Wheeler: NASCAR needs to make drivers comfortable with car

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Streeter Lecka
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CONCORD, N.C. – Speedway Motorsports President Humpy Wheeler has an idea of what he thinks could make the car work better.

“It just needs to handle better in the corners where it’s more predictable,” said Wheeler, who also oversees the Charlotte track. “That’s the whole thing, predictability. Drivers have to be comfortable. The more uncomfortable you make them, the less racing you have.

“Drivers have a comfort level. At the same time, you don’t want to de-fang the tiger. You don’t want to make it milquetoast. You’ve got to have some speed in it. That’s what it is all about. There is a line. There is a line between where we are now and where we ought to be.”

Speaking Wednesday after promoting Dale Jarrett's final race, which will come in the all-star event in May, Wheeler needs the new car to run well on intermediate tracks. His company owns four 1.5-mile ovals: Charlotte, Las Vegas, Texas and Atlanta.

Those tracks also are ones where Goodyear has had some of its most difficult challenges in finding a tire that works on those ovals. Two of them – Charlotte and Las Vegas – were repaved the last few years.

“Goodyear got an awful hard rap down at Atlanta considering what happened,” said Wheeler, who indicated that the cars were going too fast in the open October test. “They had to do something – they had to slow the cars down is what they had to do.

“Since NASCAR wasn’t going to slow the cars down, Goodyear slowed the car down by putting a harder tire on it. They might have gone a little hard on the tire. … We just simply need to slow the cars down on the intermediate tracks. That’s going to help Goodyear more than any other single thing that we can do.”

Wheeler doesn’t expect all the drivers to want the cars to be slowed down.

“Your top three or four drivers probably don’t like that,” Wheeler said. “Because if you slow the cars down, it makes them a little easier to drive and that means some of the guys that are in the middle of the pack might be up there breathing down their neck.

“But that’s racing. That’s what we want. If we slow the cars down, we’re going to have more action in the front, we’re going to have more passing in the front and it’s just going to be better for everybody.”

Wheeler also talked about the increase in television ratings this year.

“If I knew [why] I might run for president,” he said. “I don’t know. Some will say, ‘What’s been on against you?’ I can’t answer that.

“The real test is going to be when the NCAA basketball is here, when the Masters is here. When we have some really hard competition going up against us. But I’m thrilled that it’s up. One thing that has helped tremendously is people have a better idea what time things are [on TV] now.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. running well in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports also has helped, Wheeler said.

“There’s always the Junior factor,” Wheeler said. “If he won a race, we would see ratings climb up extremely higher. He’s got extraordinary popularity when you figure out the fact that he hasn’t won a race since May [2006].

“Winning the Shootout down in Daytona helped, there’s no question about that. The fact that he’s done pretty good this season already is pretty extraordinary. All he’s got to do is win two or three a year. That’s it. That’s all he’s got to do. Please.”