2019 Season NASCAR Thread (lights, average, contracts, difference)
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My favorite is still Watkins Glenn, those cars racing around the corners getting a little lift on those same corners and everyone just sliding and banging trying to find a few inches of ground to pass.
My favorite is still Watkins Glenn, those cars racing around the corners getting a little lift on those same corners and everyone just sliding and banging trying to find a few inches of ground to pass.
Back in the day, the road course races kinda sucked.
You had about 5 to 7 drivers who legitimately had a shot to win.
Road Course racing really came into its own in NASCAR in the mid 2000's to 2010 or so.
I love the summer stretch in the Xfinity series where they do three road courses in 4 weeks.
I thought the Montreal(?) race was very good as well.. Though wasn't TOO much a fan of the Mexico City race.
Pocono used to have a significant number of engine failures due to the high RPMs, and then you'd have transmission issues because of the shifting they'd do..
Do you think the cars of today are too good? You don't see many engines blowing up anymore. A few here and there, typically in the lesser known cars.
I hate to say it, but I even miss fuel mileage races. At least there, you had some anticipation if the car could make it.
I like when strategy is added to a race. The typical strategy today is to take 2 or 4 tires. Then we see that two tires rarely work against the 4 tire cars.
Now you have Kyle leading by 2.5 seconds with 20 plus laps to go. Since the drivers are taking less risk with their cars, there are few yellows, so pretty good chance Kyle (or the leader at that point) is going to win.
Maybe it's drama that I'm missing in these races....
Do you think the cars of today are too good? You don't see many engines blowing up anymore. A few here and there, typically in the lesser known cars.
I hate to say it, but I even miss fuel mileage races. At least there, you had some anticipation if the car could make it.
I like when strategy is added to a race. The typical strategy today is to take 2 or 4 tires. Then we see that two tires rarely work against the 4 tire cars.
Now you have Kyle leading by 2.5 seconds with 20 plus laps to go. Since the drivers are taking less risk with their cars, there are few yellows, so pretty good chance Kyle (or the leader at that point) is going to win.
Maybe it's drama that I'm missing in these races....
In a way.. Yes, the cars are far too reliable. Let's go back and look at.. I'm just pulling two random races here, assuming I can find the results.. 1999 Spring Pocono (Because Bobby won) and 2018 Spring Pocono.
Now, they are 500 vs 400 mile races, so, keep that in mind.
In '99.. 6 cars dropped from that race due to mechanical issues. Bill Elliott, Geoffrey Bodine, David Green (Hedrick car), Wally Dallenbach (Hendrick #25), Dick Trickle and Joe Nemechek all fell out with mechanical
In addition, there were 6 DNFs from crashes. Rusty, Dave Marcis, Michael Waltrip, Darrell Waltrip, Johnny Benson and Ward Burton
That's over a quarter of the field. Margin of victory was only .34 seconds Bobby over Jeff Gordon
In 2018.. There were 3 mechanical issues and 1 crash. Out of 38 cars. 11%. Margin of victory was 2.5 seconds.
Kahne, DiBennedetto and Bubba Wallace fell out for mechanical and Denny Hamlin crashed.
One other thing to point out here.. In 2018, there were 27 cars on the lead lap. In 1999, there were 18. So.. I think that speaks to the fact that competition is certainly more stringent.. But, When someone is winning by 2.5 seconds.. It is nice to have in the back of your mind that "Hey, an engine could let go at any time."
interesting that some are complaining that race cars are too reliable. never forget that bad parts will always slip though inspections, and will break during a race.
as to the fuel economy racing, that still happens, its just that so far this season the caution flags have fallen in a manner to avoid such races. add to that the drivers are doing the things they need to do to save fuel and still run hard. the engineers always trying to improve fuel economy as well as horsepower.
interesting that some are complaining that race cars are too reliable. never forget that bad parts will always slip though inspections, and will break during a race.
as to the fuel economy racing, that still happens, its just that so far this season the caution flags have fallen in a manner to avoid such races. add to that the drivers are doing the things they need to do to save fuel and still run hard. the engineers always trying to improve fuel economy as well as horsepower.
Bad parts happen. I recall a plate race a number of years ago.. Don't remember which one or when, but Hendrick got some bad parts and it was like dominos falling.. One Hendrick driver went out, then the MB2 team, then another Hendrick, then the 09, then another Hendrick.. All of them using Hendrick engines. At the end, only like 1 Hendrick engine made it the entire race.
Used to be.. And only the oldest of us will likely remember this.. Martinsville used to have 4 or 5 cars per race fall out with brake failures. The track was notorious for being hard on brakes. Pocono had transmission failures.. Michigan had the highest number of engine failures..
It's not really a complaint.. It's just.. I mean, well, in a way it's a good thing, because remember, back in the day you'd also have RCR bring a second (or third) car to Atlanta to start-and-park if Earnhardt needed a 40th place finish to win the championship. The fact those days are gone is a good thing.
Bad parts happen. I recall a plate race a number of years ago.. Don't remember which one or when, but Hendrick got some bad parts and it was like dominos falling.. One Hendrick driver went out, then the MB2 team, then another Hendrick, then the 09, then another Hendrick.. All of them using Hendrick engines. At the end, only like 1 Hendrick engine made it the entire race.
Used to be.. And only the oldest of us will likely remember this.. Martinsville used to have 4 or 5 cars per race fall out with brake failures. The track was notorious for being hard on brakes. Pocono had transmission failures.. Michigan had the highest number of engine failures..
It's not really a complaint.. It's just.. I mean, well, in a way it's a good thing, because remember, back in the day you'd also have RCR bring a second (or third) car to Atlanta to start-and-park if Earnhardt needed a 40th place finish to win the championship. The fact those days are gone is a good thing.
yeah i remember those days, and i am glad they are pretty much gone as well. i like the current chase for the championship where the contenders have to run hard all the time or get dropped from the chase. i thank the racing gods that gone if the time that the points leader only has to finish 18th in the final race, or in a couple of cases all the points leader had to do was start the race and they won the championship.
yeah i remember those days, and i am glad they are pretty much gone as well. i like the current chase for the championship where the contenders have to run hard all the time or get dropped from the chase. i thank the racing gods that gone if the time that the points leader only has to finish 18th in the final race, or in a couple of cases all the points leader had to do was start the race and they won the championship.
But has that made racing more exciting to watch? Yesterday's Martinsville race was semi-interesting. Brad K lead something like 90% of the race. Chase had some moments, as well as the 12 & 18. I know in the past, we have had one driver lead nearly all of the laps, but again, it just feels like once the leader at the beginning of the race is going to dominate and win. Sort of been the trend of late.
Would have been so cool to see the 9 bumping the 2's bumper for the last 4-5 laps. Maybe even the 12 or 18 applying pressure to the 9, but the 9 couldn't catch the 2 at the end, which lead to another, un-dramatic finish.
yeah i remember those days, and i am glad they are pretty much gone as well. i like the current chase for the championship where the contenders have to run hard all the time or get dropped from the chase. i thank the racing gods that gone if the time that the points leader only has to finish 18th in the final race, or in a couple of cases all the points leader had to do was start the race and they won the championship.
I don't know.. I'm split.. I think you're likely right, but we've also changed it to where only the last race really matters. I mean, someone wins the Daytona 500.. They are basically on cruise control the rest of the year, until the final 10 races. So, rather than having the one race where they really don't need to finish well.. They have 25 (or more)
I did like the old points system where consistency over the entire season determined the champion, but I'm also not totally against the current 'knockout' style. Even though, yes, back in the day, the final race often was a moot point, because someone had already clinched the week before.
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