Running 2023 Motorsports thread

They just mentioned that this is the first time in 10 years that the championship race winner was someone other than the season champ. And 2-3-4 were all guys in the final four.
During the drivers meeting, does NASCAR pretty much tell the rest of the field to race for fifth place or you'll regret it?

 

You know what sucks? Dave Blaney had a lot of bad luck in his career. A few times he had the field covered, only to have an engine blow or something stupid. Wish he could’ve had a more successful career.

The championship format bites, but the kid did what he needed to do to win.

 

Interlagos was a largely dull race, but man, that battle between Checo and Fernando to round out the podium was pretty epic. Definitely made the last dozen laps interesting.

 

NASCAR doesn't say it out loud, but since the winner-take-all format all the non-championship drivers have tried not to interfere with guys running for the title. Which basically sets them up to race for the win as well. Nobody wants the negative PR of wrecking a contender, especially if you happen to make the Chase in subsequent seasons.

Again, NASCAR's current championship is like holding a Super Bowl for the two best teams but having the Lions play the Browns on the same field at the same time.

 

I wish Ernie Irvan had felt that way in '92!

 

I like Chastain because he does not give a damn and will do what he wants. He's learned to curb the excesses, i.e. wrecking people like he did last year with Chase Elliott at Phoenix in a similar spot.

 

I saw Swervin' drive late models at Stockton 99 Speedway along with Troy Beebe. They were typical young drivers, fast but reckless.

 

F1: “We love you and your cash, but could you maybe partner with somebody else? Somebody who isn’t Andretti?”

GM: “No.”

https://www.thedrive.com/news/gm-sa...st-wont-partner-with-another-team-to-enter-f1

 

Man, that’s sad to hear about Ken. Brilliant voice, precise phrasing and pleasant demeanor on the air, and I’m told the same off the air. His bonus appearances on the first throwback versions of the Southern 500 were a treat. Sounded like old times.

Best wishes to a legend.

 

The Frances owe Squier big-time for his relentness promotion of stock car racing when it was still flying under the radar. I doubt he ever filed for copyright, although I'm certain NASCAR's lawyers did.

He came up with "The Great AMERICAN Race" -- with a definite accentuation on the third word -- because the Daytona 500 didn't have a catch phrase like Indy's "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" (which Sid Collins thought up on the spot to use as a heads-up for affiliates on the IMS Radio Network that a local commercial break was coming).

So Squier played off of that, plus a little nose-tweak to the open-wheel set, which was considered high brow and continential compared to the stereotypical NASCAR fan. When your series is populated with drivers named Bobby, Cale, Kyle, Darrell, Donnie and Dale, it only goes to figure that "American" sounds as good a description as any (even with the addition of Toyota).

Actually both races have had a foreign presence from the start.

Before World War I, most of the entries to the Indianapolis 500-Mile International Sweepstakes were either European drivers or cars (Jules Goux and Dario Resta were two early winners). And once Jack Brabham brought his Cooper to the 500 in 1960, heralding the rear-engine revolution, there are more Swedes than natives of Indiana in the series.

Then again, Daytona has had a number of foreign-born entrants, including two Peruvians in the inaugural race -- Eduardo Dibos (later the mayor of Lima) and Raul Cilloniz. Cilloniz finished 12th, ahead of Curtis Turner and Junior Johnson.