I want to make this perfectly clear from the start, if you plan on posting crap about how special you feel that NASCAR sucks, is boring, isn't racing, and is pointless, then please close your browser and refrain from posting. I want this to be a productive area for posting about the new season and your thoughts. There may not be a huge amount of NASCAR fans on the forum, but there are some, so please keep your no-love-for-NASCAR biased opinions to yourself.


Its been a "grueling" 3 months to wait for some NASCAR action. Speedweeks and the 500 are upon us, so here is a thread dedicated to the new season that is about to start. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500 and the first featuring the new COT. The field this year is perhaps the most diverse that NASCAR has had in a long time. We have a couple of new Canadiens, some ex-F1 stars, Indy 500 champs, a few past Cup champions, no less than 16 driver team/sponsor/make changes, 19 race teams that need to make the race and are not locked in, and 54 guys who are about to put it all on the line to win the most prestegious race of the year.

To keep up to date on info here is a couple of sites for your edcation and information.

http://www.nascar.com/

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar

http://www.jayski.com/


There is practice for the 500 today, then the ARCA race, and tonight the Budweiser shootout featuring pole winners from last year and previous winnes of the race.

Tomorrow we will have qualifying for the 500. (Only top two drivers are determined along with the 3 fastest go or go home cars)

Next Thursday we will have the Gatorade duels that determine the starting position for the 500. Friday there will be the NCTS race. Saturday the NNS race. Sunday is the big show with the golden anniversery of the 500.

The starting grid for the Shootout is here:

http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/100/data/lineup.html

Big crash in practice for the Shootout involving 8 cars here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-fiVsOC1H94&feature=related

The first practice speeds for the 500 are here:

http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/1/data/practice1_speeds.html


An early headline for the weekend is the on track altercations between Tony Stewart driving the Home Depot Toyota Camry and Kurt Busch driving the Miller Lite Dodge Charger. The two got involved in a wreck in practice for the Shootout and there was a retaliation by Kurt Busch who felt he got wrecked. Busch hit Stewarts car on the way back to the pits and both were called to the "trailer" for a talk with NASCAR. Allegedly ToOny also puched Kurt in the garage. Link to story here:

http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/08/bud.shootout.practice.wrecks.tstewart.kb usch/index.html

Video of the wreck and incident here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qmM-EFReXAg&feature=related

So with that, go ahead and discuss and give your opinion on things for the new season.

I am going to watch the start of the season (since i am off college all next week) and i will be supporting Juan Pablo Montoya as i liked him when he was in Formula 1.

It will also be intresting to see the "car of tommorow" in action.

^^What is that "Car of Tomorrow", does it run on different fuel or something.

Might watch NASCAR, not much of a NASCAR fan, though I dont have cable so...yeah.

Juan Pablo Montoya, I'll probably go for him.

Car of tommorow is some new regulation car for nascar.

Ummm....sorry, but I don't know much about NASCAR...

Are the cars actuallt based on real Chevrolet somethings(?), Ford somethings(?) and Dodge somethings(?), or are theyjust a control chassis and all the lights and doors and grilles and badges painted on?

If the cars are all the same and have bits painted on; are there any categories that actually start with real cars?

^^^ Yes they are based on their showroom counterparts...loosely.

Taken from howstuffworks.com...

The shape of the car is mostly determined by NASCAR rules. These rules are encapsulated in a set of 30 templates, each shaped to fit a different contour of the car. For instance, the biggest template fits over the center of the car from front to back.
When the template is laid on the car, the gap between the template and the car cannot exceed the specified tolerance. Each template is marked on its edge with a colored line.
If the line is red, then the gap must be less than 0.07 inches (0.18 cm). If the line is blue, the gap must be less than 0.25 inches (0.64 cm). If the line is green, the gap must be less than 0.5 inches (1.27 cm).

The templates actually allow a little leeway in the design of the car. Because 30 templates are not enough to cover every inch of the body, some areas between template locations are not strictly controlled by NASCAR.

The construction of one of these cars has nothing in common with how a street car is made.
With the exception of the roof, hood and deck lid (which are supplied by the manufacturer), all of the body panels are made by trimming and then hand-rolling flat sheet metal between the rollers of an English wheel, which slowly bends and curves the metal until the contour matches the templates and fits on the car.

