DAYTONA TRUCK RACE

Now I know most people on this site don't care because Robby wasn't in the race..... But for those of you that watched the Truck race, I wanted to comment on thier new pit rule. On any given pit stop you can not get tires and fuel. I don't get it. They reduced the number of over the wall guys to 5. They said it was to save the teams money. How does that save money??? Less crew members??? SO all night the teams would pit twice every caution. Once for tires, once for fuel.

I just thought it was a dumb rule change. Don't really see the benefit. Makes pit lane even more important.

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Permalink Reply by Lance on February 14, 2009 at 9:24am

Plus I think it could tempt people into not taking tires everytime and just coming in once for fuel, which also saves money.

2 other observations about the truck race last night. James Buescher can drive, he's a heck of a talant. If RGM could secure Buescher and Ickler he would have a killer driver development program.

Secondly, Todd Bodine is an idiot. With so many guys who had never been on a superspeedway before, it blows my mind that Todd Bodine is the one that caused the big one.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah on February 14, 2009 at 10:23am

Todd Bodine was on my crap list too last night. What an idiot! Pit rule seemed odd to me as well.
Really wanted to see how Ricky was going to do in his ride with Harvick.

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Permalink Reply by 7 Gordon 7 on February 14, 2009 at 11:28pm

Yeah I was really hoping Ricky would have a good race too, but the ONION ruined that one. Bodine sucks

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on February 14, 2009 at 9:57am

i dunno, i thought it was stupid not being able to change tires, you should at least be able to change two tires or something if you are taking a full load of fuel. just seems dumb to come in, leave, and then come right back in! normally though, the team is always going to have enough people at the track to service a car whether at one time during a pit stop. unless you're terry labonte's team (which is a joke) that probably doesn't even have a pit crew and is going to run a few laps and park it, i don't see how these rules could help a team.

basically my point is though, it made pitstops dumb to watch!!

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Permalink Reply by john mcglasson on February 14, 2009 at 1:10pm

Ban the Bodines

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Permalink Reply by Delanie on February 14, 2009 at 1:47pm

The pit rule didn't seem to make any difference because it was Daytona and you can from last to first in two laps (like Fitzpatrick almost did after getting tires at the end). We'll really see what it means next week.

The rule should also help the smaller teams with less experienced pit crews. They can leisurely make chasis adjustments with the extra three crews members while fueling.

It may or may not cost crew member jobs. Some of these truck pit crews are really fab guys or engine guys so this allows them to stay home. Weather it's a good rule or bad rule, we'll see what the teams say after next race.

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Permalink Reply by C2B on February 14, 2009 at 4:46pm

I think if you have 5 guys that can do the entire stop on one trio they should let them. The gas man could have the catch can attached to his waist, so he could do two things at once. And when he went to step away from the truck, the can would come with him. The tire changers could carry there own tires, it may take a little longer, but if it saved you from coming in twice, I think the crews would do it. The jackman could do the window tearoffs. Everyone would have to do more, but I think it could be done and NASCAR should let them try.
Why is it that the seasoned veterans are the ones that seem to always cause the big one?

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Permalink Reply by Garrett Gleason on February 14, 2009 at 7:14pm

Anyone notice who was working on the 13 truck and all the problems Sauter had last night? That man is bad luck I tell you.

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Permalink Reply by Garrett Gleason on February 14, 2009 at 7:30pm

DING DING DING

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Permalink Reply by Jan on February 15, 2009 at 12:40am

Sorry to burst your bubble Garrett but Ty Joiner was Sauders crew chief, NOT Walter. Not that Sauder needs help finding problems-he's his own worse enemy. Walter is not with the #13 team, so put away the whip & bury the carcass of the dead horse.

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Permalink Reply by Jan on February 14, 2009 at 10:26pm

Nascar has missed it with the new pit road rule. Cutting the truck series hardcards at the track to 12 per
team was enough. What Nascar isn't bright enough to figure out is that literally all the guys working in the
garage on the trucks are already doing double duty going over the wall or working in the pits in another capacity.
If they'd kept the hardcard rule but not messed with the pit road rule they would have maintained what so
many of us love about the truck series. Crawford had it right in his interview...give me something that will save
me half a million a year...the product was good. Why change something that wasn't broken?
I think in part what Nascar was trying to do away with was the fact that teams were at numerous tracks stretching it (improving the fuel mileage) to the point they could run a race on just 1 stop. I know it was a point of discussion along with the cost savings. Easy fix, you already have a 4 set limit per weekend. Either tack on 25-50 miles per weekend to force the teams to stop more than that 1 time or reduce the size of the fuel cells, although I'm not a fan of that because the last reduction threw off the balance of the trucks quite abit. Either way it adds to the competition or doesn't take away from the excitement for the fans.
I also understand the new engine rule--but in reality--most of the teams were already at 2 races without pulling the heads. The new rule just stretches that & makes it OFFICIAL. But what happens if they start having numerous engine failure pre-race or during the races? My whole fear is what we see so often with Nascar smart moves to save money, it ends up costing the teams more & this has the potential of being the case with the "double dip(shit)" rule. Potentially more teams will opt for fuel only, there could be far more crashed trucks from tire failures, & more engine failures associated with the engine rule. End result will be more torn up trucks, a crap shoot where the best truck doesn't win for numerous races, & a whole lot of screaming by the teams & manufacturers. It's going to get ugly well before they leave Milwaukee in June.
I know there's no easy answers & granted something needs to be done, but they missed it with the pit stop rule.
On a high note though---Thank goodnes Brent Raymer is OK after his nasty crash,that was scarey.
Huge kudos to Timothy Peters for putting together his 6th place finishing Strutmasters.com/ Hayes Iron&Metal Toyota in a 600 square foot-2 stall garage....thats what the truck series is made of...good job.