Jeff Gordon says that he’s relieved to be on the poll at the start of today’s Dega race, hoping that he can stay out of early trouble. (Note that I wrote ‘early’ trouble, grin …)
Considering how fast they go from front and back and back to front at this track, I was initially thinkin’ that he must’ve been talking about those first-few-lap wrecks that happen thanks to that whole race trim vs. qualifying trim issue splitting up teams’ handling characteristics before the first pit stop — never good for the start of a high-octane race like this, but until the qualifying process is adjusted (if it ever is), this is gonna’ remain part of the deal at superspeedways.
Turns out that he was talking about more than that, as a far more wreck-worthy issue this weekend is bump-drafting, grin …
“I think NASCAR is going to have a tough job trying to police the bump-drafting … there is so much grip here that you can bump-draft through the corners and through the trioval,” he said. “And when guys start getting comfortable doing that, they stop thinking about what’s happening three or four cars ahead. And that’s usually when one guy checks up and then it’s just a domino thing.” Full Story
Well, he’s right about bump-drafting on the new surface, as we watched during the Busch race yesterday. In at least two major incidents that I remember, the hits were so hard (didn’t seem to matter precisely where on the track, either) that the second cars took off like a rocket — right into the back of the third, and … trouble. Man, lol … it’s really gotta’ suck being in that second car when there’s absolutely nothing you can do about an entirely uncomfortable closure rate …
What may make things even more interesting today, however, is the difference between Busch and Cup series’ bumpers. Busch cars have both front & rear bumpers beefed up now, while Cup teams have been forced to soften them in order to try to prevent the incredibly hard hits we’ve seen in the past. So, if Cup rookies who ran in yesterday’s race (I’m thinking of JPMontoya, especially, who really seems to love this whole bump-draftin’ deal, grin) will attempt to bump with the same amount of force, when they’re not yet familiar with the variance between Busch/Cup bumpers? I think we’ll see a whole new version of the bump & wreck, and not because it’ll be intentional.
While I was writing the first part of this post, the driver’s meeting was going on, and apparently Gordon came right out and asked NASCAR to look hard at the issue during today’s race.
I’m certainly not a fan of NASCAR ‘policing’, as I think they’re far too subjective about every damned thing … nor do I think ‘warnings’ or penalties for ‘aggressive driving’ are anything but amusing as all hell due to the oxymoron value of that concept in racin’ … but, I do think we’ll be seeing a new Dega dynamic today, and agree with Gordon at least in part. I mean … there’s drafting, there’s bump-drafting, there’s slam-drafting, and there’s wreck-drafting.
I’m a fan of all of it except wreck-drafting, and I’ve little doubt that if we see that dreaded Big One today … it’ll be due to someone’s talent runnin’ out at the back of another guy’s bumper.
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