“This is idiotic. This, along with other recent decisions, will be the death of Nascar.”
As quickly as the news came out that Nascar was officially looking at hybrid and electric technology, there were the usual naysayers. The people that now have a NEW reason not to watch Nascar in the future. Yet they always find a way to the comments section on Nascar-related articles…
While the comments section is not the place to gauge the potential success or failure of really anything, there is some legitimacy to the more rational concerns being raised. Can Nascar – a southern sport born of loud engines and fossil fuels – make a successful transition into hybrid, or even electric, technology?
If you follow stock car racing at all, you’ve heard the name. Hailie Deegan has developed a following.
And one of the key elements to making it in the sport is publicity. If you can make yourself a known entity in the racing world, you can elevate. But if Hailie Deegan is going to be a name you know on Sundays in the future, it will take a perfect combination of many factors.
Hailie Deegan Driving Talent
Let’s first focus on what should be the most important aspect – driver talent. Since moving to the K&N Series in 2018, Deegan has scored three wins to date, which speaks to her ability. While her equipment is good, series like K&N can be an equalizer for someone used to running superior cars in lower events. Even in K&N, everyone in the front of the pack has top-tier equipment, meaning driver talent becomes a major factor. Winning on this level means she can wheel a stock car.
Deegan has been criticized for the way she has won her races – “always passing on the last lap.” While understanding how this is a knock is tough in the first place, it also isn’t by accident
Deegan has been criticized for the way she has won her races – “always passing on the last lap.” While understanding how this is a knock is tough in the first place, it also isn’t by accident. Deegan’s driving coach focused on this technique with her prior to hitting the larger circuits. By making the move on the last lap, and potentially using the bumper to do it, Deegan is assuring her spurned competitor can’t come back to her before the race is over.
While this technique may not make her any friends, it’s effective. And when there is a limited window to keep the spotlight on your driving career, tallying wins is the most important thing a driver can do. Not that it won’t come back at some point – drivers tend to not forget easily, and you often run into the same competitors as you move up.
Hailie Deegan Funding
Unfortunately, a major factor in today’s racing world is money. If you or a sponsor don’t have it, it’s going to be nearly impossible to make it. Luckily for Deegan, she had a bit of a head-start with her dad being an X-Games gold medalist and having some connections. She also has sponsorship, and has gained more along the way, with Toyota being heavily involved in her development.
Starting out is the toughest thing to do in racing, as local tracks can burn a lot of cash, while also having limited reach. Being able to elevate to a larger spotlight such as the K&N Series is huge for a driver’s career, but the pressure to perform also kicks in immediately. Being in a noticeable series is great, but not if you are being noticed not doing well.
Hailie Deegan Development
That brings us to an area that many drivers and their managers have made errors on in the past – development and moving up. Often, sponsors, fans and backers expect a driver to move up unrealistically fast, which can have devastating effects on the driver’s career.
For a recent example, look no further than truck series driver Natalie Decker. It’s been a rough run for her to say the least, having crashed out of approximately half of her entered events. And when she isn’t scoring a DNF, she’s often spinning out and running near the back in good equipment. She didn’t have nearly enough experience before moving to trucks, and now it’s tough to see Decker moving up anytime soon.
David Gilliland also comes to mind. A top prospect a few years ago, he’s since been criticized by Kyle Busch himself as “needing to do better.”
Danica Patrick is potentially the most well-known example. Had Patrick stayed in the Xfinity Series for at least another year to gain experience, confidence and respect, it could have made a world of difference. Instead, she’s now out of racing entirely.
While there have been rumors of Deegan moving up to the Truck Series, and Toyota even promoting the idea, Deegan herself seems to be grounded on this topic. She has stated that she’s fine staying in the K&N Series if it will ultimately further her career and longevity in the sport. Given the potential for a KBM Truck offer for at least a few rides, a statement like that proves that she gets it. This isn’t to say that she won’t drive a few races in 2020 for in the trucks, but keeping it to more familiar short tracks where she can succeed will be crucial. MIle-and-a-halfs and larger can eat up an inexperienced driver.
