Race Fans Round Table ~ California Tires: Who Is To Blame?
3/26/2014
JIM FITZGERALD: Welcome, friends, to our first Race Fans’ Round Table of the 2014. Like everyone else, we’ve really been waiting to watch the season unfold and how it will be affected by the Chase changes, as well as the adjustments made to the cars. However, after the events at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, we just couldn’t keep our mouths shut. With all of those flat tires, there is a lot of chatter out there that Auto Club Speedway needs to repave the track, while others put the blame on the cars, and others still are saying it is the fault of the teams for setting up the cars to fail in favor of speed. We’re here to debate that. I’ll open up the discussion with our own PattyKay Lilley, author of the series of columns known as “You Asked For It” and “A Voice For The Fans.” We also have contributor Kevin Abraham, Fast Forward regulars Brian Marchetti and Alabama Fitz, and three of our Fans from Fast Forward have joined in as well. So, let’s get to it. PattyKay, what say you?
PATTYKAY LILLEY: The last two years racing there has been great. I hope they NEVER repave it. Now, they're trying to blame the exploding Goodyears on the bumps in the backstretch. Leave the track alone. Go back to the drawing board Goodyear.
ALABAMA FITZ: I agree with PattyKay. Leave the track alone. Put the camber back where it was. On a guess, just because there were many cars without tire problems, the main culprit was the camber, not the track. I thought it was a good race, with plenty of lead changes and plenty of good wide racing. Dale Earnhardt, Sr. always said to put yourself in a position to win. Sometimes that works out well, and it did for Kyle Busch.
KEVIN ABRAHAM: The Nationwide series did not have tire issues. It's not the track’s fault that the Sprint Cup teams had issues.
JIM FITZGERALD: I agree with you, there, Kev. I heard someone say that the race was a fiasco, and blamed Goodyear and NASCAR for not communicating about the tires. I can’t see that happening. After Indy a few years back, and Atlanta when Tony Stewart said Goodyear should be ashamed of what they brought, I think there has to be a conversation about the tires between NASCAR and Goodyear, be it Trucks, Nationwide or Cup.
PATTYKAY LILLEY: Nationwide runs the Pony Cars; they are not the same as Gen-6, so no comparison there. What DID happen is that NASCAR changed a bunch of things in the underpinnings of those cars in an effort to eliminate the "aero-push" and when they do that, the crew chiefs will always do anything possible to counteract the change and go back to what was working well. Yesterday was mild. I recall going to Martinsville one year probably in the very early 90s, and they were running so much camber in the rear ends there that they were literally breaking rear axles at the same rate you saw flat left side tires at Fontana. It's the cars, and we might add stupidity as well, but sadly, there is no law against that.
JIM FITZGERALD: I believe I remember that Race, PK. Maybe 1992-ish, and Mark Martin won, but it was Earnhardt and Kulwicki who dominated it all day. I think Martin only led the final few laps, but I think you’re correct. These crew chiefs have to do what they can to not only make the car perform, but make the driver happy with it as well. That’s a delicate balance, and swinging too far in one direction to make it happen can have disastrous results.
DARRELL: I am in agreement with everybody on not repaving the track. Quite frankly don't change anything about it. I've been attending the Fontana races for over 10 years now and I am seeing some of the best racing in the last two years that I have seen there over the course of that time.
VIVIAN: I agree, leave the track alone. Even if there was a lot of bouncing on some parts of it, some teams pushed the envelope and it was very obvious that a lot of them did have too much rear end camber.
BARBARA: I’m another among the voices to leave the track alone - listen to the drivers. They were lighthearted and openly competitive. THEY asked not to change it. Tires come down to NASCAR being determined to control & have all things alike, and each team being determined to toe the line and get the very best from their vehicle.
JIM FITZGERALD: I heard where some teams completely ignored the recommended safe air pressures as well. In fact, in the post-race press conference, someone asked Dave Rodgers about it, saying some teams were running as little as 12 pounds of pressure. He responded with, “12 pounds. You put 12 pounds in left sides and you're going 200 miles-an-hour in California, you might have a left-side tire problem. That's awful low. That's dangerous. It looked like it was fast for a while, though. (Turns to Kyle Busch) I wouldn't do that to you.” You can’t blame the track, and you can’t blame the tire when the teams are taking it upon themselves to run risky set-ups.
KEVIN ABRAHAM: I agree. I honestly don’t think that the track or Goodyear caused the tire issues. It was the teams pushing the limits with the car. Since the track and tires were the same as last year then it is the cars and their setup. Personally I like races where tire strategy comes into play. It adds to making the racing more interesting. Look at races from the early 1990s where there was a tire war. Competition is a good thing.
PATTYKAY LILLEY: Tire issues aside, what did you all think of the race?
BRIAN MARCHETTI: Well, apparently last week, when I debated over picking Kyle Busch or Jimmie Johnson, I misspoke. I meant to say Kyle Busch, I really did! Please adjust my Fast Forward score accordingly....please!!
JIM FITZGERALD: I don’t think that’s going to happen, my friend. We all heard you loud and clear when you said you were “going to ride with Chad and Jimmie this week.” Well, you rode with them…did you help them change that flat tire, too? Seriously, I thought the race was entertaining, pretty much from start to finish. There were a lot of lead changes, but that was because Kenseth scored the pole and had the front pit box. He didn’t have the car to win the race today, so other cars being able to pass him throughout the day made even the middle parts of the race watchable. The beginning and ending of these races have been nothing short of spectacular.
DARRELL: When is last time you seen five wide racing at Fontana? Well I got to see that and the closing laps of yesterday's race. Poor Jeff Gordon who should've won that race suffered that five wide battle being on the inside and being run into the apron he had to back out of the throttle and that was the end of his day. I felt terrible for him but all in all it was a fantastic race. The Nationwide race was twice the race. Best race I have ever seen there at Fontana!
VIVIAN: There was lots of passing and I was really impressed that Jeff Gordon made it up through the pack not once but twice. Also, I just wanted to mention that I thought Kyle Larson had a great run and showed much talent when he came up to 2nd so well during the last laps.
PATTYKAY LILLEY: I like that kid, Vivian. He’s cute, too! Well, that’s going to wrap up our discussion, and it seems to me that that we are all in agreement that the WRONG thing to do would be to repave the Auto Club Speedway. The racing is getting better and better every year, and to undo that with a repave would be to go back at least ten years to a race track which provided some of the dullest racing we have ever seen. NASCAR doesn’t want that, Auto Club Speedway doesn’t want that, and the fans most certainly don’t want that. For everyone here at the Round Table, thanks for stopping by, and be sure to tell us how you feel in the comments section below.