79 replies to this topic

[OfficeLinebacker]

So this track looks like an avocado and is famous for having a really tight exit to it's corners. Almost every car ends up at least lightly brushing the wall on exit at some point in the race. The more raucous interactions with the outside retaining wall or SAFER barrier result in what's called "The Darlington Stripe."

46 cars are entered for 43 spots in the Cup race and I believe the same goes for the Nationwide race.

Here's what jayski has to say: http://www.jayski.co.../11darl2009.htm

Here's NASCAR.com's track page: http://www.nascar.co...ces/tracks/dar/

As to why it's asymmetrical: the story goes that the land owner didn't want his pond disturbed cos it made for good fishin'. So the designer had to make one end narrower so as to maintain the integrity of the fishin' hole.

[Ruud de la Rosa]

ramsey pond

http://maps.google.n...=...mp;t=h&z=16
http://ramseyspond.com/

I'm not a big follower of nascar. What is the shortest track in this season?

[Tenmantaylor]

Is Martinsville the shortest? Or Richmond? I remember enjoying the short tracks more than the super speedways in Papys N2003. Remember Darlington being one of the only ovals that provided a real driving challenge in N2003, the throttle application (or lateness of it) was very difficult to get right. The two corners being so different and in quick succession its very difficult to find a rythm unlike Richmond or Martinsville where the two corners are almost identical.

This is a race Id like to watch

[johnap]

Martinsville is just over 0.5 miles, the shortest track on the schedule, Bristol is slightly longer and Richmond is 0.75 miles.

[Phucaigh]

Darlington last year was probably one of the best races, probably biased given I liked the outcome but Rowdy sure did stand out.....

[OfficeLinebacker]

Martinsville is just over 0.5 miles, the shortest track on the schedule, Bristol is slightly longer and Richmond is 0.75 miles.

Correct, I think Bristol is something like .533 miles or something. Martinsville is called the "paperclip" cos it's two straightaways joined by two hairpins. Not much banking, very suited to road racers who are used to braking deep. Also the hardest track on brakes.

Anyway Darlington used to have a really abrasive surface which tore tires up. Now it's much smoother but still very hard to drive.

[Tenmantaylor]

When I said Richmond I was thinking of Bristol

[OfficeLinebacker]

When I said Richmond I was thinking of Bristol

Yeah makes sense in context. No worries mate, we're on the same page as far as anticipating a good race and appreciating the difficulty of Darlington.

[red stick]

I always enjoy watching this race. Expect another good one. And I wish more tracks had half the character this one does.

[OfficeLinebacker]

N'wide qualifying rained out. Cup Quali moved back to 5:40. The rain showers moved through and the sun is already out.

Really neat interview with Max Papis. He says this is the most technical track he's driven in NASCAR by far and that it takes A LOT OF COURAGE to run fast at Darlington.

[Phucaigh]

N'wide qualifying rained out. Cup Quali moved back to 5:40. The rain showers moved through and the sun is already out.

Really neat interview with Max Papis. He says this is the most technical track he's driven in NASCAR by far and that it takes A LOT OF COURAGE to run fast at Darlington.

for update.

The nationwide race should be a good opportunity for Kyle Busch to extend his lead, I will try and watch and have a guess when Steve Wallace goes beyond having a Darlington stripe.....

[OfficeLinebacker]

Nationwide about to go green in a few minutes

Max Papis fastest of the go or go homers in 23rd! YES! Scott Speed fails to make the field after wadding up his primary car in practice, the bum. Jimmie Johnson wrecks in qualifying and starts 43rd in a backup car.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Whoa Patrick Carpentier is in the Nationwide race! He's running 16th on lap 12 of 147

[OfficeLinebacker]

What a sucky ending. Was shaping up to be a two lap battle between Kenseth and Busch but then some a-holes wrecked and Busch picked up a puncture under caution with three laps to go.

LOL Kenseth has glitter all over his face for the post race interview.

[MinT]

Hey - office is this your private thread or can anyone join in ??

[ensign14]

Just something I need to get off my chest...

CHANGE THE BLOODY SPONSORS AROUND!!!!!!!

The Nationwide Series sounds like it's the premier one. It goes all over the nation. Whereas the Sprint Cup sounds like it's for trophy dashes and a subsidiary formula.

BTW, how come the Sprint Car chaps didn't take out injunctions to stop NASCAR calling their top series the Sprint Cup? There's a serious possibility of trademark infringement there.

[Phucaigh]

Just something I need to get off my chest...

CHANGE THE BLOODY SPONSORS AROUND!!!!!!!

The Nationwide Series sounds like it's the premier one. It goes all over the nation. Whereas the Sprint Cup sounds like it's for trophy dashes and a subsidiary formula.

