Driver council flexes muscle on Stewart fine, foreshadows change

By Brant James

(Photo: Amber Searls)

RICHMOND, Va. – Jimmie Johnson tried to hand Tony Stewart a check for $4,500 on Friday, but the three-time series champion rebuffed him. Johnson was determined for Stewart to have it. A promise is a promise, after all. And this was about more than money.
Beyond helping Stewart pay a $35,000 NASCAR-imposed fine for supposedly seditious comments that he and fellow members of the Sprint Cup drivers council found unjust, Johnson and his eight compatriots are spending the weekend at Richmond International Raceway as much preparing for a race Sunday as sorting out the new world order of NASCAR geopolitics.
There’s much to consider as actions await reaction.
“This is new times, it really is, the way this is unfolding,” Johnson told USA TODAY Sports. “I think that what I’ve seen from the drivers, it is a great respect for the history of our sport, for the leadership of our sport and we’re all trying very hard to respect that, but at the same time, stand up when we need to and how we need to. So it’s a work in progress to say the least.”
Stewart was fined by NASCAR on Thursday for comments critical of the series’ new laissez-faire approach in policing the number of lug nuts teams use to affix tires. Rules and infractions are in place should a wheel become dislodged during competition, but a lack of officials to police every stall has compelled teams to tighten as few as three lug nuts to attain speedy pit stops. Stewart and several other drivers including an extremely critical Greg Biffle, railed against the policy, citing safety concerns. Stewart was the only driver sanctioned.




By Thursday night, the driver council had released a statement of support to NBC Sports through member Denny Hamlin, including a commitment to pay Stewart’s fine. Driver council members have remained on message since, asserting, several of them verbatim, that “this is not about lug nuts.”

“This was a way for us to send a message back to NASCAR, not that we were trying to send any specific message, that we just believe that we should have the right to speak our opinion,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know whether everyone agrees with the opinion (Stewart) had or not, but it doesn’t matter.”
The driver council, which formed 11 months ago with NASCAR support, is comprised of members representing each manufacturer and is elected by drivers. The current group consists of defending series champion Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Johnson, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Stewart.
Hamlin believes that interests of drivers and owners are “95 percent aligned most of the time” and said they are often similar regarding the sanctioning body.
“Our meetings with NASCAR have changed the sport and will continue to change the sport for many years,” Hamlin said.



Tony Stewart will race this weekend at Richmond International and is looking for a medical exemption in order to participate in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. USA TODAY Sports

Harvick, Stewart’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, said those interactions should continue with strong driver input.
“I think it’s important for us to be a part of where this sport goes in the future,” he told USA TODAY Sports. “I think as a group we’ve definitely talked through a lot of things and been through a lot of things and I think we’re in a better position to kind of speak our opinion when things come up that we feel strongly about and let the people, whether it be fans or people involved, know where we stand and how we feel about it is important.”
Those feelings have yielded palpable results. NASCAR reacted to driver input beginning last season by experimenting with, and eventually instituting this season, a lower-downforce aerodynamics package that competitors believed would enhance the racing product.
And Friday, series senior vice president of competition Scott Miller announced at Richmond that the sanctioning body would re-evaluate its enforcement policies regarding tire installation because of driver outcry.


Johnson said the purpose of the council’s Stewart move was not “trying to poke NASCAR in the eye,” but it appears like a public relations and, now, procedural win. The series has not commented on the council’s public declaration of support for Stewart, leaving drivers awaiting with interest a pre-scheduled summit with NASCAR officials next week at Talladega Superspeedway.

Johnson is unsure how this first political foray could eventually mold the council’s mandate, but its members seem to comprehend that it had already grown beyond competition suggestions. The council’s methods and motivations could easily change with its membership, Johnson said.
“I’m not sure there has been that much forethought into it,” Johnson said of the group expanding its role. “I think we’re coming to grips with what our support to Tony has had. The council is made up of nine right now and those nine will change next year. There is usually a little bit of overlap depending on how the voting takes place, but the next council could be largely different and may have a new mindset and a different way it wants to interact.
“There is an evolution going on now and I think the drivers are trying to find the right voice and the right way to interact with the RTA and also NASCAR.”

 

Stewart comments
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...nuts-more.html

 

[h=1]NASCAR changes lug nut rule less than week after Stewart's criticism[/h] By Nick Bromberg.



