Posted on February 29, 2008

2008, Still Waiting For Answers

by Gregg A. Shultz About The Author	Email   Print

The 2008 season is underway and yet so many questions still go unanswered. Perhaps so early into the season it‘s impatience, but when looking for the positives it’s never too soon.

When you think about all of the big stories that have been brewing since the end of last season and the start of this one, you have to wonder how and when they will all play out.

Surprise winners?

The opening race at Daytona might have brought us an unexpected winner, but not necessarily a “surprise” winner, followed closely by the usual suspects. But then you can’t judge anything from a restrictor plate race, right?

Then at California where at a minimum the question of Roush’s resurgence was answered with a win for Carl Edwards and a top 5 for Matt Kenseth. But again, extenuating circumstances prevailed, so is it a good litmus test of the season? Either way, no real surprises so far.

Will Dale Earnhardt Jr. make a comeback at Hendrick?

Daytona showed promise with a win in the Shootout as well as his qualifier and a 9^th place finish in the 500 was nothing to be upset about, but is the question answered? California was a total “washout” for him which was reminiscent of last season where a lot of misfortune took him out of contention. Can he rebound from this and if so, when? Maybe in Vegas he has good odds.

Can JGR win in a Toyota?

Although their new driver, Kyle Busch [who has already answered one of the questions of the season] sits atop the points chart, Stewart has a 3^rd place finish at Daytona and a 7^th at California, Hamlin with a 4^th place finish at Daytona and… well forget about California. Even though they haven’t won a race so far, the question has changed from if they can win to when they will win. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

The COT improving the racing overall?

We got a glimpse of how the new style car would perform on restrictor plate tracks last season at Talladega and the short tracks. Daytona is known more for being a “handling” track and the racing was pretty good. We saw some interesting quirks develop with the car, but the real test will be how it fairs on the “cookie cutter” mile-and-a-half tracks.

At California, I’m not sure the teams learned anything worthwhile to put in their notebooks since the first leg of the race was run under completely different track conditions than the conclusion the following day. It would be hard to say that the teams or the fans could take anything from the race that would equate to something meaningful learned for how the rest of the season will be.

Rules Infractions and penalties?

If you asked Robby Gordon he would say that NASCAR is being plenty strict on handing down penalties, but the 100 driver/car owner points, $100k fines and a six race suspensions for a crew chief is nothing new. Have we answered the question on how far it might go? Surely the teams have learned not to mess with the new style cars because no one can afford to lose 100 points. If a team does something as egregious as a foreign substance in the intake manifold or some hidden modification to the suspension are we going to see a team get sent home? Stay tuned.

Will we see another team get on a roll and dominate?

In 2007 with a Hendrick driver winning 9 of the first 12 races the “domination” showed early in the season. Will this weekend in Vegas be the beginning of another streak or are we going to see more and varied winners? One of the promises of the new style car is just this or at least improving the competition which should lead to less domination.

Will we see one team win 18 races again or have 18 different race winners?

Looking for a good “Goodyear”.

2007 was filled with complaints from the drivers about Goodyear erring on the side of safety by intentionally bringing a tire with a much harder rubber compound than before. The tires held up well, but the drivers claimed to have issues passing and getting a handle on their cars. With the COT and it’s higher center of gravity the issue is magnified. Will we see softer compounds at the handling tracks and will it improve the racing?

When will “Silly Season” start?

Last year it started almost at the drop of the green flag at Daytona. The turmoil at DEI, Ginn Racing bailing out, Kyle Busch out at Hendrick among multiple shake ups at various small teams. What will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back this season or can we get through it without any major shifting? We do have a heads up on one as Roush will be forced to eliminate one of it’s teams at the close of this season. That will definitely be something to keep an eye on. It may end up just being some finagling with an “associate” team, but there might also be a big shake up instead.

What will NASCAR do to win the old fans back?

This might be one of the bigger stories in so far as what is most important to the fans.

You’ve heard the recent proclamation that the governing body is easing up on the drivers speaking their minds. Okay… What else do you have for us NASCAR?

Maybe one should be to stop force-feeding markets that don’t want the sport and at the same time alienating areas that do. Possibly returning one of the fan favorite tracks a date that they lost or lost their only race completely?

The other ideas were to move the start times up to where they once were, lower ticket prices or overall just stop trying to make the sport too progressive. The majority of the fans want the sport to grow and be successful, but not at the cost of losing all of the history and tradition. The long time fans know there is a “method to the madness”, but they would like to see a little less of it.

As the season progresses and the stories of the year unfold, we will get the answers to all of these questions and more.

For the die hard fans that follow all of the intricacies of the sport as well as the action, it’s an added element that makes the sport more exciting as well as for the folks who report on it. Here’s to a great 2008 season.

You can contact Gregg at feedback@racefanvote.com

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