2021 NASCAR Big 3

[broadrun96]

Damaged is an understatement, switched over to catch the 24's exploding rear quarter. And debris ruin Ole Mane n Tail's race and Byron run back to the pits and shred his front with the tire carcass. Just another excrement show even after the claims of if it's not safe you can't run new rules. Obviously not at Daytona with those cars falling apart at speed.

[rustyfan]

Ouch, massive crash on the last lap.

And it's now official: Michael McDowell(!) has won the Daytona 500!

[belt driven]

The racing was rather dull... because a lot of good drivers (who were a lot of good driver's teammates) got taken out of contention/race by Christopher Bell on lap 13.

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by belt driven

The racing was rather dull... because a lot of good drivers (who were a lot of good driver's teammates) got taken out of contention/race by Christopher Bell on lap 13.

I don't think it would've made a difference, they would have gone single file for a lot of the race anyway - like they always do at the superspeedways these days.

NASCAR needs to either 1) ban blocking or 2) modify the aerodynamics so the cars punch a bigger hole through the air, thus increasing the slingshot effect. If the drivers could initiate passes more easily on their own I don't think we'd see this stupid single-file crap.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by belt driven

The racing was rather dull... because a lot of good drivers (who were a lot of good driver's teammates) got taken out of contention/race by Christopher Bell on lap 13.

I don't have any polite words for that idiots stupidity. A push like that as a do or die at the end I can understand. But with 90% of the race to go it served no purpose. As a wise man once said you can only lose a race on the first lap, not win it.

Christopher Bell. End.

[WyldStallion]

I REALLY miss Winston Cup. You had big wrecks but you did have races that went caution free the whole way too.

This garbage is why I only follow NASCAR enough to read the discussion about how much it sucks. And to remember the greatness the series once was.

For me beginning of end of the Winston Cup era was Earnhardt's passing and it was buried at the end of 2003 with the last non-Chase/Playoff championship.

I want to give the road races a chance though. Maybe I'll check out the 3rd stage of Daytona road race next week.

[S griffin]

Things move on, however I agree things were more simpler once and you didn’t need gimmicks to spice things up

We still have great moments in NASCAR, but it also has gone completely the wrong way with the sporting regs and everything. We had a good few years after Earnhardt’s death, we may have lost a great character, but we still had enough going for it. And the chase was never needed, people cared more about the racing on track, than the championship 9 times out of 10

Let’s hope we have a better season, although the series desperately needs change. We’ll see how next week’s race goes.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by rustyfan

They're looking at restarting the race at 9pm ET (3am CET).!

I read this yesterday evening while I was out and about and saw 9 AM n my head and I never checked back in Sounds like it was "a plate race" so maybe it's best that I missed it.

Good for Michael though!

[fieldodreams79]

Heard the guys on my local radio program say Joey was to blame for this one but if we were to point fingers, Michael McDowell blew that whole thing up and won.

https://youtu.be/Ey81TxUO6Ak

I'll always love seeing Keso, Sliced Doosh and Capt Snothead crashing out, but this is a maddening part of this sport and this type of racing (and this race, which is supposed to be the biggest and best) where you can wreck half the field, not receive any type of punishment and win. And no. I'm not saying this because I want Chase to win

Edit - and this type of deal is why I never cared for Dale Sr.

[fieldodreams79]

Watching it again, Kyle Busch's career would be over or worse a couple of decades ago. He took a huge hit right in the door.

[broadrun96]

Yeah, so far many of the pundits and comments have been iffy at best and replay avoidant. Looks like the usual bumping that's been at Daytona on the last lap since the 2nd time they ran restricted was running hard again. Except some drivers think the garbage, and should be banned but know it can't be, manufacturer trains and blocks continue through the end of the race. Last 5, expect everyone to make a move and Joey seems to be over of the worst at not getting that. At least both of the Busches do that so they expect others will but some of the new gen seem to think they're not gonna get a bump and run. It's gonna happen again prepare yourself. And McDowell has always been a pusher and heavy side draft guy, in the spirit of Dale.

And yeah, as much as we generally dump on both of the Busch boys, no one would want to see that wreck in an older car. He got walloped in the door and there were a few other hits to others that weren't great. Thinking there were a lot of cars stripped of electrics and crushed after last night.