NASCAR is changing its lug nut rule. And Tony Stewart is still fined $35,000. The sanctioning body issued a rules release Monday telling all teams that all five lug nuts must be fastened to each wheel effective with the weekend's Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series races at Talladega.
Stewart said Wednesday that he was mad NASCAR stopped officiating the rule before the 2015 season and that a driver was going to get hurt because of a loose wheel causing an accident.
The sanctioning body fined him $35,000 on Thursday and then said Friday it would be re-evaluating the rule after public concerns had been raised. Other drivers, including Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had voiced their opinions about the rule before Stewart's comments.
However, it's not re-evaluating Stewart's fine. It still stands. The Drivers Council followed NASCAR's penalty announcement Thursday evening with a statement that said it would be chipping in to pay for Stewart's fine.

 

[h=1]Denny Hamlin says only two options to keep cars from going airborne at Talladega[/h] By Nate Ryan



CONCORD, N.C. – Denny Hamlin says there are only two options for keeping race cars from getting airborne at Talladega Superspeedway, and neither is good.
“You have to slow us way down — like 50 mph – or you’re going to have to let us run 250 there and get spread out,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said Monday during an event at the Concord Boys and Girls Club, which received a donation of 10 HD TVs from team sponsor Hisense. “That’s the only way to avoid these massive wrecks. The reason we’re all wrecking in horrific fashion is because if someone gets turned sideways, there’s someone else right there to lift them off.
“As long as there are 20 cars in a 1-second pack, it’s going to happen. We talk about this every two to three restrictor-plate races. There just is no fix because we haven’t done it yet. We don’t know. The only thing we can do from my standpoint and the ignorance I have is you have to slow us way down or speed us way up. We have to get spread apart. That’s the only way you’re not going to have these crazy crashes.”
Hamlin said drivers have been lobbying for lesser speeds as the better choice but cautioned drivers would “get more comfortable and give each other less room and wreck just as much” by going slower.
The Daytona 500 winner, who finished 31[SUP]st[/SUP] Sunday in the Geico 500 after struggling with pit miscues Sunday, said the spate of violent wrecks stems from too many drivers becoming too acclimated to plate racing.
“It’s not a great option to stick with what we have,” he said. “Obviously the chances of someone getting hurt is more likely.
“You look at speedway racing 15 to 20 years ago, and the outside line was running the outside and the inside on the inside. Now we give each other no room for error anymore. We give each other inches in the corner. The person on the top is just sucking down on the door of the guy on the bottom.
“We’re good, but we’re not that good. We can’t keep the car in a 1-foot space on all four corners. It’s just something we created by the way we’re driving. We’re trying to find every advantage that we can with air, and we have to use that space to get advantages. So I think drivers are just smarter than what they were back then, and until we get spread out, I just don’t know of a good solution.”
Asked whether he liked racing Talladega after finishing second Sunday, JGR teammate Kyle Busch said, “I hate it” and added he would have preferred to skip the race having already qualified for the playoffs with a victory.
Hamlin also is qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup but said he still enjoyed Talladega.
“I like going there; I’m decent at it,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of people that like to do it. I always say that if points didn’t matter, Talladega would be fun for everyone. We would all love to do it. We all get frustrated when we get in wrecks. We know it’s a detriment to a Chase run or a championship run. That part of it is frustrating.
“We all enjoy this type of racing, we just don’t like wrecking. When it happens, we get frustrated. Kyle didn’t wreck, but I think there’s just always frustration there. I’ve been part of it. I’ve been in the group who says we should never race restrictor-plate races, they should never be in the Chase. I’ve been on the other side when it’s this is part of our racing. We wreck harder at superspeedway races, but we wreck just as much on road courses. Should either determine our champion? I don’t know, but they’re there, and you have to deal with it.”
Hamlin is in his second year on the Sprint Cup Drivers Council, which discusses major issues in NASCAR on a daily basis. He said there wasn’t much conversation Monday about Talladega beyond safety concerns about Danica Patrick’s wreck, whose violent impact resembled the crash that knocked out Kyle Busch for the first 11 races last season.
“The car didn’t look good at all,” he said. “The foot compartment, luckily for her, she was short (and) had some extra room there. There’s some issues, but NASCAR is all aware what we’re looking for safety-wise. They’ve addressed most of our issues. I think this one will be no exception.”
After meeting last Friday at Talladega, the next Sprint Cup Drivers Council meeting could be later this month at Charlotte Motor Speedway.