Blowing Smoke?

A few observations on Atlanta this weekend…

Tony Stewart, by all rights, had a great day for himself. Smoke started 32nd and managed to work his way all the way up to a second place finish behind teammate Kyle Busch. While most drivers would be ecstatic about this, Stewart lambasted Goodyear for the quality of tire that was supplied for this weekends races.

"That was the most pathetic racing tire I've ever been on in my professional career. They exited out of Forumla 1, IRL, CART, World of Outlaws ... and there is a reason for that. Goodyear can't build a tire that is worth a crap... It was ridiculous to have to race on a tire like this. Not at this level of racing. If they can't do anything better than that, they should just pull out of this sport and save us a bunch of headaches. I guarantee you Hoosier or Firestone or somebody can come in and do a better job that what they are doing right now."

Ouch.

And live on FOX immediately after the race finished, with similar remarks to PRN radio. I can just imagine the next episode of Tony Stewart Live on Sirius. One can only imagine the series of phone calls and e-mails that were made in the Goodyear offices shortly after.

To make matters even worse, NASCARs most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr echoed similar complaints.

"No amount of time would have prepared us for that," he said. "There was no way you weren't going to hook that tire up."

Its not the first time Stewart has complained about Goodyear either, he was just as upset after last years Las Vegas race.

Now I’m not a driver and won’t pretend to understand what its like to drive at 180 mph on sub par tires, but I do see what kind of challenges Goodyear is up against. Aside from ever changing weather conditions this weekend, from heavy rain, to bitter cold, to snow and then to temperatures in the 60s, any tire maker would be challenged to provide the perfect tire. Each track on the circuit is very different, and they all change over time, be it due to repaving or just natural wear and tear. But consider this – there were three races this weekend with over 650 laps run totaling 1000 miles between 118 vehicles and there were very few cut tires. Under the demanding circumstances that the weather presented, that doesn’t seem so bad to me. Would dumping Goodyear in favor of another tire company help the situation? I’m not so sure…but I will say this: when a two time series champion and NASCARs most popular driver are complaining, someone should probably pay attention.

Something special happened in Atlanta this weekend, and it wasn’t anywhere near Atlanta Motor Speedway. The NBA did something right and hopefully NASCAR will take notice. For those not paying attention to professional basketball, on December 19 the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat played a game in Atlanta where Shaquille O’Neil was erroneously given a sixth personal foul and fouled out with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime. The Atlanta Hawks went on to ‘win’ the game, however after the NBA reviewed the game, they determined that Shaq had only 5 fouls and should have been allowed to play the remainder of the game. The NBA ordered a ‘do over’ and had the two teams resume the game on Saturday night with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime with Miami in possession and down by 3, 114-111. Of course the rosters have changed significantly over the past two months; most notably Shaq is no longer with the Heat after being traded. The Hawks went on to win the game, as well as the full regulation game played after the make up; which was critical in their attempt to secure the eighth and final eastern conference playoff position. What should be noted here though is that the NBA decided to right a wrong after the fact, an observation that did not escape me after the Carl Edwards cheating scandal in Las Vegas.

I have to admit I am still a bit confused about what all the fuss is over Toyota not only being in NASCAR, but winning its first race today. Yes, they have their roots in Japan, but they also employ thousands of Americans here in the United States. Nobody who screams about Toyota seems as upset that Fords are manufactured largely in Mexico now, nor does anyone seem to care that Dodge is owned by a German company.