IS IT THE OR THE DRIVER? DRIVER?BY PACK BRYAN It’s an age-old question: Does a good car win races, or does it take a great driver? Are other factors involved as well? We may not settle the debate, but we will provide some persuasive arguments, representing several points of view.

immy Johnson scores an unprece- . The latest count is 188. dented fourth consecutive win Their success displays the advantages with the 2009 Sprint Cup Cham- of multiple-vehicle teams. When crew pionship, and two of his three chiefs put their heads together and JHendrick Motorsports teammates share experiences, setup, handling and — and secrets start flowing. Sometimes it —finish the season second and third be- takes time for new crew chiefs to get up hind him. Definitely three good drivers to speed, but when they do, the results . . . in three good ! Which do you can be very impressive. think was more important? No matter Out at the track, nine- and ten-second how you answer, I’ll say it was the other. pit stops require precision and strength, It’s a wonderful argument—car or so the better teams also have well- driver—as old as racing itself. But are equipped gymnasiums in their shops, there other important factors that come and pit crew personnel spend several into play? hours a day practicing pit assignments Hendrick’s cars were virtually identi- and working out with weights. cal; Johnson and Gordon are former Then there’s attitude. Success breeds champions, and Mark Martin is a peren- success, and there is no greater morale- nial front-runner; and they’re all mem- builder than being on a winning team. bers of a dominant racing organization. The enthusiasm is contagious, and their A look at the recent 1-2-3 Sprint Cup mutual experiences and easy communi- Championship finish and at the records cation develop a bond that pays off suggests that Hendrick’s team approach every time. is the way to go. His teams have won As Hendrick himself puts it, “It’s all

more NASCAR events than any other in about the people—the team and driver. Wieck Media images: Harold A. Perry; Montage:

18 March 2010 March 2010 19 IS IT THE CAR OR THE DRIVER?

If you assemble a group that’s willing to work together, everything else will take care of itself. The cars are so close and the rules are so tight that it almost al- ways comes down to the human capital.” Yes, the cars are so close. NASCAR’s much-heralded has proved itself to the satisfaction of the sanctioning body, although some drivers still have their reservations. For the 2010 season, there’ll be two changes; sometime in March the rear wing will be replaced with a spoiler and the four orifices on the will be enlarged to 63 ⁄64ths for the Daytona and Talladega

races this year. Lake Russ Photo: According to Aussie driver Marcos Birth of a legend. Because his rear-engine racer was not ready, A.J. Foyt put Ambrose, the Cup cars have “nowhere pavement on his dirt car and put it on the pole for a 200-mile race at the enough downforce, way too much pow- Mile in 1965. He finished second, beating many newer cars. er and not enough grip. If the car is comfortable, you’re too slow.” ful. It sounds easy, but that combina- right combination. He was crew chief for An experienced driver who’s won tion is hard to find.” Jeff Gordon on the Hendrick team from championships in Europe and Australia, The fourth Hendrick driver, Dale 1993 to 1999. This was during Gordon’s Ambrose is a NASCAR regular, having Earnhardt, Jr., NASCAR’s most popular early climb to sixth on the list of all-time successfully raced for a year in trucks, driver for the seventh straight year in great NASCAR drivers—47 Cup wins two in Nationwide and now in the 2009, finished a disappointing 25th in the and three championships. Gordon now Sprint Cup series. Cup standings. The whole Hendrick op- has 82 Cup victories to his credit. Ambrose goes on to say that “Cup eration spent the winter doing the team- Evernham is very familiar with the racing is possibly the only motorsports work bit, working with him to bring his crucial chemistry between driver and left in the world where drivers make the driving and his car up to their standards. crew chief, the ability to communicate big difference, because the cars just The results? Earnhardt shared the totally with each other. As he puts it, in don’t handle.” front row for the 2010 with the years since they’ve gone in different Hendrick asks, “Who is willing to teammate Mark Martin. Earnhardt fin- directions, neither Gordon nor Evern- outwork the competition? What team ished second in the race and Martin, ham has had the success they achieved has the best communication? Who has who sat on the pole, was twelfth. together. the best chemistry? When all those , now an ESPN analyst , the dean of motor- things work together, you’ll be success- for NASCAR, agrees about finding the sports journalism, offered some thoughts.

