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Jimmie Johnson “Racing With One Arm Tied Behind His Back,” Claims Dale Jr as He Trashes Chase Elliott
Jimmie Johnson “Racing With One Arm Tied Behind His Back,” Claims Dale Jr as He Trashes Chase Elliott
If you look at Jimmie Johnson‘s record so far in the races this year, you would not really see a 7-time Cup Series champion. J.J. finished P28 at Daytona and P29 at Texas. But is that his fault? No doubt, Legacy Motor Club has had trouble being competitive, and Dale Earnhardt Jr believes that with the right machinery, Jimmie Johnson can be quite competitive. Junior also spoke about the difficulty of having short practice sessions, contradicting Chase Elliott‘s words from a few days ago.
Dale Earnhardt Jr blames the car for Jimmie Johnson’s misery
The Hendrick Motorsports driver won the race at the Texas Motor Speedway, so Dale Earnhardt Jr is more inclined to take his word for it as he is the one doing the racing on the track. As far as Jimmie Johnson is concerned, his former teammate wants him to be a lot more competitive than he has been of late. Given the 7-time Cup Series champion’s age, perhaps it is not possible for him anymore to challenge for wins, but competing against drivers in the top 10 or 15 could be achievable if he had a better car.
Dale Earnhardt Jr exclaimed, “He’s (Elliott) the driver that’s just won the race this past weekend…if he tells me that this is the way it is and this is good, I’m gonna probably take his word for it cause he is the one out there doing it. I am sitting at home watching from a distance and like I say all the time, we got a lot of opinions on here and we sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong. Maybe I am wrong about this one.
“Maybe I am wrong about practice. I just know that I’d love to see Jimmie run better and if he thinks practice will help, I’d love to give him more practice cause I wanna see Jimmie Johnson be competitive. I feel like he is racing with one arm tied behind his back,” Dale Earnhardt Jr said on a recent episode of his podcast.
Maybe the practice session also played a part in Johnson not being able to compete too well. According to Dale Earnhardt Jr, the practice sessions in the NASCAR Cup Series are quite short and it leaves drivers no time to process the data and formulate how they can improve the car’s performance.
Chase Elliott does not agree with that, as he had said earlier that the shorter practice sessions were good enough for him. Perhaps shorter sessions are more advantageous for teams like Hendrick Motorsports that have many things already figured out than some of the smaller teams, like Legacy Motor Club. Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke about his experience with a short practice session in the fall Xfinity Series race at Bristol last year, where he finished P30, and it was just barely enough.
“Yes, more practice. I would love more practice. When I went to Bristol last year, was it enough? Yes. But it was barely enough. Right at the end of that practice, I started to feel like I was sort of gaining on it and everything happens so fast, Practice, 20 minutes, Qualifying, and you’re like…you’re just spun out. There’s no time to download and think and process and change what you are doing to make adjustments and improve but anyhow, Chase thinks it’s fine,” the NASCAR veteran added.
Whose side are you on in this debate? Are shorter practice sessions better, or should the drivers be afforded longer practice sessions to get their cars as fine-tuned as possible? Let us know what you think.
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Great rumor about Schumacher – but bad memories are already coming back
Great rumor about Schumacher – but bad memories are already coming back
The dream is still alive – but the glimmer of hope is shrinking more and more! Mick Schumacher actually wanted to use the wild driver market to slip back into Formula 1. However, some prominent options are already off the table.
The latest rumor about the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher is all the more surprising. He is very familiar with this Formula 1 racing team. But the current situation brings back bad memories.
Formula 1: No Audi, no Mercedes
After the departure of Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes would have been the dream solution for Schumacher. He has been a test driver for the Silver Arrows for over a year and receives praise from all sides. Here he could finally have presented himself in a competitive car. However, there are increasing signs that his name is not on team boss Toto Wolff’s list of possible candidates. Especially since he’s already digging Max Verstappen ( find out more here ).
+++ Next Red Bull shocker? Helmut Marko spills the beans +++
Audi’s hopes also recently received a severe setback. The German carmaker chose Nico Hülkenberg as the face of its own campaign. In addition, Carlos Sainz, who has to leave Ferrari, will probably follow. Schumacher couldn’t compete with the Spaniard’s charisma.
Place on the chaos team?
So what options remain in Formula 1? According to the “F1 Insider” portal, Alpine could suddenly become an issue. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly are actually set here. Because things aren’t going well this season, the former in particular is aiming for a change after the season.
The connection to Schumacher is definitely there, as he has been driving for the Alpine endurance team since this year. So far he has been able to impress with fast lap times. Is this his ticket back to the premier class?
