NASCAR Thread.

[01GTP]

I had to turn the channel after the caution plagued beginning. "facepalm"
I watched the Rolex race and when the ALMS race started I then watched it.

My vote= keep the road courses as is.
NASCAR is an oval racing tradition and should stay that way.

 

[JohnBM01]

I had only a quaint idea that Nationwide was racing this past weekend, but didn't know it was at Montreal. I was watching the ALMS race at Mosport until that red flag, then saw ESPNEWS... which shown the NASCAR Nationwide series at Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. Oh yeah- that was a GREAT finish. I'm a Boris Said fan, and I couldn't be any happier for a guy like him to win. He's one of the few racers that just has an unconditional love of racing.

On Facebook, The SPEED Report asked if Cup should race Montreal. Not only did I say yes, but ABSOLUTELY yes. I even talked about maybe getting rid of the Boring Mile (Loudon) and put in Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. Either that, or replace the second Loudon race with Mosport. NASCAR Canadian Tire Series races at Mosport (and I think Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve as well). Why not show some initiative and race either of these two great courses?


(UPDATE/JUST FOR FUN) The finish would have been better if it was in the rain! I wanted to mention weather in this post, but didn't do so in my initial post. It was a glorious day of racing up there (not that I was actually at the track).

 

[Earth]

Ok looks like a couple of drivers have hit the wall too many times and lost some sense...

First Steven Wallace driving around the track in a broken car with no helmet

Then Robby Gordon parking his car 20 feet from the track during green flag conditions, getting out, still under green, and walking only 20 some feet from the track for a good distance, STILL under green! Sure it was only a 45 mph corner, but 45mph can still take you out easily

 

[RACECAR]

Not really anything significant, but for those who are into those awesome paint schemes that've become your favorites, this is worth watching:

[YOUTUBEHD]ebB7sj_3gQ0[/YOUTUBEHD]

 

[JohnBM01]

Here are the current standings from 8th through 16...

08 - Matt Kenseth (3095 pts.)
09 - Jimmie Johnson (3077 pts.)
10 - Kurt Busch (3073 pts.)
11 - Greg Biffle (3055 pts.)
12 - Clint Bowyer (2920 pts.)
13 - Jamie McMurray (2820 pts.)
14 - Mark Martin (2819 pts.)
15 - Ryan Newman (2802 pts.)
16 - Kasey Kahne (2784 pts.)

Just like in the NCAA March Madness tournament, this is about "last four in" and "last four out." Who will survive and who will not in making the chase?

 

[01GTP]

If Bowyer has a bad day at Atlanta then the next 3 are really going to battle each other as they are very close in points.
That would be very interesting to watch unfold.
100 points are a lot for one race , but not 2.
I read the biggest deficit filled (with 2 races to go) was 90 points and that was Kahn who overcame the deficit and made the chase.
I think Kahn is too far back this year.

I'd like to see Mark Martin make the chase.

 

[JohnBM01]

Okay, people. This year's Chase is set. Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports, here's your field (the number in parentheses is the number of wins the driver has on the season):

01 - Denny Hamlin (6)
02 - Jimmie Johnson (5)
03 - Kyle Busch (3)
04 - Kevin Harvick (3)
05 - Kurt Busch (2)
06 - Greg Biffle (1)
07 - Tony Stewart (1)
08 - Carl Edwards
09 - Jeff Gordon
10 - Matt Kenseth
11 - Jeff Burton
12 - Clint Bowyer


And here's are the tracks where the Chase will be decided:
9/19 - Loudon
9/26 - Dover
10/3 - Kansas
10/10 - California
10/16 - Charlotte
10/24 - Martinsville
10/31 - Talladega (Talladega on Halloween? That's... not very pleasant.)
11/7 - Texas
11/14 - Phoenix
11/21 - Homestead



Who do you all have winning the championship? Who would be your dark horse to win the championship? Good luck to all 12 Chase finalists. Go kick some butt in trying to win the championship.

 

[Cale]

I want the 2 car to win, ja.

 

[TS]

I have a feeling the 11, 29 and 48 will run away from the rest of the field, and as long as their consistently fast and are perfect, I think Denny Hamlin will win the championship.

 

[Cale]

I've been pleasantly surprised with the 33 car the last few races.

 

[Northstar]

I honestly don't know who to pick for the championship, the 29 has been good for pretty much all the races thus far which judging from the past may not transfer to the chase races, as for the 11, 18 and 48 it all depends on what team shows up, all 3 have had high points and low points throughout the season.

