NASCAR Thread.

[RACECAR]

Some interesting news I found this week. Looks like Dale Jarrett won't around much longer:

Michael Waltrip said farewell to Dale Jarrett on Friday, then introduced a partner who he believes will help his fledgling race team become competitive.
The 50-year-old Jarrett will run just seven races in 2008 — the first five points events, the All-Star race and the season-opening exhibition event at Daytona — before turning the No. 44 Toyota over to David Reutimann.
"It's been a difficult decision, but we knew this time was coming," Jarrett said. "With the things that transpired this year, it showed me we are ready to do this."
A three-time Daytona 500 winner and the 1999 Cup champion, Jarrett signed a two-year contract with Michael Waltrip Racing with the intention of helping Waltrip launch his three-car organization. But the team struggled out of the gate, and the on-track difficulties led Jarrett to ask MWR and sponsor UPS to figure out a plan that would ease him out of the driver's seat.
Several ideas were broached before Jarrett, who made his Cup debut in 1984, decided to run the season-opening exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway, the first five races and the non-points All-Star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
"I have nothing else to prove in this sport," he said. "I'm very fortunate, very honored, that I've had this opportunity for so long."
He joined MWR amid much fanfare, as the team lured him away from Robert Yates Racing to help with the launch. But the team has struggled to make races and Jarrett, Waltrip and Reutimann have failed to crack the top 35 in points needed to earn an automatic berth in the field each week.
Jarrett has missed 10 of 30 races this season, and failed to qualify for Saturday night's event at Lowe's. He's 41st in the standings, and his 22nd-place finish in the Daytona 500 is his best result of the year.
Waltrip thanked Jarrett for suffering through this season.
"When we knew Dale was coming, I just thought it brought us instant credibility," Waltrip said. "I want to thank Dale for putting us on the map. And I want to apologize to him and David for not having the team that they needed at the start of the season."
In recognizing the shortcomings of his race team, Waltrip began listening to offers from potential investors who could give him the cash he needs to make his organization stronger.
Waltrip settled on Robert Kauffman, a founder and managing partner in Fortress Investment Group, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Kauffman said he made a personal investment to purchase 50 percent of the newly formed Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC.
"In the past 18 months, it is amazing what our small group has been able to accomplish," Waltrip said. "We did what no one else has ever tried, forming three Cup teams with a new manufacturer, and we've made it through the toughest time.
"Now I have a business partner in Rob Kauffman who is as passionate as I am to make this team successful."
Waltrip also added former Cup team owner Cal Wells as executive vice president of operations, and Larry Johns as chief financial officer. He also recently hired Dr. Eric Warren as technical director.
"This gives me, my employees and my sponsors the confidence that our product will continue to improve and that Michael Waltrip Racing is a company that will be successful for a long time to come," Waltrip said.
The team still must figure out what it's going to do with its third car, the No. 00 Toyota that Reutimann has driven this season. Reutimann will drive it for the first five races next season before moving into the No. 44 with sponsor UPS.
MWR general manager Ty Norris said the car doesn't have full sponsorship for 2008 yet, but the team is committed to fielding it for the entire 36-race schedule.
The plan for now is to use MWR development driver Josh Wise and Michael McDowell, who has been racing in the ARCA Series, in that car.
"We've got a lot of time to figure out if those guys are ready," Norris said. "We'll test them and try to get them up to speed and see if we can't use them in that car next year. If they aren't ready, we've got plenty of time to find a driver from the (free agents) who are still available.
"Since David is going to run the first five races, we could conceivably wait until the sixth race of the year to figure out what we're going to do with that car."