That help?

Here is a good summary of what the COT is. Yes, it is wikipedia, but the stuff that is on there is true. Basicallly all the cars have the same shape. The only real differences in today's NASCAR is the very closely related engine packages and what the crew chiefs decide to do in regards to the suspension, air pressure, and chassis tuning. Basically its a very generic car that was made for small teams to be competitive. If you want to relate it to any other race series, you can look at the A1GP and Austrailian V8 supercar series as prime examples.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_of_Tomorrow

Here is a picture of the old car (note the blade spoiler):

http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/44953/2006301130912350320_rs.jpg

Here is a picture of the new car (note the wing and splitter):

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/42339/2006364786886046307_rs.jpg

^^I see it now, much different. Thanks. ;)

Here is a good summary of what the COT is. Yes, it is wikipedia, but the stuff that is on there is true. Basicallly all the cars have the same shape. The only real differences in today's NASCAR is the very closely related engine packages and what the crew chiefs decide to do in regards to the suspension, air pressure, and chassis tuning. Basically its a very generic car that was made for small teams to be competitive. If you want to relate it to any other race series, you can look at the A1GP and Austrailian V8 supercar series as prime examples.

The V8's are actually (though losely) based on the road-going cars. They roll in as a VE Commodore or BF Faclon, and roll out as either a Holden of Ford V8 Supercar. They may be significantly different, from when they rolled into the workshop, but there are no common panels between the VE and BF Supercars.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_of_Tomorrow

Here is a picture of the old car (note the blade spoiler):

http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/44953/2006301130912350320_rs.jpg

Here is a picture of the new car (note the wing and splitter):

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/42339/2006364786886046307_rs.jpg

Hehehe, the new wings on the COT looks silly. It's like a watered-down GT wing; surely there's better shapes when the wing is that small...

When I was comparing the series I was trying to point out that the cars are strictly governed so that each driver has an equal chance. I know they are different cars, but they have strict rules just like NASCAR does.


EDIT: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the Budweiser shootout with his new Hendrick ride, the 88 National Guard/Amp Energy Chevy. He led 47 laps and this was his first win since 2006. Could this be a sign of things to come for this season, I think so.

Car and driver that won:

http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/43653/2005970912731551933_rs.jpg

Finishing order:

http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/42755/2005844127617948391_rs.jpg

Kudos to clutch for a good threat starter. To reiterate his first paragraph for all the naysayers and bashers; I add this:

I went to sports car races for years before I ever paid attention to NASCAR. I still consider driving a road course to be a higher technical art than driving an oval. I don't watch all the races. The new "cookie-cutter" 1.5/2.0 mile "tri-ovals" at Fontana, Kansas, and Chicago often put me to sleep. Martinsville often looks like bumper cars. I live 30-odd miles from Atlanta and will NEVER go there again unless it's free with a limo ride to the Hooter's suite with a helicopter ride out.

Keep in mind that in the early 90's, ESPN surveyed a dozen F1 drivers as to what motorsports they watched when not racing. 3/4 said, "NASCAR; because the competetion is so close."

For those overseas without TV coverage; there is often free online video, in-car or radio coverage available. You can get live leaderboards even on dialup.

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chriz00; Of 36 NASCAR points races, the first 13 are on FOX broadcast. The last 11 are on ABC broadcast. Stick up a coathanger while you still can.

I like Montoya too. He "done good" for a rookie last year. Villeneuve was in the top 5 speeds in Sat morning practice for the Daytona 500. One Canadian and one Columbian; these 2 American drivers won CART (minority of US born drivers) Championships before they went to F1. They were "our guys" over there. One became F1 Champion.

It might appear that ex-F1 pilotas experience a quicker learning curve entering NASCAR. By the way, Scott Speed led today in the ARCA race at Daytona before he crashed; he ran well at Talladega last fall. Montoya and Villeneuve could make real nuisances of themselves at Sears Point and the Glen!

(PS. My Mom had cousins in Alhambra & San Gabriel I visited long ago.)

