Nascar: 2010

[rustyBob]

I would say if they stopped the race long enough to clear the wreckage from the track then tell all the drivers to lineup in the running order they where in when they stopped the race and put hem back to green when they get lined up and if someone wants to pit they can do it under green...........
no more cut tires under yellow and the cleanup crews can work without the fear of getting run over........

[Michael C Henry]

Some of the older tacks have had water problems in the past. When they built Daytona and later when they banked it they didn't putt enough attention to reduce those effects. Water under asphalt just doesn't work. And those swalls just do not work at those speeds. Times for some major rebuilding. Let's see if they actually do anything substantial.
OH! our power went out as everyone was arriving and was off for about 1 1/2 hours. Between the power outage and the pavement cautions, we had more than enough time to chat and snack.

[Ron61]

Mike,

To bad you couldn't get your power outage to coincide with the times they were under the red flag. I think it is time they did a major repaving job on the speedway. And put in some kind of drainage system too.

Ron

[Don]

Wayne & rustyBob.........I agree

The debris only cautions, NASCAR needs to have the debris brought to a central point and then shown on TV.....,would add some creditability to the caution, and/or make the official think twice about the need for the caution. However, they would need to take into consideration the possibility of a cut tire if the debris happens to be more than paper.

The drivers add to the cautions for their own purposes. An example, Johnson was calling for a caution thinking the start of the " Daytona Pothole " created a leaking rear tire , when he really had a broken axle, to which he admitted. But following Waynes suggestion, their would be no advantage.

Looks like the entire subject of all types of cautions needs to be reviewed

[Ron61]

How about no caution laps count. After a set number, maybe 4, they red flag the race and stop them until they clear up whatever excuse they are using for the caution. No pit stops under caution.

Ron

[rustyBob]

they should throw the red flag everytime there is a wreck anyways......
stop the cars and clean up the wreck........

[Don]

" The Daytona racing surface hasn't been repaved in 31 years, and opinion has been mixed as to whether the old, bumpy surface needs a facelift. Braig told SceneDaily.com this week that the surface could be repaved within the next three years, a move some drivers would champion "

" Sister track Talladega Superspeedway required five months to be repaved,....."

Summary from SceneDaily.com regarding the " Daytona Pothole ":

http://www.scenedaily.com/news/artic...eventable.html

[Joe Wicked]

The year Texas had the water problem did not result in a repave, that was Homestead I believe. Texas had the issue the year we were flooding from all the rains. The same week Nascar was here, we had whole neighborhoods evacuated from lakes flooding over and flooding them out. The water began filling the infield and was pumped out. It then began seeping back in through the track.

[Don]

Just got to looking at Monday's USA Today. The " Daytona Pothole " got more coverage on Page 1 of the Sports Section with a 7.5 X 6 color photo ,than Jamie McMurray with a 2.5 X 3.5 color photo underneath the larger photo.

Unfortunate for Jamie, would have been nice to see him get his day in the spotlight. The Daytona 500 win will be with him for a long time.

[rustyBob]

Did you guys see Jamie on the Leterman show.......Letterman showed a picture of the hole in the track and i can see why they stopped the race you could have lost a small animal in there and they used Bondo to fix it with......now thats funny.......

[Don]

Note the opinions on whether Daytona should be resurfaced, from USA Today:

" On the surface, drivers oppose Daytona repaving "
By Nate Ryan, USA TODAY:

" DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The pothole that nearly derailed NASCAR's marquee race has been filled, but Daytona International Speedway still faces a quandary in fixing the surface of stock car racing's most storied track.
Would repaving the 2.5-mile oval create a new void in the Daytona 500?

A week-long evaluation by track engineers began Monday on the weathered and abrasive asphalt, which hasn't been resurfaced since 1978. But applying a fresh coat of asphalt isn't a sure thing despite the 52nd running of the "Great American Race" being delayed twice for more than two hours of repairs.

"They're going to spend a lot of time (on) an assessment," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said.

The cure might be more complicated than it seems. Two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart said last week that he "would hate to see them repave because drivers (play) a huge part."

That's because a rough track is more difficult to navigate, putting a priority on a car's handling and a driver's talent.

Talladega Superspeedway was repaved five years ago, and its glass-smooth surface produced a single-file race last year that was excoriated by drivers and fans.

