Driver Carousel and NASCAR Safety
By Richard Tix
Hot Laps will be a weekly article on news in the world of NASCAR. I will write these articles any weeks where I have a thought or opinion on NASCAR news that is worth sharing. So, this could be an every week thing, or just every few weeks. Its an opinion piece, so it is open to discussion and debate and would love to here your thoughts.
It's just week two of the NASCAR season which means news in the racing world is still at a high. We have yet to hit those hot summer months where sometimes the only story lines are how each driver does on the track (or if you're Clint Bowyer what late night bonfires you have attended).
What that means? Tons of things to talk about and tons of things for every fan out there to have an opinion about.
NASCAR Safety
It's no question after the XFINITY race at Daytona International Speedway that safety concerns and talk were at the forefront of NASCAR. All of this after Kyle Busch late in the race jutted towards a inside wall at DIS that did not have a SAFER Barrier. He hit that wall head on (which also was angled backwards so it was easier for him to hit head on) and ended up being carted off with a broken right leg and broken left foot.
Right when that happened NASCAR knew they had another issue on there hands and took action to get something in place for Sundays Daytona 500. I commend Daytona for taking action right away. However, it is 2015 and NASCAR as a sport has to start being proactive and not just reactive. It is true, racing as a sport will never be 100% safe because somehow someway something will happen that is unexplainable and almost unpreventable unless we stop racing.
Every single track should be looking at putting up SAFER barriers on any locations that can (and will) be hit by cars, and NASCAR should help fund this. After all, the drivers are what NASCAR needs to make money, and putting them in danger is in NASCAR's hands.
After the Denny Hamlin wreck with Joey Logano I thought we understood there was no longer any more excuses for things like this to happen that could have been prevented by proactive thinking, yet it did.
So NASCAR, its your last warning. No more excuses.
Note: Some tracks have already taken note. Atlanta Motor Speedway is having tires and mesh jersey barriers sent to them from Charlotte to help for this weekends races.
Driver Marry-Go-Round
One day after Kurt Busch helped push Danica Patrick back into the Daytona 500 during the Budweiser Duel he was suspended by NASCAR (for this article I will not touch that situation). That left Stewart Haas Racing with a big hole to fill, or not? Then on Saturday during the XFINITY race Kyle Bush was injured and Joe Gibbs Racing announced he would be out indefinitely until his leg (and foot) healed.
So, for the first time in a long time NASCAR went into a race weekend without a Busch Brother. For the Daytona 500 Camping World Truck driver Matt Crafton stepped into the #18 for JGR and Jr Motorsports XFINITY driver Regan Smith jumped in for the #41 at SHR.
Both had quality runs at Daytona but up until that point no one knew who would be in either car going forward. This week SHR announced that Regan Smith would be back in the #41 for Atlanta, but still no news on if they will continue to run the #41 week to week. In a rather shocking announcement JGR said that David Ragan would be stepping in for Kyle Busch for the time being in the #18. JGR also announced that after Erik Jones ran some more races in NASCAR's lower levels that he could get a shot to fill in after NASCAR approved him to run at the Cup level.
That move left the #34 car open that David Ragan was running. I really like the move by SHR for Atlanta. I also hope that SHR keeps running Regan Smith as much as they can going forward. It really is a call by Gene Haas though, as he hand picked Kurt Busch to drive the #41 and expand the team to four cars in 2014. So, will Haas continue to fund races for Smith? After his impressive runs in Nationwide in 2014 I don't see why SHR wouldn't give him a shot early on in the season to see how it goes.
The JGR move was a bit more shocking after letting Crafton drive at Daytona. I think Crafton (if he wanted to) would have been a on par pick to sit in the #18, but I don't think he has as much upside as Ragan. Ragan, once a RFR driver, may impress in his time at JGR. He has done a pretty good job in the #34 getting what he can out of the car the last few years. I think its a big opportunity and second chance for Ragan to prove if he has the car, that he can compete.
I would also like to state, that while Jones is young and may need some grooming, that I would love to see him get some seat time in the #18. Jones is talented and also has the approval of Kyle Busch, but many fans think it might be too early for the young driver to be in a Cup car. I lean in the middle, because look what Larson did when fans thought it was too early for him. On the other side it took Joey Logano a few extra years to develop into the contender many thought he would be, but I'm not sure keeping a guy in the lower levels is the way to do it. Drivers just don't get the exposure in XFINITY and therefore the sponsors are harder to come by meaning at some point these young kids may run out of opportunities. This maybe a big one missed by Jones, but in return it is a big one found by Ragan. Lets see who takes advantage the best (note: Jones is still getting a big opportunity on XFINITY with Kyle out, so all is not lost).
Note: Will be interesting to see if/who steps into the 34 for Front Row Motorsports. As I was writing this, Front Row Joe was announced to driver for Font Row at ATL (Joe Nemechek). Still no word long term.
NASCAR Points Dilemma
With the news of both Busch Brothers and the replacements decided for the time being, what happens with the points issue? My biggest issue I have right now is concerning Regan Smith and where his points are allocated.
Before the season he announced he was going to run points for the XFINITY Serious, obviously. He had a full time ride with JR Motorsports and no news on the horizon that he would be in a Cup car. After Kurt Busch was suspended a door opened and Regan was going to take it.
I understand why NASCAR has the rule and I hate when NASCAR has so many gray areas in there rule books, but I really think they need to have some "special circumstances" where early in the season a driver like Regan could switch to Cup points. Now, it could be an advantage at times because a driver could see, "hey I have two top 10's, lets switch over to Cup points," but we will not see these occasions come up like they did this year very often (if ever). I would assume that Regan would stick with XFINITY points over Cup points if you asked him right now, anyways. He has no clue if he will be running full time the rest of the season, but what if he does? It could have been the opportunity of a life time to make a comeback to Cup and he didn't get that shot to switch to Cup points after race one.
Past the Regan issue it will be interesting to watch these guys going forward. If Regan Smith somehow wins at ATL it would be weird to know that win doesn't go to a Chase driver, even if he ran every race and finished top 30. At the same time, David Ragan could use the #18 as a way to get a win, or help get him to the top 16 in points and make the Chase. Yet, if Kyle Busch comes back, he could enter the Chase in the #34.
Another tough questions could come up under other avenues. One would be if Ragan wins in the #18 a few times and Rowdy wants back (or even once), would JGR ship Ragan back off to Front Row even though JGR would lose a Chase driver? Would Front Row demand he comes back so their team gains exposure and a Chase driver? Its a weird situation that could arise and will be interesting to watch if he can find a win in the next 25 races. I would think that JGR, Front Row, manufacturers, and sponsors would want to work a deal out to get the best exposure for all parties involved. Maybe they could approve Kyle to run the #34 while Ragan stays in the #18? Maybe if it happened they would just talk Kyle into resting a bit longer, but we all know Rowdy doesn't seem like that kind of guy. An alliance wouldn't work, because we are working with Ford's and Toyota's, so it would be very interesting to watch how it would play out.
That's all for this first addition of NASCAR Behind the Wall Hot Laps. What are your thoughts?
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