Mike Mulhern
Rick Hendrick says NASCAR’s new race car shouldn’t be this hard to get running well
California winner Rick Hendrick: NASCAR’s new car-of-tomorrow has been just one headache after another (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
FONTANA, Calif.
Rick Hendrick was NASCAR’s hot ticket car owner the last two seasons, winning championship back-to-back with Jimmie Johnson, Sunday night’s winner here in a duel with Greg Biffle.
But this season, well, Hendrick all but rolls his eyes.
“You remember when we did the media tour (in January), and we’d finished first and second, and had, what, 18 wins last year, and everybody thought ‘Can anybody stop us this year?’” Hendrick was saying late Sunday night.
“I had this feeling…..that we’d spent a lot of time in the old car in the chase, building those new cars, and we got behind.
“I didn’t think we’d struggle as bad as we have this year. And we worked harder this year than we did last year, and more testing, just trying to figure it out.
“And it’s been frustrating because other teams have run well.
“But you can look at those two teams, Carl Edwards’ and Kyle Busch’s—the other cars on those teams are not as dominant as those two. So it’s just this (winged) car.
“I’ve never seen it since I’ve been racing—It is so temperamental, and you just have to figure out what the crew chief and driver like.
“We’ve worked harder this year….I can’t remember testing any more…more meetings…throwing more things at it to try to get better.
“Sometimes the harder you work on this car, the further backwards you get.”
So, yes, NASCAR’s new car-of-tomorrow still draws razzing from the men who have to deal with it, and the new machine has simply not provided any better racing or changed the balance of power in the sport or opened the door to new team owners (in fact owners are falling by the wayside, and the Tom Garfinkel-Jeff Moorad team may be the next to make a major change, just a year after they joined the tour).
Still, NASCAR officials steadfastly refuse to make any concessions to the teams to make the racing any better, in what some see as either arrogance or ignorance.
“NASCAR’s got a problem, but I don’t think they even realize it,” one of the sport’s most successful crew chiefs said, asking not to be named. “I was just talking with (another highly successful team owner) and he was saying the same thing.”
What does Johnson, now a three-time winner this season and maybe back in the hunt for a third straight championship, think about this new car:
“There’s nothing comfortable about driving this car. This thing is never going to complete a lap and have everything work out right for you. You’re going to have to compromise somewhere.
“This car is not comfortable, and I don’t think it ever will be – with the lack of downforce, higher center-of-gravity, and all of the things NASCAR wanted. They wanted it to be to the driver’s hands…and they made it hard to drive, that’s for sure.
“We finished second here at the start of the season, and that was the highlight of the first quarter of the season for us. Outside of that, we were terrible on the big tracks.”
Hendrick points to extreme frustration among his teams in trying to get the new car to work: “This thing has made a lot of people pull their hair out. It’s hard….I mean Jimmie left his vacation twice came back to test.
“It was supposed to have been easier than this.”
Hendrick of course isn’t the only man in the NASCAR garage still complaining vigorously about NASCAR’s new ‘car-of-tomorrow,’ which crew chief Greg Erwin, on Biffle’s team, says may in fact actually have made worse many of the issues it was supposed to solve – like the issue of ‘clean air.’
Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, says the driver-crew chief relationship has become critical to making this new car work. And that’s an ironic statement, considering Knaus and Johnson are two of the tightest buds in the garage, and they’ve struggled so much with it.
“It is extremely finicky, but you can fix it,” Knaus said, looking hopefully ahead at his team’s prospects in the upcoming chase.
“And if you’re going to try to count out Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart or Matt Kenseth going into this chase, I think you are just fooling yourselves.
“Now Carl, Kyle and us could walk in with our shoulders back thinking we’re going to whip everybody’s butt, but I think that’s pretty cocky to even think that.”
Johnson’s win was his 36th since joining the tour and his third here. Johnson, third in the Sprint Cup standings heading to Richmond this week, has been a key figure in the marketing of this east Los Angeles track, since he’s from nearby El Cajon.
Earnhardt has Hendrick’s only other tour win, a gas-mileage victory in June at Michigan.
Johnson started from the pole and, while he couldn’t escape Biffle, and then had to wait out a late run by Denny Hamlin, was in firm control all four hours, from heat of day through cool of night. “I think the track came to us, instead of us chasing the track,” Johnson said.
