NASCAR - Race for thr Chase Race #1, Loudon, N.H.Sun. 9/17 TNT/12:30 p.m. E.T.

We were in between for about a half hour, now it's raining again. I think we're gonna get clobbered tonight. Woke me up last night about 3 in the morning with thunder/lightning.

I have to go cover the windshield on the Suburban, as there's only room for one car in the garage.

481 posted on 09/17/2006 5:10:58 PM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal

I can't get anything in the garage!

Think we're going to get caught in a crossfire between the front and whatever's coming up from Mexico.

482 posted on 09/17/2006 5:15:43 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)

Well all the hatches are secured.

The Amazing Race is about to start.

I will be rooting for one team to lose first!!

I finally just saw the end of the race, MM almost shoved Rocketman into Jr. Yikes.

483 posted on 09/17/2006 5:24:47 PM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal

I saw that and was going to ping you to it. Didn't know it was human error...

484 posted on 09/17/2006 5:30:38 PM PDT by tubebender (Growing old is mandatory...Growing up is optional)

Just heard MM may be in the 88 car next year...

I saw something about that on...Nascar.com, I think. The rumor that will not die. RYR would love it, no doubt.

MM better get used to 20 - 30 place finishes if he does.

Glad to see Happy win today. There was talk about him winning both titles, never paid much attention to it. Until today. Wow.

Truck race....here....next weekend....new track.....

Getting the tail gate menu lined up now....this is going to be a treat.

485 posted on 09/17/2006 5:58:52 PM PDT by LasVegasMac (Islam........not fit for human consumption.)

To: WestCoastGal; All

Just heard on Speed that the 29 and 31 DID NOT meet post-race insection althouth there are no rules against the infraction. More at 11...or whenever

486 posted on 09/17/2006 6:02:16 PM PDT by tubebender (Growing old is mandatory...Growing up is optional)

The violation involved cutting a .007 relief in the bead of the rim to let excess air pressure to bleed out...

487 posted on 09/17/2006 6:08:44 PM PDT by tubebender (Growing old is mandatory...Growing up is optional)

What happened to the drags tonight?

Looks like it got rained out for this week. They are giving up their citizenship and going to Texas next week...

488 posted on 09/17/2006 6:30:00 PM PDT by tubebender (Growing old is mandatory...Growing up is optional)

To: WestCoastGal

There were quite a few "close calls" thoughout the race. Almost everytime they used the fencecam, it showed cars wobbling out of the turns.

489 posted on 09/17/2006 6:39:18 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)

And the cars are so much lighter with that cut away!

Seems this would be more of a common sense or even a safety issue, than an infraction.

490 posted on 09/17/2006 6:41:45 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)

They sure have been having a bunch of that lately and now, when the rain finally comes to Texas, so do they.

491 posted on 09/17/2006 6:42:39 PM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)

To: tubebender; SouthTexas; All

I think Nascar teams have been pushing the envelope from day 1. I can't imagine this would help them that much. I did have a fleeting thought when they interviewed Berrier on NVL last night about his prior "pushing the envelope" infractions. The fuel tank qualifying deal was an obvious infraction, but this one particularly if on both cars had to be ok's by RC??

Harvick, Burton had performance advantage
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SPEED /
Posted: 5 hours ago

On 'The SPEED Report,' Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on SPEED, Bob Dillner reported that the winner of the first race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup and his Richard Childress Racing teammate had a performance advantage.

As darkness falls upon New Hampshire International Speedway, we have learned that there was an issue with the winning car of Kevin Harvick and also his teammate, Jeff Burton, in postrace tech.

That issue surrounded the actual rim of the race car. The team apparently manipulated that rim to act as a bleeder valve to release air pressure from that rim. In English, it was a performance advantage for the RCR team.

Now, it was not against anything in the rule book so there won't be any fines or points penalties later on this week, but they have been told not to do it again. So the question is: will it ruin or hurt the performance of the team in the last nine races of the Chase?

Dillner and Tribune Newspaper Group motor sports writer Ed Hinton also discussed this performance advantage with Dave Despain on SPEED's 'Wind Tunnel' (Sunday, 9 p.m. ET).

Bob Dillner: A bunch of interesting stuff happened in post-race tech, Dave.

David Despain: Tell all. I understand there's an issue for the winner?

Bob Dillner: Yeah, there was a little bit of an issue. Nothing will come of it because it's one of those patented gray areas that we always talk about, but what the No. 29 and No. 31 teams — and remember, Kevin Harvick if I could just mention actually won the race so we're talking about the winner of the race — did is they were they were trying to manipulate the rules around the actual rims that the tire goes around.

In short-track racing, we know all about the super late models, whether it's on dirt or asphalt. You have something that's called a bleeder valve, which releases the pressure to help the guys get the proper pressure that they need. Well, you can't use a bleeder valve in NASCAR Cup competition, but what the team did here is they laser-cut the rim to .003 of an inch in one part of the tire. That actually allowed some air to escape from the rim, and it was a performance advantage basically for the No. 29 and the No. 31 teams. There's been a lot of talk this year about teams doing this sort of thing in the garage area, but nobody was ever caught with it.

Today, it's not in the rule book. It's not a deal where it's illegal or whatever. It's a very gray area deal, and basically they were told, "Hey, let's not do that again." But you've got to wonder how these teams are going to perform now that they're not allowed to do it in the final couple races.

David Despain: So they're checking the wheels. No penalty, but don't bring it back next week. Is that the bottom line?

