It has been an interesting week following up Talladega for the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. The talk following the race was not on Clint Bowyer’s win but on team orders and whether there is a place for them in NASCAR.
Let’s be honest team orders have been a part of this sports since the very beginning. It’s been talked about following some races over the years but never has it hit a fever pitch like it did on Sunday and the days after.
Ford and Jack Roush telling its drivers only to work with other Ford drivers pushing or drafting with them to a win or good finish has many fans in an uproar.
Jeff Gordon going from third to 27th in the final laps set off the firestorm but the real debate isn’t about who got left out in the draft but more about does it belong in our sport?
The answer is no but its there, it’s a product of the racing at Talladega and even Daytona. Fans don’t like it but every team, every driver and every organization has at a certain point been in the position that Trevor Bayne and the Ford drivers were in.
Richard Childress openly admitted earlier this week he told his drivers to work with Chevrolets.
Fans don’t have to like it, teams will still do it but own up to it. Don’t deny you didn’t give team orders when you did.
Drivers openly talked about it all weekend even David Gilliland had to tell Tony Stewart he couldn’t draft with him because of the orders given.
All fans ask is that you own up to it, take responsibility for it.
My point is let the race win and title be decided by the drivers and the pit crew not the owners and manufacturer.
Is Jimmie Johnson’s streak in question?
Five titles in a row were impressive but we all knew it would end at a certain point. Teams get better and find ways to outrun you.
Johnson is sitting seventh in the points and 50 points out with four races to go. The streak is definitely in question.
Can he come from behind for the second year in a row? It is possible. Unlike last year there are six drivers to over take but he is coming to tracks he has run well at. Martinsville in particular he could make up ground this weekend. He has six wins here and an average finish of say it with me now, 5.6. Johnson is not just good here he is great.
You don’t see panic in Johnson and that’s what makes him still a threat. If he can come out of here with a solid run or a win, his sixth title in a row is still a possibility?
Power tools…
NASCAR announced this week that crew members can no longer use power tools to transfer fuel. This after a small fire that erupted by Regan Smith’s transporter last weekend following Talladega. The team was transferring fuel from on storage can to another can when it caught fire.
Thankfully nobody was injured and the damage was strictly to the transporter. This is the second such incident with Regan’s transporter in the last two years. Last year his transporter was damaged severely after it was involved in an accident on its way back to the shop in Colorado.
The Tums Fast Relief 500 is Sunday at 1:30 ET on ESPN.
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