A happy Kendrick team faces the press (l. to r.): Mark Mar- Speedway Motor courtesy Photo tin, Jeff Gordon, , Jr., and After leading the 1912 500 from the third lap, Ralph DePal- 1 owner Ray Hendrick. Martin and Earnhardt sat on the front ma and his pushed their car the full 2 ⁄2 row for the 2010 Daytona 500. Earnhardt finished second. miles of the 199th lap but couldn’t make it for the last lap.

20 March 2010 IS IT THE CAR OR THE DRIVER?

“For many years there was no question it the car’s importance has increased you’ll attract good drivers. His record of was the driver, but with the technology tremendously. That infinite adjustability three Indy 500 wins, three 24 Hours of that’s been brought into the sport lately, of the car also, unfortunately, allows you Daytona wins and several NASCAR that’s changed somewhat. With the infi- to set it up wrong if you don’t know what wins backs up that statement. And his nite adjustability of the equipment, the you’re doing. Not too many teams are driver seems to car becomes more of a factor in a win- up on that, yet.” have been the only Indy 500 winner so ning combination than it was in the past. Successful team leader far to have any real success in NASCAR “In recent seasons,” he added, “really, says that if you have good equipment, since and A.J. Foyt in the ’60s. Montoya finished tenth in the 2010 Daytona 500. For another look at the car or driver question, let’s go back to the two Offen- hauser-powered front-drive machines built and entered in the Indy 500 by from 1947 through 1950, several years before the team approach became popular. For three years in a row, one of the two cars won the race. was leading in ’47, when More than Moore cautioned him to go easy. Team- mate zipped past him and 50 certification tests they finished one-two. The next year, in 12 specialties. they finished in the same order. Finally, in 1949, Holland won the race. In 1950, Rose moved to another team and Holland finished second again in the same Offy-powered car. Not bad— three seconds and a first in four races. Where did the arguments about car vs. driver first start? Evidence says that with first-rate cars, any good driver could be successful. But what happens with an outclassed car? The car might be obso- lete, underpowered, ill-fitted for the track or just not in condition to go racing. Three examples from the early, middle and modern eras of racing add fuel to the fire of enthusiasm for the drivers. My favorite is Ralph DePalma, who raced from the early teens in the last century to the mid-’30s. He compiled a record of 2557 wins in the 2889 races he entered! One example from the race in Santa Monica in 1914: ASE provides: Driv ing a much slower Mercedes, De- Palma beat the great N Up-to-date, industry-recognized tests Taking in a Mercer in what he considered his N A visible symbol of competence ASE Tests finest race. He went on to win the Indi- N Better job opportunities and earnings this Spring? anapolis 500 in 1915. Register by N An evaluation tool for new hires Although he finished 11th in the 1912 March 31. N A gauge for on-the-job performance Indy 500, DePalma that year earned a place in the hearts of race fans that last- N Consumer marketing opportunities ed forever. Getting to the front on the third lap, he led the race until the 197th, when he broke a connecting rod. He Register for May tests at www.ase.com. and his riding mechanic then got out