Greg Biffle, who finished third Sunday, said repaving Daytona would be unfortunate "because the grip level is perfect. You can't go (at full throttle) like Talladega and stay in line."

Daytona began mulling a 2011 repaving last year. Track President Robin Braig, though, was leaning against it Sunday after a race with a record 21 leaders (including winner Jamie McMurray, who passed Biffle with a lap left). "

[Ralphy]

Check out Bobby Labonte staying off the inside wall. Pretty damn good driving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhLo0LBt5L4

[Ron61]

A complete repaving of the track wouldn't be the best thing I don't believe. But they do need to check and take out the questionable places and see if they can fix some kind of drainage under them and then pave them back to where they are even with the old surface. They may have to use some kind of bondo to get new asphalt to stick to the old in the holes or it will just come up again.

Ron

[Don]

USA Today updates on pave or no pave. Notice the cost if/when the Track is repaired. Seems with the patch, no guarantees that the same situation will not reoccur. NASCAR mentioned the track was inspected on Sunday morning and the problem did not exist. Now that the pothole has happened, for the future until a repave, if that's the decision, I would guess NASCAR will have the best material and equipment available for hopefully an immediate and timely repair.

" Track president Robin Braig said a team of engineers and asphalt specialists from North American Testing Corp. decided a strip of pavement will be removed and a reinforced concrete patch will be poured in the area where a significant pothole developed during Sunday's race

The patch in the asphalt surface will be about 6 feet wide and 18 feet long, and should hold up until the 2-1/2 mile, high-banked superspeedway undergoes a $20 million repaving scheduled for as early as 2012. The current surface was paved in 1978. "


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor...-repairs_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/motor...a-repave_N.htm

[Michael C Henry]

I also think that drainage should be part of any future fixes. Before they put all that nice new black top over water seeping to the surface. They need to find a solid bottom to stop the setteling where the track keeps sinking.

[Ron61]

I agree with you that drainage should be improved a great deal. And where the track has settled and made the bumps needs to be looked at too. It has had a lot of hard use and actually has stood up quite well over all.

Ron

[Ron61]

Hey Don,

What do you think this will do to the racing at Bristol? I really like the short tracks and I don't think it will hurt the racing much once they get used to the lost 3 feet.

http://www.nascar.com/2010/news/head...ion/index.html

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

It will be interesting to see how many hit it.

[Ron61]

I would almost bet that the first race or so it will be tried out. Several may just brush it as they do on other tracks.

Ron

[Don]

Regarding pit lane speeding, quote from Jeff Gordon regarding Montoya's exit speed infraction from last year, which contributed in Montoya not winning the race:

"The bottom line is that he was speeding," Gordon said. "To NASCAR's defense their system that they have, you can't dispute it. They'll show you exactly which zone [you speed in]. After the race you can go find it and I've not heard one person come back and say that, 'Well, they were absolutely wrong.' Once they show them everything I would dispute the person that feels like they were in the wrong because their system is very accurate. But what I'm not confident in is our system. We have to be able to go and push the limits of that speed. I play it conservative and if my system breaks down I'm going to get caught speeding. If I play it too aggressively I'm probably going to get caught speeding. So it's still in our hands."

Due to the number of pit speed violations in the Nationwide race at Fontana, at the Cup drivers meeting Sunday morning, drivers were specifically warned by NASCAR about speeding on pit lane. The easiest zone regarding speed is the pit closest to the exit point of the track where the car is past the last timing zone start point.

While there is always the chance of a technical malfunction, NASCAR records and makes available to the Teams the speeds at a number of check points along the pit lane from yellow line to yellow line, , while allowing for a variance, i.e., if the speed limit is 55 , then the infraction is not enforced until the speed is 60. Just seems overall in all the races there are more announced exit speed infractions than entry.

Upon entry, the drivers are in a specific gear and use the tach as their reference point which is equated to MPH, in the absence of a speedometer.

During the reentry phase onto the track they are accelerating thru the gears along with the tires spinning ( higher RPM ), without the guidance of a specific tach reference point, and at the same time very aggressively attempting to improve their track position. The replays of the cars crossing the pit, upon exit, yellow line indicate how close the cars are attempting to gain and/or not lose track position.