Following the incident on Sunday involving Joey Logano and the slower car of Morgan Shepherd, discussion has picked up surrounding slow cars on the track and whether they truly belong out here. Four-time Sprint Cup Champion Jeff Gordon commented today that slow cars don’t have any place on the track if they’re going slow.
“I don’t think they have any place out there if they’re running that slow, whether you’re a car that’s had damage and you can’t maintain the minimum speed, or is the minimum speed the proper speed,” Gordon commented on Monday. “I think it probably needs to be raised up at certain tracks where there’s not a lot of falloff in the tire, then I think that minimum speed probably needs to be adjusted.”
Gordon did add, though, that he understands where the debate comes up surrounding whether a car is reaching minimum speed or not.
“The tricky thing about minimum speed at a place like New Hampshire, you’ve got cars all around the track,” he explained. “You’ve got a car that maybe can meet minimum speed in clean air, but they’re really never in clean air because they’re constantly getting passed or trying to make some room for the lap cars to go by. How do we truly measure minimum speed because if you do it every lap that they’re getting passed by a faster car, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t make minimum speed, so I think NASCAR maybe looks at sometimes once they get into clean air are they making minimum speed, and at a place like New Hampshire or Martinsville, they’re never in clean air, and I don’t think they’re ever going to make minimum speed.
“Those numbers are — NASCAR has those, I don’t. I know that week in and week out there are certain cars that you’re passing very, very often that you’re questioning whether or not they’re making minimum speed or if the minimum speed is really at the right pace.”
On Sunday during the Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Shepherd would make contact with Logano, resulting in Logano backing into the outside wall. Shepherd was multiple laps down at the time, while Logano was on the lead lap. Logano commented afterwards that it’s “funny to be wrecked by the slowest car on the track” and “maybe drivers should take a driver’s test before racing on the track”.
Does that mean that wrecked cars like Kesemouhtski ran a couple of weeks ago should have been parked? Yes, no fron end, or 10 laps down, park it.
As far as Brian, The Almighty, I agree with Don. He doesn’t have as much brains in his head as his father and G/F had in their little fingers.
Brian, let’s have races for the chase and then one for all others. That ought to satisfy all your billionaire owners and your select sponsors. You are running out of bilionaires.
I think Gordon’s argument is that as long as you’re matching minimum speed, you’re fine….whether it remains, or whether they increase as he suggests.
Not a problem Jeff, Brian France is personally taking charge of this issue. By Imperial Decree, Brian has decreed that all cars in the Chase be marked with prominent yellow markings (Yellow is Brian’s favorite color, it matches his…well, nevermind). Thus, drivers like Morgan Shepherd should be able to avoid them.
Brian wants NASCAR to be like other MAJOR sports, with a playoff system. But Gee, Brian, the MAJOR sports, have divisions, and at the end of the season, division leaders move ahead to the playoffs, and losers don’t get to play.
But you can’t do that with NASCAR, can you Brian? Thus, the “Losers” will be on the track at Homestead with the “Winners” like Allmendinger.
Brian, your diabolical master plan is succeeding, NASCAR is on the brink of destruction.
Logano and Gordon are are right, there is a need for speed in Nascar. Morgan Shepard needs to stay retired.