Nascar: 2010

[tcrist]

I am an avid race fan. I watch every week all that I can.

This has just about ended it for me. I am concidering not watching racing any more. This is crap from Nascar and I have just about had it. This ruling has really pi$$ed me off.

To HE!! with Nascar.

[Ralphy]

Watching the video of the Keselowski crash. In slow motion when the car turns you can see the rear of the spoiler lift quit a bit. NASCAR stated the spoiler has no effect?
Right.............

At about 1:10 in the video.

http://www.streetfire.net/video/brad...war_740206.htm

Yes I had said spoiler. I should have said wing.

[PatBuckley]

I watched the F1 race this week end.

I am an F1 fan - have been waiting for the season to start since the minute it ended last year.

After 5 laps I realized how much I missed the fact that there wasn't a NASCAR race on tv this week end.

[4pipes]

Hi Pat, how are you? I am a big F1 fan also. It was like baseball for me. A slow build but now those are my favorite tv views. I watch the practice, the qualifying, and the race. BTW, I love the ALMS also.

[Ron61]

The Red Bull car was doing great until that broken header or whatever it was. I wonder if the American team will make it next year. And I also like the ALMS series. I like nearly all types of racing but prefer the road racing.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

Originally Posted by 4pipes

Hi Pat, how are you? I am a big F1 fan also. It was like baseball for me. A slow build but now those are my favorite tv views. I watch the practice, the qualifying, and the race. BTW, I love the ALMS also.

Dave

I have got to the Canadian GP in Montreal for years. I spend all 3 days there and I can say that I enjoy the practice and qualifying more than the actual race. One of the reasons is that you cannot move an inch on race day as the stands are completely full whereas there are some empty seats the previous 2 days.

I noticed that the Bahrain race could be considered a made-for-TV event as there are only a couple of grand stands and they appeared to be virtually empty, even during the race itself. The Canadian Grand Prix has great attendance all 3 days and is 100% full on race day.

Wayne

[Don]

Wayne, the new spoilers were shipped to the Teams on Monday March 15th. Measurements are 64.5 X 4.0. The angle was not mentioned, adjustable for different tracks ?

While various dates have been mentioned for using the new wing, still to be determined ?

[PatBuckley]

Originally Posted by 4pipes

Hi Pat, how are you? I am a big F1 fan also. It was like baseball for me. A slow build but now those are my favorite tv views. I watch the practice, the qualifying, and the race. BTW, I love the ALMS also.

Doing well, David!

I am also one of those who watches every session - and I can even appreciate the strategies that come into play during the course of a race.....no matter how slowly they evolve, but when an entire two hour race is reduced to one three second pit stop I am DONE!

[Ron61]

What was the reasoning behind that 1 pit stop and no fuel allowed to be added? Safety or what.

Ron

[Joe Wicked]

Even though I am a JJ fan, it was kind of sad to see the dejection in Kurt Busch. His comment almost sounded like he was beginning to believe that he cannot beat JJ. I hope that is not how many feel because even though I am a fan, that will make for some boring races or some intentional wrecks to keep him from winning. I don't want to see either. JJ move at the restart into turn 1 won him the race. The door was slammed on Kurt before he could do the same. Had there been 10-15 more laps, I think he would have gotten around Stewart and challenged for the win.

I did also wonder yesterday what will happen when Chad moves on? Will JJ be as dominant? Look at how good Jeff Gordon was when Ray Evernham was his CC. After he left, Jeff became just one of the other racers. I believe it is a perfect pairing that either with a different partner would not do as well.

I will say that so far this year the racing has been a bit better than in the last couple, but not yet up to where it was when I got hooked.

[Ron61]

Joe,

I agree with you that the racing is somewhat better than in the past year or so but still not nearly up to what it used to be. Next week should be interesting as that will be the return of the spoiler.

As for JJ being as good without Chad, that is questionable. Right now they have about as perfect a match as you can get. And after Ray left Jeff Gordon he won the first race or two, but it was with set ups that Evernham had already laid out. I just don't think that Lomis, (spelling), is all that great as a CC for Gordon.

Ron

[Don]

Another perspective:

*** Bristol with 150,000+ seating capacity, " If " 80 + or - % filled = 120,00 + or - attending. The average attendance per game at other sporting events:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...sports_leagues

*** Is it the racing, or the economy, or a combination of both ? Until there is a sustained economic recovery with unemployment below 5 % rather than 9.8 % , minimal foreclosures/bankruptcy/use of food stamps and growth in the business/industrial base for taxes, the impact of contributing factors regarding track attendance ?

Seems the infield/outfield RV spaces continue to do well. While still a challenge at the Sprint Cup level, but there are sponsors, i.e. the 2010 Census commenting on the needed exposure it received for NASCAR advertising, must be good if the US Gov does it...........( smile )

To me, a better indicator at year end will be the TV ratings for the entire season , compared to both last year and the peak years, will there be the start of a positive trend ? Then, look at the non-racing factors for track attendance. The best seats @ New Hampshire Speedway remain at $110/ea, still surprised at the number of families attending in 2009 not considering food, travel and sometimes the lodging cost.