BTW, how come the Sprint Car chaps didn't take out injunctions to stop NASCAR calling their top series the Sprint Cup? There's a serious possibility of trademark infringement there.

You should have seen the fuss there was over Sprint and the car sponsorship of Jeff Burton a couple of years ago....a sponsor whose name I can't remember but it was in direct competition with Sprint.

[OfficeLinebacker]

You should have seen the fuss there was over Sprint and the car sponsorship of Jeff Burton a couple of years ago....a sponsor whose name I can't remember but it was in direct competition with Sprint.

Cingular which was then bought by AT&T. You think that's crazy, look at the David Stremme #12 car! Verizon has paid up on it's sponsorship of that car and the "official" sponsor is Penske racing. They do it up to look as similar as possible to Allgaier's #12 Verizon car in the Nationwide series without the actual name to it.

EDIT: This weekend Stremme happens to be sponsored by the new Star Trek movie which is an anomaly.

EDIT 2: Check out the Jayski site above for some great pics of all the various paint schemes used thoughout the year by all the teams. Excellent site for that.

MinT I used to find it hard to believe but people actually read my comments even if they don't add their own. <Terminator voice>Get out</Terminator voice> of my thread.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 09 May 2009 - 12:34.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Scott Speed has apparently bought his way into the Joe Nemechek #87 car. The #82 failed to qualify and isn't in the top 35 in owner's points. Once in MWR's first year he bought a car that had qualified when he missed a race. That time he literally bought the car and re-decaled it so he actually turned it into a #55 NAPA car for the race.

Jeremy Mayfield also just got suspended indefinitely for failing a drug test. Wow. I made a separate thread on that, that's just amazing.

[BMW_F1]

Track position is very important here as there is only one line to take in one of the turns. JPM is starting too far back. Hopefully his crew can work out a wonder strategy and gain him some track position.

YEAH ALRIGHT....

[OfficeLinebacker]

LOL the groove is approximately 10 feet wide. I'll try to provide the usual updates. If you have any requests LMK.

[BMW_F1]

Very much appreciated as always OLB as I will be following up through my blackberry.

[OfficeLinebacker]

I've been considering starting a blog or something for my race observations, what do you guys think?

[OfficeLinebacker]

Green flag at 7:35 pm EDT or about 20 minutes! Go JPM baby!

[OfficeLinebacker]

Ay ay ay! Scott Speed wrecks Max Papis!

[grackle]

I've been considering starting a blog or something for my race observations, what do you guys think?

I discovered Atlas/Autosport through googling a Nascar fact which led to one of your posts. After lurking over a year I joined and now enjoy many threads here. I do think you help bring new users who are dissatisfied with many other forums and it would be a shame if they missed the opportunity to discover this rather diverse forum.
If anything I'd advocate you typed more here as an informal play-by-play.

grack

[Slowinfastout]

I discovered Atlas/Autosport through googling a Nascar fact which led to one of your posts. After lurking over a year I joined and now enjoy many threads here. I do think you help bring new users who are dissatisfied with many other forums and it would be a shame if they missed the opportunity to discover this rather diverse forum.
If anything I'd advocate you typed more here as an informal play-by-play.

grack

Stay here OLB

..this track really is a tricky little b*tch!

[OfficeLinebacker]

No WAY! Really? That's so nice to hear.

Anyway Mikey spun from two places behind JPM. He's 34th now after aution pit stops and he took 4 tires and 2 rounds of wedge after complaining about 5/5 understeer off the corner.

He did a great job positioning his car in his pit stall to avoid conflict on the stop

and the excitement doesn't stop! Marcos Ambrose did his best to try to knock down the wall right in front of him and he evaded it on his own, it happened too fast for his spotter to help much!

He's up to 26th now, not sure how that happened

And ANOTHER wreck!

He says it turns in "really aggressive" or "really twitchy" on entry, still "plowing on exit." I guess that was three more cheap places there, now they'll raise the track bar two rounds to try to help the handling more, even though the lap times were greatly improved on the second stint.

[OfficeLinebacker]

OK so on this pit stop they're reversing the last change, the wedge adjustment, and doing the track bar. He'll be pitting from 23rd once they open pit road.

You ain't kidding SiFo, this track has bitten many excellent drivers already today. Not sure if Speed fits in that category.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Cousin Carl with some serious repairs on pit road, his wheel isn't straight, they're checking the toe. BIG hit for Mears on that wreck for this caution. Looks like JPM will restart in 28th as many cars did not pit on this caution.

EDIT: right behind Scott Speed--right after I noticed, Tab made sure to say "That 87 in front of you is Scott Speed, he has been all. over. the. place. today. LOL

Poor Max Papis, who is back on track 30 laps down. He should be able to outpace some of the crashed cars I hope.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 10 May 2009 - 00:06.

