NASCAR Cup 2011: Official CHASE for the Cup Thread

[skells22]

speaking of which it is N.A.S.C.A.R turn to show respect a with a minute silence before the green flag + sticker on both the main race & the N.A.S.C.A.R trucks. so now a well done to N.A.S.C.A.R.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by skells22

speaking of which it is N.A.S.C.A.R turn to show respect a with a minute silence before the green flag + sticker on both the main race & the N.A.S.C.A.R trucks. so now a well done to N.A.S.C.A.R.

Thanks for the mention! Upon checking myself:
http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#20111020dw
The Lionheart Decal.
Well done, indeed.

[fieldodreams79]

Last plate race of the year will be a pivotal round of the Chase. Not only will the chasers will be looking for a good finish, they will be looking merely to survive.

JAYSKI Race Page

Points are listed in above post.

Track opens Friday with two practice sessions. Q-ing is Saturday at 1115est.

Green flag Sunday at @ 219est.

Weather looks clear and cool.

[fieldodreams79]

The young man, Mark Martin grabs the pole followed by JJ, Bowyer, Bayne and Gordon.

LINEUP

[rustyfan]

So much for the rule changes and the bigger plate - the racing is exactly the same, only at somewhat faster speeds.

[fieldodreams79]

I am still on the fence with this type of racing; it's at least separated the large pack....

[rustyfan]

Not sure whether to call Jimmie Johnson snakebit or one lucky son of a gun after having Andy Lally turned into his right front in turn 3 - ironically when hanging back to stay out of trouble - but apparently escaping serious damage to the #48 Chevrolet.

[rustyfan]

15 to go and the action is definitely starting to pick up!

And Bobby Labonte and Kurt Busch just had a hard crash, just as ESPN went to commercial.

[rustyfan]

Congrats to Clint Bowyer, I guess. Kinda wanted Jeff Burton to get back to victory lane though.

Not the most exciting Talladega race.

[gomick]

Not a fan of the 2 car draught in plate racing at the moment... Glad a lot of the chase drivers had poo races aswell. Talladega can do that & so could a race course - mix it up more NASCAR (for the fans???)...

[St00ge]

**** I was hoping for a good result for Taz with 10ish laps to go at the front with #21 pushing and second row on the re start, but dropped like a stone on the restart..


Would of liked of Burton to win as well but I guess Bowyer wanted it after all the pushing..

tandem draft is still ****, but with the cars we have now there is no way to "slow them down" that won't cause this same problem really..

[MJ_N_09]

I still like the tandem racing (preferred the pack style more) for a few reasons, but this weekend, I saw a major flaw. in the races this weekend, There was a set of 2 cars that would pull away so far from the rest, that we all knew who'd win the race. Maybe RCR/KHI just knows something that noone else does.

The truck race was horrible because KHI's #2 and #33 was so perfect at two car drafting. They already knew about and planned on it, while everyone else couldn't do it. There was zero chance of beating them, though a few trucks we able to draft and get close enough to them for a few laps. At one point, those two were as much as 200 (or was it 400?) car lengths ahead of the pack. My question is, "How did 2 car drafting find its way into trucks?". I don't remember any changes to the vehicles that would make it happen.

On another note, does anyone have kids and live near a Golden Corral? they get to eat free on Monday.

[fieldodreams79]

Yep, great finish for Dave Blaney; hard to believe that is his best ever Cup finish. And even if I did live near a Golden Corral, I wouldn't go or take my kids.

I don't think I like this racing but it is better than the pack racing of old in the that it seems to minimize the "big one", but there is something that is inherently wrong about a type of racing when one driver needs another to push their car in order to be fast.

Shame for Taz as he was up there at the end and don't really fathom why some of these guys drop like they do even though they have a pusher. That's plate "pusher" racing, I guess .

And I too was hoping that Burton could hold off Bowyer, but Clint did what he needed to do. RCR has definitely found something at the plate tracks. Should we be surprised?

[JHamilton]

I hate to be all surly but I thought the race sucked brick. It was boring and very little racing took place. Maybe that's just me. Once again, smaller engines, no plates, and may the best engine builder win.

I quite like a bad buffet every once and a while. I prefer Ryans myself.

[MJ_N_09]

I had Golden Corral once, and I loved it. Ha!

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

I hate to be all surly but I thought the race sucked brick. It was boring and very little racing took place. Maybe that's just me. Once again, smaller engines, no plates, and may the best engine builder win.

Agreed.

Personally my main problem right now is that the drivers have zero control over what's happening. Just look at Denny Hamlin, the odd man out for much of the race. During the old style 'pack racing' he would not have been so hideously treated as he was on Sunday, he could have stuck with the pack and not been reliant on the good will of others to have a shot at a good finish.

Seeing how the same practice is finding its way into the lower divisions as well I have a feeling, however, that NASCAR will take drastic steps to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the two car tandem before 2012 Speedweeks.

Then again, that was kinda what they were hoping would happen with the changes made before Sunday as well.....

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

Personally my main problem right now is that the drivers have zero control over what's happening. Just look at Denny Hamlin, the odd man out for much of the race. During the old style 'pack racing' he would not have been so hideously treated as he was on Sunday, he could have stuck with the pack and not been reliant on the good will of others to have a shot at a good finish.