Formula 1: Alpine on the brink
Only: How much would it bring him? During his first F1 phase, Schumacher sat in a Haas with no chance and in which it was impossible to shine. Something similar is currently looming at Alpine. Instead of fighting for podiums, the car is a cucumber and hasn’t scored a single point yet. A fate that is shared with Williams and Sauber – but that was also to be expected with them.
There is also a lot of background noise surrounding layoffs and resignations. Mick Schumacher probably wouldn’t hesitate if he were offered a return to Formula 1. But Alpine’s current state bodes ill for its chances of success.
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After Hamilton’s commitment: Ferrari changes name
After Hamilton’s commitment: Ferrari changes name
The commitment of Lewis Hamilton as a driver pays off twice for Ferrari. The Italian racing team has a new title sponsor and is changing its name.
Munich – Lewis Hamilton’s Formula 1 move from Mercedes to Ferrari for the coming season caused a huge stir . With the seven-time world champion, the Scuderia wants to launch the major attack on Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2025, which currently seems unassailable.
And the Hamilton deal pays off twice for Ferrari: On the one hand, the Italian racing team gains what is probably the biggest name among active drivers. On the other hand, the name Hamilton attracts major sponsors. One of them will now become the main and title sponsor. This means: Ferarri is even changing its name.
Ferrari completes deal with new title sponsor
As the racing team announced on Wednesday, the US technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP) will be the new title sponsor. From now on, the two current drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr., whom Hamilton will replace in the coming season, will no longer be racing for “Scuderia Ferrari” but for “Scuderia Ferrari HP”.
“Our founder passed on to us his constant desire for progress. This results in our pursuit of innovation on the road and on the racetrack. In HP we have found the same values, which makes the company an ideal partner. We look forward to starting our collaboration and facing new opportunities and challenges together,” Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna is quoted as saying in a press release.
HP deal brings Ferrari new look
The sponsorship deal will also change the look of the cars and racing suits. For the first time, the HP logo will appear on the cars of Leclerc and Sainz Jr. at the Grand Prix in Miami on May 5th. be visible. However, the exact appearance of the cars is not yet known.
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Denny Hamlin Takes a Shot at Kyle Larson as the HMS Driver Brings Up Petty Issues
Denny Hamlin Takes a Shot at Kyle Larson as the HMS Driver Brings Up Petty Issues
After the Wurth 400 Race, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch expressed their displeasure in their respective post-race interviews at Dover, blaming their loss primarily on the aero blocking associated with the next-gen cars. Where Larson is listed as the 5-1 favorite to win at Dover, for Busch, it was his second career Dover pole. After the race, Busch emphasized how previous models at least allowed some room to maneuver for passes, a flexibility that seems absent in the next-gen cars.
Larson, expanding on this, pointed out that aero blocking is particularly significant at the front of the pack. He noted that drivers leading the race could easily use their in-car cameras to keep tabs on challengers behind them and block effectively. #5 suggested that removing these cameras could potentially alleviate the problem.
However, Denny Hamlin, the Dover winner, who once again “beat your favorite driver” doesn’t see eye to eye with this viewpoint. He actually downplayed the impact of in-car cameras, considering their removal a minor tweak rather than a significant solution to the overarching issues with next-generation cars.
Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson are at loggerheads with each other
#5 Hendrick Motorsports driver recently floated the idea that NASCAR should ditch the rear-view cameras to make air-blocking tougher. He repeatedly described how “easy” it is to block using these cameras, explaining, “It’s really hard to pass the lead car. […] Honestly, if they took the cameras out of the car, that’s probably one of the little things that could fix it. It’s hard to see out of the rearview mirrors, but the cameras are so easy. I would be for it if they took the cameras out. I don’t know if he ;[Hamlin] runs the camera, he probably does and it’s really easy.”
However, Denny Hamlin doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Kyle Larson. In his post-race comments, the JGR driver mentioned he rarely used the camera at Dover, noting, “Yeah, I mean, I use it at times. I didn’t use it much today simply because Dover is just a track where things happen so fast. I feel like personally if I take my eyes off the road for a second, I take it to the camera, I’ll miss my line kind of rely more on the spotter to defend than I do the actual camera just simply because I don’t think I’m good enough to drive and look backwards.”
Denny Hamlin wasn’t buying the camera removal idea as a fix for aero blocking. He flat-out said it wouldn’t make a difference. “No, it wouldn’t change anything because the spotters would tell you where to drive,” he explained. He said that he would rather see changes to the car, tires, or something more substantial. According to him, the current cars just can’t stand being in traffic or trailing another car, which is why they perform best on wider tracks where the following driver has room to maneuver. It’s all a strategic game.
But besides these camera and aero-blocking discussions, there’s something else worth celebrating for Denny Hamlin. With his latest win at Dover, Denny Hamlin has now matched a legendary driver in the record books.
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