|| *Comments on the 2012 Capital City 400 Presented by Virginia is for Lovers:* View the most recent comment <#290> | Post a comment <#post> 1. ii posted: 04.27.2012 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #55 is on a roll this season. Mikey should just let Mark race the rest of the year. Cole Whitt is making his 1st start of the year in Stacy Compton's ride. I'd be surprised if any of the Fords do well tomorrow. After all, they are not very good at short tracks. Also, what happened to the #52 entry? Did they not have a driver? 2. Draco (Candraco) posted: 04.27.2012 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Martin were to score a couple victories this season and keep running consistent, he could conceivably become the first driver on a part time schedule to qualify for the chase... Wouldnt that put nascar in a pickle... Dale Jr. had a strong practice run, I think he will be the one to beat this week (and I NEVER pick Jr.!) Come try out my Fantasy Game! Just pick three drivers and your entered. http://racing-reference.info/showblog?id=1023 3. Spen posted: 04.27.2012 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They withdrew. My guess is, they figured they couldn't make it in, so they decided to try again another week. By the way, at Texas Mark joined his car owner as only the second driver in history to lose 1000 NASCAR races. He didn't get near as much flak for that as Mikey, though. With good reason. 4. cjs3872 posted: 04.27.2012 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With his 53rd career pole, Mark Martin is now only two behind Bill Elliott for sixth place on the all-time list and second behind Jeff Gordon in the modern-era. And speaking of Gordon, now that he can actually see the front at the start, something he hasn't been able to do recently, he may be lethal on Saturday night. but given his history, his next win may come at Talladega next week. After all, his milestone wins seem to come on the big stages. I'd consider listing them, but they're too numerous to mention. And his next win will be Hendrick Motorsports' 200th, if it's also HMS' next win, and will also officially, according to many here, myself included, put him into third on the all-time list with 86 (he's already moved into third on NASCAR's official listing). In other words, he could pass Bobby Allison on the all-time list in the same race in which he passed Dale Earnhardt, Sr. when he scored his 77th win (in 2007), or the same race in which he scored his 50th win (in 2000), in a race he's already won a record four times. And if he doesn't do Saturday night or at Talladega, he could do it in one of his favorite races, the Southern 500, which he's already won a record six times. Another win in that race will give him as many wins in that race as Richard Petty has in the Daytona 500 (seven). And wouldn't that be some achievement? I would rate that as great, or greater than winning a fifth time at Indy would be, and that would be a milestone mark across motorsports in this country something he almost did last year. Another driver I think will be lethal will be Kyle Busch, especially since older brother Kurt has now won in one of his cars before Kyle has driven a car into victory lane this year. And we know about the sibling rivalry those two have, so Kyle will be even more determined than usual to win the Cup race Saturday night. So don't be surprised if it's another Hendrick-Gibbs duel on Saturday night, especially since one team (Hendrick) and one car number (Gibbs' #11) are batling for the respective 200th win for those entities. 5. JG24FanForever posted: 04.27.2012 - 11:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cj3872 "With his 53rd career pole, Mark Martin is now only two behind Bill Elliott for sixth place on the all-time list and second behind Jeff Gordon in the modern-era." you of all people should know better, but the Modern Pole Top 5 1. Jeff Gordon 70 2. Darrell Waltrip 59 3. David Pearson 58 4. Bill Elliott 55 5. Mark Martin 53 "he could do it in one of his favorite races, the Southern 500, which he's already won a record six times. Another win in that race will give him as many wins in that race as Richard Petty has in the Daytona 500 (seven). And wouldn't that be some achievement? I would rate that as great, or greater than winning a fifth time at Indy" His six wins are a greater achievement than if he had a 5th Brickyard or 4 Daytona 500's, but that's just me I think the Southern 500 is the greatest race on earth, mainly since it's my home track, and I understand the high degree of difficulty the place has, case in point: Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart. 6. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2012 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24FanForever, I completely forgot about Waltrip, and I knew Pearson had a lot of poles in the modern era, but I didn't think it was more than Elliott's 55. And yes, even though it's no longer run on Labor Day weekend, the Southern 500 is still the Southern 500, 500 miles running next to the wall on the toughest track on the circuit, and Jeff Gordon is probably the greatest driver in Southern 500 history. Not only has he won that race six times, but he's also finished second, third, fourth, and fifth a number of times. In fact, his finish outside the top five in last year's event was his first since 2003. In the years since, he had finished third, second, second, first, third, fifth, and fourth. So as great as he's been in the Southern 500, it might be ironic to note that he's NEVER won the pole for the Southern 500. Then again, Cale Yarborough, who won it five times, only won the pole once, in 1970, and he didn't win it that year. In that respect, Gordon is a lot like Al Unser was at Indy. Unser, who many consder to be the greatest Indianapolis 500 driver of all-time, only won the pole position at Indy once, in 1970, and he qualified so much slower than he practiced (more than 2 MPH slower) that he nearly lost the pole to Johnny Rutherford. Yet when you look at the career records, Al Unser, Sr. holds or shares almost all of the important ones, such as wins (4), second-place finishes (3), third-place finishes (4), top 3 finishes (11), top five finishes (13), and laps led (644). 7. Anonymous posted: 04.28.2012 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sad to see Carl Edwards without a sponsor. 8. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 1:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872 if you've never seen Gordon in person at Darlington you are seriously missing out on a hell of a show this boy can put on. remember 2001 when Ward Burton won coming to the caution and Gordon passed Bobby Labonte on the outside of turn 4 to squeeze out a 2nd? I was sitting in the Pearson tower in 2010 and saw him make an outside pass in turn 4 right in front of me,and my first race back in 2002's edition, I was sitting in the exit of turn 2 and the line he took lap after lap was uncanny, he really is the best Southern 500 driver. 9. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2012 - 2:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24FanForever, I don't go to sporting events for a number of reasons, but as I said, Gordon is the greatest Southern 500 driver ever, bar none, and the record shows it. To date, Gordon has won a record six times, and finished second three times, and finished third twice. In fact, Darrell Waltrip said in 1998 that winning the Southern 500 four times in a row is the greatest thing that Gordon will ever accomplish, especially given that no other driver has ever won it more than twice in succession. And yet, he has, to date, never won the pole for the event, and in only one of his victories, the 2002 edition, did he lead the most laps, and never led in that race until it was two-thirds complete. And if there was ever any evidence that Roush needs to separate from the Fenway group, if Anonymous (#7) is right and Carl Edwards is without a sponsor for this race, this would be it. The more and more I think about it, Roush's association with the Red Sox may be what's killing his efforts to find sponsors. First, Roush gives one of his cars that Trevor Bayne had driven previously to Rusty Wallace for his son Steven to drive in a joint effort with JTG-Daugherty (why Roush was in a joint effort with a Toyota operation is mind-boggling to begin with), and now Edwards is without a sponsor, and let's not forget that Kenseth has about a third of the season where he's "sponsored" by Ford, because he doesn't have a corporate sponsor for those races, and I lay the blame squarely on Roush's ties to the Red Sox. Roush has the drivers that have won three of the last four Daytona 500s on his payroll (if Bayne is still a part of that organization), and can't find sponsorship for at least three of his drivers. 10. King Richard 7 and 7 posted: 04.28.2012 - 2:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I failed to qualify for tha first time in ma career at this event 22 years ago it was about tha most depressin moment in my career, know what I mean? See, back in them days us fellers didn't have no Top 35 rule to help keep tha name's in tha show, we was either fast enough or we was out tha gate, know what I mean? 11. 10andJoe posted: 04.28.2012 - 3:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ Well, the Top 35 rule really didn't matter here this weekend (aside from, of course, strategy) because the 43 fastest cars will start. However, the top 35 rule really should be done away with. It's a failure, and all it's doing is choking the sport's pipeline of new team-owner talent - and driver talent, as the existing owners will be looking for "old relable" to collect points instead of Some New Guy who might wreck... (And, as I've pointed out before, at least one of the reasons was to make sure teams who ran the full season would be "rewarded" by an every-race guarantee, making it easier for them to get and keep sponsors. Roush is Exhibit A of how that's not working, and even Jeff Gordon doesn't have a full-season sponsor anymore.) HOWEVER, as long as we have the Chase, we really can't go back to the old "36+6+1" or "38+4+1" provisional systems, as there are still conceviable scenarios where Chase drivers could miss the show. ("Inconcevable!") So...lock in the top ten in owner points, through the season. A genuine reward for showing up AND running well. Oh, and as long as Heck has frozen over and pigs are flying (it's not Dilbert's fault, though) let's fix aero push by taking hedge clippers to the bottom inch or two of the cars' air dams, alright? 12. 10andJoe posted: 04.28.2012 - 3:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh, and the mention of provisionals reminded me of something I keep meaning to ask. When was the last time the Promoter's Option was used in a national (Cup/Busch/Truck) series race? My memory wants to say I heard it being discussed once or twice in the late 90s during watching qualifying, but it wasn't ever used and the comments may have been in jest, but I'm genuinely curious as to when the last time was that a too-slow driver got a mulligan on behalf of Humphy and his fellow hucksters. 13. BON GORDON posted: 04.28.2012 - 3:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) IF NOTHING GOES WRONG WHICH SEEMS UNLIKELY FOR GORDON HE SHOULD EASILY TOP FIVE IT. 14. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 4:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon at Richmond wins 2 poles 5 led most 4 2nd place 6 3rd place 5 Laps Led 1413 Front Row grid 11 Bon Gordon I have bad news numerically Gordon has started at Richmond 6th 5 previous times and here are the finishes 1999 race2 40th 2001 race1 2nd? 2003 race1 16th 2005 race2 30th 2011 race1 39th(what a bastard thing to happen) 2012 race1 ? look out for a very very dominant race by JG, but the win.... 15. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 5:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry that's five second place finishes at Richmond for JG 16. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 6:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF I've been watching the North Wilksboro finish between Dale and Rudd and I don't see Rudd dive bomb at all, in fact he was almost completely even with Dale taking the white but, Dale seems to gas it and chops down on Rudd entering turn 1. i'm not bullshitting you and trying to start an argument, but I was just curious why Dale gets the benefit of the doubt despite the evidence pointing toward him being at fault. if i'm wrong i'm wrong 17. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 6:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF forget it, I see the slight movement Rudd makes toward Dale just after they went past the end of the pit wall on entrance. 18. Anonymous posted: 04.28.2012 - 12:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 10 welcome richard petty to r-r 19. Spen posted: 04.28.2012 - 1:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm 97% certain that wasn't Petty. 20. King Richard 7 and 7 posted: 04.28.2012 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I reckon tonight's race is gonna be a good show,know what I mean? Them boys that ain't won in while startin near the front gonna be tough mustard but I can see that boy in the leven Camry gonna likely have every one's measure, know what I mean? 21. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gotta miss this one due to work. Working the night shift, I really wish they would run less night races. Of course next weekend, which I have off, they are running daytime races. But I think this should be a good race due to the nature of the track. The bottleneck they get going into and off the corners is underrated. Plus not getting the brakes too hot will be an issue. If not managed properly, these brakes will get hotter than the start to AJ Foyt's 1964 USAC season (rare open wheel reference drop by me). As for the Dale-Rudd-Wilkesboro thing, Rudd gets a fender under Dale coming to the whit flag, then inexplicably turns hard left on the straightaway all the way to the pit wall. This gives him an impossible angle going into one. As a result, he goes straight once they get to the corner cause he can't slow down, while Dale is turning because, you know, there is a turn there. It might give the illusion of Dale cutting across Ricky, but Rudd is in his door before they even get to the turn. A good parallel is the last lap of The Winston in 1992 (the last All Star race worth a shit). In this one, Dale blocks Kyle all the way down to the white line heading into Turn 3. Not very smart. Kyle can't make the corner, and Dale desperately tries to go high to avoid the mess he caused. He either just loses or gets hit, which would be his fault in this case for throwing that block. That set up the thrilling finish, and 20 years of less than thrilling racing since. 