Early NASCAR season brings questions
by Brant Thurmond, staff writer
Following the running of the
Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 15, Dale
Earnhardt Jr. brought many questions to the NASCAR world.
For those who don’t know by now, Dale
Jr. drove the No. 5 car of Kyle Bush for the last 10 laps of
the Samsung 500, receiving three extra driver points.
Both Bush and Junior were taken out of
the race following a wreck. Bush was told by his crew chief
Alan Gustafson that the day was over and the crew wouldn’t
be able to fix the car. So Bush headed to his mobile home
and changed into street clothes.
However, the pit crew fixed the car,
and Bush wasn’t anywhere to be found. During an interview
with the press, crew chief Gustafson walked over and asked
Junior if he would drive the No. 5 car. Junior responded
that he would.
Junior ended up finishing in 37th
place, and Bush finished 38th.
Following the race, the big question
was whether Junior will drive for Hendrick Motorsports next
year?
I think he might end up driving for Hendrick next year, but
I really hope he doesn’t, because I strongly dislike
Hendrick drivers. I would much rather see him work out all
the kinks at DEI than be seen driving for Hendrick.
Junior’s dad, Dale Earnhardt Sr.,
created his own racing organization, and it has had huge
success through the years.
The other question is, how will this
affect the rest of the season for Junior and Bush’s season?
I think that it was just a buddy
helping out another buddy, and it will not have that much
affect on the rest of the season, unless one driver fails to
make the chase for the Nextel Cup at the end of the season.
On April 21, the Nextel Cup drivers
were in Phoenix, Arizona, for the running of the Subway
Fresh Fit 500 racing the “Car of Tomorrow.”
Jeff Gordon won the Bud Pole award and
ended up winning the race. Gordon, who leads the point
standings by 74 points over Jeff Burton, received his first
victory of 2007.
So after three races, what impact does
the “Car of Tomorrow” have on the drivers and a race?
From what I have learned by watching the races on T.V, it
has caused the drivers a lot of trouble with handling. Most
of the drivers complain about the car being really loose or
really tight. You might think, well, that’s just part of the
race, and the drivers had the same problem with the old
cars. That’s true, but I think that the “Car of Tomorrow” is
forcing the drivers to make more adjustments.
Only time will tell what will happen
with the “Car of Tomorrow” and how it will effect the
drivers in the long run.
