4415 replies to this topic

[John B]

Certainly one of the more anticipated Daytona 500s in memory, with JPM's full-season debut and Toyota's first Cup race, where they'll have to measure up against the cars from Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs et al. At Bristol in March, more change when the Car of Tomorrow, which has drawn largely negative reviews from most drivers, teams, and fans, runs its first race. And who knows what will happen with Villeneuve....New TV in the second half as well, and some rumors about changes to the points.

In the midst of all this change....news that 73 year-old James Hylton has entered the Daytona 500 with Childress Racing. When he made his NASCAR debut in 1966, the top finishers in the WDC that year were Brabham, Surtees, and Rindt.

[Juan Kerr]

Makes you wonder doesn't it about how hard it is on the body compared to F1.

[Paste]

Originally posted by Juan Kerr
Makes you wonder doesn't it about how hard it is on the body compared to F1.

Does it? He raced in Busch last year and lasted four laps. Not exactly out there knocking off the laps or anything or contending. Nice publicity stunt though for a 73 year old guy.

[BorderReiver]

As Mario Andretti (I think it was him anyway) once said, "You never lose it, you just can't do it for as long as you used to."

Asuming he was talking about motor-racing, well, he should know.

[Spunout]

Originally posted by Paste


Does it? He raced in Busch last year and lasted four laps. Not exactly out there knocking off the laps or anything or contending. Nice publicity stunt though for a 73 year old guy.

Why did he retire after four laps?

[Paste]

Originally posted by Spunout


Why did he retire after four laps?

Can't remember and can't find the article right now. If I stumble across it again, I'll post it as a source. My initial response would be probably 'handling', which is about the same as Morgan Shepherd does. The point being that qualifying is one thing, for a Busch race nonetheless, driving the entire race is quite another.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by Spunout


Why did he retire after four laps?

Says brake problems here

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Paste


Does it? He raced in Busch last year and lasted four laps. Not exactly out there knocking off the laps or anything or contending. Nice publicity stunt though for a 73 year old guy.

Yeah, it's not like F1 entries. Anyone with a car can ENTER the Daytona 500. They won't qualify though.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Paste


Can't remember and can't find the article right now. If I stumble across it again, I'll post it as a source. My initial response would be probably 'handling', which is about the same as Morgan Shepherd does. The point being that qualifying is one thing, for a Busch race nonetheless, driving the entire race is quite another.

It was "Brakes".

Which probably means exactly the same thing.

[John B]

Originally posted by Dudley


Yeah, it's not like F1 entries. Anyone with a car can ENTER the Daytona 500. They won't qualify though.

Qualifying will probably be a story this year as well. There's enough new well-funded teams that some higher-profile-than-in-the-past drivers and sponsors will be looking at short weekends.

[Agnis]

This will be the most competitive NASCAR season EVER. For the first time there are more than 43 full time teams. Lot of good cars will miss races.

I predict that Red Bull team with Allmendinger and some ex-F1 crew are going to miss a lot of races. JPM is in a mediocre team, I think that rookie title will go to Menard or even the new Roush driver - Ragan.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by Agnis
This will be the most competitive NASCAR season EVER. For the first time there are more than 43 full time teams. Lot of good cars will miss races.

I predict that Red Bull team with Allmendinger and some ex-F1 crew are going to miss a lot of races. JPM is in a mediocre team, I think that rookie title will go to Menard or even the new Roush driver - Ragan.

Although Menard isn't exactly a rookie in my eyes, neither come to that is Ragan really.

[Rob G]

Originally posted by Agnis
This will be the most competitive NASCAR season EVER. For the first time there are more than 43 full time teams. Lot of good cars will miss races.

I predict that Red Bull team with Allmendinger and some ex-F1 crew are going to miss a lot of races. JPM is in a mediocre team, I think that rookie title will go to Menard or even the new Roush driver - Ragan.

The rookies who are joining teams currently ranked in the top 35 will have a huge advantage over the others, including Menard. There are going to be so many guys fighting for the eight starting positions not reserved for the top 35, it'll take close to a miracle to break through.

[John B]

Looks like they're going to add points for winners ( ) and more cars to the Chase field ( ) I wonder if any particular owners pushed NASCAR on the latter - for example Penske probably wasn't happy not getting either car in the field this year.

