Richmond

[PRB]

I think it would be cool if the 78 team made the chase. That's who I'm pulling for tonight.

 

[Panther_99FS]

 

[Panther_99FS]

Well...
Dale Jr. just said he thought the spin looked weird & both Rusty & Evernham thought that based on the in-car radio, the sound, & cameras they also thought that Bowyer spun on purpose.

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

JJ spins and Truex is out so Bowyer spins putting his teammate Truex back in. Lots are saying the Bowyer spin was deliberate - I have to see some video but Clint apparently sure acted guilty. Did that take Gordon out of the chase too? If so I bet Bowyer is double happy.

Gordon should consider retiring if his competitive fire is gone.

Glad to see Joey race hard and race his way in.

Ryan Newman - racing is a team sport - you can do heroics on the track and a pit crew lose it for you - no excuse for throwing them under the bus.

JJ has been a train wreck the last month like an average finish in the 30s. He is too good for it to continue though.

NASCAR had better figure out the restart rule. JJ gets blackflagged but everybody else? Maybe Menard did spin the tires or maybe just tried to squeeze Carl in which case the tire spin exception does not apply and Carl should have been black flagged.

Be an interesting chase.

-Ed-

 

[Panther_99FS]

Hey All,

JJ spins and Truex is out so Bowyer spins putting his teammate Truex back in. Lots are saying the Bowyer spin was deliberate - I have to see some video but Clint apparently sure acted guilty. Did that take Gordon out of the chase too? If so I bet Bowyer is double happy.

Gordon should consider retiring if his competitive fire is gone.

Glad to see Joey race hard and race his way in.

Ryan Newman - racing is a team sport - you can do heroics on the track and a pit crew lose it for you - no excuse for throwing them under the bus.

JJ has been a train wreck the last month like an average finish in the 30s. He is too good for it to continue though.

NASCAR had better figure out the restart rule. JJ gets blackflagged but everybody else? Maybe Menard did spin the tires or maybe just tried to squeeze Carl in which case the tire spin exception does not apply and Carl should have been black flagged.

Be an interesting chase.

-Ed-

Gordon, Kasey, & Brad can have beers together about bad luck - with Gordon having the most of it in the past 2 years.
Agree about the restart rule (Re: Brad not getting penalized last night at the Nationwide race)

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Apparently the Bowyer spin put Logano and Truex in (happy for Joey but...) and Newman and Gordon out - although I have not seen this mathematically verified. If that spin was deliberate as the all the announcers and others and Bowyers demeanor at the end of the race suggest You can never have respect for Bowyer again and I admit I have not ever really cared for him.

Newman going to RCR? - that be good and Richard never should have let the Harv go to Stewart-Haas. Kevin is a never say die racer with talent and experience - you need that.

What is Kasey's prob? He is in.

-Ed-

 

[Panther_99FS]

Hey All,

Apparently the Bowyer spin put Logano and Truex in (happy for Joey but...) and Newman and Gordon out - although I have not seen this mathematically verified. If that spin was deliberate as the all the announcers and others and Bowyers demeanor at the end of the race suggest You can never have respect for Bowyer again and I admit I have not ever really cared for him.

Newman going to RCR? - that be good and Richard never should have let the Harv go to Stewart-Haas. Kevin is a never say die racer with talent and experience - you need that.

What is Kasey's prob? He is in.

-Ed-

-I'm sure that Jimmie and Jeff haven't forgot Martinsville when Bowyer took both of them out.
-Newman should fit in well at RCR if that's where he's headed.
-MWR has had their own series of "scandals" so if the spin was on purpose, it's not surprising.

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Watch the video - note when it cuts out and then is smooth again - coincidence???????

This looks really bad. Are your arms tired a signal?

-Ed-

 

[Panther_99FS]

The broadcast re-cap videos were different. But like I wrote earlier, Dale Jr. thought it looked weird & both Rusty Wallace & Ray Evernham thought Bowyer did it on purpose.

 

[stansdds]

And in the final restarts, Carl Edwards restarted in second place, but was in the lead before the first place car reached the start-finish line. Carl did not give back the position as per the rules and NASCAR said nothing about this infraction of the rules. I was really disappointed at the shenanigans pulled in the closing laps of last nights race and the fact that NASCAR did nothing nor did they penalize Brad K. for jumping the restart in Friday night's race. Perhaps NASCAR enforces rules on some drivers/teams, but others are exempt?

 

[Terry]

And in the final restarts, Carl Edwards restarted in second place, but was in the lead before the first place car reached the start-finish line. Carl did not give back the position as per the rules and NASCAR said nothing about this infraction of the rules. I was really disappointed at the shenanigans pulled in the closing laps of last nights race and the fact that NASCAR did nothing nor did they penalize Brad K. for jumping the restart in Friday night's race. Perhaps NASCAR enforces rules on some drivers/teams, but others are exempt?

NASCAR said Menard spun the tires and it was obvious to them, so no penalty. Simple as that. Bowyer? Well never know for sure just like DW's exploding engine.

 

[Daveroo]

i didnt watch again...seems normal for me again,,but i just watched that video posted,dale jrs comments crack me up...anyone remember the race he spun himself out to get a cautions...and then told everyone on the radio he had done just that?.....he should have just refused to comment....