Hailie Deegan Female Factor and Personality
While it’s the lowest factor on the list, the fact that Deegan is a female can’t be discounted in the world of racing. Being female can be a gift and a curse with stock cars. Often (see Danica example), there is a rush to get a popular female in a top ride for the publicity and fan factor. But that isn’t the best reason to fast-track someone to the Cup Series.
It’s also tough for “old school” crew members and others to take females as seriously as they should, which can lead to miscommunication and problems on the track that really aren’t the driver’s fault. Believing that a driver understands the car and can effectively communicate what needs to be done is crucial, and unfortunately, the good old boy culture still exists in racing to some degree, which can make this difficult.
What Deegan has going for her in this category is her knowledge and personality. She does appear to have a good grasp on the handle of the car and how to communicate what she needs. And she isn’t about to be pushed around by male competitors, claiming “if you want to start it, I will finish it.” Her K&N wins are proof of that.
Hailie Deegan Social Media Factor
Deegan is also young at 17, and naturally a pro on social media. This reach is invaluable for a young driver. She’s likeable and fun on social and tells it like it is. When she makes a pass on the last lap of the race using a bump and run, she’ll be on social that evening further explaining what wasn’t covered on the traditional race coverage.
These kind of moments get shared a lot and create buzz on top of buzz. Deegan is one of the best in recent memory of utilizing social media to her advantage.
Will Hailie Deegan Make it to Cup?
Given everything discussed, it seems like Deegan has as good a chance as anyone to make it to the top level of racing. She appears to have the ability, has the backing, and the promotion machine is in full throat.
In the end, the only thing that will matter for staying power is performance. Provided she’s given the right amount of time to prepare before entering the truck series, how well she does on this level will be a huge determining factor. The same applies for Xfinty, with time and success dictating the elevation to the next level.
Deegan could be very good for the future of Nascar, so here’s hoping all of the stars align, for her sake and the sport.
While it was 19 years ago now, the gravity of that moment in Nascar history has never left me. And the connection continues to haunt every time Daytona – and my day – comes around in February.
It was inconceivable that the man in black could die in a racecar. But it shouldn’t have been. After all, we’d lost Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Tony Roper in the previous year alone. But Feb. 18, 2001 hit me differently.
And it hit Nascar differently.
Out of that tragedy came incredible safety advances and standards. Mandatory head and neck restraints, SAFER barriers, full containment seats, larger cockpits. The list goes on and on. The result? No Nascar driver has died on the track since Earnhardt.
That’s probably why Monday night was so tough – the risk of death on the track seemed so far in the past. But immediately as the 2020 Daytona 500 ended, that uneasy 2001 feeling returned around Ryan Newman’s last-lap crash. Emergency crews rushing to the scene, the driver not getting out, an awkward winner’s circle. My mind rushed back to a younger me watching helplessly as Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip took us off the air on the Fox broadcast with a very unsure sendoff. Something was clearly very wrong.
Even that moment was mirrored, with Jeff Gordon standing in for Waltrip this time, and Joy trying to measure the potential gravity of the situation without alarming viewers too much. When word came on Twitter that screens were up as they were working on getting Newman out of the car to block the fan’s view, my heart sank.
You can see that sinking moment from Corey LaJoie when he found out that Newman was taken directly to the hospital following the last-lap crash. LaJoie’s car hit Newman as he raced toward the finish line with nowhere to go.
Corey LaJoie reacts to the news that Ryan Newman was taken to the hospital and describes his view of the wreck. pic.twitter.com/TlMj7aRF9Z
Hours went by. Then, the scariest moment of the night for me. Nascar Executive VP Steve O’Donnell came to the microphone for the first announcement on Newman’s incident. It was impossible not to flash back to Mike Helton and the four words that rocked the racing world.
O’Donnell did give shocking news. But it was an opposite shock from 2001. Newman was in serious condition, but his injuries were not life threatening. Instantly, a weight was lifted from all of us.
