NASCAR Thread.

[JohnBM01]

I still like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. The inclusion of Dale Jr. only makes this a superpower. Some people in the stick-and-ball realm say this is the New York Yankees of NASCAR. All I can say is that if Hendrick dominates the rest of this season, then all the other cars and teams are going to have to bring Hendrick Motorsports back down to Earth next season even with Dale Jr. joining in. Still quite a few unanswered questions remain about this deal.

 

[ND4SPD]

Umm, is there a reason why no channel is showing this race at the moment?!

 

[TwinTurbos94]

it was on TNT and it went off. Carl Edwards won In a big fashion!
YIPPEE FOR FORD!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Syxx_Killer]

I like Carl Edwards and would have really liked to watch the race, but cutting grass took care of that. I got in just in time to see TNT end the coverage and break away.

 

[TS]

Finallym, Tom Giacchi (Carl's motorcoach driver) gets to shave that damn beard off!

 

[JohnBM01]

My quick comment is that I congratulate Carl Edwards on the win. Most of you know that I have great respect for Carl Edwards. The Office Depot car found the finish line at Michigan. I'm proud for Carl Edwards. Good job, mate.

How about it, people? The 24 Hours of Le Mans is done. Meaning the next big race... is Sears Point! The first of two road races in NASCAR is up. It's also the official road racing debut (as in the "Car of Tomorrow" racing road courses for points) of the Car of Tomorrow. As oval racing can be monotonous to a lot of people, road racing is where you really prove yourself as a racer. I've always said that I've love to see these CoT machines race around a road course. I'm very used to the sound of a stock car around an oval, but I like the cars when they do road racing. NASCAR used to run the sportscar racing variant of Sears Point (meaning the decisive hairpin past the carousel leading to that straight). Stock cars nowadays (since 1999 I believe) race the modified version of Sears Point which still can be pretty tough. I still call it the "wussie configuration" since it isn't as challenging as the sportscar racing version. Hendrick Motorsports WAS undefeated until the race at Dover. Most of you know I have my money on Jeff Gordon for winning in road racing. I still consider Jeff Gordon as NASCAR's king of road racing. He once won five road course races in a row. Meaning he dominated Sears Point and Watkins Glen whenever they were on the schedule. I think that was all broken up in 2000 when Tony Stewart either won or knocked Jeff Gordon out at Watkins Glen. One time on Speed's "Trackside at Sears Point" program, a response stated that NASCAR does road racing usually at traditional time slots. Now that Le Mans is done, the race at Sears Point usually plays host to NASCAR action. And I can't wait to see how this one goes down miles from beautiful San Francisco.

Let's debate, shall we?


John's Debate! - NASCAR Road Racing
A poll on an installment of NASCAR on FOX asked if the Chase for the Cup should include a road course race. A good number of NASCAR fans responded that the Chase for the Cup should include a road course. My question to you is- what road course would make a great challenge in NASCAR's playoff format event? And where should this race take place in the Chase for the Cup? For example, if you think NASCAR should do Sebring, do you think they could do it prior to or after the Homestead event? What do you think?

 

[opelgt1969]

Well here's my 2 cents worth, First drop the last Phoenix race replace it with the race from Infineon, take the Infineon race date and move it to "Kentucky Speedway".

 

[thebtspecial]

I'd really like to see them race at Laguna Seca. The race should be after Homestead, because Homestead is (to me) the worst finale for Nascar ever. An appropriate finale would be at either of the restrictor plate tracks, or at Charlotte.

 

[ND4SPD]

I honestly would love to see more than 2 road courses in Nextel cup. As said earlier, Laguna Seca would be wonderful for the cup cars to go to, heck, they should run two indianapolis races, one at the oval and one in the road course similar to the F1 layout!

 

[RACECAR]

I'm thinking Sebring(interesting to see stock cars take the bumps), Road Atlanta Since thats where Hendick motorsports has tested there road racing package, or Laguna Seca. Can you imagine seeing those cars go down the corkscrew?

 

[TS]

I'm all for road racing in NASCAR, I'm glad that they've added the Circuit Gilles Villneuve to the Busch schedule, but I would like to see more road races in the cup series at places like Laguna, Road America, Lime-Rock park and VIR. Only time will tell.....

 

[ND4SPD]

WOw, I forgot about sebring, lime rock, road america and Vir! They would be amazing as nascar road courses!

