August 18, 2009
Did We Switch to Hybrid NASCAR Race Cars?
Making the Grade- Michigan 2
By Dennis Michelsen
Everybody if going green and NASCAR racing seems to be following along! I remember way back in 2007 when racing used to be about going fastest and not the farthest on a tank of gas. The new car design and hard tires takes the advantage of fresh rubber out of the equation in favor of clean air. While this gave us an interesting story again on Sunday it wasn't what the high percentage of fans tune in to see, which is racing! Yes we have always had the dreaded aero push and some races are settled based on fuel mileage calculations instead of calculated moves on the track. Every once in a while having strategy determine the winner is a great thing. But when so many races in one season are decided on strategy decisions I am left to wonder if we switched to hybrid cars in NASCAR racing!

Race Grade: B+
Once again NASCAR gave us a good enough product to keep us turning back in but could you imagine four or five cars battling lap after lap for the lead in the closing laps? That could have been our result on Sunday if gas mileage wasn't an issue! Shouldn't NASCAR racing be about how well you preserve your tires on the long runs instead of how soft you are with the gas pedal?

F for Robby Gordon
Death, taxes and an incident involving Robby Gordon in the NASCAR race…some things you can always count on in this life! How does a guy go from being an outstanding driver at this level to a guy who is always involved in an incident? Robby Gordon is one of the best all around drivers in the world and much better than his talent has shown.

D for Alan Gustafson
The Crew Chief for Mark Martin made a dumb decision because of the way NASCAR scores points. If his fuel mileage gamble would have worked the best he might have finished was 12th place. The best he would have finished if he didn't run out of gas was 2nd place. When you are on the bubble for the Chase you can tolerate 12th place but not 31st place as he finished when he ran out of gas.

C for David Ragan
The marketing expert that came up with the idea of teaming the words "Ultimate Driver" with David Ragan deserves to be fired! Last year Ragan overachieved and got the big sponsor. This season he is underachieving and another year like this in 2010 and Ragan might be out of a ride!

B for Dale Earnhardt Jr
Dale Earnhardt Jr's third place finish is either a sign that this team is turning things around or that a blind squirrel can occasionally find a nut. While his three teammates have amassed 26 top five finishes while Junior has only done so twice. Sunday's run was good enough to earn him a high grade this week.

A for Brian Vickers
Here at RaceTalkRadio we love Brian Vickers' "Doc Zaius" look! Tem Red Bull picked a good young driver to build their program around and unless they show some awful judgment they will re-sign Vickers to a long term deal. It's hard to believe that in year three in NASCAR this team has won a race, six poles and will be in contention for the Chase to the final race. Red Bull might give you wings…but Brian Vickers gave this team its wings!

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