The 2022 running NASCAR, IMSA & other racing things thread

The most interesting thing about covering the Brickyard was the media shotgun golf tournament sponsored by Chevrolet. Getting to play the Crossing and perhaps wrangle an interview or three with someone normally not available was a sweet perk. (No photos with the trophy or the bricks or the balls I hit in the water. But I brought home a huge clock inside a real piston one time, and had to pay extra for exceeding the luggage weight.)

 

Talladega's an odd duck because which of the two races is the jewel? If they weren't both the same distance, maybe. Even the crowds there by 2012 were nothing like they were at the height of the Alabama Gang's dominance. Man, I-20 used to back up for hours in either direction.

But when I think of Talladega, the first thing that pops into my head is the driver's boycott and Richard Brickhouse. And then all the weird one-off winners there, like Lennie Pond, Bobby Hillin Jr., Ron Bouchard and Phil Parsons. And Bobby's terrible crash. And Davey's terrible crash.

Add that it's 96 degrees outside and 69 degrees in the infield media center. And you can't even start to write a game story until the fourth GWC.

 

Night Bristol was diminished by moving the date and the fact that SMI expanded the place way too much. I know Bruton loved money, but they should've capped it at 100,000 and kept the demand going for infinity.

 

Never played in that. I was always commuting in for Thursday qualifying (skipping Friday's second quali run) and the Saturday race until the format changed and they went to Sunday race. By the time of the SuperWeekend with the sports cars on the road course (the best races of the weekend), I was there four days but the golf outing was a goner. Still haven't played the Crossing.

 

Don't forget about Jimmy Horton launching over the wall and Stanley Smith almost dying. Thought we were going to have two obits that day.

For whatever reason, I always considered the August char-broil race to be the biggie. Maybe because it was summer and everyone was on vacation, celebrating the last hurrah before kids went back to school and football started. Pent-up summer angst blowout event. Party weekend. Closer to the season finish and more emphasis on the points title. Drivers were later into the season and feuds-fights-pissy matches were coming to a head. Dunno. It just always seemed a bit more intense, or different.

After my first couple of trips, I began packing a cooler with food for the sit-lurch-sit-wait-creep-crawl drive home. Also took extra clothes to change into, and a windbreaker for the media center.

 

I wonder if that’s the street course they ran in iRacing last year.

 

Richard Childress Talks About Future of NASCAR and Many Fans Won't Be Happy With What He Had to Say

he was also asked his thoughts about having six road course races on the schedule as is the case in 2022. The 76-year-old team owner offered a surprising answer.
“I think you’ll see more of it,” he said. “I think the plans in the future is to see more road course racing. This car is designed and built like the road course cars that most series are racing today — IMSA and the other series. The fans, I think they really like it. It’s more than just a race. They’re coming to an event. They can camp out for two or three days. They can just have fun. There’s so much going on.
“So I think you’re going to see more and more of the road courses. We can’t get away from what made NASCAR what it is. We can’t get away from intermediates and the speedways — Daytona, Talladega — but I think you got to do what the fans want and we’re just trying to please them for sure.”

 

I might go to that, depending on the route.