22. LordLowe posted: 04.28.2012 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another finish similar to the last lap of North Wilkesboro 1989 would be the Finish of the 1997 Truck race at Walt Disney World Speedway Where Jack Sprague tried to block Joe Ruttman going into turn one on the Last Lap and gets turned around and sent into the wall. 23. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another example is Gordon wrecking KuBu at Martinsville in 2005. Gordon went straight while Kurt turned for the corner. 24. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.28.2012 - 7:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hooray for Saturday night racing, which means I can actually watch live for a change. First comment: Competition Cautions are really, really lame. 25. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG KO'd again 26. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon is done. I think my prediction of him finishing 20th in points this year is looking pretty accurate... 27. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.28.2012 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More bad luck for Gordon? I never would have guessed. 28. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell, Jeff might not even make the top 20 in points. If this trend keeps up he's going to end up around 25th in points. 29. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Are you guys really already counting Gordon out? Especially with this new wildcard cha$e system? Shame. 30. 18fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 9:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JGR has to do something about Logano. They got rid of almost all the key personnel that were still there from the Tony years to make it Joey's team and he's showing no improvement. 31. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 9:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF "Are you guys really already counting Gordon out?" No 32. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Jeff actually makes it in with the wild card system, then I will be the first to tell you he does not deserve to be in the Chase. And I'm a Gordon fan. If he's been the 20th best car all year long then he should not deserve a chance at the championship. It bothers me knowing if they keep these wild cards that someday someone who gets in with one is going to end up winning the championship. 33. Spen posted: 04.28.2012 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hea hasn't had the twentieth best car, he's had the twentieth best luck. There's a difference. I missed the first half of the race, so what happened to him this time? 34. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 9:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff has been a Top 5 car in most races. Once his luck improves, a driver with his ability, a Top 5 car is all he needs. See the 2011 Atlanta race. You should watch it anyways. I don't know if I have mentioned this yet, but that race was freaking awesome. 35. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I feel unwelcome posting here -_-. but Stewart and Edwards are looking awesome. I think the race comes down between those two. Biffle and Truex leading the points is quite shocking. 36. joey2448 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With 86 laps to go, they're saying Jimmie Johnson has a penalty because the rear tire carrier rolled the tire towards the pit wall, instead of carrying it over. I know rules are rules, but that is such a bullshit rule. They did nothing wrong on that pit stop. 37. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nascar has muffed this all up. I'm not a fan of either Johnson or Edwards, but this is the closest Nascar has came in a long time for manufacturing drama. 38. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edwards black-flagged. WOW. 39. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have never heard of a penalty being called for something like that. And Carl Edwards got a black flag for jumping the restart. This is...crazy. 40. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What happened to the rule stating that wave-around cars get less priority than other cars? 41. 18fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think NASCAR made the correct call on Carl. Jimmie's penalty was a case where NASCAR followed the letter of the rule, but the rule itself is the problem in that case. 42. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1) The debris cautions wasn't needed until at least pit stops had cycled through. 2) Carl Edwards was the reported leader. He was right at the window to resume the green flag. He was correct. 3) Robin Pemberton and Kerry Tharp stated a few years back that wave-around cars get last priority behind cars that have penalties. If that's the case, why did Johnson have to start behind those cars that opted to get a free lap back? 4) Pemberton and Tharp both stated that the field wouldn't wait on wave-around cars to catch the tail end of the field. They said that the green would be displayed the following lap. If that's the case, why did they give those guys an extra lap to catch up? In my opinion, all four of those points were mishandled in just a few lap span. 43. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution. It looks like I predicted exactly how this race will turn out. Kyle Busch is going to end up being Stewart. 44. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A BS caution to punish those who have done no wrong and bail out the un-deserving, all in the name of "racing" and "excitement". It will be criminal if Tony Stewart does not win this. 45. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yep. Called it! Kyle is probably going to win every Richmond spring race until he retires. 46. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I hope all of the ADD fans enjoyed this one. The purists sure didn't. 47. Mr X posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't wait to see Tony Stewart's post race interview. NASCAR race control is going to have to be snuck out of the track in the floor of the van, or more rightfully the back of a police car, that was criminal. I still really think that races here should be run on a hot sunny sunday afternoon. I fail to see why this track recieves so much praise, its not bad, but not great either IMO. 48. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey, I have ADHD. And I thought that finish was some serious BS, too. They took the win away from Tony. It's like everyone has to bend over backwards at Richmond to let Kyle win in the spring. 49. Mr X posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lots of injustices tonight. 50. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sham, NASCAR appeases to the "race" fans who should be watching wrestling by bringing out a caution for NOTHING with 13 laps to go. I'm actually suprised NASCAR didn't throw out another "debris" yellow with 5 to go when Jr. was in second. This would have been a great race had it been 380 laps. 51. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) This is BY far the worst season of NASCAR I have ever watched. Hands down. 52. Alex posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) WTF happened to the 29!??!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!! 53. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love both racing and wrestling and I assure you wrestling would look more legit then this race. 54. Awful posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm done watching this shit for a while. That was a farce. 55. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And of course, other than the Edwards penalty, biggest complaint on the NASCAR facebook page from "fans" is not the joke of a debris caution, but the lack of wrecks, go figure... 56. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gee, I can't wait to see in person how they **** up Darlington this year. 57. wow posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR and Toyota love each other very much it seems. Seems they wanted Busch to win for what ever reason even over the most popular driver and last years champion. A large percent of mystery cautions help Toyota's primarily. It has nothing to do with the driver as much as Toyota. I of course cant prove this but I see it this way. 58. wow posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And when I say Toyota I mean Joe Gibbs 59. Matt posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR has decided that they would rather appeal to the lowest common denominator when it comes to fans than the people who actually enjoy races. That last caution was such a joke and a reaction to all the complaints about the last two races from the "fans" who need flips and gwcs to enjoy a race. 60. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, is there a rule in NASCAR regarding having all 4 wheels inside the pit box? Kyle clearly would have broken this rule on his green flag pitstop where he slid into the pits. 61. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where was the "debris" anyways? How many debris cautions have involved actual visible debris in the past 3-5 years? 62. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris apparently was a plastic water bottle. 63. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I miss the early 2000's. Bad. 64. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And of course, other than the Edwards penalty, biggest complaint on the NASCAR facebook page from "fans" is not the joke of a debris caution, but the lack of wrecks, go figure..." Makes you wounder don't it? "I'm done watching this shit for a while. That was a farce." You'll be back, NASCAR fans enjoy making themselves miserable. Jimmie Johnson penalty: Justified, rules a rule. Carls penalty: Well either he was the leader or he wasn't. If he wasn't the leader and beat Tony then it was justified. If Tony wasn't the leader then i'd like explaination. Now on to manufactered pack racing. 65. hyperacti posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR threw a debris caution in the last 1/39TH of the race. This is so silly. I don't think there is a stat left that I can trust. Championships and wins have both become meaningless. 66. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really...a plastic water bottle. Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me. Totally dangerous! 67. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nah They were just afraid about the Peanut M&m's Kyle had spread all over the track ;D 68. hyperacti posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Tony was speaking figuratively, but I wouldn't be surprised if the "debris" actually was a water bottle. 69. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell, they've thrown caution flags for drivers throwing their gloves onto the tracks before. And, if I recall right, they threw one at Daytona once for some kid's beach ball getting out onto the track. They definitely would throw a caution for a water bottle. 70. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And EVERYONE should understand why i continue to throw "fans" under the bus. 71. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All of this butthurt whining over the last debris caution is hilarious. There was a legit object in the middle of T2 that can be seen if you rewind right before the caution. Seriously. NASCAR just can't win with some of you people. 72. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've come to the conclusion most "fans" want three things in NASCAR: 1. A ridiculous number of crashes, 15+ and half the field finishing the race 2. Multiple green-white-checkereds to dramatically shuffle up the finishing order 3. Dale Jr. to win. I think I figured it out. 73. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @71 people like you need to STFU and realize that that caution like many cautions NASCAR has thrown in recent years was bogus BS. 74. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That should read 15+ CAUTIONS. 75. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @70 Just remember I'm not one of those "fans". I actualy enjoy racing. On a side note, I'm bummed F1 is off :( 76. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @73 People like YOU need to STFU and realize that NASCAR isn't some kind of conspiratorial organization out to troll viewers. There was a piece of metal in the middle of Turn 2, what happens if Stewart hits it and pops a tire??? Of course then youd whine about how NASCAR failed and should've thrown a caution. Idiot... 77. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ Not directed at you or anyone on here. 78. hyperacti posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @71 No matter what it was, it shouldn't have warranted a caution that late. Even a visible piece of metal should be ignored at this stage. No excuses on this yellow. 79. Joe Gibbs posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great race, Kyle really drove his wheels off and deserved that one! 80. 18fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TeamPlayersBlue, the right-rear tire is allowed to be outside the pit box on a pit stop. Good win for Kyle, he had a top 3-4 car the entire night and was really good on the short run all night. It doesn't matter if Carl was the leader or not because he still accelerated before the restart mark and it was clearly shown by replay that Carl jumped the restart. Hell of a drive by Jimmie on that last run to get back into contention. That team is strong every single week and I think they are the team to beat right now, the first win for the #48 is right around the corner. 81. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18fan, Thanks, wasn't aware. 82. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @77 I have my doubts. At wahtever irrelevant post # that stupid idiot has. I have watched NASCAR longer then you and have more knowledge about it then you can ever dream of. It was a bogus caution. The bottle was out of harm's way and come on it's a water bottle. it's not that big of a deal. 83. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @78 The lap that the race is on should have no bearing on whether or not an obstruction should be removed from the track. Its a safety issue and its been this way forever 84. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @79 Kyle Busch did not deserve sh**. 85. Joe Gibbs posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @84, what, you didn't see that massive piece of debris in turn 2? Could have gone into the grandstands and killed dozens of spectators. 86. Lucas posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That caution with 15 to go was all kinds of BS! Way to ruin an otherwise excellent race. 87. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @85 you are a lifeless little troll. And if you are Joe Gibbs the NFL sucks go watch a real sport like soccer. A water bottle can't kill dozens of spectators you psychotic SOB. 88. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This wouldn't even be an issue if Fox would have shoen the debris. I'm telling you if you rewind to before the caution, what appears to be sheetmetal is visible Don't insult my intelligence NASCARPredictionsOmg you don't know me and I can promise you I know just as much if not more about this sport than you and your empty claims. 89. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #70 I know exactly what "fans" you mean. In just two weeks at Darlington, I'm going to be immersed in a nest of them. They boo every driver except Dale Jr., and cheer like maniacs whenever there's a crash...especially if it involves Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. ESPECIALLY if it's Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson. I can still remember when I was 12 years old at the '04 spring race there when Jeff Gordon plowed into the side of Andy Hillenburg's stalled car early in that race. Some of the female "fans" were absolutely ecstatic and were squealing with delight when Jeff T-boned him. That's...That's just disgusting. Going to race for me is somewhat of a double-edged sword. I feel like I'm in heaven because I'm surrounded by the loud noise of the cars, and yet I also feel like I'm in hell because I have to be surrounded by some of the most childish people on the entire planet. 90. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, it was good to see both Tony and Carl have a great run at a short track 91. 18fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If someone spun out to bring that caution out and Tony lost, would there be a big uproar? I don't think so. He deserved to win, there's no doubt about that, but their pit crew didn't perform on the money stop and he didn't perform on the restart. It's like in baseball when an umpire blows a call late in the game and then the team that benefits from the blown call wins the game and people say the umpire directly effected the outcome of the game. In reality, the umpire had an effect, but the team still has to execute everything to take advantage of it or to overcome it. To me that's what happened tonight. The caution had a major impact on the race, there's no doubt about that. But Tony's team could have made a better stop and won the race off pit road and he could've won the race anyhow. I guess my point is that the caution was not the sole deciding factor in the race. I will say I was happy to see that caution for Kyle to have a shot but I was pissed because Tony was by far the class of the field at that point and deserved the win more than Kyle did. 92. LordLowe posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All of you need to calm down its just a damm race all of this will be forgotten about within a few days. 93. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @92 If people are insulting me I will defend myself. This idiot was pissing me off and acting like a jackass so i neeeded to defend myself against his idiocy. 94. Lucas posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "This is BY far the worst season of NASCAR I have ever watched. Hands down." Sadly I think this nails it. There's either no excitment (largely becasue of terrible tracks), or B.S. manufactured drama. What a shame. 95. 18fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schroeder51, I totally agree with you about the double-edged sword when going to races. I can't stand the fans most of the time, but the atmosphere is amazing and it is so much more fun to watch the races live than on TV and listen to the MRN broadcast instead of the TV broadcasts. I hope you have a good time at Darlington, that's one place I've always wanted to go to but never have. 96. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If NASCAR was truly trying to manufacture excitement, why on earth wouldn't they have thrown. a "phony debris caution" at Texas, Kansas, or Auto Club?!?! Y'all act like this happens at the end of every race. 97. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This season has not been the worst. That honor would go to 2007. 98. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @96. Nah not every race just a lot. Honestly I thought they had been getting better until this year. 99. Lucas posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also, is there a rule in NASCAR regarding having all 4 wheels inside the pit box? Kyle clearly would have broken this rule on his green flag pitstop where he slid into the pits." You can have your right rear out (which kyle clearly did). If his left rear was out, which we couldn't tell from the angle we had, then he would have been penalized. 100. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #95 I'm at Darlington every year, and the fans are fine and the atmosphere can't be beat. 101. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For what its worth, a solid race at Talladega would probably be just what the doctor ordered as far as pulling the sport out of the malaise its been in this season. 2010 had a similarly bad start, and the epic Spring race at Dega that year sort of helped build some momentum and set the season on the right path. I think this season is still more than salvageable 102. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The way this season is progressing, I can't wait till Infineon in June to see a phantom (water bottle in the esses!!) debris caution with 3-5 laps to go. Aside from Tony getting shafted, Jimmie Johnson was passing cars every 10 laps or so and that last caution didn't help them finish better than 6th place. On a positive note, Mark Martin is now 4 top 10s away from tying Bobby Allison for 2nd place in most top-10s all time. I predict he will get at least 5 more top 10s with the performance of the #55 team this season. 103. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "For what its worth, a solid race at Talladega would probably be just what the doctor ordered as far as pulling the sport out of the malaise its been in this season." I'm fairly doubtful. This race was set to do just that - it was genuinely interesting and hard-fought contest, but then I guess NASCAR wasn't ok with the race looking like it was decided 20 laps from the end. I was really enjoying this race and was going to comment on how how much better races like this are....but I guess I was counting my chickens early. 104. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @101 Everyone thought 2000 was going to be dull and it turned out to be a fantastic season. But NASCAR can salvage a decent season but it never will be as good as what it was in the past. For that, I blame the economy and Brian France. 105. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow. Looks like I missed a real clusterbomb. What a disaster the start of this year has been. 106. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.28.2012 - 11:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @105. Finally someone I respect on this board. The past 9 years have been a disaster in NASCAR my friend :P. 107. MStall41 posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @105 The race itself was fine. NASCAR made some debatable judgment calls late in the going but the on track racing was actually quite good. 108. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @107 what is your favorite race of all time.... or maybe give me a list of them .... i am eager to hear your knowledge sir. 109. BON GORDON posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man Im ashamed to say this and I know its early but Ill finally admit Gordon's done. Im so pissed off words cant describe it. 110. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Okay, here's my opinion on what happened during the last third of the race. First, what happened during the whole Carl Edwards-Tony Stewart situation proves to me that the guys currently in race control have no idea how to run a race. How can NASCAR possibly say that Tony Stewart was in the lead when they were posting on the scoring pylon that Carl Edwards was the leader. The laps led chart here even shows Edwards as having led the laps in question, so how can NASCAR possibly say that Stewart was leading the race when it's just not true. However, NASCAR did make the right call in black flagging Edwards for clearly jumping the restart, though Stewart did make it look worse than it really was. Now as for the debris caution at the end, Stewart even said in his post-race interview that it was for a bottle, which according to the broadcast was in turn two. Let's not forget that just before the caution was thrown that Stewart almost lost it coming off that same corner, so he may very well have run over that bottle. And if it's true that there was a bottle was on the track, NASCAR made the correct call in throwing the caution. Remember that at Texas, Juan Montoya ran over a full bottle on the backstretch, and NASCAR clearly should have thrown the caution there, but didn't. And remember that the caution did not cost Stewart the race. A slow pit stop cost him the race. That's bad execution on his team's part, not the fault of NASCAR. And also, due to the timing of the cautions, there were probably a record number of wave-arounds, as on each of the last two cautions, virtually every car not on the lead lap took the wave-around. Now the situation that occurred on the first such instance is why that rule is in place, as the caution flag fell during green flag pit stops with just three cars on the lead lap, because everyone else had pitted. And I think the reason that Jimmie Johnson was put at the back was not only the pit road penalty, but he might also have been one of those cars, though I'm not entirely sure of that. Now I don't like the wave-around rule, but in a situation like that, it's a very fair situation because those cars were laps down because of pit stops and the timing of the caution flag, not necessarily because of how poor they were running. That's why the two leaders were so far ahead of everyone else during that last long green flag run. On the last caution period, a large number of cars again took the wave-around, but again, this did not have a real big impact on the race because there were so few laps left and the caution never came out again. However, I think there should not be any wave-arounds in the last quarter of the race if the caution does not fall in the middle of pit stops. But I still think that NASCAR needs to get someone that knows the sport and how the running of a race works, as well as someone that knows how to officiate a race, and I think Wally Dallenbach, Jr. is the perfect choice. After all, his father was the Chief Steward for IndyCar racing for many years and Wally, Jr. would do the same high quality job in NASCAR, since he's been around the sport for 20 years. 111. RaceFanX posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race featured the first-ever use of an electric car as the pace car for a NASCAR Cup race. Ford provided a new 2013 electric Ford Focus for the task. 112. 18fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) MStall41, you hit the nail on the head. I enjoyed the race, but all this race will be remembered for is the questionable calls made by NASCAR in the last 100 laps. I found it really interesting that the drivers are furious at Bruton Smith for the grinding down of the track, but I think the drivers are more upset about not being consulted about the changes before they were announced. 113. 18fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, Johnson did stay on the lead lap but as a result of his penalty he had to start at the tail end of the field. When the caution came out after Burton hit the wall, Edwards, Stewart, and Johnson were on the lead lap and Kyle Busch was the first car a lap down in 4th. On the controversial restart, Edwards and Stewart were the top 2, then there was Ambrose and Logano on row 2 as lap down cars, then Kyle Busch as the free pass car, then all the wave-around cars, and then Johnson as a result of his penalty. 114. JP88 posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow so close for Jr. I honestly thought he was gonna catch him after he held off Stewart but Kyle was too good tonight. Heartbreak for Carl, I was confused how Tony was the leader but the 99 was shown in 1st, but he clearly jumped. JJ's pit crew cost him another race, I can't believe he hasn't won yet this year with how good he's running. Harvick and RCR is in trouble...that's the 2nd short track race in a row that Harvick led and then vanished. With the caution rate we have been seeing in the last few weeks, I have a feeling Dega is gonna be wild next week...almost like they have been saving up for chaos there. 115. Curran posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You know what would make this season a whole lot more interesting? No Chase. All of the mediocre racing on the track could be tempered somewhat (not completely but some) if the current point situation was genuine. I would encourage everyone to look at the top 20 in the standings right now and think about how much more compelled by this whole season they would be if that was the Championship battle going forward with no points reset with 10 to go. The Chase just kills the early part of the season so much. 116. MStall41 posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @108 Favorite race of all time? I have a few that I consider my favorites, in no particular order. *2010 Daytona 500- Possibly the best plate race of all time. The package for this race struck the perfect balance between needing a good car setup, drafting skills, and tire management. The result? Some of the closest, most competitive, and most balanced plate race that I can remember. The pothole incident prevented this one from being considered a classic, but I dont believe it should take away from what was a truly epic race. *2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 (Atlanta)- The finish was great, but the racing between Harvick/Gordon/Jarrett/Nadeau/Junior at the end was purely amazing racing. *1995 Goody's 500 (Bristol)- A classic Bristol race, with a personal favorite of mine (Terry Labonte) taking the win in stunning fashion after a late tangle with Earnhardt sends the 5 careening across the line sideways. *1992 Hooters 500 (Atlanta)- Kulwicki versus Elliott. Epicness. *2001 Pepsi 400 (Daytona)- Spirited racing throughout is overshadowed by Junior's triumphant victory. The wicker bill provided fabulous racing in this one. *1979 Daytona 500- I like this one more from the amazingly intense racing from ~lap 40 or so to around lap 180. The finish was cool but kind of overexposed at this point. *2003 Darlington Spring Race- Classic Darlington,and the finish was absolutely nuts. I have a few more that I cant really think of off the top of my head 117. Ben posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "First, what happened during the whole Carl Edwards-Tony Stewart situation proves to me that the guys currently in race control have no idea how to run a race. How can NASCAR possibly say that Tony Stewart was in the lead when they were posting on the scoring pylon that Carl Edwards was the leader. The laps led chart here even shows Edwards as having led the laps in question, so how can NASCAR possibly say that Stewart was leading the race when it's just not true.' I disagree cjs. Stewart was on the lead lap when Edwards pitted. Stewart obviously did not pit under the yellow because he already pitted under green and therefore should have been ahead of Edwards. He didn't pass Edwards yet because he was so far behind when the caution came out but Edwards does have to go behind all the cars who did not pit on that caution and Stewart was in that group. The reason why Edwards was shown the leader on the scoring pylon is because he still crossed the line first during the last lap under caution - But he had not yet let all the cars who did not pit under that caution go by him yet and that is something he has to do. 118. Anonymous posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "However, I think there should not be any wave-arounds in the last quarter of the race if the caution does not fall in the middle of pit stops." The definition of "in the middle of pit stops" could get really dicey if people are off sequence. 119. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Remember that at Texas, Juan Montoya ran over a full bottle on the backstretch, and NASCAR clearly should have thrown the caution there, but didn't" Doesn't that right there show that a water bottle is most definitely not worthy of a caution, as a car ran over a full bottle and nothing happened? 120. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.29.2012 - 1:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I 100% agree on the 01 Atlanta race. That had some crazy moves at the end. I remember Blaney dominating but losing his wheel. I felt bad for him. You know I like that you put the 2001 Summer Daytona race. That was fantastic also. Even though I would rate the fall Dega race that year JUST a bit higher. 2010 Daytona 500 would have been legendary if not for the potholes. Here are some of mine. 1992 Hooters 500- Gordon's first race, Petty's last, epic points battle, fantastic action 1984 Talladega- Both of these races were awesome. I think 84 was by far Dega's best year preplate. 1994 Brickyard 400- Am i offbase saying this was the greatest track debut in NASCAR history? 1999 Daytona 500- Personally this has always been in my view the greatest 50 of the 90's. Many disagree but I love this race from start to finish 2000 fall Dega- Wow. Just fantastic. Very little cautions, just restrictor plate racing at its finest 1999 Bristol- That was a crazy race even before Earnhardt turned Labonte. 2001 Fall Dega- By far one of the funnest races I've ever watched. 2002 Daytona 500- This is my favorite 500. Sterling getting out of his car, all the bizarro action how can you not like it? 2002 All-Star race- This was the survival of the fastest or whatever format of the All-Star and personally I loved it. My favorite all-star race. 2000 Atlanta- This race was fantastic with Skinner's run and wreck, and that great photo finish. There has been a lot more but those are some of my personal faves. You had a great list as well. 121. Bob posted: 04.29.2012 - 1:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great call on the 99 Daytona 500. That may be one of the most underrated races in Nascar history. 122. Cooper posted: 04.29.2012 - 1:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) .....Shakes Head. 123. Anonymous posted: 04.29.2012 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle ties his brother Kurt with 24 Cup wins, for 26th all time. This is the 8th consecutive year that Kyle has won at least one Cup race. It is Kyle's 9th short track victory. 124. irony posted: 04.29.2012 - 2:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 99 Daytona 500 always pops in my head when these discussions come up. One of the few great Earnhardt/Gordon battles, and Dale really came out of nowhere. Really that whole season was awesome - very memorable. As for tonight, I don't like that a car with a pit infraction (JJ) has to go behind the wave arounds that he had lapped. Not the first time that has happened either. I'm also in the group that thinks the last caution was BS. Good to see Stephen Leicht back. 125. LordLowe posted: 04.29.2012 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know I might be beating this into the ground but Today would have been Big E's 61st Birthday. 126. The Deuce posted: 04.29.2012 - 2:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) We're living in a world now, where with one more victory, Kyle Busch will be one of the top 25 drivers of all time as far as wins. That almost doesn't seem possible, has he really won that often? He just seems way too young to be on the cusp of that achievement. Didn't they say during the race tonight that he's turning 27 next week? 27! He's still so young, you can't even say he's "almost 30" yet. He's a freaking kid. Damn.... 127. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18fan, if what you say is true, that just validates what I said about the current NASCAR officials not knowing how to run a race, because NASCAR doesn't even follow it's own rules. The rules, as far as I know, state that cars that are penalized still start in front of any cars that are waved by, either as result of the free pass or the wave around, so Johnson, by the rules, should still have started ahead of all those other cars if he was not trapped by the caution flag. That's because Johnson was never lapped, while the other cars in question had been lapped. So what you're saying is that Kyle Busch gained more than a full lap on Johnson unfairly (and improperly) during that caution period. Busch should have lined up in the back, in front of the wave around cars, and either behind Johnson, or beside him, but not in front of him And Ben, if what you say is true, then they had Edwards on the wrong lap. Instead on leading the race, Edwards would have been one lap behind Stewart because Edwards was never waved around. So either they had Edwards on the wrong lap, or race control had the wrong driver as the leader. And I thought the current electronic scoring system was supposed to clean up messes like this. And NASCAR Predictions OMG!, that 1999 Daytona 500 was not a good race at all. What made it memorable was the drivers battling for the win, as well as the winning move. But the race overall was terrible. There were as many cars involved in crashes than there were lead changes. Actually, the three best Daytona 500s in the 1990s were all between 1993 and '96. And in my view, the greatest Daytona 500 ever was one that's never talked about, and that was the 1984 Daytona 500. 128. Spen posted: 04.29.2012 - 4:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett88fan: "I predict he will get at least 5 more top 10s with the performance of the #55 team this season." I hope he can get at least six more. If he does, that would stretch his streak of consecutive years of getting at least 10 top tens a year to 25. Cjs will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that's second only to Petty's 28-year streak. (And considering that Mark's didn't start until he was 29, his might be slightly more impressive.) 129. jabber1990 posted: 04.29.2012 - 9:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) am I the only one who enjoyed the 2011 Daytona 500? nothing but records, record lead changes, record cautions, edge-of-your seat racing for all 515 miles, and of course, the winner 130. Eric posted: 04.29.2012 - 11:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Deuce, There is a 3 explanations on why Kyle has so many wins at his age. Kyle's first full cup season happened he was 19 going on 20 years old. That is even younger than Jeff Gordon was when his first full season started in 1993 when Jeff was 21 years old for the 1993 Daytona 500. Most cup drivers don't start a full cup season back when they were 20 years old matter of fact. The 2nd thing to look at is the teams Kyle raced for at his young age. Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing are top organizations. Kyle's talent took advantage of his rides for getting wins. The 3rd thing to look at is Kyle has Jeff Gordon to thank in terms of changing what modern era cup owners look at drivers. Jeff Gordon was the first cup driver in the modern era to get a ride in a very good racing organization when the cup driver was in their early 20's. Before Rick Hendrick gave Jeff Gordon a ride, no cup owner from a very good or top organization was willing to take a chance on a driver in their early 20's. Ricky Hendrick at the time had a very good organization, but didn't have a driver that could take them the next step. Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte were the driver that gave Rick his first cup Championships. That means Kyle wouldn't have gotten 24 wins by the age of 27 without Jeff Gordon because Rick's gamble with Jeff Gordon payed off. 131. Eric posted: 04.29.2012 - 11:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I meant to type there are 3 explanations on why Kyle has so many wins at his age". instead of "There is a 3 explanations on why Kyle has so many wins at his age." 132. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 04.29.2012 - 11:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, Kyle won. Horaay. Jr. was closing, but he ran out of breaks and time. Big whoop. Jr might earn his final career win this year. I won't say anything about the controversy. I think the Rules themselves were the bogus parts. And like motion low-caution amount of Richmond races, it was very boring. I almost fell asleep halfway through. Richmond, I think, deserves to lose it's spring date. I know everyone will kill me over saying that, but I'm just saying. japper1990, I LOVED the 2011 Daytona 500. On all accounts you were right! 69. Schroeder51 posted: 04.28.12 - 11:06 pm Hell, they've thrown caution flags for drivers throwing their gloves onto the tracks before. And, if I recall right, they threw one at Daytona once for some kid's beach ball getting out onto the track. They definitely would throw a caution for a water bottle. Ah yes. The 2006 Pepsi 400. The first two cautions were the Beach ball with A Cingular Wireless logo on the backstretch. Then the next Caution was the Cingular Wireless sponsored car going for a spin. While everyone is saying what races are their favorites, can I list mine? 10). 2005 Coca Cola 600. This race will always be special for me. it was the first race I remember seeing Jimmie Johnson win. It's basically a case of nostalgia for me. Because of that, I ranked it only 10th and not higher. 9). 1979 Daytona 500. Just great racing for nearly 2/3rds of the race. And yes, you can even see some two-car-tandems there. 8). 2011 Infenion: THIS is what Road Course racing should be! 7). 1991 Miller Genuine Draft 500 @ Pocono: Everyone remembers this race for the crashes, but how they were racing after the Big wreck, priceless. I think it was at least. 6). 2011 Aaron's 499: Tied for record lead changes, but in fewer laps. 8 cars battling at the finish. Newman, Blaney, and Burton all pulling off killer saves. If you don't like this, I'm amazed. 5). 2010 Daytona 500: I'm not a fan of pack racing, but this race was stunning all the way through. 4). 1992 Hooters 500 @ Atlanta: Racing was intense and epic, and the points battle just compounded it! 3). 2011 Daytona 500: Like Jabber1990 said above. 2). 2011 Atlanta. Two of the most winningest modern era Nascar Drivers going head-to-head at one of the greatest tracks. The racing was great all the way through. And 1). The 1993 Winston 500. Not only because of the finish, but almost the entire race was nothing but insanely epic racing! I bet NO ONE remembered when Dale just suddenly shot out of line and passed several cars on the inside all by himself going through the Tri-Oval. I'm not a Dale Sr. Fan, but that was epic. I made a point of not including and Bud Shootout/Busch Clashes or All-star races. Likewise, I included NO Nationwide or Truck events. There are alot of those races I enjoyed, but I thought we were only talking about the Cup series point-races. And yes, I'd like to still see the Chase go through despite how close the points battle is right now. Because the points are always 'exciting' at this point in the season. But once we leave Infenion, Daytona, and Kentucky, it gets very boring points-wise. And I myself find half of the post-Atlanta fall races miserable, so the points becomes the main reason I watch the last part of the season. Next week, TALLADEGA! YEAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Lets see if we still have the tandems there! I sure hope so! It's weird, I seem abnormally confident going into this next race. 133. MStall41 posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @120 Lots of great races you have listed there. Fall Dega '01 was incredible. Love that you mentioned the 02 All Star Race as well. The survival of the fastest format was grossly underrated and probably provided some of the best racing that event has seen. I vaguely remember the 02 and 03 races being so competitive that at times midpack resembled a plate race. 134. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "am I the only one who enjoyed the 2011 Daytona 500? nothing but records, record lead changes, record cautions, edge-of-your seat racing for all 515 miles, and of course, the winner" Its because of tandum drafting, which "fans" don't like. 135. Anonymous posted: 04.29.2012 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Survival of the Fastest" was dropped by the All-Star race because while it made things more intense fans didn't like seeing their favorite drivers eliminated and out of the race so early. 136. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen, You are correct about Mark Martin possibly getting 6 more top tens and having 25 years with 10+ top tens = most impressive. Considering his current equipment, the long green flag runs and the tracks he is running this year, I wouldn't put it past anyone if Mark gets 6-7 more top tens. Mark is well deserving of the title, Mr. Consistency. 137. 18fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here are some of my favorite races, in no particular order: 1996 Daytona 500 1993 Winston 500: I agree with the earlier post about the epic racing. My favorite parts of that race besides the finish are the first 7 laps where they are 3 wide several rows deep and the racing between Rusty and Dale coming to the caution for rain late in the race. 1993 DieHard 500: I don't think it was a great race, but the last 5 laps were crazy with Earnhardt, Irvan, Martin, Petty, and Jarrett in the lead pack and Petty diving into turn 1 inside Earnhardt on the last lap, sliding up the track and Irvan going underneath both of them to set up the photo finish. 