2010 NASCAR running thread

[Bob Cook]

All due respect, Bob, you're 60+ years late on this. NASCAR - going back to Big Bill France - has always been 'flexible' on rules and their use. Fans have never stopped complaining about it. Or going to the races.

Oh, I understand fans have complained, and that the Frances change the rules (or call for debris cautions, or call for a winner) whenever they see fit. And for the record, I like the concept of the Chase. I also like seeing a competitive finish under green. But I don't like to see a phony extension to get it.

 

[Batman]

Thirty-plus years is a long time, but is too much being made of that 1978 date?
I seem to remember when they repaved Talladega a few years ago, they said it was the first time it had been done since the track opened in 1969. Martinsville was paved in the late 1970s, then redone around 2005 when they had these same pothole issues. And Daytona had been scheduled for it in 2012.
After some searching, I found some of the older tracks that had repaved in the last 20 years (Darlington, Pocono, Atlanta) did so as part of larger reconfigurations or improvements.
Seems like a well-done racing surface lasts a few decades.

 

[imjustagirl]

Better to watch 43 cars go single file for 500 laps around a 1/2-mile track in that thriving metropolis of Bristol, Tenn.
Of course, at some point one guy will bump the guy in front of him and cause an exciting 22-car pile up that will cut the field to a more managable number of cars.

And this shows you know nothing.

If you're racing single-file at Bristol, there's no plausible way to get 22 cars in the same wreck. They're not going fast enough to pile up that number. Most Bristol wrecks are single-car or 4-5-6 car wrecks.

Maybe you should keep railing about Daytona, and leave out the ones you don't watch.

 

[budcrew08]

Better to watch 43 cars go single file for 500 laps around a 1/2-mile track in that thriving metropolis of Bristol, Tenn.
Of course, at some point one guy will bump the guy in front of him and cause an exciting 22-car pile up that will cut the field to a more managable number of cars.

And this shows you know nothing.

If you're racing single-file at Bristol, there's no plausible way to get 22 cars in the same wreck. They're not going fast enough to pile up that number. Most Bristol wrecks are single-car or 4-5-6 car wrecks.

Maybe you should keep railing about Daytona, and leave out the ones you don't watch.

This.

 

[spnited]

Better to watch 43 cars go single file for 500 laps around a 1/2-mile track in that thriving metropolis of Bristol, Tenn.
Of course, at some point one guy will bump the guy in front of him and cause an exciting 22-car pile up that will cut the field to a more managable number of cars.

And this shows you know nothing.

If you're racing single-file at Bristol, there's no plausible way to get 22 cars in the same wreck. They're not going fast enough to pile up that number. Most Bristol wrecks are single-car or 4-5-6 car wrecks.

Maybe you should keep railing about Daytona, and leave out the ones you don't watch.

I don't watch any of them. I just see highlights of the wrecks and contrived finishes.

 

[imjustagirl]

Then why try to throw out specifics about a track you've never seen?

Watch 20 minutes of the Bristol night race in August. It's the greatest spectacle in NASCAR, easily. I would sacrifice a lot to find a way to get there as a fan, just to watch it.

Honestly, the best 5 minutes of my 5 years covering the sport was spent in the Bristol winner's circle, atop the Goodyear building, just standing there in the dark, watching the cars whip around. Fans stacked as high as you could imagine, sound echoing all around you, just watching it all. You want sensory overload? Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway.

 

[westcoastvol]

I grew up fairly close to Bristol. It's my home track. Love it as much now as I did when I was a kid at a time when there were tens of thousands fewer fans descending on Thunder Valley. I can't wait to see how the car modifications and a loosening of the rules affect the racing there, seeing how the COT era hasn't been nearly as crazy there in the crash department.

Spnited, seriously, why don't you just shut the gosh darn bo diddley heck the fork up? Your broken record vitriol makes me wanna go bobbing for apples in a forking Dover Monster Mile port-a-shirtter after a race. Maybe we can start "Spnited's NASCAR Luddite Korner" (with a backwards "K"). heck, you probably think Kyle Petty won Daytona seven times and that deck Trickle can be easily treated with a round of Tetracycline.

 

[Moderator1]

Cars go real fast at those big ol' tracks. But Bristol? Richmond? They race. Makes a difference.

 

[Boom_70]

Cars go real fast at those big ol' tracks. But Bristol? Richmond? They race. Makes a difference.

Bristol is a bench to race on Play Station compared to the big tracks.
Seriously does give you sense of how tight it is.

 

[Batman]

Cars go real fast at those big ol' tracks. But Bristol? Richmond? They race. Makes a difference.

Bristol is a bench to race on Play Station compared to the big tracks.
Seriously does give you sense of how tight it is.

I always get a crick in my neck when I play that track, from subconsciously leaning into the turns.
I'll never forget taking the tour at Bristol. Unlike some places, they actually take you out on the track and let you walk around. Being at the top of that banking is like standing on top of a building. They drove us out there in these big 10-person vans for the tour, and we're going around the bottom edge of the banking at about 35 mph. The van feels like it's about to tip over, the angle was so severe. I was sitting in the front seat of the van and hanging onto the oh shirt strap with one leg on the dashboard to keep from flying into the driver's seat.

 

[murphyc]

It's been nine years today. RIP, Ralph Dale Earnhardt. :'(
3

 

[murphyc]

I love auto racing. But I gave up on watching NASCAR precisely because of this crap. Everything is contrived.

I too love real racing, hence I gave up on watching NASCAR in 2002. It was mainly the head-in-the-sand approach to safety that drove me away. Truth is, I was about ready to give up on NASCAR prior to 2000 but the Earnhardt vs. Earnhardt Jr. storyline and Smoke coming to NASCAR kept me interested. By then there was already a lot of junk like constantly changing rules, phantom debris for cautions and cars that looked nothing like the road versions anymore (something that really started in the late 1980s with the GM cars and really took off with the '98 Ford Taurus).
The stuff NASCAR has done since like the Lucky Dog, the Chase, even more competition yellows, the COT, etc. ensure I won't be coming back. It's good they finally realized the sport was too sterilized, but I see no reason to go back.