[S griffin]

I thought it was a tricky one to call there, but it would have been hard to see that coming. Of course incidents will happen, but some are a bit too aggressive. Needs to be toned down a bit, we don’t need a big wreck every time. Close racing will happen, but we need to make sure that accidents aren’t done by silly aggression. Some drivers need a talking to. At the Busch brothers know when to go for it and when not, but there are still some that need to tone down their aggression a bit. Some drivers coming are hard, some are soft touches and some know when to go for it or not. McDowell has always been a hard one, sometimes a little bit too much and is a bit like Earnhardt yes, although times are different now

Still at least safety is better. That cannot be stressed enough, even though it is still a scary business. Let’s not get complacent, although we can at least breathe a sigh of relief and hope we continue to see drivers walk away and not got too badly hurt. Although I would hate to see the repair bill after that one.

[FIRE]

This was disappointing...

[fieldodreams79]

Keso was wrecking whether Logano went to block him or not. McDowell had him turned already, but again, this is what we get with this type of 'show'.

Originally Posted by S griffin

Still at least safety is better. That cannot be stressed enough, even though it is still a scary business. Let’s not get complacent, although we can at least breathe a sigh of relief and hope we continue to see drivers walk away and not got too badly hurt. Although I would hate to see the repair bill after that one.

100%! The cars and walls are so very safe now, but that leads to some more idiotic behavior.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Things move on, however I agree things were more simpler once and you didn’t need gimmicks to spice things up

We still have great moments in NASCAR, but it also has gone completely the wrong way with the sporting regs and everything. We had a good few years after Earnhardt’s death, we may have lost a great character, but we still had enough going for it. And the chase was never needed, people cared more about the racing on track, than the championship 9 times out of 10

Let’s hope we have a better season, although the series desperately needs change. We’ll see how next week’s race goes.

Well the schedule changes are very promising that's for sure. Now the stages and playoffs need to go away. Maybe instead of stages have just 2 races a weekend, exceptions are for the Daytona 500, and Charlotte 600.

The new car coming in 2022 also has potential. I would love to see them become more like GT cars myself. Imagine a Cup series grid of Corvette C8Rs, Ford Mustangs (real ones, not the fakes in Grand national series), Dodge Vipers. Toyota 86 maybe.

[broadrun96]

Well Dodge doesn't run and hasn't made the Viper in years so that's a nonstarter and not cooking back any time soon. They make more profit selling shtty cars with more hp than tire to idiots who can't drive them.

Toyota has a car, Supra they stole from BMW. Why would they run the tiny 4 cylinder car? Talk about bringing the wrong car, the Supra isn't Vette or even top end Mustang capable. The 86 is more Miata than pony car, not that that is a bad thing at all but not really Cup.

You're only ever gonna see the roller frame cars with composite bodies for Nascar. They have way too many series doing the same thing across the country. Once this new car comes out they will all be spec chassis with only some engine flexibility. I believe most of the feeder series use one engine regardless of the badging, ala TA2 cars. If it has to change I'd be terrified of what takes it's place, think electric spec cars.

[S griffin]

Let's hope we can keep the current car makes involved. No other look like coming in anytime soon. It depends how many of the current makes see the series as relevant to them

We'll see what Toyota do, we should be thankful they've been kept involved for so long. We can't afford to lose any makes from the series at this time. We've got enough cars to keep it going atm. NASCAR should be able to continue, but it needs to not keep shooting itself in the foot with it's rules

The series has plenty of good ingredients for it to succeed. The cars are still great, they have plenty of great regional series across the country. Let's hope the new cars are fun to watch. I'd hate to see the series self destruct completely. It needs to have great cars and be relatively simple to follow, not gimmicks like stages and playoffs that don't necessarily bring in new fans and only alienate the enthusiasts. Let's hope the cars still make noise too, electric cars are a no go for me too

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Keso was wrecking whether Logano went to block him or not. McDowell had him turned already, but again, this is what we get with this type of 'show'.




100%! The cars and walls are so very safe now, but that leads to some more idiotic behavior.

I fell asleep after Denny "won" a stage, so have only just caught up properly now.

Have to agree with everything said above. Whether intentional or not, Michael Mc would have been "punished" if that were a different series in a different country. I know the cars are quite possibly the safest anywhere, but I do fear we'll lose a driver to career ending injury or death if the superspeedway races aren't calmed down. Pleased everybody walked away, my heart was in my mouth when Keso's car span and looked briefly like it was about to get very much up in the clouds.

