NASCAR thread

[G]

Originally Posted by FlyMACH1

I was at the race today - pretty good action while it lasted. Got to parking at 8:30am with a group of 15, had "several" adult beverages and worried about the rain all day. Would have been nice to see the usual banzai sprint to the finish.

I had a chance to go but my dad couldn't make it this year so I worked on the hot rod and watched it on the tube.

Next year I think we're all going and it will be my youngest son's first BIG race. Unless we hit Talladega or Atlanta this year.

[gbranton]

Originally Posted by G

Those 7 Daytona 500 wins were all against losers I guess.

I didn't say he wasn't good, just not the best ever.

Originally Posted by G

He also didn't have to deal with Curtis Turner and Tim Flock because of bans.

I read a pretty good book about Curtis Turner recently, called "Full Throttle" by Robert Edelstein. He was a heck of a racer who made the mistake of crossing Big Bill France. Recommended reading.

Originally Posted by G

What you miss is that ALL of those guys raced 4 times a week sometimes. Richard Petty, contrary to looking for easy wins was more interested in $$$$.

I didn't miss that all the drivers participated in more races then, but a few of his contemporaries had a higher winning percentage than Petty during that period.

[02mach1]

More important Ford won 500 not Chevy.

[birdman941]

Originally Posted by 02mach1

More important Ford won 500 not Chevy.

[kiler be]

Originally Posted by 02mach1

More important Ford won 500 not Chevy.

+1

[02mach1]

The year of Black and Gold STEELERS now Matt #17

[G]

It's neat they won but better news that they were actually running well. I don't think Jack will get his wish that it will sell cars this week. You can't get cars anything like the racers in the showroom anymore.

[Krashdavus]

Most importantly, a Toyota (engine) didn't win. These cars all look alike with the only differenitation being the purpose built engines, and decals denoting headlamps, tail-lamps, and manufacturer.

It's a spec series that's over-regulated and bascially a joke.

Can wait to see showroom stock Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers take to the track in the near future.

[gvervoren]

I read an article comparing people like Jimmie Johnson to Richard Petty. They say that Jimmie could be even better (competitive wise)then Petty. Before you jump the gun, they did make 1 good point on which I agree with. Back when Petty was wining all of his races, there were only a handful (under 10) teams that actully were competitive enough to even win a race. Therefore, his chances of winning were much greater then any driver has nowadays. If Petty raced in NASCAR now instead of back then, He would be no where close to 200 wins. He might have 50. Now I'm not saying that Petty wasn't any good cause he was, it's just not fair to compare how many wins and championships a driver had back then compared to the drivers and teams racing now.

[gvervoren]

A good read about Dale Jr.

Cover your ears Junior Nation, the myth that is Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to be exposed as just that - a myth.

It’s about time the vast legions of Earnhardt fans finally wake up and realize that being NASCAR’s most popular driver does not equal being the best. Or even worth being mentioned in the same breath as the best.

The only thing Earnhardt leads the field in is merchandise sales. He most certainly does not win on the track, as his one victory (thanks to fuel mileage at Michigan last season) over the past 99 races can attest.

For those keeping score, NASCAR’s favorite son has a mere three wins since 2004.

Maybe the pressure of living up to his father’s legacy is becoming too much for Junior to bear.

Or maybe the weight of all the expectations heaped upon his shoulders to finally break through and win a championship has finally cracked him at the ripe old age of 34.

One thing is for sure - Earnhardt certainly is not improving with age.

Despite vastly upgrading his equipment by leaving his daddy’s team to become a member of the Hendrick Motorsports juggernaut, Earnhardt continues to spin his wheels.

Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500 was supposed to be Earnhardt’s time to shine. This was supposed to be the year he finally focused and got down to business of being a serious title contender in Season Two with Hendrick.

Instead Earnhardt made news at the “Great American Race” for all the wrong reasons.

Let’s be real folks, before we can tout the Golden Boy as a contender for the Sprint Cup, first he needs to master the all-too important art of pitting.

During Thursday’s second Gatorade Duel, Earnhardt slid through his pit stall on two separate occasions, costing him valuable spots on the track.

One would think that flaw would have been corrected in time for the most important race of the season.

Not even close.

Earnhardt completely missed his pit box on lap 57 - he drove right past it - and had to complete a full circuit before pitting again. That little snafu dropped him from third to 36th.

