Cousin Carl Does It Again. But There Is Controversy!

Posted on Mar 03, 2008 - 9:03pm by Tim Wylder in NASCAR

edwards

Getting tired of seeing this picture? That is two in a row for Carl Edwards. He wins the Auto Club 500 in California last week. This week he is in victory lane in Las Vegas, But should he be there?

WHATS THE ISSUE?

There are two issues at hand here and they both kind of stink. First lets get one thing straight, I like Carl Edwards, I am not a big fan but I genuinely like the guy. What I don’t like is Nascar not giving the 99 team a penalty for a tire getting loose on pit road. I know that a camera man got in the way but that team is responsible for their pit area and that includes the wall where you catch your tires. The crew-member should have moved the guy out of the way and caught the tire.

Now for the real problem! The number 99 Office Depot Ford was found to have the oil tank box missing during post race inspection. The oil tank box is a cover that goes on the oil tank, If this cover is missing air is allowed into the back of the car allowing more down-force on the back of the car. It is a definite aerodynamic advantage and one that is rumored to have been discovered in the wind tunnel. I said rumored, never the less it is a major problem for the winner of the race. I for-see at the very least a big points deduction and a crew-chief suspension not to mention a hefty fine.

But I think that it is high time for Nascar to step up and grow a pair and take the win away from Carl Edwards. I’m sorry Carl but I would feel the same way if it was any other driver. Yes including Dale Junior. There is a check list that these team go through to make sure that the car is race ready. That oil tank cover is on that list I’m sure. The question is, was it intentional? It sure can add a lot of down-force to the car in the right situation. So what do you think? Do you think along my way of thinking, that Nascar should take the race from the 99 car? Or do you think that the routine fines are enough? Remember that Nascar said it would escalate the punishment further and further until the teams got the point. Nuff said! You know where I stand on the issue.

SLAMMIN AND BANGIN RACING

There is one thing for certain that I can say after the race at Las Vegas. The teams do not have a handle on the new car on the mile and a half tracks yet. Did you see the lick that Tony Stewart took? He could barely walk after getting out of the car. He said that he was numb in the hips and that transferred into his legs causing him to have difficulty and pain walking. Sounds like a good old fashioned stinger to me. A real dangerous one though. Jeff Gordon launched his car into total destruction after making contact with Matt Kenseth with only four laps to go.

The Dupont Chevy hit the inside backstretch wall where there is no “Safer Barrier” to soften the blow. Jeff wondered a couple of things as he was contemplating the crash. Why is there no safer barrier there and why was his car allowed to get to that part of the track to begin with. You need to go watch this video to know what he means. There is a design flaw in that track. the emergency vehicle opening is where he hit the un-protected wall. the outside wall, or the wall nearest the track needed to be longer leaving no way for a car to hit at that angle. Jeff Gordon is a lucky man! You want to bet that will get fixed in a hurry?

LAST LAP PEOPLE

Here is how they finished the race out there at Las Vegas.

FIN	ST	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	PTS/BNS	LAPS	STATUS	WINNINGS

1	2	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Dish Network	195/10	267	Running	425,675
2	8	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard / AMP Energy	175/5	267	Running	252,000
3	6	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M	165/0	267	Running	205,800
4	17	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	160/0	267	Running	200,636
5	24	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	AT&T Mobility	160/5	267	Running	178,083
6	37	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Budweiser	150/0	267	Running	157,616
7	38	6	David Ragan	Ford	AAA Insurance	146/0	267	Running	124,450
8	29	28	Travis Kvapil	Ford	Yates Racing	142/0	267	Running	140,264
9	27	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Kinko’s	138/0	267	Running	144,441
10	3	8	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	139/5	267	Running	140,983
11	1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M’s	135/5	267	Running	131,575
12	10	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	Stanley Tools	127/0	267	Running	129,170
13	11	5	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	Pop-Tarts / CARQUEST	124/0	267	Running	116,975
14	15	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	ALLTEL	121/0	267	Running	144,400
15	18	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	118/0	267	Running	131,208
16	23	70	Jeremy Mayfield	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	115/0	267	Running	99,175
17	39	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	Cheerios “Circle of Helping Hearts”	112/0	267	Running	134,311
18	35	41	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	Target	109/0	267	Running	123,489
19	31	42	Juan Montoya	Dodge	Texaco / Havoline	106/0	267	Running	123,083
20	13	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	USG Sheetrock	108/5	267	Running	141,166
21	19	49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	Qtrax.com	100/0	267	Running	108,033
22	40	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Johns Manville / Menards	97/0	266	Running	100,075
23	34	38	David Gilliland	Ford	FreeCreditRep ort.com	94/0	266	Running	108,083
24	43	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Red Bull	91/0	266	Running	89,850
25	36	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	Crown Royal	88/0	266	Running	97,350
26	26	22	Dave Blaney	Toyota	Caterpillar	85/0	266	Running	101,508
27	30	96	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	DLP HDTV	82/0	266	Running	91,850
28	21	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel’s	79/0	265	Running	100,850
29	33	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s	76/0	265	Running	136,786
30	5	27	Mike Skinner	Toyota	Bad Boy Mowers	73/0	265	Running	82,875
31	22	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	NAPA AUTO PARTS	70/0	265	Running	93,833
32	41	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Wells Fargo	67/0	265	Running	91,522
33	42	40	Dario Franchitti *	Dodge	Target	64/0	265	Running	92,225
34	28	01	Regan Smith *	Chevrolet	Coors Light	61/0	264	Running	89,575
35	4	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Nicorette / DuPont	63/5	262	Accident	130,286
36	7	66	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	State Water Heaters	60/5	260	Running	81,150
37	14	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	52/0	258	Running	80,925
38	9	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Miller Lite	49/0	255	Accident	80,725
39	16	44	Dale Jarrett	Toyota	UPS	46/0	231	Accident	80,525
40	12	10	Patrick Carpentier *	Dodge	Valvoline	43/0	182	Accident	80,275
41	20	77	Sam Hornish Jr. *	Dodge	Mobil 1	40/0	152	Running	125,650
42	32	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	Jim Beam	37/0	142	Accident	87,930
43	25	20	Tony Stewart	Toyota	The Home Depot	39/5	107	Accident	128,839
44	-	84	A.J. Allmendinger	Toyota	Red Bull	PE	0	Accident	0
45	-	78	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com	PE	0	Accident	0
46	-	34	John Andretti	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports	PE	0	Accident	0
47	-	21	Johnny Sauter	Ford	U.S. Air Force	PE	0	Accident	0