 

[stansdds]

I remember that. Seems to me Junior's car was having handling issues or a tire was going down, so he spun in order to bring out a caution. A number of drivers have done this or thrown things out of their cars in order to get cautions. As for Boyer, I've lost respect for him, but I also realize this is a result of multi-car teams. Teams look out for each other and help each other as much as possible, it's not like the golden days when it was every team for themselves.

 

[Panther_99FS]

And in the final restarts, Carl Edwards restarted in second place, but was in the lead before the first place car reached the start-finish line. Carl did not give back the position as per the rules and NASCAR said nothing about this infraction of the rules. I was really disappointed at the shenanigans pulled in the closing laps of last nights race and the fact that NASCAR did nothing nor did they penalize Brad K. for jumping the restart in Friday night's race. Perhaps NASCAR enforces rules on some drivers/teams, but others are exempt?

I missed the last 40 laps but I'll take your word for it...

 

[Panther_99FS]

I remember that. Seems to me Junior's car was having handling issues or a tire was going down, so he spun in order to bring out a caution.

And Junior did admit to doing it...

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Evidence seems to continue to mount...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR is reviewing evidence to determine if Michael Waltrip Racing deliberately attempted to manipulate the outcome of the race that set the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.
NASCAR President Mike Helton told The Associated Press before Sunday's Truck Series race at Iowa that officials in the scoring tower did not immediately see anything to believe Clint Bowyer's spin with seven laps remaining at Richmond was suspicious.
It brought out a caution with Ryan Newman leading Saturday night and poised to claim the final berth in the 12-driver Chase field. Instead, it set in motion a chain of events that led to Bowyer teammate Martin Truex Jr. earning the final berth and Newman losing both the race and a spot in the Chase.
When Bowyer spun to bring out the caution, Helton said race control, located in a suite above the track, could not determine if it was done deliberately to aid Truex.
"We didn't see anything that indicated that anything like that was taking place. And it's natural when everything was as close as it was between who was going to get in and not go in to scratch your heads and try to figure out and wonder why," Helton said. "But we didn't see anything initially (Saturday) night that indicated that, but certainly we'll go back through all the video and everything to be sure, because we take the responsibility very serious to be sure that it's — that everybody has had a fair chance."

An ESPN replay that included communication between Bowyer and his team implied the spin was deliberate. Bowyer was shown the video after the race and denied he spun intentionally, a claim he repeated throughout the post-race activities.
"We had a flat tire or something. It just snapped around," Bowyer said, later adding, "I know it's a lot of fun for you guys to write a lot of wacky things. Go ahead if you want to, get creative. But don't look too much into it."
But the in-car audio framed the situation as his crew goading him into spinning his car to bring out the yellow while Newman, who was battling Truex for the second wild-card berth in the Chase, was leading the race.

"Thirty-nine is going to win the race," Bowyer was told over his radio.
"Is your arm starting to hurt?" crew chief Brian Pattie asked. After a pause, Pattie said, "I bet it's hot in there. Itch it."
Bowyer's car then spun.
NASCAR did not have access to that audio until after the race, and it is presumably among the materials Helton was reviewing Sunday.
Also, it became apparent early Sunday morning that Bowyer and teammate Brian Vickers further aided Truex by taking a dive over the final three laps.
The race resumed with three laps to go and four-time series champion Jeff Gordon poised to claim the 10th spot in the Chase, with Joey Logano in line for the second wild-card.
But Bowyer and Vickers both made pit stops that helped Logano improve his finishing position enough that he claimed the 10th Chase berth, thus eliminating Gordon from contention. It freed up the wild card for Truex, and Gordon was not eligible for the wild card.
The AP reviewed team communications for both Bowyer and Vickers on Sunday, and Vickers was told by MWR general manager Ty Norris to pit because "we need that 1 point."
"We're probably going to pit here on green," Norris says.
"Are you talking to me?" a surprised Vickers asks.
Vickers continued to question the call, at one point asking, "I don't understand, pit right now?"
"You've got to pit this time. We need that 1 point," Norris replies.
"10-4. Do I got a tire going down?" Vickers asked.
Vickers then pitted as the field went green. When he asked after if his crew found anything with the tire, Norris replied, "I'll see you after the race, Brian, I owe you a kiss."
Bowyer's radio communication is not as verbose, but he pitted twice after his spin, and the team called him down pit road for a third time with no explanation as the field went green...

From NASCAR forum - the poster didn't post the source but it sounds like a news article.

NASCAR needs to get to the bottom of this and put it's foot down HARD.

-Ed-

 

[PRB]

... Ryan Newman - racing is a team sport - you can do heroics on the track and a pit crew lose it for you - no excuse for throwing them under the bus...

Agree, in general. But in this case, I'm a bit sympathetic to Newman. Not only was he told there was "no room at the inn" at SHR, but then they add a fourth team! I'd be a bit irritated too! He wasn't done rolling over his team, in the Victory Lane show he drove over them again, saying he didn't expect them to perform any better than they did during that stop.

 

[stansdds]

NASCAR will need to wrap this up quickly. If they find that the MWR teams conspired to change the outcome of the race, there may be points penalties involved and perhaps a shake up in the top 12.