2016 NASCAR thread

[93henfan]

Well, 93, I ushered section 221 yesterday and was "crew chief" for sections 216-220. I'm practically a pit crew member now!

Looked to be a decent crowd by 2016 standards, which is 60-70% capacity.

I did not go, giving up my ticket to my youngest son who went with my dad. Our seats are in the top row at the start/finish and they said it was miserably cold from the wind. They stopped at Wawa on the way home for coffee and hot chocolate.

The race was a shitshow, but an exciting one. Of all the time for Jimmie Johnson's transmission to fail, third gear on a restart when you're leading is about the worst. 18 cars, including the two I care about (Jr and Logano) destroyed.

[clenz]

Well, 93, I ushered section 221 yesterday and was "crew chief" for sections 216-220. I'm practically a pit crew member now!

Looked to be a decent crowd by 2016 standards, which is 60-70% capacity.

I did not go, giving up my ticket to my youngest son who went with my dad. Our seats are in the top row at the start/finish and they said it was miserably cold from the wind. They stopped at Wawa on the way home for coffee and hot chocolate.

The race was a shitshow, but an exciting one. Of all the time for Jimmie Johnson's transmission to fail, third gear on a restart when you're leading is about the worst. 18 cars, including the two I care about (Jr and Logano) destroyed.

Thankfully Cassill was far enough back in the field ( ) that he was able to stop in time to not be a part of it. He pulled a top 20 finish out of that while going 3 laps down withing the first 50-70 laps.


The last run with Kenseth fighting off Elliot and Larson was nuts.

[93henfan]

The last run with Kenseth fighting off Elliot and Larson was nuts.

30 laps of nailbiting action that the "go fast, turn left" detractors will never appreciate. Elliott really drained Larson's efforts to catch Kenseth. I was hoping Larson would have been able to make a little contact with Kenseth in the final turn, but he kept it clean.

Was anybody else thinking like I was that it would have been an awesome time for Logano, with a car with no sheet metal forward of the windshield, to take out Kenseth the last time he passed him?

[Ivytalk]

Well, 93, I ushered section 221 yesterday and was "crew chief" for sections 216-220. I'm practically a pit crew member now!

Looked to be a decent crowd by 2016 standards, which is 60-70% capacity.

I did not go, giving up my ticket to my youngest son who went with my dad. Our seats are in the top row at the start/finish and they said it was miserably cold from the wind. They stopped at Wawa on the way home for coffee and hot chocolate.

The race was a shitshow, but an exciting one. Of all the time for Jimmie Johnson's transmission to fail, third gear on a restart when you're leading is about the worst. 18 cars, including the two I care about (Jr and Logano) destroyed.

93, it looked bigger than either one of the 2015 crowds. But it looked life half the crowd had bailed by lap 250, due to the weather.

[93henfan]

Looked to be a decent crowd by 2016 standards, which is 60-70% capacity.

I did not go, giving up my ticket to my youngest son who went with my dad. Our seats are in the top row at the start/finish and they said it was miserably cold from the wind. They stopped at Wawa on the way home for coffee and hot chocolate.

The race was a shitshow, but an exciting one. Of all the time for Jimmie Johnson's transmission to fail, third gear on a restart when you're leading is about the worst. 18 cars, including the two I care about (Jr and Logano) destroyed.

93, it looked bigger than either one of the 2015 crowds. But it looked life half the crowd had bailed by lap 250, due to the weather.

Yes, I watched the whole race. The encouraging thing was that the cheap seats (turns) looked filled pretty well. The only large empty spots I saw were the ends of the front straight, which is lost season ticket holders. Dover has dropped ticket prices to try to lure them back. We have the best seats in the house and I think we were up to $110 at one point and I think we're back to $85 or so now.

[Ivytalk]

93, it looked bigger than either one of the 2015 crowds. But it looked life half the crowd had bailed by lap 250, due to the weather.

Yes, I watched the whole race. The encouraging thing was that the cheap seats (turns) looked filled pretty well. The only large empty spots I saw were the ends of the front straight, which is lost season ticket holders. Dover has dropped ticket prices to try to lure them back. We have the best seats in the house and I think we were up to $110 at one point and I think we're back to $85 or so now.