If they do add cars I think it will detract from one of the attractions of the late summer races - when back-end-of-the-top-10 guys like Stewart, Gordon, and Kahne were fighting for their lives to get in. Now if it's the 15th and 16th place cars, I can't see it being anywhere near as compelling.

[Pikachu Racing]

BP is back in the hospital

CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA (TICKER) -- Former NASCAR champion and popular broadcaster Benny Parsons is hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit of the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

The Nextel Cup Series champion in 1973, Parsons has been in the hospital since December 26 as a result of his ongoing battle with lung cancer.

Parsons, 65, joined the NASCAR circuit full-time in 1970 and registered 21 victories, 20 poles and 283 top-10 finishes in 526 starts in his 18-year career. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998.

After retiring from racing in 1988, Parsons began his broadcasting career with ESPN and later worked for NBC and cable network TNT. The Detroit native was diagnosed with lung cancer last July. Charlotte.

[Dudley]

Ooh that's not good.

[312 PB]

damn. get well bp.

should be an innaresting 500

[xflow7]

Bummer. Get well soon, Benny.

[Rob G]

While the focus has been on Benny, it has been announced that 2004 Truck Series champ Bobby Hamilton has succumbed to cancer today at age 49.

http://www.tennessea...9/70107008/1041

[xflow7]

Oh, that sucks.

I saw an interview with him not too long ago and I have to say he didn't look well, but I was hoping he'd pull through.

[312 PB]

whoa r.i.p.

where does his son race this year ?

[Pikachu Racing]

RIP Bobby

[Rob G]

Originally posted by 312 PB
where does his son race this year ?

He'll be returning to Rensi Motorsports in the Busch Series after a couple years away.

[John B]

Sad news about a driver who was able to score wins with teams that are generally midpack outfits at best - Petty, Petree, Morgan-McClure IIRC.

[Paste]

Sad news about Bobby Sr. He seemed like a pretty good guy, and I'm sure he'll be missed around the garage area.

Also best health wishes to BP, hopefully he can beat this thing.

[AyePirate]

It looks like Theresa Earnhardt is rapidly becoming the Yoko Ono of NASCAR

[FordPrefect]

I just noticed that TSN & RDS announced a new multi-year broadcast deal to carry all (35) the Busch series races. Races to be broadcast in HD. I believe this is the first time ever that TSN has picked up the Busch series in Canada.

full story here

[Paste]

JPM starts testing today at Daytona, I believe. Allmendinger also has his first preseason test for RedBull in the new Camry.

[Pikachu Racing]

Benny Parsons passed away.

[Dudley]

Bugger.

[Paste]

RIP BP

[xflow7]

Damn. RIP Benny.

[xflow7]

So Penske's COT ran 191mph at Daytona:

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/56354

Wasn't part of the point to get speeds down? Wonder if it was running with a plate.

[MCH]

I don't understand the word 'shines' in the title of that article. What performance are they refering to?

[Mat]

maybe because it was 5mph faster then anything else.

Although shines implies that it is good news. Im not really sure if a 190+ lap is good news though.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by xflow7
So Penske's COT ran 191mph at Daytona:

http://www.autosport...rt.php/id/56354

Wasn't part of the point to get speeds down? Wonder if it was running with a plate.

If I understood the Speed TV program from Tuesday I just watched it does run with a smaller plate.

[Paste]

Originally posted by Dudley


If I understood the Speed TV program from Tuesday I just watched it does run with a smaller plate.

1 1/8" vs. 7/8" off the top of my head.

[John B]

From what I read the weather when Busch ran the 191 was ideal for a quick lap. Later in the day the car was much slower, 41st or somewhere around there.

One of the goals of the car was in fact to eliminate restrictor plates. Newman was quoted as saying the speeds it ran yesterday indicate that's not realistic, it's still too fast on the superspeedways.

Just a bizarre season when you consider they will be running entirely different cars in 16 events. Can you imagine F1 making a significant change to the regs, then saying "but run last year's car at certain tracks?" Are they that complex that it requires THREE years worth of gradual implementation -- or is it a way to cover themselves should the new vehicle prove a thorough dud?

[Mat]

I think its a very good move. It allows the teams to work on at a sensible pace on the COT. Introduce the short track version, then slowly the 1 miles, then superspeedway, etc etc. It just allows everyone to work at a good pace on these cars. Any problems that come up can then be dealt with accordingly.

[Dudley]

Originally posted by John B
From what I read the weather when Busch ran the 191 was ideal for a quick lap. Later in the day the car was much slower, 41st or somewhere around there.