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The wiki stuff is pretty good, with a couple of clarifications/corrections: The most important things about the new/COT car are the safety aspects. The driver sits 2 inches back and 4 inches inboard in a car 2 inches higher (steeper windscreen) and 4 inches wider. This gives the driver 6 inches more side crush distance(protection) in a crash. The new cars have LESS front downforce in clean air; but lose less of it in the draft (following another car).

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TBR; V8 Supercars are about the only reinforced production non-Porsche chassis left in professional racing outside of OZ. Even Grand-Am GT allows "prep 2/silhouette" construction for every make other than Porsche. Even SCCA "amateur" racing has RWD tube-frame classic "Minis" in GT-4/5.

I admire the Aussie outlaw attitude. I admire V8 Supercar racing for its close competition. I admire it even more for such competion being so close on road courses. I wish Doc Panoz would have a mild stroke or smoke a boful and decide (correctly!) that airfreighting the entire V8 Supercar field to Road Atlanta would produce a better race and cost less than the suckup bill for 2 Audis to show up to barely beat 4 lower-class P2 Porsches in alms.

I got in a heated discussion with wanna K 14 months ago about relative technology/cost for V8 vs NASCAR.

A V8 Supercar has spec issue fuel injection/rev limiters on an FI US V8 in a reinforced/production non-tubeframe car that almost never (except Conrod Straight @ Bathurst) reaches NASCAR speeds.

V8 Supercar lost a driver named Peter Brock in the last year or so. Might he have survived in a NASCAR style tube frame race car?

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The Bud Shootout was awesome!

V8 Supercar lost a driver named Peter Brock in the last year or so. Might he have survived in a NASCAR style tube frame race car?

Peter Brock didn't die in a V8 Supercar race. He died when he struck a tree when he went off the road in the Targa West 2006 rally, in a Daytona sportscar (a replica of the Shelby Daytona).

Well, qualifying was completed today and Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip will lead them to the green next Sunday barring any unforseen issues. Waltrip, Joe Nemechek, and David Reutiman also were the fastest 3 go or go home cars, which means they will start the race no matter what. The story from qualifying is here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7782814

Jimmie Johnson and the 50th place qualifier were separated by less than 1 second of each other. This was a close field as usual. Qualifying times are here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/foxTrax


The Gatorade Duel races will be held on Thursday.

First duel starting grid:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/startingGrid?gameId=20080214044

Second duel starting grid:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/cup/startingGrid?gameId=20080214045

For those who don't understand the qualifying procedure for the Daytona 500 race, (The race is the only one in the 36 race season that does its qualifying format like this), you can find the official information here:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7783228

Peter Brock didn't die in a V8 Supercar race. He died when he struck a tree when he went off the road in the Targa West 2006 rally, in a Daytona sportscar (a replica of the Shelby Daytona).

Mybad with apologies. We get a few replays in our wintertime but no news about Supercars or their drivers. This US fan laments the loss of Al Holbert Jr., Alan Kulwicki, and Davey Allison in aviation accidents with as much pain as with the death of Dale Earnhardt.

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NASCAR's season opener at Daytona is confusing to many US fans. Daytona and Talladega are 2.5/2.66 mile tracks requiring "restrictor plates" under the cars' carburetors. The new, taller, wider, COT has bigger holes in said plate/more HP to offset the higher drag. The new cars accelerate faster exiting the pits and when breaking draft for a pass. The endplates on the wing showed their stabilizing value Sat night when several drivers got 20 degrees sideways and saved themselves from a wallbanger/infield picnic.

Pole qual at Daytona is pointless except for the news media. Sunday, JJ was blowing steam out the radiator vent crossing the line after 2 hot laps; proving only that he had the most taped/lowest cooling airflow/lowest drag cooling intake of the day. 2nd fastest Michael Waltrip (failed to qualify LOTS last year) proved Toyota spent a HEAP of money over the winter.

Steve, what explains Joe's rediculously fast time? (I wanted him to be on the front row with JJ just to shove it in everyones face that a one car organization (Yes, I know they brought two cars for this one race) can keep up with a powerhouse like Hendrick. And yes, I know they leased an engine from Hendrick.

Front row pic:

http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/43892/2004347913252698517_rs.jpg

Numbchuck? I would be watching Blaney's Toyota that was very fast all through the shootout.