22 March 2010 and tried to push the car for the last two It was like that during the post-World Midgets. When everyone was driving laps, but fell exhausted after one. War II Midget era when hundreds of virtually the same car, it gave the driver a A single example of Italian driver Offy- or flathead Ford 60-powered Kur- better chance to shine. Tazio Nuvolari’s record shows why many tis-Kraft Midgets gave many future stars Moving over to the Big Cars, as the considered him to be the greatest race the opportunity and almost nightly expe- Indy racing machines were called, the car driver in the world during the 1930s rience needed to move up the ladder in same conditions applied. Once again, and for many years thereafter. When racing. Most of the Indy winners of the Kurtis-Kraft and, later, Watson cars—all Nuvolari charged his obsolete and out- ’50s and ’60s got their starts in the powered by the reliable old four-cylinder classed Alfa Romeo past Germany’s fa- vored Auto Unions and Mercedes to win the 1935 Grand Prix race at the Nurburgring, for example, he set the stage for years of unending bench racing on the subject of driver vs. car. In the modern era, A.J. Foyt started a legend about his invincibility at the Mil- waukee Mile in 1965. Foyt put his Of- fenhauser-powered “dirt car,” a tradi- tional, hightailed American racing ma- chine, on the pole for a 200-mile race at Milwaukee against a field of pavement racing roadsters and rear-engine cars one or two generations younger. The rear-engine car Foyt had planned to run at Milwaukee was not ready to race, so he put pavement tires on the dirt car and finished second. Some said he’d have won if he had- n’t had to stop several times for fresh tires. Others responded by saying that Circle #16 if he hadn’t basically driven the tires off the car, he wouldn’t have finished nearly as well. So which is it? Colorful auto writer answered that “It’s not the car or driver, it’s the ,” al- though his answer may have been influ- enced by his employer at the time—the magazine of that name. Circle #17 I talked with Corinne Economaki, who has succeeded her father, Chris, as the editor and publisher of the racing bible National Speed Sport News, about IROC, where the hopefully iden- Circle #18 tical cars were expected to provide a once-and-for-all measure of the driving abilities of chauffeurs from all the ma- jor series—, NASCAR, road racing, World of Outlaws and even occasionally. After 30 years, the series ended in 2006. It was never a big draw among fans, but NASCAR’s perennial finish-up- Circle #19 front Mark Martin was the winner of five championships and a total of 13 races. Given identical equipment, Mar- tin’s superior driving ability stood out.

March 2010 23 IS IT THE CAR OR THE DRIVER?

DOHC —predominated, with the same results. From 1949 until 1962, the good old Offy powered at least 31 of the 33 starting cars in every 500. Mechanic A.J. Watson designed and built a new roadster for car owner John Zink in 1956. First time out, driver Pat Flaherty put the car on the pole and won the race. For five of the next six races, a Watson car won and four Wat- sons finished second. At an auto show dinner in the late ’50s, I was teased by a table full of GM PR types, throwing out the challenge that the cars in the Indy 500 were all the same: What kind of a race was that? I was defended by the late John Cutter,

Chevy’s PR chief, who asked, “They’re Speedway Indianapolis Motor courtesy Photos all hitting the same ball at Yankee Stadi- , 1947-48 style. The eventual winner had enough time to stand by and ca- um, aren’t they?” sually chat with the pit crew while drinking a cup of water. and scored consecutive victories in the 1957 and ’58 of another Indy racer, . but when you get to that level, most of Indy 500s, driving the Belond Special Parsons, Jr., was a Midget and Sprint the top guys have it. It sometimes comes with a horizontally mounted Offen- Car champion and drove in the Indi- across as arrogance, but it’s mostly confi- hauser engine, designed and built by anapolis 500 12 times, finishing fifth in dence. George Salih. The drivers had distinctly 1977 and 1985. He speaks for himself “At that top level, I’d say it was 90% different driving styles and were differ- and includes a reference to 1983 Indy the car. I mentioned that during a chat ent enough in size that the car had to be 500 winner : with Sneva and he corrected me. ‘Nope, rebuilt after its first victory to accommo- “When you get to the top levels of it’s ninety-five percent the car.’ he said. I date Jimmy Bryan’s additional bulk for racing, when you get that many talented couldn’t argue.” the next year’s race. But the car took guys together, it’s more the equipment Mark W. Campbell, Manager, New both in stride. Driver? Car? than the driver,” he says. “We always feel Product Development for MW Indus- Driver , Jr., is the son that if we were in Rutherford’s or John- tries in Logansport, IN, says it’s about of 1950 Indy winner cock’s car, we could have won the race. 50% the driver and 50% the car. “Quite and half brother of “Pancho” Carter, son You need a certain kind of confidence, frankly, I hate seeing that going away, but that’s what’s happening with crate engines and crate cars.” Listening to him, you realize that he’s been around racing a long, long time. “Sanctioning bodies like NASCAR and the IRL are dictating how every- thing has to be,” he said. “What made racing great was that you had relatively few rules, and there was innovation on the part of the chassis builder, innova- tion by the engine builder. You looked for the gray areas in the rules and you took advantage of those gray areas.” NASCAR grew because of the image of people like . When he was at his peak, the term “cheater” in racing was a great compliment because he was an innovator and was thinking around the rules. Mauri Rose, the 1947-48 Indy 500 winner, had a car identical to that of Bill Hol- “He never broke the rules (‘got land, who placed second both years but won in 1949. Note Rose’s short-sleeve caught’ might be a better way to de- shirt, and the size of the steering wheel. No roll bar, firesuit or shoulder harness. scribe it), but he played between the continued on page 49

