I think a team, any team, is pretty lucky to have BL driving their car. For the past 2 years I have watched and listened as Bobby has to take a car, that is clearly “less than”, and put it as close to the front of a finishing order as it can possibly get. Every week, he qualifies somewhere around 20th starting position, and he finishes somewhere around 15th. I listen to the incar radio during the race, and it’s the same every race. The car is slow, right off the trailer, and they spend the entire weekend making adjustments to try to salvage a good finish. He has to start deep in the field, because the car isn’t right for qualifying. Then When the green flag drops, the first thing he always says is “tight, tight, and loose in. Then Jeff sounds like he doesn’t have a clue what to do, they agree on an adjustment, which is usuall the wrong direction, Bobby goes a lap down as a result, and then when Jeff finally listens to what Bobby tells him, he goes back the other way with the adjustments, and the car is as fast as the leaders. Problem is BL has to pass all those cars, just to get the lucky dog. Then he has to pass all those cars again to get to the front.
So I think the problem is with the prep of the cars, and the crew chief decisions before and during the race. I’m not sure Jeff “gets it”. Every now and then I hear Robbie chime in during the race, and tell them something is the wrong thing to do and they listen to him. I sit at home and call the adjustments and when they finally take my “armchair crew chief advice”, they go faster. The people involved with car prep, need to quit relying on a great driver (Bobby) to make up ALL those positions during the race, and give him a car he can race with at the drop of the green flag. How can they not see what happens every race? So if you ask me, if BL wanted to go with a team that can win this week, he should’ve talked to Childress. He can be very competitive in the Nationwide car, and it has no sponsor. SO with the merger between Petty and Boston Ventures I hope someone will take some of the money, buy a computer, get on the internet and read this blog. If the car is the same condition at the start of every race, just make the adjustments they make around the 3rd pitstop, before it goes to the grid and it should come out of the box in the front. The 43 team has one of the best drivers and over the wall crews in the business, they need to concentrate on what happens before they ever get to the track. Stop making those guys make up for the lack of preperation, during the race. Go Bobby!!!!