Comments on: NASCAR Steps In It Again

By: Garry

Garry — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:14:18 +0000

GO MARK MARTIN …

YOU CAN DO IT!!!

By: Richard in N.C.

Richard in N.C. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:26:18 +0000

Neon, right on. Unlike the professional media, NASCAR is not perfect – they make mistakes and sometimes big ones. However, to the nattering nabobs of negativism in the professional media NASCAR never does anything that cannot be criticized. It seems to me that the Cup cars have far more HP than is needed everywhere, as Robert Yates said years ago. I understand that Rusty did a test at Dega a couple of years ago with no plate, got up to 223 or 226, and said the car was undriveable – so taking the plates off doesn’t seem to be the solution no matter how far back you move the fans.

By: abovetheshop

abovetheshop — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:57:22 +0000

The race was fine – it was all the drivers deciding to ride around in a line.

By: Neon

Neon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:33:12 +0000

I can see the Jan 2012 headlines already. NASCAR listens to the fans and drops the COT, restrictor plates, plows up Talladega, scraps: the Chase, all rules, drug testing, green-white-checkers, dbl file restarts, the Lucky Dog free pass, testing ban, push rod engines, carburators, phantom debris cautions, promotes bump drafting free for all cage match, actually encourages passes below the yellow line.

Followed by Nov 2012 headlines that read, “HMS with Jimmie, Chad and the #48 crew win their 7th Winston-Nextel-Sprint Cup Championship. Fans are outraged for change in the sport to eliminate such a dynasty”.

Folks, I was at the Fall Talledega 500 of 2000. That happened to be the last win for Dale Sr. Although the COT was not even conceived yet, the cars had restrictor plates, bump drafting in huge packs ensued and the race was boring as hell until the last lap when Kenny Wallace teamed w/ Sr to go from 15th to the win. Fans were ecstatic! What’s the difference between 2000 and 2009? Aside from the fact that the spec COT’s are ugly as hell, I’m guessing maybe no Sr was the only difference?

Point is….NASCAR is in a damn if you do, damn if you don’t situation w/ the fans and competitors!

By: Francisco Salazar

Francisco Salazar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:56:01 +0000

Everyone is right so far, The Race really sucked and I was only interested in the finish, didn’t watch 3/4 of the race. Nascar has a problem ( Just like GM Management ) They don’t listen to what the public wants. THe COT sucks and Restricter racing sucks.
Mark X Nascar Off my list after 30 years of support. I did the same with NHRA, When they followed Nascar point system, and Like Hendricks Racing ,They have Force Racing. So what can real fans do. I now just read the results on Monday morning on the internet. 12 years of Force Racing killed NHRA , So will 4 + Championships by Jimmy Johnson. Enough sound. Good bye

By: Tim S.

Tim S. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:38:08 +0000

Many people think the smaller/different engine package is impractical because it’s expensive. Teams already have separate restrictor-plate engine programs, or at least the three or four engine suppliers the whole field uses have separate progams. It long ago ceased to be “let’s just slap this on top of our Michigan engine & go.”

By: djones

djones — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:30:37 +0000

@ rain, I liked what you had to say.

@ Garry, I liked your post too. I wonder if Dega wasn’t an ISC track, would they even race there?

Funny, the car, walls, HANS, driver’s seats, etc are all about safety. However, some of the older tracks haven’t kept up with it. Maybe someone needs to look into this.

@ TC, you are correct. NASCAR did step in it. Let’s hope in the off season, they make rules that make the racing more exciting at RP tracks and not just the last 20-30 laps.

By: Garry

Garry — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:21:28 +0000

I know it is sacrilege, but what if the France family admits that back in 1969 a mistake was made. What if they FINALLY ADMIT that the PDA was correct and Richard Petty and his fellow SMART DRIVERS were correct and that this race trackdesign is a mistake.

It is too big, and too fast and there were problems right from the start. PDA drivers left the track becasue, refusing to race in the very first race becasue they relized the danger. France’s ego refuse to admit anything, and they raced anyway, but with scab dricers, offering fans a douible ticket if they showed up.

These stupid retrictor plates are nothing but a bandage over a mistake, made a long time ago. Maybe they need to mothball this track, and move on. France made his money, it will not break NASCAR at this point ….. his dream is alive. …. but …

This track is a mistake, it has been since the beginning. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS, and everyone always has, but no one wants to tell the France family that news.

By: rain

rain — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:38:19 +0000

Yes, the race was terrible. When fans and drivers are miserable there’s a problem.

NASCAR’s “knee jerk” reactions to accidents and situations are getting tiresome. It makes you wonder who is making decisions. I think the wrong people are getting drug and alcohol tests.

Yes, we all saw Carl go in to the fence…. but how often does that happen?? Enforce the fence..move the seats back…but don’t screw with the racing!! A safer race? Sure..the HANS device, safer barriers, pit road speed, and car improvements have made a driver much safer…all good..but don’t screw with the racing!!

I hate restrictor plate racing..but I don’t think I would want to be next to Brad K going 240 mph. Make the engines smaller and take off the plates.

NASCAR being proactive?? Proactive would have been sitting down and actually thinking it through. The bottom line? This sport is supposed to be entertainment. It’s become boring, predictable and over managed. The good races are becoming the exception, not the rule.

By: Uncle Bo

Uncle Bo — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:27:45 +0000

The COT was supposed to mitigate some of this. The larger car was supposed to be less aerodynamic, punching a larger hole in the air. The engines were supposed to be LESS restricted so drivers had some throttle response and could avoid these massive packs that always lead to wrecks.

The latest restrictor plate decision completely negated the COT’s benefits. We are right back to where we were 5 year ago. This is progress?

I understand why NASCAR like plates – they are cheap, easy to produce, and easy to police. It’s hard to cheat when NASCAR not only writes the rules, but gives you the tools to ensure the rules are not broken.

Problem is, the plate concept is played out. The idea no longer works. What was effective in 1988 is not in 2009. Time to move on to something else.

I have always felt that if you removed the rear wing completely, and gave the drivers more power, some of the problems might be reduced. Make the drivers hit the brakes before entering the turns. The only problem is drivers will be doing 200+ down the straights, but they are doing that at Charlotte, Atlanta, and Texas. We don’t see huge pile up’s at those tracks because the field is spread out. That is the key, spread out the field, eliminate the huge packs of cars running around at 190+.

The other alternatives are really expensive – institute a smaller engine rules for superspeedways; modify the track to lessen the banking and slow the cars that way; develop a “superspeedway body” that is not as aerodynamic as the current car, which will eliminate the benefit of drafting.

Give the drivers the ability to drive the cars and I think you will see fewer wrecks and better racing. Right now a robot could drive the car while the human driver sits in his motorhome with a remote control directly the robot.

Restrictor plates only seem to make this problem worse, its time to find another solution.