* Denotes Rookie

And your points standings after three races

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND	STARTS	POLES	WINS	TOP 5	TOP 10	WINNINGS

1	+4	Carl Edwards	491	Leader	3	0	2	2	2	1,129,690
2	-1	Kyle Busch	470	-21	3	1	0	2	2	938,563
3	-1	Ryan Newman	450	-41	3	0	1	1	2	1,831,070
4	+2	Kasey Kahne	444	-47	3	0	0	0	3	725,436
5	+2	Kevin Harvick	428	-63	3	0	0	1	2	671,621
6	+3	Greg Biffle	427	-64	3	0	0	1	2	656,813
7	+3	Jeff Burton	421	-70	3	0	0	1	1	643,837
8	+4	Martin Truex Jr.	371	-120	3	0	0	0	1	611,312
9	+4	Elliott Sadler	368	-123	3	0	0	0	1	673,955
10	+13	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	361	-130	3	0	0	1	2	908,245
11	-8	Tony Stewart	355	-136	3	0	0	1	2	1,272,950
12	-8	Kurt Busch	348	-143	3	0	0	1	1	1,273,290

13	-2	Brian Vickers	348	-143	3	0	0	0	0	473,795
14	-6	Jimmie Johnson	343	-148	3	1	0	1	1	783,428
15	+1	Bobby Labonte	330	-161	3	0	0	0	0	589,203
16	-1	Matt Kenseth	328	-163	3	0	0	1	1	619,136
17	+7	Mark Martin	324	-167	3	0	0	0	1	618,037
18	-1	Reed Sorenson	321	-170	3	0	0	1	1	830,512
19	+11	David Ragan	304	-187	3	0	0	0	1	497,063
20	+11	Denny Hamlin	295	-196	3	0	0	0	1	647,048
21	–	David Gilliland	285	-206	3	0	0	0	0	533,237
22	-8	Jeff Gordon	284	-207	3	0	0	1	1	718,571
23	-4	Clint Bowyer	281	-210	3	0	0	0	0	531,545
24	+3	Juan Montoya	276	-215	3	0	0	0	0	535,344
25	+1	Paul Menard	276	-215	3	0	0	0	0	473,670
26	-4	Jamie McMurray	275	-216	3	0	0	0	0	503,906
27	+9	Travis Kvapil	270	-221	3	0	0	0	1	539,755
28	-8	Scott Riggs	260	-231	3	0	0	0	0	473,786
29	+5	Jeremy Mayfield	255	-236	3	0	0	0	0	450,875
30	-12	David Reutimann	255	-236	3	0	0	0	0	473,904
31	-3	J.J. Yeley	246	-245	3	0	0	0	0	500,445
32	-7	Dale Jarrett	230	-261	3	0	0	0	0	481,338
33	-4	Michael Waltrip	230	-261	3	0	0	0	0	504,215
34	+8	Casey Mears	219	-272	3	0	0	0	0	550,030
35	+2	Dave Blaney	212	-279	3	0	0	0	0	494,321
36	-1	Dario Franchitti*	200	-291	3	0	0	0	0	452,713
37	-5	Robby Gordon	193	-298	3	0	0	0	1	557,559
38	-5	Sam Hornish Jr.*	192	-299	3	0	0	0	0	571,034
39	-1	Regan Smith*	183	-308	3	0	0	0	0	448,245
40	-1	Kyle Petty	177	-314	3	0	0	0	0	432,442
41	-1	John Andretti	106	-385	2	0	0	0	0	339,838
42	-1	Joe Nemechek	101	-390	2	0	0	0	0	339,920
43	+3	Ken Schrader	100	-391	1	0	0	0	0	170,071
44	-1	Bill Elliott	85	-406	1	0	0	0	0	159,433
45	+4	Mike Skinner	73	-418	1	0	0	0	0	82,875
46	+1	Patrick Carpentier*	43	-448	1	0	0	0	0	103,288
47	-3	Kenny Wallace	34	-457	1	0	0	0	0	256,735
48	-3	A.J. Allmendinger	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,345
49	-1	Boris Said	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,170
50	–	Johnny Sauter	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	0
51	-1	Burney Lamar	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	0
52	-1	Eric McClure	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,988
53	-1	Sterling Marlin	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,095
54	-1	Jacques Villeneuve*	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,863
55	-1	Stanton Barrett	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	22,813
56	-1	Carl Long	0	-491	0	0	0	0	0	21,920