Dude, what?


And yes Mr. WoO champ looks mighty fast in his BDR Toyota. (Man, a year ago I would have laughed at that comment.)

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was on Friday night, and as usual, there was another pretty close three wide finish. Todd Bodine in the #30 Toyota Tundra won over second place finisher and Sprint Cup regular Kyle Bush in the #51 Toyota Tundra and third place finisher Johnny Benson driving the #23 Toyota Tundra. In fact, Toyota swept the first 4 positions on the track.

The overall race was unexciting due to big crashes early on that took out over a dozen good trucks. In the end it was close with Bodine winning by less than a tenth of a second.

The story:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7803568/Bodine-wins-season-opening-trucks-race-at-Daytona

Results can be found here:
http://www.nascar.com/races/truck/2008/1/data/results_unofficial.html

Scary moment in the race for P.J. Jones, after wrecking he had to clim out of his burning truck.
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/42162/2004138188039719727_rs.jpg


Saturday, the NASCAR Nationwide Series had their race at Daytona and Tony Stewart won the race and again Toyotas were dominant. Tony drove the #20 Toyota Camry followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate of Kyle Busch in the #18 Toyota Camry. Third place was wrapped up by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the #5 Chevy Monte Carlo.

The story:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/7805144/Stewart-wins-season-opening-Nationwide-race

The results:
http://www.nascar.com/races/bg/2008/1/data/results_unofficial.html

Picture of the 3 wide racing that occured:
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/42279/2006213295943571683_rs.jpg


In other news Jacques Villeneuve is officially without a ride in the Sprint Cup series. After missing out on the race by crashing the qualifying duels, it appears as if the former F1 champ will not be racing anytime soon. The team has built the racecars necessary and the team is prepared to race, but the sponsorships that were supposed to be established by now have not worked out, and the team cannot run without a sponsor. Bill Davis racing will use Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson, their Craftsman Truck Series drivers to fill in while things get worked out. They each have small sponsorship deals that will allow the team to run for at least a while.

The story:
http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/16/jvilleneuve.mskinner.jbenson.27.car/index.html



The Daytona 500 is on right now and Toyota is dominating the field, Toyota powered cars have combined to lead 103 out of 130 laps. Its been a rather boring and uneventful event with one caution and a very strung out field. Average speed for the race is a blistering 171 mph. You can follow the events through live leaderboard and updates here:
http://racecast.nascar.com/races/leaderboard/cup/race/

Its officially over and Ryan Newman driving the #12 Alltel Dodge Charger for Team Penske South wins the race in a last lap pass over Tony Stewart. It appeared as if the Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch were going to be too much for the field but in a shocking an unexpected move, Ryan Newman with the help of his teammate Kurt Busch wins the 50th edition of the great american race. Newman has not won since 2005 and Penske Racing hasn't won at a restrictor plate track in over 140 tries, but today, they have won. And who would have thought that Dodges would take 6 of the top 8 spots, including all 3 Gillett Evernham Dodges that were in the race.

The results are as follows:
http://aycu01.webshots.com/image/43800/2005417457962117641_rs.jpg
http://aycu36.webshots.com/image/41795/2005444129983713020_rs.jpg

Picture of the winning car from jayski.com:
http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/43828/2005492961180129693_rs.jpg


Personally I was quite dissappointed because my driver, Jeff Burton, had the lead late in the race, but in the last restart with 3 laps left he got hung out to dry and he finished 13th in the end.

Overall it was a superbly boring race until about the last 50 laps. The end was pretty exciting as well. (Way too many comercials in the broadcast.)

On to Cali.

I never in my life thought Newman would win. I thought Johnson was going to win.

I didn't think a Dodge would win period, but what makes you think Johnson had a chance? Especially after he got in the wreck. Or were you just rooting for him?

Kyle Busch had the fastest car in the race but in the end he had two cars working against him.

I was rooting for him. I thought he was screwed after the wreck, but before that he was my guy.

The fact that 3 of the 5 top cars were dodges is throwing me a little. I never saw that coming. Never saw suspension failure for Gordon coming either. I wonder if it was the COT or if it was just luck.

