2014 Nascar Cup Series pre-season

[Paradise City]

Horrible looking.

If they reversed the colours on the Cheerios car it would amount to 'something' but yellow with the three looks absurd.

[FIRE]

Why these black stripes? The #48 Lowe's has it too.

For me these stripes = Ford.

[NaBUru38]

There's plenty of Camaros and Chevelles with racing stripes, starting by Bumblebee.

[gomick]

I like the #3 Cheerios car - each to there own

[MJ_N_09]

Now, there's the possibility of a 7th candidate with the rumor of Alex Bowman replacing Travis Kvapil in the #93

[HJJ]

Strong Sprint Cup Series Rookie class shaping up: The leading candidate for 2014 Sprint Cup Series looks to be #3-Austin Dillon, although relative stock-car newcomer #42-Kyle Larson is expected to be at the least his biggest challenger. #51-Justin Allgaier (not yet announced), #7-Michael Annett, Parker Kligerman, Cole Whitt (both at Swan Racing, two cars #30 and unknown #) and possibly #93-Alex Bowman (tested at Charlotte in a BK Racing Toyota) are will all be Cup rookies in 2014. This year's top rookie, two-time defending Nationwide Series champion #17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 19th in the final Cup standings.(Sporting News)(12-15-2013)

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[HJJ]

And so it starts again.

Some Daytona Testing to be Televised: the 2014 version of NASCAR cars and trucks take to the track at Daytona for preseason test sessions, with FOX Sports 1 providing 12 hours of coverage over three days from Jan. 9-11. The NASCAR on FOX team of Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Mike Joy call the action while NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars are on the track Jan. 9-10 (1:00 pm/et to 5:00 pm/et, Live), with Bob Dillner and Matt Yocum reporting from the pits and Jeff Hammond reporting from the garage. Setting up camp in the garage area, host Rick Allen and analyst Hermie Sadler offer a location for drivers, crew chiefs and other personalities to talk over the days storylines. NASCAR Nationwide Series tests air on FOX Sports 1 from 3:00pm/et to 7:00pm/et on Saturday, Jan. 11, with Allen, Hammond and Phil Parsons in the booth, and Sadler, Dillner and Ray Dunlap reporting from the pits.(FOX)(1-1-2014)

[Icestorm]

The 500 can't come soon enough, want to see if we get another Long Line of Cars 500 () or some good ole' pack racing.

[MJ_N_09]

Alot of uncertainty around the BK Racing stables. Even though both cars will return, the drivers have not been selected. David Reutimann has left the team. Alex Bowman continues to test in his place, but it's likely he will get the ride as a result (would be the 7th ROTY candidate if so). Travis Kvapil has a court date pending for his domestic assualt charges, and it's sounding like the team doesn't know what will come of that. Ryan Truex tests in his place.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

... but yellow with the three looks absurd.

Ahem...

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Ahem...

None of the cars of that era looked absurd. No matter what paint job you put on them. Well, 'cept if you splashed them with pink maybe.

[chernaudi]

Ganassi changes name of NASCAR team from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to simply Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. It's believed that Theresa Earnhardt has no ownership stake in the team and she never had any direct role with the team.

I saw this coming, with Ganassi using HMS engines last year and Felix listed as the owner of the #1 team throughout all of 2013.

[HJJ]

Retro livery, retro (test) driver.

Rusty Wallace, the 1989 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, will make a brief return to the cockpit when he drives Brad Keselowski's No. 2 Penske Ford at Daytona on Thursday. The run during NASCAR's "Pre-season Thunder" official test will mark Wallace's first appearance in a Cup car since his retirement in 2005.
The 57-year-old told NASCAR.com that the opportunity to get back behind the wheel started out as a joke.
"It all started at Homestead I was standing between the 48 [Jimmie Johnson] and 2 [Keselowski] cars, joking around, and those guys were egging me on to get back in a car," Wallace said. "When Brad got wind of it, he called me up two weeks later and was serious about it and Roger [Penske] was all for it.
"Everyone in the world has been on me to test. 'Why haven't you been back in a car?' This here kind of got me."
Wallace, who will run a special retro livery for the test, was required to undergo all of the standard NASCAR requirements prior to the getting back into the cockpit, ranging from a full medical evaluation (including baseline concussion scans and a drug test) to obtaining a new license.
Now a commentator for ESPN, the 55-time race winner believes that his experience with Keselowski's car will help him to broaden his understanding of the current generation of NASCAR's Gen-6 cars.
"I think it'll help my TV stuff and I'll have a more in-depth knowledge of what the car feels like," Wallace said. "I don't know of any other analysts that are doing this right now. This will give me an opportunity to validate a lot of the stuff I say on air."

