NASCAR thread

[falcongtho3]

That was certainly a case of the race not going to the fastest...not by a long shot. Is there a NASCAR edict about Kenseth not winning. Kahne probably would've won had it not been for the last muck up. Those last rounds of splash and goes made a real mess of things.

Interesting that JGR has stated that their new driver will compete in a Cup race this season. In what car might that be in?

Kensith should run the next race with either a Target sponsorship, complete with big red Target on the hood, or paint a replica of an official on the hood.

[ylopony]

It's always a good thing when a Hendricks car finishes first. It was nice to see Jr. win. Too bad it had to happen on a caution. But like Jr said it is what it is. That and it's always a good thing to see Dumbo ears flapping behind.

And yes there were a couple of tough breaks for Biffle and Kenseth. Kenseth will get things righted here soon, and with Biffle the dude is an excellent driver with a lot of class.

[ylopony]

Originally Posted by Mach1Marauder

Whaaaat? Wuz Kurt Busch behind Jr.?

I guess it really don't matter which one of the Dumbo brothers it is. However, both back there is the bomb.

[falcongtho3]

Originally Posted by ylopony

It's always a good thing when a Hendricks car finishes first.

No...it's not. Now go stand in the Chevy corner. I'ts the one with the puddle of oil.

If it hadn't been for the final lap crash, he wouldn't have made it to the finsh line. As it was, he couldn't make it down pit lane to the winners circle!

[ylopony]

Originally Posted by falcongtho3

No...it's not. Now go stand in the Chevy corner. I'ts the one with the puddle of oil.

If it hadn't been for the final lap crash, he wouldn't have made it to the finsh line. As it was, he couldn't make it down pit lane to the winners circle!

I'll agree if it were not for the accident Jr. would have run out of fuel. As for Chevy or Ford, it don't matter to me. I cheer for the man behind the wheel not the emblem on the car.(accept when it comes to Toyota) My garage has a Ford, a Lincoln, and a Chevrolet. But you will not see a Japanese or Korean name plate in my garage.

[ylopony]

Originally Posted by falcongtho3

No...it's not. Now go stand in the Chevy corner. I'ts the one with the puddle of oil.

If it hadn't been for the final lap crash, he wouldn't have made it to the finsh line. As it was, he couldn't make it down pit lane to the winners circle!

I'll agree if it were not for the accident Jr. would have run out of fuel. As for Chevy or Ford, it don't matter to me. I cheer for the man behind the wheel not the emblem on the car.(except when it comes to Toyota) My garage has a Ford, a Lincoln, and a Chevrolet. But you will not see a Japanese or Korean name plate in my garage.

[falcongtho3]

Poor, senile, lost Chebby-lubber...now he's repeating himself. I've heard the memory is the second thing to go....

[ylopony]

Originally Posted by falcongtho3

Poor, senile, lost Chebby-lubber...now he's repeating himself. I've heard the memory is the second thing to go....

If the first ever goes I'll just find a bus to jump in front of. As for the double post, I used my back arrow to change some spelling don't know how that happened.

And for what it is worth, I drive the Ford and the Lincoln, the wife drives the Chebby.

[gvervoren]

I missed most of the race. What happened to Ryan Newman?

[falcongtho3]

AND another thing! What gives Ironhead Jr. the right to PASS pace car so that he can conserve fuel? He should have been brought in to the pits then and there. Black flagged. I saw something similar occur during the Indy 500 a number of years ago, and a much more incidental pass got Scott Goodyear out of the running for a victory at that Indy race. One set of rules for Jr. and another set for anyone who isn't Jr. ???



(Sorry gv, don't remember what happened to Ryan. Too P.O.'d abotu what else was going on)

[G]

There is currently no rule about the leader being beside or even ahead of the pace car/safety car except at the lap scoring loop and coming down for a restart. Based on numerous complaints the rule book will probably be refined. NASCAR often permits the leader or an experienced non-rookie driver to pass the safety car to evaluate the track prior to approving the track for racing. This happens after rain delays or could be after track clean up. You don't see it that often when the safety car driver is qualified, Brett Bodine and Elmo Langley are/were obviously qualified.

It was an exciting end to an OK race.

[beerformeplz]

He was told on his radio buy his crew NOT to pass the pace car and he still did it. Its ok though because its dale Jr., he also allowed to fly through the pits while the rescue workers are out.

[G]

Originally Posted by gvervoren

I missed most of the race. What happened to Ryan Newman?

Lost a motor at lap 114 and finished 42nd, sorry.

[falcongtho3]

Originally Posted by Mach1Marauder

One of Jr.'s fans.....................

Only in Junior Nation...

[03mach69mach]

Originally Posted by falcongtho3

Only in Junior Nation...

Don't be so harsh, she cut out the skid mark!

[gvervoren]

Originally Posted by G

Lost a motor at lap 114 and finished 42nd, sorry.

Thanks!!


Now as for the conversation going around about the end of the race, remember, it's only illegal to pass the pace car if you are not Earnhardt Jr. Drivers have been penalized for this exact thing before so why not this time. If there is no rule in the rule book like "G" is saying, then why were other drivers penalized for it? Again NASCAR needs to be more consistant on these type of things. It was so obvious that Jr. was doing that to get the edge on fuel mileage. Will it have changed the outcome of the race, that I don't know but a couple of others drivers felt it might have. Here is an article about it if someone didn't read it.

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/head...gan/index.html

[G]

Originally Posted by gvervoren

Thanks!!


