2022 Nascar Big 3

[rustyfan]

A lot cleaner so far than I expected. Also, I really like the look of the new car. Looks wider and meaner, somehow. Can't wait to see it in action at Daytona.

Edit - I guess I jinxed it. Suddenly they are dropping like flies.

[fieldodreams79]

It's always fun watching white people dance to Ice Cube at a NASCAR race in an Olympic Stadium that a college football team plays in. I believe the Rams used to play there, too.

[broadrun96]

Second half is a mess like LCQ2 was, Larson that's garbage move sir

So far I like the new car, good contact test and other than Haley HARD on to the wall the cars have aged well with contact.

Biggest gripe is Fox had been doing NASCAR for years, where the f did they get the video production team for this race? Miss all action, focus is all on the wrong cars and generally junk. I get, the angles suck being so tight but still

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

It's always fun watching white people dance to Ice Cube at a NASCAR race in an Olympic Stadium that a college football team plays in. I believe the Rams used to play there, too.

And the Raiders, the ONLY team to win the Super Bowl from LA and Burrows may keep it that way

[broadrun96]

I want Smoke in the booth all season

Think it's Sliced Douche and Kylie are faster than anyone else but not small margin. No WAY legally Douche made up that much speed overnight, he was GARBAGE yesterday

[broadrun96]

If you need the wall to do a burnout, GO THE F HOME. Least he finally got front to lock up to donut and got better with hotter tires. Still no Kulwicki

[fieldodreams79]

I hate Joey Logano

[belt driven]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I hate Joey Logano

Whether I tuned in for the last 15 laps or watched 500 miles; a win by the guy Newman called pencil neck geek was a complete waste of time.

Watching practice/qualifying I thought it would be a clown show. That was a bit harsh. It wasn't that interesting. I thought about switching back to curling.

I'm not that big a short track fan. I can see local/area guys in low buck cars banging fenders on a local bullring. Multimillionaire drivers in 1/4 million dollar race cars doing it seems a lot like dancing bears and elephants doing tricks.

The crowd wasn't big and looked like it thinned out later. This would draw better in the east. I don't think it will repeat.

To add insult to injury, Fox got Jeffie back in the booth for brief whinage. I always looked forward to the mid-season switch to NBC just to not hear it.

[broadrun96]

Well apparently it sold well to the TV crowd, best Clash ratings since 2016 and almost matched last season's 500 numbers, 2.32/4.28 million viewers.

https://racer.com/2022/02/08/tv-rati...h-light-clash/

[NaBUru38]

Next year I'd do a tricky triangle at a baseball stadium in the Northeast.

[Alfisti]

Or reconfigure 'Dega as a figure of 8. That'd work, I remember Smoke being enthusiastic about it

In other news Biff is back to try and qualify the #44 for Daytona. Think he'll suffer from being quite rusty, although he did run Kyle Busch's truck to victory at Texas a year or so ago so clearly still had speed then.

[broadrun96]

42 cars running for 40 starting spots this year. End of the Duels could be interesting with the new cars.

[broadrun96]

Guys at Hendrick know how to build a car, even with the early crying that Ford was fastest early, Larson edges out Bowman for the top 2 spots.

https://racer.com/2022/02/16/larson-...tona-500-pole/

After first round of qualifying Hendrick was 1-2-3-4, Chase fell 4th to 5th in the end and Byron stayed 3rd

Oh, and some dude Jake from Canada not State Farm, made the 500. He was 36th fastest and will be in the field regardless of how he does this evening in his duel

[Alfisti]

Yeah, those Hendrick cars looked switched on straightaway. The Fords have looked the sharpest at the plate races in recent years, good to see the Chevy's up the front. I am a Chevy man so biased!

[broadrun96]

Well the Fords look good in the pack again. RFK strong and swept both, co-owner in Race 1, Buescher Race 2.

Doosh got spun being stupid, tried to cut off a run low and he wrecked. But he admitted his fault so there's that.

Both races went better than the last couple years, clean in 1 and last lap stupid in 2.

[Alfisti]

Those Ford's were on another level. Not saying it was a huge advantage or anything but the speed was good and the drivers worked together very well.

Part of me wonders if the lack of stupid overall was a lack of spare cars and parts on people's minds. Doosh has grown up enough to hold his hands up to mistakes, which is always a good thing in my book, I just don't get why he even bothered with his block. Whether he got overtaken or not he was still gonna be in the 500 so what did it matter? Last lap of the 500 then definitely, do whatever you think might work, it's do or die but this was silly. Noah Gragson took the mature hang around at the back and keep the car in one piece approach - he's maturing as a driver, and I'm pleased he's going to make that first Cup start.

[broadrun96]

From what I've gathered repairs and rebuild with this car can be VERY quick, guessing it helps with sourced spec'd parts over custom builds. The team was still looking at repair over replace for Logano and Woods Brothers said they'll fix Burton's car for today's running fairly easily. What today looks like the garages is another story.

Gragson may have been the smartest of the bunch, can remember more than a few front row guys and "well I'm in and at the rear so that's good" guys all cruise around like Sunday afternoon drive

Generally not a plate race guy but not much else on so it was background catching up on data entry. Fords definitely know how to work together, can't really say it's the bodywork tweaks since I think many of the panels are interchangeable like TA2 cars. Chevy has the engine down but the pack racing isn't great

[Alfisti]

Yeah, reading on the web and looking at diagrams of cars it looks like there's a ton of stuff you can simply unbolt and bolt a replacement on. I think the theory is if you destroy say the front of the car then pretty much everything forward of the windscreen can be unbolted and replaced. I saw a video of Corey LaJoie's car being assembled and it looks like that holds true for the roof/ windows, the rear deck etc. So I reckon as long as the central "cell" where the driver is is serviceable everything could be changed around it if you have the parts and the time/ facilities to do it. Guess we'll find out as it goes along, there's sure to be shenanigans on Sunday.

I read something Logano said about the bumpers being more rounded and therefore it being more difficult to bump draft without spearing a car off to the left/ right. Sounds like a recipe for disaster if there's lots of pushing and shoving. I'm hopeful it won't be...

[rustyfan]

Prediction for tonight: 80% of the race will be run in a single file, follow the leader snoozefest. The last couple of laps of each stage will see some action, as well as the restarts.

The race will end with an anticlimax on the white flag lap due to the leader being turned, as usual, and as sickening as it is, Joey Logano will win.



There, with the expectations set as low as possible I can only be pleasantly surprised if anything other than the above happens.

[Adam43]

I’m ready for sport!

Go Chase.

[rustyfan]

So barely three laps in and we have single file.

This should be fun.

[Adam43]

Green all the way to the first stops.

Villeneuve spins on the way in. Brilliant.

Everyone stopped. Still green.

[fieldodreams79]

Mike Joy just said it was a total sellout! That's awesome!!

Originally Posted by Adam43

I’m ready for sport!

Go Chase.

Cheers x2!!

[rustyfan]

That front bumper replay angle was spectacular.

[Adam43]

Well that went pear shaped.

They just started getting too giddy with the pushing.