Waid's World
A NASCAR BLOG BY Steve Waid
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- 1 Comment. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
Maybe the 600 won't be eventful
May
22
My buddy and colleague Bob Pockrass made many very good points when he said in his blog that the Coca-Cola 600 may not be as an uneventful race as the all-star race this past weekend.
He said the race has 43 cars, not 24, which means there are more opportunities for accidents and caution periods that will bunch up the field. Among other things, he added that the 600-miler is a marathon event in which strategy comes into play and could have exciting moments. He's right at least, I hope he is.
There's always the possibility that somehow, 43 cars can find a way to stay away from each other. Even though it had only 24 cars, the vaunted "go for broke" atmosphere the all-star race is supposed to create never happened. There wasn't a single caution period.
The new car has yet to prove it can provide any side-by-side racing on the 1.5-mile tracks. So I think that over the course of 600 miles we're not going to see much of it. The drivers might go a little bonkers at the start of the race but after that, they will just settle down.
They are going to sort themselves out, be patient and then, most likely, try to be in a position late in the race to follow their teams' planned strategy which I think will to be as far forward as possible until the final pit stops come into play.
When they do, it will be a matter of a four-tire or two-tire change or perhaps even a situation where staying out on the track will make all the difference.
I think track position has proven to be of paramount importance.
How many times have we seen, and been told, that being out front in the cleaner air makes a great difference in the new car's performance? I think we saw ample evidence of that in the all-star race.
Bob's correct when he says the Coca-Cola is a strategy event. It will be so again.
I'm not sure we'll see much of that strategy come into play until late in the race. Before that, well, I don't think there's likely going to be much to rivet our attention.
If I'm wrong and Bob's right, I don't mind at all. And you shouldn't, either.
He said the race has 43 cars, not 24, which means there are more opportunities for accidents and caution periods that will bunch up the field. Among other things, he added that the 600-miler is a marathon event in which strategy comes into play and could have exciting moments. He's right at least, I hope he is.
There's always the possibility that somehow, 43 cars can find a way to stay away from each other. Even though it had only 24 cars, the vaunted "go for broke" atmosphere the all-star race is supposed to create never happened. There wasn't a single caution period.
The new car has yet to prove it can provide any side-by-side racing on the 1.5-mile tracks. So I think that over the course of 600 miles we're not going to see much of it. The drivers might go a little bonkers at the start of the race but after that, they will just settle down.
They are going to sort themselves out, be patient and then, most likely, try to be in a position late in the race to follow their teams' planned strategy which I think will to be as far forward as possible until the final pit stops come into play.
When they do, it will be a matter of a four-tire or two-tire change or perhaps even a situation where staying out on the track will make all the difference.
I think track position has proven to be of paramount importance.
How many times have we seen, and been told, that being out front in the cleaner air makes a great difference in the new car's performance? I think we saw ample evidence of that in the all-star race.
Bob's correct when he says the Coca-Cola is a strategy event. It will be so again.
I'm not sure we'll see much of that strategy come into play until late in the race. Before that, well, I don't think there's likely going to be much to rivet our attention.
If I'm wrong and Bob's right, I don't mind at all. And you shouldn't, either.
Search
Other Blogs
Recent Blog Postings
- History in the making
by Art Weinstein | 07/16/2008 - NASCAR should move test session to Atlanta
by Bob Pockrass | 07/16/2008 - NASCAR should add a break before Chase begins
by Rea White | 07/15/2008 - Kyle Busch is the real deal
by Jared Turner | 07/15/2008 - Did you see Busch’s Earnhardt-like move?
by Jeff Owens | 07/14/2008 - Chicagoland's Saturday race was a good move
by Bob Pockrass | 07/14/2008 - Is night racing good for the sport?
by Jeff Gluck | 07/12/2008
Poll Position
How will Tony Stewart fare as a co-owner and driver for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009?
Comments
1 response to "Maybe the 600 won't be eventful"
Worm Dirt said:
May 22, 2008 at 1:08 PMIt's just TOO funny people.... Last week Kris Johnson stood his ground and made a statement that the fan-vote was a joke.....THEN of course the winner of the fan-vote went on to WIN THE RACE. And I'm sure he caught hell well beyond the comments section of his blog.... BUT!!!!! It seems the ramifications go way beyond Kris's cubicle.... Just look at the headlines here this week!... "The Coca-cola 600 exciting race" and " the 600 won't be eventful". "COULD BE"..!!!."MAYBE".....!!!!!! Way to go guys!!! Kris Johnson may have crashed and burned, but at least he manned up and showed traces of a spine!!!!!
Report as AbuseReport Abuse
This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse Report