NASCAR Thread.

[TS]

Anyone watch the ARCA RE/MAX series? I watching it right now and its a good battle between the #01 Toyota of Sean Caisse and the #2 Toyota of Scott Speed.

Who won?

Anyway, tonight, the Nationwide series will race at Gateway International Raceway. It's layout similar to the Milwaukee mile, with a little twist as the track is egg shaped much like Darlington, which will present the teams with a little problem with setup. Do you sacrifice speeds in turns 1 and 2 to make time in 3 and 4 or do you do the opposite? Or do you compromise by having a decent setup on both ends? We'll have to find out tonight.

 

[RACECAR]

Who won?

Scott Speed. He had a huge jump on the restart and took the lead from Sean Caisse with 10 laps to go. Then the caution came out when his teammate Ken Butler III went into the wall. Then on the restart with one lap to go, he again got a good launch off the line and nobody caught up. This is his second win in the ARCA RE/MAX series. Looking at his performance, I think its safe to say that he's more then capable of living up to his name

Anyway, tonight, the Nationwide series will race at Gateway International Raceway. It's layout similar to the Milwaukee mile, with a little twist as the track is egg shaped much like Darlington, which will present the teams with a little problem with setup. Do you sacrifice speeds in turns 1 and 2 to make time in 3 and 4 or do you do the opposite? Or do you compromise by having a decent setup on both ends? We'll have to find out tonight.

Can't wait. Shall be interesting to see if Toyota can dominate the weekend:sly; Also, this track resembles Motegi as well with the exception that the Smaller turn is turns 1&2. And did you know this track has a road course?

 

[Studentdriver]

Yep. Both configurations are in ToCA RD3.

 

[RACECAR]

Live qualifying

 

[TS]

Scott Speed. He had a huge jump on the restart and took the lead from Sean Caisse with 10 laps to go. Then the caution came out when his teammate Ken Butler III went into the wall. Then on the restart with one lap to go, he again got a good launch off the line and nobody caught up. This is his second win in the ARCA RE/MAX series. Looking at his performance, I think its safe to say that he's more then capable of living up to his name

Cool, if only he had as good equipment in F1 as he does in NASCAR/ARCA he would probably still be racing F1. But it's good seeing a guy like Scott who has potential and talent come out successful. I say he's on his way to probably a full time Nationwide ride next year and a full time cup ride in 2010.

Can't wait. Shall be interesting to see if Toyota can dominate the weekend:sly;

Joey Logano again will start in the top-5, he was on the provisional pole for much of qualifying until **spoiler** Edwards, Sorenson & McMurray (in order) bumped him.

I don't think the 20 will win tonight, considering how he ran at Milwaukee and considering how he's never been at Gateway before, I'm sure he'll be happy with a top-10.

Also, this track resembles Motegi as well with the exception that the Smaller turn is turns 1&2. And did you know this track has a road course?

I didn't to be honest, but it didn't surprise me as quite a few NASCAR ovals have infield road courses.

 

[RACECAR]

Cool, if only he had as good equipment in F1 as he does in NASCAR/ARCA he would probably still be racing F1. But it's good seeing a guy like Scott who has potential and talent come out successful. I say he's on his way to probably a full time Nationwide ride next year and a full time cup ride in 2010.

Yeah. Maybe he was meant to make an impact here in america. i have doubt though that if He had a better ride in F1 that he could have indeed been america's next F1 champ.

Joey Logano again will start in the top-5, he was on the provisional pole for much of qualifying until **spoiler** Edwards, Sorenson & McMurray (in order) bumped him.

I don't think the 20 will win tonight, considering how he ran at Milwaukee and considering how he's never been at Gateway before, I'm sure he'll be happy with a top-10.

So far, Johnny Benson won the truck race and David Reutimann appears to be the strongest Toyota yet.

 

[TS]

NASCAR orders Toyota to lower Nationwide horsepower

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- NASCAR tried to even out the competition in the Nationwide Series on Wednesday by ordering all teams using Toyota motors to squeeze down their horsepower before this weekend's race in Indianapolis.

Toyota has won 14 of 21 races this season in the Nationwide Series, and all but one of them came in a Camry fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing. The exception was JGR driver Kyle Busch's victory at Charlotte in May in a car fielded by Braun Racing.

NASCAR ordered all the Toyota motors to use a smaller restrictor that will knock down 15 horsepower in the motors.

NASCAR recently sent 10 different motors for testing and found that David Reutimann's Toyota was the best with an estimated 3 percent horsepower advantage over the competition. JGR's No. 18 car -- which Busch drove to victory at Chicago right before the motors were tested -- was second.

Roush Fenway Racing's Nos. 16 and 17 Fords were next, followed by JGR's No. 20 car, which has won nine races with four different drivers this season.

JGR builds its own motors for its two Nationwide Series cars. The rest of the Toyota engines in that series and the Craftsman Truck Series come from Triad Racing Development, a Bill Davis-owned company that leases engines.

Toyota president Lee White did not immediately return a call for comment.

