NASCAR Thread.

[RVDNuT374]

Oh, and ditch the automatic Top-35-cars-get-in rule. If your favorite driver doesn't qualify, tough crap. He shouldn't be earning prize money that another racer deserves. Sport first, appearances second: Anything else is a script.

I totally agree with that statement. The starting grid should consist of the fastest 43 cars on qualifying day. The top-35 rule to me is a form of franchising to ensure certain drivers are always in the field.

 

[JohnBM01]

Then too, there's the issue of advertisement. Some would say it wouldn't be right if one of the best drivers in the series races a car that's the race sponsor of an upcoming race. For example, FirstName LastName races a Mobil 1 car for the Mobil 1 400. If FirstName LastName doesn't make it for the race, and if FirstName LastName is not a great driver, then NASCAR (you know how they are with money) will still probably let him/her into the race even if he/she blows a motor on the first lap. Probably isn't justice, but it's business for NASCAR.

 

[RACECAR]

I agree with getting rid of the top 35 owners points. There are drivers and or teams that will never get into a race because of this damn system and its unfair that others can do a poor qualifying job and still race while the others are forced to work harder just to participate at all.

 

[TS]

John, I've heard you were a Carl Edwards fan, how do you take his win yesterday at the Auto Club Speedway?

Speaking of the Auto Club Speedway, I was watching NASCAR now about an hour ago and they reported that the president of Auto Club Speedway would like to convert the track from its current 2 mile, low banked configuration into a restrictor plate track (which would make it at least 2.5 miles and have fairly high banking). Do you think this is a good move for the speedway to actually sell out a race? Do you think that no matter what anybody does to the Auto Club Speedway they won't fill all the seats up? Or do you not care?

Discuss.

 

[thebtspecial]

If they turn it into a restrictor plate track, it'll sell out every race. Let's face it the restrictor plate tracks have the closest racing and usually the more exciting finishes and races in general. Of course that's just my opinion.

 

[RACECAR]

Just great, first they changed the name to "Auto Club Speedway", now the ywant to turn it into an restrictor plate track. I don't like the idea as I like california speedway's unique shape as a mile-halve oval.



Short rant: I'm hating that these series name changes keep happening. I didn't like when they changed "Winston cup" to "Nextel cup" and I'm hating "Sprint cup" even more. I also hate that The "Busch series" is now the "Nationwide series" and they even had the audacity to change the name of the feeder series for "Busch east" and "Busch Grand Nationals" to "Camping world" or something like that and now they are thinking of doing the same to the "Craftsman truck series". I really hate this and wish that they would stop.

 

[01GTP]

I am a big fan of NASCAR and NASCAR racing. Having owned my own business before, its always about the money. Unfortunate but true. I rarely go to any event (races, other sports, concerts etc.) without seeing a sponsor named event or venue. If we want to see all these events it takes money to make it happen. The sponsors put up big money. If my marketing team has me pay thousands or even millions of dollars to attract customers I want to show my sponsorship through sponsor named events and logos. Try to imagine this or any sport without sponsors. There wouldn't be any. NASCAR pays drivers through TV deals also along with track ticket sales. Sponsors pay TV companies to have they're commercials shown during a race. I believe without all the sponsors money there would not be a NASCAR. If the race purse were to be from event sales I think the purse would be about 25% the current pay out. Just a guess. Its a great series with big purses. No F1 kind of money, but then its probably relative.
Some of the worlds best drivers come to this sport, even current champions. Name me drivers who left this sport to drive in other series in the last ten years. I don't mean guys that are road course ringers either. They come they go.
As for California speedway I don't think it was a good idea to go there in the first place. If the track owner wants to change it, go ahead, its your track.
Name it what you want, change the layout if you want. I don't think it will sell out for many years to come.

 

[TS]

Just great, first they changed the name to "Auto Club Speedway", now the ywant to turn it into an restrictor plate track. I don't like the idea as I like california speedway's unique shape as a mile-halve oval.