* Denotes Rookie

You know that if Nascar actually takes the win from Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Junior wins the race. Hmmmm?

I’m Just sayin….

Next Week we are off to The Atlanta Motor Speedway. Another mile and a half track so we can see if they learned anything from the race at Las Vegas. Check back here for pre-race coverage soon after qualifying.

Keep em rolling out there and thank you for the job that you do!

If you liked that post, then try these...

Carpentier Scores His First Pole

The Sylvania 300

Did I Jinx It! Carl Edwards Again?

Jimmy Johnson Wins His Second Championship!

Champions week in NYC!

Comment by Jeffro Subscribed to comments via email

2008-03-04 00:38:15

It will be interesting how Robby Gordon’s appeal turns out. If NASCAR goes ahead and nails him 100 points and doesn’t do much if anything to Cousin Carl - well, their credibility goes right out. I read somewhere that the 88, 24 (or 48 - forgot for sure) and someone else didn’t pass tech and were allowed to go back to the garage, correct the infractions, and go back through tech later. Niiiice. Bet Robbie would have liked that opportunity.

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Comment by E. Phil Haley

2008-03-04 13:41:46

I’d be curious to know the extent to which the added down force helps or hurts handling. I understand that greater down force in the rear means that the rear tires stick better but they can also wear faster and, if the down force is great enough, you end up with a car that’s really tight. I’m sure this can be adjusted for, but then the advantages of the added down force are lost; at least that’s what logic tells me.

Still, there’s something to be said for enforcing the rules regardless of the real, perceived or, even, lack of benefits derived from breaking them.

I disagree with you about the loose tire incident. I think NASCAR did the right thing, there. I’m scratching my head, though, about whether or not I agree with you regarding the oil tank cover. If I’m Junior, I don’t want to win a race that way and the penalty should fit the infraction.

I’m really curious as to where that oil tank cover went, though. If it was removed deliberately then, whether there was a real overall benefit to the team or not, the car should be disqualified. Intentional removal means the team was attempting to gain an unfair advantage and, if I’m Carl, I don’t want to win a race that way, either.

If the cover was lost over the course of the race, and simply not noticed in the heat of battle, then a slap on the wrist is all I’d recommend. The question is: how do you determine just exactly what happened?

Was a mangled tank cover recovered on one of the “debris” cautions? Was a bright and shiny cover found anywhere near the 99 car’s pits? How do you go about discovering the truth? Or do you just assume the worst and penalize to the max? I don’t know but it’s an interesting conundrum.

And thanks for bringing it to my attention. Your NASCAR reports are among the best I read; and that includes the NASCAR site.

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Comment by Jeffro Subscribed to comments via email

2008-03-12 10:05:08

Y’all might be interested in a new blog - written by Professor Diandra Leslie- Pelecky. She gets pretty technical, but her insights are backed by some pretty solid science rather than bs opinions. She wrote about the oil tank cover incident, and the issue The Cat in the Hat used as an excuse - vibration harmonics. I’ve only had her in Google Reader for a couple weeks now, but so far, she has been very informative.

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Comment by E. Phil Haley

2008-03-14 09:42:40

Thanks for the heads up Jeffro. Her posts are a bit involved but I don’t think they’re technically beyond the grasp of most fans and readers. After reading a few of her posts I figure I’ll probably take the bait and buy her book; sounds like an informative read.

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Comment by Tim

2008-03-11 20:50:41

The oil cover was missing before the race I would think. There were no oil tank covers laying around the track anywhere as far as I can remember. As for the downforce issue, with the oil tank cover off, air was allowed to escape from under the car, into the rear of the cars cabin. anytime you allow air to be channeled out from under the car you increase downforce. Where they let the air out at significantly helped the rear downforce. It is pretty much the same principle as ground effects. Had one of the teams engineers not mentioned that they found out about this in the wind tunnel, they might not have been slammed with the penalty as hard. But loose lips sink ships! I’m not so sure it was all that much more of a slam than previous offenders though. Look for my thoughts on that later. More than a few nationwide series teams got caught doing the same thing at Daytona, so the 99 team knew Nascar was looking for that. This was just plain dumb.

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