Technically, the new guidelines aren't directed solely at Toyota. But because the automaker is working with a brand new engine and has access to the latest technology, Toyota teams have gained an advantage over the manufacturers using older engine models.

If the other manufacturers should reach the stage Toyota is currently at, they would be subject to the horsepower guidelines NASCAR mandated Wednesday.

Chevrolet has been pushing to use its new engine in the Nationwide Series, and many believe that model is on par with the Toyota motors.

Discuss.

 

[wrcsti]

That's complete BS from nascar. If they have found a way to have more power than others then it should be okay. At the most having more power with a restrictor plate already means the guys at JGR have known how to build engines better than the others.

 

[RACECAR]

I'm just gonna say this: you can't stop domination. They really think is this is gonna stop Toyota? Sooner or later, someone is gonna figure that configuration out and beat everyone with it.

 

[JohnBM01]

Make all the engines Toyotas! That's bound to piss off American car lovers. This is more like YSSMAN's ultimate nightmare. Temperatures are sub-zero in Hell right now in his thinking. Toyota seems to know their way in the Nationwide Series, so NASCAR thinks having everyone with the same powerplant will help make racing better. So what's next- making all the (I'm talking about another motorsport here) LMP1 competitors at Le Mans have the same Audi engines at Le Mans and all the GT1 cars powered by the Corvette engines?

This sounds to me like "if you can't beat them, join them." The most unlikely thing would be Toyota powering all the engines for years to come like Honda engines dominate the IndyCar Series in recent times. I would say "this is B.S." with this issue and this move. But really, I don't know what to REALLY think...

 

[Metar]

Oh come on. So this season, Toyota will dominate - everyone can handle it, because it'll simply be another manufacturer next year. Toyota pushed forward with bringing their Cup engines to the Nationwide, and that paid off - perhaps next year, a new batch of GM or Chrysler engines is sent over to the Nationwide teams. Cyclical domination is an integral part of development-based motorsports: McLaren dominated for a while, then Williams, then Benetton, then Ferrari - why should it be any different in NASCAR? Joe Gibbs are dominating now, but Hendrick dominated before...

 

[TS]

I spoke with RACECAR about this briefly last night, but nobody was complaining about 1 team or manufacturer dominating the Nationwide series in the past until NASCAR introduced the tapered spacer plate this year. Toyota was already at a disadvantage because NASCAR banned the engine that they ran last year and designed their current engine around the new rules while the other manufacturers just stuck on the spacer plate and called it a day.

If NASCAR had to do anything, they should've allowed the other manufacturers to run a slightly bigger spacer plate and if they haven't already (Chevrolet specifically) bring in the engine that they run in cup into the Nationwide series.

 

[JohnBM01]

Quick debate: is this the dumbest move made by NASCAR ever? Or at least one of the dumbest ideas in any racing series?

 

[Earth]

Quick debate: is this the dumbest move made by NASCAR ever? Or at least one of the dumbest ideas in any racing series?

NASCAR has always slowed down cars that had a big advantage when teams and drivers complained

I remember several years ago when the monte carlo was first unveiled they started to complain they were at a disadvantage to the Fords so NASCAR let them lower their front valence.

This may be one of the more extreme examples of NASCAR trying to equal the cars but it is not the first.

Ford and Chevrolet have been sitting on their hands for sometime now when Toyota came into the picture and actually did some development and they earned themselves an advantage.

Now Toyota will probably learn as Ford and Chevrolet have that there is no real point in trying to get ahead of the competition because NASCAR will equal you out.

To me this is no real different then the ACO cutting power from the LMP1 turbo diesels and giving the gasoline LMP1s more power and less weight every year to try and equal things out. Or even when the Toyota GT1 and Bentley Speed 8 were given narrow tires to try and slow them down because of their aero advantage

The Audi R10 and Peugeot 908 were developed within the rules like the Toyota motors were so why should they be penalized? To equalize the competition.

I don't see what all the outrage is about because its been done before and will be done again

 

[RACECAR]

Tony's new number and his sponsors.

There is still some speculation on who's gonna join stewart with alot saying that Ryan newman could join. If that happens, who do you think might replace him? I'm thinking it would be logical to move Hornish to the 12 so that he will no longer rely on Busch's owner points and he's on a team whos in a good position among those points.

 

[TS]

Tony's new number and his sponsors.

There is still some speculation on who's gonna join stewart with alot saying that Ryan newman could join.

Ryan Newman is pretty much a shoe-in for the second Stewart-Haas car, besides the #20, it's the only ride that will have owner points. Because it'll be most likely the second team will use the owner points from the 66 and Stewart will use his past champion provisional for the 1st five races.

If that happens, who do you think might replace him? I'm thinking it would be logical to move Hornish to the 12 so that he will no longer rely on Busch's owner points and he's on a team whos in a good position among those points.

It would be illogical for Hornish to move to the 12, unless if he falls out of the top-35 in owner points then somebody like Terry Labonte or Bill Elliot would drive the car to get in the first 5 races next year then the new driver (which could be Stremme or Mears).

