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UCAP - Thursday TMS BGN Practice and Qualifying - Part 2
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CarGuru > Nascar > UCAP - Thursday TMS BGN Practice and Qualifying - Part 2 18 April 2005 19:09:00

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UCAP - Thursday TMS BGN Practice and Qualifying - Part 2

Tommy Wood 18 April 2005 19:09:00
 I went to TMS yesterday for BGN practice and qualifying. Thanks to the
Dallas Morning News sponsorship, admission and parking was free. I got more
than my money's worth.

PART 2 - BGN PRACTICE

So, how did BGN practice go? It was interesting. Man, I cannot believe
how many Cup guys are driving in BGN now. There must be at least a dozen,
high-profile Cup drivers running BGN. Watching the BGN or CTS is almost
like watching a mini-Cup race (only a tiny bit slower at 190 mph vs. 195 mph
and shorter 300 miles vs 500 miles), but economically attractive to frugal
race fans.

I took my scanner (a second generation-digital programmable Uniden SC200).
It is so great to have a programmable scanner. For $18 a year, I can
download a file from an internet site that has all the correct primary AND
backup frequencies. The night before practice, in 90 seconds, I downloaded
all new frequencies from the internet into the scanner and didn't have to
fat finger any numbers. Neat, neat, neat. When I began following racing in
1997, most of the teams would change radio frequencies often, maybe even
every race and I had to spend an hour or two punching numbers before each
race. Now, they seldom change frequencies during a race season, and most
changes happen over the off-season. This makes fat fingering frequencies
less horrible unless you're like me and go to the IRL/CTS races between Cup
races. Programmable scanners are a gift from God, that's all I've got to
say. Without a doubt, the scanner is one of the neatest things about going
to a race in person. Traffic is the least neat thing.

I started by scanning all frequencies and got interested in listening to
Mikey Waltrip when the radio stopped on his channel and he was spewing out
the most prolific series of expletives I'd ever heard from Mikey. Every
other word was f***, s***, or c**sucker. I've never listened to Mikey's
radio before, but knowing him from TV, it seemed uncharacteristic of him.
So, peaking my interest, I just stayed an Mikey's channel and listened in.
He hated his car. He was barking at his team in a very unprofessional way,
kind of mean-spirited in the way he was yelling at people I thought. Maybe
he's like this, but it just seemed out of character.

So, he said the car just isn't turning right. "I turn the steering wheel
left into the corner and the car turns right" (this is counterintuitive,
isn't it?). So, the crew spews off a few things to do, most of which I
didn't understand and can't recall exactly what they did, but Mikey got real
upset when they were about to send him back out without changing the A-arm.
So, there was an argument about changing the A-arm or not and the crew chief
told him to go out and try the car first and then they'd change the A-arm.
He went out and came back in just as unhappy and told the crew that maybe he
wasn't explaining to them how bad the car was. Mikey told them the car
wasn't any better and they were screwing around too much and were going to
miss practice, with a few more expletives thrown in for good measure. He
said the car would immediately try to spin out going into the corner and
then in the middle of the corner it won't turn at all.

The times were not lying in that he was about 1.5 seconds slower than the
fast cars and he wasn't even on the pylon, which shows the fastest 26 cars.
Then, he yelled at the spotter for not calling his lap times on the track
(the spotter had been calling lap times after the run). Then, Mikey told
the spotter to just quit making excuses and do what he said and just to say
OK, not argue with him. Hmmmmm.teamwork. Hmmm.Christmas card lists.

So, the crew told him they'd put their heads together and decide what to
do to make the car better. I thought they might be to the point where
they'd roll the backup car out, but that never came up.

In the meantime, while the crew decided what else to change on the car,
they told Mikey they'd put some tape on (for qualifying trim) and let him go
out and skuff a set of tires. Mikey argued again that they were going to
mess around and miss the race if they didn't get the car better. He
continued to tell them, that he wasn't getting the point across about how
bad the car was.

So, Mikey went out and skuffed a set of tires and came back in and TOLD
THE CREW THAT THE TAPE HAD FIXED THE CAR. He said that the front end was
laying into the track now and they would make a couple more minor changes
and they'd be good to go. So, they made a couple of other minor changes (a
rear spring I think), Mikey went back out and ran a full second faster (with
just a tape change). Then, with another minor change, he shaved another .5
seconds off his previously slow times. Now, I'm amazed by this, but if you
look at the front end of the BGN chevy, it does have a sloped front scoop
hood on it that would clearly act a lot different to 190 mph air with and
without tape on it (smooth surface versus louvered surface).

So, I'm blown away by how something like tape will take a car from being
EVIL, to being OK or GOOD.

So, practice is over and the very boring practice of IROC cars takes an
hour or two. I'm surprised they let these guys go out without spotters, but
I suppose since they just go around single file and don't pass anybody, it's
OK. The IROC race at TMS is a real disappointment to me, especially since
they combined Cup qualifying with the IROC race on Friday and won't let you
buy a cheap qualifying ticket, just the combo ticket for $30 (after a $10
discount).




Add comment
Martin X. Moleski 18 April 2005 19:09:00 permanent link ]
 On 15 Apr 2005 22:50:09 GMT, "Tommy Wood" <tgwood@nospam.com>­ wrote:
... Without a doubt, the scanner is one of the neatest things about going >to a race in person. Traffic is the least neat thing.

Thanks so much for the incredible UCAPs. I'm just part way through
the collection, but you have done a most amazing job--much appreciated!
... Every >other word was f***, s***, or c**sucker.

I worked in a welding company one summer. That's how folks talked
there. It was normal vocabulary for them.
... it just seemed out of character.

Well, on TV he's out of the car and the stress levels are
down (or different).
... So, I'm blown away by how something like tape will take a car from being >EVIL, to being OK or GOOD.

Fascinating!

Marty

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CarGuru > Nascar > UCAP - Thursday TMS BGN Practice and Qualifying - Part 2 18 April 2005 19:09:00

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