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[FstrthnU]

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/bu...fter-rolex-24/
Interesting to see someone from IMSA moving to NASCAR (even with knowledge of the merger)

[MJ_N_09]

The two numbers for Swan Racing's two ROTY candidates will be the #26 and #30.

[canamman]

Checking out the testing in Daytona. I noticed what looked like a fire in one of the front wheel wells. Turns out it is a light to illuminate parts
for a camera. What well they think of next? Currently the #3 Dillon car at the top of the speed charts.

[Icestorm]

Originally Posted by canamman

Currently the #3 Dillon car at the top of the speed charts.

Rigged!

Haha, I'm just kidding. If NASCAR really were rigged, Jr wouldn't have gone 4 years without a win.

[HJJ]

The season hasn't started and changes are being talked about for the "Chase".

The Charlotte Observer is reporting that NASCAR will dramatically change its Sprint Cup points system to greater emphasize winning and feature an eliminations format in this year's Chase for the Championship playoff series. The newspaper credited its information to “multiple sources briefed on the plan this week.”
Among the changes outlined by the Observer on Friday evening:
-- The Chase field will be expanded from 12 to 16 drivers, virtually assuring that every major-team, big-sponsor “name” driver will make the playoffs. In recent years, a number of fan favorites -- among them, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon -- haven't qualified for the Chase.
-- A points-paying Sprint Cup victory in the first 26 “regular-season” races will almost assure a driver a place in the Chase. If more than 16 drivers win in the first 26 races, the 16 with the highest point total advance to the playoffs. If fewer than 16 drivers win races, points after the 26th race will be used to fill the field.
-- Three rounds of “knock-out” eliminations will trim the 16-driver field throughout the playoffs. The four drivers lowest in Chase points after the third, sixth and ninth races will be eliminated from title contention. The title then will be decided in the winner-takes-all season finale among four drivers at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16. Those four drivers will have their points reset before the race, and the driver with the most points in that one event will be the champion.
Earlier this month, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said he was “not satisfied” with the current points structure. “We think we can make some tweaks that continue to incentivize risk-taking, racing harder and so on,” he said. Drivers, on the other hand, have said they can't run any harder than they already are and can't take more chances that they already do.
As for NASCAR, vice president and chief communications officer Brett Jewkes said the organization will have no comment until later in the month. “[We] have begun the process of briefing key industry stakeholders on potential concepts to evolve the Sprint Cup championship format,” he said in a statement. “This dialogue is the final phase of a multi-year process that has included the review of extensive fan research, partner and industry feedback and other data-driven insights.
“[We] have no plans to comment further until the stakeholder discussions are complete. We hope to announce any potential changes for the 2014 season to our media and fans very soon.”

Read more: http://www.autoweek.com/article/2014...#ixzz2qiW7cnWe
Follow us: @AutoweekUSA on Twitter | AutoweekUSA on Facebook

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[PabloTeK]

Originally Posted by HJJ

The season hasn't started and changes are being talked about for the "Chase".

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Go home NASCAR, you're drunk.

Seriously, every other championship I know uses a "traditional" points format and that works quite well. Take WEC GTE Am from last year as an example.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by PabloTeK

Go home NASCAR, you're drunk.

Seriously, every other championship I know uses a "traditional" points format and that works quite well. Take WEC GTE Am from last year as an example.

Or just look right under their noses at the 2 lower NASCAR series - NW and Truck Championships have come down to the last race for the last several years, consistently, without the gimmick Chase.

From the beginning, I have stated the Chase is a farce. The previous points system needed minor adjustments, to prevent teams from putting unsafe cars back on the track to pick up a handful of points and to put more emphasis on winning. But they went all "NASCAR" on us and re-invented the wheel and created a silly playoff system that's completely unnecessary. Now it's being "expanded" and adjusted again. Please stop polishing this terd, NASCAR.

[Paradise City]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Or just look right under their noses at the 2 lower NASCAR series - NW and Truck Championships have come down to the last race for the last several years, consistently, without the gimmick Chase.

From the beginning, I have stated the Chase is a farce. The previous points system needed minor adjustments, to prevent teams from putting unsafe cars back on the track to pick up a handful of points and to put more emphasis on winning. But they went all "NASCAR" on us and re-invented the wheel and created a silly playoff system that's completely unnecessary. Now it's being "expanded" and adjusted again. Please stop polishing this terd, NASCAR.

Correct. The chase is completely unnecessary. Its lazy and tacky. To just ape a system from a different sport and plonk into NASCAR is plain just insulting.

Now they are just screwing around with it as part of a broader trend of trying to jump start a jaded big time motorsport into a boom period when in reality all these big time motorsports have left their peak period where they'll settle at a nice less popular level. NASCAR, like F1, could both do with being less popular but the sports bosses are refusing to face up to that and in this refusal they could very well end up badly damaging their respective sports.

