2012 NASCAR thread
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
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....
14 caution periods all told? If crashes were the desired outcome of the resurfacing work, then mission ******* accomplished....
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....
Now try and work out why road courses are mainly clockwise....
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.
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.
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:
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'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
TPTB said 'have at it' so they have at it. If Clint's going to cut tyres down on folks, then he should expect some payback. And I can't think of a better place for payback than in the middle of Turns 3-4 at Phoenix. Flat banking, pretty low speed in the grand scheme of things, SAFER barrier outside and inside.
Now, someone like Carl 'Braindead Moron™' Edwards would have saved that one up for Daytona or Talladega next season, and caused an accident that could have hurt spectators. But that's okay, because his 'code' dictates that he should do that....
Looking good for Keselowski now, with a 20 point lead going into the final round. Should he win the title without getting the pole at Homestead, he'll be the first driver to take the Cup without a pole position all year since the Chase was introduced. It's only happened seven times in the history of the top tier in NASCAR - Bill Rexford in 1950 (had to look that one up!), Benny Parsons in '73, Earnhardt in '80, Bobby Allison in '83, Earnhardt again in '91, Dale Jarrett in '99 and then of course Matt Kenseth, whose title year in '03 (winning the second race and then grinding out results) caused the panic that brought in the Chase in the first place!
Here's how the three championships look going into the final weekend at Homestead.
Cup
Brad Keselowski leads Jimmie Johnson by 20 points at present. If Brad finishes 15th or higher, finishes 16th and leads at least one lap, or finishes 17th and leads the most laps of anyone on the day then he becomes champion no matter where JJ finishes or how many laps he leads. No-one else can win the title now, it's only between those two.
Nationwide
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads Elliott Sadler by 20 points. If he finishes 16th or better, 17th and leads a lap, or 18th and leads the most laps then he's champion. Austin Dillon can still win it as well, he's a further five points back.
Trucks
James Buescher leads Tim Peters by 11 points. To make sure of the title, Buescher needs to finish 7th, 8th with a lap led, 9th with leading the most laps. Ty Dillon and Joey Coulter are still in it as well, 12 points and 29 points behind Buescher respectively.
Cup
Brad Keselowski leads Jimmie Johnson by 20 points at present. If Brad finishes 15th or higher, finishes 16th and leads at least one lap, or finishes 17th and leads the most laps of anyone on the day then he becomes champion no matter where JJ finishes or how many laps he leads. No-one else can win the title now, it's only between those two.
Nationwide
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. leads Elliott Sadler by 20 points. If he finishes 16th or better, 17th and leads a lap, or 18th and leads the most laps then he's champion. Austin Dillon can still win it as well, he's a further five points back.
Trucks
James Buescher leads Tim Peters by 11 points. To make sure of the title, Buescher needs to finish 7th, 8th with a lap led, 9th with leading the most laps. Ty Dillon and Joey Coulter are still in it as well, 12 points and 29 points behind Buescher respectively.
His truck just took a big ol' bobble up the track on his qually run. 4th quickest ATM.
***edit***
Parker Kligerman on the pole, Kyle Larson second on exactly the same time (Parker gets the pole for running more races this year).
***edit***
Parker Kligerman on the pole, Kyle Larson second on exactly the same time (Parker gets the pole for running more races this year).
Last edited:
Congrats to James Buescher, 2012 Camping World Truck Series champion! He ran a smart race. Congrats also to Cale Gale, for winning the race (his first win) and beating Kyle Busch at his own game by running him into the fence to do it. Kyle wasn't too impressed....meh. That last lap is the 5th lap Cale Gale has led in his career - best to lead the important lap!
NPJr finished 4th (equalling his result from last year's race) and ended up 7th in the standings. Looking at some of the names below him (Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine....Ron Hornaday for God's sake) I'd say that was impressive.
NPJr finished 4th (equalling his result from last year's race) and ended up 7th in the standings. Looking at some of the names below him (Johnny Sauter, Todd Bodine....Ron Hornaday for God's sake) I'd say that was impressive.
