NASCAR Thread.

[opelgt1969]

Bud is still with him till through 2008 but it didn't say how much.

 

[JohnBM01]

Hendrick Motorsports is in trouble. The #24 and #48 cars will start 41st and 42nd thanks to imfractions on the Car of Tomorrow. Supposed to be fined $100K, suspended for six races, and such. Especially for the #24, this is not the way to go racing after becoming a father. This could be a pretty big deal once we find out how the two teams will be penalized. I do have faith in Jeff Gordon to get a great finish (not saying he'll necessarily win) since he is probably one of the best road racers in NASCAR.

Cause for concern for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend?

 

[opelgt1969]

NASCAR said not to play with the points of contact of the "claw" there cars were played with inbetween those points. Going to be interesting to see how NASCAR will spin this (as being they always think that they are right 100% of the time).

 

[TS]

The money & the crew cheif suspension won't mean much, but those 100pts. could be the difference between Jeff Gordon & Jimmie finishing 1-2 in the championship and them finishing 3-4 in the championship.

 

[JohnBM01]

Yeah, but here's the thing. The two drivers don't have to dominate the points heading into the Chase for the Cup. Hell, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson could be leading the points by 1,500 points with the two battling themselves for #1. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter because when the Chase comes, all the Chase qualifiers will be on an even playing field. The way I strategize this thing is that you work to be within the Top 12. You don't have to lead the points prior to the Chase. But when the Chase for the Cup starts, you'd better be game. People say this is like a playoff format for NASCAR and rightfully so. The most dominating drivers may all of a sudden fall apart and go to the wayside. We've seen it with (sorry, * McLaren *...) the 2006 Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Playoffs (of course my Houston Rockets as well), Duke's first round fall to Virginia Commonwealth University in the 2007 March Madness tournament, and just about any other playoff series in which a top-flight team fell short of glory. If Hendrick Motorsports suffers such a setback, it won't mean a thing unless both J. Gordon and Johnson are trying to stay within the Chase.

So I wouldn't fret about these penalties for now. If both drivers go 1-2 regardless of who finishes first, that 100 point penalty would only be a scratch on the arm and not a gaping wound.

 

[Gabkicks]

from the comment's i've read, it sounded like a great race. i wish i'd watched it Congrats to the winning driver and his team.

 

[RACECAR]

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

You must have been very glad. You'll be happy to know that he will be replacing Kyle Busch as confirmed on the Speed Report.


Congrats to Juan Pablo Montoya!! I knew he was gonna win here. Looks like he's gonna own the road courses. He'll dominate Watkins Glen for sure and should he decide to do the busch race at Circuit Gille-Villenueve, he'll win there too.

 

[Sting]

Cause for concern for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend?

I guess not when you (Jeff Gordon) haul yourself to a healthy 7th place finish. Especially when your next two rivals finish behind you.

and yeah RACECAR, I'm very glad to see JR join HMS... watched the press conference at NASCAR.com

 

[Syxx_Killer]

The Infineon race was a fun race to watch. I always liked that course on GT4. Since I've only really began watching NASCAR a few months ago, watching a road course made allot of the drivers look like fish out of water. I had a hunch Montoya might win the road race - especially since his only other win was at the road race in the Busch series. I'm glad Montoya won. I like him. I liked him when he was in Formula 1.

 

[TS]

Yay for Juan Pablo Montoya, but I figured when McMurray ran out of gas, JP would be next and Harvick would be the winner, but he held up. Good job!

 

[Earth]

You must have been very glad. You'll be happy to know that he will be replacing Kyle Busch as confirmed on the Speed Report.


Congrats to Juan Pablo Montoya!! I knew he was gonna win here. Looks like he's gonna own the road courses. He'll dominate Watkins Glen for sure and should he decide to do the busch race at Circuit Gille-Villenueve, he'll win there too.

RACECAR, Montoya isn't going to dominate Watkins Glen in the Cup series. Anybody who watched the entire race, like me, knows that Montoya had a top 10 car but by no means had the best car out there. He was easily passed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others.

That's what I feared after watching this race, that those who didn't watch it (mostly F1 snobs) would think Montoya was the class of the field and he smoked NASCAR's top drivers who can only drive in 'circles' which was simply not the case.

