Russ Bond Motorsport Report: Where There's Smoke, There's Stewart!

 

If you are a NASCAR Nextel Cup team owner – other than Joe Gibbs – thenyou should be very worried about what happened at Chicagoland on Sunday in the USG Sheetrock 400.

Tony Stewart won his first race of the year, and while that by itself is no real cause for concern to most of us, it should be to any other Cup team owner. In short, the last thing any team owner wants to see is a “hot” (in a good way) Stewart.

Stewart led 106 of 267 laps, and basically, he had them covered. That left Roush Fenway drivers Matt – I'll be there at the end – Kenseth and Carl Edwards to settle second and third.

Like we have seen too many times in the past, and I hate to keep harping on this, clean air on the nose of the car (as in taking the lead) is critical to winning. It seems that Stewart in traffic had a top ten car at best. Of course the same could be said for Kenseth, Edwards, Casey Mears and a few others.

Mears said it best after the race: “Nowadays, track position is everything. The aerodynamics of these cars is way better in clean air – it's just so important.” Phew, thank God we're going to the CAN's full time. Wait, what's that Casey ...”It's even worse with the new car.”

Oh.

Mark my words on this; these mid length race tracks are going to give NASCAR huge problems next year with the CAN. It will all be one groove, one lane ... think F1 with bodies, and more of them, with the only passing being done in the pits.

Anyhow, back to Stewart. He should have won at least four this year already, but he hasn't. Some bad luck, some bad moves. The problem is that Stewart can be dominant when he gets on a roll, and with Chicagoland being the 19th of 36 races, and seven before the start of the chase, Stewart would be pretty much a shoe in for the championship if he gets even remotely hot.

We can test this theory in two weeks when the teams hit Indy for the Brickyard 400. There is no race this weekend, but a lot of team owners will not be sleeping too well ... except Gibbs of course.

 

2007 Official Race Results : USG Sheetrock 400

USG Sheetrock 400 | July 15, 2007 | Race 19 of 36

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

1 19 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 195/10 267 Running 342,161

2 10 17 Matt Kenseth Ford USG Sheetrock 175/5 267 Running 255,566

3 25 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 165/0 267 Running 179,625

4 14 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 165/5 267 Running 192,986

5 1 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard / GMAC 160/5 267 Running 151,375

6 35 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 155/5 267 Running 150,133

7 23 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet ATandT Mobility 146/0 267 Running 142,141

8 3 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Mobil 1 142/0 267 Running 136,025

9 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Nicorette / DuPont 138/0 267 Running 144,086

10 7 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 139/5 267 Running 111,725

11 33 16 Greg Biffle Ford Aflac 130/0 267 Running 111,875

12 22 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 127/0 267 Running 123,233

13 6 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg's 124/0 267 Running 108,875

14 4 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 121/0 267 Running 118,408

15 30 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Wrigley's Big Red 118/0 267 Running 130,575

16 42 38 David Gilliland Ford MandM's 115/0 267 Running 124,264

17 13 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet FedEx Express 112/0 267 Running 106,450

18 9 45 John Andretti Dodge National Tire and Battery 109/0 267 Running 104,808

19 5 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 111/5 267 Running 131,658

20 12 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 103/0 266 Running 129,136

21 41 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Pedigree 100/0 266 Running 119,683

22 18 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Trans. 97/0 266 Running 87,950

23 37 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Waste Management 94/0 266 Running 99,858

24 40 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 91/0 265 Running 95,050

25 32 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA Insurance 88/0 265 Running 122,525

26 20 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 85/0 265 Running 82,025

27 29 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Comcast 82/0 265 Running 102,072

28 17 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 79/0 265 Running 103,339

29 27 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet CertainTeed 76/0 264 Running 83,625

30 28 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 73/0 264 Running 80,875

31 26 49 Chad Chaffin DodgeParalyzed Veterans of America 70/0 263 Running 80,175

32 24 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 67/0 262 Running 127,166

33 31 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers / UAW 64/0 260 Running 101,570

34 38 40 David Stremme Dodge TUMS 61/0 257 Engine 79,575

35 36 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 58/0 243 Accident 107,258

36 39 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam 55/0 225 Running 79,150

37 8 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 57/5 222 Accident 132,861

38 34 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 49/0 214 Running 86,700

39 2 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 51/5 211 Engine 104,845

40 15 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 43/0 199 Accident 86,280

41 43 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet Lucas Oil / State Water Heaters 40/0 197 Accident 78,080

42 16 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet Turtle Wax Ice / Menards 37/0 132 Running 77,910

43 21 00 David Reutimann * Toyota Burger King 34/0 43 Engine 77,976

CUP News and Notes ....