I think its just the newness of the COT. I really don't think it was bad luck considering they had the same problems during testing in January. They tried to reenforce the suspension mountings but it they just shook loose because of how stiff the new suspension is.

Okay, most people here know that I really hate NASCAR, BUT I will put that aside an comment just on the race-


I must say, it was quite boring and uneventful. Not too much battling, hardly any accidents. The end was kinda dicey, though. There seems to a big difference in how the new cars react when getting out of shape or squirrely compared to the old cars. The new cars seem easier to catch and compesate for. At any rate, my fave driver is Bobby Labonte, and his prime is long gone unfortunately. Sux that he won the Championship in 2000, and now is lucky to finish in the top-15. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you drive for Petty Enterprise....:eek::p

I can't believe I missed the whole thing! Curse this difference in time zones!

Okay, most people here know that I really hate NASCAR, BUT I will put that aside an comment just on the race-


I must say, it was quite boring and uneventful. Not too much battling, hardly any accidents. The end was kinda dicey, though. There seems to a big difference in how the new cars react when getting out of shape or squirrely compared to the old cars. The new cars seem easier to catch and compesate for. At any rate, my fave driver is Bobby Labonte, and his prime is long gone unfortunately. Sux that he won the Championship in 2000, and now is lucky to finish in the top-15. Oh well, I guess that's what happens when you drive for Petty Enterprise....:eek::p

My favorite driver was Cale Yarborough. He was in the first televised Nascar race, and at the end of it, got out of his car and punched Donnie Allison for ramming him off the road. That's when Nascar wasn't rediculously oversponcered and the drivers were cool.

Yeah, I'd say NASCAR stopped being at least semi-cool in about 2002 or 2003. Even in the late 90's it was alright.

It was cool to see the old Petty STP liveried cars cruising the track before the race today. It was also kinda cool to see somewhat of an underdog win.....

Lets stop that convo right there and continue with the events of the Daytona 500. (It seems to be shiting towards the NASCAR isn't cool end of the table.)

Here is a pic of the winner:

http://aycu20.webshots.com/image/44539/2005131182167947491_rs.jpg

It was trashy of me to remind my boss Mon. AM that it was lucky that Hendrick hired JR.; so they could score ONE car on the lead lap...; HAHAHAHA!!!

Tell me how/where to sacrifice goats to continue this J & J luzer tradition. (PETA; sue me.)

Had lap leader Kyle Busch not been balked on the last restart and failed to back up his teammate Smoke; the end might have been different.

Congratulations to Ryan Newman (BE Purdue "boilermaker") and Team Penske (14 x Indy 500 wins) for their first Daytona 500 win and first ever 1-2 team finish.

Something tells me, from watching the race, that Kyle Busch is not going to be a good team-mate to Tony Stewart, and will go for the win whenever possible. That's good for race wins for Joe Gibbs, but I think we all know that if Kyle Busch had helped Stewart like Kurt Busch helped Newman, things would have ended differently.

And no, I'm not a big Nascar fan, but I do want Stewart to win, he's one of the few drivers with a personality today.

I think Earnhart Jr. has a personality. The guy races a C6R Corvette...I don't really know what that has to do with personality, but it's still COOL! He also seems like a nice guy in his interviews and stuff.

See, I'm more impressed w/ the driver's that have racing skill/talent outside of NASCAR. The ones that do sportscar/endurance racing, and have other motorsports backgrounds. Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Jeff Gordon, Boris Said, Dale Jr, and Ron Fellows come to mind.....

I am a Dale Jr. fan, by default......I was a Dale Sr. fan, and well.......I had to like another chevy driver, and the rainbow warrior was out of the question

[quote=Phoenix_22;709058]Something tells me, from watching the race, that Kyle Busch is not going to be a good team-mate to Tony Stewart, and will go for the win whenever possible. That's good for race wins for Joe Gibbs, but I think we all know that if Kyle Busch had helped Stewart like Kurt Busch helped Newman, things would have ended differently.quote]

Kyle and Smoke worked well together during the race, especially on restarts. Kyle did exactly what Smoke or Elliot (or Rick Mears) would have done. If it's easy to lead most laps, lead. It's safer. If you can't lead the most laps, lead the last one.