I don't like the current configuration of the Auto Club Speedway, the cup races are usually boring, but there's usually some sort of action during the nationwide events there. Plus, it's the prime example of the 'cookie cutter' intermediate track.

IMO, I don't think the speedway will sell out even if it's converted to a restrictor plate track, I think ISC should either give the Auto Club Speedway money to convert the track in to a 1/2 to 3/4 mile short track that is similar to the famed Irwindale Speedway, which isn't too far from Fontana.

 

[Jim Prower]

Or just build bigger grandstands around Irwindale, raise the banking a little (which'll be popular with the drifters, @_@) and turn it into a slightly larger Bristol...

Sprint Cup is becoming too much about the superspeedways, and the short tracks are leaving the schedules. Martinsville and Darlington are becoming endangered species (Please, put Rockingham and North Wilkesboro back!) and Bristol is an anomaly among those, as they keep building the seats up.

As for California Speedway...they'll just put progressive banking around the whole thing, widen the groove, and hope for better racing. It's worked for every other track they've done it for...

 

[WallRunner]

Bristol won't last much longer, as the only reason some people would watch it is because of the crashing every 2 laps, and now they've taken that away with the COT and repaving, so it'll be gone soon.

 

[JohnBM01]

Congratulations to all who won during the rain-delayed California events. That includes one of my beloved drivers- Carl Edwards. You all want to debate?



John's Debate! - Report Card on Racing?
Rain. Delay. Rained-out. On a scale of 0-100 (100 = best; 0 = (obviously) worst), grade NASCAR's handling of the questionable weather that impacted the race at California Superspeedway. Do you think NASCAR rushed the race like Dale Jr. talked about? Do you think these delays were too long and that they could have postponed to an off-weekend? Or was just Mother Nature uncontrollable for NASCAR in SoCal?

Also, do you think the race could have suffered low ratings since this race was trying to start even while the Academy Awards were the REAL big show in town (no disrespect to NASCAR)?

 

[TS]

Sprint Cup is becoming too much about the superspeedways, and the short tracks are leaving the schedules. Martinsville and Darlington are becoming endangered species (Please, put Rockingham and North Wilkesboro back!) and Bristol is an anomaly among those, as they keep building the seats up.

Agreed, NASCAR needs moar short tracks.

As for California Speedway...they'll just put progressive banking around the whole thing, widen the groove, and hope for better racing. It's worked for every other track they've done it for...

It failed for Bristol and Las Vegas to an extent.

Bristol won't last much longer, as the only reason some people would watch it is because of the crashing every 2 laps, and now they've taken that away with the COT and repaving, so it'll be gone soon.

If you watched the spring Bristol race last year where the COT made its debut, there was a good bit of the old style bumpin' and bangin' that Bristol has been known for since they upped the banking in 1969? Bruton Smith really screwed himself by following the lead of ISC and what the staff at Homestead-Miami Speedway did with their track in '03 by doing the progressive banking. It worked wonders there, but at Vegas and Bristol it didn't work at all, last August's Bristol (Cup) race was the most boring one I've seen, the Nationwide race was good, especially the last 20 laps until ESPN decided to take a nap with 2 to go. 👎

The Vegas race was just a failure, too much tire wear, smaller fuel cells, wrecks, a runaway win, etc..

John's Debate! - Report Card on Racing?
Rain. Delay. Rained-out. On a scale of 0-100 (100 = best; 0 = (obviously) worst), grade NASCAR's handling of the questionable weather that impacted the race at California Superspeedway. Do you think NASCAR rushed the race like Dale Jr. talked about? Do you think these delays were too long and that they could have postponed to an off-weekend? Or was just Mother Nature uncontrollable for NASCAR in SoCal?

NASCAR gets an A for effort, but they get a B- for execution. I agree with what Dale Jr. and Denny Hamlin said in their post-crash interviews, the track just wasn't ready for racing Sunday. Those 'weepers', as DW put it were just letting too much water onto the track surface and I don't see why the Auto Club Speedway staff didn't cut the grooves into the track to begin rather than after the Casey Mears wreck on lap 20, it wouldn't have taken as long and the all the wrecks that happened up to that point were caused by the weepers.

