RICHMOND, Va. – Before NASCAR’s move to common templates and aero matching, drivers used to beat a path to the sanctioning body’s transporter to lobby for their respective car makes.
The late Dale Earnhardt, who would have turned 66 on Saturday, was one of the most ardent proponents of the Chevrolet brand. Whenever he felt Chevy was at a performance disadvantage, he would say so, and sometimes his complaints would result in changes to the cars.
With uniform rules for all cars today, however, crew chiefs now look to other teams and other car makes to overcome deficiencies in performance. With garage stalls in close proximity and photographers making the rounds, it’s difficult to keep a secret for long.
“It’s happened forever,” Denny Hamlin said of the cyclical nature of the sport. “NASCAR used to fix that. They used to cut spoilers off of certain makes and models to help them. Then they would help another manufacturer when they were behind. It’s just been an evolution. It’s because, obviously, we’re sitting in garage stalls six feet from each other.
“Someone’s running faster—you can just eventually find enough pictures out there to figure out why you’re slow. Then you go to work. Sometimes, while you’re doing that work, you hit on something that makes you even better than them. You’re faster, they’re checking out your stuff. It’s a cycle. That’s what racing is. It’s just a matter of who hits it at the right time and really has the luck to go with it that makes you a champion.”
SHORT STROKES
Electrical gremlins continued to plague Kurt Busch’s efforts in both Saturday practices. In the first session, the driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford radioed he was down a cylinder. The diagnosis? A bad spark plug wire, which was subsequently replaced. In Happy Hour, Busch noticed a voltage drop and lost power to his air-conditioning system when he switched to a second battery. At least the issues occurred in practice. Busch’s crew had to replace both batteries during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race earlier this year after another electrical problem…
Kyle Larson paced final practice with a lap at 119.074 mph… Denny Hamlin was seventh fastest for a single lap in Happy Hour, but the three-time Richmond winner had the quickest car in the field over a 20-lap run, a good omen for Sunday… Seeking his third straight victory and his 83rd overall (a number that would tie him with Cale Yarborough for sixth-most Cup wins in NASCAR history, Jimmie Johnson was third on the speed chart in final practice after qualifying 17th on Friday.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
- NASCAR to debut new short track package at Phoenix - February 28, 2023
- The Wrench Who Stole Racing - December 16, 2022
- Matt DiBenedetto’s excellent run comes to abrupt, violent end - February 17, 2019
