Well it has been a long and eventful year. Many things to cover...

Yesterday, Rick Hendrick announced that he is shuffling 3 of his crew chiefs, and I'm glad. Jeff Gordon is getting Gustafson, Mark Martin's former crew cheif, Letarte, Gordon's former crew cheif, is going to Earnhardt, Jr., and Letarte is going to Mark Martin. And I'm glad Gordon is getting someone knew at least. I had lost complete faith in Steve Letarte.

Joey Logano exerted himself a lot this year. At Michigan, he got into an incident with Ryan Newman over driving too hard, and then at Homestead, he gets into it with Joey Logano!! I think Joey Logano, who has now been in this sport 2 years, is tired of being looked at as the kid and wants to be treated with respect. And I don't blame him, I would too. I look forward to what he will be doing next year and how well he will run in the future. I think he's starting to get into a stride.

Ford's came on stronger at the end of the year. Biffle and Edwards won some races. Plus, RPM had a few flashes of brilliance, with Paul Menard in the top 10 in points a few races into the year to the shock of many. I think downsizing to two cars will be good for that organization.

And what about all of the confrontations from this year? We had Jeff Burton/Jeff Gordon, we had Kyle Busch vs. officials, we had Joey Logano vs. all the old people... .it worries me a little. It's good for the fans, but all of this aggression is going to reach a boiling point, and it can get downright dangerous.

As far as next year goes, I thin kthe first rule that needs to go is this passing below the yellow line at restricter plates. They passed the rule because drivers kept not being able to make passes in time before reaching the corners, and crashing half the field. Well, they still crash and take out half the field because they're in a box and can't go anywhere. At the very least, the rule needs to be out for the last lap. Off turn 4 on the final lap, there should be a small line drawn, and after that, all is fair.

I think there should be lines all around the track, and when a caution comes out, the field should not be frozen, but should be racing to the first line the leader comes to after the caution comes out. There should be 3-5 lines depending on the track, and this would allow safe racing to a caution without having to run 200 mph by an already wrecked car.

NASCAR is making several changes next year that won't affect the average fan and their enjoyment of the race. NASCAR is going to a fuel injection system, which I like. I think the extra horsepower and fuel mileage from the efficiency of fuel injection will make the racing more exciting yet. They're putting a new nose on the car, and along with the spoiler from earlier in the year, the car may start looking decent for once.

There is rumor that if the new Nationwide car is successful, NASCAR may go back to the drawing board with the new car and give the manufacturers more play with the body to give them more identity. I think this is a great move. A lot of people love to see some Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge rivalry. But for a lot of fans, fi they can't look at the car and tell a difference, there may as well not be one, despite that the engines and suspensions are a little different.

And Penske finally let go of Sam Hornish. I wondered how long eh would keep fixing wrecked cars. Maybe he'll go back to open wheel where he was worth something.

I think Brian France is finally starting to learn what his daddy already knew. Personally, I still think he would need to repeat the 4th grade 3 times to get an idiots license. He's been screwing with everything from the cars to the points to the on track rules the whole time he has been here. Why we couldn't make safety changes to the old car, I don't know. Why it is that if someone can win a championship with 1 race and a lot of consistency is bad, I don't know. Why we keep having to tinker with a points system to keep one guy from winning it all the time, I do'nt know. But there are talks that there may be more changes to the point system. It's very hard for me to try to explain the points system to my mother every year because Brian France keeps on changing it. I finally get her to figure out one thing, and they change it again!!!


So looking forward... well the For'ds were strong in '08 and fell apart in '09... I hope they're strong in '11, but quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if they went downhill again. I'd like to see Roush and Petty perform well. Jack Roush's repo man has been lurking at Petty's shop because they don't make payments on their engines and chassis. There just aren't many of them to have many resources, either. Ford and Dodge have like 6 and 3 teams a piece, compared to Chevies like, 25. I think the Chevy's will be as strong as they ever have been. Hendrick is making some changes that I only hope will make Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin run better. Why he didn't change the 24 crew chief sooner, I do'nt know. I'm not looking for much more out of Penske. Maybe since the fabriaction shop doesn't have to keep fixing 77 cars, they can pull some tricks out of the bag.

So what have I missed? What are your thoughts going into 2011? Who will be a contender, and who will be a pretender?