 

[TwinTurbos94]

Sebring, Road america and laguna Seca would be great adds! However due to the length of the series, it probably won't happend.

 

[YSSMAN]

It would be nice to see more road races, but I don't see it happening any time soon. It would probably mean skipping a circle track, and with NASCAR already losing some of its stand-out tracks, I'm uncertain they want to give up any more.

When it comes to realistic road courses for NASCAR to visit, I'd say that Road America or Sebring would be the most likely picks, however Sebring may be the easiest to do, given that they could run the race earlier in the season when they are looking for warm weather tracks.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here's my thing with Laguna Seca and these machines. I kind of heard that these cars don't really have such a good center of gravity when going down the corkscrew. If you're fond of the "beatin' and bangin'" deal, imagine Kurt Busch whacking Tony Stewart before or during the Corkscrew. Would be chaos. Just my doubts in regards to the ability of these cars in addition to racing this technical SoCal circuit. Here are some other options I've been thinking of:

* Sebring (start in Florida, end in Florida on a real track)
* Road Atlanta (I think NASCAR series used to race at Road Atlanta)
* Road America (a real Grand Prix-style course; race stock cars in ToCA RD 2 at this track)
* Miller Motorsports Park (imagine these 43 stock cars going around the Attitude section and such!)
* Barber Motorsports Park (who said Talladega's the only real track in Alabama?)
* Daytona - Road Course (start and end at Daytona, just like the GARRA)
* Indianapolis - Road Course (perfect harmony of speed and road racing prestige on this "sacred" road course track)
* Mid-Ohio (credentials with the SCCA Runoffs, a little of everything)

NASCAR isn't a road racing series, but it's always interesting watching these drivers outside of their element on two tough road courses. I often pity that NASCAR Nextel Cup doesn't get the fun that the NASCAR Busch series gets all the fun racing in Mexico and Canada. I usually say that Nextel Cup is major league stuff. If the NFL can play a regular season game in Mexico, if the NBA can play some exhibition ball in China, why not the highest class of NASCAR being able to race outside America? Or is there a sort of national solidity in Nextel Cup staying in America and not competiting on tough tracks outside of America. NASCAR's raced outside of America before, but NASCAR could probably think of a great place to go road racing at in the Chase for the Cup. They got two tough road courses, why not another? If I had a short list, I'd say that NASCAR eliminates some race and make Homestead as Round 9 of 10. And for the finale- Sebring. Sebring embodies the All-American track. It may not be FIA-pretty, but this is a flat and bumpy course that I actually think suits NASCAR. I think Sebring would be most likely to host a third road race in the Chase for the Cup format. If you make Homestead the penultimate (or next to last for the not-so-sophisticated) round, they could either do Sebring or Road Atlanta. You're a winner either way with this deal.

 

[TwinTurbos94]

Yeah, Sebring seems like the best one. Along with Road Atlanta.

 

[JohnBM01]

And imagine this about Sebring: six wide heading into Turn 1 once the green flag drops. I fear it may have to be a restrictor plate race because of the high speeds around Sebring. I'd still love to see the cars zoom down that ultra-long backstretch heading into Sunset Corner. And who knows? We may see a NASCAR version of Flying Lizard vs. Risi Competizione like at this year's 12 Hours of Sebring. May never know.

Carry on, folks.

 

[TS]

And imagine this about Sebring: six wide heading into Turn 1 once the green flag drops. I fear it may have to be a restrictor plate race because of the high speeds around Sebring. I'd still love to see the cars zoom down that ultra-long backstretch heading into Sunset Corner. And who knows? We may see a NASCAR version of Flying Lizard vs. Risi Competizione like at this year's 12 Hours of Sebring. May never know.

Carry on, folks.

Restricor plates on a roadcourse wouldn't work. Why? Would you imagine how boring it would be to see the cars coming off the corners single file trying to form a draft just to go down the straights? I'm sure they could get Sebring to work with some creative gear rules and not worry about the cars reaching excessive speeds.

 

[Driving Park]

Hey guys.

I do in fact like the COT, and my favorite driver is probably Kyle Busch, although recently he's had sibling issues. But his luck is always up and down during a race, and it will be interesting to see if he pulls out a big win.
As for my favorite track... it would probably be a tie between Martinsville and Talladega. Martinsville because it's in Virginia and that's the state I live in, plus it's a great short track, and Talladega simply because it's the fastest!

