Backseat Drivers Fan Council

Rating the racing in California and early Chase prognostications

Tony Stewart is a virtual lock to make the Chase according to the Fan Council. (Photo by ASP, Inc.)

by Dustin Long

Five races into the season and a few drivers expected to make the Chase are struggling. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne both are outside the top 20 in points. Last year’s runner-up, Carl Edwards, has not shown the strength he did last season just yet. Kyle Busch, a regular in the Chase, is 14th in points.

While there’s plenty of time to reverse course for those drivers — the Chase field won’t be set for more than five months — members of the Backstreet Drivers Fan Council are not confident all those drivers will be among the top 12 when the Chase field is set after Richmond in September.

This week, the Fan Council looks at who will make the Chase and who won’t, along with grading last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway.

WHO WILL MAKE THE CHASE?
After five races last year, nine of the top 12 (if you factor in the wildcard spots) went on the make the Chase. Backseat Drivers Fan Council members were given a list of the 12 drivers who would make the Chase (if it started today with the top 10 and two wildcard drivers) and asked which ones would make the Chase. Here’s how they voted:

98.3 percent picked Tony Stewart (4th in points but has 2 wins)
97.0 percent picked Kevin Harvick (2nd in points)
95.0 percent picked Jimmie Johnson (9th in points)
90.0 percent picked Matt Kenseth (6th in points with 1 win)
89.0 percent picked Brad Keselowski (would be 11th via wildcard with 1 win)
85.7 percent picked Greg Biffle (points leader)
83.4 percent picked Denny Hamlin (7th in points with 1 win)
76.4 percent picked Dale Earnhardt Jr. (3rd in points)
45.2 percent picked Ryan Newman (10th in points)
25.6 percent picked Clint Bowyer (8th in points)
18.3 percent picked Martin Truex Jr. (5th in points)
4.7 percent picked Paul Menard (11th in points)

What Fan Council members said:
• Hamlin and Newman are simply not showing the consistency and I don't think they will recover. If they make it, it will be by wildcard only. Truex, Bowyer and Menard are simply not strong enough in their current situations to make the Chase this year, though I do believe all three will (be a) threat and all will possibly get wins this season.

• Think the switch to Ford from Dodge is going to impact (Brad Keselowski) toward the end of the season. Not sure (Martin Truex Jr.) and (Paul Menard) still have the consistency needed.

• MWR cars (Truex and Bowyer) will not make it into the Chase. Their luck will run out.

• Junior still has his summer swoon coming. I think ultimately that and the fact that he doesn't win will keep him out. Truex will not be able to sustain nor will Menard or Bowyer.

• It's really too early to tell.

• Sorry, I just don't see Jr. having the consistency needed to make the Chase

• Believe it or not, I think it's Jimmie's year to miss it

• Not convinced on either Jr. or Menard, and I have Newman falling out too.

• The Biff will fade in time. The 39 has never really showed any strength. Martin Truex has a good team this year and will make it in.

Carl Edwards will not be on the outside looking in for long. (Photo by ASP, Inc.)

SO WHO WILL MAKE THE CHASE OF THOSE NOT IN THE TOP 12?
Fan Council members were given a list of the drivers who would not make the Chase if it started today and asked which ones will be there come September:

84.7 percent picked Carl Edwards (12th in points)
82.0 percent picked Kyle Busch (14th in points)
61.0 percent picked Jeff Gordon (25th in points)
27.7 percent picked Kasey Kahne (27th in points)
17.0 percent picked Jeff Burton (15th in points)
14.3 percent picked Joey Logano (13th in points)
8.3 percent picked AJ Allmendinger (26th in points)
7.7 percent picked Jamie McMurray (22nd in points)
7.3 percent picked Mark Martin (17th in points)
7.3 percent picked Juan Pablo Montoya (18th in points)
7.0 percent picked Marcos Ambrose (24th in points)
6.7 percent picked Kurt Busch (23rd in points)
6.3 percent picked Regan Smith (19th in points)
5.3 percent picked Bobby Labonte (20th in points)
5.3 percent picked Casey Mears (29th in points)
5.0 percent picked Aric Almirola (21st in points)
5.0 percent picked Dave Blaney (28th in points)
5.0 percent picked David Gilliland (30th in points)

What Fan Council members said:
• I don't see Joey Logano even winning a race this year and continuing to struggle to adapt to the Cup level. Jeff Burton has a winless streak almost as long as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and he needs to find victory lane again before he can contend for a championship.

• Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, & AJ would be possibilities. Chose Jeff just because he seems to have better luck.

• Carl and Kasey both have good equipment and just are having rotten luck. I don't think Carl is suffering from the Denny Hamlin-post-championship-loss syndrome.

• I think it is Joey's time. This year should see all 3 Gibbs cars in the Chase. I think that Kyle and Denny have the best chance of winning the championship. I think Gordon and the 24 team will get things on track and get back into the mix in the next 6-8 races, too.

• How sad is it that Juan Pablo Montoya and Jaime McMurray have been in each of the first five races this year, yet Mark Martin missed Bristol and is still ahead of both in points. EGR needs help.

• I do think that Kasey Kahne could possibly win multiple races and get in via the wildcard.

• I think Carl, Kyle and Jeff Gordon are head and shoulders above the rest of this group. Marcos Ambrose and JPM might have a shot at a wildcard if they can win the road races or finally pick up an oval win.

• I think Logano is gonna shock the world since this is his "contract" year. Expect him to have a breakout (year) like Brad K did last season.

• Think Carl Edwards will barely make it. Kyle Busch took such a blow to his ego last year not sure he will make it at all this time.

• Edwards, Kyle Busch, and Gordon. Too good to miss it.

GRADING SUNDAY’S CUP RACE AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY

41.2 percent called it Good
39.9 percent called it Fair
15.3 percent called it Poor
3.7 percent called it Great

What Fan Council members said:
• Last three years at this track have been much more enjoyable than prior to then, last year’s race probably being the greatest ever at the track. There was some really outstanding racing Sunday especially watching Tony Stewart race his way through the field, however it was about half and half exciting and boring. I think if the race had gotten a chance at going the distance, then we would have seen another great finish much like last year with Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson

• When drivers are racing the rain, the races are typically quiet and rather boring.

• With all the negative comments about Bristol and the lack of cautions, where are all those people this week?

• Fontana is just a boring race — add the rain & at least it put me out of my misery more quickly

• Fast and strange come to mind when thinking about this race. It really seemed as though they were trying to outrun the rain. I also wondered if the amount of pit road penalties in some sense was due to the impending rain. But it did make the whole rain-shortened race more exciting.

• I was at the race, and although there were no cautions, there were plenty of duels going on anywhere on the track. I'm guessing this didn't play as well on TV as it did if you were at ACS.

• The intensity of racing to halfway really drove up the level of driving. No one was just cruising.

• In the 13 years I’ve been watching the sport, that was the worst race I've ever watched.

• I know Cali is supposed to be boring, but I wasn't bored. Perhaps it was because of low expectations or perhaps TV camera coverage was better.

• I was on top of a motor home in turn 3. The racing looked great from there. I liked the fact that there were no cautions until the rain came.

• Any race that ends early can't be considered "good."

• I normally find the "racing" at Fontana boring because of the long green-flag runs that allows for the field to be strung out. This one, however, was exciting. It's amazing what looming rain will do to a boring race.

I don't particularly care for long green flag racing. I like it when drivers can come in and adjust their cars better than they can do in a green flag pit stop.

Fans can join the Backseat Drivers Fan Council by sending Dustin an email at dustinlong002@gmail.com.

Please include the following information:
Name, city, state, Twitter name, e-mail address and favorite driver.

Feature on Racing Hub

2012

COMMENTS

Backseat Drivers Fan Council

Qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo by ASP, Inc.)

by Dustin Long

Does qualifying matter? Are fans watching? Is there a better way? Those were among some of the questions members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council debated this week, along with rating last weekend’s Cup race at Las Vegas and if what is happening in the Nationwide Series is leading them to watch more of that series.

Here’s what Fan Council members had to say this week:

Cup qualifying: When should it be held?

