Nascar: 2010

[Ron61]

They are normally allowed 5 MPH over the pit lane speed limit. But to many crews and drivers push it to the brink. If the speed limit is 50 MPH and you don't exceed 55 you are ok. But all it takes is a tach being off by 100 RPM and you will get that 55.002 speeding ticket. I know getting in and off is important, but I think I would set my tach and indicator about 100 RPM below the maximum to give myself a little margin for error. Maybe like some of the formula cars do, have a rev limiter that holds them under the pit speed. Does NASCAR have any rule forbidding something like that?

Ron

[tcrist]

Ron,
Nascar does not allow a pit road speed limiter. I think they should do away with the 5MPH over limit. If they can hold it to 55MPH then they can hold it to 50MPH. If you give them a +5MPH over cusion then they are going to try and run +4.99999999 of it.
JMO

[Ron61]

Terry,

I agree and even if the held them to the exact limit they would still get tickets as they would still push it just as far as they can. And with the computers and timing rings, they aren't going to get away with anything. I wonder how many people lost very close races back when they had to use a camera and people to try and tell who got to the finish line first. It is hard to believe that any person had good enough vision to determine between cars that finish a few thousands of a second apart.

Ron

[Don]

As Jeff Gordon stated, the end result of exceeding or not exceeding the pit lane speed limit is controlled by the drivers:

" 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." "

[Ron61]

Good qualifying session yesterday. Jeff Gordon had the pole and a new track record for a short time and then Kurt Bush broke it and he is now on the pole. The track seemed to be in pretty good shape but there are some bumps in it that were giving some of the cars trouble. It is hard to run the splitter right on the ground when you have to go over bumps.

Ron

[Ron61]

Well, the race was pretty good and Harvick had a great car. To bad that Danica got taken out by that car that was 62 laps down. I think NASCAR should start taking a look at letting cars that are so many laps down come back onto the track. You aren't going to gain any points when you are more laps down than there are left in the race.

Now I wonder how the lay off for a few months will affect her when she comes back to these heavier cars.

Ron

[Ralphy]

JJ has made himself the modern Richard Petty hasn't he?

[PatBuckley]

He sure has.

I think his team is awesome.

[Joe Wicked]

I really enjoyed yesterdays race. The changes made on the off season really did help with the racing, and I hope they continue. Was a lot of good action yesterday, and I was glad to see the low number of caution laps for a change. The lights not working properly were a bit of an annoyance, but it seems as though they got them fixed.

[Ron61]

The racing has been better and as you said, the light thing was a little annoying. But Jimmy Johnson and his team are really great and they seem to really understand just what is needed on the car. If nothing happens to any of them, they could break a lot of records before they are finished.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

I have been a Jimmy fan since I saw him win his first Off Road championship back in the 90s. I think he will be known as one of the all time greats in the future. One thing, for sure he will always be known as the first man to win 4 back to back championships.

[Don]

Joe, agree the #48 Team sets the high bar for everyone else to aspire to. They readily admit there was a degree of luck in last weeks track position with regards to their pit stop and the yellow flag. But, they were already in a position to influence their luck.

Believe there luck continued yesterday, as well as their excellence as a Team, when the #24 decided to take only 2 tires. With the number of laps remaining, still don't understand #24's 2 tire decision, which was driven by the desire for track position.

[Ron61]

Don,

I thought they made a mistake when they were doing that. To many cars had tried it before and after a few laps they just faded. I have to agree with Darell Waltrip on his give me 4 new tires theory. If there had only been 10 to 12 laps left it might have worked, but most of the others after about 7 laps started falling back with just two new tires.

Ron

[Ron61]

Wings to be gone soon.

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

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Jeff said in a later interview that they thought more teams would take 2 for track position and give them enough buffer to hold off the charge from the 4 tire teams. They were afraid that if they took 4 they would be too far back in the field to make it back. He said that was a case of watch the 24 team. If he takes 2, we take 4 so we can pass him, if he takes 4 we take 2 so we can get in front of him finally.

[Ron61]

Yea, being the leader near the end of a race like that is a difficult position. You nearly always lose no matter what you do. I just think there were to many laps left for just tow tires and if he had taken 4 and the rest 2 he would have ran them down just like they did him. It is when you have 10 to 15 laps left and have been out on the tires for quite a while that the 2 tires can work as they won't wear out in that few laps.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Yea, I think they realized that before they went back racing, but he didn't want to admit that they screwed up.

[Don]

Somewhat off topic, but also somewhat relevant to the design of the NASCAR cars. ALMS has combined the GT cars into one class for 2010. Included will be the original unique designs of Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Jaguar, Ford, Panoz and Viper, 8 different looking cars.

Quote from Road & Track:

" It's awesome. It's what the fans want to see. They want to see cars that they recognize, cars that they can go to the dealer and buy. People have embraced ALMS racing "

Next step for NASCAR, return to unique manufacturer body styles, even though it will complicate the inspection process and the debates of old on specific Manufacturers have an unfair advantage, i.e. favoritism, regarding down force and aerodynamics, with NASCAR approving multiple design changes during the year etc . Then the fans can mention the only reason there is a win, due to the manufacturer's design. Petty's use of the high wing Superbird design lasted one year or less before being banned.

[Ron61]

Don,

Besides just liking road racing better, that is another big plus for the ALMS. I can look at the cars and see what they are without having to wait until I can read whatever they have painted on them. I don't think you will ever see NASCAR go back to this. To me, that is why the NASCAR so called manufacturers trophy is a joke.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

Don

I have said it before, I believe that NASCAR simply has far too many rules about the design of the cars. There is virtually no room for interpretation and innovation by the teams. I think that the rules should simply stick to anything to do with safety, plus minimum weight, maximum engine displacement and type (carb vs: injection, push rods vs: OHC, etc), as well as some basic rules about the dimensions of the car. Then let the teams innovate and build their cars the best way they can.

You want to run IRS instead of a live axle, go ahead and give it a try. You want an automatic transmission or a 5 or 6 speed instead of a 4 speed, go ahead. Maybe it will work, maybe it won't. Eventually slower teams will pick up on the features of the faster teams and the cars will all be more or less the same until someone had a better idea then further development would take place. I realize that NASCAR will never let this happen.

Wayne