Almost comically, Earnhardt again had trouble in the pits on lap 121. This time his right-front tire was on the line while his team worked on the car, and he was penalized one lap.

“We had a pit stop where I was told the right-front tire was only an inch over the line,” Earnhardt said. “I was held a lap for that and I don’t feel like that was a fair trade. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate that rule.”

Listen up NASCAR - your favorite son wants the rules fixed. Maybe all the rules could be changed in Junior’s favor if it means getting him closer to being a champion.

Perhaps overly amped up over his second embarrassment on pit road, Earnhardt took matters into his own hands on the track. A lap down because of his lack of pitting ability, Earnhardt touched off the biggest wreck of the race.

On lap 124, Earnhardt got a run on Brian Vickers on the inside lane near the front of the pack, but Vickers blocked Earnhardt’s car down below the yellow out-of-bounds line.

That was all on Vickers. How dare he not simply move aside and let royalty pass?

When Earnhardt came back above the yellow line, he clipped - purposely or not, depending on whether you are a member of Junior Nation - the left-rear corner of Vickers’ Toyota, setting off a 10-car crash.

Forget all the talk off NASCAR potentially penalizing Earnhardt for rough driving, like when they sat Jason Leffler for five laps after wrecking Steven Wallace during Saturday’s Nationwide race.

You would get better odds of Earnhardt making a clean pit stop over NASCAR slapping its first son on the wrist.

Of course, Earnhardt, like the coddled superstar he is, pointed the blame everywhere else but him.

“Penalize me? For what? I got run into and sent below the line,” said Earnhardt, who wound up 27th. “I don’t want to go down there, I didn’t aim to go down there, I got sent down there.”

When told Vickers blamed him for the wreck, Junior lashed out.

“Tell Vickers if he wants to meet me in the garage to get his (butt) beat, I’m willing,” Earnhardt told his crew via radio during a caution period he caused.

The beatdown never took place.

Too bad for Junior Nation. That might have been the only chance to see their beloved driver beat anybody this year

[birdman941]

I never liked Sr.
There should be a penalty for blocking on the restricted tracks.
The whole reason for the yellow line rule,
is because of Jeff Gordon passing Rusty Wallace (leading) BELOW the line,
and Rusty had to back off
or Gordon would have crashed into Ricky Rudd,
who was limping out of the pits from an earlier wreck.
It cost Rusty the race.
In reality, it was Bush's fault.

[gbranton]

Originally Posted by gvervoren

Too bad for Junior Nation. That might have been the only chance to see their beloved driver beat anybody this year

Not if he fights like he drives.

[G]

Originally Posted by gvervoren

I read an article comparing people like Jimmie Johnson to Richard Petty. They say that Jimmie could be even better (competitive wise)then Petty. Before you jump the gun, they did make 1 good point on which I agree with. Back when Petty was wining all of his races, there were only a handful (under 10) teams that actully were competitive enough to even win a race. Therefore, his chances of winning were much greater then any driver has nowadays. If Petty raced in NASCAR now instead of back then, He would be no where close to 200 wins. He might have 50. Now I'm not saying that Petty wasn't any good cause he was, it's just not fair to compare how many wins and championships a driver had back then compared to the drivers and teams racing now.

You can make the stats say whatever you want, he still has 200 undisputed wins. Reference the 10 teams back in the day theory - all of the points races in the 2008 season were split between 6 teams.

Roush
Gibbs
RCR
Hendrick
Penske
Evernham/whoever

I'm no Petty fan but the guy is tough as chicken lips. Imagine driving those nearly STOCK cars with bias ply tires, before inner liners, and with no power steering. Think about how dangerous it was racing with an open-face helmet in your shirt sleeves and NO FREAKING fuel cells. Think about starting a race with over 50 cars. Try to consider for a second that relief drivers were normal business and most drivers needed o2 when they crawled out of the car.

It's also silly to think Petty always had a superior car, he did not. When it was a superior car it was because a team of redneck mechanics built a better car, not some team of engineers armed with chassis dyno's.

What's next are we going to attack the records of great drivers like Ray Hendrick, Richie Evans, and Joe Weatherly. I'm certain there had to be a Jeffy Gordon equivalent back in Richard Petty's prime and he got his butt kicked by the legends of that day. Today the cars are all out racing machines and require a technically advanced driver, perhaps Pearson and Petty would be out classed today. Or not?????