:-)

 

[JohnBM01]

So it would be possible to do the full Sebring course in NASCAR without restrictor plates? Well how about this- I challenge a team to run some rounds around Sebring with the Car of Tomorrow. I'd be curious as to how long it would take for them to run around Sebring, then go for the course of a 3:30:00 race around there.

Now let me clarify on Road Atlanta. Road Atlanta would be a perfect road course for NASCAR. If the Chase for the Cup includes Atlanta Motor Speedway, they could do the Atlanta oval (which I am a fan of) and then Road Atlanta the next weekend. One of the most beautiful things about road racing is simply watching a batch of cars take on a set of corners. Camera views of cars screaming down towards the Road Atlanta esses is amazing no matter what's being raced. Same could be said for cars going down the Laguna Seca Corkscrew or some of the many sections of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. NASCAR stock cars would be great to see take on the many corners and sections of Road Atlanta. The real killer would be going down the backstretch into that super-slow two-turn complex leading to the underpass... which eventually leads to the finish line.

If you're trying to keep the series in the Southeastern U.S., then Sebring or Road America would be perfect road course races in the Chase for the Cup. The longshot (but also a great choice) would be Birmingham's Barber Motorsports Park. NASCAR has some options, but they NEED a road course in the Chase for the Cup. Want to be a champ? Have to master left AND right, player.

 

[Sting]

Just wanna bring attention to a previous post of mine....

Maybe now he's left DEI, Hendrick will get rid of Kyle Busch for his major screwup not long ago and bring Jr into the Hendrick fold. He'd be competitive and it'd be interesting to see how some idiot fans would react to Jr and Gordon being teammates. But then, I'm going off and dreaming again.

Dare to dream! I only just found out today in Autosport that Jr will be joining Hendrick, I'm ECSTATIC!

 

[TS]

Congratulations to Jeff Gordon & his wife Ingrid on the birth of their girl, whom was named Ella Sofia Gordon!!!

 

[mwoodski]

To the talk about road courses. Seeing the stockcars go through the Esses at VIR is a sight to behold, saw it a few weeks ago on SPEED when they were covering testing of the CoT on VIR.

 

[JohnBM01]

Oh yes... you all know I love Jeff Gordon. I'm more than proud for Mr. Gordon to enter fatherhood. I still think Jeff Gordon can still deliver on the race track apart from fatherhood. Congrats, Jeff Gordon!

Anyone else want to talk road course racing in NASCAR? And allow me to throw in this question: who are some of the best and worst "wringers?" For the uninitiated, a wringer in NASCAR is a road racing specialist who takes over for some driver not seriously good at road races.. Another question: do you think all racers should compete on road courses even if they aren't good road racers?

 

[opelgt1969]

Looks like we might be talking about "Sprint Cup" real soon just seen on Yahoo where they are talking about renaming the Nextel Cup to the Sprint Cup. Seems strange to me that they raised such an uproar about the Cingular car change I think that the courts should step in and tell them that Nextel made the rule that they have to keep it Nextel.

 

[Earth]

I am for more road courses, but I believe any additions of road courses should take the spot of one of the 'double' oval races.

so instead of having 2 texas races have 1 instead and have the other race be on a road course.

but i believe the NASCAR schedule should remain at least 90% ovals

 

[Sting]

^ good plan Earth to replace a double oval.


and mucho congrats to Jeff Gordon and Ingrid on their little bundle of joy.

 

[TwinTurbos94]

Best ringer in my opinion is Scott Pruett and Boris Said.....


Congrats to JEff on his new baby girl! Now he really is going to dominate everyone at Sears Point (I know it's Infineon,but I;'ve gotten so use to calling it Sears Point).

 

[opelgt1969]

Have you heard Dale Jr. has signed deal with SONY. Does not say if it will be main sponsor on car but did say he got a real nice digital camera. Think he got a couple of PS3's out of the deal.
His deal with SONY ia a personal services contract that gives the company use of his name, likeness, and voice for promations. Read more at www.speedtv.com

 

[m.piedgros]

Heard that on the Ticket today (local sports radio). Interestingly enough, as you hinted opel, this leaves wiggle room for Bud to move to Hendrick with Jr.

m.piedgros