Daytona 500 Thread

[AirForceOrange]

In case there are any NASCAR fans/observers out there...Here is the starting grid:

Starting Grid
POS DRIVER MANUFACTURER CAR SPEED
1 Danica Patrick Chevrolet 10 196.434 mph
2 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 24 196.292 mph
3 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 29 N/A
4 Kyle Busch Toyota 18 N/A
5 Greg Biffle Ford 16 N/A
6 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet 5 N/A
7 Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 42 N/A
8 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 33 N/A
9 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 48 N/A
10 Clint Bowyer Toyota 15 N/A
11 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 78 N/A
12 Matt Kenseth Toyota 20 N/A
13 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 14 N/A
14 Mark Martin Toyota 55 N/A
15 Brad Keselowski Ford 2 N/A
16 Paul Menard Chevrolet 27 N/A
17 Casey Mears Ford 13 N/A
18 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 31 N/A
19 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 88 N/A
20 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 1 N/A
21 Joey Logano Ford 22 N/A
22 David Ragan Ford 34 N/A
23 Bobby Labonte Toyota 47 N/A
24 Marcos Ambrose Ford 9 N/A
25 David Gilliland Ford 38 N/A
26 Aric Almirola Ford 43 N/A
27 Joe Nemechek Toyota 87 N/A
28 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 17 N/A
29 Michael Waltrip Toyota 26 N/A
30 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 7 N/A
31 Scott Speed Ford 95 N/A
32 Josh Wise Ford 35 N/A
33 Trevor Bayne Ford 21 N/A
34 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 39 N/A
35 Denny Hamlin Toyota 11 N/A
36 Carl Edwards Ford 99 N/A
37 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 56 N/A
38 Michael McDowell Ford 98 N/A
39 Terry Labonte Ford 32 N/A
40 Regan Smith Chevrolet 51 N/A
41 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 36 N/A
42 David Reutimann Toyota 83 N/A
43 Travis Kvapil Toyota 93 N/A

 

[AirForceOrange]

Interesting article on the Gen 6 car: http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/8972678/nascar-far-not-good-new-car

Although...obviously restrictor plate races/tracks are much different than non-restrictor plate races/tracks...so will have to wait for a decent sample of each to say whether this car is better or not...

 

[cliftonparksufan]

I like NASCAR but I'm not a junkie. For example today I am watching the finals of the Golf matchplay because I like Kuchar and Mahan and following the race online. Generally I will watch the last 50 laps or so. I like to root for #48. I think he is good for the sport.

 

[Marsh01]

I like NASCAR but I'm not a junkie. For example today I am watching the finals of the Golf matchplay because I like Kuchar and Mahan and following the race online. Generally I will watch the last 50 laps or so. I like to root for #48. I think he is good for the sport.

You had me until the golf talk stopped.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

You had me until the golf talk stopped.

C'mon, Kuchar was up four. People were turning it off left and right. The last ten laps of the race was very exciting and the last lap was very good. Race over, flipped the golf back on and now it's a great match. What else could you ask for.

 

[Marsh01]

C'mon, Kuchar was up four. People were turning it off left and right. The last ten laps of the race was very exciting and the last lap was very good. Race over, flipped the golf back on and now it's a great match. What else could you ask for.

I would watch soccer before I watch car racing and that is saying a lot because I loathe soccer (well not my daughters but soccer in general).

 

[Guinness]

Restrictor plate races were once action packed. They are now nothing more than follow the leader until the last 10 laps. Today in particular was very boring as there was virtually no passing. NASCAR has taken something that was once the highlight of the season and for all intensive purposes ruined it.

 

[Symphony Steve]

It's weird. The FIRST race of the year is generally considered the Crown Jewel of the sport. And, even with the new car, it's basically 'follow the leader' until the last 10 laps.

Hard to believe that NASCAR was the 'next big thing' as recently as five years ago. I think it's well on its way to reverting to a regional sport--even if the best driver is from Cali.

When you contrast the hype with the reality, you can make a case that the Daytona 500 is the most overrated sporting event annually in the US.

 

[Guinness]

It's weird. The FIRST race of the year is generally considered the Crown Jewel of the sport. And, even with the new car, it's basically 'follow the leader' until the last 10 laps.

Hard to believe that NASCAR was the 'next big thing' as recently as five years ago. I think it's well on its way to reverting to a regional sport--even if the best driver is from Cali.

When you contrast the hype with the reality, you can make a case that the Daytona 500 is the most overrated sporting event annually in the US.

They have had some missteps along the way. Some of their doing and some of them not.

