Daytona time once more - NASCAR (spoilers)

[JRS]

It's that time of year again. A few things have changed for this year - the Car Of Tomorrow is now firmly the Car Of Today for one, consigning the older design to the history books. Jeff Gordon pointed out in the build-up to the Budweiser Shootout that no-one really has a handle on the COT just yet - getting it to be consistent has proven a challenge. Not that it stopped the Hendrick teams from having a damned good year last season - 18 wins from 36 races, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon 1-2 in the championship, wins for Kyle Busch and good runs for Casey Mears.

Another change - Dale Earnhardt Jr is no longer driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Kyle Busch is out of Hendrick, Dale is in. And he started with a win in the Budweiser Shootout. Looking like a smart move for Junior

New drivers this year from the land of open-wheelers - Jacques Villeneuve is making his full-time debut in NASCAR, as are Sam Hornish Jr and Dario Franchitti. Think Pat Carpentier is also running. They join Juan Montoya, who had a good rookie season in '07, in the switch from open-wheel racing to something rather more interesting.

Only one really big change on the manufacturer front - Joe Gibbs Racing switching from Chevys to Toyotas. That'll improve the chances of seeing a Toyota in Victory Lane this season - bookies are calling it even.

Bud Shootout results are here. Next stop for Cup, the Gatorade Duels on Thursday for the Daytona 500 qualifying. The Craftsman Trucks will be the first race next weekend, followed by the Nationwide Grand National race (keep trying to call it Busch GN....old habits die hard). Then the Daytona 500 on Sunday. The 2008 motorsport season has officially started

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

People still watch this outside of America?

And a bad move by Dario, he should have went and done a full season in the ALMS with Acura instead of Nascarp.

 

[Sone]

might get back into nascar, had tickets to daytona 2 years ago but had to miss due to work commitments. (made £100 though as daytona refunded as did work give me the moolah)

 

[JRS]

People still watch this outside of America?

Yep. 43 lunatics driving 3200lb ~800hp cars in close quarters with each other somehow manages to draw a crowd. Can't think why....

And a bad move by Dario, he should have went and done a full season in the ALMS with Acura instead of Nascarp.

He'll make more money, be seen by more people and have much more fun than if he went the ALMS route. I don't think he'll be too upset with his decision by the end of the year.

Oh, and brilliantly original use of the letter 'p' to make NASCAR read "Nascarp". Because nothing says "I've got a sense of humour!" like that sort of thing

 

[Ben M]

Yep. 43 lunatics driving 3200lb ~800hp cars in close quarters with each other somehow manages to draw a crowd. Can't think why....

*43 cars being driven in an oval for hour after hour after hour after hour.

But I guess that it does have the advantage over F1 with regards overtaking and crashes. I still find F1 nore interesting though, due to the whole corners thing.

 

[JRS]

*43 cars being driven in an oval for hour after hour after hour after hour.

But I guess that it does have the advantage over F1 with regards overtaking and crashes. I still find F1 nore interesting though, due to the whole corners thing.

*glances at Sears Point, Watkins Glen, Mexico City track and Montreal*

Um....I think stock cars can turn right as well....Sears Point last season produced one of the best races of the year, with Montoya gambling on fuel mileage and getting his first Cup win. In the Busch series, Montoya again grabbed a win at the Mexico City road course with an inspired charge back through the field after a fuelling problem on a pit stop.

As for ovals - California is always dull (and I hate the fact that they still go there), but I defy anyone to call a race at Darlington, or Bristol, or Talladega, or Dover boring

 

[Housey]

Oval racing has never really done it for me, but I did use to enjoy Indycars when it was one championship, though I always prefer the road courses of which the US has some great ones. I have driven around Daytona (1990) in a road car and the one thing that really amazed me was the steepness of the banking. If you stand at the top of it and look down it’s quite something, much steeper than the TV pictures might have you believe and hard work to walk up it too.

I find much American sport somewhat sterile, and NASCAR for me is much the same. Sure the cars make a tremendous noise and the racing can be close, but like most American sports its vast amounts of boredom interspersed with a few minutes of immense excitement. Road courses work better I think, as the cars really are not suited to them even in the road course trim, so it can make for some interesting watching, but most ovals tend to be precessions with yellow flags and crashes bunching the field up. I can see why people like it, its just not my cuppa.

 

[JRS]

For those interested in the Truck race, TVU Player still has the Wheels channel (53060) that carries Speed Channel. Should be on at 1 in the morning. Can't get it working here at the moment, but I suspect that might be down to the appalling quality of broadband connections across most of Stretton....if it's not just at my end, then y'all are out of luck.

Busch...sorry, Nationwide race will probably have a stream on NASCAR.com. If last year is anything to go by, it'll be low quality but viewable if you don't punch it up to full-screen. As for the Sprint Cup race....not sure. Much as I hate to say it, I think it's back to downloading AVIs of the race after the event. Or watching the butchered highlights on Five. Or paying NASNs ridiculous price on top of paying out for Sky.

Hey ho.

