2016 NASCAR thread

[BDKJMU]

Pit road penalty- pit crew member over the wall early.

And it was questionable, because there was a two car backup in front of him with Kyle Busch leaving his stall and IIRC Almirola between his exiting car and Almirola's that caused 48 to have to check up which threw off the jackman's timing. In this case, NASCAR should have been a bit more lenient IMHO. Johnson was the only car out there turning faster times than Truex and it took away either a win or a very exciting finish with Truex. Made no difference whatsoever in the Chase.

I don't think he would have beaten Truex- Truex I think had a better long run car than Johnson & there weren't many cautions..

Johnson likely would have won the Chase opener at Chicagoland instead of Truex when Johnson had one of the best, if not best car, if didn't have that pit road speeding penalty while leading in the latter part of the race. They also had an issue with refueling on a pit stop that race. He's got the speed now to contend with the JGR + Truex, Penske, & Harvick for Homestead, but the 48 team can't stop stepping on their crank with pit road penalties and issues. That's the 11 pit road penalties since the All Star race, and 4 times in the last 5 races. That's not the mark of a championship contending team..

[clenz]

Fuck Buescher

[93henfan]

And it was questionable, because there was a two car backup in front of him with Kyle Busch leaving his stall and IIRC Almirola between his exiting car and Almirola's that caused 48 to have to check up which threw off the jackman's timing. In this case, NASCAR should have been a bit more lenient IMHO. Johnson was the only car out there turning faster times than Truex and it took away either a win or a very exciting finish with Truex. Made no difference whatsoever in the Chase.

I don't think he would have beaten Truex- Truex I think had a better long run car than Johnson & there weren't many cautions..

Johnson likely would have won the Chase opener at Chicagoland instead of Truex when Johnson had one of the best, if not best car, if didn't have that pit road speeding penalty while leading in the latter part of the race. They also had an issue with refueling on a pit stop that race. He's got the speed now to contend with the JGR + Truex, Penske, & Harvick for Homestead, but the 48 team can't stop stepping on their crank with pit road penalties and issues. That's the 11 pit road penalties since the All Star race, and 4 times in the last 5 races. That's not the mark of a championship contending team..

Johnson was running faster lap times the last 200 laps, per MRN.

[CAA Flagship]

Hey 93, as a follow up to our conversation, here is the race:
http://racing-reference.info/race/1982_ ... ixon_500/W

[93henfan]

Hey 93, as a follow up to our conversation, here is the race:
http://racing-reference.info/race/1982_ ... ixon_500/W

Yep. God, looking at that rundown I see that '82 was the JD Stacy year. Do you remember all the Stacy cars with the hood stripes that made them all look like Pony sneakers? That guy made Donald Trump's ego look small.

Dale Sr had raced for Stacy the year before that and then drove a Ford for Bud Moore that year before getting back in a Chevy with Richard Childress the following year and really dominating for a decade, with the exception of the one year where Bill Elliott ran a smaller car and won like 11 races (86 I think?).

[CAA Flagship]

Hey 93, as a follow up to our conversation, here is the race:
http://racing-reference.info/race/1982_ ... ixon_500/W

Yep. God, looking at that rundown I see that '82 was the JD Stacy year. Do you remember all the Stacy cars with the hood stripes that made them all look like Pony sneakers? That guy made Donald Trump's ego look small.

Dale Sr had raced for Stacy the year before that and then drove a Ford for Bud Moore that year before getting back in a Chevy with Richard Childress the following year and really dominating for a decade, with the exception of the one year where Bill Elliott ran a smaller car and won like 11 races (86 I think?).

Here is what I was talking about with Dover at that time.
Look at this: Allison and Petty only ones on lead lap. 3rd place was 3 laps back.
http://racing-reference.info/race/1980_ ... ixon_500/W

This one is even more ridiculous: 4th place was 9 laps back
http://racing-reference.info/race/1981_ ... ixon_500/W

4th place 5 laps back
http://racing-reference.info/race/1981_ ... cals_500/W

[93henfan]

You also have to remember in the 70s and early 80s that engines were less reliable so you might have 10 or 20 blown engines in a race, only 5-10 drivers had major sponsors and factory support, the race was 500 laps instead of 400, the average speeds were slower, which meant even longer time per lap. And perhaps the biggest reason of all, no lucky dog or wave-arounds back then. The only way you could get a lap back was to drive past the leader under green.

