16th "What Happened"

So some inside dope on what made RG do so well, is the CC finally getting a handel on the car or is RG just relaying car conditions so the CC can make adjustments? Any way great finish.

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Permalink Reply by mojoman521 on September 8, 2009 at 8:49pm

ROBBY HAS TO ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS..........

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Permalink Reply by vak7 on September 8, 2009 at 4:44pm

Which is more frustrating: having a lousy car week after week or having a wicked hot rod running in the lead pack and having it taken away? Happy with a 16th but easy to see why RG would still be furious. I was!

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Permalink Reply by vak7 on September 8, 2009 at 6:09pm

Didn't mean I was furious with the team ... read somewhere that Stremme blocked him in the pits. That's what got me going. May have been a different post.

I was THRILLED to see him compete! Couldn't even sit down to watch the race I was so excited, paced back and forth with my bottle of Red Stag.

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Permalink Reply by Stan Ratcliff on September 8, 2009 at 6:44pm

Here is the deal, he ALWAYS lost positions coming out of the pits. Can't do that everytime and have a good day

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Permalink Reply by Murf on September 8, 2009 at 7:26pm

not piling on ther crew guys but he was absolutely last coming out of the pits on the last yellow of the nihgt. The huge cloud of smoke was Robby burning out of there im sure in a fit of anger. He is the only driver i know that loses mass spots in the pits and again im not harping on the crew guys because i know you guys bust your asses off but until the pits get corrected Robby will never have top finishes...

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Permalink Reply by GTX - HEMI on September 8, 2009 at 7:32pm

Tim / TOG.........You misunderstood my post the problem seems to me not the crew guys but engineering. I would say that from past experience at each track some notes must be saved. You can use the notes when you revisit the track. Based on the notes there should be a starting spot. Based on "DRIVER" feed back and engineering there has to be some adjustability in the car for the race. Form what I see each week it's car setup, ya the pit crew is importact but you can't gain positions unless the car is "in the track". What I ment when I said "people" I referred to crew chief/car chief. I got some feeling by a past post that the CC gets voted off the island at times. Here is a question.......if Chad K was hired by RG would we have same results.....would RG overule him?

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Permalink Reply by vak7 on September 8, 2009 at 7:52pm

RG is smarter than Chad so he should overrule.

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Permalink Reply by mojoman521 on September 8, 2009 at 8:48pm

WAY SMARTER............

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Permalink Reply by brewski on September 8, 2009 at 7:53pm

the funny thing is the driver has no control over car changes only suggestion... and Rg's suggestion of 2 rounds and 4 lbs worked. it boils down to communication : if the driver is being difficult ...or the crew chief can't lead by example pump up the crew and calm/control the driver then the race is already lost.

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Permalink Reply by mojoman521 on September 8, 2009 at 8:48pm

I wonder how good Chad would be without lead Hendrick engineer Rex Stumpf.............he wears a pager for questions and has a direct link to the pit box at all times..........p.s. Rex designed and built T-Rex with Steve Leavitt............

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Meyer on September 8, 2009 at 9:25pm

Robby has been having some good runs on the intermediates this year. He blew an engine at texas this year when he was running in the low 20's moving forward. Michigan, Charlotte and Vegas got some finishes. Now he had a couple decent finishes at Atlanta (26th 1st race, 16th last Sunday). Will be interesting to see if RGM runs well at Charlotte and Texas later this year. I agree with Indy Tim, this team is trying as hard as they can. So they say the rear tire changer was slow, get a new changer right? It takes a while for a team to be able to work together in a fast and efficient way. You take one member out and replace them the team has to start over building chemistry. I'm sure the changer in question is fully aware of his shortcomings and most likely is working to improve. (That said, if he is complacent about his performance I'd file his walking papers today) Robby only wants the best for this team, and rightly so, but perhaps a pursuit of excellence as opposed to perfection would be a more reachable goal.

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Permalink Reply by Bigzoom on September 8, 2009 at 9:44pm

Not dogging the crew, but noticed during both stops on TV and the one TOG posted here. The rear tire changer isn't keeping up. He was slower getting around the car, and slower changing the tires. I'm NOT trying to pick on him, I'm sure he's a great guy...but both stops and the one TOG posted...seems consistent. Hopefully they will get it worked out. It's a killer to loose several spots on pit row.