Link Here

As for the situation involving the #10 car, Interesting story has arisen:

Former Champ Car star Patrick Carpentier signed with Gillett Evernham Motorsports on Wednesday to drive the No. 10 Dodge. "We are excited to add Patrick Carpentier to our organization for 2008," co-owner George Gillett said. "Patrick has shown tremendous talent in every series he has driven throughout his career and has a bright future in NASCAR.
"We are committed to giving Patrick the best resources and opportunities available to make this transition and we look forward to a great deal of success together both on and off the track."
Carpentier is replacing Scott Riggs, who is leaving to drive for Haas CNC Racing next season. He'll step into a team that was founded by Ray Evernham, who turned over majority ownership to the Gillett family this summer.
The Gillett's also own the Montreal Canadiens, and are co-owners of the English Premier League club Liverpool.
Carpentier, a Quebec native, is a perfect fit for the Gillett's, who hope the driver will attract Canadian businesses to NASCAR. The team is currently looking for a primary sponsor for the No. 10.
Carpentier becomes the latest open-wheel driver to jump to NASCAR, and will join a Dodge camp that already has Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti in Avengers for next season. Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve will drive a Toyota next season, and Scott Speed will race a Toyota in the ARCA Series.
Carpentier has driven in only one Nextel Cup race and two Busch Series events, all on road courses.
He made his Nextel Cup debut in August driving the No. 10 for Riggs at Watkins Glen, where he led seven laps and finished 22nd. He also raced in the Busch Series event in Montreal, where he won the pole, led 14 laps and finished second.
In his career, Carpentier has won two Champ Car races, three CART wins and a Toyota Atlantic Championship.
He'll be stepping into a car that is currently outside the top 35 in owner points and has had difficulty making races — Riggs has failed to qualify for seven events, including Sunday's race at Talladega.
It creates a tricky situation for Carpentier because if the car isn't locked into the field and misses races, Carpentier won't get the experience he'd need to race it inside the top 35 in points.

Link here

 

[Earth]

It looks like Rousch Racing is imploding. Kenseth and Edwards hate each other. How do dynasties like Rousch Fenway Racing Fall? Self destruct from within

 

[WallRunner]

Well, I am getting to go to this next race, at Atlanta Motor speedway, I even get to go on the pit tour 45 mins before the race, what would y'all suggest bringing?

From,
Chris.

 

[JohnBM01]

I've been hearing about the Edwards/Kenseth deal. Most of you know I love Carl Edwards. I don't know the full specifics of this inner rivalry, but I just hope that Roush can pull together and not implode.

Let me share my thoughts on Atlanta. Atlanta can be a fast oval. I know this even from my NASCAR Racing (from 1994) days on the PC. I could reach about 180 or even 190 before heading into Turn 3. This is a very interesting track. I don't talk about it as much, but I like the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton(?), GA.

Good luck to all teams and drivers at the Atlanta race.

 

[Earth]

Well, I am getting to go to this next race, at Atlanta Motor speedway, I even get to go on the pit tour 45 mins before the race, what would y'all suggest bringing?

From,
Chris.

A digital Camera that can take alot of pictures and a video camera. Also something to write autographs on, whatever you want

Here is the Carl Edwards Matt Kenseth Fight, kind of scary



More details and commetns from Greg Biffe of Roush Racing

 

[TS]

Well, I am getting to go to this next race, at Atlanta Motor speedway, I even get to go on the pit tour 45 mins before the race, what would y'all suggest bringing?

From,
Chris.

Like Earth suggested, a digi-cam or a video camera to document the racing. Maybe, if you can, some of your die-cast models of your favorite drivers cars.

I've been hearing about the Edwards/Kenseth deal. Most of you know I love Carl Edwards. I don't know the full specifics of this inner rivalry, but I just hope that Roush can pull together and not implode.

Apparently, Kenseth and Edwards haven't had to good of a relationship as of late, and Edwards said in a conference early this week that it's been more than 6 months since he had spoken with Matt.

Then they both seemed to forget about until the Kansas Busch race where they rubbed a little, causing Edwards to lose a tire and crash; Edwards also apologized for his actions at Martinsville and wants to re-build his friendship with Kenseth.

 

[CAMikaze]

It looks like Rousch Racing is imploding. Kenseth and Edwards hate each other. How do dynasties like Rousch Fenway Racing Fall? Self destruct from within

Maybe the allegedly exorcised Curse of the Bambino has a new home?

