Jeff Gordon and Trevor Bayne Provide the Fireworks at Talladega

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October 24, 2011

Clint Bowyer claimed the victory at Talladega and Richard Childress Racing captured its 100^th Sprint Cup win. The real drama of the race, however, was provided by Trevor Bayne and Jeff Gordon.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]Gordon had been instrumental in Bayne’s surprise win at the Daytona 500 early in the season so the two of them had some history working together.

But Gordon probably knew what everyone had been hearing all week. The order had come down from Ford Racing that Fords would only work with Fords.

Still, Gordon had lost his drafting partner and he probably figured it was worth a shot.

So before the last restart of the race Jeff Gordon radioed Bayne and proposed that they work together on the final run.

Gordon didn’t expect him to agree but when Bayne said, ‘Yeah man, I’m pushing you. We’re good,’ Gordon said, “I believed him. But I think they had a different plan.”

Unfortunately, the partnership never really happened. Bayne, who insinuated that he was acting on team orders, left Gordon high and dry. Gordon finished a disappointing 27^th and Bayne finished in the 15^th position.

Bayne posted on Twitter shortly after the race to explain his actions.

@tbayne21: I’m not happy about what this has become… It’s too premeditated. We should be able to go with whoever is around (us).

@tbayne21: I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell @JeffGordonWeb I would work with him and then be strong armed into bailing.

Gordon was understandably upset after the race.

“I was going to go with (Casey Mears),” he said, “but Trevor lined up behind me and when he agreed to it, I said, ‘Hey, we can’t go with a better person than that. He’s got a fast race car; we already have history of working well together’ and I thought it was a no-brainer. But I probably should have known better.”

When Gordon was asked if he thought Bayne was following team orders, he answered, “It would seem to me like that’s it.”

But the story doesn’t end there.

Kevin Woods, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Roush Fenway Racing, was also on twitter following the race attempting a little spin control.

When I questioned him about what happened he indicated that the choice was in Bayne’s hand, quite the opposite of what Bayne had said earlier.

@PRKevinRFR @angiecampbell_ He could do what he needed, but NOBODY is going to hang out a teammate…not Gordon, not anyone…

@PRKevinRFR @angiecampbell_ He made the deal before he knew Matt was going to have an issue. He did exactly what Gordon would have done for the 48,88,5

I’m sure this is not the last we will hear about the matter but it does appear that Roush Fenway Racing is now the one leaving Trevor Bayne high and dry.

Bob Pockrass with SceneDaily.com reported on twitter that Roush Fenway President Steve Newmark had this to say.

“No one at Roush gave a specific instruction to Trevor about what he had to do in that situation.”

The aftermath leaves several questions unanswered and the truth slightly unclear.

Did Ford or Roush Fenway Racing give orders that Fords could only work with Fords or that teammates could only work with teammates?

Was Trevor Bayne specifically told not to work with Jeff Gordon and help a teammate instead?

Do fans really want to see manufacturers racing manufacturers or do they want to see individual drivers racing to win?

Or should the entire situation be blamed on the two car tandem racing that is becoming the norm at restrictor plate race tracks? When a partner is a necessity at these types of races, is it any wonder that the team mentality comes into play?

One thing is certain; NASCAR has some work to do at these types of tracks.

Steve O’Donnell, Senior Vice-President of NASCAR, acknowledged this on twitter saying, “(I) know we have work to do on Superspeedway(s) and we’ll certainly stay after it.”

North Carolina A&T Marching Band To Perform National Anthem For TUMS Fast Relief 500

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October 24, 2011

The Non-Race at Talladega and Team Orders

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SM Staff

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October 24, 2011

The twice a year non-race was held at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, sort of like the non-races held twice a year at Daytona. This bastardization of what stock car racing is all about is about 25 years old and in all that time, no solution has been found for the restrictor plate, the device that robs cars of horsepower and allows the nonsense that lately has two cars working in tandem so they can go faster. Those that refuse to pair up go to the back. Just ask Denny Hamlin. The poor guy didn’t have a partner and until he found one, he was dead in the water. Is this really racing?

[media-credit name=”Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”246″][/media-credit]I used to gripe about the long lines that restrictor plate racing brought to the table, but this is worse. It is apparent that nearly everyone had secured a “dancing partner” before the race along with orders to go along with it. Teammates with teammates make a lot of sense. It wasn’t too long ago that Jeff Gordon said, and I reported it, that he was going to work with his teammates and that included Tony Stewart. Everyone knows that Hendrick Motorsports supplies cars for Stewart-Haas Racing, so it was surprising that so much controversy when Trevor Bayne was asked to desert Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon in the closing laps of the race. It seems that young Bayne doesn’t really understand how the system works. There’s a championship on the line and helping a competitor, especially pushing him is not accepted.

It’s a shame that it has to come to this, but it has. The monster that has been created rests with antiquated thinking. There probably is a solution, but it’s too easy to ignore what could be done and go along with what has already been done. Maybe it’s the cars. Maybe it’s the tracks. Maybe it’s something else, I don’t know. What I do know is that people love this kind of racing, or at least I thought they did. From the looks of the empty seats at Talladega on Sunday, I’m not so sure.

I blame Jeff Gordon for taking advantage of a young man who may not understand how the system works. It’s especially upsetting to me that he took advantage of that young man. I can just read the comments from fans who want to talk about “mean old Jack Roush ordering young Trevor around,” and not remembering that most of the teams were doing the same thing. I’m sure it was upsetting to Bayne, but he is going to find the same thing all around the garage as long as this kind of racing is permitted. It’s also telling that Gordon admitted as much earlier this year.

I really cannot wait until this weekend when we go back to real racing. Martinsville has true racing as it was meant to be. There may be team orders, but not to the extent we saw Sunday. I’m going to be frank and admit that I do not know the answer to this problem. My only hope is that we somehow and someday do come up with an answer that will let every competitor race for himself or herself and not have to worry about teammates and what they’re doing. It’s just insane.

Layoff Bayne, It’s Just Plate Racing

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SM Staff

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October 24, 2011

Trevor Bayne is receiving a lot of flak for “Ditching” Jeff Gordon. And okay. I get it! Giving someone your word and then leaving them out to dry isn’t going to win many “Most Popular Driver” awards. As bad as it was, this is the way of restrictor plate racing. “Ditching,” people has and always will happen.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”249″][/media-credit]Take the 2000 Daytona 500 for example. Late in the running, 2 time Daytona 500 champion Dale Jarrett’s crew chief Todd Parrott walked to Mark Martin’s pit and told them he wanted to stay with Martin and go to the front. Martin and crew chief Jimmy Fennig agreed.

However, later on in the race Mark Martin shot high. Jarrett, who was behind Martin stayed low, leaves Martin out to dry in a long line of cars. Jarrett went on to win the 500, Martin ended up 5th. Jarrett would apologize in victory lane for the incident.

What makes this situation different? Trevor Bayne is a great guy, who apologized for the incident just like Jarrett. Why is he getting flak? Do I believe him he was given team orders? Of course! It’s Jack Roush’s job to put his guys in the best situation and by telling Bayne to draft with Kenseth he did that.

Roush is trying to win a championship with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. If you’re an owner of a company and one of your employees can help benefit another for the benefit of the organization, wouldn’t you do that? Who wouldn’t?

The problem is simple- The two car draft. NASCAR has done a nice job trying to fix the problem, but so far their steps have been unsuccessful. Expect more steps to be taken as we head closer to the Daytona 500 in February.

Trevor Bayne and Jack Roush are both not at fault. It’s Talladega people! Both did what they should have done. Don’t hate those guys, hate the racing!