NASCAR Thread.

[-Fred-]

Will someone please tell Steve Wallace to just park it?

 

[LancerEvo7]

^But he still has three laps to take out more cars!

Anyone thinking Green-White-Checkered?

EDIT: Epic wreck! No caution!

And Ambrose loses the race in the last corner! Congrats Carl Edwards!

 

[NISM0_SKYLINE]

THAT SUCKED Edward owes Ambrose from the Grand Am race yesterday.

 

[JohnBM01]

That finish at Montreal shows that sometimes, being there at the end is more special and important than dominating a race all race long. Sometimes, dominating a race doesn't mean a damn thing if you can't close out. GREAT (and surpriising) win!

 

[RACECAR]

Dammit, Ambrose loses the race again. Great win and great race from Carl, but dammit I hate it for Marcos. He just can't catch a break here.

isn't he martin truex's brother or something?

Yep, he is Martin's younger Brother.

 

[84SSccc]

Great Race! Hate it that Ambrose lost but at least I got to see Kyle Bush stomp off 👍

 

[Adamgp]

Awesome finish. I like Edwards and Ambrose so it didn't matter to me which one won.

Kyle Busch getting spun out was good also.

 

[TS]

God I think Edwards was the only guy that didn't get wrecked in the race.

Ambrose was superb today, only a mistake would cost him a certain victory, and what does he do, he jumps the kerb in the last chicane and loses the race.

 

[L_Hamilton]

Dammit, Ambrose loses the race again. Great win and great race from Carl, but dammit I hate it for Marcos. He just can't catch a break here.

Couldn't have said it better. First time I've seen Ambrose without a smile. Well, besides the last 2 races at Montreal.

Congrats to Edwards for really trying to win till the last lap and paid off.👍

 

[Syxx_Killer]

Since there was no Cup race today I decided to catch the Nationwide race. I like the Montreal course from when I used to watch F1. I caught glimpses of the Montreal race in the past couple years, but I didn't actually watch the race end-to-end. This race was shear torture! All those cautions made it practically unbearable. I like Ambrose and Edwards. I was really hoping Ambrose would win, but that last turn was too painful! I feel really bad for him. The only thing worse than seeing Ambrose throw the race away would have been if Kyle Busch was behind him. I thought it was funny when Kyle got spun around on that last restart. Ranger had an outstanding race! He very likely could have won it, too, if he had been where Edwards was.

 

[-Fred-]

Ranger's lack of experience as a whole, and not just in stock cars, showed on the restarts, and this is what pretty much killed his chances. Pretty good showing for Jacques, too bad his pit strategy didn't work out or he would have been there fighting with Ambrose and Edwards at the end.

Sucks for Fellows as well, he was one of the quickest guys out there in the early parts of the race, only to get dropkicked out of the race...

 

[Ian Poole]

Some more info for you

Bobby Labonte out for the rest of the season and replaced by Eric Darnell, discuss?

NASCAR also swap Texas and Phoenix next year to avoid clash with the last round of the Masters

 

[TS]

Darnell, seriously?

The guy has done a season of trucks and only a handful of nationwide races and they're throwing him into cup

Labonte still has it, he was top-20 in points the last few years in Petty cars that were way off, he's only off this year because he's in hand-me down Roush cars.

 

[Northstar]

Some more info for you

Bobby Labonte out for the rest of the season and replaced by Eric Darnell, discuss?

NASCAR also swap Texas and Phoenix next year to avoid clash with the last round of the Masters

Get your facts straight before you come here posting crap. He is only replacing him for 7 races and that is just because of sponsorship issues.

 

[Ian Poole]

Get your facts straight before you come here posting crap. He is only replacing him for 7 races and that is just because of sponsorship issues.

I apolgise, I misread

 

[JohnBM01]

The Peachtree State gets some NASCAR lovin' this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. To me, Atlanta is one of my favorite ovals NASCAR runs. It's up there with courses like Charlotte, Michigan, Pocono, California (Auto Club), Daytona, and Talladega as far as favorite ovals are concerned. Any thoughts on how you think the night race at Atlanta will play out? I may pick Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson for the Cup race.

 

[bin0]

My favorite drivers are(were) Dale Earnhardt SR. And Dale Earnhardt Junior.

 

[CAMikaze]

--- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Top 10 ---
Last completed race: 8/16/2009 at Trois-Rivieres

So when do you think there'll be a Street Race in the Sprint Cup series?

 

[Northstar]

I don't think there ever will be one, although racing through Chicago on the older NASCAR games is a blast.

 

[JohnBM01]

Street courses, in the minds of many people, aren't "racin'." So it's unlikely this will ever happen. I do have a few ideas if NASCAR did take on temporary courses. This first one may not suit some people well... but what if NASCAR took a page from (then) CART and ran some laps around the runways of Burke Lakefront Airport? But most people think follow-the-leader racing when it comes to street courses, so dismiss this idea of seeing NASCAR try this out.

 

[DaddyVDUB]

Personally I would be much more interested in NASCAR if they would sub out some of the more boring tracks ie...Michigan,Pocono,California,Chicago at least one of the dates they have. Not a huge fan of street courses, but another Infenion date and mayby a Road America,or the Montreal track would be much more interesting. Oh and Laguna Seca.

 

[CAMikaze]

This first one may not suit some people well... but what if NASCAR took a page from (then) CART and ran some laps around the runways of Burke Lakefront Airport? But most people think follow-the-leader racing when it comes to street courses, so dismiss this idea of seeing NASCAR try this out.

Yeah, I guess the idea of street-course races in Sprint Cup probably wouldn't 'fly'.

 

[DaddyVDUB]

Not likely to be any track changes,what with the expense of adding all the safer wall barriers some tracks would have to do.