Newman’s full condition is unknown and he likely has a long road to recovery. But he has the chance to recover- he’s here. And we have Nascar and the drivers that push so hard for safety to thank. Ironically, Newman is one of the drivers that is the most outspoken on safety, and may have saved his own life from a past incident at Talladega that created the invention of the “Newman bar” that helps protect the driver’s window in an impact.
While there is a lot of talk about learning from Newman’s incident in terms of car safety, as him simply being alive isn’t “good enough,” this seems somewhat harsh. At the end of the day, it’s racing. Another car literally hit his car square in the driver’s window area at 200 mph and he lived. It was truly an engineering worst case scenario and the product succeeded.
If anything, Superspeedway racing that produces this pack racing is where the magnifying glass should be focused the most. While this type of racing started in the late 80s with restrictor plates to slow the cars down and keep them on the track, that use case seems to have long since become irrelevant. Cars get airborne just as much now as they used to.
Fans love it. But Monday proved how dangerous these races – and the sport in general – can still be.
Will Newman’s incident, while not fatal as in 2001, be the catalyst to the next change in the sport? And will the sanctioning body look at changing the racing itself and not just the equipment?
Time will tell. But for tonight, we can sleep easier knowing that the safety equipment kept our driver here. And remember the man that started us on that trend in 2001 by sacrificing it all.
Teams that have won a Nascar Cup Series race this year: Penske, JGR, Hendrick and Spire.
One of these is not like the other. With Justin Haley’s upset win on Sunday at Daytona, Spire Motorsports suddenly went from an also ran to a top Google search.
So what is Spire Motorsports?
With the Nascar charter system that was installed a few years back, not just any team can attempt to make a Cup Series race. You have to be the owner of a charter to get your car entered.
Spire Motorsports purchased the charter that was available when Furniture Row Racing shut down following the 2018 season. This gave the team a valid charter to be able to enter races this year.
The team’s unexpected win sparked controversy through the racing channels in the hours after the race for several reasons.
Spire Motorsports isn’t a team that necessarily is doing everything it can to win races.
Spire Motorsports is an offshoot of Spire Sports and Entertainment, an agency that represents drivers and teams.
To the first point, the argument is being made that the team owns the charter, so it fields a car in the Cup Series races to collect the earnings for whatever place it achieves, and goes home. There is no large investment in the best equipment and talent to actually try to compete for wins and championships at the top level.
While there may be some truth to that, the SuperSpeedways are the ultimate equalizer in the sport. Add to that a rain shortened race scenario, and it’s a recipe for the ultimate upset. And you can’t tell anyone that the crew isn’t trying to get the best finish it can every week. In this particular week, the crew chief made the right decision at the right time to stay out with one to go for the restart. When a bolt of lightning hit within Nascar’s 8-mile radius and the skies opened up after, Spire Motorsports became one of the biggest upset stories in Nascar history.
To the second point, there is no rule that says that an agency can’t also own a team. Should there be? That depends who you ask.
Haley is a client of Spire Sports and Entertainment, which put him in a spot to also drive the car. But again, there is no rule against this, and Haley isn’t exactly an unknown in the sport. He drives full time in the Xfinity Series and finished second at Daytona two days prior to the Cup Series win. He also had a win taken away from him last year at Daytona in Xfinity when it was deemed he made his last-lap pass under the yellow line.
“And hey Daytona, we’re even,” he said on his Twitter post race.
Never lose faith. A absolute blessing to take this small team to VL on the biggest stage in motorsports. Thanks you @FOEGrandAerie & @Spire77. And hey Daytona, we’re even. 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/cYSwEgUv8M
No matter how you feel about Sunday’s unexpected result, it certainly has people talking about Nascar today. And this isn’t completely unprecedented. Rain shortened races and pit strategy play into the end result at times – it’s part of the sport’s history. You have to look no further than Chris Buescher’s victory at Pocono in 2016.
