The 2021 Running NASCAR/IMSA/other racing things thread

As it should be done. Those sponsors aren't doing anything for writers or the writer's publication.

 

I remember having a conversation with a track flack once where that was his argument. "They pay a lot of money to have their name blah blah blah."
My response was some version of "Not my problem."

 

Was that their passive-aggressive way of telling people "We are not the fucking PGA!"
In my younger days I was trying to do a feature on an area golfer who won a PGA Tour event, and was not aware of the difference. I called the PGA to try and get some help arranging a phone interview and the disdain from the person on the other end of the phone as she taught me that lesson was about a Brooks Koepka eye roll on the disdain-o-meter.

 

For the 2012 season, when we had already been told our jobs were toast, I made it a point to write every story with something like "Tony Stewart won Sunday's race at Fontana/Charlotte" rather than use any NASCAR or sponsor mentions like Auto Club, Lowe's, Home Depot or Sprint.

Whether the desk added it afterwards, I never cared to look. But it was my futile effort to tilt at windmills. Plus, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

 

Race names used to be better back then.

I'm from the Gordon Era, but even the sponsored ones rolled off the tongue a bit: Tyson Holly Farms 400, Pontiac Excitement 400, DieHard 500, MBNA 500, UAW-GM Teamwork 500 (OK not that one). (Points to anyone other than @maumann who can name the location of those five races)

Now this year alone we've got the O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona, the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 and the Go Bowling at the Glen. Those last two sound like an alternative to watching the actual race.

 

I miss the Firecracker, Rebel, Mason-Dixon, Volunteer, Delaware, National and American 400/500s. And the Music City USA 420, of course.

 

Why were the Nashville races always 420 laps? There has to be a story there.

 

Gives new meaning to "post-race burnouts."

 

My guesses: Wilkesboro, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Pocono.

The Buschy McBushrace thing was great for social media but was the stupidest, dumbest idea ever. Second place: The (insert name of fan) 400, presented by Toyota.

 

One possible answer: Nashville Fairgrounds was .596 miles, not a pure 1/2 mile. So 420 laps makes for a 250-mile distance. (Specifically, 250.32.)

Very much like races at Rockingham, which were 492 laps because The Rock was 1.017 miles. Which comes out to 500.364 miles for the race distance. (I didn't coin the "24 Hours of Rockingham" phrase, but there were many races that felt like we were going to be there that long.)

Oddly, Martinsville is .526 miles and Bristol is .533 but they run 500 laps anyway.