1999 Pepsi 400 at Michigan: Some really good racing, fun to watch the old veteran Earnhardt and the rookie Tony Stewart come from the back together, great race for the lead between Earnhardt and Gordon when Bobby Labonte goes by both of them and takes the win. That is just my short list, I will probably come up with more later. 138. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2012 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow. Favorite overall races. That is tough. I feel like my list would be all Rockingham, Darlinnton, Atlanta, and North Wilkesboro. Tracks with worn out pavement. Here are some purely off the top of my head besides the blind obvious (the 2003 Darlington spring race, great race from start to finish with an epic ending). 1991 Fall Martinsville (well crap, Harry is done, OH WAIT!) 1992 Sears Point (Swervin Irvan at his finest) 1993 Watkins Glen (Mark is done, OH WAIT!) 1993 Die Hard 500 (great race, epic ending between two of plate racing's best, and an incredibly powerful tribute to Davey) 1994 Winston 500 (Dale and Ernie and the cheated up McDonalds car) 1994 Brickyard 400 (who knew that would be the first and last great race there) 1995 Rebel 400 (Sterling!) 1996 Holly Farms 400 (bittersweet) 1997 Southern 500 (knew right then Burton would never win a championship) 1998 Fall Martinsville (guts personified, and a great race) 1999 Bristol Night (lots of different leaders through the night, and an interesting finish lol) 1999 Winston 500 (no domination, wide open throughout) 2000 Winston 500 (THAT is the kind of plate racing we want) 2001 Talladega 500 (see above) 2001 Virginia 500 (short track racing at its finest) 2001 Old Dominion 500 (see above) 139. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2002 Daytona 500 (lunacy at its most entertaining) 2002 Bristol Night (Rusty: I was trying to get back to him and knock thr shit out of him) 2002 Fall Charlotte (rare appearance for Charlotte) 2003 Virginia 500 (fun race) 2003 Firecracker 400 (wide open) 2004 Virginia 500 (with the exception of the red flag, a true showcase of short track racing) 2004 Spring Richmond (its gonna be Tony, no its gonna be JJ, no its June) 2005 Spring Atlanta (what looked to be an epic showdown between JJ and the Biff turned to an epic showdown with the new guy and a huge upset) 2005 Darlington (the race that saved the Lady) 2006 Food City 500 (Harvick: step 1, open mouth. Step 2, insert foot) 2006 Spring Dega (too bad it was on Monday) 2007 Spring Martinsville (the bump and run didn't work) 2007 Firecracker 400 (just wow) 2007 Watkins Glen (fun from start to finish) 2009 Spring Dega (the perfect mix of plate racing, had a little bit of everything) 2010 Daytona 500 (what a race) 2011 Homestead (epic driving performance) Note: I tried to avoid the Rockingham, Darlington, Atlanta, and Martinsville races unless truly noteworthy because otherwise I would list every single one of them. 140. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #80/#110: Thank you for being sane. myothercarisanM535i: "Doesn't that right there show that a water bottle is most definitely not worthy of a caution, as a car ran over a full bottle and nothing happened? " That sort of thinking is EXACTLY the same sort of thinking that lost NASA fourteen astronauts and two space shuttles. "We got away with O-rings leaking/foam falling off, it's no longer dangerous, it's normal, we can ignore it; every time it happens and nothing happens as a result it makes it less likely to have any result." May the odds be with you. 141. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #127: Here's how I saw it: -Stewart pitted one lap before the caution came out; Edwards tried to but missed pit road. -The caution comes out as Stewart is in his pit box; he gets out on the lead lap, while Edwards is the leader, being the only car not to pit. -Edwards pits under caution, surrendering the lead to Stewart; Stewart and Johnson were the only other cars on the lead lap at the time, and Johnson gets a penalty, so the running order SHOULD be Stewart, Edwards, Johnson, wavearounds. -Wavearound/Johnson penalty mess happens. Disgusting mess but not relevant to the lead. -Stewart picks the inside, which, as was pointed out, all leaders have during the race on restarts. -Edwards crosses start/finish slightly ahead of Stewart with one to go as the field forms up, which as long as he gets in line before the start is OK, but which means the 99 is shown ahead of the 14 on the scoring pylon, which is only updated once a lap at start/finish. -Edwards' team, totally (and understandably) confused by the scoring mess the caution and wavearounds have produced, has to (also understandably) go by the scoring pylon to see where they are, and they tell Edwards he's the leader; he's already on the outside so he goes with it. -Edwards jumps the start by two car lengths /regardless of whether he is the leader or not/. 142. Red posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One fantastic race that never gets mentioned is the 2008 Dover fall race. You had Biffle, Kenseth, and Edwards fighting like madmen for the win, swapping the lead back and forth several times. It had the added drama of championship implications, and with three teammates battling for the trophy, that race also served as a giant middle finger to F1 and their team orders. I don't have one absolute favorite race, but I do have a favorite season: 2001. Obviously the Earnhardt tragedy overshadows that season, but from a 1-43 competitve standpoint, 2001 was the best ever. There were several true classics that year, and a bunch of other very good races: Daytona 500 (tragedy aside, terrific competitive race) Spring Rockingham (Park/Labonte duel) Spring Atlanta (five car battle for win, photo finish) Pepsi 400 (great pack racing, emotional win for Junior) Summer Loudon (Gordon/Jarrett/Rudd battle for win) Fall Richmond (Rudd teaches Harvick a lesson) Fall Dover (Rudd/Junior duel, Rusty spins Rudd, patriotic atmosphere) Fall M'Ville (amazing duel w/ Craven/Jarrett, Craven gets first win) Fall Dega (crazy shuffling all day, last 10 laps were insanity) Fall Atlanta (another heartbreak for Jerry) Loudon Finale (Gordon vs. Gordon) While we're at it, what are your LEAST favorite races of all-time? In my 15 years watching NASCAR, the most hideous race I can remember was the 2009 Fall Dega race. The first 160 laps were a single-file parade in protest of the bump drafting rules, followed by a fuel-milage marred GWC in which half the field ran out of gas and the other half crashed. I almost stopped watching NASCAR after that farce. Honorable mention: 2000 Loudon w/ plates, 2009 Loudon rain-soaked Logano miracle, 2008 Loudon rain-soaked Kurt Busch miracle, every Charlotte race after 2004, every Brickyard after 1994, 2008 Fontana weeper-fest, 2009 Daytona 500, every 2003 Ryan Newman fuel-mileage festival. 143. Lugnut18 posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's a water bottle. Not an o-ring that seals off the rocket fuel from the flames. The splitter is so low to the ground, the bottle couldn't even fut under the car and would just get knocked out of the way. 144. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >It's a water bottle. Not an o-ring that seals off the rocket fuel from the flames. Yes, but the rationale 335i was using is the exact same principle: "we got away with it and nothing happened so we never have to worry about it". All it takes is once. 145. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #33 sponsor: Little Joe's Autos/Link-Belt Mid-Atlantic #36 sponsor: SealWrap Repair Tape #51 sponsor: Phoenix Racing #95 sponsor: Tommy Williams Drywall 146. Spen posted: 04.29.2012 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One of my absolute favorites that no one else is likely to mention was the fall race at Asheville-Weaverville in 1967. Some really epic racing between the three best drivers of the era. Though everyone else seemed to be taking turns at proving why they weren't the best drivers... 147. murb posted: 04.29.2012 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought I would come on here and post some of my favorite races of all time, as a lot of you guys already did. 1999 SaveMart Kragen 350 (Not necessarily for the racing, but this is one of the first races I can remember watching. I was about 4 years old, and I just remember the two crashes that Steve Park and Ken Schrader had, along with John Andretti's drive from almost the back of the field all the way up to 3rd. Jeff Gordon won the race.) 2001 Pennzoil Freedom 400 (Bill Elliott's first win in 7 years.) 2002 Daytona 500 (I was about 7 when this happened. I still remember Sterling jumping out of his car under the red flag, and BP saying "OH NO, HE CAN'T DO THAT!!!!") 2002 Pennsylvania 500 (The all day Pocono race that had Bill and Sterling fighting it out in the very end.) 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 (For obvious reasons.) 2004 Subway 400 (Kenseth and Kahne's epic duel. McMurray also was there with them right up until the end.) 2004 Sharpie Professional 250 (I know this is a Busch race, but this one had it all. It was Martin Truex Jr.'s first Busch win.) 2004 Pepsi 400 (I remember thinking, "Surely Jr. is going to win this race, right?" So when Gordon held on and won, I was in shock.) 2004 Ford 400 (For obvious reasons.) 2006 Dover 400 (I've always been a big Jeff Burton fan, so this win and his 20 lap battle with Kenseth was amazing to watch.) 2007 Daytona 500 (For obvious reasons.) 2008 Dover 400 (Biffle, Kenseth, and Edwards' epic three way battle.) 2010 Aaron's 499 (In my opinion, this HAS to be the best plate race of all time. Great racing? 88 lead changes? And a photo finish? Come on...) 2010 Coke Zero 400 (Another fantastic 2010 plate race. In my opinion, 2010 was a very underrated year for plate racing.) 2010 Texas 500 (One of the more dramatic races in recent history with the Gordon/Burton fight, Chad benching the 48 pit crew, and an underrated late race duel with Hamlin and Kenseth.) 2010 Ford 400 (Could have been a lot better had Denny not taken himself out, but it was still great.) 2011 Ford 400 (For obvious reasons.) 148. Bronco posted: 04.29.2012 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As far as I'm concerned, Carl got screwed, plain and simple, on a night when he led over half the race. If his spotter was told that the 99 was the leader and the scoring tower showed that, how could NASCAR black flag him? Them saying he jumped the start anyway just sounds like a cover-up. Its amazing that in this day and age with scoring loops and TV cameras and spotters that so much confusion exists over a restart order. Dale Jr picks up his 4th top 5 of the season with only 9 races run. That equals all the top 5s he had in 2011, and whats more, this is his 5th straight top 10 which I don't think he has done since 2004. Richmond is the same track where he had one of his most embarassing races ever in the fall of 2010 when he finished 6 laps down with one of Lance's R&D cars. Kasey Kahne has 3 straight top 10s after some terrible luck to begin the year, but Jeff Gordon still can't catch a break. It looks like the only way he'll make the chase is by a wild card. Its been fun watching run up at the front each week this season, and it would be awesome if he won at Talladega next week. KB now has more Richmond wins than any other active driver. 149. 18fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, the way I thought the rule went was lead lap cars, lap down cars, free pass car, wave around cars, and then the cars that received penalties, which would have meant there was a correct lineup. I know the penalty cars are in the very back because the penalty is the tail end of the field. 150. 18fan posted: 04.29.2012 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bronco, the video clearly showed Carl going before the restart line, which would make it irrelevant if Carl was the leader or not. If Carl was actually the leader and restarted there he would've been black-flagged, so NASCAR clearly made the correct call with Carl. 151. Mr X posted: 04.29.2012 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's time for me to reveal my favourite races, and no I won't be ommitting races from certain tracks either, but no track is immune to bad races either. This is a timeline, it's not based in order of how much I liked each race. For now I will only include races in this millennium. Some of these I think are underrated. 2000 Dura Lube/Kmart 400 This race just had great racing throughout, nothing spectacular. There was an awesome amount of shuffling all through the field, and 22 lead changes in the first 280 laps, before Bobby Labonte checked out and lapped all but the top 4 cars. There were only four cautions to slow the pace and none after lap 200. Between laps 220 and 280 the top 10 were pretty much all fighting eachother for position. Lots of competition between numerous drivers. 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 Skinner dominates but blows up setting up a short but intense battle to the flag between Labonte and Earnhardt, ending with a 0.010 second MOV. 2000 Food City 500 This race produced one of the best Bristol races IMO, however was a bit uncharactoristic, 18 lead changes and 11 cautions are slightly more and slightly less the typical Bristol, Rusty got his 50th win, a second groove worked its way in better then usual, and for a while this race really looked like Gordon, vs Wallace, vs Earnhardt. This is one of my favourite races from 2000 in which to watch Earnhardt, unfortunetly he got caught in a lapped cars mess. 2000 Coca-Cola 600 Like all the 600's in this time period, the race was an excellent contest of speed, it had a factor that I've always enjoyed in a race, change. Lap 50 and lap 350 aren't even the same race. The original players faded, and the slow cars early got faster. 2000 UAW-GM Quality 500 A 500 mile day race at Charlotte with frantic and constant lead changes. 46 total. 2000 Winston 500 Possibly my favourite plate race of all time, no major incidents, and the best plate engine and aero package to date, a very clean race with loads of action and an awesome finish leading to Big E's 76th and final win. 2001 Daytona 500 Possibly the greatest restrictor plate 500, with the same package as the above race. The first 160 laps were very green and close filled with action and just two small incidents until the big one off turn 2, and obviously the tragic 200th lap. 2001 Dura Lube 400 Not as competitive as the race one year prior, but given the events of one week earlier watching rising superstar and DEI driver Steve Park go door to door with Labonte and Gordon all day and come out on top was awesome. Also got a good glimpse of some new players for the 2001 season. I do however hate the way that this race is forgotten next to the next race on my list. 