[tux]

Isnt it amazing. The weekend where you cant race in the rain, it rains. The weekend where you CAN race in the rain looks set to be dry.

[broadrun96]

From Racer:

"The FOX broadcast averaged a 2.80 Nielsen rating and 4.8 million viewers, a record low and down from the 6.26/11m viewership peak for last year’s Sunday portion, which was hit by a shorter rain delay, and from the 4.4/7.3m average for the full 2020 event which was mostly run on Monday. (The Monday-only portion last year averaged 4.2/7/om viewers.)"

Guess they would have been better served running on Presidents Day than at whatever time it finally finished after 5 hour delays. 2/3 the viewers of a Monday race isn't a good thing.

Also, some kid name Elliot on pole for the road course. Why are we bothering to run then? Oh, pole determined by a matrix of fastest lap and finishing position last week and owner points standing. Crashy McSpinsthem is on outside pole.

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

From Racer:

"The FOX broadcast averaged a 2.80 Nielsen rating and 4.8 million viewers, a record low and down from the 6.26/11m viewership peak for last year’s Sunday portion, which was hit by a shorter rain delay, and from the 4.4/7.3m average for the full 2020 event which was mostly run on Monday. (The Monday-only portion last year averaged 4.2/7/om viewers.)"

Guess they would have been better served running on Presidents Day than at whatever time it finally finished after 5 hour delays. 2/3 the viewers of a Monday race isn't a good thing.

Also, some kid name Elliot on pole for the road course. Why are we bothering to run then? Oh, pole determined by a matrix of fastest lap and finishing position last week and owner points standing. Crashy McSpinsthem is on outside pole.

I think Mr Crashy McSpinsthem will need to fit extra rear view mirrors on his Ford. I can think of the odd person or six who might be interested in demonstrating to him the effects of a stock car poking your bottom...

I reckon this will be Chase's race to lose. Wonder if a certain Mr Blayney is on the war path or whether he knows his spotter lied to him. Assuming the latter, would you put your trust in a liar at the speeds these boys go?

[S griffin]

Let’s hope Crashy calms down a bit. It’s all very well showing a bit of extra aggression, but if you keep punting people they will give some back, if the officials don’t get involved first, which is unlikely, that is

I agree Chase has got to be a favourite for this race and that Blaney could be a threat, especially if he comes in all guns blazing. If what happened with the spotter is still weighing on his mind come race day, he will be one to watch out for. I wouldn’t be his crew chief or spotter in that situation

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Let’s hope Crashy calms down a bit. It’s all very well showing a bit of extra aggression, but if you keep punting people they will give some back, if the officials don’t get involved first, which is unlikely, that is

I agree Chase has got to be a favourite for this race and that Blaney could be a threat, especially if he comes in all guns blazing. If what happened with the spotter is still weighing on his mind come race day, he will be one to watch out for. I wouldn’t be his crew chief or spotter in that situation

I think if you look at who is considered the "stars" of the Cup series today. Chase Elliott is the only one whose rookie season came after 2009. The rest are products of the 2000s decade.

Kurt Busch is the last active driver who drove in the 2001 Daytona 500. And he might leave full time racing after this year the rumor has it.

With what you said. It would be cool to see Chase dominate. He will be looking to avenge himself somewhat after a rather poor Daytona 24 hours performance.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Let’s hope Crashy calms down a bit. It’s all very well showing a bit of extra aggression, but if you keep punting people they will give some back, if the officials don’t get involved first, which is unlikely, that is

I agree Chase has got to be a favourite for this race and that Blaney could be a threat, especially if he comes in all guns blazing. If what happened with the spotter is still weighing on his mind come race day, he will be one to watch out for. I wouldn’t be his crew chief or spotter in that situation

This the type of race I would love to see Nick Tandy, Kamui Kobayashi, and Earl Bamber run in. Ringers in Cup series don't happen anymore. Only in the Grand National (Xfinity) series you see that now. In Winston Cup Ron Fellows and Tom Kendall would be there and challenge for the victory constantly.

[FIRE]

It would be nice to see some outsiders (Johan Kristoffersson!) on road courses but to be honest I don't think they have an advantage nowadays.