2019 NASCAR Cup Series

[NaBUru38]

Welcome to the 2019 season! We're only 3 months away from the Daytona Speedweeks.


Confirmed drivers and teams so far:



Chevrolet

• Hendrick: Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, William Byron.
• Ganassi: Kyle Larson, TBC.
• Childress: Ausstin Dillon, Daniel Hemric (R).
• Germain: Ty Dillon.
• Petty: Darrell Wallace Jr.
• JTG Daugherty: Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece (R).
• StarCom: TBC.
• TriStar: TBC.

Ford

• Penske: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney.
• Stewart-Haas: Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, TBC.
• Roush Fenway: Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Wood Brothers: Paul Menard.
• Front Row : 3x TBC.
• Go Fas: TBC.

Toyota

• Joe Gibbs: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Erik Jones.
• Leavine: Matt DiBenedetto.

Retired drivers

• Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth

Drivers with no seat confirmed

• Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Suárez, Trevor Bayne, David Ragan, Michael McDowell, Cole Whitt...

[Cinghio44]

New package for 2019. How will it affect racing?

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Cinghio44

New package for 2019. How will it affect racing?

It will basically look like Charlotte (The Winston) has. And a couple races earlier this year. So basically the same with more whining and crying from drivers who all want a trophy. And amended/encumbered results because a body panel was 1/16th off in post race tech.

[NaBUru38]

Updated confirmed drivers and teams:

Chevrolet

• Hendrick: Jimmie Johnson, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, William Byron.
• Ganassi: Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch.
• Childress: Austin Dillon, Daniel Hemric (R).
• Germain: Ty Dillon.
• Petty: Darrell Wallace Jr.
• JTG Daugherty: Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece (R).
• Premium: Ross Chastain.
• StarCom: Landon Cassill.
• Spire: TBC.

Ford

• Penske: Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney.
• Stewart-Haas: Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Clint Bowyer, TBC.
• Roush Fenway: Ryan Newman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
• Wood Brothers: Paul Menard.
• Front Row: Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Matt Tifft (R).
• Go Fas: Corey LaJoie.

Toyota

• Joe Gibbs: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Erik Jones.
• Leavine: Matt DiBenedetto.

Retired drivers

• Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth

Drivers with no seat confirmed

• Daniel Suárez, Trevor Bayne

[chavez]

Confirmed today no live TV for NASCAR in Australia.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by chavez

Confirmed today no live TV for NASCAR in Australia.

Had there been before? What have the ratings been like recently in Oz?

[Alfisti]

So, some sense in NASCAR. The encumbered race nonsense is no more; race winner, second place and a random car to be scrutinised after the checker, results within an hour or two and disqualified if they fail.

To my mind this is how it should be; under the present system you could cheat big time, win and keep the win. Now you'll lose the finish. Good move in my books 😀

[chernaudi]

So basically no trophy for the winning car if it's found cheating, last place points and maybe at best last place prize money? NASCAR have done this in the regional series for years, and other series give you nothing for breaking the rules, on accident or not, for major offenses. About time NASCAR got on that page.

I never agreed with fines, points penalties or team member ejections/suspensions as a deterrent. Take away the result, there's no need for other penalties, and it'll make teams think twice about bending the rules too far.

[rustyfan]

Good move by NASCAR. Took 'em long enough.

As for the season at hand I'm looking forward to it, weirdly enough. Less than a week until Circus Daytona gets under way

[Alfisti]

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to Daytona. I've managed to bury the championship going to an undeserving individual - through an idiotic system, not the drivers fault - at the back of my mind.

I particularly want to see if Kyle and Martin work together well. If these two boys are on the same page and play nice then I think we're going to see Gibbs do real well all year long.

Gotta be Ford favourite for the 500 on recent form though; I might have a small wager on Aric.

[chavez]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Had there been before? What have the ratings been like recently in Oz?

For some races since 1997 and for all races since the 2001.

Ratings would be extremely small.

I used to watch every race however I have reduced my viewing over the years.

Last year I watched all road courses, short tracks, Daytona and Homestead.

Couldn't stomach another 1.5 mile oval - so I guess people like me are partly to blame.