And Jimmie Johnson was making his move, lurking at 6th place, when the shytstorm hit. Poor Harvick had bad luck all day. Did you catch his quote of the day: "Don't you guys know how to do a fvcking pit stop?" Or words to that effect.

[BDKJMU]

Same as Texas, Truex dominates, Kyle wins. TX was late caution, Truex as the leader stayed out and most everyone else came in (and if he had vone in most everyone else would've stayed put- he was sort of screwed). But last night after leading 172 of 267 laps. And he wasn't just leading but was just dominating. Pit crew had been flawless all night.. Caution with 54 to go, damn lug nut gets hung BEHIND the wheel. Last year at Spring Kanas and Charlotte he leads the most laps, dominates and doesn't win. If he didn't havve bad luck he'd have no luck at all..
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/na ... /84102480/

Going back to Kansas, it wasn't a lug nut as initially reported, but a head bolt breaking off the brake caliper and lodging behind one of his front wheels. Talk about freak. McReynolds says he has never seen it in 35 years (the bolt breaking AND lodging behind the wheel at the same time).
http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/sports/w ... vi-BBsPZfg

And then at Dover on orders from (crew chief) Cole Pearn intentially brakes on pit road, letting Edwards pass him to come out 3rd, as Truex restarting in 4th on the outside behind Jimmy Johnson put him in a better position to win (he had a top 2-3 car), except for the fact that Johnson's tranny locked up or something.. Johnson said he never has had a transmission react as his did Sunday. “Just a freak deal with something with the transmission,”...

Now that the unlucky Kenseth has won Truex clearly is the current holder of unluckiest driver in Cup right now...

[clenz]

Landon Cassill, and a group of a few others, got together and created a NASCAR version of "Cards Against Humanity". It's rather entertaining.

http://actionsdetrimental.com/

[BDKJMU]

"NASCAR XFINITY SERIES, POCONO RACEWAY SET TO TAKE OVER PHILADELPHIA

PHILADELPHIA (May 13, 2016) – Pocono Raceway and Comcast, in conjunction with NASCAR, will take over Philadelphia with a day full of events that include a lap and pit stop near City Hall on Tuesday, May 17.

Pocono Raceway is hosting its first NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday, June 4 and it has partnered with series sponsor Comcast and four different NASCAR racing teams to raise awareness.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers will participate in a host of events, including the Phillies game against the Miami Marlins that evening.

Eight events are scheduled for Tuesday and will feature five drivers from three NASCAR race teams....."
http://www.poconoraceway.com/nascar-xfi ... lphia.html

[93henfan]

I kinda sorta enjoy watching NASCAR CEO's have to invent ways to get fans to come back when they were so flippant about us for so many years.

Dennis McGlynn (Dover) basically begged and pleaded before the spring race last year to have fans bring a kid or a friend to the next race.

[clenz]

Watching the radioactive from last weekend and Richard Childress told Austin Dillon to hang way back heading into that restart with the crash as he left the pits. Said he sensed something about to happen on the restart. Dillon got stopped and avoided the accident.


Wow. I guess if you're around long enough you really can start to feel those things happening

[93henfan]

Logano wins The Winston.

[Ibanez]

Apparently in the truck division (?) of NASCAR there's a driver sponsored by CCU.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BDKJMU]

That was the most convoluted All Star race I have ever seen. Was completely confused by the whole format. And all the drivers interviewed and commentators seemed befuddled, too. Way to go NASCAR.. Why can't they just do a simple, straight forward format? I should have just skipped the 1st 2 50 lap segments of convoluted mess and watched the last 13 lap segment- the only simple and good part of the race which was actually pretty exciting with good racing..

[BDKJMU]

Good summation of the shitshow:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nbc-yahoo ... ascar.html

[93henfan]

Martin Truex completely dominates the World 600, leading 392 of 400 laps.

