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Four Burning Questions: Phoenix (Johnson’s Momentum And The First Real Gen-6 Test)

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The stars and cars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will head west this weekend as the series descends on Phoenix International Raceway for the Subway Fresh Fit 500, Round 2 of the Cup season. After an utterly boring Daytona 500, there is hope that the uniquely shaped one mile Phoenix facility will deliver a scintillating race. Of course the biggest story heading into this weekend will be how the still new Gen 6 cars perform in the series’ first non-plate race, and needless to say many of the questions surrounding the car’s race-ability will come a step closer to being answered after Sunday’s race.

Mirror Driving: Picking Up The Plate Pieces, Drivers In Trouble And Gen-6, The Next Step

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*Obviously, the Daytona 500 was the big race of the weekend, but most of our thoughts are still with the injured fans from Saturday’s Nationwide Series race after Kyle Larson’s car flew into the catchfence. What can NASCAR and Daytona learn from the incident and what can be done to make sure it never happens again?*

Mike N.: You can never be sure it will never happen again. It is cars travelling at high rates of speed. Accidents will happen. That said, I hope they’ve learned that they need to get rid of crossover gates at all racetracks.
Summer: Or at least find a way to make them safer. I usually advocate for a second look before a total elimination. I think it should be an evolving process, like the cars. But it will never be perfect.

Mirror Driving: Dueling Towards The 500 And Qualifying Quandaries

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*Danica Patrick made history last Sunday, becoming the first female to win a pole in the Sprint Cup Series. What impact, if any, will it have on her season and NASCAR as a whole?*
Phil: Somewhere between bukpis and bupkis. While it is nice to win the pole at Daytona, it doesn’t really help her case for the rest of the season. There have been drivers who have had terrible years win the pole for the 500. Loy Allen, Jr. won the pole in 1994, then DNQ’d 12 times.
Kevin: That’s the exact stat I was actually going to point to, Phil! In terms of the season, it’s definitely a nice boost of confidence, but it’s still just one pole position at the beginning of the year. She’s still gotta perform in the actual race(s).
Jeff: I think it gives her a big boost of confidence that she can drive a fast car. How much impact she has will depend on her ability to stay consistent. I think she will have some good races, top 15s even, and some 30-something finishes.

Mirror Driving: Offseason Reflections, NASCAR Diversity And Unlimited Rule Changes

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*Saturday night was the induction ceremony for this year’s NASCAR Hall of Fame class… but only two of the five being honored were alive to receive their award. With so much history to catch up on, this sport seems to be in a pickle to induct many of their living legends before they, too pass away. Is it important for inductees to still be living when they receive this honor and, if so, how do the powers that be solve this problem? *

Summer: I’ve heard several people say induct as many as ten per year, but that would take away from the prestige, I think.
Amy: It’s more important for the most deserving people to be inducted. I think ten would have been the way to go the first year, maybe even the second, but not anymore.

Mirror Driving: The Best Of The Best And Make Your Own NASCAR Schedule

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*It’s hard to compare drivers across different eras of the sport. But 20 or 30 years from now, which active drivers are we going to look back at as the best of this current generation?*

Summer: I think you have to look at Jimmie Johnson by default.
Tom: Jimmie Johnson is a given.
Mike: Johnson, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson.
Amy: Johnson is an incredibly smooth, intuitive driver. Jeff Gordon has been winning for 20 years now and is a certain Hall of Famer. But I still think the best pure talent in the sport today is Stewart.