“Usually when you’re that good, you wait for something to happen,” Hendrick added. “And when you have a car that good, it’s hard to capitalize every race, especially a 500-mile race here.
“Hopefully we can take this momentum into the chase.”
But not likely, the way Johnson’s season has gone, hit-or-miss.
“Just before Chicago (mid-July) there were a couple of races where we were competitive—Michigan (June) was really the first sign we were working in the right direction,” Johnson said. “We’ve been getting better…but this car is still so finicky.
“The second Michigan (two weeks ago) we got a little more aggressive with the setup, thinking we could get away from it…and it turned away from us.”
And at Bristol, well, that’s not a great track for Johnson.
“To win this chase you’re going to have to fight for wins every week, and every pit stop is going to count, because you’re going to have at least Carl and Kyle to deal with,” Johnson said. “So this was a really good night for our guys to feel that pressure and go through that.
“And for me inside the car, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a situation to blow it or throw away…and to really work on that mental toughness in those situations is important.
“We have been working on the other side of the line—finding speed, and dealing with those emotions of not being where we want.
“That speaks to how impressive Kyle and Carl have been. It’s tough to stay on top of this thing.
“At Indy (four weeks ago) we had a very, very good weekend. But at the end Carl was putting a lot of pressure on us.”
Agree? Disagree? Don’t just brood. Express yourself here, and make your voice heard clearly in NASCAR headquarters in Daytona and Charlotte and in NASCAR race shops throughout North Carolina and the rest of the country.
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Posted by on 09/01 at 07:53 PM
Since Rick Hendrick isn’t under the gag order placed on the drivers by Nascar it’s great to hear that what I’ve seen this year isn’t a figment of my imagination. In an effort to make the car safer they made this monstrosity of a car which given the results by too many good teams struggling must be as tricky to get right as a old Jaguar. One can only hope that some sense comes to the Nascar HQ and they allow someone else other than themselves have input into the next gen COT like the smart people that have to use it before it becomes the albatross around the neck of the whole sport. Any time someone get an advantage by leaving a oil cooler lid loose something is wrong with your design and leads one to wonder if the whole package isn’t just a hit and miss crap shoot type of thing ranging wildly from race to race. Imagine the cost incurred by the teams having to just shred all the notes and setup information from years of testing and research away being non applicable to this car. Nascar knew they had a near mutiny and major problems earlier thus the reason for the gag order meeting when all the “negative comments” ceased almost to a deathly silence. You couldn’t that kind of agreement from all the drivers on anything unless there was a fairly large threat made for any insubordination. Nascar seemed to silenced the drivers with the promises there would be improvements made to these cars and all would be better but they should not assume the fans or sponsors will be as patient. I would imagine there will be plenty of seats available to buy for 2009 races at the ticket windows and other things to spend corporate dollars on if this persists.
Posted by on 09/03 at 08:52 AM
What more is there to say. SInce last year everyone has been complaining about the car. Then NASCAR rushes into things and brings this piece of crap full time without working out the kinks. Everyone has complained, heck the drivers were doing it more until the Nazis told them to stop dissing their car. But you can shut everyone up. I dont understand how NASCAR can keep acting like there’s nothing wrong and keep telling teams to figure it out themselves. How can they figure out the car when you restrict them and strip them of their innovative ideas. I’m so beyond fed up with NASCAR and all their BS! I’m a Jeff Gordon, and I can promise anyone, whenever Jeff Gordon retires, I’m done with this ###### excuse for a sport. Its not even a sport anymore, Its not evening entertaining. Its just cars going in circles, leader checks out, and then caution lights have to fall on the track for any ounce of excitement. I’m not the only one who will be retiring from the sport with JG. He might not be popular with everyone, but he has a huge fan base, and If that fan base leaves with him, NASCAR will be in a world of hurt. THere was absolutely no reason to make this Crap of Today. THey could have made the safety changes to the old car, without having to bring this boxy piece of ####. ANd those buffoons claimed it would provide better racing? Is NASCAR freaking blind? Better effing racing? Are the serious? The racing is so freaking horrible, I’m freaking fed up!!!
Posted by on 09/03 at 03:17 PM
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