Has Rusty Nailed Gordon’s Problem?
Jeff Gordon has not had a stellar year, that much is painfully obvious. Not since his rookie year has he has finished outside the top ten. And this week it was announced his crew chief has left, effective immediately, for a job with Petty Enterprises. Rusty Wallace in a wide ranging interview reflecting on life after NASCAR was asked if he understands “why Gordon is having a hard time getting a feel for his car?”
“No, it doesn’t shock me. Some guys just 100 percent rely on their crew chiefs to get the job done for them, to get their car handling. I’ve never been that type of guy. You guys all know me, I’m a hands-on chassis that does all the shocks and springs and car settings myself. Some of these guys that have to rely 100 percent on the crew chief and their team to make it work, sometimes struggle when that situation grows apart. I think that’s where Jeff is at right now. He’s putting a lot of focus on those guys to get that car handling for him. He has to rely on those crew guys to do that. I don’t like to back myself into a box like that where I’ve got to totally rely on somebody else, and I think that’s where he’s suffering right now.”
Well there’s “one crew guy” he won’t be relying on now.
NASCAR, Auto Racing, Sports
Rusty’s ability to understand racing car dynamics has been his blessing and curse. His championship year and championship contending years were in the pre-aero era when speed was largely dictated by tires and car set ups. Rusty lost his edge when the Aero considerations started to outweigh the mechanical setups, and he continued to tinker without listening to his crew chiefs. He knew better than any one else, and he paid the competitive price.
As for Gordon, it sounds plausible. It’s hard to understand how a guy can have four titles and not have a clue as to how the car works and what the adjustments do. Maybe you should ask Ray Evernham how well Jeff undestood the car dynamics back when Ray ran his car crew?
Maybe that’s also a part of Junior’s problem?
I might buy into Rusty’s suggestion in the case of Earnhadt Jr. When push comes to shove he doesn’t have a long history of driving experiance.
Gordon on the other hand, came up from the sprint car/midget ranks. I find it difficult to believe with the open wheel sucess he enjoyed he didn’t learn the mechanics of making a car go in a circle.
It’s possible, but less likely.