For those just waking up from their annual Pocono beauty rests, here’s a few things that happened last weekend.
Midweek Musings: Stewart-Haas, Double-File Restarts and Martin Truex Jr’s Future
- Tony Stewart won his first points race as an owner. While Smoke’s season has been impressive, let’s take a step back. He’s getting credited with being the first owner/driver to win since Ricky Rudd won in 1998. Technically that’s true, but Stewart bought in to an existing team with sound infrastructure already in place. This wasn’t like Robby Gordon or even Michael Waltrip building a team from scratch. All credit to Stewart for landing sponsorship, aligning with Hendrick and going out and driving the wheels off every week, but it’s hardly the same as Rudd or an independent driver/owner turning the trick.
- NASCAR implemented double-file restarts at Pocono. The decision itself seems like a simple and logical move to get the lead lap cars closer together at the front of the field. Whether the change is positive or negative is not the point. What I struggle with is whether any midseason rule change is good or bad for the sport. Excluding safety concerns, no other sport installs or changes rules in the middle of a season. If a 2pt conversion or instant replay is a good idea, it has to wait until the next season to change. NASCAR changes rules whenever they think it’s necessary. On the positive side someone could say NASCAR is proactive. If something is a good idea, why wait for next year? Of course people could also say that officials are simply reacting to the latest controversey (i.e. freezing the field on cautions) and making the rules up as they go. I’m stuck in the middle on this one. Any thoughts?
- Silly Season has been slow to gain speed, but according to SI.com, Martin Truex might be the first big piece to fit in place. According to Tim Tuttle, Truex’s initial option was possibbly Hendrick’s #5 car until Mark Martin opted for another fulltime go in 2010. So the top two options for the biggest free agent prize are (Stewart)-Haas-CNC Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. Who would have imagined that last sentence a year ago? Maybe next year we’ll be hearing gossip about Jeff Gordon weighing his options between Petty Enterprises and Phoenix Racing.
See More:
