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Old timers have difficulty accepting changes
Charlotte, Mar 14: As a veteran crew chief, Robbie Loomis had a standard way of doing things when he moved over to Jeff Gordon`s team in 2000. The trouble was, times were changing and Loomis was hesitant to abandon his old-school ways.
Charlotte, Mar 14: As a veteran crew chief, Robbie Loomis had a standard way of doing things when he moved over to Jeff Gordon's team in 2000. The trouble was, times were changing and Loomis was hesitant to abandon his old-school ways.
"I had to sit down and I actually read an article on open-mindedness and how you have to be receptive to new ideas and things,'' Loomis remembered. "It's very challenging. The more success you have, the harder it is to change.
"I think that's what ultimately winds up getting you in trouble, because these guys that haven't had success have a clean sheet of paper. They're willing to go out there and try anything as far as the race car is concerned.''
As technology drastically changes the ins and outs of NASCAR, veterans are slowly being forced to adapt or risk falling to the back of the pack. Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace all grew up working on cars and fine-tuning the setups. Struggling to get to Victory Lane the past few years, they were forced to step back and stop getting their hands so dirty.
"None of us really had good years the past couple of years,'' said Burton, winless in his last 44 starts. "Times have changed, and I don't think that we can keep up with all of the technology and also drive the race car.
"You can't do it anymore. ... A driver who's ignorant to the things we have learned through years of experience by setting up our cars and building them has an advantage because he's willing to turn that over to people who've studied it, paid attention to it and thought about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.''
The new attitudes seem to be working: Veterans have won three of the first four races this season. But it was the year of NASCAR's "Young Guns'' last season, when drivers 30 and under dominated the series.
Jimmie Johnson won three races as a rookie, benefiting from computer information gathered by Gordon, his teammate. Ryan Newman used his engineering degree to try new technology-driven ideas and parlayed it into rookie of the year honors.
Wallace, his teammate, went winless for the first season since 1985. He tried some of Newman's setups early in the season, rejected them after a few races, then was forced to revisit some of the new ideas based on Newman's success.
"I probably learned more from (Newman's) engineering team than he learned from me because they started off with a goal in mind, and that was they are basing everything off of the computer,'' Wallace said. "I based everything off the seat of my pants.''
Sometimes during races, Wallace gives specific instructions to his crew rather than describing to his crew chief and the team's engineers how the car feels and letting them decide how to adjust it.
Younger drivers tend to describe the car's handling and let the crew decide what to do. Labonte, the 2000 Winston Cup champion, saw his performance taper off the past two seasons.
Under new crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, he's more open to new ideas this year and scored his first win of the season last week at Atlanta. Labonte knows the influx of technology has changed the sport, putting less of an emphasis on driver skill.
"The importance has gone to the race car more than ever,'' he said. "It's taken it out of the driver's hands and put it in the race car's hands over the past five years.
"If your car's off a little bit, it doesn't matter how much experience you've got, you're not going to be able to make up for it."
Gordon, a four-time Winston Cup champion who was nearly overshadowed by teammate Johnson last season, agrees.
"Everybody always wants to know who is the best driver,'' he said. "I don't think there is such a thing because there's always somebody newer or better or faster or stronger or smarter. If you're not willing to accept that and allow yourself to get better and learn from others, even a young guy coming up, you're definitely going to be left behind.''
So veterans are going to their younger teammates for input, rather than the other way around. Burton spent years going to Martin, his older teammate for advice. When Martin started coming to him, he didn't like it.
"When we started having success, he was coming to me and asking me questions and I was really uncomfortable with that,'' Burton said. "I was like, 'You're supposed to be telling me things,' but times change, and you have to roll with them.''
These days, Burton consults with rookie teammate Greg Biffle and third-year driver Kurt Busch.
"There is no doubt that every driver on our team, including the youngest and least-experienced, can bring things to the table that teach us,'' Burton said.
Bureau Report
"I had to sit down and I actually read an article on open-mindedness and how you have to be receptive to new ideas and things,'' Loomis remembered. "It's very challenging. The more success you have, the harder it is to change.
"I think that's what ultimately winds up getting you in trouble, because these guys that haven't had success have a clean sheet of paper. They're willing to go out there and try anything as far as the race car is concerned.''
As technology drastically changes the ins and outs of NASCAR, veterans are slowly being forced to adapt or risk falling to the back of the pack. Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace all grew up working on cars and fine-tuning the setups. Struggling to get to Victory Lane the past few years, they were forced to step back and stop getting their hands so dirty.
"None of us really had good years the past couple of years,'' said Burton, winless in his last 44 starts. "Times have changed, and I don't think that we can keep up with all of the technology and also drive the race car.
"You can't do it anymore. ... A driver who's ignorant to the things we have learned through years of experience by setting up our cars and building them has an advantage because he's willing to turn that over to people who've studied it, paid attention to it and thought about it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.''
The new attitudes seem to be working: Veterans have won three of the first four races this season. But it was the year of NASCAR's "Young Guns'' last season, when drivers 30 and under dominated the series.
Jimmie Johnson won three races as a rookie, benefiting from computer information gathered by Gordon, his teammate. Ryan Newman used his engineering degree to try new technology-driven ideas and parlayed it into rookie of the year honors.
Wallace, his teammate, went winless for the first season since 1985. He tried some of Newman's setups early in the season, rejected them after a few races, then was forced to revisit some of the new ideas based on Newman's success.
"I probably learned more from (Newman's) engineering team than he learned from me because they started off with a goal in mind, and that was they are basing everything off of the computer,'' Wallace said. "I based everything off the seat of my pants.''
Sometimes during races, Wallace gives specific instructions to his crew rather than describing to his crew chief and the team's engineers how the car feels and letting them decide how to adjust it.
Younger drivers tend to describe the car's handling and let the crew decide what to do. Labonte, the 2000 Winston Cup champion, saw his performance taper off the past two seasons.
Under new crew chief Michael "Fatback" McSwain, he's more open to new ideas this year and scored his first win of the season last week at Atlanta. Labonte knows the influx of technology has changed the sport, putting less of an emphasis on driver skill.
"The importance has gone to the race car more than ever,'' he said. "It's taken it out of the driver's hands and put it in the race car's hands over the past five years.
"If your car's off a little bit, it doesn't matter how much experience you've got, you're not going to be able to make up for it."
Gordon, a four-time Winston Cup champion who was nearly overshadowed by teammate Johnson last season, agrees.
"Everybody always wants to know who is the best driver,'' he said. "I don't think there is such a thing because there's always somebody newer or better or faster or stronger or smarter. If you're not willing to accept that and allow yourself to get better and learn from others, even a young guy coming up, you're definitely going to be left behind.''
So veterans are going to their younger teammates for input, rather than the other way around. Burton spent years going to Martin, his older teammate for advice. When Martin started coming to him, he didn't like it.
"When we started having success, he was coming to me and asking me questions and I was really uncomfortable with that,'' Burton said. "I was like, 'You're supposed to be telling me things,' but times change, and you have to roll with them.''
These days, Burton consults with rookie teammate Greg Biffle and third-year driver Kurt Busch.
"There is no doubt that every driver on our team, including the youngest and least-experienced, can bring things to the table that teach us,'' Burton said.
Bureau Report