So what next ?

Ok, so the Glen should have been a good race for the team. Hell, we as fans have had it good over the past few years with top fives here but this was a nightmare today.
Do they now go hell for leather at Michigan and try and bounce back or do they fall into a slump (worse than what they have been in over the past couple of months) and drift out of owner points?

I remember that Michigan used to be a good place for Robby to go. What's the deal here? is it engine horse power and fuel mileage that have kept him from doing well over the last few visits here or is it that the whole package for this kind of track has just gone missing ?

I think there is a chance they might have a go next weekend. They will be hurting after the Glen and angry. An angry driver is often fast.

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Permalink Reply by Pathfinder7 on August 12, 2008 at 11:24am
You are correct, and of course you cannot get feedback from a driver if his mouth is taped shut. My comment stemmed from frustration because his feedback is seldom constructive and could be construed at bitching! His right because it's his team but pretty soon he won't have a team because they will all walk!
Permalink Reply by sdc312 on August 11, 2008 at 10:14am
He needs to stop being his own crew chief. Wouldn't be surprised if Walter walked soon.
Permalink Reply by YuccaRacer on August 11, 2008 at 11:00am
the cc for nationwide race wasnt just friend he is cc for the trophy truck. its clear robby isnt getting the best motors, everyweek the 9 & 19 hold up better and get better gas milage, robby got screwd again with Q. being rained out. cross your fingers for sponsors. Fan 4 LIfe.
Permalink Reply by Shantel on August 11, 2008 at 11:29am
Am I the only one that heard not only Robby telling Walter what to do, but also his Dad, Bob? You can hear the defeat in Walter's voice. How can you expect someone to have confidence in their decisions when you constantly override them? I'm a fan through thick and thin and I'm just an outsider looking in....but I know a confidence breaker when I hear one and I've heard plenty. Sometimes Robby's decisions pay off and sometimes they don't, but it has to be give and take with a CC, not a total blow off. I know it's easy for us to Monday night QB it to death; it's not our team that we have to keep above 35th in points. This team is everything right now. He not only has to worry about making a living so that he support his dreams and aspirations, he's also worried about keeping his empolyees employed. But he really needs to let go a bit. His tight control and lack of confidence in every single CC is causing this team to falter. He has to have faith in his team the way his team has faith in him. And so what if they make a mistake or make the wrong call, he's done it many times himself. He can recover a lot better from it if the trust/faith/confidence is there.
Permalink Reply by Mouseking7 on August 11, 2008 at 12:27pm
You go Girl! Spot on!!!
Permalink Reply by Greg Jones on August 11, 2008 at 11:44am
I dont understand the harping about HP and fuel mileage. he was second quick in practice, had one of, if not the fastest lap of the race and he could have done the race on two stops. Whatever the 'strategy' was (I still dont get it) it was decided before the race and the only variation seemed to be pitting when he got the lucky dog. I didn't hear Walter suggest anything during the race. Did I miss something?
Permalink Reply by TOG on August 11, 2008 at 12:20pm
Oh well. I will say qualifying being rained out really was the kick in the nuts for Robby, because they were shooting for the pole.If RG started on the front row at WG, then the entire scenario would have been different and their strategies might have worked.
Permalink Reply by jaeway on August 11, 2008 at 12:52pm
Robbys stratagy should be to hire a guy to stand behind ky bush pit stall and do what ever they do for pit stratagy that will sove all there woes on pit road
Permalink Reply by NIKAL on August 11, 2008 at 1:07pm
Blaming GEM, the motors and fuel mileage is a cop out! RG knows that when he says this crap, thats all it is, its crap!

Fact is your not going to have the same HP and mileage of a car that handles well. You will not have strait away speed if you cant get in and out of the corners smoothly. Thats just a fact! So to say the RGM is not getting the same power as the other GEM or Petty teams is just BS! The fact is RGM has yet to figure out how to get the car to handle the way RG wants it to. Maybe RG has to try to drive it differently, since they cant make it drive like he wants. Jeff Gordon has gone on record saying he has had to drive the COT different and look for different lines as it does not drive like the COY. And if your saying what about this weekend? Well RGM and a few other teams starting in the back chose to put the larger carb on the motor for HP and not fuel mileage. Thats a choice RGM made not GEM.

