2014 NASCAR Cup regular season

[rustyfan]

One of the better races at Bristol in recent years. Nice to see Edwards back in victory lane and also seeing the Petty cars having solid runs.

Going to keep my expectations low for next week though, even though Logano and Hamlin put on a great battle for the win last year (spoiled, of course, by Hamlin's injury).

[R.Lee]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

One of the better races at Bristol in recent years. Nice to see Edwards back in victory lane and also seeing the Petty cars having solid runs.

Going to keep my expectations low for next week though, even though Logano and Hamlin put on a great battle for the win last year (spoiled, of course, by Hamlin's injury).

Best race of the season, so far, IMO. Odd finish at the end, caution lights came on as a result of human error. Someone on the flag stand accidently hit they switch, it was reported on Jayski's. It had no effect on the finish and might have actually prevented a big accident, since the rain very suddenly came down, hard, a few seconds afterward. I agree about Fontana, next weekend, I'll keep my expections low, as that track usually produces less than exciting races. Last year's was good, but it might have been a fluke. We'll see.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

NASCAR Episode 2014: Mother Nature Strikes Back

[Salamus]

Come on Jeff!

[PabloTeK]

Ridiculous tyre situation, has a certain Italian manufacturer been in contact with Goodyear?

[Salamus]

Wow, from the leader of the race to 13th.

[gomick]

Sooo frustrating, Ambrose does a tyre & finishes 30th & Bowyer does a tyre, brings out the caution & finishes 16th... Not forgetting Johnson & Keselowski either whose races turned to poo aswell!
Exciting finish tho, both Kyle's where flying - I reckon everyone is liking Kyle Larson

[canamman]

That tri oval track produces great racing compared to say Atl or Charlotte.
All my favorites had a good weekend.

[MJ_N_09]

http://www.jayski.com/stats/2014/pdf...014results.pdf

Look at the results. I am amazed at the quality of the teams for the most part. Even the smaller teams have been competitive. At Auto Club, some of those teams got surprising results, including a certain green car sponsored by a website really stepping it up O.o Too bad we can't say the same about the NNS, where the performance of most teams have no hope of matching the big guys.

BTW, Auto Club was a sellout for the Cup Race. Great times for that track.

[Paradise City]

Great performances from Larson this weekend. Great battling and surprises all the way.

[JHamilton]

That was one of the most serious tire situations I've seen in Nascar, and it didn't seem to be a big deal... I thought that was odd. 17 in one race is nuts.

[rustyfan]

Good race, especially for being a Sprint Cup race at Fontana. The tire issues certainly helped make it exciting and unpredictable though - and those restarts, wow. Crazy.

I hope they keep the surface for several more years - the rougher the better (well, almost anyway).

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

BTW, Auto Club was a sellout for the Cup Race. Great times for that track.

They cut down seating capacity for this year's race, from around 90k to 68k. Last year they had a crowd of 85k.

Originally Posted by JHamilton

That was one of the most serious tire situations I've seen in Nascar, and it didn't seem to be a big deal... I thought that was odd. 17 in one race is nuts.

I think the infamous Coca-Cola 600 a couple of years ago had worse issues, with the difference that NASCAR threw cautions all the time (if I remember correctly, anyhow).

I think the reason there haven't been a bigger backlash (that I've seen anyhow) about the tires is because the teams probably are well aware they were on the ragged edge when it comes to the setup of the car. Goodyear stated, after practice, that several teams had been cutting it (way too) close and it seems they kept at it during the race.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

I think the infamous Coca-Cola 600 a couple of years ago had worse issues, with the difference that NASCAR threw cautions all the time (if I remember correctly, anyhow).

I think the reason there haven't been a bigger backlash (that I've seen anyhow) about the tires is because the teams probably are well aware they were on the ragged edge when it comes to the setup of the car. Goodyear stated, after practice, that several teams had been cutting it (way too) close and it seems they kept at it during the race.

I was wondering if that was the issue. I could see the sidewalls flexing on TV well into each stint. They were lucky that it was the right side tires and not the left or there would be many more serious incidents.

[MJ_N_09]

Wow. I hope he'll be allright...

