Daily NASCAR

Jeff Gordon with crew chief Steve Letarte in Las Vegas: In a “coulda shoulda woulda” world, somebody had to be the scapegoat for Gordon’s loss.

HAMPTON, Ga. - Now that Steve Letarte has been drug through mud in a fashion usually reserved for, say, the President of the United States, isn’t it about time someone - anyone! - examines what actually happened, without merely assuming that Jeff Gordon’s crew chief is the most noteworthy goat since Bill?

Bill was - and, generationally, is — the official mascot of the United States Naval Academy. Letarte isn’t literally a goat, so, to use the incarnation of "goat" that refers to "a victim of ridicule or pranks," Letarte is, at least for the moment, being compared to the likes of Mickey Owen, whose dropped third strike cost the Brooklyn Dodgers the 1941 World Series; Jackie Smith, who dropped a crucial pass for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1979 Super Bowl; and Bill Buckner, who greatly assisted the Boston Red Sox in blowing the 1986 World Series.

The problem? Letarte did nothing wrong. Gordon dominated the race but didn’t win, so there had to be - to borrow another form of goat - a scapegoat.

Also, hindsight is 20/20.

The truth is that Letarte and, by extension, Gordon were in the worst of situations for the competitive sportsman. They were - drum roll, please - "damned if you do and damned if you don’t."

After Letarte and Gordon made their fateful decision to pit for two tires and the green flag waved for the final time, there were 34 laps remaining in Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s Shelby American (though it sounds like the name of a high-school graduation honor - this year’s Shelby American is Melissa Dickert! — it was actually the name of a Sprint Cup race).

Had Gordon received four tires on that final pit stop, he might have prevented Jimmie Johnson from winning the race, but it doesn’t mean he would’ve won it. Gordon led for 17 laps after the pit sequence, but a full set of tires eventually enabled Johnson to slip past and pull away. Gordon wound up third after leading 219 laps, or 82 percent of the race.

In the circumstances that occurred near the end of that race, the leader sets the strategy for everyone else. If Gordon had pitted for four tires, a good many of the drivers behind would have opted for two. Since Gordon took two tires, most of those pursuing him took the full set. He actually restarted second because Clint Bowyer’s crew didn’t change any tires at all. Also changing two tires, by the way, was Kevin Harvick, who ended up finishing second, ahead of Gordon.

Had Gordon changed all four tires, he probably would have been sixth or seventh, not second, when racing resumed. He may have been able to regain the lead, but he wouldn’t have had the oft-cited "clean air" that goes to the driver out front.

Since he only changed two, only Harvick followed his lead. Gordon and Letarte had hoped others would join him in the two-tire gamble.

But … because they did … others didn’t.

If they had … others … wouldn’t have.

So criticize Letarte if you want. But if he’d changed four tires, the odds are that fans would have screamed at that, too.

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For several days now, I have been thinking about changes in the Budweiser Shootout field. I haven’t been thinking a lot about it. There’s been no high-powered thinking. I just looked up the rules, thought about them and … did a lot of chuckling to myself.

It’s not thinking, strictly. It’s more recognition of absurdity, amusement at it and resignation to it.

Once upon a time, things almost made sense. NASCAR had two all-star races, which itself would’ve have made sense if not for the fact that the two races were different. The Budweiser Shootout (once known as the Busch Clash) was for pole winners, and the Sprint All-Star Race (most notably The Winston, but also a Select for a brief while) was for winners. They threw in byes and wild cards, drew the lineup out of a hat or used some other gimmick, but it was still possible to peer through the format and see some clarity.

My gosh. Now it’s out of control. Swing open the doors to the race. Let everybody in who’s anybody. Everybody except Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann, who actually won poles in 2009.

That’s yesterday’s news! Poles don’t have anything to do with it anymore! Get your facts straight, bub!

So Geoff Bodine’s in. Ken Schrader’s in. On the other end of the spectrum, Joey Logano’s in.

Why stop there? Let’s strap Richard Petty, David Pearson, Junior Johnson and Cale Yarborough a shot. See how they can finagle a COT!

And by the time Feb. 6 rolls around, mark my words. Every time you turn on your television and radio, all you’re going to hear is how great this is.

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Juan Pablo Montoya came into the Texas Motor Speedway media center dressed in a uniform that said:

DREAM IN COLOR

This is how naive I am. I took the message literally. I’ve always heard that the majority of people dream in black and white. So, in a feeble attempt at humor (I called it “frivolous” when I asked the question), I asked Montoya what he was going to do for people who dream in black and white.

Of course, he didn’t realize what I was talking about, and I didn’t realize what the message on his uniform meant.

“Dream in color” refers to “people of color.” Here’s what Montoya said:

“I think it’s a great campaign because it reflects, and it shows people it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you do. I know its Hispanic Heritage Month and everything, but it really shows people that you can achieve anything. I’ve done it, and I know a lot of people that have been in the program. If you want something and work hard enough for it, you can do it. It doesn’t matter where you are from or how you got there. It’s a really cool thing Target is doing.”