I didn't even get through that entire dense paragraph about what NASCAR are going to be doing. Maybe I'll tackle it tomorrow when my tolerance for NASCAR foolishness is that little bit higher.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

Alot of uncertainty around the BK Racing stables.

Settled (except maybe for sponsors).

Bowman, Truex to drive for BK Racing: BK Racing has signed Tucson, AZ native Alex Bowman and Mayetta, NJ native Ryan Truex to pilot the team's #23 and #83 BK Racing Toyota Camry's and compete for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Bowman will drive the newly renumbered #23 entry and comes off his rookie season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series which saw him win two poles and finish 11th in the final standings. Truex made four starts between the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Camping World Truck Series this past season. Both Bowman and Truex tested for BK Racing in the NASCAR Preseason Thunder at Daytona last week and have already begun to create a relationship with their respected teams and crew chiefs. Bowman and Truex will make their team debuts in the season-opening 56th annual Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway on February 23. Dave Winston will crew chief the #23 BK Racing entry with Alex Bowman while Dale Ferguson will crew chief the #83 BK Racing entry for Ryan Truex. BK Racing has also finalized an agreement with Borla Exhaust as a primary sponsor for the Daytona 500. The deal signifies a multi-race sponsorship for the 2014 season. More details to follow this week. In an effort to better align with long-time partner Dr Pepper, BK Racing will renumber the #93 to the #23 in 2014. The number is synonymous with the regular Dr Pepper's original 23 flavors. However the #93 will remain with the team on a part-time basis.(BK Racing)(1-20-2014)

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[NaBUru38]

In other news...

Originally Posted by Miller's Mailbag

Will this credit mess at Target affect funding for IndyCar teams? - Terry Vantine, Elkhart, Indiana

RM: I haven't heard any problems regarding the racing programs sponsored by Target but I did hear that some of the technical data from Ganassi's stock car team was hacked and then returned because nobody wanted to buy it.

[MJ_N_09]

^ Since Burger King was more of a similar role that Taco Bell and Long John Silvers are with Front Row (owner having stocks in the food chains?) I wouldn't worry about funding now. Dr Pepper will sponsor the #23.

Eight rookies? Wow! I think this is the most we've ever had for a season. BTW, Allgaier was finally announced this week for the #51.

[HJJ]

Get ready for "Knockout Qualifying!"

New Qualifying Format announced: In a move aimed toward enhancing the fan experience watching at the track and at home, NASCAR has announced a new group qualifying format for its three national series that is more compelling, more closely emulates actual on-track competition and underlines the sport's on-going commitment to innovation.

At tracks measuring 1.25 miles in length or larger, qualifying for the Coors Light Pole Award will consist of three rounds:
• The first qualifying elimination round will be 25 minutes in duration and includes all cars/trucks. The 24 cars/trucks that post the fastest single lap from the first qualifying round will advance to the second round.
• The remaining cars/trucks will be sorted based on their times posted in the first round of qualifying in descending order.
• The second qualifying elimination round will be 10 minutes in duration and the 12 cars/trucks that post the fastest single lap time will advance to the third and final round. The fastest remaining cars/trucks earn positions 13th through 24th based on their times posted in qualifying in descending order.
• The third and final qualifying round will be five minutes in duration and the fastest single lap time will determine positions 1st through 12th in descending order.
• There will be a five-minute break between each qualifying round.

At tracks measuring less than 1.25 miles, qualifying for the Coors Light Pole Award will consist of two rounds:
• The first qualifying elimination round will be 30 minutes in duration and includes all cars/trucks. The 12 cars/trucks that post the fastest single lap time from the first qualifying round will advance to the second and final round.
• The remaining cars/trucks will be sorted based on their times posted in the first round of qualifying in descending order.
• There will be a 10-minute break between the two qualifying rounds.
• The second and final qualifying round will be 10 minutes in duration and the fastest single lap time posted will determine positions 1st through 12th in descending order.

The new qualifying format does not apply to the Daytona 500, which will preserve its historic and unique qualifying format. Additionally, it does not apply to non-points NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events or the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Eldora Speedway. NASCAR previewed the concept of group qualifying with its national series teams late last fall and expects the new format will be a well-received improvement by its fans, competitors, tracks, sponsors and media partners. "We believe the timing is right for a new qualifying format across our three national series," said Robin Pemberton, vice president for competition and racing development. "This style of group qualifying has all the makings of being highly competitive and more engaging to our fans in the stands and those watching on television and online. For the drivers and teams, we believe this new qualifying will fuel even greater competition leading into the events. Additionally, it provides our tracks, broadcasters and other key partners with a greater opportunity to develop more entertaining content for our race weekends."(NASCAR)
NASCAR has also furnished a Fact Sheet & FAQ document to explain the process.(1-22-2014)