58.0 percent said they like Cup qualifying on Friday
27.8 percent said they like Cup qualifying on Saturday
14.2 percent said Other

Here’s what Fan Council members said:
• It's nice to sit after a long week and watch the cars go around the track on Friday nights. I know it sounds very simplistic, but I find it a good way to wind down.

• I prefer the Friday qualifying. It gives the teams more chance to work on the cars and more of a chance to qualify if weather becomes an issue.

• I like it when the tracks can get most of the action on two days. I think I could go to more races if the weekends were more compact. I like to see EVERYTHING when I go so when they do quals and practices on Friday, it is a little more expensive.

• Qualifying on Friday with one practice, gives the drivers two practices on Saturday. This always gives the drivers and crew chiefs the time necessary to adjust their cars properly and makes for a better race.

• I hate qualifying on Saturday. When I show up to the track Saturday I enjoy watching 2 hours of Cup practice. It’s cool to see your driver making runs and listening to them on the scanner. When they just do quals on Saturday you see your driver for about a minute. Then its over. Plus the track changes so much from Friday to Sunday. I think it makes it harder for guys to hit on setups. While one guy can hit on it and just kill everyone.

• Qualifying is easier to "watch" on Twitter and at work on Fridays. More fun to watch practice on Saturday, plus I think it gives a better opportunity to fine tune cars after qualifying.

• Qualify before the Nationwide race makes for a better Saturday. May even bring more people for the Nationwide race.

Are you watching qualifying?
54.2 percent said they watch as much of qualifying as they can
27.3 percent said they’ll watch it if they have nothing else to do
13.1 percent said they don’t care for qualifying except to see where their driver starts
5.4 percent said qualifying is boring and they don’t watch it.

What Fan Council members said:
• I'm watching and trying to mine the commentary for little nuggets of information that will help my fantasy team picks.

• I'm not a fan of seeing single cars on track making circles, I would love to see some kind of format with multiple cars on track but understand that could skew the times on tracks where drafting could come into play.

• I enjoy watching/listening to the discussions and interviews. However, I hate when they don't actually show the cars qualifying. Let the interview audio run over the qualifying video. I don't need to see the people talking.

• I DVR it every week and try to replay as much as I can.

• I don't watch qualifying. I would be a lot more interested if there were points awarded for the pole.

• My stance on watching qualifying has changed recently ever since I switched my cell phone to Sprint. Thank goodness for Sprint because I can watch all practices and qualifying on my phone, and I watch every chance I get.

• Let's be honest, nothing exciting here. Only curious to know how my drivers are doing.

• I not only watch it, but follow it on NASCAR.com PitCommand.

Qualifying races: Gatorade Duel No. 2. (ASP, Inc.)

What about qualifying races?
Daytona holds qualifying races to help set the lineup for the Daytona 500. Fan Council members were asked what would they think if NASCAR set the field at some tracks via a qualifying race.

34.7 percent Loved the idea
26.3 percent Liked the idea
24.2 percent Hated the idea
14.8 percent said they Don’t Care

What Fan Council members said:
• In my opinion, NASCAR (and specifically, the Sprint Cup Series) is the top of the food chain when it comes to American motorsports. Let's leave the qualifying and heat races to local tracks. In this economy, teams can't afford to tear up and replace equipment in preliminary events.

• Love the idea for Daytona 500 and love it for other tracks as well!! The more racing the better and it would give it a grassroots type feeling....like Saturday night dirt track racing where you qualify and then you race your feature.

• I like the opportunity for more races. That way, you know that the best cars that will race will be racing on Sunday. Also, if NASCAR decides to go this way, allow a backup car for the race with no penalty if they wreck in the qualifying race.

• No! No! No! Hate the idea.

• I love the idea of it, but with the top 35 rule, it is blunted somewhat.

• More racing = more fun. I'd rather watch them race each other. It would probably increase the need for backup cars.

• Stop trying to change things that are not needed...

• They do that at Daytona for the 500, and it is STUPID! Why qualify 3rd and have to start 28th?

• That would be FANtastic!

