Tuesday NASCAR Media Tour Notebook
Jan. 24, 2017
Notebook Items:
·
Earnhardt excited about upgrades to race and points
·
Kurt Busch eager to rekindle relationship with Ford
·
Danica Patrick also optimistic about manufacturer switch
·
Truex says Edwards' departure will change Toyota dynamic
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
Earnhardt excited about upgrades to race and points formats
CHARLOTTE,
N.C. – Though he was sidelined for the second half of the 2016 season
while recovering from a concussion, Dale Earnhardt Jr. remained
intimately involved in the conduct
of NASCAR racing, figuring prominently in discussions that led to
significant innovations in the race structure and points system for
2017.
Henceforth,
races in NASCAR’s top three touring series will feature three stages in
each, with opportunities to earn both championship and playoff points
at the end of each stage
(with the final stage being the end of the race).
Conceivably,
a driver who excels in the first two stages could earn more than the
eventual race winner, but Earnhardt doesn’t see that as a problem.
“I’m
fine with it,” Earnhardt told the NASCAR Wire Service, “because I think
it’s a nice reward in the middle part of the race. You can have a guy
go out there and he leads 75
percent of the event and finishes last and gets one point (under last
year’s format), and it’s not indicative really of how strong he was in
that event.
“So
I think this is a subtle way to reward who is competitive and running
well in the meat of the race. If a guy goes out there and does really
well and gains 45, 50 points and
doesn’t win the race, you’re not going to hear complaints from the guy
standing in Victory Lane. He’s going to be holding the trophy.”
And with that trophy comes an all-but-guaranteed spot in the playoff.
What
Earnhardt particularly likes about the revamped format for 2017 is the
sense of urgency that will permeate an event from start to finish.
“Now
everything matters, everything in the middle,” Earnhardt said. “It
gives the racing substance that I thought was missing from a driving
standpoint. So I’m really excited
about it… A lot of things we do bring fan interest only or driver
interest only, and I think this does both.”
KURT BUSCH EAGER TO REKINDLE RELATIONSHIP WITH FORD
Competing
for Roush Fenway Racing in 2004, Kurt Busch was the last driver to win a
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship in a Ford.
Since
leaving Roush at the end of the 2005 season, Busch has driven Dodges
for Roger Penske and Chevrolets for James Finch, Furniture Row and
Stewart-Haas Racing.
With Stewart-Haas moving to Ford this season, Busch will have a chance to renew old acquaintances.
“It
is a special homecoming feeling to head back to work with Ford and to
have them with our power and our bodies at Stewart-Haas Racing,” Busch
said on Tuesday during the NASCAR
Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. “It really feels neat to
come back to a place where I’ve seen the faces before and the way that
the structure has been polished up on and the way that there’s more
depth with Ford Performance.
“(Ford
Board Member) Edsel (Ford) has done an incredible job over the last
decade to continue to improve. Guys like Raj Nair (executive vice
president, product development and
chief technical officer) Dave Pericak (head of Ford Performance), the
whole gang is ready and willing to help in all areas and directions.
It’s like they just opened up a whole new book of things to look at and
to advance our program further.”
DANICA PATRICK ALSO OPTIMISTIC ABOUT MANUFACTURER SWITCH
Like Kurt Busch, teammate Danica Patrick is optimistic about the benefits that could accompany the switch to Ford.
In
each of the last two years, Patrick has finished 24th in the final
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings, a career-best. The 2017
season will be her second with crew
chief Billy Scott.
“Hopefully,
there’s more room to improve now, so that’s kind of exciting to me,”
Patrick said. “I’m optimistic, and hopeful it will be something that
makes a difference. I think
if you’re in the top 15 every weekend, then you do a little bit better
and then you’re in the top 10 and then once you’re in the top 10 with
good pit stops, good strategy and all the things that play into it –
some of the new formats for the races can play
into segment wins.
“I
think it’s important to be realistic, so to tell you to go out and win
races and segments is not something I necessarily think is going to
happen right away, but we’ll assess.
We’ll assess how strong we are as a team. A few years back we were
really strong (with three top 10s in 2014), and I felt like that’s where
I was running by the end of the year, was up in the top 15 and getting
into the top 10, so hopefully we can get back
to that and work from there.”
TRUEX SAYS EDWARDS’ DEPARTURE WILL CHANGE TOYOTA DYNAMIC
Martin
Truex Jr. was as surprised as everyone else when he heard Joe Gibbs
Racing driver Carl Edwards had decided to step away from racing.
As
part of the Toyota factory effort, which also includes the Furniture
Row Racing team, Truex valued Edwards’ contribution to the body of
knowledge. Understandably, that will
change when rookie Daniel Suarez takes over the seat of Edwards’ No. 19
Camry.
“I
always thought Carl would be like Mark Martin and race till he’s 50 or
so,” Truex said. “It’s definitely going to change the dynamic, taking
away one veteran guy who’s been
around a long time, has had a lot of success and really had a lot to
bring to the group and the discussions we had.
“It’s
definitely going to be a little bit different, but I’m excited about
it. There’s a lot of talent still in that group, and hopefully we’ll be
able to pull it together and
make it happen again.”
Suarez
isn’t the only rookie to join the Toyota team in the Monster Energy
NASCAR Cup Series. Furniture Row has expanded from a single-car
operation to a two-car team, and 20-year-old
Erik Jones joins FRR as Truex’s teammate for 2017.
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