Bob Dillner: Exactly. I've got to applaud the RCR guys because when you can push the gray areas like they did and get away with it — who knows how long they've been doing it — it's to their advantage. And that's what this game of NASCAR is all about so they did a darn good job. But NASCAR did see something that they didn't like tonight and told them, "Hey guys, let's not do that again." Because you think about the pressure situation. We all know as the tires get hotter, it builds pressure. And if you have a .003 of an inch little slot there, it's going to release some of that pressure to the team's liking.

David Despain: Bob Dillner, live from Loudon. Any reaction, Ed Hinton?

Ed Hinton: Yeah, it's very similar... Last year, (No. 48 crew chief) Chad Knaus had some really neat shocks. They took them away from him just before the Chase. (NASCAR said,) "Not illegal, just don't bring them back. We don't understand them." All it does is gut and disembowel your effort for the Chase. That's all.

David Despain: You think Harvick's hurt by this?

Ed Hinton: Oh, he and Burton are very definitely hurt just like Johnson was hurt last year when they took their shocks away.

492 posted on 09/18/2006 4:50:58 AM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal

And, a little chat with Jr.........he is really really serious about this!

DALE EARNHARDT, JR, NO. 8 BUDWEISER MONTE CARLO SS - Finished 13th:
"It was really frustrating. We were tight in the middle all weekend. We just never figured it out all weekend, We didn't figure it out in the race. We made a lot of changes and just hurt it and got just really, really tight at the end. It was just really a frustrating day.

"Just frustrating, I am a good driver, and when I get decent equipment and we can work on it and do right, we will go to the front, we just didn't do right today.

"I don't care what happened to the other Chase contenders, I am competing for a championship so I don't care what happens to anyone but this team. We have to worry about who is running up front running for this championship."

493 posted on 09/18/2006 4:57:42 AM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal; All

How do you find a little "nick" that small in the rim. I think these rims are rolled steel with a weld to complete the circle and then a stamped center is pressed in and probably spot welded to the rim. I wonder how many times Nascar finds these tricks with the help of a tipoff.

Now that I think about it, how many flat tires has the 29 and 31 had this year and how in the hell do you get that "nick" to bleed just the right amount of air and not too much...

494 posted on 09/18/2006 5:32:12 AM PDT by tubebender (Growing old is mandatory...Growing up is optional)

Good question....

I'm hoping Knaus and Bootie will answer the question on their show. After all Knaus should know about all these little tricks. I just can't figure out if the advantage this gives them outweighs what could be a catastrophic tire failure.

The possibility remains that they tested on the Busch car. I just hate the fact that any win now by RCR in the Chase will be suspect.

495 posted on 09/18/2006 6:08:07 AM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

A couple of posts from Harvicks board.

"Tire pressure increase as the tires get hotter. When that happens the tire gets harder making the tire lose grip after a given number of laps etc. Letting air seep out at a small rate helps keep ALL the adjustments the same for longer. As well as keeping basically the same "feel".

"RCR had taken 3/100th of the rims of their short track cars because they dont have innerliners so that allowed to the air to escape like a bleeder valve. There is no rule against this but there will be one by next week,"

So short track races only affected by this.....I don't have time but it would be interesting to go back and see how they finished on those tracks.

I like teams that think outside the box and I like Harvick, so don't get me wrong about posting this stuff. I loved the move he made between Hamlin and Burton yesterday, that makes exciting racing.......as long as he didn't wreck them. Could be "E" still rides along in that car sometimes.

496 posted on 09/18/2006 6:27:38 AM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal; tubebender

It's a "casting" defect, nothing more. Move along, nothing to see here. :)

Thunder boomers all night here. Woke up to water running over the road. A bit damp I'd say.

497 posted on 09/18/2006 6:58:13 AM PDT by SouthTexas (Of course it's hot, it's summer!)

To: SouthTexas; tubebender; NormsRevenge; NYTexan; glock rocks; Pete-R-Bilt; steveegg

Alrighty then, Bob Dilner is in trouble.......but Speed is sticking by him for now.

Per Catchfence.com:
The following is a statement from Richard Childress, president and CEO of Richard Childress Racing (RCR), regarding allegations in the media after the Sept. 19 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway that two of RCR’s teams had manipulated the rules: Reports in the media, specifically on SPEED TV, that one or more of our NEXTEL Cup Series teams was found by NASCAR to be manipulating the rules yesterday at New Hampshire International Speedway are false and misleading.

Our cars passed post-race inspection and officials at NASCAR assured us last night and again today that no one from RCR was told at any time not to bring a part back to the race track. The reported events and conversations did not happen. Our focus remains on two of our teams competing for the championship and the other finishing as high in the points as possible.

498 posted on 09/18/2006 2:53:48 PM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: WestCoastGal

Here's Speeds response........

SPEED Response to NASCAR & RCR
Written by: David Harris
Charlotte, NC – 9/18/2006
SPEED issues the following response to statements made by NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing regarding a story filed by SPEED reporter Bob Dillner during the Sept. 17 LIVE broadcast of The SPEED Report.

"SPEED reporter Bob Dillner has a strong record of solid reporting from the NASCAR garage; so there is no rational reason for us to consider that the events and conversations he related to SPEED viewers are anything other than the truth," said Chris Long, SPEED Executive Producer for NASCAR programming.

499 posted on 09/18/2006 3:03:47 PM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

To: tubebender; NYTexan; glock rocks

500 posted on 09/18/2006 3:04:14 PM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr - The Command Performance driver of the race 8 times this year.)

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