 

[RACECAR]

Wallace Says Newman's leaving wasn't "Mutual"
I don't know who's right or wrong. If what Rusty says is true, then Roger sounds like a spoiled brat but if what Newman says is true. then Rusty has lost his freaking mind.

 

[TS]

Rusty and Newman hardly got along when they were together at Penske (remember Martinsville '04?), but when Kurt Busch came on in '06 Roger it seemed that they both got along well, they were about the same age and had similar driving styles.

I did hear though on Speed or ESPN that Newman thought that Penske racing had become too much of a white-collar organization and wanted to go to a team where he could be himself, act how he wants and not really have to worry about his image.

 

[F1KimiFreak]

Anyone gonna watch the Nationwide race starting in 30 minutes?

 

[RACECAR]

Anyone gonna watch the Nationwide race starting in 30 minutes?

I'm doing that right now.

 

[TS]

I think Randy LaJoie was right when he said the bigger spacer plate would help the Toyota's when it came to wheelspin on corner exits and restarts.

 

[Metar]

That was a very dominant drive there. Impressive - 197 out of 200 laps?

Biren was on the brink of tears after the crash...

 

[Earth]

The Brickyard 400 was ruined by cautions and tire blowouts/problems

Shame because Indy is such a unique track and a great break from 1.5 mile D shaped ovals

1 million dollars to the next guy who builds an oval that isn't D shaped....

 

[TS]

The tire wear at Indy was just terrible, Goodyear really needs to do something to fix that for next year.

 

[dougiemeats]

Why did the Nationwide Series race on another track this weekend?

 

[Earth]

\

This race was so bad I stopped watching after the first 40 laps then came back for the end to find out they were throwing caution flags every 10 laps so tires wouldnt blow out

What a joke, Tony Stewart was right earlier in the season after the tire mess at Atlants, Goodyear should be punted out of NASCAR and someone else should be brought in.

As the only tire manufacturer its obvious they've gotten lazy.

NASCAR needs to totally rethink the direction they are headed in. I say scrap the COT and Goodyear for starters

 

[RACECAR]

I do agree that the tire wear at Indy was pretty bad(though no where near as bad as hearing Jerry Punch and Rusty Wallace). Looks like the test they supposedly did didn't do squat. As for the nationwide race, Oh yeah! I saw kyle go across the line and thought to myself "Lets see Nascar restrict this!" Now the next two races are on road courses and we all know what happened the last two times saw them doing the road races. I do wonder though with both Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and Watkins Glen having the long straights if this will be where the restrictions do actually affect the cars because I sure didn't see anything different.

 

[JohnBM01]

No debate this time. Just some random chatter from me.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for winning at Indy, as well as great finishes by Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. Answer me this... we've heard for the longest about Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s long losing streak until he got his first win in some time. So... how come I hear next to nothing about Jeff Gordon's Victory Lane drought? I heard that A.J. Allmendinger and (Texas' own) Colin Braun have great finishes over the weekend. So a very interesting weekend of NASCAR action whether at Indianapolis Raceway Park (O'Reilly Raceway Park nowadays) and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

 

[Metar]

A bit of a farce, but the racing between the yellows was decent - and Hamlin got 3rd! Where's your Vickers now, Lee?

 

[TS]

Why did the Nationwide Series race on another track this weekend?

That's how it's been ever since the Nationwide series began in 1982. The Cup Series didn't go to Indy until 1994 or '95.

\

This race was so bad I stopped watching after the first 40 laps then came back for the end to find out they were throwing caution flags every 10 laps so tires wouldnt blow out

What a joke, Tony Stewart was right earlier in the season after the tire mess at Atlants, Goodyear should be punted out of NASCAR and someone else should be brought in.

As the only tire manufacturer its obvious they've gotten lazy.

NASCAR needs to totally rethink the direction they are headed in. I say scrap the COT and Goodyear for starters

I think Goodyear is failing to realize that they can't use the same tires on the new COT that they did on the old car. And they just can't get away with being lazy and making the rubber compound incredibly hard on the same tires, because then the drivers will complain about the cars not having grip (like Tony Stewart at Atlanta).

If Goodyear really wants to avoid another Firestone, Goodyear and Hoosier tire war, they need to get their program together and they need to design a tire specifically for the COT. And considering how the cup drivers who haven come from the NCTS say the COT drives like the truck, why not base tires off of those?

Oh yeah! I saw kyle go across the line and thought to myself "Lets see Nascar restrict this!" Now the next two races are on road courses and we all know what happened the last two times saw them doing the road races. I do wonder though with both Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and Watkins Glen having the long straights if this will be where the restrictions do actually affect the cars because I sure didn't see anything different.

The restrictions really didn't have an effect for the race at ORP, but I think that the lack 15HP will show up at a track like Circuit GIlles Villeneuve with the long straightaways as well as bigger ovals like Michigan and California. But I heard a rumor that Toyota have already worked to get some of the horsepower back already.

A bit of a farce, but the racing between the yellows was decent - and Hamlin got 3rd! Where's your Vickers now, Lee?

To quote David Hobbs; "It dun blowed up."