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Hey, it’s the second trip to the Tricky Triangle for the MENCS teams in 2019 but does anyone really think it’s going to be like the last trip several weeks ago. Not if you’ve been listening to the crew chiefs and drivers as they anticipate taking it to the “tricky, sticky triangle” for the second time this summer.
I’m sure you’ve heard all the talk over the last week of the changes for this weekend’s race and one of the hot topics is all about the “sticky stuff” (PJ1) they’ll be putting down on the track. I don’t know about you, but I’ve gotten mixed signals from listening to the talk about the decision to have it on the track for the first time. Some say they think it is going to help and make it easier to pass and others say it is only going to make things a little more complicated.
One of the concerns is that turn two will be a place where there might be more wrecks than normal. They say the “sticky stuff” could make for three or four wide racing in that area of the track. If that is the case, since it has been a problem area in the past, it could prove to be interesting, especially if and, more likely, when the “sticky” begins to go away.
You know, I find it interesting how the drivers (and crew chiefs, I guess) are talking about how they need to be more aggressive with the 550 and 750 horsepower packages. Mostly they talk about the 550hp package and how hard it is to pass where it is used. It seems like everyone these days is using the bump and run to make their passes and if the other guy goes into the wall, well, that’s just the way it goes. When it happens to them, well, let’s just say they think a little differently. They’ve also brought back the old “rubbin’ is racing” adage because so many are using the rubbin’ to gain advantage and finish making the pass instead of getting stalled out as they try.
I will admit, most of them lean on the other guy just enough to get past him but the times of problems being caused by the rubbing are increasing and the emotions are beginning to surface with paybacks and torn up racecars. I mean, we all hear the drivers say they’re going to race the others like they race them. If that means things get a little rough and the paybacks happen more frequently, eventually NASCAR will step in like the have in the past. With more torn-up racecars that’s where it makes it even more expensive for the owners and that may not be a good thing either.
Hey, I know there is a big difference between rubbing and wrecking somebody and I’m okay with the rubbing. Where it begins to show a possible problem is with the higher emotions in play with trying to make the top sixteen for the playoffs. I know you’ve noticed emotions are running pretty high right now and I don’t see that changing at all until the top sixteen are decided, do you?
Speaking of the top sixteen being decided, there are those that can’t afford to have another bad week because the bubble area is getting a little crowded. First It was Clint Bowyer struggling and falling below the cut and now it’s Jimmie Johnson. At the moment, Bowyer holds a seventeen-point advantage over Johnson and Suarez. Ryan Newman is only four points ahead of Bowyer. And then there is Erik Jones. He is in fourteenth at the moment but another bad finish for him could spell disaster for him again also. To say things are heating up at the cut line is a major understatement from this fan’s view. It is exciting and dramatic and unfortunately, at lest from this fan’s view, things could get a little rougher than they already have.
The way things are right now, it kind of reminds me of a story of something that happened back when I was racing at our local track. In the late model class, one of the drivers put another out to win the race. They had been going at it for many laps and the guy that got put out wasn’t happy about being put out so he approached the other driver a wanted to know why he put him out. In one of the most memorable statements I ever remember hearing about, the guy put it to him this way, (I’ll edit it here to keep it G rated.) He said, “Look, I tried you high and I tried you low and then, cotton-picker, it was time for you to go!”
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© July 27, 2019 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman, Nascarfansview.com and Justafansview.com
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All music TwoBuckThemes from Mike Stewart unless otherwise stated