And if you cant be smooth in the corners then you are not smooth on the gas peddle either. Your jumping on and off harder as your having to muscle the car around more then someone like Kasey Kaine who is easing off into a corner then then accelerating hard enough, but not so hard that the car is constantly out of shape.

Which also keeps you from killing tires during a fuel run. Robby's entire fuel runs are a constant, Tight, Tight, Tight and later a Loose, Loose, Loose condition. Or Loose first and Tight later. Either way we rarely hear RG state the car is good.

And why is it the car will be decent during practice and yet during the race it runs like crap? Maybe because they chose to only run the minimum laps during practice and they never get to see what this car, setup and track are going to do over an entire run?

And the saddest part of this whole deal for me is we hear and see the video interview Robby did last week and he speaks about how the team is really working hard and its the internal clicks of the team that are the hardest for him. And he talked about how if the right opportunity came along that RGM had the "Prossess and procedures in place to start a second team" Well that just complete Bull Shit after seeing how they performed as a team and driver this weekend.

I am a big RG fan and have been around RG a long time in the off-road world. Heck I have helped his TT several years back. But I will say that RGM is in no way ready to run a second team. Wood Bros. this weekend showed even though they have some serious issues in their program with multible drivers and sponsors. But when they get a driver who can run on a track the team works together and they show that you can start from 43rd and run in the top 5 and the end of the day. Woods hired Marcos Ambrose to drive the car and they hired a CC and team to call the race during the day. How did it work out for them?

So RGM please dont load us up with a bunch of Bull Shit in your Watkins Glen review about how starting in 31st was why your race did not work out. Tell us the truth and say we came in hear over confident and we really are not in a position at this time to run for top 5's or wins. We hope to be there some day, but right now we need to focus on top 20s weekend and week out. And RGM as a company needs to let the people on this team do their jobs and make the decisions that we are paying them for. If Robby really feels he is a better CC from behind the wheel then let your CC go and bring in Johnny Kaiser as you honorary CC as he is going to save the company allot of money as it will be a Honorary position and you will not be paying him much but travel expenses.
Permalink Reply by RGDirt on August 11, 2008 at 1:32pm
As much as it pains me to say this, I agree with you.
Permalink Reply by Mouseking7 on August 11, 2008 at 2:43pm
Dead on Nik!!!! Dead on!!!!!
Permalink Reply by Turtle7 on August 11, 2008 at 1:37pm
Hey Nikal, I like your comments. Here are my two cents on the race. It seems like the car was not properly prepared. He had to ask one of the crew members which were the switches for the brakes and then there was the which was the water temp gauge problem. I guess the team can't afford dymo labels or sharpies. Fault CC!

The next problem was pit strategy. They knew they needed three stops before the race, that is why they tried the 'gas and go' on lap 36. As they knew this before hand and that they could run only 25 laps per stop , then they should have used the conventional Road Course strategy of pitting at Lap 15, Lap 40 and lap 65. With a dominent car they would have stayed on the lead lap and not have to ride around in the back for most of the race.

If they didn't want an early pit they could have done what they did and pit on lap 25 to confirm their mileage of 3.5 to 3.9 miles per gallon [per Walter] and then pit on the lap 48 caution and the lap 65 caution. They would have stayed on the lead lap and at worst finished around Jr or Kahne.

Fault CC and Robby - I don't think either one of them understand Road Racing. If Walt was a top Aussy Super Car crew chief he should know that 'Gas and Go's' only work late in a race, like with 10 to go and that Robby's fuel mileage was so poor that a Gas & Go wasn't a real option which Robby should have also recognized. If Robby wants to be the CC, he needs to figure out more of the details and get a better understanding of what is happening around him both on the track and with the car.

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