****NASCAR in 2015****

  • Thread starter Thread starter JRS
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They're going to have to slow these cars down at the plate tracks. 200mph is just too fast in these big packs. Either slow them, or get rid of the packs. Getting rid of the restrictor plates and limiting the top speed with gear changes and a high-drag aero package might accomplish what they need.
 
I can't post the link on here due to the....colourful use of English that Dale Earnhardt Jr was employing, but his reaction to the Austin Dillon crash as it unfolded has been posted to YT by someone who had their NASCAR RaceView set to Earnhardt's radio.

Basically no ****s given from Earnhardt at all for his race win. Just wanted to know if Austin and the crowd were okay. The guy is a class act.
 
Not exactly an auspicious start for the practice with the new rules package at Kentucky - the extra practice sessions due to be held yesterday were rained off. They're adding some time to Thursday practice to compensate.
 
That would be a good idea. The tyres dropping off has created some great races at Darlington over the years.

But that would be the thing - change the racing surface, not the tyres. Changing the tyres to make them artificially drop off smacks too much of what was tried with the Pirelli tyres in F1, and no-one wants that. Cut the racing surface, then get Goodyear to bring a hard-ish tyre so it at least lasts a fuel cycle without a blow-out as long as you baby it. Combine with a higher drag package and a shorter axle ratio, and remove the restrictor plates so that they have the horsepower to drag themselves around when passing.
 
Oh, for the love of....

Truck race last night at Kentucky, and an entirely different kind of accident at an entirely different kind of track results in an investigation by a race car of a catch fence. So of course immediately people are rushing to call this a trend :rolleyes:


Ben Kennedy and David Gilliland made contact, which turned Kennedy hard to the right. John Wrecks Townley got underneath him and lifted him up enough that he rode up onto the SAFER barrier and clattered the fence.

Kennedy is fine, and no injuries reported in the stands. Seems like the fence held up pretty well again, but the damage to it was enough that the race was called early (the wreck happened with about five laps to go). Matt Crafton took the win, full results here.
 
Gosh, isn't it amazing what happens when you have a motorsport series run by a governing body that actually gives a **** about the on-track action?

The rules package for Kentucky was pretty much a roaring success. Not only did a new track record get set for green flag lead changes (22) but the race saw action all the way through the field - 2,665 green flag overtakes recorded. The cars clearly moved around a lot more in the turns, making the drivers work hard. The tyre package obviously needs some work to match up to the changes made (a softer tyre is definitely needed), and everyone knew that going in. All told though, it was a fantastic race. Full results.

A similar aero setup will be run at Darlington in September. Quite excited to see how they fare there, given how much of a challenge The Lady In Black is!
 
New Hampshire this weekend for the Cup and Xfinity series. The trucks don't race until the middle of next week, when they head out onto the dirt at Eldora :)
 
Lots of drivers leaving New Hampshire in a grumpy mood. Kyle Busch isn't one of them, second win on the bounce and the third in eight races. Full Cup results.

In the Xfinity race, things got chippy with 30 laps to go. Denny Hamlin (who had spun and nearly wrecked his team-mate Kyle Busch on a restart at lap 23) had caught Austin Dillon who was leading. Since this is Hamlin we're talking about, no-one would be surprised to see him bump and move Dillon out of the way. Post-race, you'd also be distinctly unsurprised to hear him blame Dillon for the contact (!), blame Kyle Busch for the near-wreck on lap 23, bitch about how Dillon had jumped an earlier restart....

I've never had much love for Hamlin, and I'm fast losing what little respect I had for his driving talents. He just can't race cleanly. If he's not careful someone is going to do to him what Joey Logano did in 2013 at Fontana, and hurt him.
 
Eldora tonight :D:D:D

The format:

2ah84sj.jpg
 
Eldora was as fun as previous events - the write up of the race on NASCAR.com only barely does it justice. If you didn't see it, watch it when it pops up on YT. It's some of the better motor racing you'll see all year.

