August 9, 1999 - Interesting Observations from the Brick Yard...

Interesting Observations from the Brick Yard...
August 9, 1999 - by Gary Harris

LUG NUTS and LOOSE TIRES!
Why didn't we hear about the lug nuts on (or off) of Jeff Burton's left front tire? Originally the crew had planned on a four tire pit stop but when Burton saw the other leaders only taking on two he changed his mind a left the pits after only right side tires were changed. However, it appeared from the TV camera view that the tire changer for the 99 car had removed at least two lug nuts on the left front tire before Burton left the pits. Where was NASCAR's lug nut police. A camera shot of the left side of Burton's car after the race would have let us know for sure. And since there was such a good shot of this on TV and a NASCAR official standing right there why was Burton not called back in the pits? Also the loose tire from Burton's car rolling across pit road damaged Earnhardt's car and his chance for a top-five finish. Doesn't NASCAR usually assess penalties for loose tires rolling across pit road? They do in the Busch Series. Benny Parsons addresses this in a on line chat session, click on Is this NASCAR's Official position?

CAUTION FLAG WITH 20 TO GO
Another thing, from the pit road reports with about 23 laps to go only three of the lead cars, Bobby Labonte #18, Tony Stewart #20 and Dale Earnhardt #3, had enough fuel to make it to the end of the race without pitting for fuel. It seemed NASCAR was pretty quick to throw a caution flag when Dave Marcis' engine blew with 20 laps to go. In comparison, in the Friday night the Busch race there were several occasions when a car went spinning out of control yet no cautions were thrown as the cars got down out of the way and once under control resumed the race. Immediately when Marcis blew the engine he got down on the apron and even on the grass to stay clear of traffic and then exited the race track going straight to the garage. Was NASCAR too quick with the caution or did they just not want the race to be a fuel battle? hummm...

JEFF GORDON BLVD in Pittsboro?
It was interesting to note that in the week prior to the Brick Yard that the people of Pittsboro, Indiana named a street after Jeff Gordon. It was just about six weeks prior to this at Sears Point Raceway, on June 24, 1999, that the Press Democrat Sports Editor wrote....."Jeff Gordon's home is listed in the NASCAR Winston Cup media guide as Pittsboro, Ind. Gordon begs to differ � by about 2,500 miles. "Vallejo is my home," he says. "I know I've lived a long time in Indiana, but Vallejo is my home," Gordon said. "I was born and raised here and it's great to win in front of home fans and friends at a track that had been a really tough one for us. It makes it a great victory."' (click here for the full article) Sounds like a PR problem to me!

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