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Early declaration Chevys are unraceable, while Fords are unbeatable
Posted: Friday February 25, 2000 01:34 PM
Sports Illustrated motorsports writer Mark Bechtel will answer your questions every Friday. Click here to send a question.
Ah, what joyous tidings the mailbag brought me this week. I was especially glad to hear from a former SI colleague, one Stephen Thomas. Thomas writes: Hey, Bechtel, you poser: Do you even know how to change your own oil, for god's sake? Here's a little tip I picked up in high school: Make sure your car is a hand-me-down with at least 100,000 miles on it. That way it probably leaks so much oil that by simply adding a quart every so often you are accomplishing the same effect as crawling under the car, draining the old stuff and replacing it. What it lacks in ecological soundness it more than makes up for in time--and clothing detergent--saved. On to more legitimate questions:
Who gets the prize money from the race -- the driver or the car owner? Does the driver get money from being under contract and the prize money? How does the owner make money? Robert, generally speaking, the driver gets about half of the prize money. Of course, it all depends on what kind of deal he has with his owner. The majority of the cash an owner pulls in comes from sponsors, with race winnings tacked on. That money is used to run the racing operations (wages, equipment, etc.).
Can you tell me why Kyle Petty started so far back in the Twin 125? Do they throw out first day speed if you try to re-qualify? I think it had something to do with the fact that the good folks at Daytona are contractually obligated to have the most confusing, complex qualifying system in the history of competitive sport. Yes, if you don't stand on your first round time, it gets thrown out and replaced with the second-round time. Petty put up a pretty bad time in the first round and actually went slower the second time around. Hence his bad starting spot in the Twin 125.
It appears to me that the NASCAR officials don't have a very good formula for determining what size spoilers, etc., one car make should have versus another whenever a new car is introduced (i.e. the new Chevy seems to be getting the short end of the deal this year). What is your opinion of the way they decide who can do what to the stability of their car? In my mind, that is the determining factor in who has the fastest car. It's still pretty early to declare the Chevys unraceable and the Fords unbeatable. Daytona doesn't offer much of a clue how the cars are going to race on the shorter tracks. After the next couple of races, at Rockingham and Vegas, we should have a much better idea of what each car has. I think NASCAR does a pretty good job keeping things competitive with its regulations when you take into account how a miniscule adjustment here or there can have a gigantic effect on how a car runs. It's never a good thing when rules are changed on the fly, but there's really no other way to do it.
Why do the Chevy drivers have to go bawling about the Taurus? Four or five years ago Ford had the same concerns that the Chevys do now and Chevy's answer was 'go build a better race car.' Ford has done this and now Chevy is yelling foul. I am even more disappointed with Dale Earnhardt and his crying. Remember when they used to call Rusty Wallace a bawl-baby for the same thing? Hey Chevy racers, 'Go build a better race car!' and quit whining. Calvin, yeah, no one likes a whiner, but bellyaching has become as much a part of Speedweeks as the Twin 125s. Personally, I try not to take it too seriously. That way I can get a good chuckle out of the complaints and counter-accusations of sandbagging. My personal favorite was when Sterling Marlin said that you could walk into his, or any other, Chevy dealership in the country and buy a Monte Carlo that is quite similar to the one he races, but if you wanted to make a similar purchase of a race-ready Taurus from a Ford dealer you'd have to go to Mars. I didn't even know they sold cars on Mars.
I was glad to hear that NASCAR has finally begun to get a handle on the seemingly skyrocketing cost of having a competitive team by mandating the new shock/suspension rule. Is there talk of more rules coming down from the front office that will be one more step in bringing the Stock back to NASCAR? Unfortunately the new spring and shock rules have gone over like a lead balloon. NASCAR has essentially stripped teams of one of the main tools they use to tinker with a car's setup. As a result, lots of drivers and crew chiefs were at a loss for ways to get their cars to handle. I'm not sure that we'll see many rules aimed at putting the Stock back in NASCAR.
If anything, I think we'll see cars become more and more similar to each other, especially next year when Dodge enters the fray. With four different cars, it's going to be even more difficult for NASCAR to keep the playing field level while maintaining the inherent differences in the cars.
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