How about we all just enjoy the unpredictability of our sport instead of picking it apart.
By most accounts, Atlanta provided a quality viewer experience on Sunday. There were dominant race cars, but also some closer racing, and a tight finish where both race winner Brad Keselowski and runner-up Martin Truex Jr. had a chance.
But the big question on everyone’s mind is: Did the new Nascar rules package work as intended?
The first impression seems to be disjointed, depending on who you ask. But overwhelmingly, everyone agrees that Atlanta, as expected, didn’t provide a “true” test of the package.
The new high downforce, reduced horsepower rules package was designed to eliminate the spread-out, track position races that have developed at intermediate tracks over the last few years. And while Atlanta fits the definition of intermediate at 1.5 miles, the track surface is the most worn in Nascar, having gone over 20 years since a repave (1997).
Due to the worn-out surface, tire wear was the main issue, over the horsepower and downforce changes, as tires would fall off during a run, requiring drivers to get off the gas in the corner. This brought driver skill and tire conservation heavily into play, and didn’t allow the cars to stay bunched up as the package is expected to show next week in Las Vegas.
But while the stats show similar gaps and passing to last year’s race, there were definitely those who thought this was a good first run for the package – and not all of those opinions lived within the Nascar payroll.
“I have to give NASCAR a real good grade on the racing today because you could race, you could come up, you could fall back,” Roger Penske said. “Some people obviously maybe didn’t like that maybe you couldn’t pass, but I felt overall it made a big difference.”
While that seemed to be true at times, it was also true that cars like Kyle Larson once stuck in the back due to a penalty were never able to get back to the front.
Maybe most encouraging was the reaction from some of the “second-tier” teams, such as Parker Klingerman.
So I know you’re all desperately wondering what the new package was like for the 30th place driver… We were vastly more competitive then the last 1.5mile we did as a team at Texas. And I passed @JimmieJohnson at one point. I know he was struggling but slight personal victory 🤣
This is positive news it bears out in the upcoming races, from a competitive and cost-cutting perspective – both issues Nascar is hoping to address. And I didn’t hate the Jimmie Johnson jab, either.
No surprise, but Vegas will be the first true test. But with Atlanta in the books, at the very least, we’re still optimistic about these rule changes.
The Daytona 500 proved to be an entertaining race, following a Speedweeks that was largely dominated by mundane single-file racing. But then the problem with this superspeedway pack racing action that fans clamor for reared its ugly head. The final 30 laps of the race were essentially a glorified demolition derby.
Even so, the Nascar green-white-checker finish system ensures there will be something to cheer for (or against) at the end of the races. For me, it was to see if Joey Logano could team up with some fellow Fords (or anyone) to pass the JGR power couple of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.
It looked like it was actually going to materialize, as Logano got a push from the Chevrolet of Ryan Preece to get past Busch on the white flag lap. Then, needing one more push to victory, Michael McDowell inexplicably went with Busch briefly, essentially solidifying a JGR 1-2 finish that proved to actually be a 1-2-3 finish with Erik Jones joining the fun.
Logano expressed his frustration post-race, but was rebuffed by McDowell.
“I just told him that my team doesn’t pay me to push Joey Logano to a win,” McDowell said. “That’s not what I get paid to do. At 200 miles an hour I made a split-second decision on what was the fastest car and who had the best shot of winning the race and that’s where I went.”
I can somewhat get past the lack of brand loyalty in McDowell pushing Busch instead of another Ford. After all, it’s not like the Penske cars – or any others -were really eager to work with him earlier in the race. But what doesn’t make sense to me is that by going with Busch, he basically ended not only Joey’s chances, but his own. McDowell’s best chance to win that race was to push Logano forward, and hope to then get by him in a 1-on-1 situation coming to the flag. But pushing another Toyota back into position to lock up with Hamlin ensured that wouldn’t happen. Where’s the benefit?
I guess it was just disappointing to see. A last-lap pass, or attempt, is always the most exciting result. But to see a driver make what seemed to everyone to be the wrong move is frustrating. And McDowell’s refusal to acknowledge it made it even worse.
