We have completed the first three weeks of the season with little controversy over changes that are planned in the near future. But there has been a topic that has sparked up since last weekend when NASCAR confiscated the No. 66 Toyota at California one weekend ago. What has been a major issue for years is teams that start the race and then park their cars after a few laps to make the pay.
I don’t believe a team should be able to do this. One reason being, NASCAR shut down one of Jack Roush’s major operations last season when it forced the car owner to go to 4 cars from 5. That in hand, it took away a car that was atleast competitive and tried to make the entire race and it won one race last season at Talladega. It was until 1997 and 1998 that we started to see 43 cars start every race, in the late 80s and early 90s, we only seen 30-36 cars starting every weekend. So if we were to see NASCAR drop the field down to 36, as we had been then with 36 competitive cars in the field compared to a field with 30 competitive race cars and 13 start and parkers who are being lapped 6 laps into the race, I’d take it.
Now onto the other topic. We’re three races into the season, and fans are already thinking that the 99 car needs more changes. Well Bob Osborne is a great crew chief and I’ll stand up and debate that with anyone that says other wise. Of Edwards’ 16 wins, 15 of them came from having Osborne on the pit, the other was at Texas in 2009 when Osborne was on a suspension. In 2006, the team went winless and it took until the 15th race of 2007 to get back to victory lane. It was a very hard stretch to endure but this team did and it make them better the following year when they won 9 races in 2008.
As in football when a team goes to losing, the first team that is replaced is the ball coach, same goes for racing with the crew chief. I was reminded but a good friend of a situation back in 2002. Jeff Burton had been working with Frankie Stoddard for a few years and had quite a bit of success with him. The two scored 14 wins with one another in the years that they worked with one another. Burton, however, wanted a crew chief change ater the struggles the team had in 2002 and he got what he wanted. Here is the downside, Burton’s struggles didn’t get any better and in the month of August during the 2004 season he departed and Carl Edwards took over the ride.
Nowadays, drivers have clauses in their contracts that prohibit teams owners and team managers from making crew chief changes. I am sure that Edwards had it put in his contract after the 2006 season when Roush decided to make a dramatic change with Osborne and an unknown crew chief. It didn’t pan out and Osborne was moved back at the end of the season.
I think fans have to realize that teams go through struggles. It is part of the sports world, I can’t think of any one team that hasn’t had a struggling season since I’ve been alive. The Patriots were a winning icon for years and the last couple of season’s have fell off the face of the earth as a competitive mark in the NFL. Years ago, Richard Childress Racing was the team to put and they’ve struggled since Harvick won the Daytona 500 in 2007.