The races used to start at noon back then and there were days we didn't get home until almost dark. We're talking five and six hour long races.

[93henfan]

Even with the lapping, the races were still exciting because you never knew when the leader might blow. It happened a lot. I don't know how carefully you actually looked, but check out this one again that you posted above, which was one of the most exciting races ever at Dover: http://racing-reference.info/race/1981_ ... ixon_500/W

David Pearson sat on the pole and dominated early and then blew an engine. Then Neil Bonnett dominated most of the race with a few challenges from Cale Yarborough and King Richard, until lap 459 when POOF, Bonnett blew an engine. Now all Cale had to do was coast the last 40 laps to victory. But guess what? Lap 480 Cale's engine goes KABOOM. Unheralded Jody Ridley gets one of the most improbable wins in NASCAR history as only 13 cars make it to the finish. Nobody left the track early that day. Everyone wanted to hear Ridley and owner Junie Donlavey in victory lane. It was awesome.

Notice also the last 471 laps were caution free. They didn't do debris cautions for Fox to keep viewers and run TV commercials back then. They raced.

Another peculiarity not shown in that box score is that Ridley was five laps down when Yarborough blew, so for five laps, the scoreboard lap count stayed the same until Ridley took the lead.

[CAA Flagship]

Even with the lapping, the races were still exciting because you never knew when the leader might blow. It happened a lot. I don't know how carefully you actually looked, but check out this one again that you posted above, which was one of the most exciting races ever at Dover: http://racing-reference.info/race/1981_ ... ixon_500/W

David Pearson sat on the pole and dominated early and then blew an engine. Then Neil Bonnett dominated most of the race with a few challenges from Cale Yarborough and King Richard, until lap 459 when POOF, Bonnett blew an engine. Now all Cale had to do was coast the last 40 laps to victory. But guess what? Lap 480 Cale's engine goes KABOOM. Unheralded Jody Ridley gets one of the most improbable wins in NASCAR history as only 13 cars make it to the finish. Nobody left the track early that day. Everyone wanted to hear Ridley and owner Junie Donlavey in victory lane. It was awesome.

Notice also the last 471 laps were caution free. They didn't do debris cautions for Fox to keep viewers and run TV commercials back then. They raced.

Another peculiarity not shown in that box score is that Ridley was five laps down when Yarborough blew, so for five laps, the scoreboard lap count stayed the same until Ridley took the lead.

[93henfan]

Postponed race is looking good for a noon start today. Sunny and windy at Charlotte.

[BDKJMU]

Surprised no one has talked about Charlotte race yet. Jimmie Johnson wins, ends Hendricks 23 race winless steak and locks himself into the final 8. He was the only Chase driver that didn't have an issue).

Lots of teams had issues (pit road penalties, mistakes, tire issues, mechanical, wrecks) including 11 of 12 Chase drivers.
-2nd Kenseth: Had to start from the rear and had a pit road penalty.
-6th Kyle Busch: Had a tire issue, had a pit road penalty, damage from wreck caused by Truex.
-7th Keselowski: had a pit road penalty
-13th Truex: While running 2nd stalled on pit road on the last pit stop.
-30th Hamlin: blew an engine with 30 laps left, DNF.
-32nd Dillon: wrecked on restart by Truex, DNF.
-33rd Elliot: major damage in wreck caused by Truex, DNF.
-36th Logano: Tire issues, slammed the wall twice, had to go to the garage.
-38th Harvick: Major mechanical issue (turned out to be an "oil pump bearing (foreign made btw) malfunction", DNF.

With 76 laps left there was a major wreck on a restart caused by Truex. Everyone near the front took 4 tires except for Dillon, who took 2 tires. Dillon restarted on the inside on row 1. Truex restarted in the inside on row 2. Truex couldn't pass the slower Dillon on the outside. His choices were to wait as cars passed him on the outside lane until there was an opening, or try to push Dillon. He tried to push him but ended up turning him. Truex f'ed up and caused a big wreck where 12 cars received sone damage, including a # of Chase cars. Dillon and Elliott were the 2 that had major damage tbat ended their race.