 

I think the yellow line rule should be that if anyone drives bellow the yellow line, nascar is allowed to manipulate and change the outcome to whatever they feel like doing at the time. That way at least the rule will be consistent. As it is nobody knows the rule because they haven't enforced it the same way twice. Usually it benefits the most popular (for lack of a better word - Kyle isn't exactly popular) driver

I think the Gordon fans are too hard on Letarte! He has done just fine and ensured Gordon was had many oppotunities to win this year. MacGrew has sucked. I can't think of a single race this year where the car didn't get worse as the race went on. Still, I think Gordon's got a good deal getting Gustafson, and Junior will benefit from moving into Jimmie's shop. Martin is getting the short end of the stick - I don't see how this shuffling will benefit him in anyway

 

..Hi `Duane, and `Brent,
Thank you for your reflections on the NASCAR season.
I hope everyone in the sport, & in life can learn from the mistakes of the past and get better 4-Sure..

I've enjoyed the NASCAR season this year (It's big business $). I am looking forward to 2011, and will enjoy watching Joey Logano climb to the top. I hope to see Dale Jr get a great team and prove that he can follow in his father's footsteps. (He did in the Nationwide series)...Also, I have always liked Mark Martin & he adds the professional maturity to the NASCAR program...I don't know if he will win a Championship, but I am sure that he will try as long as he can race : )...

Does anyone think that Jimmy Johnson can go for a 6th title ?
Will Denny H be strong next year ? Or Kevin Harvick ?
I do hope that Chevrolet does well in 2011....& I hope that we get more NASCAR fans on the MCF...Hopefully Cowboy `Duane will have a fantasy Nascar game in place for the new season......

Thanks everyone...EnJoy racing on the track & not on the streets...Peace/Happy/Out

 

Thanks for the season wrap-up, Cowboy. Though I am a NASCAR fan, I haven't been as active a supporter the past few years. Not lack of interest, just lack of time. I'm particularly interested in the new rules you mentioned regarding cars. I think it would be great to allow more flexibility / creativity in the car bodies. I don't understand the need to strictly regulate every single aspect of the cars to the point where they all are essentially identical. Set some basic guidelines / standards that all must fall within, then get out of the way and let the teams / manufacturers do their thing. Would make for a much more interesting field.

Your post the other day about a Fantasy League sounds great. You've obviously put a lot of thought into it. Next year for me will be a repeat of this year; I'll watch occasionally from the bleachers (well, couch I guess) but won't have time to be that active a participant. So I probably won't take part in the League. Good luck with it. Sounds like fun.

 

Earlier in the year, a lot of rumors were flying about how the Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were feuding with one anotehr in the shop and all was not necessarily well. Well, Hendrick has moved the 88 into the 48 shop and the 24 in to the 5 shops. Hendricks philosophy for years has been 1 team fielding two cars, and for 8 years, the 24 and 48 were working together to field both cars. That's not the case anymore. I wonder if Jeff is jealous of his own creation!

And good riddance to Steve Letarte!! Steve Letarte couldn't keep up with the car, the track, or make the right call at the end of a race. Now his bad luck is going to rub off and Dale Jr. I guess. As if he needed something to help him run like crap.

 

I'm also tired of NASCAR pulling the passing card to claim a race was more competitive. They're claiming Bristol is better because there is more passing on the new surface and with the new car. They also claim this season was the most competitive since scoring loops were introduced in 1995. More passes for hte lead, more passing in general.

Well, NASCAR, since passing is what it is all about, why do'nt you sell me a ticket on the interstate on the way to a racetrack? There's a lot of passing there too!! Number of passes doesn't make a race good. Two guys can run side by side all day and keep passing one another, that doesnt' mean it's competitive.. .could mean just the opposite. Could mean there package doesn't allow the better drive and better car to run like he should.

Quality over quantity, NASCAR.

 

JJ will definatly be going for a 6th, 7th and 8th title I have no problem predicting that. Jr. will be Jr., even with the best equipment he still can't drive anything that isn't a restrictor plate car. Denny is hungry but is he hungry enough? He also needs to check his emotions at the door. I feel this was Kevins last chance for a championship but he will continue to entertain us for a few more years. Gordon, Stewart and Martin are at the end of thier careers and no chance for any of them to gain a cup.