“Spotters are NASCAR's unsung heroes - Tampa Bay Online” plus 1 more |
| Spotters are NASCAR's unsung heroes - Tampa Bay Online Posted: TONY FABRIZIO/STAFF Zephyrhills' Shaun Reutimann willl help drive cousin David's car during today's 53rd running of the Daytona 500. Published: February 20, 2011 DAYTONA BEACH - Lorin Ranier isn't a race car driver, although he once drove a Mercedes-Benz that went 180 mph. Jimmy Kitchens hasn't driven in a NASCAR race since 2005, and Zephyrhills' Shawn Reutimann hasn't advanced much beyond wheeling a mean golf cart. All will be driving cars in today's 53rd Daytona 500 — well, sort of. They're spotters, guys who direct their respective drivers by radio from the highest point on the speedway grounds, and their role today is more critical than it's ever been. That's because Daytona's smooth new $20 million pavement has created a form of drafting never before seen at NASCAR's marquee track. Single-car trains and huge packs of cars have been replaced by two-car hookups that look like extra-long hot dogs. The pairs racing was tricky to begin with because the driver doing the pushing in the partnership has almost no visibility. Then NASCAR decided it didn't look good after the first preliminary race of Speed Weeks and made it even harder. Smaller grille openings and pop-off valves for the cooling systems will assure that no two cars can stay hooked together too long. That's where the spotters come in. They'll not only have to help drivers see where they're going, but they'll also have to help facilitate the constant switching — "a bunch of kids playing leapfrog," Bill Elliott called it — that will be necessary to keep engines from overheating. "We've never done anything (like it)," said Ranier, the son of three-time Daytona 500 winning car owner Harry Ranier and spotter for defending champion Jamie McMurray. "It's different for the drivers, different for the spotters, different for the teams." "When you watch it on TV," said McMurray, who has been reunited with Ranier after a year apart, "you see the cars zig-zagging back and forth. If you midjudge that (when switching), it will be a wreck. I think the spotters are more important with the two-car drafts than at any other time." Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that when he's behind another car, he can see the wall on his right and the infield on his left and a spoiler in front of him and that he relies on his spotter "entirely" to tell him when he's catching a group of cars ahead. Ryan Newman finished third in last week's Budweiser Shootout and said afterward that his spotter, Kitchens, may as well have been driving his car when he was the trailing driver in a hookup. "Basically," said Kitchens, who raced part-time in the Nationwide Series from 1994-2005, "you have to spot for two cars at one time. If we are the first car and somebody is pushing us, I can't clear Ryan until the back car was clear. It does us no good to clear a car and change lanes and leave the guy pushing us hanging out." In the past, Daytona's worn-out and bumpy surface wouldn't allow two cars to maintain constant contact through the corners. The new surface is smooth and has a lot of grip in the corners. Two cars can form "almost a pressure-locked seal," Denny Hamlin said. Aerodynamic principles give the two-car hookup a speed advantage that makes it mandatory to seek them out. Those same principles rule out three cars in a row. The spotters are positioned on top of the tower suites and have an expansive view that stretches the hotels on the Atlantic Ocean and includes the full speedway. That doesn't mean it's easy to anticipate closing rates, predict what other drivers will do or see small but critical things that are happening 11/2 miles away on the backstretch. Reutimann, who spots for his cousin David, said the optimum strategy will be for teammates to partner together for one spotter to spot for both cars. The preliminary races showed that drivers will partner with whomever they can get to, regardless of team or make of car. One of the stranger pairs in Thursday's qualifying races was Jimmie Johnson (Chevy) and A.J. Allmendinger (Ford). "The Michael Waltrip Racing spotters all stand in a group," Shawn Reutimann said. "We try to work with our teammate, but if not, I'll signal Kyle Busch's spotter or whoever that we're going to push him." It will be a different kind of Daytona 500 for sure. "The whole game has changed," Hamlin said. "Not just the way we drive, but the way our spotters spot." afabrizio@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7994 This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Posted: COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina coach Ray Tanner has enjoyed the nearly eight months of parades, dinners and gatherings in honor of the Gamecocks' national championship. Now, after South Carolina opened the year with a 12-5 over Santa Clara on Friday, he's ready for the celebrations to end and his players to focus on the season ahead. "I enjoyed it, I really did," Tanner said of the festivities at a sold-out Carolina Stadium. "It was really special to see and then I'm standing over there thinking, 'I'm kind of glad I don't have to play.'" The Gamecocks could've gotten caught up in the opening day hoopla. Instead, College World Series heroes Jackie Bradley Jr. and Michael Roth showed this group is ready to achieve, too. Bradley had four hits, including a two-run homer, and Roth threw 5 2-3 innings to pick up the victory. But not before South Carolina fans got a chance to revel in the program's first national title. They wore national championship hats and T-shirts. Fans stood three-deep snapping pictures of the CWS trophy within a permanent display case at the stadium's main entrance. There was an Air Force flyover and the raising of the national title flag. "It's like a dream come true. This will only get old if we do this again next year," said longtime Gamecocks fan Gordon Boyd of Columbia. Last year's ace Blake Cooper was back to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, although he bounced it wide of his old battery mate Kyle Enders. "We had a good time ragging him on that," Roth said. Then it was gametime. Bradley, the College World Series most outstanding player, got things going with a single in the third that drove in Scott Wingo, the senior second baseman who scored the deciding run in a 2-1 victory over UCLA that wrapped up the national crown. "That was kind of sweet," Wingo said. Roth was on the mound as much for his even temperament as his skill. South Carolina fans won't forget his complete-game gem in a 5-1 win over rival Clemson last June at Rosenblatt Stadium. Tanner knew Roth was best equipped to set aside those cheers and pitch like Santa Clara meant every bit as much. "It really was an honor to pitch today," Roth said. "It was a special day." The Broncos, in town through Sunday, crept to 6-5 after rallying for three runs in the eighth. But the Gamecocks got home runs from Christian Walker and Wingo in their own six-run eighth that put the game out of reach. Tanner, starting his 15th season as South Carolina's coach, was glad to see his players turn the page on last year. "Obviously, we're not going to forget," said Wingo, the team captain. "We want to get back to Omaha. It's not just last year, we want to taste that again so we're going to battle everyday." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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