 

[Earth]

Maybe the allegedly exorcised Curse of the Bambino has a new home?

Hopefully. I never liked how Roush gave Mark Martin second rate equipment in the twilight of his career despite the fact he could still drive. I was hoping Martin won the Daytona 500 to show what he could do with real equipment.

As for this weekend's race I hope Montoya can get back on track. He ran well here in the spring

Pep Boys 500 Qualifying

• 
  Greg Biffle on the Pole

• 
  Alot of Toyotas are in the race, it looks like Toyota isn't far behind everyone anymore

• Montoya Starts 21st

• Sam Hornish Jr misses another race

• Dale Jarret qualified 3rd

• 
  Johnson is 6th, Gordon is 8th

• Bill Elliot starts, but dead last

• 
  There is also talk of rebuilding Lowes Motorspeedway somewhere else in Charlotte. I can only hope we don't get another cookie cutter 1.5 mile oval

 

[toyota_gt1]

Yet another wild race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon is the grand marshel, Richard Petty waves the opening green flag when his hat blows off. Gordon struggled most of the day and ends up 7th. However, his teammate Jimmie Johnson somehow gets the win and cuts the point gap down to just 9 points behind Jeff.

IMO, Gordon and Steve Latartte (spelling) should have took fuel only on that late caution with about 7 to go. He would have came out in second (Denny Hamlin stayed out) then if he would have avoided Hamlin's problem on that restart, he probably would have came out of there with the win. But he didn't.

I also am getting tired of this "1 attempt green - white - checkerd rule." This is the 2nd week in a row that JJ has snuck out with a win by this. I believe NASCAR needs to take a look at this and they need to change that.


Thats all for now.

 

[Solid Fro]

I cannot believe Jr's tire fell off, seriously?! He probably received damage from Hamlin's problem on the restart. Hamlin should have came in and refueled. Jr said he thought something felt broken in the car.

UGH!!!

 

[WallRunner]

Well, The finish wasn't the best, but the race was awesome, I got to use the fanview thing, one of the best things there, they also had a garage tour and we saw the drivers pushing their cars up to pit road from te top of the safety-kleen trailer (which is right next to pit road and the ramp to pits.

We have pics of most every car, and when we were up in the grandstands, some of our stuff was ruined (including some Jeff Gordon posters, which come from the trailer itself), when a man who drank 11 beers spilled one and soaked everything on our coolers, including the program and a T-Shirt I had just got.

Woo, reply 400 and post 401.

From,
Chris.

 

[Earth]

Atlanta Notes

- David Gilliand shouldn't be racing at the Nextel Cup level

- Montoya still drives like he's in Formula 1. 100% from the start. That doesn't work in NASCAR on ovals

- NASCAR, more so then any other racing series, is all about strategy

That really sucks Wallrunner51...what a jerk

 

[toyota_gt1]

Atlanta Notes

- David Gilliand shouldn't be racing at the Nextel Cup level

Absolutely. Like Tony Stewat said "he lucked into his cup ride" via lucky win in a busch race lasy year.

 

[JohnBM01]

Nice to see we like the same driver, toyota_GT1 (talking about your avatar). Jeff Gordon finished seventh while Jimmie Johnson won the race. Now the title fight comes to my home state. But it won't be down here in the Houston area... it will be the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The common deal is that everything's bigger in Texas. Being a Texas native, I welcome NASCAR's nationwide tour to down here in Texas.

The Texas Motor Speedway track is like a road course as far as there being not a lot of road to use. I best know Texas for the exciting IndyCar races as well as the close finishes there. I know Texas may not deliver a close NASCAR finish, but another great performance by Jimmie Johnson could mean a great defense of Jimmie Johnson's Nextel Cup title. I think the last driver to win back-to-back titles was Jeff Gordon in 1997 and 1998 (set me straight if I'm wrong). The season's winding down. Soon as you know it, we'll be inching closer towards Homestead.

A bit of news I heard during the SPEED Report is that there may be a Car of Tomorrow for the soon-to-be-named Nationwide Series. It's a plan for about 2009. I'd be interested to see what would result of this. I'm also curious if there could be a "Truck of Tomorrow" or even "Modifieds of Tomorrow."