The moving away from the smaller tracks was a big mistake imo. We went from having different and unique tracks like Rockingham, Wilksboro, etc .. to having to many tracks exactly alike. Texas, Kansas, California, Vegas, Chicago, etc are all too similar to existing tracks and seem to have been built with the size of the crowd more in mind than the actual racing. There is a reason that tracks like Daytona, 'Dega, Bristol and Richmond are so popular and that is because they offer something more than the same old cookie cutter track we see for much of the year.

The other large factor that was totally out of the control was the death of Dale Sr at Daytona. It was the equivalent of losing a Tiger Woods or a Michael Jordan. It took so much out of the sport to lose him and they have yet to get over it.

 

[AirForceOrange]

Race Results: http://espn.go.com/racing/raceresults/_/series/sprint/raceId/201302240001

 

[Symphony Steve]

They have had some missteps along the way. Some of their doing and some of them not.

The moving away from the smaller tracks was a big mistake imo. We went from having different and unique tracks like Rockingham, Wilksboro, etc .. to having to many tracks exactly alike. Texas, Kansas, California, Vegas, Chicago, etc are all too similar to existing tracks and seem to have been built with the size of the crowd more in mind than the actual racing. There is a reason that tracks like Daytona, 'Dega, Bristol and Richmond are so popular and that is because they offer something more than the same old cookie cutter track we see for much of the year.

The other large factor that was totally out of the control was the death of Dale Sr at Daytona. It was the equivalent of losing a Tiger Woods or a Michael Jordan. It took so much out of the sport to lose him and they have yet to get over it.

The COT was completely within their control, and they opted for a car, largely based on finances, that led to crappy racing at most tracks. Especially at Daytona. Until or unless they can figure out how to return racing to Daytona, i.e., not make it so punitive if/when a driver leaves the straight line to try to, you know, race, Daytona will continue to suck.

 

[Guinness]

The COT was completely within their control, and they opted for a car, largely based on finances, that led to crappy racing at most tracks. Especially at Daytona. Until or unless they can figure out how to return racing to Daytona, i.e., not make it so punitive if/when a driver leaves the straight line to try to, you know, race, Daytona will continue to suck.

Don't disagree about the COT sucking at Daytona. The problem, for me at least, is the car really doesn't matter at so many tracks because it is the tracks themselves that suck.

 

[AirForceOrange]

I am hoping that with the change to the Gen 6, where car manufacturers/teams have more leeway in designing their car vs. the COT, that racing will get better at the non-restrictor plate tracks/races. NASCAR's problem was they went to the COT to make all teams even as far as the car body goes. Now, from what I understand, as long as they stay within NASCAR rules/specs they can each design a car based on their own testing/engineering. As long as you have rectrictor plates you will always have bunched up, single/double lane driving like yesterday. Really no way to get around that to give teams/drivers a chance to actually pull away from a pack. NASCAR will not get rid of restrictor plates as they are nervous about the speeds these cars could run and are very safety conscious...especially after the death of Dale Earnhardt and the occasional track incidents like what happened during the Nationwide race on Saturday.

 

[Symphony Steve]

Don't disagree about the COT sucking at Daytona. The problem, for me at least, is the car really doesn't matter at so many tracks because it is the tracks themselves that suck.

You're so right about the tracks. Although...it's also the venues as NASCAR tried to break out of its traditional regional box and, IMHO, went way overboard. And they did so at a time when the economy was tanking, so you see an awful lot more empty seats than you used to.

 

[Guinness]

I am hoping that with the change to the Gen 6, where car manufacturers/teams have more leeway in designing their car vs. the COT, that racing will get better at the non-restrictor plate tracks/races. NASCAR's problem was they went to the COT to make all teams even as far as the car body goes. Now, from what I understand, as long as they stay within NASCAR rules/specs they can each design a car based on their own testing/engineering. As long as you have rectrictor plates you will always have bunched up, single/double lane driving like yesterday. Really no way to get around that to give teams/drivers a chance to actually pull away from a pack. NASCAR will not get rid of restrictor plates as they are nervous about the speeds these cars could run and are very safety conscious...especially after the death of Dale Earnhardt and the occasional track incidents like what happened during the Nationwide race on Saturday.

The double lane bunched up driving is not the issue imo. The inability to pass or use both the inside and outside lines is. Daytona and 'Dega used to have a ton of passing. Now they just play follow the leader.

 

[AirForceOrange]

The double lane bunched up driving is not the issue imo. The inability to pass or use both the inside and outside lines is. Daytona and 'Dega used to have a ton of passing. Now they just play follow the leader.

Agreed...and apparently with the Gen 6 car it is even harder to pass...so now either you hope the person in front of you has mechanical issue, you pass after a caution (during re-start) and/or you gain position in the pits...

Problem, not sure how you fix the issue without taking away the restrictor plates, which NASCAR will not do for safety's sake...