Now as for the conversation going around about the end of the race, remember, it's only illegal to pass the pace car if you are not Earnhardt Jr. Drivers have been penalized for this exact thing before so why not this time. If there is no rule in the rule book like "G" is saying, then why were other drivers penalized for it? Again NASCAR needs to be more consistant on these type of things. It was so obvious that Jr. was doing that to get the edge on fuel mileage. Will it have changed the outcome of the race, that I don't know but a couple of others drivers felt it might have. Here is an article about it if someone didn't read it.

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/head...gan/index.html

The drivers in that article should find their rule books. Reference Martin pushing Kahne, if he didn't do it on the last lap it was not a violation.

Reference the passing the pace car issue, I read the below on another board and this guy has it right. There will probably be a new rule or clarification coming from NASCAR. I will find the reference but what Jr did was minor compared to a fuel mileage win by Dale Jarrett over guess who??? That's right Big E, NASCAR did not see Jarrett's actions as a violation and he would coast around just short of the scoring loop and wait for the pace car.

One minor issue with the comments below, unless the scoring loop is at the start/finish line it is not used for scoring except on the final lap. Because of the move to electronic scoring they have actually been able to score every lap at the st/fin line. I'm not sure of the current status but some tracks decided not to put the lap scoring loop with the st/fin line because it was easier to put somewhere else.

Some of you may remember back when each team had to provide a scorer. When this was done all scorers used the same scoring line and counter to score their own car. The counter was usually mounted across the track from the scoring stand. This location had to be at a location which would seat all scorers and allow them to see the cars, track, and counter. When my Dad was in races 50 laps or greater a scorer was required and my sister normally did that job.

In NASCAR, a "pass" is not officially scored until the Start/Finish line. NASCAR has always shown a little leeway as before a penalty can be assessed on passing under yellow, cars must cross the Start/Finish line out of order.


If you've watched NASCAR very long at all you know that under green a car can pass the leader completely, be in front the whole lap, but if the leader can get back around coming to the line, the "passer" will not be credited with a pass or for leading any of the lap. Just as under green, passes are scored under caution at the line.

This is as simple as it gets people. "Passes" are scored at the line and no where else.

John Darby states the no passing pace car under yellow rule is in place to prevent cars from intending to gain a lap.

Ironically, NASCAR breaks its own rule intentionally to give the Lucky Dog a lap back as the LD is required to pass the pace car and go round to pick up the back of the pack to get on the same lap.

NASCAR has stated that no penalty was assessed to the 88 car because he did not "intend" to gain a lap, did not gain a lap and gained no spots, therefore he didn't break the rule.

NASCAR did ask the 88 car to stop taking advantage of the rule after he did it a couple of times or so but I can only gather from the rule and the criteria for penalties, they did so only because they thought some nimrods might try to accuse him of "passing" the pace car.

Who can blame them, because some of the drivers don't even understand the nuances of the rule.

The way the rule is enforced is simple. Be in position at the Start/Finish line or you will be penalized, once, regardless of how many times you may have drifted ahead of the pace car during the lap.

[gvervoren]

I would agree that there will be a rule change of some sort on this issue.

[gvervoren]

I went to the tuck race yesterday at the Milwaukee Mile and watched Johnny Benson 3-peat at this track. It was pretty exciting. They even had evacuate the entire grandstand area for a while cause of lightning. We were fortunate enough that all the bid storms went around us. We did have a very very very light drizzle for about 5 minutes but that was it. Tons of lightning though.

[pic18]

MARK MARTIN TO HENDRICK FULL TIME???

I copied this from Jayski.com

UPDATE: Casey Mears and Mark Martin look to be on the move, and their futures might be linked. Mears' future with Hendrick Motorsports appears in jeopardy, ESPN.com has learned. Although Mears has one year left on his contract, team owner Rick Hendrick would not commit to the driver of the #5 car beyond this season. "I'm committed to him right now," Hendrick said on Sunday at Infineon Raceway. "I'm committed to him making that car run better right now." Earlier on Sunday, sources told ESPN.com that Martin would leave Dale Earnhardt Inc. Later, ESPN.com learned that he would replace Mears, making one last full-time run at a championship.(ESPN.com)(6-22-2008) Comment here

[G]

Mark should go to a championship capable ride. He would be a great champion and would probably do as Ned Jarrett, retire as the reigning champ.

[G]

BigEars did a pretty good job today. I was really hoping Gordon could get a restart from 2nd.

I was pulling for Sadler or Burton today. The Biff or Ragen would have been fine too.

[falcongtho3]

The only reason big ears finished was that there were hardly any walls to hit! I was hoping to see Gilliland make a real go of it and get his first win. Edwards had a really good car, but not nailed by poorly times pit stops.

I suspect Harvick has no more friends left. And I really thought Stewrat was gonna punch out the interviewer after the race.

[ylopony]

Originally Posted by falcongtho3

I suspect Harvick has no more friends left. And I really thought Stewrat was gonna punch out the interviewer after the race.

I was thinking the same thing. Too bad Stewrat's teammate don't have his luck as well.

I'll give credit to Dumbo Ears, he is a very good driver and ran an excellent race. However, I'm not so sure it's so much him as it is that team. They have found something that makes that car move like that.

There is no way that car week in and week out in restarts pulls away and completly blows everyone else out. I'm not saying there is something illegal(not ruling that out either) but they have found something to make that car dominate. As I said before, right now I'm convinced the other Kyle(as in Petty) could even keep that car out front. LOL

[falcongtho3]

Yeah, I think they're getting the engines and chassis parts that were handed out to HMS last year. Kyle shot off from both late restarts like it had rocket boosters on it. No way that thing should've been able to do that, regardless of the driver...unless he was an astronaut...