Anyone care to comment about the Atlanta race or preview the race at Texas? Here's one final deal I want to bring across:

John's Discussion: Cars of Tomorrow
* If you could have your way with the design of the Car of Tomorrow, describe what kinds of cars should be raced in NASCAR. The Car of Tomorrow looks racy enough. What would be your dream style of race car for NASCAR? * Do you think a "Truck of Tomorrow" could be in the works? * What style of NASCAR stock cars is your all-time favorite?

 

[RACECAR]

A bit of news I heard during the SPEED Report is that there may be a Car of Tomorrow for the soon-to-be-named Nationwide Series. It's a plan for about 2009. I'd be interested to see what would result of this."

Hmmm, I sure don't remember hearing that, but I like this idea a whole lot better:

NASCAR hopes to inject new life into its Busch Series by changing the types of cars raced, beginning as early as 2009, according to multiple sources familiar with the project.

If plans go according to schedule, the next-generation Busch Series cars will be Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Challengers, Ford Mustangs and an as-yet-to-be named Toyota model, sources said. Ford overhauled the Mustang as a 1960s-retro model in 2005, to positive critical and commercial results. Chevrolet and Dodge will release similarly retro-themed Camaros and Challengers, respectively, by the 2009 model year.

The Mustang, Camaro and Challenger all are two-door coupes with rear-wheel drive and available V-8 engines, a hugely popular combination in the halcyon days of 1960s muscle cars. A switch to these cars – plus whichever model Toyota chooses to campaign – would make a huge amount of sense, as it would help the NASCAR Busch Series have its own distinct identity apart from Nextel Cup and help remove the stigma of the series as “Cup Lite,” as some call it now.

“That way, out top three divisions each have their own models,” said a NASCAR source, who said the new models will be built on the old-style NASCAR Nextel Cup chassis, which are in plentiful supply as the Cup Car of Tomorrow will make the older Cup cars obsolete next year.

Currently, the four automakers who compete in both the Busch and Cup series use cars that are either identical or of the same class of cars. Fords runs the Fusion and Toyota the Camry in both series, while Dodge uses the Charger in Busch and the Avenger in Cup, and Chevy campaigns Monte Carlos in Busch and Impala SS models in Cup.

The Busch Series has been something of a dichotomy in recent years. On one hand, NASCAR claims it’s the second-most popular form of auto racing in America, but on the other hand it’s lost some of its uniqueness as the Busch have become more populated by Nextel Cup regulars and less by young drivers looking to work their way up to Nextel Cup.

Sources familiar with the project said NASCAR has discussed the idea of switching cars with the manufacturers and has received a positive reception for the idea.

Link here

 

[JohnBM01]

For the Grand National series only? I would figure that Camaros and Mustangs and stuff would be for the Cup series. Okay... how would this sound: "I'm stepping up from racing a Mustang in the Nationwide Series to a Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series." The general consensus would say that you're actually stepping DOWN from a Mustang to a Fusion. My gut feeling is that people see the significance of seeing economy cars in the flagship championship rather than the pony cars in the feeder series (at least I've seen it as a feeder series to Cup). A move towards these pony cars would be realistic for how the Car of Tomorrow is designed. Make the front nose more boxy at the front so that a Mustang stock car looks more like a road-going Mustang. But knowing NASCAR, there has to be issues of templates. Not giving other designers any sort of aerodynamic disadvantage or advantage. Since NASCAR's top series is Cup, it would be dumb to make a lower series have more interesting car bodies than Cup. It's the same way I felt about the plan to make LMP1 cars into closed-top cars while the LMP2 cars remain open-top. Imagine Jeff Gordon owning the corners in a Camaro while a hard-charging Carl Edwards pursues him for the lead in his Mustang. I'm sorry... I don't see these pony cars being used in the Nationwide Series as opposed to the Sprint Cup Series.

