2008 NASCAR running thread

Carl Edwards always flips.

The most upsetting thing to me is Hamlin climbing up the points solidly into banquet contention.

 

One can only hope. ;D

 

It doesn't take as many laps on longer tracks. It's a question of getting the cars slowed down and lined up (1 lap), getting the pace car out in front of them and getting the safety trucks on the track, getting everything picked up and swept up, getting the safety trucks off the track, opening the pits for pit stops whether anybody's going to stop or not (two laps unless it's a quickie yellow), having the pace car driver take a look around to make sure the track's clean

Phoenix is a long short track -- it's what Richmond wanted to be when the old owners expanded RIR to 3/4 mile. So laps go quickly there, even under caution.

Phoenix needs to be a night race. I think they ought to have the season opener there in January (call it the Copper World Classic and pair it with the USAC midgets, sprints and the super-modifieds the night before). Have the Cup race the night before the Super Bowl in prime time, then go to Daytona Beach for that whole circus. There is precedent; up until 1981 the Winston Cup Series opened the season with a mid-January date at Riverside before heading to Daytona Beach.

Of course, I have no idea what the weather's like in Phoenix at that time of year. It may not be conducive.

 

Here's the thing, though - it was one piece of bodywork that fell off a car, not a pile of wreckage. Get the cars bunched, have some course worker run out and grab it, and get racing again. I don't see why it should take more than two laps, even on a short track like PIR.

Weather's fantastic then. One problem with the date, though: the FBR Open is the weekend of the Super Bowl every year, because it's the one tournament that can draw an enormous crowd even when competing against the Super Bowl. Granted, there's not a huge overlap between NASCAR and PGA crowds, but every dime of the corporate money will go to FBR.

 

Often during a caution, NASCAR will bring out the blowers and try to get rid of all the crud on the track.

And sometimes, getting the scoring straightened out is complicated, too.

 

Carl v. JJ?
I'll take JJ every time.
I loathe The Carl.

 

No. It will be changed to "Carl's Ford shockingly not Found On Roadside Dead"

 

Anybody have a link that would tell us who the champion would've been under the old system? I know things would play out differently if we were running under the old system, but I'd still like to see.

 

Jimmie's lead would be only 56 points ... much more possible to overcome. Kid Kyle would be third, but out of contention.

http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/data/standings_whatif.html

 

As of right now, however, it remains: "Cousin Carl Gets The Johnson Again."

 

Thanks. I am surprised that NASCAR is the ones that has done this. Good to see that it's not much different than the standings that are used, in regards to deciding the champ, at least.