2010 NASCAR running thread

And that's the problem. Short of rotating Chase tracks to keep teams from gearing for those 10 races (like Jimmie Johnson has done), they should leave well enough alone.

 

50 laps to go at Chicagoland, Bowyer now has enough points to quailfy for the chase.

 

While 1992 was the best, it wasn't the only great NASCAR points battle over the years. Just going back to the late 1980s, you had Elliott-Wallace in 1988, Wallace-Earnhardt-somewhat Martin in 1989, Earnhardt-Martin in 1990, Earnhardt-Irvan in 1994 before Irvan's injury and Labonte-Gordon in 1996.
I'm sure there's no way to figure the numbers (especially given NASCAR's history of puffing up numbers considerably, i.e. 85 million fans), but I'd be curious how many fans NASCAR lost due to The Chase vs. how many fans were gained. I laugh when Brain France talks about NASCAR going back to its roots. If TV numbers were strong, would France be saying that? Of course not.

 

NASCAR is, and has been for quite a while, a joke as far as credibility IMO. It's practically a guarantee that if a driver is clearly going to run away with a victory, the yellow will come out for "debris" only NASCAR officials see. The drivers know it and have let that knowledge leak out from time to time (Smoke, Kahne, Hamlin mainly). For the longest time I figured Smoke would get so mad he'd head back to the IRL while keeping his track and team ownership thing going. But the money and exposure he gets in NASCAR keeps his off-track ventures going (since he makes far more in NASCAR than he ever would in IRL) so he puts up with NASCAR's puppet show.

 

FUCK Carl Edwards.
I hope gets paid back in spades. Asshole.

 

Hamfisted idiot. "You bump me so I wreck you" doesn't cut it. He doesn't have enough skill to pull off the bump-and-go himself and apparently spaced out during the part of Days Of Thunder when Harry explains to Cole Trickle that "He rubbed you. And rubbin', son, is racin'."

 

Not to defend what Edwards did, but it's funny to see people condemn him for the same thing that made Dale Earnhardt's legend.

 

Not that Earnhardt didn't spin people, but there's a BIG difference between a bump and run -- what Earnhardt and Keselowski did -- and flat out spinning someone into the outside wall.

 

Apparently it does cut it, per NASCAR ...

 

I'm betting there are a lot of innocent bystander car owners pretty tired of their equipment getting destroyed because of Edwards.

 

Park Edwards before someone dies
July 19, 2010


NASCAR needs to crack down on Carl Edwards, now.



There’s no way this can be any more clear.


NASCAR needs to park Carl Edwards — not fine him, not hand him another joke of a probation, not take away points. NASCAR needs to park him before he kills someone.


Period.


Anyone in their right mind who saw the finish of Saturday night’s Nationwide Series race at Gateway International — live or on tape — would be out of their mind if they felt any differently.


And don’t start — again — with the ad naseum of it’s just NASCAR being NASCAR and “have at it boys” at its best.


Bull.


Edwards came close to killing Brad Keselowski at Atlanta. In case you forgot, he punted him on the straightaway, sending Keselowski’s Dodge airborne into the catch fence. And he nearly caused him to be killed again Saturday night when his wrecking of Keselowski resulted in a T-bone crash that could have been much, much worse.


And neither time did Edwards do anything but admit he did exactly what he meant to do: wreck Keselowski Please.


What NASCAR needs is a spine, a backbone, the intestinal fortitude to say enough is enough when it comes to drivers using 3,400-pound racecars as a weapon.

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100719/COLUMNISTS0303/100719012/1016/sports/DeCotis++Park+Edwards+before+someone+dies

 

Remind me again of the races where Earnhardt, with the checkered flag in sight, turned hard left and sent the should-be winner hard right into the outside wall.
Bristol 1995, Labonte slowed for a lapped car off the final turn and got hit in the left rear by Earnhardt. Labonte wrecked but still won, no one else involved.
The closest thing Earnhardt did to what Edwards did was Richmond 1986 to DW, though I still say he was trying to get right behind him to give him a hard bump in turn 3, much like what DW had been doing to him for a number of laps (which Earnhardt deserved, since he was clearly blocking). With Edwards on Saturday, there was no doubt he intentionally dumped Brad.
If Earnhardt drove like Edwards does, i.e. intentionally wrecking people, he likely would have won the Daytona 500 in 1993, 1996 and 1999. Maybe 1984 as well, though messing with Cale wouldn't have been a wise move.