****NASCAR in 2015****
- Thread starter JRS
- Start date
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.
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
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.
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
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.
Not to that extreme, but with the banking as it is there's no real difference between the start and end of a fuel run.
It can happen at slower speeds as well (Dover has seen a couple of examples in recent years). As far as driver safety is concerned, I'd be more worried about European single seater categories right now - they've had a rash of injuries and airborne cars to boot (mostly caused by moronic driving).
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!
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
Should be a good race, although I don't think Loudon has been as interesting as the other short tracks in recent years.
The change to progressive banking didn't really do much for it.
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.
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.
Didn't watch it live, but disappointing to see stupid debris yellows creeping back in. I respect Kyle Busch's talent but the fact he can theoretically win the title after missing 11 races is a bit much. Nascar must realise by now with the falling ratings that gimmicks and contrivances aren't selling the sport.
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.
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.
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.
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
I know. Just saying, he isn't the right guy to be lecturing others about racing clean