Truex immediately afterwards on the radio.
"I tried to give him a shove, I just turned him around like a damn idiot."
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/26 ... d-reaction

Only 3rd time ever and 1st time in 9 years that 5 Chase drivers finished outside the top 30. With 2 races left in the Round of 12:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Matt Kenseth +31
3 Kyle Busch +27
4. Brad Keselowski +25
5. Kurt Busch +24
6. Carl Edwards +20
7. Martin Truex Jr. +19
8.Denny Hamlin +3_______________________
9. Austin Dillon -3
10. Chase Elliott -3
11. Joey Logano -6
12. Kevin Harvick -8

[BDKJMU]

Harvick gets the win. Chasers:
2. Edwards
3. Logano
4. Johnson
5. Kyle Busch
6. Dillon
9. Kenseth
11. Truex was running top 3 when started gaving refueling issue on multiple pit stops- for some reason his car was slow to take fuel.
13. Kurt Busch-started from the rear in a backup car.
15. Hamlin: Splitter issue (delamination), pit road penalties for an uncontrolled tire & over the wall too soon.
31. Elliott: flat tires, multiple times into the wall
38. Keselowski crash: Lap 190 (of 267) he did a slide job right in front of Hamlin, got loose, slowed. Hamlin hit the brakes but still got into the back of him, send Keselowski into the infield. Keselowski's car was heavily damaged. Not Hamlins fault. Keselowski later came back out & engine blew.

Chase standings with 1 race leftin the Round of 12, Talladega on Sunday:
1. Johnson: Win
2. Harvick: Win
3. Kenseth: 3074/+29
4. Kyle Busch: 3072/+27
5. Edwards: 3069/+24
6. Kurt Busch: 3062/+17
7. Truex 3058/+13
8. Logano 3045/+0___________________________________________
9. Dillon 3045/-0
10. Hamlin 3039/-6
11. Keselowski 3038/-7
12. Elliott 3020/-25

Talladega is a total wildcard because of the threat of "The Big One". Only Johnson & Harvick can rest easy. Anybody #3-#8 gets caught up in a wreck their Chase could be done. Elliott is likely in a must win situation.

[93henfan]

As much as JGR has dominated all year, two Chevys with the locks so far in this round.

Talladega is just a total wildcard. There's the big one as well as the fact you can gain or lose 20 positions in the course of just a couple of laps. Team tactics are more at play there as well. It's surely an entertaining race to put at the end of this round.

[89Hen]

http://www.12news.com/sports/nascars-ne ... /336564463

NASCAR will continue the process of replacing a title sponsor for just the third time since 1971, in an environment where the value of such partnerships are fluid based on the needs and goals of the company, and the perceived value of a sport where attendance and television ratings have trended tepid.

There still is value in NASCAR sponsorship, Kim Meesters, general manager of the NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsorship, told USA TODAY Sports.

“It all has to be at the right level and the right price. It all has to be customized. That’s why it takes so long to put this kind of deal together,” she said.

But the price has changed markedly.

CSM Sport & Entertainment CEO Zak Brown said the deal will not be as lucrative as the pact NASCAR is finishing with Sprint given the current market climate.

[93henfan]

http://www.12news.com/sports/nascars-ne ... /336564463

NASCAR will continue the process of replacing a title sponsor for just the third time since 1971, in an environment where the value of such partnerships are fluid based on the needs and goals of the company, and the perceived value of a sport where attendance and television ratings have trended tepid.

There still is value in NASCAR sponsorship, Kim Meesters, general manager of the NASCAR Sprint Cup sponsorship, told USA TODAY Sports.

“It all has to be at the right level and the right price. It all has to be customized. That’s why it takes so long to put this kind of deal together,” she said.

But the price has changed markedly.

CSM Sport & Entertainment CEO Zak Brown said the deal will not be as lucrative as the pact NASCAR is finishing with Sprint given the current market climate.

Makes sense. Sprint/Nextel signed on in much better economic times. There are also less people at the tracks. NASCAR also got such a huge TV contract ($8 Billion from Fox and NBC) that the series sponsorship money is much less of a concern. TV rules NASCAR now.