I want Stewart to win it, but I have a feeling Kyle Busch may flip the switch and win the title.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here's my problem with Kyle Busch... he's very much shown the winning form, but hasn't really come through with a championship. You can't win a bunch of races and not win a championship. Conversely, you can't win so few races and end up with a championship (like Matt Kenseth's 2003 performance that led to the Chase for the Cup). There's no question Rowdy Busch can win races. But if he's such a consistent contender, when will it pay off with a championship? His only championship was last year in Nationwide. Can he win a title in NASCAR's top series?

These are just random thoughts... I'd love to see Hamlin win a championship because I have so much respect for him and is a great driver. Same sentiments go to Greg Biffle. I of course cheer on Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards. It still surprises me that Carl Edwards hasn't won a race this season in Cup. And as for that #48? Part of me wants to believe the Chase just becomes that Fountain of Youth for Jimmie Johnson where he just motors away to a championship. As much as I like Jimmie, I don't think he'll cash in that fifth-successive title.

But really, ANYTHING can happen between the Boring Mile (Loudon) and Homestead. Anyone's game.

 

[Adamgp]

I hate Kyle, but Kyle's problem IMO is that he tries to do too much. He dominates trucks and Nationwide races, but is a meh driver in Cup. I'm kind of shocked that Gibbs doesn't limit or put an end to him racing all weekend so he can concentrate on Cup.

I'd love for Edwards or Biffle to take the cup because of Roush's troubles the first half of the year and the plane crash. I'd also like to see Stewart pull it off being an owner driver.

I have mixed feelings about the chase. NASCAR didn't like that Kenseth won the championship with only one race win. Matt won it with consistent top 5 and top 10 finishes all year long. Now you just need consitstent finishes in the final 10 races.

This year going into the chase Jeff Gordon was 2nd in points going into the chase, despite no wins. Now he is 9th despite his 26 race average finish behind drivers who have more wins but were less consistent. NASCAR doesn't reward consistency any more, they reward wins.

 

[Cale]

Penske POWAAAR on pole with a new track record.

 

[RACECAR]

I know alot of you only care about the Cup, but the Modieds are racing right now.

 

[JohnBM01]

Tony Stewart won at Loudon... until he ran out of gas on the last lap. Clint Bowyer was money in picking up the win. Up next- from the Boring Mile... to the Monster Mile. Dover is next!

 

[01GTP]

Tony Stewart won at Loudon... until he ran out of gas on the last lap.

Yeah, and it was looking great for Jeff Burton until he also ran out.

 

[Ja5on]

Was gutted when Tony ran out.

Im flying over to watch the Dover race this weekend

 

[Cale]

Dover is such and awesome track. Please tell me you're in the bridge!

 

[Ja5on]

sadly not mate. Start finish line pretty high up so we see the whole track

 

[Ian Poole]

You have to at least take one lap on the bridge, it is awesome to be standing there and swaying with all of the power underneath

 

[Ja5on]

I'll do that mate.

Been to Bristol past 2 years in a row so it'll be good to see a longer track. I did Daytona and richmond the 2 years previous

 

[CodeRedR51]

Anyone else hear about NASCARs crackdown on the #33 team today? Serious penalties handed down. Bowyer now sits in 12th place 185 points back in the Chase, his crew chief has been suspended for the next six races and fined $150,000.

 

[RACECAR]

Anyone else hear about NASCARs crackdown on the #33 team today? Serious penalties handed down. Bowyer now sits in 12th place 185 points back in the Chase, his crew chief has been suspended for the next six races and fined $150,000.

Wow, I sure didn't. Well, he's effectively out of the championship now.

 

[LSX]

That's funny because on Wind Tunnel I think it was, Despain said that the car was at the R/D center, Nascar was just checking it out, and as a service to RCR, they wanted to let them know the car was VERY close to being out of spec. Also that Nascar just wanted the team to come down and look at the car with them.

And they left the part about fining the hell out of them off the itinerary

Perhaps it was the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Funny no matter the source.

 

[CodeRedR51]

I guess NASCAR warned them about how close the specs were after Richmond. Must not have taken them seriously or something.

 

[LSX]

I thought the car in question WAS the Richmond car though, the Louden car was legal I thought. Really, both were, as far as the news led me the believe until this.

 

[Cale]

I thought the car in question WAS the Richmond car though, the Louden car was legal I thought. Really, both were, as far as the news led me the believe until this.

Agreed. They said the Richmond car was close to the threshold... so doesn't that mean it's still legal?

 

[CodeRedR51]

From NASCAR.com:

The development came a day after NASCAR
called in RCR officials to warn them that
Bowyer's Chase-clinching car from the Sept. 11
race at Richmond had nearly failed inspection
because its back end was very close to the mandated limits.

They warned them about the alterations to the Richmond car on Tuesday, then found the Loudon car altered out of specs and fined them for it today.

 

[Cale]

But it didn't fail inspection wtf