 

[bigfoot4616]

As for the Sprint Cup race....not sure. Much as I hate to say it, I think it's back to downloading AVIs of the race after the event. Or watching the butchered highlights on Five. Or paying NASNs ridiculous price on top of paying out for Sky.

Hey ho.

sky are showing the cup races. shootout coverage was crap though it was a bit better for the duals on thursday.

£10 a month isn't much to pay to watch the nationwide on NASN considering you also get all the football and golf

 

[JRS]

£10 a month isn't much to pay to watch the nationwide on NASN considering you also get all the football and golf

Oh good. Football and golf. Joygasm.




Seriously, if I could just pay £5-10 pcm for NASCAR only I would. It's the fact that you have to pay out for a Sky or other digital package (which I wouldn't want, I don't even watch most of the Freeview channels), then load NASN on top....ugh. Mind, I've survived this long without getting regular live NASCAR coverage....

 

[Yas786]

Looking forward to the Daytona 500, really wanted to go...but sadly ccant make it even tho my bro in Canada got a pretty good price on some package deals for Daytona. Maybe next year hopefully fingers crossed...although we are definitely heading for the Montreal GP this yr...hired out a RV with a few of his friends in Canada so should be a barrel of laughs if anything.

Really looking forward to seeing either Dale Jr or Jimmie Johnson winning it this yr but im more inclined to want Dale Jr to win it. Great move by him to get into the Hendrick team...i just hope that little gob**** Stewart doesnt win...something about him makes me despise him...possibly because of that bust up he had last weekend with Busch...where he was reported to have hit him.

I prefer Nascar to F1 tbh, at least the cars are more even...plus i happen to think ovals are brilliant although to some its boring but i never realised just how big Nascar is in America...its freakin huge...much more bigger than F1. But the sound of those V8s make me drool...one of the reasons why i wanted to go this yr...id probably have a few orgasms with the sound of those brutes kicking it around the oval.

 

[JRS]

Right, twigged what was wrong with the Wheels stream - turns out that the connection here was only running at ~330kbit. Rebooted the router, we're up to ~900kbit and stream is peachy smooth. W00t.

Aaaaaanyway - some Daytona info for those who don't know.

Daytona International Speedway

Track Details

Completed : 1959
Distance : 2.5 miles
Shape : Tri-oval
Banking : 31° turns, 3° straights
Frontstretch : 3,800 feet
Backstretch : 3,000 feet
Seating : 168,000

One of two restrictor-plate tracks (they have to dial back the power of the cars here and at Talladega with intake restrictors to keep some level of safety) on the NASCAR tour, Daytona is a truly awesome place. Bumpy as hell (especially compared with the almost excessively smooth 'Dega), with the cars running nigh-on flat out all the way around, a big crash is an ever-present danger.

The engine restrictors are a bit less stringent this year with the new car design, so the engines are turning a few more rpms. This has changed the driving style somewhat - before, you'd do everything you could not to get off the gas pedal. You'd see drivers keep their right foot welded to the floor, and tickle the brake with their left foot to shave off enough speed to *just* miss the guy in front. With the changed engine characteristics, they now might just have enough torque to let off the gas to avoid collisions, and will be able to get up to speed quicker coming out of the pits.

Qualifying for the 500 has been set with the twin 150 Duels. The order is here. Notable stuff:

1) What a difference a year makes at Michael Waltrip racing....last year his crew chief got kicked out for cheating, he had to race his way in through the Duels and he left Daytona with -27 points after being docked 100 for the aformentioned cheating by his crew chief. This year, he lines up second on the grid. Hope he has a good race, he deserves some success after what he faced last year.
2) On a similar note - look at all those Toyotas well up the grid! Looks like the Vegas bookies had it right.
3) Dale Earnhardt Jr continues his new-found form now he's at Hendrick Motorsports. You'd find it hard to bet against him winning on Sunday.
4) Kurt Busch needed to use a Champions Provisional to make the gird. Ouch. That has got to hurt the ego a bit....but perhaps I'm being unfair. He has matured a lot in the last two years.
5) Some big names missed the cut. Bill Elliott ("Awesome Bill From Dawsonville" if you're a long-time fan like me ), Sterling Marlin, Ken Schrader, Jacques Villeneuve....in fact, there you go. If NASCAR is so much easier than F1, why didn't Villeneuve (a Formula 1 Champion no less) easily make the grid? The answer - driving 'round an oval ain't quite as easy as it looks, boys!

On to the action for tonight - the Craftsman Trucks.

Last year, the race ended in what was almost a three-way photo finish. The photo itself heads this article on NASCAR.com. Proper racin'! The trucks tend to produce the most exciting action of the Daytona race weekend, closely followed by the Cup race with the Bu-....Nationwide race trailing considerably.

I just know I'm going to be the only one on here who watches all three races this weekend. But seriously - those of you with prejudices against NASCAR really ought to watch the trucks at 1am GMT on TVU Player. I've never seen a truly dull one (like....Hungarian GP dull) in many years of watching the trucks.


