Hello, motorsports enthusiasts! Welcome to another edition of Seven Points with Kobe Lambeth and Kenneth Lee Jr. We will provide weekly commentary, discussing various topics in motorsports. The majority of our content will focus on NASCAR but other disciplines will be discussed as well.
Lambeth is a student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, who is a Communications major (mass media concentration) and minor in Journalism. In addition, he contributes to motorsports coverage at The Podium Finish. Lee is a graduate of Tuskegee University with a bachelor's degree in Communications, an alumnus of the NASCAR Diversity Internship Program and an Associate Producer in Content Development for the Motor Racing Network. 1. Williams Racing decided to terminate its deal with title sponsor ROKiT as the longtime Formula 1 team evaluates the possibility of selling the team, in hopes of placing the organization in a good spot for the future. What are your thoughts on this recent development? Lambeth: Honestly, I think we will have to wait and see what happens with the future of Williams Racing. The iconic Formula 1 team has been around for many years. It would be a shame to see them disappear from the F1 grid. Hopefully, they make the best decision to secure their future as we enter a brand new era of F1. Lee: With the termination of ROKiT from Williams Racing, I’m not sure if this will be a good move for them or not right off the bat. I’m not sure if they have another set of money rolling in, but this could be bad for Williams if they don’t. 2. Following a successful meeting with Chad Wolf, the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, NASCAR and IMSA executives were able to gain special approval for foreign drivers and team members to return to the United States. Why was it such an important deal for the executives to complete? Lambeth: With a good number of members in the American motorsports community living outside of the United States, it was crucial to get approval for these people to travel here. It would be nearly impossible to resume IMSA racing in July, given the number of international workers in the paddock. Recently, IndyCar rookie Alex Palou was able to return to the U.S. from Spain, ahead of his series debut next Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Overall, this was a move that needed to happen to ensure that all essential folks can do their job. The show must go on whether it is IMSA or IndyCar. Lee: I think this was a huge deal to get cleared with a ton of the field composing of foreign drivers. You don’t want to leave people out once racing resumes. You always want to have a full field of drivers, without having their championship battles ruined by factors totally out of their control. 3. According to RACER.com, Arrow McLaren SP has decided to put the additional IndyCar entry on the shelves until 2021. While Fernando Alonso still plans to attempt the 2020 Indianapolis 500 with the team, a few other championship-winning drivers could have made guest appearances in the part-time entry. With Jimmie Johnson and Jenson Button rumored to make select starts with the McLaren IndyCar operation at some point, how impactful would it be for the American open-wheel racing series to add these champions to the grid? Lambeth: The addition of Jimmie Johnson and Jenson Button would be great for the NTT IndyCar Series. They are champions from their respective disciplines. I think watching Johnson transitioning to open-wheel racing, after years of being a top tier stock car competitor would be a fun story to follow. Button is the 2009 Formula 1 world champion and claimed the 2018 Super GT title. People are always interested in watching drivers try new disciplines, so I think this is something that would be very exciting, drawing in viewers from all over the world. Lee: I think the impact would be pretty huge to have Jimmie Johnson or Jenson Button join the field for an IndyCar road course race or even the Indianapolis 500. I think adding household names from other series will eventually expose fans of other disciplines to something new to their eyes. 4. Formula E driver Daniel Abt was dropped by Audi for hiring a professional eSports racer to compete for him in a virtual race. While many believed that Abt was racing online as himself, he deceived the audience as the gamer took his place. While Abt viewed the incident as playing a joke on everyone, why did he face real life consequences? Even in the virtual world, should drivers always be extra careful, especially after seeing what happened to NASCAR driver Kyle Larson? Lambeth: Although it was “just a game,” Daniel Abt faced a real life punishment, losing his prestigious Formula E seat with Audi. Drivers are always under a microscope. While I think getting fired for hiring a pro eSports racer might be a little extreme, you have to be smarter when sponsors are involved. If he truly wanted to try a stunt like this, he should have asked his employer about it. The worst they can do is turn it down. People have to remain professional at all times and be very careful. As Daniel Abt and Kyle Larson were turned into examples, hopefully other drivers learn from their mistakes so it does not happen to them. Lee: This has to be one of the strangest stories that I’ve read recently. For one thing, I want people to understand how serious this became when sponsors got involved. While many people try to fault “sim racing,” at what point do you hold accountability to the people? Is it ludacris that Abt was dropped for using a fake driver? Yes, but when sponsors are involved and expect you to do something for them, that’s the last thing you should do. I think all the people blaming sim racing for this or Larson’s incident should reconsider their stance. 5. On Monday night, Tommy Joe Martins was in position to score his first top-10 finish in NASCAR competition until a late race crash ruined those dreams. Martins had nowhere to go and got collected in someone else’s mess. With Martins Motorsports being one of the smaller teams in the garage, why is it so important for the underdogs to bring the car home in one piece each race? Lambeth: It was a heartbreaking end to the night for Tommy Joe Martins, being an innocent victim in a late race crash. Smaller teams work with tighter budgets and they do not have the same resources as the bigger teams. Therefore, they cannot afford to tear up equipment. If you wreck a Joe Gibbs Racing Xfinity car, it will still cost a lot of money, but they will have another car ready to go for the next week. Some of the smaller teams would be struggling to prepare for the following race. When something goes wrong, it explains why you see drivers and crew ready to fight, producing a wide range of emotions. This is a grind and none of it comes easy. Lee: It was a tough break for Tommy Joe Martins, who was on the cusp of a top-10 finish, but got collected in something that wasn’t his fault. I think if people spend time playing the NASCAR Thunder 2004 video game, you’ll get a glimpse of what it’s like to struggle as a small team. The budget is drastically different from a larger organization. It’s tough when you build all your resources to get a good car and that happens. 6. Chase Elliott played the role of “Bounty Hunter” and claimed his prize by defeating Kyle Busch in Tuesday night’s NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Were you surprised that Elliott beat Rowdy, in his first Truck start since 2017? Lambeth: It surprised me that Chase Elliott claimed “The Bounty” in the first attempt. I expected it to happen later on but not this soon. Given the incident between him and Busch at Darlington and losing the Coca-Cola 600, Elliott was hungry and fired up to win. Lee: After the week Chase Elliott had, falling short of a victory at Darlington, this was something that wasn’t surprising to me. I felt like he was just itching to get in the truck and let alone was ready to do whatever it took to win. 7. Following significant criticism for his call to bring Chase Elliott down pit road near the end of the Coca-Cola 600, crew chief Alan Gustafson rebounded on Thursday night as the No. 9 team made it to victory lane in the Alsco 500. Even when you make a mistake, why is it crucial to move on sooner rather than later? Lambeth: You must have a short memory and be prepared to move on to the next race. If not, then it will continue to dwell on you for quite some time. Did Gustafson make a questionable call that warranted criticism? Absolutely. However, he kept on going and rightfully earned redemption. It was the perfect way to respond to the critics. Win and let those actions speak louder than words. Lee: I think everyone was pretty confused about the No. 9 team making its way down pit lane during NASCAR Overtime. The criticism was deserved from fans across the board. However, as a team, making mistakes and bouncing back is always important. Gustafson’s team did just that in the Alsco 500 and that’s what separates the good from the great teams.
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