Originally Posted by Charles Nungester:
I've waited darn near a week to post this and please correct me if anything I say is wrong.
Last season HAR/Coons did not crack the top three in points. Amid some car problems, both F5 and Maxim. Everytime i seen the maxim it seemed to run two good laps and darn near jump out from under Jerry. IDK what was the problem but the problems persisted this season with a hybird chasis Chalk/F5/Hoffman Black Frame. The Blue is still the F5.
Don't know the circumstances of the release of Coons. None of my or your buisness really
. Personal thought is Jerry has the tools, Capable of winning while maintaining a big picture. He's proved it in three classes, NOT MANY OTHERS HAVE! Jerry is great. His Resume needs no questioning.
Daron gets the ride. Car problems continue. Daron mentions something about the motor being higher than hes used to. Week prior to Sprintweek they make *Radical changes to the car*. Honestly the cars ran great since when it wasn't on the frame rack.
I don't know if Daron put to much pressure on himself. Everyone knows he's capable of winning. I don't know if the pressure caused him to overlook the *BIG PICTURE*?
I think if you've been in the business 80 years, You go through a couple slumps. Times change, Setups that dominated no longer do so. Sometimes blame and cages get rattled before the solution is found.
I say this, with all the respect in the world to all involved, Past, Present and Future!
Jerry, Keep on Keepin on Champ!
Daron. Hope you land the sponsorship or ride to come back and prove them wrong.
HAR, 9 national titles. May your search for the Winning/Big Picture guy be successful for #10
I agree with Charles on many points. The "hybrid" coil over car the Hoffman's have is different than anything out there for sure, but KL proved tonight that it still has the ability to win...with the right driver and the right conditions. After a few years around a coil over car with the Kyle Cummins team, they can be finnicky at times but very fast if ya hit the setup right. Like last night at Osky and the near pavement conditions the car was a rocket. Couple that with a driver who is accustomed to running a pavement car...you got a winner folks. Now put KL in that car at Bloomington, TSS, or Putnamville with a tacky track with a 4" lippy cushion and you might have a different story. I am not taking anything away from KL and what he did last night, but I think the stars aligned for them last night and they got an impressive win.
Now Daron Clayton is a different commodity. Put him a DRC or Maxim 4 bar car with a guy like Walker at TSS, Bloomington, or Putnamville on a tacky track and watch out, he will wheel the crap out of it and have the fans screaming for more.
There a very few teams out there who still run coil overs. After doing a little searching most of the teams who ran coil overs at one time have switched to 4 bar cars. Like the Edison Bros. who always had coil over cars with Shane Cottle, but now run bars with Scotty Weir. Brady Short also had success with a coil over car but has switched to a bar car the last couple years.
Now I don't make any claims to being an expert at anything but just my general observations after being around the pits for the last 30+ years. Better get out and watch Larson soon, he won't be around long. Like Gordon, Yeley, Stenhouse, Stewart, Whitt and others he will be moving along soon I'm afraid.