Junior says, "I hope it's gone." |
“I hope it's gone,” said Earnhardt of the two-by-two tandem drafting that
was so much a part of superspeedway racing in recent years. “I hope we
don't do that anymore. I don't enjoy doing that. I like taking care of myself,
having to worry about what I have to do in a car, instead of having to worry
about me and somebody else.
“I really don't know
how the car is going to race and draft, (or) what kind of strategy we'll need
to be using,” he admitted. “That sort of changes and turns… throughout the
week.”
After making the Chase and breaking a long winless streak last season,
Earnhardt said he confident that his team is now a championship contender.
“I think we were in
the conversation last year,” he said. “I’m really excited about how consistent
we were last year. We've been able to improve as we've worked together. Me and
Steve (Letarte) have worked together. We've been able to improve steadily over
the last couple years. I hope that's able to continue. I hope we haven't
realized our true potential. Maybe this year, if we can step it up another
notch, we'd be right there where we've been striving to be the last couple
years. It isn't going to take much to improve over last year and be one of the
top teams. We were pretty close last year and feel pretty good about that.
“It's hard to put your
finger on what (this) team needs,” said Earnhardt. “No matter how close it is
or far off it is, it's hard to really put your finger on exactly what you're
missing, especially when you work with a company like I do that's got all the
parts, pieces and personnel, abd does such a good job delivering the physical
racecar to you.
“It really comes down
to the minds that are in control of everything; me and Steve making the right
calls and decisions on the racetrack.”
Earnhardt strongly endorsed NASCAR’s newly announced plan to mandate
concussion testing for any driver involved in a serious crash, beginning next
season.
“It makes perfect sense
to make it mandatory,” said Earnhardt, who sat out two races at the end of the
2012 campaign after suffering a concussion in a crash at Talladega
Superspeedway. “I think it was nice of them to look into ways they could
protect us from ourselves. The test is really simple and it's pretty
straightforward. You sit at a computer for about 30 minutes, answering a series
of questions. It tests short-term and long-term memory (and) a lot of different
things of the mechanics of the brain. It's a really hard test. Even if you
don't have a concussion, taking the test can be difficult.
You take the test to
get a baseline, because everybody is different,” he explained. “It's really a
bit of a personality test at the same time. Everybody is going to score
different. There's not like a maximum score you need to strive for. Everybody has
a different result after taking the test, (but) when you get into an accident…
you can take this test again and find out exactly what is happening to your
brain. This test can pinpoint where in the brain you're struggling, what kind
of injury you have and what kind of things you can do to rehab and recover.”
Earnhardt said that
after his injury, he received encouragement from a number of athletes who have
suffered from concussions.
"I don't know how the car is going to race." |
“Over time, I talked
to a lot of people that have been through it, a lot of drivers that had them in
the past. I got a lot of information and it really helped me remain calm. You’ve
got to remain calm, because when your body isn't doing what you want to do, not
acting right, you freak out a little bit. When you're out of control, you're
not too happy about that.”
Asked about the new, Gen-6 race car, Earnhardt cautioned
against “overplaying” the new machine and its driveability.
“I think it got
overplayed a little bit,” he said. “It's a great car. It's a step in the right
direction, (but) there's so much to learn. It's starting off on the right foot (and) I
say positive things about it because that's the way I feel. But I think
everybody needs to be patient, let the car kind of come to us and let us improve
the car over time.
“I think it's a great
direction we're going in,”” he said. “The potential (is there) for us to really
enjoy this car and provide good racing. We'll make it a better car over the
year. We'll learn what the car likes and doesn't like."
Photo: Sam Sharpe, USA Today
Junior helped bring about tandem drafting in 2009 and now he's against it? Junior, racing is about unlimited passing and the tandems are the strongest power to pass in racing history. As a racer you're supposed to WANT the tandems.
ReplyDeleteI don't get why the Race Stream Media never challenges such illogic.
We don't challenge him because he is entitled to his opinion. Every driver utilized the tandem draft in recent seasons, because it was the only way to get to the front of the pack. That doesn't mean they enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteDave, do they want to pass or not? If they want to pass then they should be opposing this rules package and advocating return to the tandem package. Making handling get in the way of passing as this package does makes passing too difficult - the Sprint Unlimited showed that.
DeleteAs long as tandem drafting is faster, the drivers are gonna do it.
ReplyDelete