2021 NASCAR Big 3

[broadrun96]

Even the last few races with road course guys they weren't in the best cars. if they had been in good front of the field team cars the results would have been different, but few wins from the ringers.

The top 11 all time covers 3 wins and up and not a single part-timer in the list. Gordon first at 9, Smoke at 8, Rudd and Rusty with 6, Bobby Allison, DW and Chase with 5, Richmond, Kyle, Truex with 4, Mark Martin, The King, David Pearson, Cale with 3

[S griffin]

It’s never been easy for an outsider to come in and win in NASCAR. It is very unlikely they would be offered a top seat, why would they when they’ve already got established NASCAR stars in their seat? Of course some NASCAR drivers are better than road courses than others. Jeff Gordon is a good example, he could have succeeded in anything he was that talented. And of course there have been many others. Ovals may still be king, but there is still plenty of room for some drivers to show they could have succeeded in conventional road course racing. Even those who looked even more at home on ovals

[S griffin]

Of course there have been a few outsiders who have done well in NASCAR, but then the cream always rises to the top, even if NASCAR has always seemed to be a bit of a specialist branch of motorsport. It’s a tough task against those who have been doing it all their life. That’s why I’ve liked Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart who have shown they are not one trick ponies and showed they could have succeeded in any motorsport. NASCAR isn’t an exclusive club for the good ol boys anymore. I know Cale Yarborough proved quite adept at other racing series it tried, but he was one of the first

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

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.

Chase ain't losing sleep over the Rolex and I still feel he held his own in something he's never driven before.

I do agree on one thing in that I hope he is the dominant driver for a spell.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Even the last few races with road course guys they weren't in the best cars. if they had been in good front of the field team cars the results would have been different, but few wins from the ringers.

The top 11 all time covers 3 wins and up and not a single part-timer in the list. Gordon first at 9, Smoke at 8, Rudd and Rusty with 6, Bobby Allison, DW and Chase with 5, Richmond, Kyle, Truex with 4, Mark Martin, The King, David Pearson, Cale with 3

Dan Gurney won 5 NASCAR GN races out of the 16 total GN races he ran, making him a part timer. All his wins came at Riverside. 6 times he ran Daytona (400 & 500), once at Atlanta and 9x at Riverside, with one being in 1980 when he was 49. That one aside, he won 5 of 8 at Riverside. Dan the Man!

So to your point, there are no Dan Gurneys around anymore.

AJ Foyt has one win at Riverside in 8 starts but has 7 NASCAR GN wins and he's batting 1.000 at Le Mans with Dan!

[S griffin]

Dan Gurney was a road racer first and foremost, yet he adapted to NASCAR very well and no surprise to see him do well on the road courses. He really sook the establishment up. He really showed he was an all rounder. Even approaching 50 as he was in 1980 he showed he could still compete. Legend. Deserves a lot of credit for what he achieved

There is still room for more outsiders to come in, maybe not to the same success as Dan, but certainly enough to be up there. AJ Foyt had no problem adapting to NASCAR, mainly because being an American driver he was used to ovals and all that. He showed he could have been a champion in NASCAR if he started earlier. Like Dan, another good all rounder. His drives at Le Mans showed what he could do

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Dan Gurney was a road racer first and foremost, yet he adapted to NASCAR very well and no surprise to see him do well on the road courses. He really sook the establishment up. He really showed he was an all rounder. Even approaching 50 as he was in 1980 he showed he could still compete. Legend. Deserves a lot of credit for what he achieved

There is still room for more outsiders to come in, maybe not to the same success as Dan, but certainly enough to be up there. AJ Foyt had no problem adapting to NASCAR, mainly because being an American driver he was used to ovals and all that. He showed he could have been a champion in NASCAR if he started earlier. Like Dan, another good all rounder. His drives at Le Mans showed what he could do

Love these cool crossover stories. Al Unser Jr ran in a early 1990s Daytona 500 once and had a potential top 5 before a "big one" crash. My favorite driver in Winston Cup as a youngster was John Andretti. Crossover aspect a big reason why.

[WyldStallion]

I think NASCAR controls ARCA now yes? If so then I think a good idea would be to convert that to a NASCAR Cup-like sprint series. Use the same cars that are legal in the Cup series but the races are xx number of laps or a certain number of minutes (maybe 40 or 50) that is long enough for one stint. Run two or three races over a day or two. No pit stops needed if you don't have a problem. Would be a good destination perhaps for start and parkers who actually can race this time. Same for others who have less of a budget.

[broadrun96]

Arca is under NASCAR's umbrella now and has transitioned to a spec adjacent (for lack of a better term but not exact) series to reduce costs.

They have allowed a newer, believe a couple years now, Ilmor 396 Chevy based engine thats EFI, 700/500. It is VERY limited and teams can't do much to it, with spec singular fluid supplier requirements for oil and coolant. It's more power and longer durability than the open rules with carbs. The chassis has some freedom still but fairly closed. The bodies now however are all spec'd and must be purchased. It went to all composite bodies in 2019 I believe after allowing both a couple seasons.

[broadrun96]

Looks like instead of learning that dirty tracks are hard to drive on, Nascar filled in the bus-stops apices with rumble strips. Nothing like just taking the entire chicane out, might as well just remove it if you're going to give them more pavement.