[Don]

Correction:

Fox mentioned the seating capacity at Bristol is 158,000 with 20% empty, 127, 000 attending, first non sell out in 55 races

What's better, the above or 100% attending at a 60-80,000 capacity ?

[Joe Wicked]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Joe,
As for JJ being as good without Chad, that is questionable. Right now they have about as perfect a match as you can get. And after Ray left Jeff Gordon he won the first race or two, but it was with set ups that Evernham had already laid out. I just don't think that Lomis, (spelling), is all that great as a CC for Gordon.

Loomis is gone too now. I just think it is a perfect pair that complement each other quite well and make a good team. I also think that Chad will be offered a higher position in Hendrick before too much longer just based on his skill. That will mean a new CC for Jimmy and I, like you question whether the streak will continue. I just hope that the other drivers are not throwing in the towel already for the season mentally. Generally speaking people will think something for a while before they speak it and now Kurt Busch has spoke his frustrations on the 48 team winning again. 8th year and already his 50th win is big though.

[Ron61]

Joe,

I even heard Jeff Gordon say in a moment of frustration that all the rest of them were racing for was 2nd place any more. Having JJ win all the time is going to be another blow to NASCAR as fans are starting to watch other things on TV as well as not going to the track because they just figure he is going to win so why waste time watching. It was about the same back when Jeff was winning so many races and people were booing him all the time. The main difference is they kept gaining fans and the fans kept waiting for his winning streak to end. Also I am tired of the interviews as they sound pre memorized and have about all the interest of watching a weed grow. That just naming every sponsor on the car and the fear of showing any emotion if they are mad is hurting NASCAR also. They have just about regulated themselves out of the main stream interest in racing with their PC crap.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

One good thing about JJ is that at least he isn't driving a car with "Toyota" written all over it.

I notice that even some of the top fuel dragsters have "Toyota" stickers on them now.

Wayne

[Joe Wicked]

LOL that was pretty funny. Accurate too.

[Don]

Doug ,that was good, but also most appropriate. When the wing was introduced a driver complaint was not being able to see thru the back window of a car in front, as to the action in front of that car etc etc

[Ron61]

Don,

We have seen several cars get hit from behind because the car following them couldn't see the driver in front waving his hand back and forth to signal he was going into the pits. At least this spoiler will give them a little better vision. I am looking forward to next weekends race, but more so to the first 1 1/2 mile track to see just how much the spoiler may affect the speeds on the straightways. I don't think it will slow the cars down to much and I would rather see good racing at a little lower speeds than a 195 MPH circle of cars just driving around because no one can pass.

Ron

[Don]

So much for the wing being the primary reason for the airborne cars, again coming from " long-time Ford Racing engineer Bernie Marcus ", aerodynamic specialist. Bernie must be right as he has the Blue Oval next to his name. The flip up panels on the roof were designed for inside air to escape, nothing to do with under car air , believe it was Jack Roush's idea. Looks like this topic has gotten additional formal technical analysis. Almost like comparing the lack of aero design of the 50's to 70's to 80's cars prior to the manufacturer's interest in producing a more slippery shape and their modern styling, where even today's manufactured cars have similar styling. The older cars were like bricks , from an aero design viewpoint. From AutoRacing Sport:

" Ongoing tests are directed at preventing cars from becoming airborne when they turn sideways or backward. Keselowski’s flight at Atlanta caused particular concern among NASCAR officials because such problems are relatively rare at 1.5-mile tracks (although Atlanta speeds are seriously fast despite the track size). The switch next week from wing to spoiler is likely to have no measurable effect on holding cars on the ground. Wind tunnel tests and study of videotapes of airborne crashes indicate that the major cause of cars taking flight is the rush of air underneath the car, not the rear-deck wing. Among the solutions, according to long-time Ford Racing engineer Bernie Marcus, an aerodynamic specialist, might be slots in the rear area of the car so that, in an accident, air would have places to escape."

Sometime ago there was a video circulating of a sports car at a European race that was at over 200++ mph on a straight by itself, and the car slowly lifted up and then flipped. Happened a 2nd time and the Team withdrew the cars. The front of the car was designed with aero principles for cutting thru the air

Difficult to compare reasons and consequences/solutions of lift when the cars were previously traveling at 150+ mph vs today's 200 + mph. Corner exit speed, tires, aero design, suspension, obtaining higher HP from the 358 CI engine w/o the restrictor plate , banking, track surface, etc., etc., many reasons for the higher MPH. While spoiler testing has gone well from a driver's viewpoint, the real test will be in actual race conditions

Speaking of sponsors, anyone notice that Greg Biffle's #16 is officially, at least for 3 races at a cost of $1.5 million, known as the " No. 16 U.S. Census Ford Fusion ", Yes, he is required to mention the entire name of the car when being interviewed, probably part of the contract. Census estimated each 1% nationwide improvement in mailed census forms vs having someone visit the residence saves $85 million.