[G]

Originally Posted by gvervoren

A good read about Dale Jr.

Cover your ears Junior Nation, the myth that is Dale Earnhardt Jr. is about to be exposed as just that - a myth.

.........................................Of course, Earnhardt, like the coddled superstar he is, pointed the blame everywhere else but him.

“Penalize me? For what? I got run into and sent below the line,” said Earnhardt, who wound up 27th. “I don’t want to go down there, I didn’t aim to go down there, I got sent down there.”

When told Vickers blamed him for the wreck, Junior lashed out.

“Tell Vickers if he wants to meet me in the garage to get his (butt) beat, I’m willing,” Earnhardt told his crew via radio during a caution period he caused.

The beatdown never took place.

Too bad for Junior Nation. That might have been the only chance to see their beloved driver beat anybody this year

That could all be true but he's still rich, famous, and loved by the fans. Just think of how he would be treated if he was perfect like Jeffy and Jimmie. He would be obama like and allowed to be the CEO of NASCAR while being an active driver.

He clearly overdrove the car and blew it totally in the pits trying as hard as he could to win. If I was hiring a driver that's exactly the attitude I would want. With that said, I would hire Martin, Biffle, or Burton in that order.

[gvervoren]

That's all Jr. has going for him right now. He is a good driver but he isn't really doing anything impressive like his dad did. It's just funny how Jr. Nation thinks he is the best thing for NASCAR when statistics show, he is not. All he does for NASCAR is bring in more fans and money to the sport. And that's just because of his name.

[gvervoren]

Originally Posted by G

You can make the stats say whatever you want, he still has 200 undisputed wins. Reference the 10 teams back in the day theory - all of the points races in the 2008 season were split between 6 teams.

Roush
Gibbs
RCR
Hendrick
Penske
Evernham/whoever

I agree that Petty was a d@mn good driver and did more then most people could but the under 10 teams reference was not of the team owners but individual teams. For instance Roush has 5 competitive teams just by itself. I'm trying to find this article I'm talking about but it's been quite a while since I read it. I'm pretty sure it was on Jayskis.com

[Thunderbolt]

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, just start the friggin' race already!!! This is the second week in a row that I go to the Nascar site to find the starting time and over 1 hour later the race finally starts.

[birdman941]

Let me guess, they were busy kissing Toiletta's azz.
But why are there empty seats and low ratings?

[Thunderbolt]

I actually caught the last 50 laps of the Nationwide series race yesterday and when they showed the grandstands I bet their could'nt have been 5,000 fans in the entire place. I've never seen anything like that before. Was that a Cobalt that was the Pace Car yesterday? Looked ricey.

[falcongtho3]

Congrats to Matt on a second-in-a-row win!!! The Biff had an awesome car, but that bad pit stop really hurt him, and kept him from a second or third.
I do have to say that JG ran a very hard and clean race and deserved his second.

On last nights N'Wide race, the two things I'll remember most are MW ending up backwards in his pit stall and the car (I don't rmember who it was) catching serious fire later in the race. It's reminder that this is still a dangerous sport.

[Thunderbolt]

Uh-oh. They're probably gonna think about changing the points system again because Kenseth is doing too good.

[02mach1]

Originally Posted by Thunderbolt

Uh-oh. They're probably gonna think about changing the points system again because Kenseth is doing too good.

Ford won again Chevy guys starting cry again

[birdman941]

I would like to see a clandestine agreement between owners of
AMERICAN race teams refuse to help, draft or assist the Jap teams
in any way whatsoever.
OOPS!
Clipped your front fender MR. Jap car driver!
OOPS!
I blocked in that Jap car team in the pits.
Maybe Darrel "treasonous" Waltrip will lose his Jap car azz kissing voice.

[02mach1]

Originally Posted by birdman941

I would like to see a clandestine agreement between owners of
AMERICAN race teams refuse to help, draft or assist the Jap teams
in any way whatsoever.
OOPS!
Clipped your front fender MR. Jap car driver!
OOPS!
I blocked in that Jap car team in the pits.
Maybe Darrel "treasonous" Waltrip will lose his Jap car azz kissing voice.

I agree DW can't say Ford or chevy he call it a Car

[gvervoren]

Way to go Kenseth!!! Not a bad run for his crew chief Blinkensderfer either. He's batting 1000 right now.