Fun facts on dominating performances: Cale Yarborough was the first NASCAR driver to lead every lap of a race and he did it twice at the 1973 Southeastern 500 at Bristol and the 1978 Music City USA 420 at Nashville. Jeff Burton is the only other driver to lead every lap at the 2000 DuraLube 300 at New Hampshire.

[DSUrocks07]

Martin Truex completely dominates the World 600, leading 392 of 400 laps.

Fun facts on dominating performances: Cale Yarborough was the first NASCAR driver to lead every lap of a race and he did it twice at the 1973 Southeastern 500 at Bristol and the 1978 Music City USA 420 at Nashville. Jeff Burton is the only other driver to lead every lap at the 2000 DuraLube 300 at New Hampshire.

That's great! How did his son do?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[BDKJMU]

Same as Texas, Truex dominates, Kyle wins. TX was late caution, Truex as the leader stayed out and most everyone else came in (and if he had vone in most everyone else would've stayed put- he was sort of screwed). But last night after leading 172 of 267 laps. And he wasn't just leading but was just dominating. Pit crew had been flawless all night.. Caution with 54 to go, damn lug nut gets hung BEHIND the wheel. Last year at Spring Kanas and Charlotte he leads the most laps, dominates and doesn't win. If he didn't havve bad luck he'd have no luck at all..
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/na ... /84102480/

Going back to Kansas, it wasn't a lug nut as initially reported, but a head bolt breaking off the brake caliper and lodging behind one of his front wheels. Talk about freak. McReynolds says he has never seen it in 35 years (the bolt breaking AND lodging behind the wheel at the same time).
http://www.msn.com/en-us/video/sports/w ... vi-BBsPZfg

And then at Dover on orders from (crew chief) Cole Pearn intentially brakes on pit road, letting Edwards pass him to come out 3rd, as Truex restarting in 4th on the outside behind Jimmy Johnson put him in a better position to win (he had a top 2-3 car), except for the fact that Johnson's tranny locked up or something.. Johnson said he never has had a transmission react as his did Sunday. “Just a freak deal with something with the transmission,”...

Now that the unlucky Kenseth has won Truex clearly is the current holder of unluckiest driver in Cup right now...

Finally the luck has turned!! My 2nd favorite driver dominates his 3rd race of the season and finally wins one..

[93henfan]

Martin Truex completely dominates the World 600, leading 392 of 400 laps.

Fun facts on dominating performances: Cale Yarborough was the first NASCAR driver to lead every lap of a race and he did it twice at the 1973 Southeastern 500 at Bristol and the 1978 Music City USA 420 at Nashville. Jeff Burton is the only other driver to lead every lap at the 2000 DuraLube 300 at New Hampshire.

That's great! How did his son do?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

No son. He's not even married yet.

[BDKJMU]

We saw the new lower downforce package run twice last yr at Kentucky and Darlington (I was at Darlington). It was a big success last year as it made for better racing. Both of those were night races though. This time was the 1st time running it during the day. Even though only had 2 cautions before the caution at the end, the drivers seemed to like it. Without all the aero downforce the cars are harder to drive, and its easier for a trailing car to pass one ahead of it since won't be as much dirty air.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wH38PhvDv4[/youtube]

Was announced last week. They ran this additional downforce reduction at Charlotte at the All Star race but not for the 600.

"NASCAR is cutting downforce once again
NASCAR has moved to once again tweak the downforce aerodynamic packages at upcoming races.

"Encouraged by positive results so far this year, NASCAR will continue to experiment with reduced downforce aerodynamic packages at upcoming races at Michigan International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.

NASCAR reduced downforce prior to the start of the season, and it has produced much improved racing in 2016.

The 2016 package cut downforce by 900 pounds, from 2,700 to 1,800 pounds and the sanctioning body is looking to shave another 500 pounds off with this latest rules tweak.

The teams gained back some of the downforce through ongoing development, so the goal now is getting downforce as low as 1,500 pounds, said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president, innovation and racing development.

Some of the technical changes include cutting the rear spoiler dimensions from 3.5 inches high and 65 inches wide to 2.5 inches high by 53 inches wide. The width of the ends of the front splitter are also being cut from roughly 5 inches to 2 inches.

