Rea White: No rest for the weary during NASCAR's offseason
Teams will be doing all they can this offseason to end Jimmie Johnson's supremacy in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
One wonders just how much of a break weary crews and engineers will get this offseason.
With Jimmie Johnson and his Chad Knaus-led Hendrick Motorsports team once more running away with the title in NASCAR's annual Chase For The Sprint Cup, does the work load for the competition incrementally increase?
Are teams that might have enjoyed a little more relaxing offseason and a chance to relish making the Chase - particularly those who did so for the first time - now finding themselves with a growing list of things to try in the offseason?
After all, drivers are tired of watching Johnson run away with the title year after year, with the constant presence of the Hendrick team on the stage for the postseason awards. They are a competitive lot, these Sprint Cup drivers and crews. So rest, no matter how needed, may mostly be postponed in a concerted effort to move forward in the standings and figure out that slight change that could be the difference in running for the title and winning it all.
The Cup season is one of the most grueling among all sports. Drivers were in Daytona for the Feb. 7 Budweiser Shootout, then raced through the spring, summer and fall months. The season concluded last Sunday, just a few days before Thanksgiving. The top teams aren't done, either, not with the awards ceremonies next week in Las Vegas. Not that they probably really mind having to participate in those.
And then it's back to the drawing board. A short break at the end of December is the only thing that will interrupt the fierce schedule teams are taking into the offseason - and then the season. Which, by the way, it is only 70 days from the first race, the non-points Shootout.
They will test at tracks that don't host sanctioned NASCAR races. They will analyze data from simulators and other tests. They will consider minute changes to cars, to parts and pieces, to driving styles. Nothing is sacred; everything is open to assessment and change.
The mental game for the 2010 season has already begun.
Who will be most prepared for the year? Which team will make that minor change that leads to a strong start to the new season? What change is the right one to make?
It's amazing that drivers and crew members aren't drained by the process. But many seem to feed on the intensity, to thrive in the fierce environment of the racing season.
Professional athletes are a special breed to begin with - NASCAR competitors just seem to take that to a new level.
Even during the holidays and the so-called offseason.