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 Typical Atlanta racing with a bonus. Jeff Gordon was dominating but he ran out of fuel under green, setting up the rest of the race. Other players including Dave Blaney step up to the plate while Jeff tries to get his lap back. By the time the final restart falls on lap 305 Jeff and the other drivers who had recieved penalties during the race have made their way back to the front, and the race ends with a 10 lap 5 way battle for the win between Harvick, Nadeau, Gordon, Jarrett, and Little E. Earhardt's young replacement who had run up front all day gets his first win in just his third start in a photo finish that mirrors last years. 0.006 seconds. However this race unlike what NASCAR's media says this race did not start the healing process, Rockingham did. 2001 Talladega 500 There is a comment on this races comment page saying that this race was one that you wished would never end, and boy is it true. The same restrictor plate package as the two prior plate races, but given the events of the last one all the drivers worked extra hard to be safe, and the herd ran 500 miles in an incredible pack while never running into eachother. Bobby Hamilton got his last win and first win for APR. Not to mention the pack at the checkered flag was tighter than usual, on Fox it was dubbed a scoring nightmare. 2001 Coca-Cola 600 It's a Coke 600 prior to 2004, it needs no description. 2001 Pennsylvania 500 Another race in 2001 that turned out better then expected because the 24 team gave it away. The late race duel between Labonte and Earnhardt Jr. was great, and overall I found this to be a very watchable race at Pocono. More so then any recent Pocono races. 2001 Old Dominion 500 Here's a rule if Ricky Craven wins it, it's a race worth watching, this one was action packed all throughout and ended with a great finish as Craven on 2 tires held off Jarrett on 4 tires by holding it down and forcing Jarrett high. Craven got his first win and his first win for car owner Cal Wells. 2001 EA Sports 500 152. Mr X posted: 04.29.2012 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) sorry accidentally hit submit, This race was a typical 2001 restrictor plate thriller. More Later 153. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.29.2012 - 6:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 149. 18fan posted: 04.29.12 - 6:00 pm cjs, the way I thought the rule went was lead lap cars, lap down cars, free pass car, wave around cars, and then the cars that received penalties, which would have meant there was a correct lineup. I know the penalty cars are in the very back because the penalty is the tail end of the field. When the wave-around rule was first brought into Nascar, it was said that wave-around cars would get last priority over the other cars. The rule also said that wave-around cars wouldn't be given an extra lap of caution to get lined up. Both of those rules were broken last night. 154. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.29.2012 - 7:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What disgusted me more than anything about this race, was the way NASCAR - and FOX - take away from the achievements of some and instead try to make up for the mistakes of others. Late in the race, there were four contenders; Edwards, Stewart, Busch and Johnson. The 48 team blew a pit stop and earned a penalty, that's them done. Carl Edwards jumped a restart, that's him done. And the 18 car wasn't quite good enough at the end there. With 20 laps to go, FOX should have been talking about the superb job Tony Stewart and the 14 team had done, Tony for driving a mistake free race, the team for nailing their pitstops and the crew chief for keeping up with the changing track. Instead, all we had was Darrell Waltrip talking about how they can get the 48 and 99 back into it. Why?! They both had their chances, and blew it! At that point, we should be talking about what a great job the 14 had done, not "how can we get these guys back into it". 155. MStall41 posted: 04.29.2012 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kudos to whoever mentioned all those early 2000s era Coke 600s in their "best of" lists. The Coke 600, even today, stands as one of my favorite races every year, simply for the way the complexion of the race changes as the conditions transition from day to night. Last year's Coke 600 was probably the best one since those great early 2000s ones. Another great race that is oft-overlooked is the 2008 Daytona 500. That was one of those 500s where you really needed a top 5 car to run up front, but theres was tons of racing throughout the pack. The first half of the race was clean and green, and the second half was wild. Solid, clean finish too. 156. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2012 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I haven't seen a lot, but I shall put my own list out (in no particular order, just as I think of them). Yes, I do note a lot of 2005s, but that year had some great races. 2005 Daytona 500- One of the best true restrictor plate races. Thrilling passing amongst the best in the sport with Scott Riggs and Kevin Lepage thrown in. Domination by Gordon, Stewart, and Earnhardt Jr. 2009 Southern 500- Mark Martin puts on one of the greatest shows of skill seen probably since the 90s. 2005 Save Mart 350- A race that was dominated by true road racing. Last strong victory bids for Wallace and Rudd. Rocking chair-gate. 2005 UAW-Ford 500- DJ plays the plate game perfect for one final win. 2000 NAPA 500- Jerry wins, but I still remember Bobby with the Winston Cup that Monday morning. 2001 Pepsi 400 by Meijer- the Icebreaker with Sterling bringing Dodge back to the top. 2005 Virgina 500- Gordon comes from 3 laps down with only one lucky dog to pull off the stunner. 2004 Pop Secret 500- Back and forth battle amongst Sadler, Kahne, Martin, and surprisingly Robby Gordon with Sadler getting his last win. 1983 and 1984 Daytona 500s- Cale Yarborough pulls off the two of the greatest last lap passes in (possibly) NASCAR history. 2007 Daytona 500- Not the race to me, but a thrilling race in the 1st since the greatest announcer in sports history passed away. A great tribute and I bet BP was calling the shots from heaven. 2010 Chicagoland- Reutimann pulls off a true upset. He drove to the win for the first upset win that wasn't fuel or restrictor plate related since Johnny Benson won. My favorite race of all time, however, is the 2011 Indy 500. That race put open-wheel racing back on the map. This race and the 2008 Indy 500 are the best open-wheel and sports car races I have seen in 7 years of watching. 157. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2012 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Note- these are races I watched, not necessarily saw live. I was born the year Alan and Davey died. Just in time to be able to say of my own will that I liked Gordo before he won a title and tick off everyone in my family who called him Butthead. :) 158. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >The rule also said that wave-around cars wouldn't be given an extra lap of caution to get lined up. Given that the alternative was cars strung out all over the track at the moment of green, producing a disaster waiting to happen, they can't be faulted for that. On a short track you can't guarantee a safe restart order always after a pack of wavearounds is waved around, and this is hardly the first time they've extended a caution on account of wavearound cars playing at shenanigans on the backstretch. Also, one last comment on water-bottle cautions: it's true, that throwing a caution for a plastic bottle is somewhat over-cautious; however, sometimes all the spotter calling for a caution can see is a glint; and even if they can see a bottle, all it takes is one glass one being hit and exploding into shrapnel... 159. 10andJoe posted: 04.29.2012 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On the subject of favourite races, I kinda "sat out" most of the 2001-2010 period, so I can't rattle off a whole list. But I can say that two of my favourites were at Bristol. Both in August. 1995 (which was the first race of any sort I ever watched) and 1999 ("I just meant to rattle his cage"). The 1996 Truck race at Bristol also ranks up there (I believe that was the one where Mike Bliss went over on his roof?). 160. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2012 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, for any of those that want to see how a broadcast team used to call any controversy, just watch the 1981 Indianapolis 500, because that was a case where the commentators not only knew what the rules were, but also called it as they saw it, even if the call was after the event happened. A similar thing occurred late in the 1975 Indianapolis 500 when, after making a late pit stop Under caution, Bobby Unser passed A.J. Foyt (yes, the same Bobby Unser that passed eight cars leaving the pits under similar cirumstances six years later) and Keith Jackson, who called that race for ABC Sports immediately said that "you can't pass under the yellow", just as Unser let Foyt edge back by him. And as for most important, or favorite races go, I can't believe nobody has yet mentioned the race that put one of the crown jewels back on the map, and that was the 1985 Southern 500 at Darlington. The Southern 500 had fallen on hard times, and now Bill Elliott had a chance to win a $900,000 bonus if he won the race (he had already collected the other $100,000 of the Winston Million by claiming two of the crown jewels that year). That race boiled down to a battle between three of the sport's all-time greats, Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, who was seking to win the race for the first time, and Cale Yarborough, who was seeking a sixth Southern 500 victory. Another driver up front all day was reigning Southern 500 winner Harry Gant, one of the best ever at Darlington. Earnhardt and Gant had things their way most of the day, while Elliott and Yarborough played a waiting game. Then in the last 100 miles, as always back then, things began to happen all over the place. First, Earnhafrdt ran into trouble, then Gant, and then Cale Yarborough lost a power steering pump, yet still ran close enough to Elliott to make him earn that win to win that $900,000 bonus. And as popular as Elliott was, I can't believe nobody has mentioned that race. Other great races that have slipped by include the Daytona 500s of 1959, 1963, 1969 (the first decided by a last-lap pass), 1971, 1974, 1976, 1981, and 1988, the Coca-Cola/World 600s in 1973, 1974, 1979, and to me, the greatest finish of a race in Charlotte Motor Speedway history, the 1980 World 600 (though the race itself was terrible, much like 2005), and the Southern 500s of 1953 (a race with 35 lead changes back then?), 1960 (despite the day's tragedies), 1962, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1980, and of course, 1985. And there were others. While others have been rattling off memorabl NASCAR races, I think it's important to mention some on the sport's biggest stages that others have forgotten for one reason or another. 161. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2012 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How about "crappy races with awesome finishes": 1987 The Winston 1991 Holly Farms 400 1995 Sears Point 1997 Food City 500 2007 Fall Dega 162. SYH posted: 04.29.2012 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As far as I'm concerned, I'm completely tired of the attempts to characterize criticism of the on-track product as fans upset that there aren't crashes. The reason that long green-flag runs are problematic aren't because long green runs are inherently boring, it's because *nothing* happens in long green runs anymore. The tires are rock-hard, so cars run the same lap times the whole run. The engines are fully developed and don't blow up anymore. The cars are identical, so making up a second on-track might as well be like making up an hour. Richard Petty once said that you only needed three things to make a good race: Fast cars, medium cars, and slow cars. There is simply no performance disparity in the cars anymore, and that means they can't pass each other, because they're all running the same speeds. A friend of mine was at the track, and he said it was the most amazing thing he's ever seen: 43 (35 after parkers) cars running on track, none of them passing, all with the exact same gap between them. Back in the dark days of, oh, 2001, you'd have cars dropping back because the driver was wearing out the tires too much, or cars blowing up, or maybe the Fords would be better in a straight line and the Chevys better in the corners. Everything is just homogenized these days, and it's boring. 163. murb posted: 04.29.2012 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crappy races with awesome finishes? 2008 Chicagoland 400 (Kyle killed everyone that night, but he nearly gave it up to JJ at the last second.) 2008 Sharpie 500 (Once again, Kyle killed everyone. But Carl pulled a "Gordon-Rusty in '02" on him.) 2009 Michigan 400 (Jimmie and Biffle run out of fuel in the last two laps, and Mark steals it.) 2009 Brickyard 400 (JPM sped on pit road after dominating, and it led to a great Jimmie and Mark battle for the win.) 164. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.29.2012 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well might as well name my favorite races: 2001 Daytona 500: Possibly the best plate race ever (take away Dales passing) 2005 Daytona 500: 2nd best plate race i've ever seen, Gordon, Johnson, Stewert, Busch, Junior do i need to continue? 2005 Pepsi 400: Personally attended this one, biggest ass kicking i'd ever seen. 2003 Richmond Spring race: Robby Gordon put on show that night, got 2 laps back BY HIMSELF. 2002 Rockingham fall race: Have to homer for a fellow Michigan native. 2007 Montreal: First race, what epiciness. Robby Gordon won, i don't care what people say. (why doesn't this track have a Cup date?) 2005 Brickyard 400: Yep, Smoke won. :-) 2010 Daytona 500: Take away the pot hole thing, great race. 2011 Datyona 500: Upset for the ages and the style of racing certainly helped. 1998 Mville fall race: Biggest display of toughest i'll ever see. 2003 Daringlton Spring: Do i really have to explain? 2008 Talladega fall race: The race itself was great but NASCAR got the winner wrong (and no, it isn't Regan Smith or Tony Stewert) 2011 Homestead: Best driving performence i'd EVER seen 2000 Talladega fall race: 2nd best driving performence i'd ever seen. That is about all i got, may come up with more later. 165. Talk4Tar posted: 04.29.2012 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If his spotter was told that the 99 was the leader and the scoring tower showed that, how could NASCAR black flag him?" Because he still jumped the start. Not NASCAR's fault the spotter was confused and the computer running Richmond's score board messed up. 166. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.30.2012 - 1:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Someone said something about worse races. here are some of mine for that. 2000 Loudon: Someone mentioned this before. Burton led ALL 300 laps. it was a snoozefest at its finest. 