2012 NASCAR thread

JRS · 21 Oct 2012 at 20:13

Nice bit of work by Almirola early on. Leading by nearly 5 seconds at lap 31.

Indy500 · 21 Oct 2012 at 20:16

JRS said:
Nice bit of work by Almirola early on. Leading by nearly 5 seconds at lap 31.

In the Nationwide race Stenhouse Jr came back from 2 laps down to win (though it was a little high on caution periods and Kyle Busch ran out of fuel). If anyone's earned his Cup ride it's him.

Edit: What a wreck-fest this Cup race is. Almirola included, unfortunately. I think the safety car has led more laps than him now

JRS · 21 Oct 2012 at 23:33

So, Kenseth survives to win a race that was starting to look like amateur hour at points. The top five in the standings are still the top five in the standings. And it's looking more and more like a three-way fight for the title between Kes, JJ and Hamlin.

14 caution periods all told? If crashes were the desired outcome of the resurfacing work, then mission ******* accomplished....

Indy500 · 22 Oct 2012 at 13:36

I heard it was tyre problems, there were a lot of marbles off-line in the Nationwide race and some drivers had tyre blowouts (Brian Scott spun three times, Johanna Long was sent into the wall at high speed by a blown inside tyre etc). I thought Danica Patrick's run to second place after staying out 65+ laps was pretty impressive in that regard. Shame about the fuel strategy though..

Skeeter · 25 Oct 2012 at 23:18

Random thought, why are all NASCAR and IndyCar ovals anticlockwise? Is there anything stopping a race being run in the other direction, or a circuit being designed to run clockwise?

JRS · 25 Oct 2012 at 23:47

It's an historical curiosity. But it's not just NASCAR and IndyCar - horse racing worldwide is predominantly run anti-clockwise on their courses, and running tracks in athletics are always ran anti-clockwise.

Now try and work out why road courses are mainly clockwise....

Indy500 · 29 Oct 2012 at 17:15

Jimmie Johnson now has the championship lead thanks to winning at Martinsville (for the 7th time in his career), Brad Keselowski (who finished 6th) trails him by 2 points.

JRS · 29 Oct 2012 at 22:30

Three races to go. Hamlin's virtually out of it. Now a two horse race.

I'm torn. I'd like JJ to win it, because I like JJ. I'd like Brad to win it, so that Dodge get the best possible send-off and can give a gigantic "**** You!" to the teams that jumped ship for other manufacturers.

Aargh.

Indy500 · 29 Oct 2012 at 23:08

Well BK is a very good driver (and owner) regardless of the Dodge thing and I expect he'll challenge for more titles in the future as well. JJ is beginning to reach Earnhardt Sr success levels.

One · 29 Oct 2012 at 23:17

Skeeter said:
Random thought, why are all NASCAR and IndyCar ovals anticlockwise? Is there anything stopping a race being run in the other direction, or a circuit being designed to run clockwise?

From the grandstands point of view cars should go from left to right, this makes it anti-clockwise.

Indy500 · 3 Nov 2012 at 16:29

Seems that driving ability runs in Matt Kenseth's family

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/sto...al-with-ex-Cup-champion-Matt-Kenseth-son-Ross

Kyle Busch would love to offer Ross Kenseth a Camping World Truck Series ride in 2013.

While Busch is quite impressed with Kenseth and has raced against the 19-year-old in various series, the biggest stumbling block for inking a deal could be sponsorship.

“I’d like to do something with Ross,” Busch said. “It’s just a problem trying to get funding. There’s no backing for some of the drivers that are here right now.

"The price is obviously cheaper in the truck series. You can start small and grow big. But it’s hard to get interest there.”

Ross Kenseth, the son of 2003 Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth, is currently studying engineering at Clemson University, but is earning quite the reputation on short tracks. In July, he won the Redbud 300 at Anderson (Indiana) Speedway. Last month he was victorious in the All American 400 (Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville) and in the Winchester (Indiana) 400, besting Busch in both events.

JRS · 3 Nov 2012 at 19:23

God, is Ross already 19? Jesus Christ, time marches on doesn't it?

Indy500 · 3 Nov 2012 at 19:38

Jimmie Johnson has pole for the race at Texas tomorrow, looking very quick in practice as well.

Stewart-Haas seem to be struggling, Smoke is a mere 21st, Danica 32nd and Ryan Newman 36th.

Nationwide qualifying is later today. Johnny Sauter won the Trucks race although Piquet had pole and lead the most laps.

JRS · 3 Nov 2012 at 19:42

I think NPJr could really be one to watch as he works his way up through the series. Makes me wonder what he could have done in F1 without that **** Briatore as an agent and team boss....

Indy500 · 3 Nov 2012 at 19:50

JRS said:
I think NPJr could really be one to watch as he works his way up through the series. Makes me wonder what he could have done in F1 without that **** Briatore as an agent and team boss....

F1 fans seem to think that was his problem (as in, putting himself in that position), and you know what they think about Nascar...

James Buescher looks set for the Trucks title and already has a Nationwide seat for next year (I guess marrying the boss's daughter helped there

)

JRS · 5 Nov 2012 at 12:40

Okay, two races to go and I still can't call this one.

Great racing between JJ and Brad Keselowski going for both the race win and the lead in points, Brad doing well to come back from that bad stop during the 6th caution period. Also saw some serious class from him as well:

"I knew I wasn't going to be able to execute every restart, and Jimmie did a great job on the last one," Keselowski said. "I had to choose between wrecking him and [him] winning the race, and it didn't seem right to wreck him.

"Ran him hard, and we're going to keep him honest. I know if we keep running like this that we won't be beat."

Indy500 · 6 Nov 2012 at 21:09

Danica finished on the lead lap too, which is something that couldn't be said for Dario or Sam when they first came over from Indycar... transitioning to the cabs has proven difficult for pretty much every open wheel driver. I don't count Smoke because his background was dirt tracking before he joined the IRL.

Indy500 · 9 Nov 2012 at 18:27

Piquet fastest in the Trucks practice session, looking good for him so far. His first short track win perhaps?

JRS · 9 Nov 2012 at 22:41

sr4470 said:
Piquet fastest in the Trucks practice session, looking good for him so far. His first short track win perhaps?

I'd like to be able to talk about this right now....but I can't, because I've been to the pub.

For hours

Oh well, time for bed

Indy500 · 11 Nov 2012 at 20:01

Well, Piquet took pole but finished just 8th. Brian Scott won and lead the most laps. Looks like Nelson will be 7th in the standings unless something remarkable happens in the last race. Those DNFs earlier in the season have cost him a lot of valuable points.

In Nationwide, Joey Logano took his 9th win of the season, with Brian Vickers 2nd and Ricky Stenhouse Jr 3rd (who has a 20 point lead going into the final round at Homestead). Three other Cup drivers were in the top 10, with Brad Keselowski closely followed by Danica Patrick in the closing stages who was recovering from a late pitstop.