NASCAR THIS WEEK 8 - THE DERRICK. / The News-Herald Wednesday, March 18, 2020

QUESTIONS & ATTITUDE

Compelling questions ... and maybe a few actual answers

NASCAR’s team haulers will remain idle until further notice. [NEWS-JOURNAL FILE]

What happened to the idea of racing without fans present?

If feasible, NASCAR would love to have been the only game on TV Sunday afternoon. Mr. Hunch suggests the directive to red- flag Atlanta came from the Boys in Legal, who don’t necessarily call the shots but can instill the fear of American jurisprudence into those who do.

Good ol’ liability issues?

Seems like an obvious answer from this angle. If you’re run- ning an operation of any sort and decide that the show must Joey Logano won two of the first four races before the season was red-flagged. [AP/RALPH FRESO] go on, even in altered fashion, but everyone else in your broad industry is shutting down due to the threat of illness, you could have a major legal issue if someone gets sick on your watch. You’ll be deposed faster Coronavirus the only thing than you can say Morgan or Morgan.

Are the postponed races slowing Logano’s season doomed? By Godwin Kelly what helps me get through it. we’re seeing the results.” It would be a logistical night- [email protected] “In our sport you have a 1-in-40 Ryan Blaney, who was in position to mare if they tried to squeeze chance of winning, so if you do the win three races this season, and Kesel- postponed races into midweek oey Logano is off to a fast start in math, you lose way more than you win. owski, round out the Penske roster. dates later in the season. So my the NASCAR Cup Series, scoring What I do is find ways to find little vic- “All three cars are showing bet- guess is, all or nearly all post- two wins in the first four races tories in the race, like finding the bal- ter performance, which is what you poned races are doomed, we’ll of the season in his No. 22 Team ance in your car, or any kind of gain.” want to see,” Logano said. “You want have an abbreviated regular JPenske Ford. Logano looks at both sides of the to see your teammates right up there season and by September the Always the optimist, Logano said equation. Celebrate the victories; ana- with you and pushing each other to be playoffs will start and all this he is trying to maintain an even keel lyze ways to get better following a loss. better. will be long gone. That’s a guess knowing stock car racing has up and “It’s important to look at your weak- “We are seeing that and we’ve as well as a hope. down cycles. nesses, for sure, but celebrate the parts opened the lines of communication “It’s been a good start for sure,” he of the race where you excelled,” he a little more between teams. It was a Ken Willis, ken.willis said in a recent telephone interview. said. “You try to ride the wave as much lot to wrap my head around, but obvi- @news-jrnl.com “You know how things go. Sports as possible and during the lows, you try ously, the performance has been there changes so quickly, you never know to stay positive and keep grinding.” and it was the right change at this what will happen next.” Logano has been the primary benefi- point.” CUP STANDINGS Logano must have a crystal ball ciary of a crew chief swap engineered The future of the sport looks healthy because he made these comments by team owner Roger Penske. (sans coronavirus), according to 1. Kevin Harvick 164 before NASCAR canceled the races Penske paired Paul Wolfe, who spent Logano. The 2018 NASCAR champion 2. Joey Logano 163 at Atlanta and Homestead because of several years on the box for Brad Kes- likes the changes he is seeing through- 3. Chase Elliott 144 coronavirus fears. elowski, with Logano and the two have out the industry. 4. Alex Bowman 138 “It’s nice to have a couple of victo- sound instant magic. He credits the new and older players 5. Jimmie Johnson 131 ries under the belt, but things can hap- “It says a lot about what we’ve been at NASCAR’s executive level for creat- 6. Ryan Blaney 123 pen quick and it’s a long, long season,” able to do as a company and how well ing more excitement and some recent 7. Kyle Larson 121 he said. “We are four races into the we work together,” Wolfe said after tweaks to the future schedule. 7. Aric Almirola 121 season and we have a long way to go so Logano won Phoenix. “We need to “There’s a good mix at NASCAR 9. Matt DiBenedetto 118 we need to make sure we are competi- obviously continue to do that as we right now,” he said. “Ben Kennedy is 9. Brad Keselowski 118 tive when we get back to Phoenix.” move forward.” the younger guy with a lot of experi- 11. Denny Hamlin 111 The 29-year-old driver scored two It has become apparent that Team ence around him with Mike Helton, Jim 11. 111 wins in all of 2019 but has trained Penske will contend for a Cup Series France and those types of people who 13. 105 himself to handle the ups and downs of championship this season thanks to the have been in the sport forever. 14. Chris Buescher 102 the sport. internal moves. “It’s good to have a little mix of both 15. Martin Truex Jr. 96 “Over years of experience you got to “It looks like Roger Penske is a genius young and older. The job is to give the 16. Kurt Busch 90 learn a way of dealing with it,” he said. at this point, doesn’t it?” Logano said fans what they want and they want 17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 88 “I’ve always been a silver-lining type with a laugh. “It’s been pretty cool. road courses. People need to look at 18. Bubba Wallace 87 of guy who tries to look at the positives I think it was a healthy change for the data, young or old, and the data 18. William Byron 87 at the end of the day. I think that’s everyone at Team Penske and now says road-course racing.” 20. Austin Dillon 77

2 0 2 0 C U P S E R I E S April 5: Bristol June 21: Chicagoland Sept. 6: Darlington SCHEDULE AND WINNERS April 19: Richmond June 27: Pocono Sept. 12: Richmond Feb. 9: Clash at Daytona (Erik Jones) April 26: Talladega June 28: Pocono Sept. 19: Bristol Feb. 16: (Denny Hamlin) May 3: Dover July 5: Indianapolis Sept. 27: Las Vegas Feb. 23: Las Vegas (Joey Logano) May 9: Martinsville July 11: Kentucky Oct. 4: Talladega March 1: Fontana (Alex Bowman) May 16: All-Star Race at Charlotte July 19: New Hampshire Oct. 11: Charlotte March 8: Phoenix (Joey Logano) May 24: Charlotte Aug. 9: Michigan Oct. 18: Kansas March 15: Atlanta (postponed) May 31: Kansas Aug. 16: Watkins Glen Oct. 25: Texas March 22: Homestead-Miami (postponed) June 7: Michigan Aug. 23: Dover Nov. 1: Martinsville March 29: Texas June 14: Sonoma Aug. 29: Daytona Nov. 8: Phoenix

M O T O R M O U T H S SPEED FREAKS — A few questions we had to ask ourselves PODCAST Good move to pull the plug at Atlanta? Incorporate the track and Speedway If the boys can find their GODSPEAK: Once one professional Boulevard, just like the Daytona Half sanitary cones of silence, league backed away from coronavi- Marathon. Slingshot passes on the ISB you’ll have a podcast. rus, all the others fell like dominoes. bridge would be quite a thing, assum- At this point, it makes sense. ing everyone can swim. Tune in online at KEN’S CALL: I go back and forth on www.news-journalonline. it, but it’s probably best to fall in line In what state should the 2021 sched- com/daytonamotormouths with everyone else at this time. ule introduce a race? GODSPEAK: I’ll go with what I said In what city would you most like to about road courses and say any spot see a NASCAR street race? in the far Northwest. GODSPEAK: How about Seattle or KEN’S CALL: Iowa seems like a lock, Portland? NASCAR needs exposure in to hear everyone talk, but if we’re the Northwest. Or northern Vancou- suddenly in love with road courses, ver, eh? what’s prettier than Barber Park in This was definitely NOT the scene at Atlanta last KEN’S CALL: Daytona Beach! Birmingham, Alabama? weekend. [AP FILE]