Congrats to Ricky Stenhouse Jr, 2012 Nationwide Series champion. It was always going to take something off the wall happening, given Elliott Sadler's Phoenix result (which put him 20 points back) and Ricky's record at Homestead (which is more than good). RSJr is now the sixth driver to win consecutive titles in what is now the Nationwide series (Sam Ard, Randy LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr, Larry Pearson and Dale Earnhardt Jr being the others).
Regan Smith made his first Nationwide start in five years, and duly won. He's running the full season for JR Motorsports next year.
Regan Smith made his first Nationwide start in five years, and duly won. He's running the full season for JR Motorsports next year.
Congratulations to Brad Keselowski - 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion!
Congratulations to Dodge as well, for their first title since re-entering the NASCAR Cup circuit back in 2001 (they weren't involved from the start of '86 to then). A nice way to sign off, and a giant "**** you!" to the teams who've abandoned them (including, obviously, the team who's just won the drivers championship....nice decision Roger!). I'm really upset that the 2013 NASCAR Charger won't get to race, because it was such a good looking car....
Mixed feelings about the race. I'd have much rather seen this championship settled a different way. JJ going out of contention with drivetrain issues is not the way I wanted to see the battle end (though he was pretty much finished anyway when they cocked up the pitstop at lap 214). But as I've said before, I was a bit torn with this Chase. Did I want to see JJ win - a driver I really like - or did I want to see a Charger win - MOPAR or no car baby!
Congrats to Jeff Gordon on winning the race though. His 87th win, and first at Homestead - out of all the tracks that they still go to, Kentucky is the only one now that he doesn't have a win at. The #24 has had a season that has varied wildly - 2 wins, snatching a spot in the Chase with three top-5 places in a row (and I really didn't see how he could make it in from where he was before that run), but 11 times over the course of the season he finished outside of the top-20. And even the most mathematically challenged of folks can work out that 11 out of 36 is just more than 30%. Across the Hendrick stable there's been too much bad luck for it to be just bad luck, and too many mechanical issues. Hopefully they come back swinging, if only to bait the moronic element of NASCAR fandom that screeches every time Chad Knaus comes up with something clever that the NASCAR tech inspectors never thought about.
I'll write up another post this week about the changes for the 2013 cars in the Cup series. But right now, I need to sleep off some beer!
Congratulations to Dodge as well, for their first title since re-entering the NASCAR Cup circuit back in 2001 (they weren't involved from the start of '86 to then). A nice way to sign off, and a giant "**** you!" to the teams who've abandoned them (including, obviously, the team who's just won the drivers championship....nice decision Roger!). I'm really upset that the 2013 NASCAR Charger won't get to race, because it was such a good looking car....
Mixed feelings about the race. I'd have much rather seen this championship settled a different way. JJ going out of contention with drivetrain issues is not the way I wanted to see the battle end (though he was pretty much finished anyway when they cocked up the pitstop at lap 214). But as I've said before, I was a bit torn with this Chase. Did I want to see JJ win - a driver I really like - or did I want to see a Charger win - MOPAR or no car baby!
Congrats to Jeff Gordon on winning the race though. His 87th win, and first at Homestead - out of all the tracks that they still go to, Kentucky is the only one now that he doesn't have a win at. The #24 has had a season that has varied wildly - 2 wins, snatching a spot in the Chase with three top-5 places in a row (and I really didn't see how he could make it in from where he was before that run), but 11 times over the course of the season he finished outside of the top-20. And even the most mathematically challenged of folks can work out that 11 out of 36 is just more than 30%. Across the Hendrick stable there's been too much bad luck for it to be just bad luck, and too many mechanical issues. Hopefully they come back swinging, if only to bait the moronic element of NASCAR fandom that screeches every time Chad Knaus comes up with something clever that the NASCAR tech inspectors never thought about.
I'll write up another post this week about the changes for the 2013 cars in the Cup series. But right now, I need to sleep off some beer!