• I'd actually prefer <GASP> the F1 style of qualifying. Some type of knockout qualifying under race conditions as opposed to one car on the track at a time.

Rating Sunday’s Las Vegas Cup race
64.7 percent called it Good
17.6 percent called it Fair
12.9 percent called it Great
4.7 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• The middle part of the event was a typical 1.5-mile track race; not much excitement. The battle at the end, between Stewart & Johnson made up for it.

• I thought it was pretty good as I attended the race, not sure how it looked on TV. It seemed like the race had a dominant car leading for each quarter. First it was Junior, then Kenseth, Johnson, and finally Stewart. These EFI issues are scaring me though.

• Track position is way too important on mile-and-a-half tracks nowadays, and this showed again on Sunday. It's not fun to see a car lead a large portion of the race and then not be able to pass cars on older tires once back in traffic. Good cars should be able to come to the front.

• Oh here it comes.. You'll get a bunch of boring comments. It wasn't!!! I watched a lot of drivers pass a lot of cars. That is racing! I liked it!!

• I actually found it boring until the last 10 laps. No action.

• Very boring race up until the final 20 laps. Cookie Cutter tracks are always snoozers and I'm glad Las Vegas doesn't have a second race.

• I'm only giving it a good rating due to the way the race ended. There was some serious driving going on behind the wheel of that number 14 and the number 48 and it made for one hell of a show towards the end. The first 240 laps though...well there's a reason the term cookie cutter keeps being brought up with these tracks. They are all different we know and they each drive different but the viewing experience of tracks like Vegas, Kansas, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Michigan, and California are always the same and produce the same results when you watch.

• I thought Vegas was as good as you could get at a 1.5-mile track that isn't Atlanta.

Nationwide Series viewership
The first three Nationwide races have been won by non-Cup regulars with James Buescher winning at Daytona, Elliott Sadler winning at Phoenix and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. winning at Las Vegas. Fan Council members were asked if seeing the Nationwide regulars win makes them want to watch more of the races in this series.

58.3 percent said Yes
37.3 percent said their decision to watch Nationwide races is not impacted by this
4.3 percent said No

What Fan Council members said:
• This is exactly as it should be! Great job by NASCAR and some of the Cup team owners to take focus in the NNS off NSCS drivers.

• I love the Nationwide regulars are putting on a show. Since Kyle Busch isn't such a factor at the beginning of this year, others have a chance of showing what they got. It's exciting, and I love they get the spotlight. It's also fantastic we get to see some new faces and see who the next stars of this sport are going to be.

• I absolutely believe there should be no Cup drivers in Nationwide (and I'm a Kasey Kahne fan.) So I have been thrilled to see non-Cup drivers win in their own series!!!

• I used to watch every Nationwide and Truck race, but once Kyle Busch took over I stopped watching those where he was entered. The more I see the non-Cup regulars win, the more I want to start watching again.

• I don't care whether a Cup guy or a non-Cup guy wins. I think this shows the folly of NASCAR trying to push Cup guys out of the series through their "declare which championship you are running for" rule. Every Cup guy who normally runs Nationwide races except Carl Edwards was in those first three races this season. Things like that just work themselves out.

• There are two reasons for me NOT to watch the Nationwide races this year... one NO Carl Edwards and two TOO much Danica.

• Ever since Danica Patrick has decided to be full time in Nationwide, I started watching every race. Last year, I could care less who won in Nationwide unless Danica won it.

• I honestly could not care less about Elliot Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or even Austin Dillon. I watch Nationwide races because they are on, not because I have interest in anyone running for a Nationwide championship. You could put 43 monkeys in the drivers seats and I would still watch because it is a race.

Follow Dustin on Twitter: @DustinLong

2012

Feature on Racing Hub

COMMENTS

Backseat Drivers Fan Council

by Dustin Long

The Backseats Drivers Fan Council is back! While NASCAR and tracks have their own fan councils, most people don’t see the results of what fans are asked. That’s why I started a fan council last year where anyone could answer questions about the sport and see the results, along with comments fellow council members made.

So on to Year 2 of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council.

2012

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