Feud: Sorenson's future, safety decisions, Kurt Busch's crew chief
CBSSports.com's Brian De Los Santos and Pete Pistone provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
We welcome your question submissions. If you have a question or hot racing topic you'd like to see discussed, post it here .
| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| 1. Reed Sorenson has reportedly been driving the 43 car for no salary since the middle of summer. Should he get a shot with another Cup team or will he end up a NASCAR washout? | |
| Sorenson is one of the latest examples of bringing up a driver when he's too young and not ready for NASCAR's top division. It's unfortunate because he had a lot of promise when he first came onto the scene. But this will be the second team he's been bounced from and whether it was his doing or simply economics, you don't get many third chances in this sport. Sorenson running for no salary and a percentage of his winnings is also admirable, but shows just how financially strapped the Richard Petty Motorsports organization really is and despite the intent to merge with Yates Racing, I still have many questions about this team's future. | I think he's doing the right thing by continuing to drive the 43 car. Given the choice of driving for a percentage of the winning or taking a buyout and sitting on the sidelines, I'd race too. But ultimately, I'm not sure it's going to help. These remain tough economic times in NASCAR. There just aren't enough rides to go around. Unless he can string a few solid runs together -- a tough enough task when the 43 car actually had some major financial backing -- it will be tough for him to make an impression. But it's worth a shot, you can't blame him for trying. Personally, I would like to see him get another shot with a top level team to show what he can do. This RPM gig really shouldn't count as he never really got the support he thought he was going to get. |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': I think Reed should get a ride. He isn't the best driver at the Cup level, but he does have some talent, and he has shown that he wants to race. Not many people are willing to work for free. The 'should he' part of this is easy to answer, the 'will he' part is a bit tougher. Teams are having a hard time finding sponsors which doesn't bode well for unemployed drivers. Sorenson may go the way of Travis Kvapil, where a decent driver can't get a ride because sponsors aren't big on them. If I was the owner, I would rather employ Reed Sorenson than say a Paul Menard, but Menard has the sponsorship money going with him, so he is more desirable to the owners. Heck, just look at the 43 car this year, they have had about eight different sponsors on the car. When I hear Reed Sorenson, no company names come to my mind. | |
| 2. Did NASCAR wait too long to throw the caution on the final lap at New Hampshire or do you support its decision to wait to see if A.J. Allmendinger would get restarted? | |
| NASCAR wants to end races under green flag conditions and obviously in the first event of the Chase there's a lot on the line. I think the sanctioning body went as far as it could before throwing the caution in hopes Allmendinger would get out of harm's way. The yellow light came on when the field hit Turn 3. Unfortunately many drivers did not slow down and continued to race to the finish line. I'm not sure what NASCAR could have done different and it was really one of those caught in the middle type situations. It's almost like a referee swallowing the whistle in the closing seconds of a basketball game, but obviously in auto racing safety has to be paramount and unfortunately the last lap Sunday at New Hampshire dipped into the dangerous category. | If officials had thrown the caution and Allmendinger had gotten back under power quickly, then they would have been criticized for not waiting. They can't win. I was fine with how Sunday's race ended. When it comes to the final lap, I think NASCAR has been consistent in trying to hold off throwing a caution if at all possible. All's well that ends well, right? |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': In my opinion, No. I think NASCAR wanted to let them race to see who won the race, and only threw the caution when it was apparent that Almendinger was going to be in the way, and it became a danger. Seeing the cars dodging him at the end, maybe they could have thrown it a second or two sooner, but the driver should have been slowing down at that point anyway once the spotters told them the caution was out. single win. | |
| 3. Do you see crew chief Pat Tryson's impending departure as a distraction to Kurt Busch's title hopes? Would Penske be better off severing ties immediately? | |
| The timing of Tryson's announcement struck me as one of the strangest developments in recent years. Why would a crew chief tell the world his plans about leaving a team that is in the title hunt on the eve of the Chase beginning? And why would a team owner like Roger Penske allow Tryson to stay on at all? Reports over the weekend indicate Tryson is allowed at the shop maybe once a week outside of his weekend duties at the track. That is no way for a team to prepare for a championship run and like the RPM situation, the Penske group has a lot of issues its trying to figure out as it tries to get Busch a title. I have to think there are going to be too many distractions to overcome. | I didn't think Busch's title hopes were all that great to begin with -- at least in comparison to that of Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart -- so if he fails to win a title, I can't say I'd blame the Tryson news as the reason. That said, I do think it will be a distraction and I do think he'd be better off working with someone who will actually be at Penske next year. Yeah, Busch had a pretty good run at New Hampshire, but he wasn't very pleased with a couple of pit road calls that he believes cost him a top five. I think the news that Tryson is leaving for another driver and team has strained the relationship a bit. If Busch stumbles in more than a couple of races, I imagine things going south quickly. |
| COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': Pat Tryson is a professional, and will continue to do what is best for his team until he is no longer there. It isn't much different than giving two-week's notice to your employer. Does working at an office the last two weeks cause a distraction? Maybe a little, but most people will continue to give their best effort until it is time to walk out the door. I don't think his impending departure is going to be a distraction to Kurt's title hopes because once the race starts, nobody will be thinking about that, they will be thinking about the race at hand. Severing ties immediately would have a bigger impact on the team than keeping him around. | |
| Previous Feud of the Weeks: July 28 | Aug. 5 | Aug. 12 | Aug. 18 | Aug. 25 | Sept. 1 | Sept. 8 | Sept. 15 | |
