Posted on 09/13/2013 7:28:46 AM PDT by Doogle
It's supposed to be a week of celebration, a time where NASCAR's best drivers prepare for the 10 most important races of the year.
Instead of focusing on the opening Chase for the Sprint Cup event Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway, however, the attention this past week has not been on the playoff chances of Dale Earnhardt Jr. or whether Jimmie Johnson can win a sixth title.
"The integrity is intact and I wouldn’t question it going forward"-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
The sport has instead been entangled with teams blatantly fixing races, forcing NASCAR to respond by leveling record fines and even going as far to boot a driver of the Chase. Even with Chicago just days away, the madness is not over as officials continue to investigate whether Penske Racing brokered a deal with another team to benefit Joey Logano's entry into the playoffs.
(Excerpt) Read more at sbnation.com ...
Restrictor plates are another pointless “safety” device.
Look at Michigan. They’re running considerably faster top speeds than at the restrictor plate tracks and doing it with considerably less banking. 215+mph into turn one with 18 degrees banking yet the track is notorious for having a minimal number of caution flags. The drivers are restricting themselves.
And no restart if you see a spotted owl.
Or through pit lane at Bristol, during a caution.
Very good analogy. I had not thought of it that way.
“I got a tir goin down, coming into the pits”
But dat ain't what was caught on radio traffic.
Carl Edwards should have been put to the back of the field for jumping the last restart of the race just like they did Jimmie Johnson a few weeks back.
I think what’s happening here is that the PC press has decided its time to destroy NASCAR. There have always been “alliances of opportunity” that form and break during races. When it comes time for the big money (like qualifying for the ridiculous “chase”) there is more motivation to make them happen.
Lib writers are shocked, SHOCKED, to discover this is happening, and the shakedown process begins. They know that by impugning the integrity of the sport, sponsors may be less willing to get involved. (Why open a PR can of worms when you can just sponsor women’s soccer and no one will object?)
Well, NASCAR should just be saying “Well, yeah, so what? That’s how the sport works.”
The problem is this idiotic race to the chase format.
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Bingo!!
Nascar has gone ‘Obama’ and transformed itself into a major mess.. Maybe we need a Nascar Czar.
Remember the special rear window for the Chevy Monty Carlo in the late 80’s?
NASCAR has always favored GM.
200 MPH isn't necessarily a magic number. Many small and not very small airplanes rotate (lift off) at speed lower than 200 MPH. The angle of the vehicle, or if a corner is lifted enough, aerodynamic principles take over and the car will go up regardless of safety devices and speeds.
I think your point, however, is that the slower the speeds, the more manageable it is for NASCAR safety to prevent aero-induced flying race cars. They won't go as high or as far in the air.
This has been a concern for years at IMS with Indy Cars. It was a large part of the new chasis design. Those cars travel down the long straightaways at over 230 MPH. It was suggested that at the right angle of launch, those cars only needed to be going about 150 MPH to get lift enough to clear the fence. At 230 MPH, if two cars were to touch wheels just right, he/she might have a chance to clear those towering grandstands and make a mess of 16th street. The new cars are supposed to prevent the wheels from touching at the angle that launches one or the other.
BTW - Has anyone been watching IRL? Holy Moses! Now that's exciting racing. Rubbin is racin this year in open wheel. These guys are nuts. Bonzai corner passes and all. That Baltimore street race and this years Indy 500 may have been the two most exciting auto races I have ever watched.
If Bowyer spun out intentionally, there needs to be a penalty because he risked his and others’ lives pulling the stunt.
If there is nothing in the rule book about intentionally causing a crash, then he gets a pass this time, but it needs to be in the rule book starting next season.
Actually, it's the track itself that limits the speeds.
Compare Michigan to Daytona & Taledega:
Michigan:
Track Shape: D-Shaped Oval
Track Length: 2 miles
Front Stretch Length: 3,600 feet
Back Stretch Length: 2,242 feet
Banking:
18˚ Turns
12˚ Frontstretch
5˚ Back Straightaway
Daytona:
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
Track Length: 2.5 miles
Front Stretch Length: 3,800 feet
Back Stretch Length: 3,000 feet
Banking:
31˚ Turns
18˚ Tri-Oval
3˚ Back Straightaway
Taledega:
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Front Stretch Length: 4,300 feet
Back Stretch Length: 4,000 feet
Banking:
33˚ Turns
16.5˚ Frontstretch
2˚ Back Straightaway
As you can see, not only is the banking at Taledega almost twice that of Michigan, but the backstretch is almost twice as long.
At Michigan, they have to stand on the brakes at the end of the straights to slow the cars down enough so they don't go careening off into the outside walls.
At Taledega, they run wide open with no braking whatsoever.
With no restrictor plates, I believe the cars at `Dega would reach almost 300mph at the end of the backstretch.
Agreed.
Yes, you're right. 300mph would probably be a high estimate.
I believe the test Rusty Wallace did in 2004 is the one to which you're referring:
Rusty Wallace tested a car at Talladega Superspeedway without a restrictor plate in 2004, reaching a top speed of 228 mph (367 km/h) in the backstretch and a one-lap average of 221 mph (356 km/h). While admitting excitement at the achievement, Wallace also conceded, "There's no way we could be out there racing at those speeds... it would be insane to think we could have a pack of cars out there doing that."
It was Bobby Allison's crash at the 1987 Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway that forced NASCAR to mandate restrictor plates:
Allison's Buick LeSabre blew a tire going into the tri-oval at 200 mph (320 km/h), spun around and became airborne, flying tail-first into the catch fencing. While the car did not enter the grandstands it ripped out nearly 100 feet of fencing and flying debris injured several spectators.
Just like Carl Edwards' crash, the cars were doing 200mph in the tri-oval and when they spun around they got airborne, going straight into the fencing.
In both cases, debris went into the stands injuring spectators.
I gave up on Nascar in the 70's. Too many pretty boys driving rolling bill-boards all stamped out of the same cookie-cutter. Way over-commercialized these days.
Which is exactly why I don't watch it anymore... : (
Wow, breaking news on FOX Sports 1.
NASCAR adding a 13th position to the chase to get Jeff Gordon in.
A 13th position is added to get Gordon into the chase as a result of a bad NASCAR decision. I wouldn’t worry too much about integrity.
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