Of course anyone who watched the race knew that was not the case.

He was the best of the dozen or so drivers who stretched their fuel and made the race on 2 pit stops.

He used a big part of NASCAR to win, strategy. He wasn't going to win on pure speed.

I think NASCAR should shorten or lengthen this race because when guys start cutting off their engines on the track to try and make it to the end on fuel you know its gotten out of hand.

 

[opelgt1969]

RACECAR, Montoya isn't going to dominate Watkins Glen in the Cup series. Anybody who watched the entire race, like me, knows that Montoya had a top 10 car but by no means had the best car out there. He was easily passed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others.

That's what I feared after watching this race, that those who didn't watch it (mostly F1 snobs) would think Montoya was the class of the field and he smoked NASCAR's top drivers who can only drive in 'circles' which was simply not the case.

Of course anyone who watched the race knew that was not the case.

He was the best of the dozen or so drivers who stretched their fuel and made the race on 2 pit stops.

He used a big part of NASCAR to win, strategy. He wasn't going to win on pure speed.

I think NASCAR should shorten or lengthen this race because when guys start cutting off their engines on the track to try and make it to the end on fuel you know its gotten out of hand.

I think that they need to start running the race on the full track it would give more chances to pass and cut out the coasting around.

 

[TS]

RACECAR, Montoya isn't going to dominate Watkins Glen in the Cup series. Anybody who watched the entire race, like me, knows that Montoya had a top 10 car but by no means had the best car out there. He was easily passed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others.

At best he was a 5th place car, but like you said, he used strategy to win the race.

I think NASCAR should shorten or lengthen this race because when guys start cutting off their engines on the track to try and make it to the end on fuel you know its gotten out of hand.

It should be lengthened long enough so that nobody could make it on 2 pit stops, they have to go for the 3 stopper. In the past it wasn't a problem because the cars had a 22 gallon fuel tank, now they only have a 18 gallon fuel cell.

I think that they need to start running the race on the full track it would give more chances to pass and cut out the coasting around.

The cars weren't designed to go through the immense elevation changes that exist at Infineon. Some drivers during the weekend complained of their cars cutting out going up the hill into turn 2, having that 2nd uphill section would only make the effects worse.

 

[opelgt1969]

At best he was a 5th place car, but like you said, he used strategy to win the race.



It should be lengthened long enough so that nobody could make it on 2 pit stops, they have to go for the 3 stopper. In the past it wasn't a problem because the cars had a 22 gallon fuel tank, now they only have a 18 gallon fuel cell.



The cars weren't designed to go through the immense elevation changes that exist at Infineon. Some drivers during the weekend complained of their cars cutting out going up the hill into turn 2, having that 2nd uphill section would only make the effects worse.

Make the race a "True" "COT" race by adding EFI, how long do you think they will keep running carburetors?

 

[m.piedgros]

I think congratulations are in order for Montoya AND HIS TEAM. They played the fuel strategy game and won. Don't forget that Robby Gordon, and Jaime McMurray each had brilliant race weekends with Robby practically dominating the race. Unfortunate he didn't win as in my eyes he sure deserved it. I honestly would have preferred to see Montoya's first win on the Cup side come at a Speedway of some description but as predicted by many it comes on a road course. Hopefully Montoya will develop into a great Cup driver and not just "Super-Road Course Ringer". Considering the equipment Juan is in, it is a big feet to win anywhere.

m.piedgros

 

[TwinTurbos94]

I'm glad he won , but I kinda Agree w/P above. The thing I loved to hear was that he said that he is havign a blast in NNC.


Kudo goes out to Jeff Gordon too. He got 7th after starting from the back.

 

[TS]

Make the race a "True" "COT" race by adding EFI, how long do you think they will keep running carburetors?

Until carburetors become 100% obsolete, but by that time, the cars will be hovercrafts powered by engines fueled by tap water.

I was watching NASCAR now today, and they reported a story featured in the Charlotte Observer that Hendrick will not be able to purchase the #8 from DEI nor will DEI be allowed to sell the #8 to Hendrick because (probably stating the obvious) of the fact that NASCAR owns the numbers & assigns them to the teams on a yearly basis

 

[JohnBM01]

I've been playing NASCAR 07 from EA Sports. I wanted to try this bad boy out and in regards to oval racing, it's actually pretty fun. You really get a sense as to how fast these cars actually are. The sense of speed (don't laugh) is incredible even with cars like these. It all looks great even with the "aging" PS2.

