The 2022 running NASCAR, IMSA & other racing things thread

The onboard camera from Chastain's car. Absolutely incredible not just that he had the balls to do that, but that his car held together long enough to do it.

 

If the cars weren't built like Army M1A2 tanks, if SAFER barriers weren't designed to minimize impacts without creating friction (unlike a rough concrete wall) and Goodyear didn't have protective inner liners, Chastain's move probably wouldn't have worked. As it was, he's damn lucky the crossover gate didn't do a Michael Waltrip/Mike Harmon at Bristol number on him.

But kudos to him for pushing the boundary. It probably had a 10 percent of success. And now NASCAR will come up with some unenforceable rule to stop anybody else, even though there's no other track on the circuit where it would work.

 

What rule can you create to stop it? There's only one scenario — maybe two if it can get you a win — where that's a good idea, and this was it. You're not going to put yourself hard into the wall to pass somebody on lap 143 of 500, or even win a stage. Hell, even if you pull that in the Martinsville spring race your car owner will chew your ass out for tearing up a car. He (somehow) didn't wreck anyone for once or create a caution to allow a teammate to gain position.
It was just a daring, ballsy move that'll be talked about for years if he wins the championship next week. Maybe the most exciting fourth-place finish in NASCAR history.

 

Unless something changed the tires on the nextgen don’t have inner liners. NASCAR wanted the cars right against the ground. The first few weeks drivers were stuck on track when they got flats. I think Goodyear has made more durable tires as a result.

 

Vegas seems like such an obvious spot for the finale. The track is bland, same as Miami - but at least fans could plan ahead. They could do the banquet the next night and get that out of the way as well.

 

The discussion I'd heard was simply an edict that you can't gain position from hitting the wall, kind of like how F1 does with track limits. It was an incredible idea and I totally understand why that loophole needs to be closed ASAP.

 

Or with the yellow line on the inside of the turns.
I guess there's just such an obvious penalty for hitting the wall — namely, your very expensive race car will be destroyed and it's damn near suicidal at most tracks — that it seems like it is its own deterrence.
Second, it's very difficult to successfully pull it off. I think that's the first time I've ever seen someone get a speed boost from hitting the wall. Normally it stops you in your tracks.
Then, as I noted, there is a very, very specific scenario where it's possible or even worthwhile to attempt it, and this was it — coming around the final turn of the final race, needing to gain just a few positions to achieve a season-long goal.
People hate loopholes. I can understand why people think this one should be closed. But I also don't think it's a strategy drivers will adopt wholesale, therefore there's no need to close it.

 

The other thing that came to mind is J.R. Hildebrand should start telling everyone he meant to do that at Indy.

 

As a casual fan, that was awesome. NASCAR shouldn’t mess with it and pray it happens again in a few years.

 

Which means a new rule is announced at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

As Batman said, it's a once-in-a-million circumstance. So much had to go right for that move to even come close to working. Perhaps Hamlin's spotter should've been locked in on Chastain and told Denny to block the high line.