[rustyfan]

Whelp. My expectations for the Daytona 500 has now officially been set on fire and been thrown down an elevator shaft. The Clash, which I'm watching right now, is just more of the same we saw at the plate tracks in 2018: Ford teams team up and go single file, with no one else being able to do squat.

The Daytona 500 is going to suck. To make matters worse it'll probably be won by Logano.

[chernaudi]

Clash was won by Johnson but only after he triggered the big one and the race was stopped for the final time due to rain.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Whelp. My expectations for the Daytona 500 has now officially been set on fire and been thrown down an elevator shaft. The Clash, which I'm watching right now, is just more of the same we saw at the plate tracks in 2018: Ford teams team up and go single file, with no one else being able to do squat.

The Daytona 500 is going to suck. To make matters worse it'll probably be won by Logano.

Someone I barely heard of is on the pole racing a Hendrick car.

The time has come for big changes to plate tracks, whether to the tracks themselves or the packages they run. It's just embarrassing for the biggest race of the year to be conducted in the manner that it has been for, almost 2 decades now...

[nasdriv87]

Well, Nascar is thinking to have some more plate tracks... omg!!!

Today Clash was ugly as hell with a no one race pass, till #48 JJ screwed half of grid and won due to rain at end...

well, at least something different from Ford winnings...

and welcome back bad #48 JJ

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Whelp. My expectations for the Daytona 500 has now officially been set on fire and been thrown down an elevator shaft. The Clash, which I'm watching right now, is just more of the same we saw at the plate tracks in 2018: Ford teams team up and go single file, with no one else being able to do squat.

The Daytona 500 is going to suck. To make matters worse it'll probably be won by Logano.

Oh boy, that sucks big time. As predictions go, it has a high chance of being bang on. Plates and that aero suck.

I'm still not sure that was JJs fault: can't make my mind if the cars touched or the #21 was just disturbed by the #48 being real close. Either way, that aero package sucks: watching the #18 lose control trying to check up is to my mind the ultimate proof of it. Let's hope things improve after the 500.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Oh boy, that sucks big time. As predictions go, it has a high chance of being bang on. Plates and that aero suck.

I'm still not sure that was JJs fault: can't make my mind if the cars touched or the #21 was just disturbed by the #48 being real close. Either way, that aero package sucks: watching the #18 lose control trying to check up is to my mind the ultimate proof of it. Let's hope things improve after the 500.

They should bring back the aero package they used in 2001 or at least some variation of it. Hell, it'd probably be enough if they just added a big, fugly strip on the roof to disturb the airflow and voilÃ*, instant crazy slingshot racing. It'd be so, soooo good. I'd like to see the Ford teams try to counter that.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

They should bring back the aero package they used in 2001 or at least some variation of it. Hell, it'd probably be enough if they just added a big, fugly strip on the roof to disturb the airflow and voilÃ*, instant crazy slingshot racing. It'd be so, soooo good. I'd like to see the Ford teams try to counter that.

They'd get Kes to drive around backwards or something. Might cause less of a wreck than we saw yesterday....

[fieldodreams79]

The Twin 150s (or are they 175 now?) are on tonight. Only reason I know, is I'm at the bar with my wife and kids Valentine's Day. I'm such a romantic...

[fieldodreams79]

The pre race show consisted of interviews about Valentine's Day gifts and past dates from the drivers. Too bad it was on mute because I would have loved to hear Tales from Joey Logano, Chris Buescher and Matt Dibenedetto about their Valentine's thoughts.

On the plus side, I saw that Darrell Waltrip has finally stopped putting shoe polish in his hair...

[tux]

This car is awful for super speedways, you can’t do anything once everyone goes single file

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

at the bar .

Based on the comments I have read here, this sounds like the best way to watch.

[rustyfan]

From what I've read I'm almost glad the duels weren't aired here in Sweden.

The saddest thing? I know the Daytona 500 for the most part is guaranteed to be a single-file borefest and yet I'll still be watching the whole damn thing.

[Alfisti]

I'll be watching a chunk of it, but yes sadly I expect someone in second place a lap or so from the end will intentionally wreck the leader and leave a trail of destruction. That's only OK in my books if Sliced Doosh or Dillon are on the receiving end.

[tux]

Even these Xfinity cars are the same now