[89Hen]

http://www.12news.com/sports/nascars-ne ... /336564463

Makes sense. Sprint/Nextel signed on in much better economic times. There are also less people at the tracks. NASCAR also got such a huge TV contract ($8 Billion from Fox and NBC) that the series sponsorship money is much less of a concern. TV rules NASCAR now.

Unfortunately ratings are down every week from last year.

[93henfan]

Junior

Gordon was basically an afterthought the past several years, like Tony Stewart now.

[89Hen]

Junior

Gordon was basically an afterthought the past several years, like Tony Stewart now.

Yup. I'm the lone Gordon fan that stopped watching and caring this year. Keep believing that.

[BDKJMU]

Harvick gets the win. Chasers:
2. Edwards
3. Logano
4. Johnson
5. Kyle Busch
6. Dillon
9. Kenseth
11. Truex was running top 3 when started gaving refueling issue on multiple pit stops- for some reason his car was slow to take fuel.
13. Kurt Busch-started from the rear in a backup car.
15. Hamlin: Splitter issue (delamination), pit road penalties for an uncontrolled tire & over the wall too soon.
31. Elliott: flat tires, multiple times into the wall
38. Keselowski crash: Lap 190 (of 267) he did a slide job right in front of Hamlin, got loose, slowed. Hamlin hit the brakes but still got into the back of him, send Keselowski into the infield. Keselowski's car was heavily damaged. Not Hamlins fault. Keselowski later came back out & engine blew.

Chase standings with 1 race leftin the Round of 12, Talladega on Sunday:
1. Johnson: Win
2. Harvick: Win
3. Kenseth: 3074/+29
4. Kyle Busch: 3072/+27
5. Edwards: 3069/+24
6. Kurt Busch: 3062/+17
7. Truex 3058/+13
8. Logano 3045/+0___________________________________________
9. Dillon 3045/-0
10. Hamlin 3039/-6
11. Keselowski 3038/-7
12. Elliott 3020/-25

Talladega is a total wildcard because of the threat of "The Big One". Only Johnson & Harvick can rest easy. Anybody #3-#8 gets caught up in a wreck their Chase could be done. Elliott is likely in a must win situation.

Updated:
-Kurt Busch had to start from thr rear in a backup car.
-Hamlin's splitter issue was delamination, and it wasn't 1 pit road penalty but 2. Now has 14 on season.
-It wasn't just "a" tire issue for Elliot. Twice had tire rubs and twice got into the wall. Before this happened he had passed Harvick for the lead.
-Keselowski's car wasn't destroyed but heavily damaged. Went to the garage. He made it back out but only ran a few laps beofre rhe engine blew.

-Truex's fuel issue was 23 of 31 races he has had issues/problems.

Hendrick continues to run neck and neck with JGR.
-Johnson after winning CLT and was 5th today.
-Elliott has been consistently running top 5, top 10 but has had issues causing bad finishes.
-Alex Bowman in the 88 was 7th.
-Kahne was 10th.

[93henfan]

Watching qualifying, they said that Truex had some parts confiscated by NASCAR, and three of four (all bu Edward) of the JGR cars were shortly thereafter rolled back to the garage area from staging on pit road during round 1 of qualifying for rechecks by NASCAR.

Veddy, veddy, eeeeeenteresting.

I doubt NASCAR has the balls to do much.

EDIT: The JGR cars all have out of spec rear decklids that are being allowed to be adjusted.

[93henfan]

Wow, Logano drives off with the jack and makes a whole lap with the jack under the left side of the car. That might end his Chase hopes, but it is still relatively early.

And now Truex blows an engine, ending his year.

The caution for Truex might have saved Logano a lap. And it does.

[93henfan]

Keselowski also nukes an engine after going several laps with debris on the grill and is eliminated.

[93henfan]

Logano leading with 12 to go but has picked up debris on grill and temp is rising. Gonna be interesting. Could pop.

[93henfan]

Logano wins and advances to the final eight! SHELL YEAH!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ1kUm3n2ow[/youtube]

[93henfan]

Final 8:

1. Johnson
2. Logano
3. Harvick
4. Ku Busch
5. Kenseth
6. Ky Busch
7. Edwards
8. Hamlin

Dillon tied on points for 8th but loses tiebreaker to Hamlin based on Talladega finish position.

Out: Dillon, Truex, Elliott, Keselowski