Team Orders: Why is everyone so surprised?

[DougS]

FS S.D. Grady wrote an excellent article this morning concerning Team Orders. You can read it here if you haven't already: http://www.frontstretch.com/sdgrady/27373/

My point of view is why is anyone surprised or outraged at the thought of team orders?

Let's face it in today's enconomy it's hard to make money at racing. There was talk that Jimmie Johnson was going to loose Lowe's. Even Jeff Gordon has had to find a filler for Dupont which can't afford an entire season. RCR had a lawsuit worth millions of dollars against GM. A series champion in the truck series couldn't find sponsorship and was released from his ride. There's a run on past NSCS Champs every winter so someone can make the first 5 races garunteed.

I've stated before that if you have a championship trophy in lobby of your company it's alot easier to secure sponsorship overall. If those dollars are keeping the "buisness" in the black then teams will have to act like teams for the best of the "buisness".

The media has taken to any "team orders", like a shark to blood in the water, any time there is the perception or actual team orders. This weekend being the latest case in point. I wasn't at the track and listening on scanners, so this is my best summation without direct quotes. Kevin Harvick was entered in this weekends CWTS race. Late in the race Kevin found himself in 3rd behind his driver #33 Ron Hornaday. Basically Kevin thought his truck was better and relayed to his spotter to tell Ron to pull over and let him pass. Ron raced him cleanly the rest of the race and Kevin was unable to pass Ron. Kyle Busch went onto win the race with Ron in 2nd and Kevin in 3rd.

Kevin Harvick the owner was mad. He had a sponsor for this weekend in Dupli Color. If he could have rolled Dupli Color into victory lane then maybe he could find some funding for his #4 truck or another spot on the #33 truck and shift some of the #33 partners to the #4 truck.

Kevin Harvcik the driver was mad. He had fresher tires than the 1st and 2nd place trucks. He could run down the straights and get by almost anyone. Until he got to his own driver. He tired everything with out wrecking his own truck and couldn't get past that #33, who gave him the room and raced him clean. Frustrations mounted as he could not make the pass turn, after turn, after turn.

Dupli Color got more TV time than Miccosukee did on the winning truck. As an admitted KHI fan, I sent an e-mail to dupli color this morning thanking them for supporting KHI and brought up the point about the TV time and hoped that they would again be on a KHI truck in the CWTS.

Why is anyone surprised? More and more today we're seeing it across all forms of racing. In NASCAR we see drivers get thier 5 and fall back, we see teammates draft together, we see uncontested passes when the faster team car gets to the bumper. In NHRA two weeks ago a team owner looked like he took a dive to ensure than one of his funny cars would be in the NHRA playoff's. His quote sums up team orders the best. "I did what FORD, Castrol and AAA pay me to do, get my cars in the countdown!" I just learned that a couple of years ago in F-1 that a team issued an order for a teammate to wreck himself in order to secure a win because a caution would allow the teammate to finish on fuel miliage.

Every racing organization has a rule against tems manipulating the results of a race. However most times team orders aren't so blatant or public and judgement calls are required to be made. What organization wants to get that call wrong and cost a team or themselves that amount of funding if thier percieved to make rash judgements? NHRA did everything they could even thought they knew they were between a rock and hard spot. F-1's taken years in it's investigation. And NASCAR seems to have so many grey areas written into a rule book it's enforced as only NASCAR sees fit.

The only way to get rid of team orders, is get rid of the teams. And that just isn't going to happen in this multi-million dollar buisness. As long as we have teams, we'll have team orders. If that uspset's you, then you're going to be an upset race fan for a long time.

[moprint]

It doesn't surprise me that Harvick did that. Now do I like it, no I don't. I have to admit though I am not Harvick fan at all. F-1 is investagating the China race where Renault told Piquet Jr. to crash so his teammate could win the race on fuel mileage deal. Renault has fired two people since then, so that pratically admitting guilt. This does look bad for KHI though.

[Tyyrus]

 Personally Team Order's Suck !  Any Team identified tampering with the Spirit of Fair Play should be severely disciplined ! Having teammates letting each other lead a lap is bad enough ! Watching Ruben B. stop and allow Schumaucher to win was deplorable ! Actually F-1 is currently investigating charges against Renault for tampering with the outcome of a Race . As for John Force at Indy yes the fix was on ! Yes I think it was in Bad Taste !  John could at least of made a decent attempt on the pass  . I lost a lot of respect for him with his decision . Are there underlying pressure on Team's sure , but at least previously with separate Sponsors Nascar was not a Blatant as other racing sanctioned events. Well thats my Rant  !! 

[CodeBlueEMT]

 Orders or not, Ron could have easily moved over to let Kevin go by. He didn't. I'm okay with that. Next question.

 Shayne

[Tyyrus]

  Yeah next Question lol ! 

[S.D. Grady]

Hey guys!

I didn't realize just how differently this was covered on the live broadcasts.  TV had Harvick and Hornaday having a grand ole time chewing up eachother's doors.  What I heard on the radio (while they were off air...between commercials) was quite different.  There was discussions of "shades of F1" tossed back and forth and "do we cover this?" regarding Harvick's transmissions over his radio.  They covered it as team orders, because that's what they heard.  Even the interviews in pit road had completely different shades to them.  For the TV Harvick did a "what of it?" response followed by a very confused Hornday.  The radio?  That's where we received the practically duplicate non-denial denial replies from both of them.

I get team orders.  I get Rousch sitting on a pit box, looking at a column of numbers and deciding it would work better for the drivers, sponsors, teams etc. if he could get 5 points for a particular driver.  I do not get a driver thinking that same sort of process applies from inside the cockpit.  That's just BS.

Harvick didn't have the truck to pass Hornaday.  If he did, he would have done it.  That's the deal.  Part of passing is taking it deep, bumping a fender, getting him loose and muscling on by.  Harvick just wanted the easy way.  Yep, easy...but that's not racing.  That's business.  I thought you took the tie off when you got behind the wheel...I guess not.

Anywho...had a blast being an "official" reporter. lol  Back to my life...*sigh*

[Tyyrus]

Hey guys!
Harvick didn't have the truck to pass Hornaday.  If he did, he would have done it.  That's the deal.  Part of passing is taking it deep, bumping a fender, getting him loose and muscling on by.  Harvick just wanted the easy way.  Yep, easy...but that's not racing.  That's business.  I thought you took the tie off when you got behind the wheel...I guess not.

Your absolutely right S.D. ! That's what sucks , Harvick has no competitive right to ask Hornaday to give him a free pass by !  Sure he's the Boss...to Bad ! When your behind the wheel take your business suit off and shut the Hell up and Drive !