****edit****

Shows how slow I am I guess, but it only just registered - this will be the 50th Daytona 500. Pretty cool milestone.


****edit 2****

Oh God....the FloMax advert is still on US television

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

Oh God....the FloMax advert is still on US television

i thought that advert was a joke to start with, its the kind of advert youd find in some corny spoof film.

 

[Lashout_UK]

JRS, don't suppose you know what the team expenditures were for the racing season in 2007 were, do you?

(or where I might acquire such information...)

 

[JRS]

i thought that advert was a joke to start with, its the kind of advert youd find in some corny spoof film.

There is a touch of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker about it.

DW, Jeff Hammond, Steve Byrnes and Larry Mac are on the pre-race show right now, good discussion going about past 500s.

 

[NightSt@lk3r]

There is a touch of Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker about it.

DW, Jeff Hammond, Steve Byrnes and Larry Mac are on the pre-race show right now, good discussion going about past 500s.

DW for president, he is just plain nuts.

 

[JRS]

JRS, don't suppose you know what the team expenditures were for the racing season in 2007 were, do you?

(or where I might acquire such information...)

Team expenditures.....hmmm.

Depends entirely on the team of course. Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush-Fenway would have been the biggest spenders. Small teams like Ginn and Haas would have spent less, but even then Haas did build a brand new test facility which they're letting the Hendrick boys use in exchange for continued partnership on the engine front (i.e. Haas get to use Hendrick motors....). Plus with having to can all the old style cars at the end of the year, and construct one or three COTs for each driver, '07 was probably the most expensive year for a while.

Taking Hendrick as an example - they employ something like 500-600 people at a 60-odd acre site. They build or rebuild the best part of 700 engines each year. They have four teams in the Cup series (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Casey Mears). I'd imagine the budgets are staggering.

DW for president, he is just plain nuts.

I <3 DW. Anyone who is passionate enough to yell "Boogity Boogity Boogity!!!" at the start of every race is the perfect commentator

 

[Yas786]

Jacques Villeneuve....in fact, there you go. If NASCAR is so much easier than F1, why didn't Villeneuve (a Formula 1 Champion no less) easily make the grid? The answer

The answer being is that in the second duel he lost control of his car, taking out a couple cars along with his. I dont think my other Canadian compatriot made it either Pat Carpentier. If Villeneuve had made it then i would have been rooting for him to take the chequered flag but sadly it wasnt meant to be. Gonna be a tough season for him i think, hes not even sponsored unlike Carpentier. Oh well hoping that next yr he makes it to the grid, i think this year will be a massive learning curve for him much like Montoya who had a pretty decent rookie season last yr.

Still Dale Jr is the man im going for this yr and if he doesnt make it to the end then Jimmie Johnson is my other fave....reigning Nascar champ. Im happy as long as Stewart doesnt get a look in...So far Dale Jr has had a great start to the season..winning the first 2 races or 3 is it??...cant remember but what a change in fortune for him.

Looking forward to this yrs race, cant wait.

 

[JRS]

The answer being is that in the second duel he lost control of his car, taking out a couple cars along with his.

Quite. So much for this oval lark being easy, what with only turning left all the time.....

I dont think my other Canadian compatriot made it either Pat Carpentier.

Yeah, that was a shame.

Gonna be a tough season for him i think, hes not even sponsored unlike Carpentier. Oh well hoping that next yr he makes it to the grid, i think this year will be a massive learning curve for him much like Montoya who had a pretty decent rookie season last yr.

Montoya ended up as the lead Dodge driver for the first part of the season. He had a bloody awesome run. Sears Point (I'm still refusing to call it Infineon) was obviously the highlight, but I thought the spring Atlanta race showed what he was made of - his running of the high-line was reminiscent of old-school stock car racing

Still Dale Jr is the man im going for this yr and if he doesnt make it to the end then Jimmie Johnson is my other fave....reigning Nascar champ. Im happy as long as Stewart doesnt get a look in...So far Dale Jr has had a great start to the season..winning the first 2 races or 3 is it??...cant remember but what a change in fortune for him.

Looking forward to this yrs race, cant wait.

I'm torn between rooting for Montoya, Dale Jr and Jeff Gordon. If any of those three are doing well, I'm happy.

Heh, Marvin Panch was just talking about Smokey Yunick. For my thoughts on that particular legend of NASCAR, see here.


***edit***


Wow, Pete Hamilton! Bringing some proper old-time talent out for this show tonight!


The number 40 Superbird....my God. The Winged Warriors really were superb machines.

 

[Yas786]

Quite. So much for this oval lark being easy, what with only turning left all the time.....

Hehe quite, i mean how hard can it be to turn left all the time. Actually watching the in car video, you can see just how bumpy the ride can be...from outside it doesnt look bad at all but wow inside its a whole different story. I guess Villeneuve from what i saw, got a bit loose and bumped into another car...by the time it happened i dont think he could save it.

One thing id love to see is F1 go there for a race...that would be pretty awesome i think.