Also, do you think the race could have suffered low ratings since this race was trying to start even while the Academy Awards were the REAL big show in town (no disrespect to NASCAR)?

The real big show that had it's lowest ratings in its history. (or so I've heard)

 

[TS]

Qualifying in a nutshell:

Gordon takes Atlanta pole, Earnhardt (Jr.) to start second

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jeff Gordon put last Sunday's bone-jarring late-race wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway behind him and streaked around Atlanta Motor Speedway at 185.251 mph to grab the pole for Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500.

Gordon was the only driver to top 185 mph in Friday's qualifying session, as he powered the No. 24 Chevrolet around the 1.54-mile track in 29.927 seconds (watch video). Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was the only other driver to exceed 184 mph, as he claimed the second starting position with a lap at 184.862 mph and 29.990 seconds. (watch video).

Martin Truex Jr. (183.807 mph) was third-fastest in a session twice interrupted by light rain. Carl Edwards (183.297 mph), winner of the past two Cup races, will start fourth, with Bobby Labonte (183.248 mph) fifth. Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin claimed starting positions six through 10.

"I'm surprised it didn't rain, and I'm surprised [the lap] held up," said Gordon, who won the 64th pole of his career and his second at Atlanta. "Now it's time for us to get where we need to be in the points."

Gordon (currently 23rd in points) was slow in practice (speeds) earlier in the day but recovered to post the fastest lap during qualifying, despite difficulty with the handling.

"The car, the tire and this racetrack aren't matching up that well," he said.

Earnhardt bobbled coming to the green flag, and that might have cost him a chance to overtake Gordon, who had gone out earlier in the session.

"It's really hard to tell whether you think you've got a good lap going or not," Earnhardt said. "Even in practice [earlier on Friday] when we were the fastest one on top of the chart, I didn't think my lap was comfortable or fast -- it was wobbly, loose and sliding the car really hard.

"It's hard to tell. When I didn't beat him, I thought, 'Where do I think I lost it?' and I think I lost it coming to the green, actually."

Joe Nemechek (17th at 171.747 mph) led the group of 13 drivers forced to make the race on speed. Patrick Carpentier, Michael Waltrip, Kurt Busch, David Reutimann, Mike Skinner, Brian Vickers also qualified on speed, and Dale Jarrett made the field by using a past champion's provisional.

Ken Schrader, Bill Elliott, Johnny Benson, Burney Lamar and John Andretti failed to qualify.

Full Lineup

 

[Earth]

Since there is alot of talk about the tracks and what they can do to make the racing better in this thread recently...

I think the worst the wort thing to happen to NASCAR in recent memory is this explosion of cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks. The racing here is usually boring because your going too fast where you can't race close like at a short track, and the tracks aren't wide enough or fast enough to allow 2-3 wide racing like at Michigan

If I ran NASCAR I would remove these tracks from the calendar

Chicagoland
Kansas
Texas
Las Vegas

The racing at those tracks has never been good and never will be

On my schedule there wouldn't be any second dates for any of the tracks, but that would go against all kinds of NASCAR

The only decent tracks they run at now:

Daytona
California
Atlanta
Bristol
Phoenix
Infineon
Talladega
Martinsville
Richmond
Darlington
Lowes Motor Speedway
Dover
Indianapolis
Watkins Glen
Pocono
Michigan
Homestead Miami


Give Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and Bristol a second date, add a road race in Canada or Mexico and bring back Rockingham

Build 2 unique ovals, something like the European ovals Lausitzring or Rockingham, or something similiar to the Twin Ring Motegi oval

That's 25 races, plenty enough

That's really the point. I can't miss in F1 because if you miss one F1 race that's the equivalant to missing 2 NASCAR races (18+18=36) If you give too much of something the mysticism and hype and everything good can eventually wear off.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

It's interesting you vote to keep Pocono. I can't remember an interesting race there. I'll keep an eye out for it this year though.