One of the goals of the car was in fact to eliminate restrictor plates. Newman was quoted as saying the speeds it ran yesterday indicate that's not realistic, it's still too fast on the superspeedways.

Just a bizarre season when you consider they will be running entirely different cars in 16 events. Can you imagine F1 making a significant change to the regs, then saying "but run last year's car at certain tracks?" Are they that complex that it requires THREE years worth of gradual implementation -- or is it a way to cover themselves should the new vehicle prove a thorough dud?

If F1 required entirely different types of cars for different races like Nascar does they might indeed take the same approach.

[Pikachu Racing]

Martin Truex arrested for disorderly intoxication when he was caught urinating on his car at parking garage.

[xflow7]

Originally posted by Pikachu Racing
Martin Truex arrested for disorderly intoxication when he was caught urinating on his car at parking garage.

WTF? Doesn't he know that when you're drunk in a parking lot you're supposed to piss on other peoples' cars?

[Ciao]

"Does it? He raced in Busch last year and lasted four laps."

I wouldn't even be able to get into an F1 without dislocating a couple of joints, let alone managing to leave the pits in it........

This is obviously a joke, but if you consider they started discussing fitness in NASCAR this year when Senna made it a necessity already 20 years ago......

[MrAerodynamicist]

Could Wheldon make a few appearances in Busch this year?

[BorderReiver]

Originally posted by Ciao
"Does it? He raced in Busch last year and lasted four laps."

I wouldn't even be able to get into an F1 without dislocating a couple of joints, let alone managing to leave the pits in it........

This is obviously a joke, but if you consider they started discussing fitness in NASCAR this year when Senna made it a necessity already 20 years ago......

If you think Ayrton Senna made fitness in motor-racing "necessary" you're sadly mistaken. Fitness has always been an advantage in the sport since . . . ooooh 1896?

What made fitness "necessary" was the development of the racing car, not any one man.

[Pikachu Racing]

Robert Yates cars on the front of Daytona. They always have a good restrictor plate package. Michael Waltrip car inpounded when officials found liquid substance on the intake. Johnny Sauter locked on to the field in amazing effort.

[xflow7]

Question about the qualifying procedure.

From this:

With only the front row of the grid for the Daytona 500 set so far, positions 3 to 39 will be determined by the finishing orders of the Duels. The drivers who qualified on Sunday will be split into two groups for the two 150-mile races.

The final four spots of the grid are determined based on the qualifying speeds from the cars that did not earn a starting position based on owner points status or finishing position in the Duels.

I have gleaned that spots 3-39 get set by the finishing order in the Dual 150's (Twin 125's sounded so much better). But I am confused on who is elgible for the Dual 150's and the resulting grid spots. Is it just the top 39 from Sunday's qualifying? top 43? Or is it everyone that's turned up at Daytona? That is, could someone whose Sunday time placed them 49th end up gridded in the top 39 based on the Dual 150's and bump someone else out of the top 39?

[Dudley]

As far as I can tell, we've set the front row and locked the people who qualified into positions 3-39.

i.e - the top 35 in owners points are in, plus Dale Jarret, plus the top 3 from qualifying who didn't have a place because of one of those reasons.

While those 39 are in, minus the front row their actual spot is the place in the dual.

Everyone runs the duals, regardless of whether they qualified for the race yet. The top 2 people in each dual without a spot in the race get in, leaving 43 starters.

If you haven't qualified and finish behind 2 other people who have, you still don't get in even if you're ahead of qualified people.

[scotchman]

It's hurtin' seeing all the posts you guys are putting up about this years' NASCAR championship.

It looks like here in Europe the North American Sports Network channel (NASN)are not even going to offer any coverage at all this year..

I'm going to be trully GUTTED if I can't watch any live NASCAR this year... :

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by Dudley
As far as I can tell, we've set the front row and locked the people who qualified into positions 3-39.

i.e - the top 35 in owners points are in, plus Dale Jarret, plus the top 3 from qualifying who didn't have a place because of one of those reasons.

While those 39 are in, minus the front row their actual spot is the place in the dual.

Everyone runs the duals, regardless of whether they qualified for the race yet. The top 2 people in each dual without a spot in the race get in, leaving 43 starters.

If you haven't qualified and finish behind 2 other people who have, you still don't get in even if you're ahead of qualified people.

wtf is the point of the qualifying races then.