Hamlin to be further evaluated this week: #11-Denny Hamlin remained in a local hospital Sunday afternoon undergoing a CT scan to see what may be causing severe headaches and vision problems his Joe Gibbs Racing team confirmed. Sam Hornish Jr. substituted behind the wheel of the #11 FedEx Toyota in Sunday's Auto Club 400 because in the hour before the green flag dropped NASCAR did not medically clear Hamlin to compete. "We do (go forward assuming Denny will be back next week.)," his crew chief Darian Grubb said after the race. "But it's going to be touch and go for right now obviously with him still in the hospital getting a CT Scan. Last I heard the vision was getting worse and the pain was getting worse so we're just going to wait and see what happens. Hopefully we'll get some good news this afternoon." Before the race, JGR President J.D. Gibbs said initially the team thought it was a sinus infection that was causing the headaches and vision issues. But Grubb said it soon became apparent, it may be more serious. "For him to go the infield care center, for one thing, it must have been pretty bad for him," Grubb said. "Then it got to where he couldn't see and was having trouble with vision in his left eye with all the pressure that was going on. At that point, NASCAR did some testing and knew he could not follow the finger going by his eyes as he should have been so they knew at that point,they weren't going to let him go. It wasn't just a headache, it was more serious than that. That's why they're doing the CT Scan now. He had them on the whole time and was just holding his head, it hurt him so bad. You could tell by the look on his face he was really worried." Team owner Joe Gibbs confirmed that Hamlin left the track immediately before the race started and that by late afternoon "they are still running tests. It will be later on before we get results."(NASCAR.com)(3-24-2014)
JGR Statement: Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was not medically cleared in today's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway because of a sinus infection that affected his vision. Hamlin was taken to a local hospital near the race track for additional evaluation and released. He will be further evaluated this week in Charlotte.(Joe Gibbs Racing)(3-24-2014)

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I was wondering if that was the issue. I could see the sidewalls flexing on TV well into each stint. They were lucky that it was the right side tires and not the left or there would be many more serious incidents.

Of course I meant this the other way around.

Originally Posted by MJ_N_09

Wow. I hope he'll be allright...

I second that as it sounds pretty serious.

[canamman]

For what its worth :

On the tire issues, the more common consensus on NASACAR XM
today was that the teams were pushing the camber setups to the limits
since NASCAR has given the teams a little more latitude regarding
that part of the setup. Not too much finger pointing at Goodyear.
One driver even admitted as much.

[JHamilton]

Denny had some metal in his eye: http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/s...e-gibbs-racing

Mandatory safety glasses in the garage area?

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Denny had some metal in his eye: http://www.sportingnews.com/nascar/s...e-gibbs-racing

Mandatory safety glasses in the garage area?

That's messed up, but at the same time I'm glad to hear it was something they could put their finger on and fix rather than some weird sinus infection or what not.

[fieldodreams79]

I dug to try to find something, and quickly lost interest. I believe it was Dale Jr that got something in his eye during a racing at Atlanta and was motoring around with one eye mostly useless. Then he described the removal of the object: "they had to use one of them squeegee deals."

[fieldodreams79]

Not sure anyone cares, but there is a race today, at a track like no other.

http://www.jayski.com/news/races/201...SCAR-Race-Info

The King won a clock or two at the paperclip. Sure Lynda spent a minute or two in victory lane....

[MJ_N_09]

I care, I'm watching it, but haven't had time lately to get on these boards until now.

[gomick]

2 Petty cars in the top 6 again with 20 to go

[gomick]

So 2 top 5 finishes for Ambrose in the 1st 6 races & no television interviews - Stanley/Dewalt must be happy with that!

Good to see Kurt win, I enjoyed that race

[fieldodreams79]

I'll have to give one of my least favorite drivers some props. I enjoyed the "#1 salute" given to Kurt B and the other "appreciation" shown to him after the pitroad contact, but didn't really any effect, apparently.

Couldn't watch it all, but enjoyed the bits that I saw. Martinsville is a cool track and is what NASCAR is all about.

[NaBUru38]

Standings after Martinsville:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet), 227
2. Matt Kenseth (Toyota), 218
3. Carl Edwards (Ford), 217
4. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet), 216
5. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet), 209
6. Kyle Busch (Toyota), 189
7. Brad Keselowski (Ford), 188
8. Joey Logano (Ford), 187
9. Austin Dillon (Chevrolet), 179
10. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet), 174
11. Paul Menard (Chevrolet), 168
12. Denny Hamlin (Toyota), 165
13. Brian Vickers (Toyota), 165
14. Marcos Ambrose (Ford), 162
15. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet), 154

Kurt Busch is 20th and Kevin Harvick is 25th, but both are almost guaranteed to enter the Chase...