 

[TwinTurbos94]

when you said give Daytona and Tally a second date, you mean give them a third date?



I agree with getting rid of Vegas, Kansas,and Chicagoland. Never been a fan of watching those races. Instead Put Rockingham back and include Road Atlanta and sebring in there spot.

 

[TS]

Since there is alot of talk about the tracks and what they can do to make the racing better in this thread recently...

I think the worst the wort thing to happen to NASCAR in recent memory is this explosion of cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks. The racing here is usually boring because your going too fast where you can't race close like at a short track, and the tracks aren't wide enough or fast enough to allow 2-3 wide racing like at Michigan

Agreed but:

If I ran NASCAR I would remove these tracks from the calendar

Chicagoland
Kansas
Texas
Las Vegas

The racing at those tracks has never been good and never will be

I think the racing at Texas is pretty good, not as good as Atlanta but it's sure as hell better than California.

Las Vegas racing was getting there before Bruton Smith decided to **** with it and reconfigure it. Chicagoland might be saved now that it'll be a night race. Besides, NASCAR

On my schedule there wouldn't be any second dates for any of the tracks, but that would go against all kinds of NASCAR

The only decent tracks they run at now:

Daytona
California
Atlanta
Bristol
Phoenix
Infineon
Talladega
Martinsville
Richmond
Darlington
Lowes Motor Speedway
Dover
Indianapolis
Watkins Glen
Pocono
Michigan
Homestead Miami


Give Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and Bristol a second date, add a road race in Canada or Mexico and bring back Rockingham

There's a Nationwide race in Mexico and Canada already, and I would love to see the cup series drop the 2nd Cali date in favor of a race at Montreal or another road course like Road Atlanta.

Build 2 unique ovals, something like the European ovals Lausitzring or Rockingham, or something similiar to the Twin Ring Motegi oval

That's 25 races, plenty enough

That's really the point. I can't miss in F1 because if you miss one F1 race that's the equivalant to missing 2 NASCAR races (18+18=36) If you give too much of something the mysticism and hype and everything good can eventually wear off.[/QUOTE]

 

[TS]

Since there is alot of talk about the tracks and what they can do to make the racing better in this thread recently...

I think the worst the wort thing to happen to NASCAR in recent memory is this explosion of cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks. The racing here is usually boring because your going too fast where you can't race close like at a short track, and the tracks aren't wide enough or fast enough to allow 2-3 wide racing like at Michigan

Agreed but:

If I ran NASCAR I would remove these tracks from the calendar

Chicagoland
Kansas
Texas
Las Vegas

The racing at those tracks has never been good and never will be

I think the racing at Texas is pretty good, not as good as Atlanta but it's sure as hell better than California.

Las Vegas racing was getting there before Bruton Smith decided to **** with it and reconfigure it. Chicagoland might be saved now that it'll be a night race. Besides, NASCAR wouldn't consider removing Chicago and Kansas from the calendar, those races are almost always sold out as it's a long way for the locals to go to see a race if there wasn't one there.

On my schedule there wouldn't be any second dates for any of the tracks, but that would go against all kinds of NASCAR

The only decent tracks they run at now:

Daytona
California
Atlanta
Bristol
Phoenix
Infineon
Talladega
Martinsville
Richmond
Darlington
Lowes Motor Speedway
Dover
Indianapolis
Watkins Glen
Pocono
Michigan
Homestead Miami


Give Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and Bristol a second date, add a road race in Canada or Mexico and bring back Rockingham

There's a Nationwide race in Mexico and Canada already, and I would love to see the cup series drop the 2nd Cali date in favor of a race at Montreal or another road course like Road Atlanta.

NASCAR needs to give either the Nationwide or the truck series a date at the Rock too.