Another issue about these cars... I usually think of the defunct Trans-Am and American GT series. I know Mustangs have been raced in NASCAR before. Thing is, I can't really imagine what a stock car of these modern pony cars would be like in this day and age. I first learned of Trans-Am in 1999. I remember the battles between Brian Simo and Paul Gentilozzi that year. Now American GT is where you can see these kinds of cars race. The thing is, these sports cars have amazing designs compared to stock cars. If NASCAR wanted to go crazy with the design of these cars, they would make them more like the American GT cars like here: < http://www.americangt.com/ > (check the Gallery for examples). It would be an absolute dream to see these stock cars more like these machines. It isn't possible, but it would be very interesting if it did. Hell, there was even a Pontiac Grand Prix as a Trans-Am race car. Check out this link for an example: < http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/other/1053118104/1053118104pp.htm >. Odd-car out would be the Charger or Avenger because of the way it's design compared to the Camaro and Mustang.

Interesting link. Thanks for the contribution, [one of] my Texas buddy, RACECAR. Anyone else?

 

[V1P3R]

I don't remember what race because it was during sports news highlights but the most recent nascrap race had the following.

-Someone randomly crashing into the wall.
-Earnhart's wheel falling off
-Someone running out of gas on a restart
-Race ending with a yellow flag

I'm sure there was other stuff...

Anyway, How is this racing?

BTW, do they have a massive line up of car/drivers so the atrophy doesn't look so bad?

 

[Earth]

John's Discussion: Cars of Tomorrow
* If you could have your way with the design of the Car of Tomorrow, describe what kinds of cars should be raced in NASCAR. The Car of Tomorrow looks racy enough. What would be your dream style of race car for NASCAR? * Do you think a "Truck of Tomorrow" could be in the works? * What style of NASCAR stock cars is your all-time favorite?

The new COT design doesn't allow for the cars to resemble their road car counterparts as much as it use to. The Tauruses of the late 90s resembled the road car Taurus

 

[RACECAR]

For the Grand National series only? I would figure that Camaros and Mustangs and stuff would be for the Cup series. Okay... how would this sound: "I'm stepping up from racing a Mustang in the Nationwide Series to a Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series." The general consensus would say that you're actually stepping DOWN from a Mustang to a Fusion. My gut feeling is that people see the significance of seeing economy cars in the flagship championship rather than the pony cars in the feeder series (at least I've seen it as a feeder series to Cup).

It really depends on how you look at it. I've notice the busch series has increasingly been moving way from the traditional cup series schedule and have been increasing road course appearances as well as newer ovals. If anything, The busch series is alot more interesting then cup because of the bigger variety of different venues so just like you say you would be stepping down from mustang to a fusion, your basically stepping down from a technically much more difficult series to a simpler one, at least in my terms.

Since NASCAR's top series is Cup, it would be dumb to make a lower series have more interesting car bodies than Cup.

I wish this would happen as opposed to the COT as like you stated since its the top series, it would make more since, but apparently they want the series to have its own identity as indicated by its unique schedule. In my opinion, the Busch series looks like its becoming the top series in terms of it having more challenges then cup. If what you say about the potential of COT for the Grand National series is true, then that sort of conflicts with the intention to distinguish its identity, doesn't it?

 

[TS]

I also am getting tired of this "1 attempt green - white - checkerd rule." This is the 2nd week in a row that JJ has snuck out with a win by this. I believe NASCAR needs to take a look at this and they need to change that.

thats all for now.

I'm not very fond of the 1 attempt at the green-white-checkered finish deal, I'm sure if there was another attempt, we would've seen one of those notorious Atlanta finishes.

I cannot believe Jr's tire fell off, seriously?! He probably received damage from Hamlin's problem on the restart. Hamlin should have came in and refueled. Jr said he thought something felt broken in the car.

UGH!!!

Conspiracy therosts are quick to say that it was another sabotage deal, I didn't see what caused him to lose that tire, but it was a hard driver side impact for him, and a hard crash for McMurray.

