Consider the Corner Turned for Red Bull

Team Red Bull has NOT turned the corner because turning the corner would be winning races and BOTH cars being in the top 35 in owner points. I tell you what, it sounds like this columnist is easily impressed and needs to learn more about Nascar before he writes articles about it!

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Team Red Bull HAS turned the corner as any long time viewer of NASCAR with a hint of sense can see. Turning the corner is working hard and making significant progress. Last year at this time neither car was in the top 35, they weren't running consistently, and the cars didn't have qualifying ability, let alone great racing ability. They were solid in some races, but not consistent. The Coca-Cola 600 last year was their shining point. This year AJ is 37th in owner's points while Brian is 18th. More importantly, cars that were solidly in the top 35 last year are on the outside looking in, behind AJ, even though those other cars have made all the races and AJ hasn't. They're contending for wins and qualifying up front. AJ may be outside the top 35, but he's contending for poles.

Turning a corner isn't winning when you were at the bottom of the heap. Turning the corner is measurable gains. That's how BUSINESSES evaluate turning the corner, and NASCAR is a business and a sport. Incidentally, this blogger isn't the only one noting Red Bull's impressive improvement today. There are other notable journalists out there in agreement. But that might take actually looking to find out, when it's easier to rain on a mere blogger's day.

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Good post maveness.

Ron

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Well, Maveness, i guess if your so impressed with Red Bull, then i guess Mikey Waltrip Racing is in great strides to, right! Or how bout Petty Enterprises who is also turned the corner right? Yea, both those teams are competiting for wins and championships huh! Turning the corner is what RCR did after 2004 where they are competiting for wins and runnning up front for championships! THAT is turning it around, not what these teams are that waste sponsors to REAL talented drivers with REAL successful teams! This team hasnt really done anything much better than last year, so until they are where RCR, Hendrick, Gibbs, and Roush are, as this applies to any of the other organizations, they have NOTHING to brag about!

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Maybe it's not so much that they've turned the corner as it is that their drivers and teams have learned how to set up and drive the CarOfTears. Let's face it, real racing as we once new it died out about the same time as Dale SR. Professional sports in America have become somewhat of a joke. Huge salaries, long term contracts, and a reluctance to rock the boat have eroded the incentive for indivdual effort. This is true, just look around. Steroids have replaced good ol' fashioned workouts. Greed has replaced the the love of the sport that once provided inspiration.Racing has become a team sport with drivers punished for rocking the boat. Boxers fight maybe twice a year if they're in the mood, and it goes on and on. Who's to blame, none other than US....the fans. We keep shelling out our dollars and support for overpaid, lazy, self centered cry babies who for the most part look down their noses at us poor working stiffs. We pay the tax increases or buy the bonds to help greedy owners get a new stadium or make track improvements every couple of years or so. We line up to readily pay frequent and unjustified ticket price increases without so much as a whimper. And the sad truth is that we get far less for our money than the fans of the past. Greed didn't build sports, but it sure is destroying it from the top to the bottom. What can we do? Simple, stop feeding the ravenous beast that professional sports has become. Want better racing, simple...stop going to the track, it won't take them long to fix the problem, I assure you. The same holds true for all the other sports as well. The bloated professional sports machine can't run at all without the fuel of your dollars, it's as simple as that. If you're not willing to stand up and vote with your wallet, then quit your bitchin' and start saving for next years price increases. Works for me....

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Wow, this topic is already heated. That didn't take long, only five posts.

First, I would have to agree that with little progress in general this year due to the COT, boring races, etc. etc., Team Red Bull does seem to have turned a corner. Sunday was a good day for the team. I agree with you, Maveness. And sorry CJ, but I think you are being a little harsh and somewhat unrealistic in what you believe to be "turning a corner." I can't possibly put it any better than Maveness did, so won't try. Like Ron said, good post Maveness.

Although never a fan of A.J., he did have a good showing on Sunday. On a side note, I've always found him to be a bit of ding bat so have nicknamed him A.J. I'm a Dinger! Isn't that cute? I do try to be creative.

And Don, wow don't know where that rant came from. I don't know what's scarier, the rant or the fact that I agreed with most of it. :-)

Kim

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It's mah new meds Kim...ain't they a bitch!!!Working fo me....

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The meds are working great Don. That was about as good as anyone could have said it.
I would expect Nascar to solve the problem by starting to throw more cautions during the race. Since the restart is the only part of the races that are exciting anymore. Perhaps they will start having 4 quarters of racing with each team being able to come in and work on the car for 2 minutes, then a restart. Yeah baby, that would add excitement. After all, why fix the car when you can fix the race?
MBL

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CJ honey, you're so eager to point out the "great" teams but you seem to be missing a few things - great teams are built over time and have off years. Also, no one has claimed that Team Red Bull is a great team (yet - heck, every start up has potential, it's what they do with it). The claim is that they've turned a corner.

Arguing the "real talent" stuff is a moot point, because none of the guys would be at this level without talent. It's just how it translates to the current cars that makes the difference. Guys that were extremely talented in the Busch Series don't necessarily translate that talent to the Cup Series. And that can be flip flopped. Guys that sucked in the Busch Series have succeeded in the Cup Series. Sometimes it's about the competition, but sometimes it's about the driver and the car. (Jimmie Johnson has two championships in Cup but only one win in the Busch Series.) There's also just that some guys are talented, while others are really, really talented. LOL Hey, I'd argue that Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch can drive anything in any series. On the flip side, Tony Stewart has waxed poetic about how great Dave Blaney was in World of Outlaw. But Dave hasn't translated that well to Cup. Dave's not any less talented as a race car driver, his talent just doesn't translate to Cup. We've all been screaming this for the past few years about open wheel guys, which has proven to be true. Guys who've won the Indy 500 (which Tony Stewart has tried to do and not succeeded at) haven't had great success in NASCAR.

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Thats a good idea Mike. Four quarters, I like it! What do you think about taking all the TV cameras that are positioned around the track and position them all on pit road where all the action is. Of course it would help a little if Nascar would raise the speed limit on pit road to 145 mph and no restrictor plates. A small problem would be the fans being able to see whats goin on sometimes because there would probably be some heavy smoke and fire and stuff li kat. JMO

Ron

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