NASCAR Preseason Media Day Leaves Questions

By ESPN

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Call it a media day with few answers.

Oh, there were answers to questions. But mostly there were unknowns disguised as responses.

The two biggest news stories of the month still are a little bit of the biggest mysteries, as the annual NASCAR preseason media days in Charlotte had drivers plowing through the first day that included photo shoots, interviews with television partners and other media as well as short news conferences.

Among the most notable topics: The Carl Edwards retirement still in some ways befuddles the Joe Gibbs Racing driver contingent, and the new points system continues to have unknowns.

JGR driver Matt Kenseth said he has talked with Edwards on the phone about his announcement earlier this month to at least temporarily retire from racing. That raised the question: What does he know that maybe many in the public don't?

"I kind of called him and sort of asked him straight up and when I hung up, it was probably less clear than before," Kenseth said. "I really don't know. You guys at the press conference probably know more than me.

"I tried to listen to what he was saying, I tried to listen to what he wasn't saying. I didn't really come up with anything. But I don't think it was my fault at all."

In NASCAR's new scoring system, drivers can earn points at the end of two stages that cover about half of each race. They can also earn points for the postseason by winning a stage or being in the top 10 in the regular-season standings. Kevin Harvick, when asked whether the new system put more pressure on pit crews, had a quick response:

"You're the second person that's telling me that," he said. "Tell me why."

Well, because a bad early pit stop could mean loss of points. There are more potential "money stops," which can put more pressure on the crews.

Harvick nodded that he got the gist of the theory but almost dismissed much of it:

"Every pit stop is full of pressure for those guys no matter what's on the table," he said. "The expectations are to go out and lead laps and run up front and [now] win segments and try to put yourselves in position to win a race and a championship. Those expectations don't change."

About the most definitive thing said on the new format came from Jimmie Johnson, when talking about the reasoning behind it.

"I'm not bigger than NASCAR," said Johnson, who won his seventh NASCAR Cup title last year. "There is no way they are changing rules based on the No. 48. This sport is a lot bigger than one person."

The crux of both of these somewhat startling offseason moves is that it appears the decision-makers had little choice. NASCAR is making changes to its points system amid the dropping attendance and television ratings. It also saw drivers who had great seasons get knocked out of its version of the playoffs earlier than maybe it wanted thanks to a sour engine or broken part.

Edwards? He's a hard guy to figure out, and and he's a private man. He held a news conference a couple weeks ago to talk about his decision, citing that he was content with his career, he knew the health risks of more crashes and he wanted relief from the grueling schedule. It's hard to know for sure what really prompted him.

His teammates found out about the decision on the night of Jan. 8 -- before the Jan. 11 news conference.

"That was the first time I heard about i,t and I was very, very surprised," Kenseth said. "The more I think, I probably am not shocked. I think whatever Carl does -- after I think about it for a while -- doesn't really totally surprise me.

"But I definitely didn't see it coming. ... Carl has always been his own guy."

Edwards' teammate Kyle Busch did make a joke that Edwards retired before he could pay him back from Richmond last year when Edwards executed a bump-and-run on Busch for the win.

"You're out there competing as you would with everybody being separate," Busch said. "I think we found that out last year at Richmond. Maybe Carl still felt bad enough that's why he wanted to retire: He didn't want to go through that anymore. I guess he gets to quit without me paying him back.

"I'm disappointed in that aspect. No, love you Carl. Seriously."

Seriously, Busch was ready to move on.

Moving forward. That often is the goal of drivers during these preseason media days. They don't want to talk about the past. They want to talk about the future.

And then again, maybe they really don't. AJ Allmendinger conducted a test Jan. 13 on the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course that for some reason they didn't want anyone to know about. NASCAR quietly confirmed last week that the test occurred but won't give any indication how seriously it will consider the apparent suggestion from track officials to have a race on it.

"I'll just say that we were out there collecting data," said Allmendinger, one of the strongest road-racers among the Cup drivers. "I had a lot of fun. It would be something I would enjoy.

"It was better than my golf game, let's put it that way. ... Could it be successful? I think it would be a fantastic race and something the fans could truly enjoy."