24 March 2010 IS IT THE CAR OR THE DRIVER? continued from page 24 lines and then they rewrote mer car owner and five-year the rule book to cover what president of USAC, and now he’d done. Then they said it Indiana Governor Mitch was illegal,” Campbell said. Daniels’ Director of Automo- “We’ve lost the local speed tive and Motorsports Initia- shop and the local engine tives: builder, and without them, “Being a car owner, I’d like there is no one to mentor the to say it’s the car, but with top racer. The young person en- performance so easily avail- tering racing today won’t able, it’s a pretty level playing have anyone to show him field. As far as being able to what to do. acquire the equipment and “If we want innovation in the technology, everyone can the industry, we’ve got to free do that, so I think, really, it’s it up. Write some generalized the driver.” rules and realize that what You gotta have a good car! made racing grow was the Jimmy Bryan, the 1958 Indy 500 winner, sits in the Belond That’s the sentiment from driver, the chassis builder, the car, whose Offenhauser engine lay on its side. Sam Hanks most drivers. The days when engine builder and the crew won the previous 500 in the same car. Car or driver? DePalma or Nuvolari—or chief who put it all together. even Foyt—could jump into Let’s get going on that,” Campbell con- the car is the greater factor. any car and win a race are long gone. cluded. “You can’t overcome a dog of a car. Stamina rather than brute strength is Mimicking Yunick in what is now the Look at Lewis Hamilton, F1 World the principal physical requirement to- IRL, stretched the rules Champion in 2008. His new car for 2009 day, and the ability to give total concen- for his turbine-powered cars in 1966 and was very difficult to drive, and he scored tration to what you’re doing on the track ’67 (which triggered some rapid rule nothing. The difference was the car. for hours at a time is another way of sep- changes), and did the “ has become the race of arating the adults from the children. A same with a pushrod engine in 1994. engineers—two men have dominated the vote for the car. More rule changes followed. field for the last 15 years. Which brings us With all that goes on preparing a car Howden Ganley of Premier Fuel Sys- back to the cars,” Ganley concluded. for the race and then managing its per- tems, Ltd., in Derby, England, who has A bystander chipped in: “The human formance during a race, you’ve got to spent many years on the Formula One always comes first. You can’t win without have a smooth-running group of dedicat- circuit, claims that “It’s more the car a brain. The driver’s has to come first, ed professionals—at tire changing, refu- than the driver. In Formula One, for ex- with the equipment to follow—and it eling, midrace chassis adjustments—and ample, there are many two-car teams— better do what he wants,” he said before a strong leader. A vote for the team. almost like Noah’s Ark. They go two-by- disappearing into the crowd. Finally, what about a vote for luck? two, which, to me, shows it’s the car. “Once the shield goes down and the Sometimes you can make you own, other Two McClarens, two Williamses, two switch goes on, it’s all in the hands of the times you can’t. There’s a bittersweet Ferraris, two Renaults, etc. It shows that driver!” So says Rollie Helmling, a for- comment that used to be heard during the latter parts of Mario Andretti’s 500- mile race career: “The most famous words in racing: ‘Mario’s slowing down!’” Andretti’s and Foyt’s places in racing’s record books are virtually side by side. Yet, in 35 entries, Foyt won the Indy 500 four times; in 29 tries, Andretti won once. And in NASCAR, Dale Earn- hardt, Sr., won 49 races on the Daytona track, and yet won the 500 only once, and that under the yellow. Racing luck. Keep all this in mind the next time you join the fray about driver vs. car vs. team.

Photos: Pack Bryan Pack Photos: This article can be found online at The 1956 Indy 500 winner Pat Flaherty sits in the first A.J. Watson car, a design that www.motormagazine.com. would win another five Indy 500s before the Lotus Fords changed IndyCar racing.

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