Streak To The Finish...Just The Bare Facts at LVMS

Instead of reviewing the trials and tribulations that occured at LVMS, I wanted to write about this weeks performance by Toyota and the #44 Team.

Needless to say that the racing at the new and improved NEON experience track shows you can spend millions of dollars but the overall results are horrendous and LVMS wants to try and get a second race, good luck on that one, no pun intended.

Three down and three to go. No we are not talking football here folks. DJ has used 3 of his 6 alloted championship provisionals to make the first 3 races of the season. He has failed to make a race on speed and if they do not figure out the downforce issues with these Toyota's, DJ might be joining his two other teammates at home watching the race.

The #44 battled loose conditions the entire race and could not move up through the field. The only reason the 44 moved up was with all the other cars being involved in wrecks or other mechanical problems. Tire issues were also a factor with the balance of the car. Okay, am I missing something here? Things don't seem to be going the way Toyota wanted it to go.

I hope that they figure out what these issues are and do it quickly, otherwise you might not see any Toyota's in the field for the races.

Should NASCAR take lessons from the DMV?

I have recently read numerous articles about the inspection process that the teams have to go through before they can put their cars on the track and I must say that NASCAR needs to re-evaluate their program. The biggest issue is how the inspections are conducted by order of point standings. Is this fair? Does it mean that the drivers sitting 19th, 34th, or even 45th in points should have equal time on the track as the driver sitting 1st in points? Heck yes!!! As much as NASCAR says it is fair with their rules, this is one rule that needs to be put through the House of NASCAR and revamped. Come on, if the DMV can move vehicles like clockwork through their inspections, don’t you think NASCAR could do the same? Heck, at least NASCAR doesn’t have to worry about the alignment of the headlights.

All cars should be inspected first before anyone gets out on the track for practice. The teams sitting lower in the points are losing valuable practice time while the top teams are taking advantage of the situation. If a car does not make it through inspection the first time, well that is the teams fault and so they should wait but that should not be the case if you make it the first time. Does this mean that NASCAR would have to start earlier in the day for the inspections? Oh my gosh, it may cut into their sleep time. Give me a break, these inspectors are more then likely making big bucks for what they are doing so who cares if they have to start early. The teams that are really hurting are the ones that are just starting out like the Toyota teams. Okay, we all know that the teams get to come to certain tracks and test well that is what it is, testing. They take back to their shops what they learned from their testing to apply for the upcoming race. Well things can change with track conditions and things need to be looked at but if these teams are not getting the time required, i.e. because of the inspection process, is that really fair?

This is an issue that fans really don’t care about but come on now, lets be fair to all the teams. Being a diehard fan of the sport, it is just my opinion that NASCAR really needs to take a hard look into this problem and yes I call it a problem. NASCAR would probably come back and say it is an inconvenience. Typical answer from the office.