Can't blame the drivers at all.

2/15/2019 1:54:06 PM

No idea why they make these broke-ass truck teams run Daytona and tear up 3/4 of the field instead of running more small short tracks.

2/15/2019 10:27:27 PM

yeah run the clash and trucks at new smyrna




[Edited on February 16, 2019 at 8:13 AM. Reason : f]

2/16/2019 8:12:25 AM

^^ 90% at the very least need new bodies, with probably 1/2 needing a clip, and 5 being junked.

2/16/2019 1:56:19 PM

nascar fans on friday: too many wrecks!
on saturday: not enough wrecks!





its daytona day!





supercross was good last night

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x72je23

[Edited on February 17, 2019 at 7:13 AM. Reason : s]

2/17/2019 6:45:09 AM

^any nascar fan that says, "not enough wrecks" should get taken out back and beaten. The race yesterday was a sham however and an embarrassment to everyone except chase elliott and christopher bell. They literally stayed in a line until coming off of turn 4 on the last lap...and even then it was a pathetic attempt. 1-5 seemed to just be happy to finish where they were.

Today has been much better

2/17/2019 5:51:29 PM

one car can't do anything. wouldn't have been smart for them to risk a top 5 finish by jumping out of line to get hung out to dry. even with a good run, you're probably gonna get blocked and end up wrecked. there's no hope for plate racing.

2/17/2019 6:13:11 PM

the 500 was pretty good until it wasnt

onto hotlanta

[Edited on February 17, 2019 at 7:48 PM. Reason : a]

2/17/2019 7:47:00 PM

^Yep! It took entirely too long to finish those last 10 laps. That added about an extra 45 minutes at least and most of that wasn't racing. They need to go to single file restarts with 10 or less laps to go , so it is much tougher to wreck each other. I started watching NASCAR in 1995. It wasn't the demolition derby that the end of every races is today.

2/17/2019 7:58:36 PM

pretty typical plate race

if atlanta proves to be pack racing, then i'll probably only watch short tracks and road courses this year.

2/17/2019 9:13:01 PM

^Like I said, they need to go back to single file restarts with less than 10 laps to go. NASCAR never used to be the demolition derby that the last 10 laps are these days. These double wide restarts mixed with the G/W/C, and the "Win and You're In" playoff format is causing this mess. Hamlin now has a free pass to wreck the entire field every week and go for the win since he is in the playoffs. Back in the day a lot of drivers wouldn't have taken some of the risks they take today because it could have cost them one top 5 finish and a Winston Cup.

[Edited on February 17, 2019 at 9:30 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2019 9:27:59 PM

Stenhouse really does drive like a dumbass on these tracks.

I think the Xfinity race to the person griping about it above was super tame because the Truck race the night before had scared everyone.

I thought the most interesting thing in the race was the 2nd segment where Dibenedetto led that crew that caught the pack from 7th to 22nd putting them on the verge of a lap down. Think they missed an opportunity there to put those people a lap down. Even if it's temporary, if a caution came out as one did, you mess up those teams' plans.

[Edited on February 17, 2019 at 10:18 PM. Reason : .]

2/17/2019 10:10:48 PM

Quote :

"I started watching NASCAR in 1995. It wasn't the demolition derby that the end of every races is today."

I started in 1988. The plate races have changed. I'm not sure when the change occurred. A person could probably go back and just start counting up the number of crash-caused red flags every year from Daytona/Talladega to see when what is the norm today started to change.

2/18/2019 8:52:18 AM

The "big one" has been a thing for a while. But you guys are right...it seems once we get down to it, these guys just cant keep from turning each other. I think the reason(s) have already been mentioned here...the main one in my mind is that theres really no reason to finish 7th or 8th anymore. Its win or go home...which is what nascar wanted with this pts system and why i hate it.

2/18/2019 8:56:50 AM

I think a major reason for the chaos is that a large portion of the field thinks of plate races as their only chance to make the playoffs.

2/18/2019 9:04:35 AM

Possibly. I mean...you could easily say that for 2/3 of the big wrecks last night. Stenhouse and menard arent winning away from daytona or talladega. I think bowyer made a serious miscalculation that ended the race for a number of teams, including himself. Just seems theres about 8 cars running at the end of every one of these things now which is pitiful

2/18/2019 10:06:20 AM

Quote :

"The "big one" has been a thing for a while. But you guys are right...it seems once we get down to it, these guys just cant keep from turning each other. I think the reason(s) have already been mentioned here...the main one in my mind is that theres really no reason to finish 7th or 8th anymore. Its win or go home...which is what nascar wanted with this pts system and why i hate it."

Yep, they've done this to try to make every race count and take on the NFL during the second half of the season while also appealing to casual fans. That is a battle no one can win though. The sooner they realize this the better it will be for NASCAR. NASCAR is starting to remind me of MLS. When MLS started they changed the rules of soccer to try to appeal to non-soccer fans. Instead, soccer fans quit watching until they went to standard FIFA rules and the non-fans never became fans. Stage racing cautions have to go and so do the playoffs.

