Kurt Busch Should Beat His Crew Chief To Death

#1
**ORANGEBLOOD**

**ORANGEBLOOD**

CALL THE MAN!
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
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8
#1
Running 3rd with 5 laps to go and you come in for tires? At Daytona? WTF???? Only cost him 20 positions. Worst call I have seen in a long time.
 
#3
#3
Including Jeff Gordon, who was actually losing spots with his new tires before wrecking at the end. Steve Letarte doesn't impress me very much.

Time to reunite Gordon and Evernham.
 
#4
#4
Anyone that knows Kurt Busch knows that he will give his crew chief enough hell as it is.

This time, however, it was justified.
 
#5
#5
Admittedly, I know dick about auto racing, but doesn't the driver have ultimate say in a decision like that, or at least enormous input to the decision?
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#6
#6
BigPapaVol said:
Admittedly, I know dick about auto racing, but doesn't the driver have ultimate say in a decision like that, or at least enormous input to the decision?
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They do in a sense that they're driving the car and they can just stay on the track. Usually they trust that their crew chief knows what they're doing though.
 
#7
#7
615 Vol said:
Including Jeff Gordon, who was actually losing spots with his new tires before wrecking at the end. Steve Letarte doesn't impress me very much.

Time to reunite Gordon and Evernham.
Click to expand...

Ben saying that for a few years now!
 
#10
#10
BigPapaVol said:
On? Ownership approach? Experience of crew chief?

Wouldn't guys like Busch and Gordon have earned veto privileges?
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experience of driver and/or crew chief.

i honestly don't have any clue what Busch and Gordon were thinking by coming in that late. i would think either of them has the power to veto a call, as ultimately they're driving the car.

however, drivers want 4 new tires almost every single time they can get them.
 
#12
#12
It would have been fine to pit with 3 laps to go a few years ago when cars could steamroll to the front. The way things are now and how it is much harder to pass with cars hugging the yellow line it wasn't a good move to lose track position that late in the race.

Also, they should have noticed Scott Speed holding the lead for several laps on old tires before the caution to know that tires wouldn't help.
 
#14
#14
BigPapaVol said:
Got it. Had no idea. Seems odd.
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not really the boss per se.

the idea is really for the driver and crew chief to have a relationship where they can communicate and bounce ideas off of each other. the driver can give the crew chief feedback and based on that the crew chief knows what the driver wants. the driver's job is, obviously, to drive the car. it's the crew chiefs job to take care of everything else, at the track and at the shop.

the best example of this relationship is Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus.
 
#15
#15
doozer said:
not really the boss per se.

the idea is really for the driver and crew chief to have a relationship where they can communicate and bounce ideas off of each other. the driver can give the crew chief feedback and based on that the crew chief knows what the driver wants. the driver's job is, obviously, to drive the car. it's the crew chiefs job to take care of everything else, at the track and at the shop.

the best example of this relationship is Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus.
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If the crew chief tells the driver to pit,hes suppose to pit,bottom line.Sometimes,,and I mean very few times the driver doesn't listen.

The CC could bee sitting there looking at tires with huge chunks of rubber gone out of them that he never told the driver about,or many other factors.The driver is suppose to trust the CC to make the correct calls to win the race,so if he says pit,they should pit.

The CC is the head coach if you wanna look at it that way.
 
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#16
#16
BigPapaVol said:
On? Ownership approach? Experience of crew chief?

Wouldn't guys like Busch and Gordon have earned veto privileges?
Posted via VolNation Mobile
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Yeah usually the reason the driver is not the one making the final decision is because he is not the one calculating all the stats from the day. I would be willing to gurantee they have some one comparing lap times on two new tires compared to none or even compared to all four. Maybe not during that race, but during practices all that week. With that said I am with the rest of you guys, in that I did not get why there was a need to pit sooo late. Usually you see new tires when there is at least 15 to 20 laps not any lower.
 
#17
#17
JJ better thank God every night that he got paired with Knaus instead of Steve Letarte.
 
#18
#18
volintears said:
If the crew chief tells the driver to pit,hes suppose to pit,bottom line.Sometimes,,and I mean very few times the driver doesn't listen.
Click to expand...

9/10 times the driver is coming in anyway.

like i said above, to a driver nothing less than 4 tires to a driver is acceptable any chance he can get them.
 
#21
#21
doozer said:
why does the quarterback get all the credit?
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Media hype. But it's clearly the toughest and most decisive position so the media glorifies it. Is a crew chief comparable?

I just have no idea. Been to two races and have never watched another.
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#23
#23
I would say it is a similar comparison with the QB and driver getting all the credit. The O-line you don't see getting much credit would be, for me at least, the pit crew. The Crew Chief similar to head coach.
 
#24
#24
BigPapaVol said:
Media hype. But it's clearly the toughest and most decisive position so the media glorifies it. Is a crew chief comparable?

I just have no idea. Been to two races and have never watched another.
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technically, the crew chief would be more like the head coach. however the driver of the car would be the quarterback.

you can have a great car with all the tricks that's fast as hell, but if the driver can't drive, it doesn't matter.
 
#25
#25
I would expand the driver to be more like the QB, RB and WR all rolled into one. The pit crew is the linemen, the crew chief the coach, but not with quite the authority as a football coach.

The 48 car has been correctly used as as example of how it should work. In a late race caution situation, Knauss will almost if not always ask Jimmie what he thinks before they make a decision.

To pit or not can be vetoed by some drivers, if they are at Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin level. It is like Peyton Manning vs Jeff Garcia when it comes to changing a play called by the coach. If you do it, it better work or you may be on the bench if you are at Garcia's level.
 
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