Carl Edwards says “what problems” to new car critics

By Charlie Turner, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

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Forty two Sprint Cup drivers hated NASCAR’s experiment in stock car design after the Samsung 500 Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Jeff Gordon actually parked his car early - after an inevitable spin and wall wack - and insisted that crew chief Steve Letarte “fix the dang thing”. Gordon later returned to the track to taste the results of Letarte’s efforts. The leftovers weren’t much better and after a few more laps Gordon called it a day. Jeff said that they tried every possible set-up. Nothing works for the team. That is not a good sign.

Gordon’s teammate Jimmy Johnson finished second and led sixty-some laps. All-in-all that is a big improvement from recent results, but Johnson says the new car needs help. You can’t drive it in traffic, it needs more down-force. And this is a team that has tested the new car nearly every non-race day for the last two weeks. Hell, Chad - can I hear a hallelujah - Knauss is the crew chief! If they can’t figure it out ……?

Maybe Joe Gibbs Racing can. Not according to third place finisher Kyle Busch who said;

“Was it fun to drive? No. Was it hard to drive? Yes,” Busch said. “Did it survive the day? Yes. So was it a good day? Sure.”

Kyle was asked to talk further about the car and said:

“I’m not going to answer that question. Ask NASCAR that question.”

Ryan Newman finished fourth, but flunked the post-race rectal and will undoubtedly lose points, cash and crew chief attendance for a while. Presumably because they exceeded legality in the effort to fix the problems with the car. So much for the cheating solution.

The race winner was Carl “flipper” Edwards - for the third time this year. Carl doesn’t see the problem. At all. It isn’t so much that Edwards thinks that his new cars handle any better than his competitor’s rides. He just thinks the way that they are is OK. The same for everybody, a challenge to drive for sure but rewarding to master. He likes it.

NASCAR says they have no intention of making big - or even small - changes to the former CoT. That fact may make Carl Edwards the eventual champion of the first Sprint CoT Cup Series.

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Filed Under: Carl Edwards, Charlie Turner, Guest Authors, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup, Texas

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, kyle busch, Nascar, Samsung 500, Texas Motor Speedway



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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Sunday March 16, 2008
7:04pm CDT
Published on Thunder Lounge.

It ain’t over, ’til it’s over.

With 5 to go, Burton was running 5th. A Top-5 at Bristol is an accomplishment, but the race was far from over as they came to the green from a caution with 11 to go.

Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr stayed the course while the rest of the cars on the lead lap came in for tires. With the restart, Kevin Harvick started in 4th, followed by Burton and Clint Bowyer.

Stewart jumped out to a slight lead, which was quickly erased and removed entirely by Denny Hamlin. Along came Harvick to the inside of Stewart, Kevin lost it and slided up into Stewart who backed it into the fence bringing out the caution with 2 to go and setting up overtime. As this happened, Burton squeezed by Harvick who slid in behind Burton.

Hamlin lead the attack to the green, white, checker finish but had fuel pickup issues which let Burton, Harvick, and Bowyer slip by to the outside for an RCR 1, 2, 3 finish.

Wow.

Up until that point, it had been another episode of Joe Gibbs Show, with all three leads taking the credit. Kyle Busch was strong, and possibly the strongest car in the field. However, JGR had a power steering box failure for the second week in a row, but this time it bit Rowdy instead of Denny. He went into the corner, in the lead no less, and just lost it.

Denny and Tony were also very strong, with Stewart leading the most laps [again] yet failing to seal the deal. We know what happened to Hamlin, who ended up 6th. Stewart finished 14th.

For the 4th time in 5 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. carried the banner for Hendrick Motorsports by finishing 5th. Next best from the stable was Jeff Gordon in 11th. Jimmie Johnson brought it home in 18th, while again Casey Mears found his luck payments still due and ended up in 42nd.

Roush wasn’t bad at Bristol either. Greg Biffle carried the flag with a 4th place run, Matt Kenseth was 10th, and Carl Edwards was 16th. David Ragan was the first car not in the Top-20, while Jamie McMurray brought up the rear of the field after an early accident where Dario Franchitti slipped and punted him to the fence.