Duh.

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Even though Juan Pablo Montoya posted the second-quickest time in final practice for the AAA 400, where he will start second, he is reticent to declare himself a bona fide title threat. (Photo Credit: Nick Laham/Getty Images)

What holds the attention of the man who has done it all?

Jeff Gordon, 38, has won four championships in what is now the Sprint Cup Series. If he walked away, his place among NASCAR’s all-time greats would be secure.

But Gordon has never won a Chase. His championships – 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001 – all occurred before NASCAR implemented the 10-race series at season’s end that makes much of what happens before it irrelevant for the 12 who make the cut.

 “I like the competition,” he said. “I don’t like to finish second or anywhere after that. That’s what motivates you. I have never won a Sprint Cup (i.e., Chase) before so, to me, it’s like never winning a championship.

“The four that we have won are something that we are very proud of, but it’s under the old format, and so, I feel like we are as hungry as we have ever been to win this championship.”

* * *

MARTIN’S HUNGER–Mark Martin hates to talk about winning a championship, in part because he has never won one and in part because he insists it isn’t an obsession.

Of course, insisting something isn’t an obsession creates, perversely, the suspicion that it is.

Said Gordon of his first-year teammate, “There’s no doubt that Mark (Martin) is highly motivated. I think he is in a great position because he stepped away from this sport from a full-time aspect and I think … I would love to do that. I would love to step away and be able to do a limited schedule, knowing you could come back with one of the top teams and run a full schedule, because it just allows you to put all things in perspective-your priorities, your goals and how much you appreciate the sport.

“He loves being here like many of us do, but, when you are in the grind constantly, all of the time, it eats at you, no doubt about it, year in and year out.

* * *

NEEDS SOME HELP–Kasey Kahne hopes he got his one misstep out of the way when he bowed out of New Hampshire’s Sylvania 300 early.
It’s entirely possible that, over a 10-race period, most, if not all, of the Chase participants will suffer an off week.

“We’re definitely in a hole, that’s part of it,” he said. “Hopefully, everybody has a bad race and if not, if some of them do and we gain some points back and just do the best job that we can.

“At this point, all that we can do is try hard; keep working hard on our cars and engines. I’ll keep working on my driving. I think that we’ll be all right. We’ll gain some spots back.”  

* * *

MONTOYA A TAD PESSIMISTIC- Despite getting off to a fast start in the Chase with a third-place finish in New Hampshire, Juan Pablo Montoya is reticent to declare himself a bona fide title threat.

“I don’t even know if we are ready yet,” he said. “We are doing the best we can, and hopefully we are going to be good enough to at least fight for it. We don’t have the experience yet or anything.

“It’s our first Chase, and we just want to make sure we don’t leave anything on the table. By the time Miami comes, we want to make sure, you know, we gave our best to make sure we gave ourselves a chance. That’s all we can do.”

* * *

HIS PLACE–Greg Biffle won the AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway a year ago and expects to contend for another victory.

“This is one of the race tracks that I look for on the schedule,” he said. “We run very well here.

“The spring race? I look back at that where we’re leading, you know, with five to go, and got passed by the ‘48’ (winner Jimmie Johnson) and ‘14,’ (Tony Stewart), finished third. … We didn’t come off the truck very good with this new tire. It took us a little bit to get up to speed, but now we’re pretty happy with the way the car’s driving.”
 

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I remember the protests that were raised when NASCAR began allowing teams to accept sponsorship from liquor manufacturers. For those who found such sponsorships repulsive, it has largely taken care of itself since, within the past week, both Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam have announced plans to pull the plugs on those deals.

In both cases, the chorus has been along the “business as usual” lines. The releases said that NASCAR had been great for them, that the pull-out wasn’t tied to the performances of the teams involved and that it was just “a new direction” in the marketing and advertising fronts.

In other words, the releases said the only things they could’ve said. Corporate America is like NASCAR. Everything must be held up as successful. Changes are never based on results, but rather on the basis of “new directions” and the like.

It was a mere coincidence that the teams supported by Jack Daniel’s (Casey Mears) and Jim Beam (Robby Gordon) had lackluster years.

The companies are moving on to other “opportunities.” The Jim Beam release said the spirits manufacturer was moving on to “other platforms that directly impact the end customer.”

That doesn’t mean what they cited in their releases is untrue. It’s perfectly legitimate, and probably beneficial, for companies to move their money from place to place, shoring up various segments of the buying public.

But it didn’t help that Mears is 20th, Gordon 33rd in the Sprint Cup standings.

Those who claim performance doesn’t matter are usually those who don’t have performance going for them.

Corporate America counts wins and losses, too, whether they admit it in press releases or not.
 

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