Goodyear wins at the Brickyard…and a few other observations

By Mike Smith (contact)

Monday, July 27, 2009 | 9:01 a.m.

Jimmie Johnson won the Allstate 400, but it was Goodyear that won back the confidence of the drivers. The tires Goodyear provided for last year’s race at the Brickyard had the resilience of butter, resulting in 12 lap runs before tire changes became necessary. Extensive testing and hard work by Goodyear’s engineers changed that. Actually, the Goodyear engineers may have provided a tire that was too good. Stout tires contributed to the low number of cautions that robbed the teams of opportunities to try different strategies. “Tires presented no problems Sunday. In fact, they held up so well, the few cautions presented teams hardly any opportunities to try two-tire or no-tire stops,” said Jimmie Johnson after the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya may have had the best car, but Jimmie Johnson had the best overall package of car, driver and team. Once again the No. 48 team put itself in a position to win in the final laps of a race. Will Johnson be the driver to break the record of seven Cup championships?

…

Although Montoya had a car he called “stupid fast” and was able to lead 116 laps, his speeding penalty on pit road gave Johnson the opportunity to pounce. That event changed the entire dynamic of the race and provided one of the few exciting moments in the event. Something has to be done to lessen the aero-dependency of the COT to allow for more passing and better competition in traffic. One of the few things creating excitement in a race shouldn’t be a mistake by a driver.

The other exciting moment came from the duel between Mark Martin and Johnson in the final laps. Neither Mark nor Jimmie left anything on the table and since their cars came from the same racing organization, the competition we saw was all about the driver’s ability in those final laps. If these cars weren’t so aero- sensitive, I wonder if Martin would have been able to pass Johnson.

…

It’s good to have ESPN broadcasting the races again. Its coverage was free of the some of the cliches and goofiness that we endure from other broadcasts and Tim Brewer’s technical analysis continues to be the clearest and most comprehensive of all the race broadcasts. ESPN should add Kyle Petty to its roster of on-air talent.

…

I got a kick out of the male banter and good-natured competitiveness of Tony Stewart and A.J. Foyt in the pre-race interview. I also thought it was humorous how they characterized each other’s prickly and sometimes volatile behavior as “honesty.”

This week's StockcarToon

Purchase your copy of "Nuts for Racing"