 

[RACECAR]

Not likely to be any track changes,what with the expense of adding all the safer wall barriers some tracks would have to do.

Do they even have any Safer barriers at Circuit Gilles-Villenueve? I don't think I've seen any there or at any of the Road Courses.

 

[Northstar]

I think they only mandate them at Ovals. I don't recall Infineon having them anywhere other than the hairpin.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Oh and Laguna Seca.

Yes!👍

 

[DaddyVDUB]

I think they only mandate them at Ovals. I don't recall Infineon having them anywhere other than the hairpin.

Think your right,I dont recall them at Watkins Glen. So I guess they dont need them at the road courses,so come on NASCAR lets get with it why the heck you running at Michigan when you could be at Laguna Seca?

 

[ranhammerR34]

Writing as a fan of Nascar and a gentleman who frequents one of the circuits periodically (dang it I missed the Grand Am test today! ).... (Those who know me, know what circuit I go to.) I think that circuit would be A TON better as road course race for the drivers, the fans, and the owners of the circuit. Not to mention, it opens... GENERAL ADMISSION FOR ALL 3 DAYS WITH IN AND OUT PASSES!!!! Now that would be something new and if it does... I will be there with bells and whistles. --- Randy

 

[JohnBM01]

On today's installment of Fast Lane Daily, it's a Thursday show, meaning Leo "The Suit" Parente has his Shakedown segment. Leo talked about how NASCAR at Montreal in the rain was just dismal to watch. Mostly saying, "ugly cars and driving ugly in the rain." I still think it's a real DRIVING test for the Nationwide crew to race something like this.

Montreal's in the rear view as Atlanta's next. I'm still taking Jimmie Johnson or Carl Edwards there. Of course, never count out that Kyle Busch guy...

 

[Ian Poole]

He doesn't know when, and he's not sure in what capacity. But Tony Stewart firmly believes that ultimately, open-wheel star Danica Patrick will end up in NASCAR.
Patrick, easily the most popular driver on the IndyCar circuit, visited the Stewart-Haas Racing shop for a second time earlier this week to continue her fact-finding mission into stock-car racing. She sat down with Stewart, who made a similar transition a decade ago, and the current Sprint Cup points leader came away convinced that Patrick will eventually make the move to NASCAR.
"I can pretty much guarantee you that at some point she's going to be over here," Stewart said Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of Sunday night's race.
"I know that's what she wants to do. She looked me straight in the eye and said, 'This is what I want to do, it looks like fun. It looks like a lot of work, but it looks like fun.' I don't think she has some misguided idea that it's going to be easy doing it. She wants to do it the right way. She has he intentions of doing everything right. She's kind of come to us to see how she should go about it."
Stewart said he's come to know Patrick through various personal services deals and that the open-wheel driver came to him for advice, and not necessarily for a ride. He doesn't field an entry in the Nationwide Series -- the tour Patrick would most likely start out in -- and he reiterated Saturday that it's too late in the season to expand to a third Sprint Cup program for next year. During the visit Monday the two drivers talked about more fundamental matters, such as Stewart giving Patrick examples of where her seat needed to be in the bulkier, heavier stock car.
Patrick, fifth in IndyCar points and with one career victory in the series, is in the final year of her contract with Andretti-Green Racing. Team owner Michael Andretti told reporters last week that he was confident of re-signing Patrick. But even if she returned to the open-wheel ranks in 2010, the 17-race IndyCar schedule would leave plenty of room for Patrick to dip a toe into NASCAR if she so wishes. That's exactly what Stewart did in 1997 and '98, when he competed in a number of then-Busch events while still running the full IndyCar slate. The next season, he moved to NASCAR exclusively.
"She wants to know how to make the transition, I think, more than anything," he said. "She's trying to put together her [IndyCar] deal and trying to figure out how to transition that into NASCAR. I think she's trying to do it the right way. She's not just cutting the cord and jumping in a car she's unfamiliar with. She wants to stay successful where she's at, but in the meantime try to figure out a way to be able to drive and get some seat time in a car where she can start learning, so when she does come out she's got her act together."
Losing Patrick would be a huge blow for the IndyCar series. She is easily the circuit's biggest draw, and even IndyCar series officials are reportedly working to try and keep her in the fold. Stewart doesn't believe Patrick is using a potential NASCAR opportunity for leverage in her IndyCar contract negotiations.
"I know that she's serious about it," he said. "... I think she really wants to do it, it's just trying to figure out the time frame and what steps should she take to be able to do it right, and to show everybody that she wants to do it the right way."
That would likely mean starting out in the Nationwide Series. Patrick's stock-car experience is extremely limited, and Stewart said she's learned from watching other open-wheelers who tried and failed to jump into NASCAR's premier circuit right away. He added that Patrick wouldn't be opposed to starting out in a lower series.
"Absolutely. You've got to learn before you get here. All three of the national series, even the Truck Series, are competitive. Juan [Montoya] was kind of the exception to the rule, and even Juan ran some ARCA races and some Nationwide races before he went into Cup full-time. You've got to get used to a heavier race car. You've got to get used to less downforce, smaller tires. It's a lot of learning. It's a lot of race tracks that you have to get used to. It's sensory overload, and that's why you have to pay your dues before you get to this level," he said.
"The great thing is, she asked a lot of very smart questions in the discussion about it. You can tell that she wants to do it the right way. She understands how hard everybody's worked to get to this level, and she doesn't want to be one of those people who just comes in and gets stuff handed to her. She wants to earn her own way and work her way up like everybody else has."
Stewart's not sure of exactly when Patrick may make an initial foray into NASCAR. But he believes it's going to happen. And he welcomes it.
"I'd love to see her come [to NASCAR]," he said. "I think it would be awesome for our sport if she were to come out here and be successful."

Seems that Smoke wants her in