What I've learned from this game is that it isn't as easy as it looks to take on the superspeedways. My favorite ovals are Charlotte, California, Daytona, Talladega, Michigan, and even Texas. The key to getting the job done on high-speed ovals is to make friends with the turbulence of other cars. I'm talking about entering the draft (not the Army!). Some cars can generate some great turbulence so that you could have a chance at performing slingshot passes. However, some cars don't generate as much draft. I remember when the Star Mazda Series (for some reason) went to an oval race for this usually road racing exclusive series. The cars weren't able to draft too well, so you couldn't really let the wind be your best friend in an oval race.
=
Get 'em any way you can. Congratulations to the 1999 CART Champ and 2000 Indy 500 champ- Juan Pablo Montoya. It's his second win in NASCAR and his first in Nextel Cup. All I can say is that you go with your strengths. His was road racing, and he shown sheer prowess. I hated that I didn't get to see as much of the race as I like (speaking as a road racing fan). I'm proud for Juan Pablo Montoya.

My usual chain of comments usually pertain to a quick congratulations and then some question. The Countdown to Green thing on TNT talked about how there are a lot of devoted fans at Sears Point for this race. Which leads me to this question... I've rented "NASCAR 07" for the PS2. There are a variety of fantasy road courses including the usual road course venues for NASCAR. So for debate, I have a few questions to share as well as a debate question...


John's Debate! - NASCAR Road Racing
(1.) While NASCAR isn't known for road racing, and while most American fans aren't road racing fans, do you think NASCAR should invest some interest in running more road races for all three of the top series? (2.) How do you think the broadcasting network televising the race help introduce fans to NASCAR in road racing events?


I won't answer my own debate, but let me provide some of my own personal comments.

Part of me says that NASCAR should run road races more often. But another part of me says that NASCAR shouldn't be ALL road racing. I mean, the series made its living as an oval racing series. Most NASCAR fans I seen on TV usually aren't as jacked about road racing as a usual oval race. I think the old days of CART had it best- mostly exclusive to road racing, but run some competitive ovals. NASCAR probably wouldn't want to change its entire philosophy to focus more on road racing. My gut feeling is that NASCAR fans will follow NASCAR drivers even if the sport isn't NASCAR. Why? It's because NASCAR fans are EXTREMELY loyal to the drivers they love. So much so that even mentioning their driver numbers and sponsors evoke such loyalty. Thing is, it can be pretty tough for most oval racing fans to get to love road racing as much as most do oval racing. It's understandable because that's "racing" to most NASCAR fans. Racing on ovals is usually more enjoyable for NASCAR fans than with road racing. The reason why I love road racing is because the skill and technique required by drivers to race around a track effectively. Road racing is about the driver and his/her technique around a road course. I LOVE road racing. Seeing cars zoom down the backstretch is fun, but there's nothing like watching cars zoom around a tough part of a road course. In addition, you see your favorite driver navigate some of the more scenic sections of track. You may not agree, but road courses can be much more scenic than most oval courses.

Put it like this. The same crowds that pack the stands at Daytona for the Daytona 500 or the upcoming Pepsi 400... could they draw the same crowd if the series raced the Daytona ROAD course? The feel of action for the Daytona infield road course and the superspeedway event are much different. The anticipation for the two events would be much different because you know what you're getting when NASCAR's in town running the Daytona oval. If they ran the road course, some of that Daytona aura still fills the air, just not as much as the oval racing. Or take Indianapolis. Indianapolis is visited only once by NASCAR for the Brickyard 400 (the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" nowadays). Could they generate a great enough crowd for if NASCAR ran the road course at Indy? Just something else to question.