Indy, meanwhile, was less of a success. The high drag package didn't really work, lots of drivers were less than thrilled with it. Kyle Busch will have left very happy with the Cup result though, his third win on the bounce. He also won the Xfinity race to sweep the weekend.
 
Finally, a winner that isn't Kyle Busch! Unfortunately, he lost the Pocono Sprint Cup race in one of the more cruel ways to do so - he ran out of fuel halfway around the final lap while leading :( Matt Kenseth inherited the win, Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon rounding out the top three. Busch ended up being pushed over the line for a 21st place finish by Reed Sorenson. Because he was pushed over the line, his last lap didn't count.

Keselowski had his own troubles on the way to second pace. He had an early penalty when he came into his pitbox too hot and slid through, knocking over some of his crew in the process (I believe everyone was okay). He rallied from a lap down in the end. Also, Busch wasn't alone in running dry - Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr met with similar fates. Logano and Truex also took pitroad speeding penalties after the race, which dropped them down to the last cars on the lead lap. Cup results.

The trucks were also at Pocono, and Kyle Busch's luck was rather better there. It took three Green-White-Checkered attempts to get the race done so it got a bit squeaky on fuel, but he managed to pedal it to the win. The drama began early in the race though. Matt Crafton and Brad Keselowski were racing each other on lap 5, Kevin Harvick got in on the action to take them three-wide, and Brad's front-left caught Crafton's right-rear sending both into the wall. Crafton would end the day in 28th, 56 laps off the lead, and furious with Keselowski - partly for the crash in the first place, but also because that crash and subsequent bad finish put Tyler Reddick into the points lead....and Tyler Reddick drives for Brad Keselowski. Crafton put two and two together, came up with 'Brad wrecked me so his driver could get into position to win the title', and went on the warpath. That one might rumble on for a bit longer yet. Truck results.

Over in Iowa, the Xfinity race was rather dominated by Ryan Blaney, who led 252 of 260 laps on his way to the win. But a word if I may for Kenny Wallace, driving in his final NASCAR race. He had an action packed day that netted him a 15th pace finish, on the lead lap. He's calling time on a career that saw him win 9 times in what is now the Xfinity series (Busch Grand National series when he started 26 years ago!). Xfinity results.
 
Much like Indy, the high drag package at Michigan underwhelmed for everyone except the winner. Matt Kenseth dominated the Cup race, so was happy. For most of the grid, the response was a resounding 'meh'. Over in the Truck series, the race was a bit more interesting - Kyle Busch rallied back from a pit road speeding penalty to regain the lead on lap 97 of the 100 lap event with some help from team-mate Erik Jones to take the win by 0.157sec.

Things got chippy in the Xfinity race again - second race on the bounce at a road course, second race on the bounce that drivers got very unhappy with each other, second race on the bounce that Regan Smith was involved! This time it was Alex Tagliani getting hacked off with Smith, who bumped Tagliani out of the way on the final corner of the final lap to take the win. I've watched the final lap a couple of times now, and I'm siding with Alex on this one - Regan could have gone for a pass at other corners and raced him cleanly, he chose instead to bump him out of the groove. I've got no problem with door-banging on road courses to get by, but rear-ending someone to push them out of the way? Not cool.
 
Is that Mosport in 2014? If so, Cole Custer in the #00 went on to finish in 9th place and Tagliani ended the day a lap down in 16th. So not exactly a case of bashing the guy out of the way to snatch the win ;)
 
Well, I could post a round-up of what happened in NASCAR since the last race I posted about....but since no-one else seemed bothered enough to step into the breach I won't :)

I will however talk about Darlington. The Cup race saw the teams run the low-downforce package again, now with tyres from Goodyear designed to match. And couple all that to Darlington's legendarily tyre-eating surface and tricky nature, one hell of a race ensued. Okay, so Braindead Moron™ winning was fairly depressing. But the race itself? Great fun to watch.

NASCAR has taken the decision to use the standard 2015 aero rules package for the Chase, which is a little disappointing but I understand why they would go that way. Hopefully the low-downforce package becomes a part of the 2016 rules - and also hopefully they go back to the drawing board on the high-drag package used at Indy and Michigan, 'cause that sucked.
 