The new package will also feature a tapered decklid fin and no rear-end toe or skew.

NASCAR tried this package during a May 17 tire test at Michigan and was pleased with the results. It will be tested again there June 12 and at Kentucky June 13-14.

If the results of the tests and subsequent races prove successful, this could form the basis of the 2017 rules package but it was unlikely to be adopted for this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Last year, NASCAR followed a similar protocol, testing what became the current aero package at Kentucky and Darlington, but holding off on implementing it until 2016."
http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/n ... les-052616

[93henfan]

NASCAR is probably the only major motorsport sanctioning body that wants their cars to have less handling and predictability.

If you ever watch any F1 or Indy it's easy to see why. The best car just goes off and leaves everyone, including the viewing audience. Say what you will about NASCAR, but it's still the most engaging motorsport to watch for 3-5 hours.

[BDKJMU]

I agree with what Edwards said last year- just get rid of the spoilers entirely.

[BDKJMU]

Well, were 13 races down, 13 more to go until the 10 race Chase starts. Current Chase standings:
http://espn.go.com/rpm/standings

[BDKJMU]

NASCAR announces this afternoon back to mandating 5 lug nuts.
http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/story/n ... uts-042516

Basically now doing what NASCAR fined Tony Stewart last week for saying that they should do. Thing is, NASCAR didn't say how they were going to enforce it. Problem is with no more officials over the walls, which they did away with for last season, how are they going to ensure that each team even has 5 nuts on every wheel, much less 5 that are tight? They replaced the officials over the wall with high tech zoomable HD video, but that can only see the right side of the car. Maybe bring back the 2 officials for every pit, to see if 5 nuts are glued to each of the 4 tires to be used at each stop, and the officials instead of over the wall as in the past could from behind the wall see if all 5 on each of left side tires was hit and the video could show if all 5 right sides was hit? But that would mandate bringing back a boatload of more officials, which I thought was eliminated in a long term cost saving (and safety as far as no more officials over the wall) measures compared to the video..

One thing they can do is post race check to see if 5 tight nuts on each wheel, so for what ends up being the last pit stop the crews better get 5 nuts on tight..

And NASCAR has clearly overreacted. Drops the hammer with penalties this week, including heavily fining & suspending 2 crew chiefs over a missing lug nut & even not tight, which is going to happen virtually every race..

"NASCAR penalizes four teams for infractions at Coca-Cola 600

NASCAR handed down penalties to four Sprint Cup teams Wednesday for infractions found either during pre- or post-race inspection at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The teams of Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and AJ Allmendinger were issued P3 penalties, while Tony Stewart's team was assessed a P2 penalty.

Biffle's penalty was the most severe. His crew chief, Brian Pattie, was fined $50,000 and suspended from all points races through June 15. The No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing team will also lose 15 driver and 15 owner points. Biffle's Ford was cited following post-race inspection for including a body design that was either not submitted to NASCAR for approval or did not comply with the approved body designs.

The crew chiefs for Busch (Tony Gibson) and Allmendinger (Randall Burnett) were fined $20,000 and suspended from this weekend's Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway. Both Busch's No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet and Allmendinger's No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet were found to have a missing lug nut at the end of Sunday’s race.

Last month, Kyle Busch’s crew chief and front tire changer were suspended after officials discovered a lug nut that wasn’t properly secured following a victory at Kansas Speedway...

....Stewart's team, meanwhile, was penalized for body design flaws on the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet found in pre-race inspection. His crew chief, Mike Bugarewicz, has been placed on probation through Dec. 31."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/na ... /85245102/

[93henfan]

Kurt Busch has just enough fuel to win at Pocono, beating out Jr. Damn it.

1. Ku Busch
2. Earnhardt Jr.
3. Keselowski
4. Elliott
5. Logano

Nice showings by the Penske and Hendrick teams. JJ was involved in a wreck.

Danica Patrick (it was not her fault this time) took out herself and her boss, Tony Stewart, when he got loose going three wide into the turn on a restart. Not a smart move by Stewart. They also collected Clenz's boy in that one.