NASCAR 2011 season thread

deuse said:
Pole for Dale Earnhardt Jr :D:D
And a well done to Jeff Gordon as well. Roll on next week.
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Yep, the Hendrick organisation has to be pleased with that. Junior the only guy to top 186mph average as well.

Surprises of the session for me:

1) Trevor Bayne - that kid is fast.
2) Denny Hamlin - 44th is not where he would have wanted to be, even if he is locked into the field by dint of owner points. He'll certainly be hoping for a better time of things in the Duel on Thursday, get up the order a bit. I missed seeing his run, internet has been fuzzy here due to the rain, anything particular happen to him?
3) Marcos Ambrose was the fastest Toyota. Marcos ******* Ambrose. What kind of bizarre parallel universe did I wake up in this morning?
 
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If Earnhardt and Gordon work together to do some drafting I can see one of them winning the race(hope it's Earnhardt).

Did anyone see when they ghosted Earnhardt and Gordon's car..awesome.
 
deuse said:
If Earnhardt and Gordon work together to do some drafting I can see one of them winning the race(hope it's Earnhardt).
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Provided the two-car draft stays just as good no matter what NASCAR changes in the run up to the 500, then if Junebug and Gordon have anything about them they'll get line astern right from the off. No sense running side-by-side in that situation.

Side-by-side with three to go on the other hand....that would be good to see :)

Finally got around to seeing what happened to Hamlin. Just bizarre, I can't remember ever seeing that. Closest I guess would be before the start of a race one year, a driver was weaving to get some heat into the tyres and the car locked left, he ended up slamming into the car next to him.
 
JRS said:
Finally got around to seeing what happened to Hamlin. Just bizarre, I can't remember ever seeing that. Closest I guess would be before the start of a race one year, a driver was weaving to get some heat into the tyres and the car locked left, he ended up slamming into the car next to him.
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One of the theories I heard mentioned was the quick release for the steering wheel was not properly installed. If the wheel came off as he was exiting pit road the car would have turned hard left. I didn't look like he was trying to heat the tires at the time and there is really no reason to do so at Daytona for a qualifying run. The fact that he then went on to complete his run tells me he knew what happened. He wouldn't have gone 180 mph with a car that had issues.

I will say the new front end looks like it will take more abuse. The old splitter would have been destroyed when he plowed into the grass.
 
BoostedDC2 said:
One of the theories I heard mentioned was the quick release for the steering wheel was not properly installed.
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Yeah, I heard that on the NASCAR.com recap. Seems plausible. Doesn't say much for JGR preparation, mind.

BoostedDC2 said:
I will say the new front end looks like it will take more abuse. The old splitter would have been destroyed when he plowed into the grass.
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Absolutely. That front end would have been pretty much annihilated if they were still running a splitter on there. Probably wouldn't have held up too well in the pre-COT days either.
 
JRS said:
Yeah, I heard that on the NASCAR.com recap. Seems plausible. Doesn't say much for JGR preparation, mind.
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I honestly have not been impressed with JG racing the last few years. They make mistakes that the 48 team doesn't make. I'm not just talking driver either. They had issues with their engines 2 years ago that probably cost them a shot at the championship. The other Toyota teams didn't have those issues, so not sure what the deal was. I think all 3 of their drivers can drive, but their attitude is pretty poor.

JRS said:
Absolutely. That front end would have been pretty much annihilated if they were still running a splitter on there. Probably wouldn't have held up too well in the pre-COT days either.
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Yeah, the valance on the old car would have been folded under. It's been interesting seeing the COT evolve. It's basically the same thing the previous car went through.

I still wish the powers that be would go back to the days when the sheet metal came from the factory. Guess NASCAR got tired of the manufacturers complaining one make had an advantage over the other.
 
Nationwide GN practice today has been delayed, officials are trying to dry the track after a good bit of rain. Hoping that's the last we see of wet weather there for the rest of the week and the weekend. I'm guessing that it'll have a knock-on effect on all the practice sessions scheduled for today.
 
JRS said:
Nationwide GN practice today has been delayed, officials are trying to dry the track after a good bit of rain. Hoping that's the last we see of wet weather there for the rest of the week and the weekend. I'm guessing that it'll have a knock-on effect on all the practice sessions scheduled for today.
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It wouldn't be a surprise if some light showers affected the Duels. Wouldn't be much rain, mm or 2, but enough to briefly disrupt things. Beyond Thu it look sunny and warm.
 
Line-up for the Duels:

Duel 1

1 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2 - Paul Menard
3 - Ryan Newman
4 - Mark Martin
5 - Tony Stewart
6 - Kurt Busch
7 - Juan Montoya
8 - Marcos Ambrose
9 - Kevin Harvick
10 - Jimmie Johnson
11 - Bill Elliott
12 - A.J. Allmendinger
13 - Joe Nemechek
14 - Matt Kenseth
15 - Dave Blaney
16 - Regan Smith
17 - Kasey Kahne
18 - Bobby Labonte
19 - Brian Vickers
20 - Kevin Conway
21 - David Gilliland
22 - Michael McDowell
23 - J.J. Yeley
24 - Andy Lally

Duel 2

1 - Jeff Gordon
2 - Trevor Bayne
3 - Clint Bowyer
4 - Jeff Burton
5 - Greg Biffle
6 - David Ragan
7 - Carl Edwards
8 - Travis Kvapil
9 - David Reutimann
10 - Brad Keselowski
11 - Michael Waltrip
12 - Jamie McMurray
13 - Kyle Busch
14 - Martin Truex Jr.
15 - Joey Logano
16 - Todd Bodine
17 - Casey Mears
18 - Steve Wallace
19 - Robby Gordon
20 - Terry Labonte
21 - Robert Richardson Jr.
22 - Denny Hamlin
23 - Derrike Cope
24 - Brian Keselowski

Coverage begins on US television (Speed channel) at 7pm tonight our time. Information on where to see them can be found in post #12.
 
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