But trying to teach patience to anyone just walking in the door at the Cup level is hard. Really hard. Stupendously hard. It's harder to teach than driving smart. (Not that the two are mutually exclusive - if you learn one, you're much more likely to learn the other.)
Different tracks require different approaches to counting down the laps. At restrictor plate tracks, you either get out front or go to the back. It's all about avoiding the Big One. At short tracks you're racing hard the entire time because of how easy it is to race a beaten up car (just like it's easy to get lapped). At Darlington you hang on and just fight to stay out of the wall or anyone else's way. And at a road course, you try to get to the front as quickly as possible. Get out front and get away.
The thing is, whereas in other series it's about getting to the front fast fast fast because you have a limited amount of time to do so, in NASCAR you have to play it like a chess game. Equipment is certainly a factor in how quickly you can make moves, as is driver talent, but even more important is being aware of the guys around you and waiting them out. Because if you're better, you can make a move eventually, given time.
This leads me to Harvick vs. Montoya in the fight of the...well, not century, but certainly the last few months. Harvick has been openly critical of Montoya's aggressive driving style when he's still learning the ropes. Montoya has stated repeatedly and emphatically that he's not paid to run in the back - he's paid to go for the win every time.
They're both right in their estimations. Talent is innate, but experience leads to knowing what to do with that talent. Montoya has plenty of experience behind the wheel and tons of innate talent, but as he himself has put it, driving a Cup car is very different from even the Busch level. Experience in a Cup car is the only way to really improve in a Cup car. With the newer car model and the older model both being used this year, that's twice the learning curve.
But before I get too far off track, let's address why Montoya needs to learn patience. He's in a Gannasi car. The fact is, they're not a Hendrick. They're not a Gibbs. They're not a Childress. They're not even a Roush or a DEI or a Penske. His equipment is only going to give him so much. As much as he may wish it, in some races he's only going to get so far toward the front.
And as much as he may wish otherwise, certain laws of physics are going to apply no matter how much Montoya wishes they didn't.
At Watkins Glen, Montoya felt (and still feels) that he didn't wreck Harvick, that Truex wrecked him and caused him to wreck Harvick. Therefore Harvick shouldn't have been mad.
Harvick felt (and still feels) that Montoya's driving over his head is what caused the wreck, not getting run over by Truex, and that it's a continual problem that he needed to address (by kicking his ####).
The truth is simple science.
1. Any turn at a high rate of speed requires a certain angle of entry in order to maintain the maximum rate of speed possible for acceleration to the next turn.
2. Entering a turn at a less than desirable angle is going to cause a car to have to slow down even more in order to avoid wrecking.
3. Two cars reaching the same turn from two different angles at the same rate of speed are going to wreck.
4. Trying to slow down in anticipation of a turn while being pushed by another car that is out of control is impossible, especially late in a race when brakes are worn.
Truex went to jump around Montoya on the restart. Montoya moved to block so he wouldn't lose a spot. Truex and Montoya went into turn one at an angle that wasn't desirable at a high rate of speed. Truex's car fishtailed before making contact with Montoya's (maybe his brakes were going?). Montoya claims that had he not been hit by Truex, he wouldn't have hit Harvick. But had he not tried to block Truex, he wouldn't have been hit. And the fact is, he was trying to prevent losing one spot with several laps to go (with Montoya being a road racer, this actually makes it far less likely that he couldn't have gotten that lap back or passed others - but no way was he going to keep all the cars behind him) and instead ended up losing a ton of laps and getting a worse finish for not having patience.
A lot of wrecks can be classified as "hindsight is 20/20", meaning, the drivers can look back and see what they should have done. In the moment it's hard to see the possible consequences. But some consequences are more obvious than others...and in this case, it was pretty damn obvious. I saw it on Sunday. On Monday I got confirmation from Michael Waltrip, Kenny Schrader and Greg Biffle. Montoya has more talent than Mikey or Kenny (I love the guys, but I'm calling it) and maybe more than Biffle (damn Jack and his inferior technology the last two years), but they have the experience to know what the consquences of their actions are by having learned those things.
Now the question becomes this - will someone talk nicely to Montoya and explain that really, Harvick wasn't wrong (because lord knows two hot-headed guys aren't going to believe one another in the heat of the moment)? Or will everyone continue to bow to his innate talent and hope that the lessons are absorbed eventually? That, for me, is the bigger question. I keep hoping that someone takes Montoya aside (Mark Martin maybe) and points out that he has more to gain by practicing patience rather than risking all for a temporary gain.
In the meantime, I'm excited for what could be a great rivalry. Two tempermental guys at each other's throats every week? Heck yeah!
racing incident, yes, but Truex had the time to get to the otuside like Johnson did (I was wondering why he didn't....lack of road course experience I guess).
Yes, Juan is impatient....but Truex is in the Chase and didn't need to do what he did so I will always put more blame on Martin than Juan for that one.
There are some things in open wheel road racing that work that don't work in stock car road racing. There are some things in stock car oval racing that don't work in open wheel oval racing.
This was a restart on a road course. How many times can you recall all cars going through Turn One after a restart in a single file? Very close to never.
I think Montoya likely would have made it through the turn relatively cleanly, had he not been hit from behind by Truex. He had been down low for most of the straight, in plain site of the cars on the outside of the track, and likely would have seen some of the outside cars give him enough room to make the turn - - we'll never know, because Truex, who was also down low, bumped him and caused him to lose traction, sliding out from the inside position into and through the outside line of cars.
Maybe you can discount Schrader. Maybe you can throw out what Waltrip says. It's quite a bit harder, but you can ignore Biffle's point of view. I don't really know how you discredit Burton.
But there is no way you can throw out what all four have to say. Even then, you at least have to pay attention to what a hot, really smart red head like Maveness has to say.
Smart, yes. Hot, yes. Red-head, yes - at least it appears so.
Brains and hotness aside (and whatever it is that you bring to the table, CCR), you're focused on the wrong guy. Once Montoya made his blocking move, he couldn't have been MORE obviously going to make it a two-wide turn - not uncommon on a restart, and Truex was clearly intending to do the same thing.
The angle into the turn is not the issue, until it became an unplanned, far more oblique angle due to the ramming from Truex. THAT was the factor that took the situation from controlled to out-of-control.
Last edited by Dave_in_Indy on August 15th at 5:19 PM.
Maveness - Good description of what is going to happen. I'd vote Stewart to talk to Montoya - he had open wheel experience and may get through to him on that basis.
Hot heads Hot red heads and the like. Just racing folks.. Of course lack of experience, impatience, and passion in the heat of the moment certainly was the pivotable issue in this incident. At leat Johnson had enough cool and smarts to stay up top as he probably knew what was going to happen next.
Maveness
Do you seriously think Montoya has more talent than Biffle? In my opinion,the only driver who may have more pure driving talent than Biffle is Kyle Busch!
Geek girls love NASCAR too! If you don't believe me, spend a Sunday afternoon at my house (or a Saturday night). I have great love for the cars, the speed, the engines, the stories, the drivers, the crew chiefs, the crews, the owners, the business that is NASCAR.