NASCAR isn't known for road racing. That's okay. I just think it's great that NASCAR at least does ovals rather than shy away from them. I wished all three series ran road races. I sometimes would like to see NASCAR Nextel Cup challenge Mexico City and Montreal in addition to Sears Point and Watkins Glen. Will that ever happen? Probably not. I would be interested in a nighttime road race. Most road racing facilities would have the sort of facilities needed to host a night race at an oval. Perhaps NASCAR could do like the IROC series like when they did Daytona last year. The cars had lights below the non-functional headlights as well as a brake light at the far top of the rear windshield. Take a look at this link to see specifications for specially-modified IROC cars for road racing: < http://www.irocracing.com/2006season/pr/060628_facts.html >. I couldn't find any pictures of the IROC cars from the 2006 Daytona road course race to clarify my point better. I would be interested seeing the CoT's having such modifications to make for road racing action. If these NASCAR-type IROC cars could be fitted with this stuff for a nighttime road race at Daytona, imagine what this would be like for other races with the CoT at road courses.


Well, you're free to respond to my debate topic.

 

[RACECAR]

RACECAR, Montoya isn't going to dominate Watkins Glen in the Cup series. Anybody who watched the entire race, like me, knows that Montoya had a top 10 car but by no means had the best car out there. He was easily passed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others.

That's what I feared after watching this race, that those who didn't watch it (mostly F1 snobs) would think Montoya was the class of the field and he smoked NASCAR's top drivers who can only drive in 'circles' which was simply not the case.

Of course anyone who watched the race knew that was not the case.

I know, but you've sort of misjudged me as I wasn't implying that was what he did here. In fact, I watched the race and was rooting for him the entire time, but I feel that since Watkins glen has more room to pass, he'll be better there. Besides, why assume just by what happened here what will happen at Watkins Glen? I see it like this: Watkins Glen is the sort of track he is used to seeing in F1(after all, it did host an F1 race) so he would be able to be fast here and as for Circuit Gilles-Villenueve(should he compete), I believe he has been here in F1 so he should be able to know this track better then the other busch series drivers. btw, I hope you weren't implying that I was a F1 snob as I hate Hardcore F1 fans like I do Hardcore NASCAR Fans.

 

[TS]

Well, NASCAR is starting to become more consistent when it comes to penalties, they docked Jimmie Johnson & Jeff Gordon 100 points, fined $100K & their crew cheifs got suspended for 6 races.

Article.

 

[Sting]

Not best pleased about that. Bad enough they started at the back of the field at Sonoma, but now this.... awwww.

 

[TS]

Not best pleased about that. Bad enough they started at the back of the field at Sonoma, but now this.... awwww.

They both came out of that pretty unscaved, Gordon 7th & Johnson 16th. Only reason they're being penalized is to send a message to the teams & fans that NASCAR means business when they say don't mess with the COT.

 

[ND4SPD]

Heh, I wonder what Smokey Yunick could do with a COT if he were still alive.

 

[kart racer]

John,welcome to the dark side. You now understand the talent needed to run a oval.NASCAR needs about 1 more road race.Now some will say that they should go to Mexico or Canada as there is some great tracks that they could use.(In Canada especially)But there is also some great tracks in the US that could also be used.Should it be a road course inside of a super oval like Daytona or Indy,or should it be on a natural roadcoures like Road America?That disscusion could go on forever.Now I would like to see a dirt oval put into the mix.Just like the old days. 💡

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Thought it was good that Montoya won at Infineon. The commentators certainly seemed taken aback with his pass of McMurray in turn 2.

I've some questions, to which I'd appreciate answers. This is very much the perspective of someone who just watches the highlights show (not going to shell out $30/month just for the live races).

1. Why does the coverage change half way through the season? Suddenly we have all different graphics and commentators, and stuff, and it happened last year too. Why is that? I miss the "biggety biggety bigget... let's go racing booooyyyys" commentary team.

2. How do the wheelnut guns work? We in Europe are used to racing wheels being centre-lock nuts, one per wheel. You remove the nut with the gun, off comes the wheel, on goes the new wheel, and the single nut screws back on the thread. But the Nextel Cup cars have five (or maybe four) wheelnuts. The gunner whips round all four, and it seems that all four nuts are being retained by the gun. Is that right? How does it work?

3. Fuelling: two guys stand at the back of the car with what appear to be gravity-feed cans. #1 can goes in, then that fueller stands at the back of the car, appearing to watch the #2 can. About 2 seconds before the end of the stop, the #1 fueller waves his can up and down. What's that all about?