2/18/2019 9:03:17 PM

Quote :

"if atlanta proves to be pack racing, then i'll probably only watch short tracks and road courses this year. "

i bet it will look like an atlanta truck race, the better cars will be able to stay on the throttle longer after a few laps

that is if the mf'er isnt rained out

2/19/2019 6:50:45 AM

I'm not a fan of bringing the restrictors to the other tracks. Part of it might be based on Daytona and Talladega and my hatred of the racing there, but it will probably be better than those mostly because the smaller tracks, even the 1.5's, actually require handling to get through the corners. That should mean the GIANT PACK does not occur, which is what causes the huge accident. One downside of the restrictor plates when they did come in is what used to be the classic move at Daytona and Talladega, the single car slingshot pass, was dead as a doornail. So I wonder how passes are going to work (real passes, not two rows of 5 cars each going side-by-side for laps on end with little relative movement). Less horsepower generated means greater fuel economy and tire wear will be a little less if speeds are reduced, which should mean more time between pit stops.

37-car entry list. The 36 charters plus Parker Kligerman in the Gaunt Brothers #96 (finished 15th at Daytona). Jamie McMurray's Daytona 500 one-off becomes the #77 with a Garrett Smithley behind the wheel.

[Edited on February 19, 2019 at 9:19 AM. Reason : .]

2/19/2019 9:05:28 AM

IROC makes its return

2/20/2019 2:31:38 AM

it should quit raining in time for the cup race yay

radioactive:
https://youtu.be/UIH9wyz7yOo

2/20/2019 5:54:57 PM

I thought hotlanta cup race was as good or better than it would have been with 2018 aero. Handling and tire preservation big factor still

2/24/2019 7:54:39 PM

i agree. it was a decent race. clean air is still a huge problem.

2/24/2019 9:15:07 PM

Best solution to clean air problem is:



More short tracks

2/25/2019 1:09:18 AM

Agreed

2/25/2019 6:34:12 AM

^, ^^ Might get Nashville next year.

Rumors there are big discussions concerning the Cup schedule. Maybe not so much which tracks have dates or how many (1 or 2), but places on the schedule. The only things set in stone are the weekend of the Daytona 500, the 600 will be Memorial Day weekend, and one other race I forget what it was. They're even considering having Daytona not be the first race of the season, which was actually the case from the late '50s until 1982, the season normally opened at Riverside in California. Goal is to get more out of football season at the end.

2/26/2019 8:55:47 AM

There was a fan council survey asking opinions on all of that stuff.

IRP and Iowa need to be on the schedule. Kern County would be awesome, too, but I don't know if they have a pit configuration that would work. Great track, though.

[Edited on February 26, 2019 at 9:36 AM. Reason : I hope they don't fuck with the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend. ]

2/26/2019 9:35:53 AM

^Yep, Darlington and Labor Day weekend need to remain a thing.

2/26/2019 9:42:25 AM

this qualifying is moronic. flat footing at vegas is ridiculous. this is an abomination.

3/1/2019 8:19:29 PM

^perhaps. it was kinda fun to see them sit on pit road and play chicken with the countdown clock. wouldnt want to see it every week tho

special shout out to hailie deegan who now has won 2 k&n races.

3/2/2019 7:32:50 AM

TIL some race fans like watching cars sit still

3/2/2019 8:46:50 AM

Quote :

"Rumors there are big discussions concerning the Cup schedule. Maybe not so much which tracks have dates or how many (1 or 2), but places on the schedule. The only things set in stone are the weekend of the Daytona 500, the 600 will be Memorial Day weekend, and one other race I forget what it was. They're even considering having Daytona not be the first race of the season, which was actually the case from the late '50s until 1982, the season normally opened at Riverside in California. Goal is to get more out of football season at the end."

Someone said over on pack pride that there are rumors of Wednesday night races because they want to get the season over before football starts, but not shorten the season. The problem with that is possible rain delays. Some of the drivers would also be for shorter races.

3/2/2019 11:52:56 AM

^^i stand with gluck

Quote :