It was Bristol, what else can you say?

I counted no less than 4 lines, and there were probably more. There were 3 lanes through the corner, although the middle and top were all but on top of each other. Naturally you had your bottom, and also the diamond approach.

It will be interesting watching this track surface age. After its debut last August, a little more wear on it should make it quite interesting. When you have a track where people leave their tickets in their will, you know it’s going to be good.

Bristol did not disappoint.

Next up is Martinsville in two weeks, as the Cup Series takes it’s first off-weekend for Easter. After that, it’s time to pound down them beers at the one and only, Thunder Lounge.

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Filed Under: Bristol, Craftsman Truck Series, Drivers, Jeff Burton, Nascar, Richard Childress Racing #31, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks

Tagged As: Bristol Motor Speedway, Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, kyle busch, Rowdy Busch, Tony Stewart



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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday February 25, 2008
3:11pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

About flippin time is right.

About flippin time someone won out in California.

About flippin timethe weather took a back seat to racing.

About time for a lot of things, but I’ll cut it at this. About time the racing was worth watching at this southern California track.

It wasn’t a perfect show, and yeah there is room for improvement. Isn’t there always, though?

However, love or hate this car, we saw again that it’s racy. It’s nice to see these cars around each other for lengths of time without one driver or another losing it. All seeping water aside.

One thing prevalent in this race, of many, is that this is the house of Roush. What looked last night to be the Gordon Show, turned a tick to Johnsonville, but the Roushketeers didn’t flinch. Had the race continued last night the outcome would be anyone’s guess. But it didn’t, so end of that story.

Another lesson here is that Roush has their act together with the car now, and they’re getting better. Further still, is that Hendrick is still as strong as ever. While taking home half the trophies this season seems out of the question, as the competition is much stiffer this season thus far, you can bet they’ll take home a fair share before the season is over.

Now it’s on to the Nationwide race, where a historic moment has a chance to take place. That moment being that for the first time, a driver could leave the weekend behind and sit atop all 3 Series points. Trucks, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup. That driver is Kyle Busch.

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Filed Under: California, Carl Edwards, Drivers, Nascar, Roush Racing #99, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks

Tagged As: Carl Edwards, Cousin Carl, Hendrick Motorsports, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, kyle busch, Roush Fenway Racing, Roushketeers



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By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Thursday January 31, 2008
2:02pm CST
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Kyle Busch took a moment to talk to the media while attending this weeks test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway about several little tidbits. Among those were communication amongst his team and with his teammates, how the car was handling overall, and competing against Hendrick with a new manufacturer.

It will take some getting used to hearing and saying the #18 M&M’s Camry. Although, funny as it is, in the image attached to this article there’s a funny resemblance between Kyle and an old picture of Elliott. Not a whole lot, but a little bit. Maybe it’s the eyes and the angle, I don’t know.

Getting down to business, Kyle made mention that communication amongst his team and across teams was really well. Having already been friends with teammate Denny Hamlin helped on that front, and he made note that the more challenging line of communication would be with Stewart. However, he reports that all is well on that front and that things are really gelling in the Gibbs Camp.

Speaking with regards to the car, he notes that it’s improving. He discussed a few issues with it as well, like losing down force and becoming a little loose behind other cars. While there are still issues with the car, these teams will get it figured out. They are professionals after all, and the more they work and play with it, the better it will become.

Kyle seems to think that while Toyota will be stronger than in its inaugural season, he sees the Gibbs Camp leading the way and being the Toyota’s that can keep pace with Hendrick Motorsports. While test data is just that, it would seem that JD and Co. are playing well in the new sandbox. Not only have they appeared strong, which they should, but there has been a noticeable improvement amongst all of the Toyota’s as well.

Today marks the first of a two day test session at California, and if the previous two tests are any indication, look for Gibbs and their Toyota brethren to continue to draw attention.

Photo Credit: NASCAR.com

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Filed Under: Drivers, Joe Gibbs Racing #18, Kyle Busch, Las Vegas, Nascar, Sprint Cup, Teams, Tracks

Tagged As: joe gibbs racing, kyle busch, testing, toyota



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