 

[m.piedgros]

I do miss DW et al, however I do have a simple answer for that. In America, everyone wants a piece of the cash cow known as NASCAR. When companies like Turner Broadcasting, NewsCorp and AOL Time Warner (who I believe run ABC/ESPN correct me if I'm wrong) all get into a bidding war for rights to broadcast Cup, Busch, and Truck racing money becomes less, no, money becomes no object and NASCAR essentially compromise. This year, FOX started the show, TNT get the "six summer races" and ABC/ESPN get the remaining races including the chase. ABC/ESPN also have the rights to all Busch series races and qualifying, except when qualifying clashes with another sporting event then I believe (somehow) NewsCorp's SPEED Channel gets the rights. SPEED also have the rights to all final practice, qualifying and races for the Truck Series. (Confused yet? I am.)

2. I think the wheel nuts are somehow fixed to the wheels, the wheel is then mounted and the nuts get locked on with a simple air gun. They also do this in Grand-Am racing to make it "more like road cars" ...


I don't get it either...


3. All I know about the fueling is there is a gas-can-man, and a catch-can-man, I think this is unique to NASCAR but I could be mistaken... the gas-can-man takes as you said, a gravity-feed can and fills the car with fuel, at the back of the car (just below the spoiler on the old car, probably in a similar place in the COT) there is an overflow valve that releases any excess fuel when a car is overfilled. That is where the catch-can-man comes into play as he stands there with his catch-can connected to the overflow valve to collect any excess fuel if the car is overfilled. I think when the gas-man waves his can he is simply communicating that he's done. But I'm not sure.

m.piedgros

 

[WallRunner]

I do miss DW et al, however I do have a simple answer for that. In America, everyone wants a piece of the cash cow known as NASCAR. When companies like Turner Broadcasting, NewsCorp and AOL Time Warner (who I believe run ABC/ESPN correct me if I'm wrong) all get into a bidding war for rights to broadcast Cup, Busch, and Truck racing money becomes less, no, money becomes no object and NASCAR essentially compromise. This year, FOX started the show, TNT get the "six summer races" and ABC/ESPN get the remaining races including the chase. ABC/ESPN also have the rights to all Busch series races and qualifying, except when qualifying clashes with another sporting event then I believe (somehow) NewsCorp's SPEED Channel gets the rights. SPEED also have the rights to all final practice, qualifying and races for the Truck Series. (Confused yet? I am.)

2. I think the wheel nuts are somehow fixed to the wheels, the wheel is then mounted and the nuts get locked on with a simple air gun. They also do this in Grand-Am racing to make it "more like road cars" ...


I don't get it either...


3. All I know about the fueling is there is a gas-can-man, and a catch-can-man, I think this is unique to NASCAR but I could be mistaken... the gas-can-man takes as you said, a gravity-feed can and fills the car with fuel, at the back of the car (just below the spoiler on the old car, probably in a similar place in the COT) there is an overflow valve that releases any excess fuel when a car is overfilled. That is where the catch-can-man comes into play as he stands there with his catch-can connected to the overflow valve to collect any excess fuel if the car is overfilled. I think when the gas-man waves his can he is simply communicating that he's done. But I'm not sure.

m.piedgros

1. Correct http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/data/schedule.html

2. http://en.allexperts.com/q/NASCAR-Racing-2068/lug-nuts.htm

3. Yes, when he waves it means he is done, because usually they are waiting on him to finish so they can get the car moving.

From,
Chris.

 

[TS]

2. I think the wheel nuts are somehow fixed to the wheels, the wheel is then mounted and the nuts get locked on with a simple air gun. They also do this in Grand-Am racing to make it "more like road cars" ...

They glue the lug nuts to the wheels prior to pit-stops to prevente lug nut dropping during pit-stops. (although it doesn't completely eliminate the problem)

 

[opelgt1969]

#3 question The overflow can that that man is holding is also a "fill release" in other words the gas will not go into the car until the catchcan is inserted. It's kind of a safety thing.

 

[kart racer]

Using 5 lugs instead of the center nut system is one of those things that NASCAR has always done.I guees they feel that this is more American.(?)As far as I know,they have never looked at changing this.The gluing of the lugs has progressed to the point that it is very reliable.In the 70's,tire changers use to carry 5 extra lugs on a wire from thier belts in case one fell of during a pit stop.It also took about 30 to 45 seconds to complete a stop back then.