Hamlin's crew thought he had enough fuel after that caution came out, they're ranked 8th (somewhere around there) in the chase and don't have much to lose, but it turns out after his car stumbles that there was water in his fuel. There was also water in Dave Blaney's fuel.

Atlanta Notes

- David Gilliand shouldn't be racing at the Nextel Cup level

That crash wasn't Gilliland's fault, one of the red bull cars ran into him on the straightaway.

What were you expecting him to do?

- Montoya still drives like he's in Formula 1. 100% from the start. That doesn't work in NASCAR on ovals

+1, but that will slowly start to slow down as he gets more experience.

 

[JohnBM01]

Okay. I do understand the identity deal. I'm just saying that pony cars in the top series would logically be better for the top series. You wouldn't give go-karts to F1 drivers while GP2 get the finest F1 cars now, do you? On the other hand, with more road courses including at Mexico City and Montreal, a sort of seperate identity is established. Do you think Cup should diversify like the Nationwide Series is?

NOTE: I'm using the future names of the respective series. The Nationwide Series is the current Busch Series while the Sprint Cup Series is the current Nextel Cup Series.

Anyhow... I wouldn't be surprised if the answer is "no" in terms if NASCAR should diversify for one reason- tradition. We all dream NASCAR have many more road races than "cookie-cutter" ovals. Thing is, NASCAR races at a number of classic race tracks that completely changing up the formula just isn't going to work, or at least work all that well. Why doesn't NASCAR change up Cup to be as interesting as the Grand National Series? I always (and still do) see Grand National as the stepping stone to Cup. But as we've seen, some guys do Cup AND Grand National like Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Tony Stewart to name a few. So that leads me to a debate:

John's Debate! - No Longer the "Little Brother" Series?
Do you think the Grand National Series is really becoming its own class of racing apart from Cup? Do you think the Grand National Series should venture away from the Cup schedule? How much more or how much less should Grand National's schedule be broken up from Cup? * Do you think Nextel Cup needs better venues to race at like with Grand National? Think NASCAR will actually do it?

 

[TS]

John's Debate! - No Longer the "Little Brother" Series?
Do you think the Grand National Series is really becoming its own class of racing apart from Cup? Do you think the Grand National Series should venture away from the Cup schedule? How much more or how much less should Grand National's schedule be broken up from Cup? * Do you think Nextel Cup needs better venues to race at like with Grand National? Think NASCAR will actually do it?

I think NASCAR should cut back on the amount of events the Busch/Nationwide series runs in a season, most of the Busch regulars would definetly like that. It would be easier on the busch only teams that aren't affiliated with a cup team or have manufacturer backing and could possibly save them money in the long run by not having to go from track to track every week.

I was reading on ESPN.com how nationwide wants NASCAR to prevent this recent 'buschwhacking' (full-time cup drivers running the Busch series full or part time) by not awarding points to cup drivers that are in the top-35 in points, but they will be credited with wins & other finishes. I'm for that plan because I think it would turn the focus away from the Harvicks, Edwards and others and puts the spotlight on the Lefflers, Leichts and other busch only drivers.

Also, I do think that the busch/nationwide series should run a few companion races with the cup series just to attract more fans to the busch series, but I really don't like how 25 or 27 busch races are currently companion races with cup series. I would also wish that NASCAR would go back to some of the tracks that they really should've never taken off the schedule (North Wilkesboro, Rockingham, 2nd race at Darlington), and take away some 2nd races from some tracks that are hardly sell-outs (the labor day california race is the biggest one).