While I see what you are saying about Denny (43 cars means there will always be an odd man out) I heard more comments from announcers, pit reporters, drivers and crew chiefs towards the drivers being the only ones in control with this type of racing. Granted, you need to have a good partner, and the knowledge of who is better pushing. From what I gathered, just about everyone picked one Friday, and stuck with them the whole weekend. When you lose the partner, then the driver loses control of the situation temporarily until another "deal" with a new partner is made; in using that analogy, it is more politics than racing. Even so, someone is always going to be SOL whether you are "dancing" or "packing" because as you know with the old style, if you got of line, you'd drop to the back, but most likely not lose a lap unless you lose the draft.

Seeing how the same practice is finding its way into the lower divisions as well I have a feeling, however, that NASCAR will take drastic steps to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the two car tandem before 2012 Speedweeks.

Then again, that was kinda what they were hoping would happen with the changes made before Sunday as well.....

Yep, I have been hoping for two decades that NASCAR would find some way to remove the plates from the engines altogether, so we shouldn't hold our breath...

[phathead]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Yep, I have been hoping for two decades that NASCAR would find some way to remove the plates from the engines altogether, so we shouldn't hold our breath...

Smaller engines. They spend all this extra money to maximize restrictor plate benefits, why couldn't they just make separate engines?

[Clive Brown]

I don't know just how many times I'm going to have to say this, but smaller engines will not work! The current problem arises because Sprint Cup cars with a plate can run absolutely flat out the whole way around the circuit at both Daytona and Talladega. Thus any muppet can easily run upfront at both circuits. If NASCAR mandated 61ci engines at the superspeedways, they'd still be flat out all the way round!

There are only two possible solutions; cars that can't go around the present circuits flat out, which means junking the restrictor plate, allowing 230-240 mph laps, and massive capital expenditure on walls and safety fences, or changing the tracks so that the present cars have to lift several times a lap; essentially, run the road course at both circuits.

Neither will happen, because essentially, the circuit owner is the governing body. Outside the closed, incestuous world of NASCAR, in most places this would be deemed corrupt.

[fieldodreams79]

From the high banked superspeedway in Alabama to the flat little short track in Virginia; the next stop for the Chase is at Martinsville Speedway and 500 laps around the paper clip.

Jayski Race Page

Garage opens today with a couple practice sessions and q-ing tomorrow.
Unfortunately, a quick look at the weather and things look awful through Saturday.

Race Sunday @ 143est

Current Points from Jayski:

2011 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Chase Points Standings:
[after Talladega, race 32 of 36 and Chase race 6 of 10]
1) #99-Carl Edwards [1 win], 2237
2) #17-Matt Kenseth [3 wins], 2223, -14
3) #2-Brad Keselowski [3 wins], 2219, -18
4) #14-Tony Stewart [2 wins], 2218, -19
5) #29-Kevin Harvick [4 wins], 2211, -26
6) #18-Kyle Busch [4 wins], 2197, -40
these drivers are more then a race out:
7) #48-Jimmie Johnson [2 wins], 2187, -50
8) #22-Kurt Busch [2 wins], 2185, -52
9) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [0 wins], 2163, -74
10) #24-Jeff Gordon [3 wins], 2155, -82
top 10 go to the banquet in Vegas
11) #11-Denny Hamlin [1 win], 2153, -84
12) #39-Ryan Newman [1 win], 2149, -88
(ties broken by 1sts, 2nds, 3rd, etc)

Can't really see anyone outside the top 5 bringing it home now, but stranger things have happened.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by Clive Brown

I don't know just how many times I'm going to have to say this, but smaller engines will not work! The current problem arises because Sprint Cup cars with a plate can run absolutely flat out the whole way around the circuit at both Daytona and Talladega. Thus any muppet can easily run upfront at both circuits. If NASCAR mandated 61ci engines at the superspeedways, they'd still be flat out all the way round!

There are only two possible solutions; cars that can't go around the present circuits flat out, which means junking the restrictor plate, allowing 230-240 mph laps, and massive capital expenditure on walls and safety fences, or changing the tracks so that the present cars have to lift several times a lap; essentially, run the road course at both circuits.

Neither will happen, because essentially, the circuit owner is the governing body. Outside the closed, incestuous world of NASCAR, in most places this would be deemed corrupt.

They've been running flat out around Talladega for 40 years. The difference is that then all engines were not created equally... and more cheating. Reducing the engine size (not rev limiters or plates) would potentially reduce speeds and allow the cars some room.

[HJJ]

IMHO, I wish Martinsville would not be included in the chase and a road course race would replace it.

[Clive Brown]

I'm not sure that they were still running flat out once NASCAR downsized from the full-size car to the 108" wheelbase. I seem to remember from Daytona in '83 that changes to the front bib and the rear spoiler, made on a virtually daily basis to equalise new and old cars, and many makes compared to today's four, determined just how much you needed to lift to avoid becoming airborne.

If you had a smaller unrestricted motor to give approximately the same power as the current plate motor, I guess you would need about a 210 ci V6, which would sound great. But the expense of a second engine is in my view totally unnecessary, and although the cars might get up to speed faster on restarts, in my view you would get a single 43 car pack.

No; make the Frances put their hands in their pockets, upgrade walls, barriers, and debris fences, take off the plates, and we'll have some great racing on superspeedways again, with handling a real factor. Lesser cars and drivers won't be able to keep up, so the likelihood- nay, certainty- of the Big One occuring will be much reduced.

[fieldodreams79]

Practice and q'ing canceled due to rain...lineup set by the points.

LINEUP

Rain should clear out for the race tomorrow, but the cold moves in; freeze warning for southern Virginia tonight.

They are on track now, for the first time all weekend...

[Wild Dog]

Where can I watch today's race live online? For free ofc.