The Cup race at Richmond Saturday night has set the field for the Chase.

a10op5.jpg


The points are as follows:


  1. Jimmie Johnson - 2012
  2. Kyle Busch - 2012
  3. Matt Kenseth - 2012
  4. Joey Logano - 2009
  5. Kevin Harvick - 2006
  6. Dale Earnhardt Jr - 2006
  7. Kurt Busch - 2006
  8. Braindead Moron™ - 2006
  9. Brad Keselowski - 2003
  10. Martin Truex Jr - 2003
  11. Denny Hamlin - 2003
  12. Jamie McMurray - 2000
  13. Jeff Gordon - 2000
  14. Ryan Newman - 2000
  15. Paul Menard - 2000
  16. Clint Bowyer - 2000
 
Meanwhile, in the Trucks:


Just the good ol' boys
Never meanin' no harm
Beats all you ever saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since the day they was born

Straight'nin' the curves
Flatt'nin' the hills
Someday the mountain might get 'em
But the law never will

Makin' their way
The only way they know how
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow

Just the good ol' boys
Wouldn't change if they could
Fightin' the system like a true modern day Robin Hood
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for not updating the thread.

Well, not 'sorry' exactly....;)

Andreas.96 said:
I'm pretty up to speed anyway but I'd like some clarification on the 'chase' system.

Is it purely done on points or do wins come into it?
Click to expand...

I can't really explain it any better than Wikipedia has....so I'll quote it! :)

Wiki said:
Under the new system, the Chase field is expanded to 16 drivers for the 10-race Chase. The 16 drivers are chosen primarily on wins during the "regular season"; if fewer than 16 drivers win races during the regular season, the remaining field is filled on the basis of regular season points. These drivers compete against each other while racing in the standard field of 43 cars. The driver with the most points after the final 10 races is declared the champion.


The new playoff system means that drivers are eliminated from title contention as the Chase progresses. The bottom four of the top-16 drivers are eliminated from title contention after the third race (Dover) in what is called the "Challenger Round", reducing the size of the field by 25%. The bottom four winless drivers have their points reset based on the standard points system, while the remaining 12 Chase drivers' points are reset to 3,000 points. The new bottom four are eliminated after the sixth Chase race (Talladega) in the "Contender Round", reducing the size of the field another 33%. Those who continue have their points all reset to 4,000. Then the "Eliminator Round" involves axing 50% of the Chase grid, cutting the drivers 5th-8th in the points after the penultimate race at Phoenix, and the top four drivers have their point totals reset to 5,000 so that they are tied for the final race at Homestead-Miami for the title run. Of these four drivers, the driver with the best finish at Homestead is then the crowned series champion (these drivers do not earn bonus points for leading a lap or leading the most laps).https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_for_the_Sprint_Cup#cite_note-9 Any Chase driver who wins a race is automatically guaranteed a spot in the next round. Up to three drivers thus can advance to the next round of the Chase through race wins, regardless of their actual points position when the elimination race in that round happens. The remaining drivers advance on points.
Click to expand...

Andreas.96 said:
And are the points counted only between the chase drivers or through the entire field? For example if chase driver x is in 3rd and chase driver y is in 5th do they differ in 1 point because the car in 4th isn't in the chase? Or do they have two points difference? (Hope that makes sense :( )
Click to expand...

The field of 43 drivers are still all going for points, so a Chase driver gets the points that his/her finishing position pays.

Andreas.96 said:
Finally what's the best way to watch this in the UK? So far I've been limited to watching replays on Youtube.
Click to expand...

I've pretty much gave up trying to fathom out the ways of watching it live legally these days....

So, an update on how things stand post-Martinsville, the first of the Eliminator rounds. Eight drivers are still in contention - Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, Braindead Moron™, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano. Jeff Gordon has sealed a chance at the title with his win at Martinsville (and wouldn't that be one hell of a way to bow out!). The other seven drivers have two more races (Texas and Phoenix) to get themselves locked into the title fight.
 
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