[Alfisti]

Yeah, should have left the grass in place given the point of the chicane is to make 'em take some corners and have to slow to do so.

Still, least it's not as bad as lots of the tracks in the F1 circuit where there is tarmac everywhere.

Grass enforces track limits as you stand a chance of wrecking if you take too many liberties.

[WyldStallion]

As of this posting the Grand National (Xfinity) race is soon. Road racers to cheer for here are AJ Allendinger and Andy Lally. Too bad no Bamber or Tandy in this one. Would have been a great chance.

Another note the trucks winner Ben Rhodes is a Ford GT4 Michellen Pilot Challenge driver recall. That has done wonders for Austin Cindric and now him. GM and Toyota should do this too.

[Akrapovic]

I rather enjoyed the Xfinity race. Logano has some...interesting view points. Great racing though.

[belt driven]

Don't get me started on A.J. Talk about crossover: turn left, left, left; then win your first pro sports car race at LeMans.

McDowell had never been on my radar. All the nice guy talk reminded me he had been suspended from a Grand-Am race at the Glen in 2005 for aggressive driving. Coming from sports cars, you kind of expect better manners.

Had a grin on my face waiting for the slightest trace of WHINING from Keso or Loogey about being on the receiving end (for a change) on the last lap. Couldn't happen to a nicer pair of guys.

When you talk about a driver being one of your best friends, then dump him in the last turn; expect Blaney to figure he has a free one.

The depth of equipment/talent is lacking in trucks and busch, and it really shows on the road courses.There's 2-3 guys most likely to win in trucks and 5-6 in busch.

In the Truck race Rhodes and Creed were the only 2 to lap over 107 mph. Nobody else cracked 106.

In yesterday's busch race only Dinger, H. Burton, and Cindric lapped over 109, except Ty Gibbs did 110 on the last lap.

Kaulig fields as good a car as any in busch. If they brought a good one today, Dinger has a chance. Chase, Blaney, Busch SR., Truex all have a good chance.

PS. Why is Chase on the pole?

[rustyfan]

Never actually thought they were going to do the Days of Thunder "re-enactment" they talked about during the Daytona 500 broadcast

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by belt driven

Don't get me started on A.J. Talk about crossover: turn left, left, left; then win your first pro sports car race at LeMans.

McDowell had never been on my radar. All the nice guy talk reminded me he had been suspended from a Grand-Am race at the Glen in 2005 for aggressive driving. Coming from sports cars, you kind of expect better manners.

Had a grin on my face waiting for the slightest trace of WHINING from Keso or Loogey about being on the receiving end (for a change) on the last lap. Couldn't happen to a nicer pair of guys.

When you talk about a driver being one of your best friends, then dump him in the last turn; expect Blaney to figure he has a free one.

The depth of equipment/talent is lacking in trucks and busch, and it really shows on the road courses.There's 2-3 guys most likely to win in trucks and 5-6 in busch.

In the Truck race Rhodes and Creed were the only 2 to lap over 107 mph. Nobody else cracked 106.

In yesterday's busch race only Dinger, H. Burton, and Cindric lapped over 109, except Ty Gibbs did 110 on the last lap.

Kaulig fields as good a car as any in busch. If they brought a good one today, Dinger has a chance. Chase, Blaney, Busch SR., Truex all have a good chance.

PS. Why is Chase on the pole?

Yeah any Grand National road course race where the winner is NOT Cindric or Allmendinger is an upset. Cindric would be a real good in an IMSA GTD car today I think. Ran in a Shank Acura one year I think and impressed. Wish we had that Ford Mustang GT3 car in existance to run Cindric, Deegan, Rhodes in IMSA Weathertech rather than MPC.

[fieldodreams79]

Sounds like rain is coming at the end of this one. I've been listening while doing other things. Might have to duck inside if the precip moves in!

[fieldodreams79]

And NASCAR effing NASCAR's it. Caution for rain when rain tires are in play. BULLSHIT.

Seriously, this is the crap that drives me up the freaking walls with this series. Stay green!!!!!!!!

[fieldodreams79]

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

[rustyfan]

What a save by Elliott.

[fieldodreams79]

Nascar and Brad Kesolowski can go to hell. Complete shitshow.

[rustyfan]

Congrats to Christopher Bell, great job! (Even better that he snatched the win away from Logano.)

Good race, really enjoyed it.

When was the last time we had two first-time winners in a row?

Edit - I'll just answer myself: the last time was in 2019, when Alex Bowman won at Chicago followed by Justin Haley winning at Daytona.

[Alfisti]

Stupid cautions - a few drops of rain, I was watching Truex on board and it didn't slow him at all that I could tell. Then we had the Kyle wreck and Chase all over the show and no cautions - totally lacking consistency.

Quite a few guys blew it by pitting that last time, Slogano had the right idea I think, though Bell really had the pedal to the metal. Made up for that dumb wreck he caused early in the 500.

Doesn't look like anyone has a particular advantage at this point of the season, early days mind!

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Stupid cautions - a few drops of rain, I was watching Truex on board and it didn't slow him at all that I could tell.

Yeah I was surprised they threw the caution, but I think they expected more rain to fall and also didn't trust their drivers to slow down enough to make it to the pits on their own

[S griffin]

Sometimes they will find a supposed good reason to throw a caution. I guess too they thought more rain to fall, but it was a tight call and does make you wonder at times if they throw a caution more to keep the action close