43 guys, 43 teams

Sporting News, The, Oct 7, 2005 by Lee Spencer

In NASCAR the word teammate is a misnomer.

Mark Martin cannot call Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards teammates in the normal sense of the word. Those men have a sole agenda on race day: to take the checkered flag.

Unlike baseball, in which nine players are united on a team and fighting for the win against another team, drivers race against 42 drivers. The only true teammates a driver has are his crew members.

Yes, there are benefits to having multiple sources of information. Just ask Jimmie Johnson, who credited Kyle Busch and the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team's test for helping him win last Sunday at Dover.

And we've seen the Roush boys use one another as picks and allow one another to lead a lap and gain bonus points--as was the case in California, when they all took turns at the point. When Kurt Busch relinquished the lead to Martin for a lap at Dover, it wasn't by accident. But in the closing laps at Loudon, Kenseth and Biffle were battling door to door and nose to tail for third place and every point each could achieve on his own.

Martin has always raced under the driver's golden rule: Race other drivers the way that you want to be raced. Martin gives his fellow Roush racers special consideration--as long as they have raced him with the same respect. But it's no different from the way he races longtime friend and competitor Rusty Wallace.

"I don't feel that teammate is the proper term. I raced Rusty just like Biffle raced Matt because Rusty is my friend and I respect him," Martin says. "Greg had to be extra careful to not mess Matt up, and I had to do the same with Rusty."

Martin offered Wallace that same leeway at Dover, when Wallace's No. 2 car made a late race charge. As the laps wound down, the big question was whether Hendrick teammates Johnson and Kyle Busch would play nice together. Johnson has age and experience over Busch, who, though very green, clung to Johnson's bumper on the final lap. Fortunately for Johnson, who took the points lead with the victory, Busch controlled his aggressiveness--though he said it didn't matter who was in front of him.

"Everyone gets aggressive at times," Johnson says. "But I felt comfortable leading the race knowing my teammate was back there."

In the end, it doesn't matter who is back there. A driver will form an alliance with anyone--for exactly as long as that alliance proves beneficial.

speed read

There has been dramatic improvement in the practice times of the No. 32 Chevrolet since James Ince began working his magic as crew chief. Now it's up to Bobby Hamilton Jr. and the team to show similar improvement on race day.

INSIDE DISH

With less than rave reviews of the ever-changing track surface at Lowe's Motor Speedway from Chasers Tony Stewart. Greg Biffle and Mark Martin after a test last week. NASCAR officials are considering running restrictor plates on the cars in the October 15 race at Charlotte. Stewart and Biffle wrecked two cars apiece during the tests. After plowing his car at 170 mph into the Turn 2 wall Biffle felt the aftereffects last weekend at Dover. "From the eye. the track looks good," Biffle says. But the tire compound doesn't work well with the track's new surface. NASCAR doesn't expect any relief until the track is repaved after the race. * Ryan Newman's strategy for the Chase ncluaes additional seat time in Busch companion events--including at Lowe's, Texas and Homestead. He has won the Past four Busch races he entered, including last weekend from the pole at Dover. The team restructured the pit crew during the summer, placing Mitch Lash at jackman and Scott Reiniger at front tire carrier. The team's performance in the pits has been noticeably better over the past month. * NASCAR is expected to meet with owners this week to discuss the car of tomorrow. Top owners in the garage are worried about the cost; each new car is expected to cost $150,000-plus. Multiply that by 25 cars per team and the total will make it impossible for many organizations to stay in business. The first test of the restrictor-plate car of tomorrow is scheduled for October 3. NASCAR hopes to have the new car ready for competition for the 2007 season. * Last week, Michael Waltrip officially announced his plans to drive for Bill Davis Racing with NAPA as his sponsor. The question is whether Teresa Earnhardt, who owns the No. 15 car Waltrip drives now, will relinquish the number to BDR. * NASCAR president Mike Helton's warning before Sunday's race at Dover that severe penalties would be levied for aggressive driving seems to have worked. The race at New Hampshire had angry confrontations. The Dover race was clean.

Major managerial changes occurred at Robert Yates Racing last week after Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett failed to qualify for the Chase. RYR hopes that moving Todd Parrott from Sadler's No. 38 team to Jarrett's No. 88 team will offer the leadership the squad has been missing since 2002; Parrott is Jarrett's third crew chief this season. He was Jarrett's crew chief for a championship in 1999, and it shouldn't take long to see whether the veterans can regain their chemistry. Kevin Buskirk, a savvy chassis guy, will act as interim crew chief for Sadler. Team owner Robert Yates admits that RYR, which has an engine program that has topped the garage for years, is behind on its aerodynamic program. With help from Ford aero engineer Bernie Marcus, Yates expects results before the season's end.