 

[JohnBM01]

I think it's a plus that some of the Cup folks race in Busch. It's because Busch drivers get a chance to see what kind of Cup competition awaits them. I think more traditional venues should be shared by Cup and Grand National teams (maybe even Craftsman Truck drivers as well). The issue on if the Nationwide series should stick to Cup venues would depend on if you really want to prevent Sprint Cup series drivers from doing Grand National races. I'm sure the most loyal racers would have somewhat of a Boris Said mentality in terms of being able to race whatever they can. If you ask me, I'd love to see Sprint Cup go with some of the better Nationwide venues... especially Mexico City and Montreal. NASCAR is a domestic series, but does this stop (for example) the Super GT series from racing at Sepang? The Australian V8 Supercars doing that one-off race at Shanghai? The DTM from racing Donnington Park? These are all top-flight racing series racing at some great venues even outside of their native country. I can probably say that there are fans in Mexico and Canada who like some of the fine talent in NASCAR Sprint Cup. Take the Montreal Nationwide event. Cup has three options: race at Montreal, race the beautiful Mont-Tremblant circuit, or (a popular pick) race Mosport. I don't know too much about racing in Mexico, so I'd go with Mexico City. The track's current layout is basically MADE for stock cars with the smooth curves. But again... it will all come down to if NASCAR will really allow Cup to overstep its boundaries and try out these other venues. One more question on this instant. NASCAR games have had some fantasy road courses to them. Road racing in NASCAR can be quite competitive. If we can enjoy NASCAR road racing in virtual space, how come we can't have any more true road races for NASCAR? They weren't meant to go left and right like one person said, but the cars and drivers are made to do more than ovals. So why not take the challenge?

I was talking about past body styles. Most of you know that my favorite kind of non-dirt stock cars are the super-low Late Model cars. The models are still very slick in their design. Their super-low profile makes them cool to watch at speed. But when I think of past stock cars, I think back to the defunct Goody's Dash series. This allowed for cars such as the the Sunfire and late '90s Cavalier (before GM completely killed both cars designwise) to have the stock car bodies. I can somewhat imagine what the CoT body styles would be like if the cars resembled Mustangs and the returning (dear God almighty, thank you!) Camaro. I'm sure you're not going to see stock cars with louvers and side vents (unless you count some of the tubeframe cars thar race in the SCCA's GT classes), but I could really picture a Mustang CoT model. I've been using the Mustang as an example a lot. And while I do this, I even think about some of the other cars being offered as future CoT models.

Perhaps we have some artists on GTPlanet that could actually envision what a CoT-type model of a Mustang or a 2009 Camaro would look like if they raced in NASCAR. A vision that I have is that as this pony car deal pulls through, we may end up seeing a body style unveiled with these cars by either the end of this year or something next year.

Any more comments? Care to answer my debate question from earlier?

 

[Earth]

I think the Sprint Cup drivers should be limited to how much they can drive in the Nationwide Series. Maybe only allow each full time cup driver to drive a maximum of half the events of the Nationwide series.

At first it was fun to see guys like Mark Martin beat up on the lower level guys, but now with a Sprint Cup regular winning every race, sweeping the top 5, PLUS winning the championship by 1000 points has gotten real old.

 

[JohnBM01]

Carl Edwards finally got it done. He had to come to my home state to finally clinch the Grand National series title. Up next for Carl Edwards is a Cup title. And believe me, I think he'll win at least one in Cup. My congratulations to Carl Edwards for finally clinching the Grand National title. Next stop... a Cup series title! You all know I have great respect for Carl Edwards. He's going to win a Cup championship someday. And at least one, might I add.

 

[A Fatal Goodbye]

WRC > NasCar

 

[WallRunner]

WRC > NasCar

Meh, a waste of a perfectly good post...this thread wasn't made for bashing...

Congrats to Carl, I'm hoping for good luck today with Jeff, he could get his first win at TMS.

From,
Chris.

 

[Earth]

Congrats to Carl "I'm going to phsyically intimidate my teammates" Edwards for winning the Busch Championship by 550 points over David Reutimann

The Busch whacking has got to stop, Mark Martin could have won who knows how many Busch Championships and races if he drove the championship full-time in the #60 Winn-Dixie Ford

As for today's race, I'm looking to see if Montoya can back up his 3rd place qualifying effort. A top 10 will be great for the team

 

[RACECAR]

WRC > NasCar

Dude, Thats completely unnecessary. You don't like, You don't post, simple as that.

 

[A Fatal Goodbye]

Chill chill chill...I just had to say it.

I'm not a fan of NasCar.
My dad is watching it right now I believe.