart racing is about one driver versus 42 others - it is not a team sport in the same sense as football is.
The problem I have with this proposed rule is that NASCAR tried regulating pitstops at the Winston Cup level before - in 1991. They banned tire changes under yellow and it failed so badly that it lasted all of five races. Limiting tires and/or pitstops is never the way to go.
Limiting teams to twelve crewmen at the track has some merit.
Its an easy fix that I've been screaming for years. Just decrease the size of the line on the gas can. This will make the fuel go in the truck or car slower. That way there is no advantage to having more guys over the wall. We get rid of $100,000 tire changers. This way we get back to car racing, not pitcrew racing.
Simple thing is to allow them to do both fueling and tires, just limit it to 3 guys over the wall.
Change the tires, then fuel the truck, same 3 guys. Cup, Nationwide and Truck.
We do not need $100K stinking Tire Changers
To quote Poole - "But I am in favor of just about any idea that takes the racing off pit road and puts it back on the race track"
And just how is only allowing a change of tires on one stop and fuel on another putting racing back on the track?
The only result can be a truck legitimately needing both must make two stops (under green or yellow) vice one as before.
Two for the price of one works at WalMart it will do nothing for NCWTS accept add pitstops, more time spent on pitroad and less time racing.
its obvious that the person who wrote this article and anyone who agrees with taking pit crews out of racing has never played a team sport. Taking pit stops out of racing is like taking the Offensive and Deffensive line out of the NFL and just play 7 on 7 every sunday - that sounds interesting, get real!
Pit Crewmen usually make no more that 100 thousand dollars a year, and that includes their job during the week, making it a 6-7day work week plus 36 weeks in a row that they travel. maybe start with the driver salary if you want to cut cost, I have never seen a pit crewmans 22,000sq ft. home on mtv cribs. Pit Crewmen put their lives at stake (literally) every time they jump over the wall, just as the drivers do everytime they strap into their seats. Pit Crews have a direct impact on gaining, losing or maintaining positions just as much as the drivers do. I am not saying that the drivers dont deserve the higher salaries but when 95% of every teams' budget comes from corporate donations it may not be the best buisness plan to have such lop-sided salaries. Most Charity based buisnesses dont pay half of their donations to 1 employee. Heck at this rate why dont we pay all the drivers the exact same, give them all trophies after each race completely take the race out of racing and save all the fans their time and money.
if you take pit stops out of racing you will have completely lost the true spirit of Team sports and competition.
you want the Root of the problem... France family GREED. maybe the France family should wake from out of their "influenced" haZe and realize that when they keep 70% of the TV money for themselves (which is nascars largest income) and divide the other 30% between every team that eventually their greed will run this sport into the ground - hence IRL. also, NASCAR (the france family) owns a huge majority of all the tracks the series races at, guess who keeps ALL of the proceeds... yep The France family.
If NASCAR wants to compare themselves with the NFL maybe they should take a few pointers. FRANCHISE 42 cars (or whatever that magic number of cars may be) that way every sponsor and investor that wants to get into the sport only has those teams to choose from. Dont you think its a little silly that any joe blow with deep pockets can take a car to any track they want as long as they fatten the France family's pockets first. Imagine if the NFL let every billion dollar football fan create their own team and bring their team to play the Dallas Cowboys on sunday, what a joke.
How about this France Family, keep 35% of the TV money - divide the other 65% amongst all the teams. Same with the Track profits. then take 80% of all merchandise sales and split it evenly as well.
The bottom line is that as long as the France Family remains as greedy as they are nascar will eventually die off.
I'm really starting to lose interest in Nascar.I'm following it less and less every year.Remember during the 1992 presidential debates Ross Perot referred to the giant sucking sounds and jobs going to Mexico.Well I hear that sound again,this time it's Nascars long time fans leaving in droves.
More crap from Poole.That tire thing Poole say's the Sprint Cup should use to limit the # of sets a race team can use in a race....he say's he's all for that.
But you let a Chevy team,any Chevy team lose a race because they ran out of tires,and another make of car wins....Poole would be crying so loud you could hear him for 5 miles.Biggest,biased joke of a writer out there.
I have been off Blog for a while and see that nothing has changed. We still hate the France Family and still say NASCAR is on the way down.
I say get a life who cares about Nascar and what the France Family does. People are lossing there jobs and homes thats the real problem and the real thing that matters.
I hate Nascar but I love racing and going fast, what we say won't change a thing and Brain France will not read what you or I say at all. And all the ones that complain all the time you will watch and spend your money not on NASCAR but to see cars go fast. We have a need for speed the roar of a engine and to see men do battle so we will watch and listen to the race not Nascar.
And get off DPs back he's only trying to earn a living the same as you and I. If he loves Chevy so what you or I may like Dodge or Ford Toyota rember the same body the same chassis the same almost engine. Get something real to be consured about.
I'm not sure how well the rules will work, but you don't know if you don't try and in today's economy costs need to be reduced. If the new truck rules pan out, then that could be the time to try them in Cup.
When DP starts writing unbiased articles,starts writing about more than 2 race teams which are both chevy teams,Acknowledges Jack Roush is a factor in the sport,and stops taking up for Nascar.THEN!his back can rest.Until then I say he's bad for Nascar because he is so biased and the world needs ditch diggers too.Oh Yeah...and Kerry Earnhardt needs to go into the Hall of Fame first round.
Anyone know where crew chief Jamie Jones went?
I'm against changes in the truck series. I'm against the changes I'm making at home. I guess they have to happen. Now if can we convince the Congress that more spending is not the solution...
Ford Chevy and Dodge (remember them?) have had the same basic engine design since the fiftys. No supprise that something new is beating them. It's not just in racing that they're being asked to step up to the plate.
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