Success and Failure

Success:

Danny Hamlin....
Move over, Elliott Sadler, Ricky Rudd, and the Burton brothers. There is a new 'favorite son' representing the state of Virginia. Both on and off the track this rising superstar in just a short time has shown that he has what it takes to be a class act and the state's fan favorite. I recently saw a claim comparing both Rudd and Hamlin, that Hamlin 'we probably win around 20 or so races in his career but will never be the driver that Ricky is'. Hmmmmm, I'm thinking this opinion maybe correct as Hamlin just may show that he can be more consistent over his career, and wont need over 30 seasons to win those 20 races. Already Hamlin has a better than 50% chance to earn a top ten finish in every start he makes.

Success:
The C.O.T.....
Complain all you want, but the C.O.T.'s performance over-all has to be considered a success. More side by side racing was seen yesterday then Richmond has seen in a few years. Yes, the speeds were down, and yes the Hendrick organization dominated, but then again, I'm thinking that is directly proportionate to the research Hendrick put into his C.O.T. program compared to the other teams. After all, most of the Ford teams didn't even produce test cars until the final stages of the pre-testing part of the development. While at the same time, Hendrick was producing and developing cars, and the results can be seen now. The C.O.T. is doing what it ws designed to do, and that was to level the playing field. The problem is that many (most) owners didn't prepare or take advantage of this change and are now playing catch up.

Failure:
EMS and RYR:
It is interesting to watch the direction both these teams are going, but it is becoming more and more clear that the grass is not always as green on the other side of the fence as one thought. Case in point, the 38 and the 19. No sugar coating needed. Both these teams stunk it up yesterday, but one team was slowly making improvements as the day wore on. Now if we can just see 'Gilligan' show some patience when trying to pass other lapped cars without putting himself on a bad position. On the other hand, the 19 struggled most of the day, and once again there was little improvement and if it had not been for the attrition from others, the 19 most likely would have had a mid 30s finish. The point is that had Sadler stuck it out with RYR instead of braking another contract, and was piloting the 38 this season, his seasoning, experience and even skill would have that race team in a solid top 15 in points. Now I do understand that the 19 is currently number 15 in the points, but if you have listened to the 19 on race days, you would understand that is an apparition. On the other hand, the 38 has not been that terrible, with most of the 'bad days' being attributed to a green driver.

Success and Failure:
Richmond International Speedway:
I noticed advertising cover up a dozen or so sections of 'empty' seats. Of course there are some that would say that this is because 'Nascar has forgotten about there roots' and that fans are not supporting the sport anymore. Could be, but I would go out on a limb and claim that these 'empty' seats exist because the track recently 'upgraded' and built a new grandstand area providing much better sight lines, thus making those 'low seats' obsolete.

Failure:
the 31 team:
Not really going to single out the driver here, but how in the world can a multi million dollar race team, drop 'something' in the engine and not be 100% convinced that the problem has been taken care of. At worst, that engine should have been changed instead of rolling the dice on a 43rd place finish.

Failure:
Harvick's actions after Dega
Just another reason why I find myself not liking this guy. To make matters worse, now he is trying to 'fight' other driver's battles. This clip speaks for itself.