The Hendrick cars ran over the field, at one point, literally. Hendrick swept the first four positions of Daytona 500 qualifying, with the 24 of William Byron and 88 of Alex Bowman securing the locked-in front row positions. Later, Jimmie Johnson wrecked Paul Menard, and essentially the whole field, on his way to victory in the Clash at Daytona.
Obviously, it’s the second of the two events that has been gaining the most attention. The 75-lap Clash was put under red twice for rain, and when it looked like it was going to rain again, Johnson made his move under race leader Paul Menard. But, Johnson made contact with Menard who didn’t appear to have moved down much, if at all. The contact resulted in Menard spinning and taking out most of the field. The subsequent rain then did start to fall, and the race was over with Johnson walking to victory lane with his umbrella.
What They Said
The usually politically correct Johnson was surprisingly unaware (or uncaring) about his role in what happened, saying it was more of a racing incident than anything.
“Knowing the rain’s coming. I could see it coming,” Johnson said. “We could see it coming and I knew that was probably my lap to make the move and I had a great run down the back. I got below him before he blocked him. I think he came down a little bit to defend and block. I got that move inside of him and was hopeful the 1 was going to be following me through. Certainly hate to see all these cars tore up.”
The typically mild-mannered and soft-spoken Menard on the other hand, while watching the replay on Fox said what many of us were thinking.
“Yeah. Jimmie does that a lot at these tracks, so that’s unfortunate,” Menard said.
Sure is, Paul.
What We Think
Jimmie was in the wrong. And he shouldn’t have gotten the win for it. In an exhibition race, it’s probably not a HUGE deal, but he clearly miscalculated and wrecked a lot of race cars. And Menard is correct – Johnson seems to do this a lot at Superspeedway tracks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen again this speedweeks.
But to shrug it off as a racing incident – you’re better than that, James.
One year removed from winning a championship with GSR racing, Johnny Sauter was told he wouldn’t be returning to the team. Instead, they opted for newly available Brett Moffitt – the current Gander Outdoor Truck Series Champion.
But, this doesn’t mark the end for the Wisconsin veteran. Sources are confirming that Sauter will return to the ride he had prior to GSR – ThorSport Racing – for the 2019 season. Given the timing, it is unclear if Sauter will be piloting the truck for the season opener in Daytona, but the news breaking during Speedweeks certainly makes it likely.
Sauter previously drove for ThorSport from 2009 to 2015, notching 10 wins with the team and finishing in the top five in the points standing all but his first season, which he finished sixth.
With ThorSport, Sauter will be driving the #13 Ford and the word is Joe Shear Jr. will go with him as crew chief – a position Shear has held throughout Sauter’s truck series career. ThorSport ran Chevrolet during Sauters early time before moving to Toyota. GSR ran Chevrolet. The move to Ford completes the truck manufacturer trifecta for Sauter.
Fresh off being kicked out of the Super Bowl where his beloved Patriots won their sixth title, Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy (El Presidente) will be attending the “Super Bowl of Nascar” – the Daytona 500. This news courtesy of a pizza review posted on Barstool’s networks with driver Corey LaJoie.
Portnoy isn’t secretive about not being much of a Nascar fan in the clip, even referring to it as “pretty rednecky.” But, he can at least rest assured that Jim France won’t be seeking him out and having him dragged out of the event.
On a serious note, this is a great move by Nascar. We just have to hope that the unpredictable Portnoy enjoys the event. Getting some good press with the Barstool crowd could go a long way for a sport struggling to connect with fans.
Whoever coordinated this from Nascar – strong play.
You’ve likely seen the video. (And if you haven’t, see below). After winning the prestigious Snowball Derby, KBM driver Noah Gragson was full of young 20-year old confidence. So much so, that he decided to call over Miss Snowball Derby and try to kiss her on the lips. But, she wasn’t playing along, as she resisted, leaving him embarrassed on Live TV.
