Nascar: 2010

[Wayne Maybury]

Some thoughts on the race yesterday.

- Some good racing, some bad wrecks.
- I thought that Kasie Kane had the best car but he got hung up during the final re-start and just didn't have a chance to catch Kurt Busch.
- Several of the Fords did very well. This is the fiest time this season that the Ford power was impressive. Are they running the new engine now?
- Almost all of the Chevies had tire problems, really strange.
- I was disappointed in the way Carl Edwards handled the situation late in the race. This was very dangerous and could have turned out much worse.
- The Edwards incident all but proves that the wing is responsible for these cars turning upside down.
- Lots and lots of empty seats at Atlanta.

Wayne

[Ron61]

Wayne,

I thought the three best cars were Bush, Kane, and Montoya. Bush had the best car all day on the short runs and then Kane and Montoya would catch and pass him. In this situation where there were only a few laps left, I felt Bush would win and he did a good job.

As for the Chevies, I think they just had to much tilt built into the wheels. Even the back ones were wearing out the inside of the tires where they had tilted them in. A bad miscalculation on the part of Childress and Hendrick teams. Look at Jeff Gordon. He was running 3rd and they had just said he had the fastest car out there and all of a sudden he is in the pits and laps down. Jimmy Johnson had the same problems but I think he took it easier on his tires than the others. He saw what was going on and decided to get the best finish he could and not wreck.

And there were lots of empty seats. And I think there will be for quite a while to come. NASCAR has ruined their racing with all of their have to control everything from the car to the springs and etc.

Ron

[Don]

What has happened in the past, and whoever was at fault, between Edwards and Keselowski, did in no way justify Edwards intentional move to wreck him. Besides destroying a $100K+ race car which is only money, the possibility of the car or debris going into the stands, the human tragedy. The commentators mentioned seeing Edwards, with his white gloves, turning right.

With all the criticism regarding COT & NASCAR, amazing the driver survived and was able to walk to the ambulance, initially with a slight limp. The higher by approx 5" greenhouse above the driver's head and revised roll cage helped in minimizing the compression. With or without the wing and going to a spoiler, a car can still flip.

The fines, not sure if the driver really pays 100% or the Team's owner helps to pay some or all. The link below mentions that NASCAR will meet today/tomorrow to arrive at a penalty. There would be more impact to the driver and Team, with sponsor consequences, if both the driver AND the car are suspended, 5 races would be fine. Roush was all over Busch a few years ago for his antics, wonder how he will handle Edwards.The loss of points for 5 races would more than likely eliminate Edwards from the Chase.

"But the most dramatic event in the closing laps was an incident between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards, who had been locked in a shoving match for several laps. As the duo streaked across the start/finish line with two laps to go, Edwards appeared to intentionally nudge Keselowski's left rear quarter-panel, propelling Keselowski into the wall and then airborne before ferociously smashing his upturned car into first the wall and then the track surface.

"The No. 99 just wrecked me intentionally on the straightaway," Keselowski said as he left he infield care center, where he had been seen and released. "I was cutting him some slack because I knew he was angry, but I guess it wasn't enough slack, and he about killed me."

Edwards was promptly black-flagged and ordered to the NASCAR hauler.

"Brad knows the deal between him and I," Edwards said. "The scary part was his car went airborne, which was not at all what I expected. I wish it wouldn't have gone like it did, but I'm glad he's okay ... maybe him and I won't get in any more incidents together." "

Additional:

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=359641

[Ron61]

Don,

While I completely agree with your comments regarding what Edwards did, I do not and have never liked the so called COT or NASCAR Car. Remember it was just last year in the Daytona 500 that Keselowski sent Edwards into the fence and really hurt some fans. What happened in the past should stay there, but this farce of a car should be replaced, and they can make real cars just as safe by adding the safety features to them. I also noticed as Wayne pointed out, the empty seats. And as I stated earlier, I was really surprised when they finally published the ratings for this years Daytona 500. I thought they would be higher but they were way below last years.

Ron

[Don]

Ron.....would you make the greenhouse as tall? Ask some of the taller drivers where the top of the helmet at one time just about touched the roll cage.

[Ron61]

Why couldn't they just do what Shelby did with the Gurney Hump. Also the seats can be lowered and other things changed that would not compromise safety in any way. I just don't like hand made cars that you have to read what is painted on them to tell what make they are supposed to be. Also they have killed all innovations by the crews. so nothing gets improved on the models made by the actual manufacturers any more because of some racing mechanic coming up with a good idea.

Sorry Don, on most things we agree but I will never and never have liked this NASCAR car. If they want to race it and control everything themselves, then change the name from NASCAR and I wouldn't have that much of a problem with it as they wouldn't be trying to push something off on the public that is as phony as some of their rules.

EDIT: New rules and specs for spoilers. http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/stor...or-Cup-spoiler


Pat,

Now that was a funny remark and I wonder if we will see all of the drivers show up with black gloves after this.

Ron

[Wayne Maybury]

I was really quite disappointed when I saw Carl wreck the 12 car. That was very dangerous and he certainly deserves to sit out a few races to think about what he did and what the result could have been. He could have easily waited for a better time or place, like Bristol or Martinsville where the speeds are much slower. Dale Earnhart Sr. used to push anyone/everyone out of his way. He wrecked or spun out more cars than the rest of the drivers put together. Maybe Carl thinks that he is the reincarnation of Dale Sr.

Ron, you are right about the amount of camber the Chevies were using. The commentators also mentioned that some teams are bending the rear axle housing to try to make the car turn better but this is also very hard on the tires. One way or the other, the Chevies went through a bunch of rubber yesterday.


As far as the spoiler is concerned, NASCAR is handling it in exactly the way they handle everything else. They are not only specifying every aspect of the spoiler but they are actually going to supply the spoilers to each team. Why not just tell the teams to make their own spoilers. The specs are that it cannot be bigger that 4" by 65" (this is just an example) and must be made from plastic or aluminum no thicker than 1/4". Give the teams some freedom to design and build some parts.

Wayne
Wayne

[PatBuckley]

Carl Eswards note to self: Start wearing dark colored gloves.