[OfficeLinebacker]

JPM is just picking them off now, up to 23rd already. turning some very fast laps.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Just got passed by Clint Bowyer (yuck!) while passing the 19, even though JPM is faster than the 33. running 22nd, now, still "REALLY tight off the corner."

[OfficeLinebacker]

Dale Jr showing much more patience while following, didn't take advantage when JPM lapped the 47 car even though he could have easily. That's the difference between drivers with class and the classless ones, folks.

[OfficeLinebacker]

I have to take that back about Bowyer, he is one of the fastest cars on the track right now.

[Slowinfastout]

Whoa, big blowout Waltrip..

[OfficeLinebacker]

OMG! very scary moment for Michael Waltrip! DW got really scared, and, by the looks of it, Mikey wasn't too thrilled either.

His car LITERALLY BLEW UP down the straight and flames enveloped the car coming into the corner. Mikey did an EXCELLENT job of creating a controlled slide to slow the car down and keeping himself safe. PHEW!

JJ trapped a lap down by pit strategy.

Max Papis turning some OK laps despite the damage. He's getting a little lecture about how to gracefully and courteously get out of the way. He apparently was showing favoritism for JJ as far as getting out of the way a little faster. They're BFFs off track apparently! (I know this from his Twitter feed)

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 10 May 2009 - 00:31.

[BMW_F1]

Who's leading?

[OfficeLinebacker]

Whaddya mean? All the action is in the 20s and back! LOL

Kasey Kahne in the lead, 29 cars on lead lap, JJ ahead as the tail end of the lead lap!

[OfficeLinebacker]

Amazing amount of dust on on the track! Even the spotters worried

LOL Mike Joy just called 'dinger AJ Wallmendinger!

Truex challenging Kahne for the lead. JPM got by Bowyer but then passed by Jr finally. Jr is good at this track.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 10 May 2009 - 00:43.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Kahne bobbles and Trux by for the lead. Kahne had the misfortune of bobbling while his telemetry was being displayed and his bumper cam showed Truex driving right by!

Hornish spins to bring out the caution.

Trackbar up one, one round of wedge out of left rear.

Check that, two turns of the track bar it sounds like they'll do.

JPM restarting 19th, on lap 122 of 367, The Biff leads.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 10 May 2009 - 01:02.

[Slowinfastout]

Kahne bobbles and Trux by for the lead. Kahne had the misfortune of bobbling while his telemetry was being displayed and his bumper cam showed Truex driving right by!

Was pretty cool to hear him tentatively try to go on the throttle, and then sudden massive wheelspin moment.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Biffle is just CHECKIN OUT on the field, running like 3 tenths faster than the rest, already out to almost a three second lead .

[OfficeLinebacker]

I think this is probably a good time to mention that both Biffle AND Kahne are starting for my fantasy team this weekend. Tee hee.

[Slowinfastout]

Well, Biffle is flying..

[OfficeLinebacker]

I guess TV viewers saw EXACTLY what I saw when I replayed the pre-crash from Papis' POV. Papis indirectly caused that accident by slowing drastically in front of Kenseth but that was still a total bonehead greedy move by Ragan.

JPM had to get some repairs done on that round of pit stops, got a fender caved in by the above mentioned Ragan I believe. Restarting in 24th.

EDIT: make that 22nd. No too much lost there with the repairs, I think he might have been up to 19th after the wreck anyway. Hopefully between the repairs and whatever adjustments they made (which I missed while replaying the incident) they'll be able to fight into the top 15.

Edited by OfficeLinebacker, 10 May 2009 - 01:29.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Biffle is putting a HURTIN on the field right now. Just jumps out to an insane lead within a few laps. Ahead by almost a straightaway already. At this rate there will be about 10 cars on the lead lap at the end.

Papis back behind the wall, nice run by Logano staying in the top ten all race.

[OfficeLinebacker]

Jesus that freaking dart without feathers. He bumped JJ no less than twice before Juan finally came up on him. What an idiot. He was totally out of control by the time Juan got there. I'm going to see what the #6 crew has to say about it LOL

[OfficeLinebacker]

"You gotta use your head out there, David. I see what you're trying to do with that 48 car." Says his crew chief. Total opposite of Bowyer's crew.

The 48 had kind of run all over him passing him in the corner before that.

[OfficeLinebacker]

"That little m*********er I'll rip his ****ing head off!" says JJ. "That m*********er tried wrecking us!" "Good for him, the little ****er."

WOW JJ is not happy! Then Knaus thought he was going to get held for a lap. Must have been a mistake.


I'm just glad that no invective is being thrown JPM's way for once!

[Slowinfastout]

Logano up to 5th now

...and Ragan looking silly again.