No Bud for Jr.

Rick Hendrick said that there is no room for a “relationship” with Budweiser at Hendrick right now. Which means Dale Jr. will have new colors, a new number and a new sponsor next year – that dude at www.juniorshirt.com was right! Anyhow, it's a pretty good bet that Kellogg's is in somewhere, but most think it will be a PepsiCo brand that is the primary. I am sure Mr. Hendrick has had more than one chat with Kellogg's lawyers since this all started. From the reaction Jr. displayed on the weekend, when he was asked about the lack of beer in his future, he seemed a little more agitated than you would expect.

"I'll miss a lot about the whole deal," he said. "They had a great marketing campaign, a lot of great guys who work over there. Hopefully I'll still have those friendships, but you'll miss the working relationship, for sure. Shoot, we've been together for a long time. There's a lot about that partnership I'm going to miss. The national sales convention, typically for 80 percent or 90 percent of the sponsors in this garage, they're probably not a whole lot of fun to go to. But the Budweiser one is great."

 

It is hard to believe that he didn't know that when he signed with Hendrick. Of course, if he didn't he just found out about doing business with “friends”.

Another Skinner ... Mike Skinner is now a grandfather. Normally, that wouldn't be news until you hear the name of the latest Skinner ... wait for it ... Bristol Skinner.

Yep, bet Jeff Gordon is kicking himself for not thinking of that one. Will it be long before we hear of a Talladega Earnhardt, or Sonoma Johnson, or how about Martinsville Kahne? Actually that last one isn't too bad ... forget I said that.

Homestead Harvick? Okay, I'll move on ...

F1 Gone from the USA

The United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will not be on the 2008 Formula 1 schedule, and to some that may come as a shock, especially if you consider that Indy draws the most fans of any Grand Prix.

"After several discussions, Bernie Ecclestone and I were unable to agree how to keep Formula 1 in Indianapolis for the near term," Indianapolis Motor Speedway CEO Tony George said. The deal breaker was said to be a doubling of sanctioning fees – from 15million US to 30.

Tony, how about some lip service ... "However, we have agreed to leave the door open for a potential future date. It has been a pleasure having the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, and I hope that as we approach our Centennial Era at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an opportunity might present itself that would allow its return."

Yawn, oh, thanks. Which part exactly was the “pleasure”? The six car field one year, or was it when Michael Schumacher handed the win to then teammate Rubens Barrichello. It has long been said that the move by Schumacher was taken as a direct slap in the face to George, who feels that a win, any win at Indy is something that should be revered. For sure, the situation is similar to the IRL/CART battle. Two rich guys arguing ... nothing gets done. Each take their ego and go on, while open wheel racing pays the price.

Ecclestone is not immune to this either.The USA is a big market for F1 teams as a fair number of their road going cars make their way to the USA. For sure Ecclestone is feeling the heat from the manufacturers, but currently they, and Formula 1 in general, have a much bigger issue to deal with.

For those of you who are not regular F1 viewers, even the latest development between Ferrari and McLaren Mercedes is something of interest. In Reader's Digest form; Nigel Stepney worked for Ferrari. He had a friend who worked for McLaren, Mike Coughlan. It came out that Coughlan had some Ferrari technical documents, and they were found at his home. The trail – as near as we can figure – led back to Stepney.

The technical specifications of each F1 car are highly guarded secrets, so to have these documents floating around is not good. Ferrari, who realistically could have dealt with it privately rather than publicly, is making the most noise possible about it. But why?

Consider this: McLaren Mercedes did something we haven't seen in eons in Formula 1. They went from being nowhere to race winner over the winter. That just doesn't happen, ask Honda or Toyota. Yes, I know McLaren was a great team in years' past, but face it, they were nowhere last year. So, with the newfound, “oh, I see how they do it” now in their hands, I think that helped them this year.

They also had an ace in the hole, and this is why they went public. Remember they were one of the more vocal teams on Ferraris moving floor, which has since been changed, and what many argue slowed the car down. Now, Ferrari is back, challenging for wins. By going public, they force the FIA to do something about it. What McLaren is looking for is for the FIA to take points, or penalize Ferrari by points, not money. This will only aid their cause for this year's world championship.