Build 2 unique ovals, something like the European ovals Lausitzring or Rockingham, or something similiar to the Twin Ring Motegi oval

That's 25 races, plenty enough

I kinda agree, the schedule is pretty long, but it's nothing like it was in NASCAR's early days where they were doing it like NBA or the MLB by doing multiple races a week at different tracks, it was just insane. The 1964 season specifically had I think 65 races, a handful of which were ran in 1963. Plus, now with private jets, the car haulers and the amount of people at most of the teams, it's easier for them to go from the east coast, to the west coast and back again.

 

[Jim Prower]

Honestly, I'd like to see North Wilkesboro back on the schedule, if it still exists. You went up the hill and came back down...that'd be awesome...

And that "New" version of Riverside CANNOT come soon enough, if they ever get around to building it.

 

[RACECAR]

enough or fast enough to allow 2-3 wide racing like at Michigan

If I ran NASCAR I would remove these tracks from the calendar

Chicagoland
Kansas
Texas
Las Vegas

The racing at those tracks has never been good and never will be

I seriously disagree about Texas and Las Vegas. I don't see how You don't the racing there good. Look at last year's busch series finish. And I also disagree with texas being booted. I'll admit I'm against the idea of my home state losing another good venue after seeing what happened in houston, but I don't get how you don't find any good racing at TMS, especially since its basically the same thing Atlanta is.

On my schedule there wouldn't be any second dates for any of the tracks, but that would go against all kinds of NASCAR

The only decent tracks they run at now:

Daytona
California
Atlanta
Bristol
Phoenix
Infineon
Talladega
Martinsville
Richmond
Darlington
Lowes Motor Speedway
Dover
Indianapolis
Watkins Glen
Pocono
Michigan
Homestead Miami

I honestly think the short tracks should just be for the lower series. There seems to be more wrecks then there is racing.

Give Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and Bristol a second date, add a road race in Canada or Mexico and bring back Rockingham

Build 2 unique ovals, something like the European ovals Lausitzring or Rockingham, or something similiar to the Twin Ring Motegi oval

That's 25 races, plenty enough

Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and bristol already have two dates. The Busch series(Screw nationwide) already races at Autodromo De Hermanos Rodriguez and Circuit Gille-Villenueve. As far as I can remember, Nascar has raced at Twin Ring Motegi.

That's really the point. I can't miss in F1 because if you miss one F1 race that's the equivalant to missing 2 NASCAR races (18+18=36) If you give too much of something the mysticism and hype and everything good can eventually wear off.

So what you are saying is you want NASCAR to be more like F1?

 

[TS]

Talladega, Daytona, Michigan and bristol already have two dates. The Busch series(Screw nationwide) already races at Autodromo De Hermanos Rodriguez and Circuit Gille-Villenueve. As far as I can remember, Nascar has raced at Twin Ring Motegi.

It was Suzuka actually.

So what you are saying is you want NASCAR to be more like F1?

It kinda is like F1 now with the COT's big wing on the rear.

Anyway, this leads up to a debate:

What would you do if you were Mike Helton?

People have been criticizing NASCAR for not having much racing except on ovals, or for having too long a schedule, being too harsh/lenient on teams who intentionally break the rules, etc.. My question to you is, if you were Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, what would you do or change to make the series, in theory better? (don't be a smart ass and say close it down and/or F1 ROX NASCARS SOXORZ!!!!!1111ONEONELEVEN)

 

[opelgt1969]

It was Suzuka actually.



It kinda is like F1 now with the COT's big wing on the rear.

Anyway, this leads up to a debate:

What would you do if you were Mike Helton?

People have been criticizing NASCAR for not having much racing except on ovals, or for having too long a schedule, being too harsh/lenient on teams who intentionally break the rules, etc.. My question to you is, if you were Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, what would you do or change to make the series, in theory better? (don't be a smart ass and say close it down and/or F1 ROX NASCARS SOXORZ!!!!!1111ONEONELEVEN)

If I were Mike Helton I'd hide in shame!

 

[toyota_gt1]

If I were Mike Helton I would host more races at night still. Atlanta has lights. They qualify there at night, why not race at night? Same with Las Vegas. NASCAR also needs to install lights at Martinsville, Talladega, and Indy if possible.