"New aero package qualifying a wacky circus, but it was entertaining There’s no cheering allowed in the press box, but I sure hope laughing is permitted. That’s because I spent a decent part of Friday’s qualifying session at Las Vegas — the first with the new aero rules package — cracking up. Watching the bizarre, wacky game of chicken was honestly hilarious, and I enjoyed the spectacle of the strange scene. Now, was that the fairest way to determine the polesitter for a major league, professional race? LORD no! Does it reward the fastest car or the best driver? C’mon. Of course not. This was more of a circus than a competition. But damn if it wasn’t entertaining in its uniquely weird way. And really, isn’t that going to be the theme of 2019 NASCAR? “Entertaining in a uniquely weird way?” Think about it: We’re two days away from seeing a bunch of restricted-power cars with the equivalent of aerodynamic parachutes run around a track that was originally built for high-speed, balls-to-the-walls racing. Everything is different now, and this is just another sign. I’m sure the drivers absolutely hated what happened on Friday, and I don’t blame them. If you grew up as the most elite driver in your region and ascended to the ranks of America’s top racing series, you’d probably want your talent and team’s hard work to shine through. You’d probably be disgusted at being treated like a trained monkey who gets in the car and holds it wide open while getting beat by a driver who wasn’t better than you but just got great timing with a draft. But the world they live in — the NASCAR universe we all share as people who follow the sport — has changed in 2019. Those in charge have opted for entertainment and show business over the purity of racing, a huge gamble to try and stop the sport’s decline. At the same time, I’m finding myself caring less about the holiness of some aspects of the weekend. That includes qualifying, because…does it really even matter? Last year, some cars would fail to make a qualifying attempt due to inspection issues — and then drive up to the front before the end of Stage 1 like it was nothing. So why is qualifying even necessary? Who cares where drivers start?They could just do a random draw (like before the Clash) and start that way. Yes, this qualifying session was fairly stupid, but it was also entertaining. Will I still feel that way a month or five months from now, after this has happened multiple times? Eh, maybe not. But NASCAR will probably have revamped the format by then anyway. Maybe I’m just resigned to constant change at this point, but qualifying didn’t make me outraged or mad. I’m not jumping up and down screaming out principle and credibility. They qualified, got a starting lineup out of it and it was funny at the same time. What’s so bad about that? “I’ll leave that up to you guys on how to wrap your arms around it,” Kevin Harvick said after winning the pole. Personally, I’m OK with embracing it. But I certainly understand if others don’t."

3/3/2019 8:14:56 AM

Eh, its whatever. Nascar has proven they couldnt care less about this being a series of competition and instead want everyone to be on even footing. I watched the 98 southern 500 on youtube last night. 20 laps into the race the top 5 cars were all within a second of each other and the car that started 12th had driven up to 1st. There were already 4 passes for the lead under green flag conditions. That is what made nascar exciting and it doesnt happen anymore

3/3/2019 11:12:44 AM

All those changes...

About the same Vegas race as always.

3/3/2019 8:50:06 PM

Thought it was a decent race

3/3/2019 9:04:41 PM

yeah there were some positives: better restarts, handling still big factor, the high line was as fast or faster than the low line

3/4/2019 9:00:45 PM

i made sure i got home in time for qualifying and boy what a cluster. haha. 5 stars. would watch again

3/15/2019 6:41:08 PM

didn't make a point to watch it. doesn't sound like i missed much.

3/15/2019 10:36:29 PM

Fans boo the drivers after no one goes out for the 3rd/final round of qualifying...

https://racer.com/2019/03/15/boos-send-a-message-about-the-current-state-of-nascar-qualifying/?fbclid=IwAR29XHV6d5fA6zaAYdAiROTYG5ydMig4WEZNILzuBKXaBVu7wLzZaB812Og

This is just getting stupid. It sounds like they have 3 rounds of qualifying now and want to have group qualifying at every race?

3/16/2019 12:13:35 AM

Group qualifying really doesn't work on ovals, especially where the draft effect is present.

^^^ How did Joy, Gordon, and DW spin it?

[Edited on March 16, 2019 at 12:23 AM. Reason : /]

3/16/2019 12:21:46 AM

they've been doing group qualifying at every race except daytona and dega for a while now. the problem is now all tracks except the short tracks are essentially restrictor plate tracks. the way to turn the fastest lap is to go out behind a few other cars and draft up to them during your qualifying run. the slowest way to qualify is to be first out on the track poking a hole in the air for everyone else. so no one will leave pit road during qualifying. round 1 is easy because the scrubs are out there and they don't mind being first because they're not starting up front no matter what. round 2 is a little tougher because the scrubs are out. round 1 is the worst. it's not like starting position is going to matter sunday anyway. they need to draw for starting positions in heat races and set the lineup that way. or just draw for the race. or make them play "guess a number 1 to 1000 to see who's closest". who cares? it has become a joke of an organization.

3/16/2019 12:25:32 AM

Quote :

"^^^ How did Joy, Gordon, and DW spin it?"

DW was stunned. most memorable part was when the 9 spun and yellow came out. officials erroneously counted the times of guys that raced back to the flag. larry mac tried to say that was correct like the brown noser he is, gordon wasnt having it tho

3/16/2019 6:21:29 AM

went to the modified race at myrtle beach tonight. it was a great race.

3/16/2019 10:42:02 PM

^i like how all the nascar modifieds and k&n races are on a free stream this year.

3/17/2019 12:36:51 PM

^Where at?

3/17/2019 1:35:09 PM

^

https://www.fanschoice.tv/

3/17/2019 3:16:11 PM

fontana sucked

3/17/2019 11:49:47 PM

Quote :

"DW was stunned. most memorable part was when the 9 spun and yellow came out. officials erroneously counted the times of guys that raced back to the flag. larry mac tried to say that was correct like the brown noser he is, gordon wasnt having it tho"

Good man Jeff.

3/18/2019 8:02:58 AM

This season has sucked. Too much mid-corner speed, not enough hp to straight pass someone.

3/18/2019 1:01:29 PM