 

[RACECAR]

It was Suzuka actually.

Really? I thought it was on the oval at Twin Ring Motegi. I never relised Suzuka was on the schedule before.

What would you do if you were Mike Helton?

Hmmm, I thought Brian France was the president. Anyhow, My goal would be to change NASCAR. I would start first of all start by cutting out all the unnecessary NASCAR programming, leaving only Pratice, Qualifying and Racing. Then I would Ditch the pointless Owners Points system, allowing everyone to race. The schedule would then consist of Tracks with the emphasis on pure speed and racing. This would mean getting rid of the Short tracks due to the fact that I feel they are only there to please people who like crashes and not racing. I would include both Autodromo De Hermanos Rodriguez along with these proven Road courses:

Suzuka
Lime Rock Park
Road Atlanta
VIR

These four have had Stock cars races/tests before so they are proven venues and locations. And I would also cut down the mile-halve tracks down to just these:

Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway
Lowes Motor Speedway

To keep some tradition, The Super Speedways would be kept in their original dates and tracks, with possibly some repaving to smooth out the banking


Thats so far some of the things I would do if I were the President of Nascar.

 

[01GTP]

Actually Mike Skinner won the first ever Japan NASCAR Cup race. It was at Motegi in 1998 and was also the first NASCAR race that Dale Earnhardt Sr and Jr competed against each other. It was the only race at Motegi.
The others were at Suzuka. 1996 was the year of a terrible event when pace car driver Elmo Langley died of a heart attach while driving the pace car on an evaluation run. 1997 rain caused them to use rain tires. The fields of cars were Cup and Winston west series cars.

EDIT: I am a current #31 fan also.

 

[RACECAR]

Hell Yeah! Take that, haters! Toyota wins in Sprint cup! I'm so excited right now, I can't stop shaking.

 

[Jim Prower]

JG Team "TOM'S," of course. Who wasn't expecting that?

 

[TS]

If I were Mike Helton I would host more races at night still. Atlanta has lights. They qualify there at night, why not race at night? Same with Las Vegas. NASCAR also needs to install lights at Martinsville, Talladega, and Indy if possible.

I'd agree, the fall race at Atlanta was a night race a few years ago, but last year it went back into a day race. I would love to see a night race at 'Dega.

Hmmm, I thought Brian France was the president.

Brian is CEO/Owner.

Hell Yeah! Take that, haters! Toyota wins in Sprint cup! I'm so excited right now, I can't stop shaking.

Yay, Kyle Busch. (although I was anticipating Toyota's first win to come with Stewart.)

 

[JohnBM01]

I congratulate Kyle Busch for winning the race. I normally think both brothers are punks, but I congratulate them Kyle of sportsmanship. Then again, Tony Stewart can be as much of a punk as the Busch brothers, so it's more of Pick Your Poison as far as the better Toyota racers. I want to offer a debate question in regards to something I heard on WindTunnel. Get ready to debate!



John's Debate! - Toyota's Win and Phantom Cautions?
(1) Toyota wins their first race in the highest class of NASCAR competition. Four races have passed. Toyota's won one race out of 36. It's the first NASCAR win by a foreign make since Jaguar won a road racing event in 1954. Do you think Toyota will win at least five more races before the season ends? Who do you think will be the highest-placed Toyota driver in NASCAR when the season ends? (Answer this question only if you dislike Toyota) Do you still congratulate Toyota for winning this race, even if you don't like any cars in NASCAR not from the three American brands?

(2) I hear often about "phantom cautions." The way I've understood it from WindTunnel was that Dale Jr. was leading by a longshot until a "phantom caution" was thrown out to bunch the field up again. How do you feel about such "phantom cautions?"





By the way, did you know what all night on "WindTunnel with Dave Despain," that almost nobody protested that a Toyota won at Atlanta?

 

[01GTP]

By the way, did you know what all night on "WindTunnel with Dave Despain," that almost nobody protested that a Toyota won at Atlanta?

People must be coming to they're senses then. I don't see the conflict.