1999 Homestead: This was NBC's 1st race if I remember right. Terrible debut for Homestead. 2000 was bad as well for the track. 2004 Daytona 500: Its not that it didn't have cautions its that the race was just terrible. The ending wasn't even that exciting. 2008 New Hampshire: Just ew. Loudon is by far my least favorite track. I think the 2001 season is the only good races I've ever seen there. 2002 July Pocono: Park's wreck, all the rain delays. it is a good thing the race was shortened. 2004 Dover: TOTAL wreckfest. just wow. 2006 Homestead: Anti-climatic ti say the least. 2008 Brickyard: Embarassment ot all of racing. goodyear should still be ashamed 2012 Daytona 500: Bizare and just awful racing. I didn't enjot it much at all. Here are my 5 favorite seasons 5. 1999- Loved seeing Jarretts domination considering I love Yates and Roush. Saw Tony's emergance and was really just fun all around. 4. 1998- This was NASCAR's Gordon domiantion. I loved seeing all the great races of this year and also loved the drivers of the season. 3. 2002- I met Tony Stewart in this year. Great points battle, great racing. To me the last great season in NASCAR. 2. 2000- I miss this year a lot. The first half had a lot of great racing at Atlanta, Martinsville, Pocono and Summer Daytona espically. The second half was just fun. I loved the Dega race espicially but the second half had nary a bad race Loudon not withstanding. Sadly Irwin, Adam petty and Roper all died in this season :( 1. 2001- Extremely competitive, great television, great racing, what else can I say? The year was shadowed by Big E's passing and 9/11. 5 worst seasons 5. 2004- the Chase was fun but everything before it was just awful. This year was the beginning of my slow decline in interest in the sport. 4. 2006- Just a weird season. Boring racing, and it was just not fun to watch. I thought the Chase would be fun and it sucked. 3. 2008- Bad racing, the economy wrecking everything just wow. Bad year. 2. 2009- Not alot of fun and I just thought it was a farce Brian Vickers made the Chase and didn't get a single Top 10. And really just I cannot think of any good race from this season. 1. 2007- This was the year that sucked the life out of my liking of NASCAR. Toyota, an influx of terrible drivers and teams, god-awful racing, mergers, the COT, the Silly Season drama, the awful paint schemes. See I'm just jit-picking. This year was BAD. 167. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.30.2012 - 1:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I also want to just comment again and apologize for losing my cool for no reason on multiple occasions. I'll try to keep my emotions in check. I mean this particularly to MStill for my rudeness. Sorry man :P. 2012 as of right now is not a threat to break my Top or worst 5. I would say it is avergae to me just like 2003, 2005, 2010, 2011, and 1997. 168. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crappiest races ever, now! 1. 2008 Brickyard 400- need I say more? All others are tied for 2nd after this. 2. 2005 Southern 500- smelly wreckfest; Biffle wins despite being outside top-5 on final restart with 2 to go. 2. 2006 Ford 400- wake me up when the race is over. ZZZZZZZZ. 2. 2009 Amp 500- Biggest joke in plate history 2. 2003 Daytona 500- Sad excuse for racing; should have been delayed a day even though Mikey would have won anyway 2. All Charlotte races since levigation; a great track was lost that year; Mikey gipped of a race he should have dominated (2005 fall). 2. 2005 Watkins Glen- break-check gate 2. 2012 Bristol- I don't mind no cautions, but I do mind no passing. 2. All races at Kansas, Fontana, and Las Vegas- let's blow the joints higher than hell and do the sport a favor. 2. 2007 Fall Atlanta- not a bad race, but the finish made NASCAR drivers seem about as smart as an argon atom 2. 2005 Fall Texas- this was Mears's race to win, but cautions prevented that. 2. 1992 Daytona 500- after Swervin Irvan swerved, all that happened was Morgan following Davey for 100 laps. 2. 2011 Fall Richmond- Childress-gate 2. Any race won by Toyota or Kevin Harvick- this needs no explanation, I hope. 169. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not only was the 2008 Brickyard 400 a disaster, it had ramnifications which are still being felt. Goodyear's response since then is simply to bring rock hard tires every week, leading to no fall off, leading to bad racing. The only track they fall off at is Atlanta and only because the surface is a cheese grater. Though I still pit half the blame for that race on NASCAR. There was obviously a problem in practice, and they could have made a tire switch like they did at Bristol a few years later when they had a similar "powdering" phenomenon. 170. MStall41 posted: 04.30.2012 - 8:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @167 No worries dude 171. cjs3872 posted: 04.30.2012 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, NcRosbergFan, the thing with the 1992 Daytona 500 was that the big wreck on the 92nd lap took out everyone that could have beaten Davey Allison that day. Also, Ford had such a big speed advantage that day that only a few others could have even kept up with Allison. That was proved when, with the help of Geoff Bodine, Allison actually built his lead after the first round of pit stops from 10 to 13 seconds. And if not for the draft, Morgan Shepherd would never have even been close to Davey that day. As it was, Davey nearly broke the draft twice and was close to being able to run alone. And DSFF, I still say one of the big problems regarding the 2008 Brickyard 400 disaster was the track surface at Indy. Remember that the F1 race there three years earlier had the same identical thing happen. And I think there will be another race at Indy like the 2008 Brickyard 400 in the next few years for that reason, possibly even an Indianapolis 500. NASCAR did learn from that at Bristol a couple of years later and changed tires on the fly. Remember that NASCAR had the same problems at Charlotte when they ground that track for the 2005 races there, so the problems at Indy in 2008 could have been foreseen, And I predict another tire-related disaster at Indy in the not-too-distant future, because of that track's diamond-grinded surface. 172. Woodbridge posted: 04.30.2012 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What's the best place online where one can watch full-length old races?? I'm sure ya'll would know better than me. I could spend days catching up on the classics I've missed. 173. Anonymous posted: 04.30.2012 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR Predictions OMG!, There was more problems that 2004 Dover had than being a wreckfest. That race had problems with NASCAR officials and Safety crew. NASCAR had confusion of where to score Ryan Newman in this race and it took them a lot of caution laps try to figure that one out. What happened was paddle guy at the end of pit road flipped the stop sign over too soon. Ryan Newman ran the paddle to avoid losing a lap and then NASCAR timing and scoring were unable to come to an equitable decision that everyone, including the television crew could understand. No ambulance worker had arrived yet to tend to Kenseth even after two laps. 174. Anonymous posted: 04.30.2012 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @172 woodbridge a lot of old races you will be able to find on youtube just type in the races name and you can find alot of them 175. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Worst races? 2000 Daytona 500: Quite possibly the worst plate ever run. Only Fords did passing that day (and Johnny Benson was the vitcum of it) 2007 Talladega fall race: Race was just poor 2009 Talladega fall race: Worse then 07 by light years. 2008 Brickyard 400: Goodyear screwed the dog on this one and ever since they've haven't let their balls drop once. (yes Goodyear, this is 95% your fault) BMS N'wide race (somewhere in either 2001 or 2002): I'm sorry this just plain bad. This race had no flow, stupid cautions (most of them un-nessacry). It was the WORST short track race i'd ever seen. This race completely ruined BMS for me. 2004 Dover: Kasey Kahne got screwed by NASCAR after Casey Mears blew up and they DIDN"T throw a caution (gee and people critize NASCAR for doing it now?). 1992 Sonoma: i didn't see this one but NASCAR completly screwed over Ricky Rudd. Favortism at its finest (only time NASCAR has ever show it IMHO). 176. LordLowe posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At 1995 Subaru it was the 1991 sonoma race where Ricky Rudd was Black Flagged from the lead not 1992 177. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well I will rank the ones I have seen so here's some of my least favorite races: 1999 Las Vegas 400 1999 California 500 1999 Pennzoil 400 (Homestead) 2000 Daytona 500 2000 Dura Lube 300 (Louden) 2000 Pennzoil 400 (Homestead) 2000 Pepsi 400 2004 MBNA America 400 A Salute to Heros (Dover) 2008 Samsung 500 (Texas) 2008 Coca Cola 600 2008 Pepsi 500 2009 Daytona 500 2012 Daytona 500 My Top 5 Favorite Seasons that I have seen (1997-2011): #1. 1998- As a Gordon fan it don't get any better. Earnhardt wins the Daytona 500 as well. #2. 2004- I was not a fan of the chase going in but 2004 was actually an exciting finish between, Busch, Johnson, and Gordon. Jr. won the Daytona 500, Gordon won the Brickyard and finished 3rd in points. Besides last year, 2004 is the best chase. #3. 1999- Gordon won the Daytona 500. Exciting races such as the Pepsi 400 at Michigan between Gordon, Earnhardt, and Labonte & The night race at Bristol between Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. Despite Gordon not really challenging for the championship, I enjoyed seeing Jarrett winning it. #4. 2001- Yeah Dales death sucked and I know this won't be on many Earnhardt fan's lists but it was the resurgance of Jeff Gordon who won his fourth and most likely final Cup Championship. Great races like the Pepsi 400, Craker Barrel 500, Southern 500, and the finale at New Hampshire between the two Gordons. #5. 2011- The chase battle between Edwards and Stewart was epic. Gordon winning 3 races including the historic 85th. The unbelievable come from no where win out of young rookie Trevor Bayne in the Daytona 500. In my opinion a solid season. My Top 5 least favorite seasons that I have seen(1997-2011): #1 2000- One word: BORING #2 2008- One word: You guessed it BORING #3 2005- While there wasn't any one race that was terrible, Gordon struggled a lot and it was Rusty Wallaces last year as a driver. Miss him on the race track. Dale Jarrett winning at Talladega and Gordon winning the Daytona 500 keep it form being #1. #4 2007- Gordon was excellent this year and the chase started to really get on my nerves after this year was over. The debris cautions and fphantom yellows really came into full effect this year. #5 2010- God Jimmie Johnson again!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!! 178. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And no I didn't forget the 2008 Brickyard 400. I didn't fall asleep. I was in complete shock of the disaster and it's memorable if nothing else and i got to see restarts every 12 laps or so. What I'm trying to say is I'm one of the only fans who didn't hate that race...I know, I know. I'm sorry everybody. I've just seen races that were boring and forgetable and the 2008 Brickyard 400 was not forgetable and I know it's not for good reasons either. 179. Daniel posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talladega entry list: -Trevor Bayne in the Wood Brothers' #21 -Robert Richardson Jr. in the Robert Richardson Sr. #23 -Terry Labonte in Frank Stoddard's #32 -Tony Raines in Joe Falk's #33 -Bill Elliott in Joe Nemechek's #97 180. Daniel posted: 04.30.2012 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Michael Waltrip in his #55 181. ii posted: 04.30.2012 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BON GORDON, you seem to hate every Daytona 500 that Kenseth wins. Not sure if it's a coincidence or not, but anyways... Entry list is out for this weekend, only 44 cars. Trevor Bayne will be in the #21, and Bill Elliott will attempt to make the field in a 2nd NEMCO car. Also, Tony Raines is in the #33 this weekend. 182. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.30.2012 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have the ability now... Would anybody be interested in doing an Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix picks as a precursor to next year? I will only run it for these races to gauge interest. Predictions will be posted on the Sao Paulo Indy 300 page for both races. I will post the results of the one race shootouts on the respective race results page. Please post any ideas for a point system here, as I actually have no clue what system 24over48 uses. I might just do this race-by-race and see how far we can go. I think I might just pick out major races (24 Hours of Lemans, Indy 500, etc) and just do points for those races and total them up at the end of this year. I will do no prizes, and there will probably be people who specialize at some series, but, hey, this is for fun. Opinions posted here please. 24over48: HELP! 183. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2012 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pure coincidence ii. Gordon and Kenseth have had their problems but I don't dislike Matt at all. 184. Talon64 posted: 04.30.2012 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the fans at home know that Tony Stewart is the leader and Carl Edwards is 2nd, then how the hell doesn't the #99 team know? You should know how the cycle of stops played out, leaving Stewart in the lead when CARL CAME OUT OF THE PITS AND FORMED UP BEHIND HIM. It reminds me of the #10's deal at Martinsville. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but you should be on the ball when it comes to the details. Whether it's if you have anything to gain or lose by staying out with a broken car at the end of a race (#10 had nothing to lose), or that you're not the leader (#99 thought they were). If the official tells you you're leading, then you should know well enough what the situation ACTUALLY is so you have room to doubt whether that's true. The #48 and #99 teams screwed themselves over. Then the caution for a freaking plastic water bottle comes out, but that only gave the #14 the chance to screw themselves over on the pit stops and then the restart, leaving the #18 to win because they ran a perfectly clean and mistake free race. It's too bad I can't make fun of Carl anymore for not leading any laps all season. 185. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.30.2012 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @176.... how was 2000 boring? You had a lot of great racing. Yeah there were a few stinkers that year but the greats races, the parity, I could go on and on as to why 2000 was a fantastic season for NASCAR 186. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2012 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The true worst races are the ones in which a driver dies. Any driver. The 2001 Daytona 500 was no worse than the 1984 and 1989 Atlanta Journal 500s (ironically both won by Earnhardt), the 1991 Bud at the Glen, the 2012 IndyCar Vegas race, or the 2000 Texas Truck race. They are all bad even if the on track racing was excellent (like the '01 500 or the '91 Glen). It is hard to rank individual seasons. It depends on what you are looking for. For example, the 1991 season had some incredible on track racing action and some really interesting stories pop up (the emergance of Davey Allison as possibly his father's equal, Awesome Bill leaving the #9 car, DW owner/driver, Penske enters NASCAR with its second best driver, Ernie Irvan: wrecking machine AND winner, Mark's hangover, and of course LIFE BEGINS AT 51!!!!!). But the points battle? Yuck. Nobody could sustain a run, and any montage of Dale and Ricky "battling" for the Winston Cup that year should be accompanied by that Benny Hill music. But the individual races were not only fantastic, but they had so many subplots, many of which stemming from the above storylines. Some examples: Daytona 500: The wacky new pit rules, although very much necessary after the tragedy in the 1990 season finale, make you wonder what the hell is gonna happen. Then Ernie pulls off a pretty unexpected (at the time) win. Spring Richmond: Underrated, Earnhardt and Rudd battle side by side on a short track for the win, and don't even touch. Darlington: Michael Waltrip dominates only to be undone by the final pit stop. We figure that he has finally arrived and will begin winning everywhere soon. A huge surprise for those of us who thought he simply wasn't any good. Of course, as it turns out, we were right. Spring Bristol: Shades of the 1979 Fall Wilkesboro race, Darrell tried to bully an Allison and gets pwned. Great finish between and emerging Irvan and the powerful new Rusty/Penske union, as they get their first win together in a rematch from the previous Summer's epic final laps showdown. Winston 500: Possibly NASCAR's biggest ever beneficiary from the bending and flat out breaking of rules, Darrell, cries foul on Harry's fuel run to the end and "drafting" assistance from his teammate. Of course, as it turns out, his car is (your not gonna believe this) illegal with a spoiler FIFTEEN DEGREES too flat. Also, Irvan triggers the Big One which knocks an emerging Kyle Petty out for 6 months. The Winston and Coke 600: Ass kickings by Davey as he emerges as a true competitor for the sport's Top Dog crown. Also, Junior Johnson is caught with an illegal engine for about the 400th time in his career. Only this is the first year of the "we are cracking down on blatent cheating" era. Junior is suspended for four races, as is the #11 car. This leads to Geoff Bodine having to drive the #97 Budweiser car for a few races "owned" by Flossie Johnson. 13 years later, NASCAR's most unpopular champion ever is in car #97. That number is evil. Sears Point: Where do I even start? The answer to the question "can road ringers (in this case Tommy Kendall) still win in today's Winston Cup races" is answered with a resounding NO. Rusty looks to have the win until his motor conks out (a precursor for the next 10 years). And oh yeah, the finish. Rudd, a notorious dirty driver (but not a fishing buddy to Bill France Jr like Earnhardt), gets his win stripped after spinning Davey. We are STILL debating that one to this day. Also the end of the Rudd/Wallace road course dominance. Firecracker 400: Darrell has yet another horrible and sickening Daytona crash while Awesome Bill rises from the ashes of an atrocious season to win. Pocono: Ernie causes yet another pileup. Die Hard 500: Ernie stands up in the driver's meeting to apologize for all the wrecks he has caused. This begins the slow process of him winning his peer's respect. In the last laps, Davey Allison, who is being followed by a bunch of Fords attempts to pass Earnhardt and is hung out to dry as the other Ford teams show their displeasure at how much better Yates' and his motors are than their's. This leads to Yates having to share his cylinder heads with the other Fords and an enraged Davey breaking his hand punching his hauler. Watkins Glen: Popular independant JD McDuffie dies on the extremely dangerous road course (still is). Meanwhile we get pretty much a snapshot of Irvan's tenure at MMM. He spins unprovoked, yet still comes back to win. He was so talented, but always tried a little too hard as MMM simply wasn't on the same level as Yates, Roush, RCR, Junior, and Hendrick. Michigan: A seemingly moribund Wood Brothers' team is suddenly stout on the big horsepower track at Michigan with Yates' cylinder heads, as Dale Jarrett wins his first race in a photo finish by beating (ironically) Davey Allison as a smiling Ned Jarrett calls it from the broadcast booth. Everyone rightfully remembers "DALE JARRETT IS GONNA WIN THE DAYTONA FIVE HUN-DRED!!!" but this one was special too. Southern 500-Fall Martinsville: Life truly does begin at 51. Fall Wilkesboro: Heartbreaker (for everyone except me). Handsome Harry has a modern era 5 in a row locked up until his brakes fail. Fall Charlotte: Points leader Earnhardt blows up and gains points on his "championship rival" Rudd who had crashed out earlier. Also, by my unoffical calculations, Geoff Bodine goes the final 327 miles on one tank of fuel, but NASCAR does nothing cause Junior Johnson is too damn awesome to penalize twice in one year. Rockingham-Phoenix: Yep, Davey is the future, and springs talk that he might wind up being as good as his Dad. Remember, Davey died at 32 years old. Bobby didn't peak until well into his 40s. 187. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2012 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well NASCAR Predictions OMG! it's called an opinion and everyone is entitled to one even if someone else disagrees. However, races like the Winston 500 at Talladgea, The Winston All-Star race, and both races at Atlanta in 2000 were really exciting BUT a lot of the other ones IN MY OPINION were not at all. One really good thing 2000 had that racing today doesn't have and I believe is the main key to NASCAR sucsess is drivers that people care about. Yeah you still had Gordon, Stewart, and Dale Jr. but in 2000 you had Sr., Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, and Ricky Rudd. They can never be replaced, especially with guys like Juan Montoya, Carl Edwards, and the Busch brothers. However races at Daytona, New Hampshire, Dover, and Louden were too boring for me to save and awful 2000 season for NASCAR Cup Series. 188. Talon64 posted: 04.30.2012 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch picks up his 24th career Sprint Cup Series victory, tying him with big brother Kurt for 26th on the all time list. It's just his 2nd top 5 of the season but his 125th career top 10 (266 starts). It's his 4th career win at Richmond, all in the last 4 spring races, the 7th most all time at Richmond (leads all active drivers), and his 4.7 average finish there puts him 1st all time at the track over Lee Petty's 4.9. He has 8 top 2 finishes in his 15 career Richmond starts, and hasn't finished worse than 6th over his last 7 starts (4 wins, 6 top 5's, 2.4 avg fin). It's Joe Gibbs Racing's 96th career Cup win, and 9th at Richmond which ties Atlanta for their most at any track. 21 of their wins are at short tracks. Dale Earnhardt Jr. picked up his 99th career top 5 finish in his 444th career start. He needs just one more top 5 to become the 34th driver to reach 100 career top 5's. Dale Jr. now has 7 runner-up finishes since his last Cup win, Michigan in August of 2008. But he's off to his 2nd best start to a season ever through 9 races, ranking 2nd in points (1st in points after 9 races in 2004). Dale Jr. picked up his 9th career top 5 at Richmond, tied with Talladega and Daytona for his 2nd most at any track. But it's his first top 10 there in 7 races and his 11th in 26 starts (13.9 avg fin). Tony Stewart only had 3 top 5's in the first 26 races of 2011, but already has 3 top 5's through 9 races in 2012. It's the 44th time in his career that Stewart's led 100+ laps in a race, 9.3% of his 473 starts. Richmond becomes the 5th different track that Tony Stewart has 10+ top 5's at. It's his 3rd straight top 10 at Richmond (18, 10.6 avg fin in 27 starts) and the 118 laps he led are his most there since he led 143 in the 2005 spring race. Denny Hamlin brought his career top 10 finishing % back to 50% thanks to his top 10 at Richmond, his 116th in 232 starts. It's the 2nd time he's had back-to-back top 5's this season, both with a win and a 4th place finish. It's Hamlin's 4th straight top 10 at Richmond, but he's gone back-to-back races there without leading a lap for the first time in his career; he'd led in 10 of his first 11 starts there. But he picked up his 7th top 5 in 13 Richmond starts (7.3 avg fin). Kasey Kahne picked up his first top 5 with Hendrick Motorsports, finishing a season-best 5th. Since starting his season with a 28.5 avg fin to sit 31st in points he's had 3 straight top 10's to jump up to 23rd in points, 9 points out of 20th and 16 points out of 17th. It's just Kahne's 4th top 5 in 17 Richmond starts (18.4 avg fin), but his 2nd straight in the spring race. Jimmie Johnson gets his 7th top 10 in the last 8 races, scoring 16 more points than the next best driver over that stretch. It's just his 8th top 10 in 21 Richmond starts (16.7 avg fin) but his 4th in the last 5 races. Clint Bowyer needs just 1 more top 10 to become the 67th driver to reach 100 career top 10's. It's his 7th top 10 and 11th finish of 12th or better in 13 Richmond starts (10.2 avg fin), but his 2008 win is still his only top 5 there. Mark Martin earned his 53rd career Cup pole, matching his age. It's his 5th Richmond pole and the 4th different decade that he's won a Richmond pole win: 1981 for the 80's, 1996 for the 90's, 2001 and 2009 for the 00's, and now 2012 for the 10's. Mark picked up his 4th top 10 in 7 starts this season, and sits 19th in points despite not running two races (isn't racing at Talladega). It's his 29th top 10 in 53 Richmond starts (12.1 avg fin). Brad Keselowski had no top 10's and sat 28th in points at this point last year, but already has 4 top 10's and is 13th in points so far in 2012. He and Clint Bowyer are the only drivers with top 10's in the first 3 short track races of the season, and Keselowski leads all drivers in point scored. It's Keselowski's first top 10 in 6 Richmond starts (20.7 avg fin). Carl Edwards' 202 laps led in the race are the 2nd most in his career, and just the 2nd time he's led over 200 laps in a race. His career high was 212 in winning the fall Texas race in 2008. Prior to Richmond, Carl's 5 best races as far as laps led (212, 190, 182, 157, 123) had all led to wins. In fact, Carl's never finished outside of the top 10 when he's led 93 laps or more in a race (17 for 17, 9 wins and a 2.9 avg fin). Carl has 5 straight top 10's at Richmond (6.4 avg fin), leading all of them for a combined 427 laps (15 in his first 11 Richmond starts). BK Racing picked up just their 2nd top 20 finish of the season, 20th with Landon Cassill. 189. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Meant to say Handsome Harry had a modern era *record* 5 consecutive wins at North Wilkesboro locked up until his brakes failed, breaking the hearts of every single NASCAR fan except one (me). 190. Red posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BON GORDON, I also didn't think the 2008 Brickyard was really that bad. It wasn't rain-shortened, it wasn't fuel mileage, there weren't any officiating controversies, nobody got hurt, and despite the craziness the best car (JJ) won. Now, the ripple effect of Goodyear's subsequent tire choices HAS been a disaster, but I really didn't mind the race itself. As far as the 2000 season, I can see both sides of the coin. There were a handful of great races, but there were also some real snoozefests. But personally, the total lack of drama in the championship battle kind of sucked the life out of that season. If Bobby had won 10 races and just obliterated the field, I wouldn't have minded, but the way he just top-fived `em to death was anticlimactic. I remember I how I kept waiting for Bobby to slip up or have some bad luck to bring others back into the hunt, but the hiccup never came. He completed all but nine laps that year. Some may admire that consistency, but I don't. I admire dominance. Since I started watching, I think the worst season was 2009 by a mile. We had to endure three rain-shortened races, including the Daytona 500 and Coke 600, and the aformentioned Loudon circus. Other than the Mark Martin resurgence tour, I literally can't remember anything positive about 2009. The bevy of S&P teams we have now started in 2009, and it was also the year that spawned the wave-around rule, which I thoroughly despise. A lot of fans seem to hate 2007, but I found that season entertaining. It was morbidly fascinating watching the early races of the COT, and how slow and ill-handling those cars were at first. Forcing teams to switch between the two car models added even more intrigue. Plus, I have nostalgia for the days when we had 50 fully funded cars showing up every week, and 2007 was the height of that. Oh, and I enjoyed Toyota's entry into Cup, if for no other reason than seeing all the closed-minded Americans squirm over a "foreign" make diluting their precious all-white, good ol' boy racing series. And yes, I'm an American. 191. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Winston 500: Possibly NASCAR's biggest ever beneficiary from the bending and flat out breaking of rules, Darrell, cries foul on Harry's fuel run to the end and "drafting" assistance from his teammate. Of course, as it turns out, his car is (your not gonna believe this) illegal with a spoiler FIFTEEN DEGREES too flat." Harry and Mist were basically tandum drafting the whole time. (which i laugh at concidering how ever many years later they'd be doing it.) 192. Eric posted: 04.30.2012 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talon64, Dale Jr. didn't win at Michigan in August 2008. Dale Jr. won at Michigan in June 2008. 193. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.30.2012 - 9:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BON may I ask why so abrasive on your everyone is entilted to their own opinion comment? And there is much more to a season then a championship battle. I mean championships are fun and all but what about who finishes 10th or 20th, the cast of drivers, the racing, everything. 2000 was a fun year. 194. cjs3872 posted: 04.30.2012 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red, I'm not a fan of the wave-around rule either, especially when it's abused as it was on the last caution Saturday night. On the other hand, the wave-around rule was created just for situations like what transpired on the next-to-last caution period. When Jeff Burton hit the wall to bring out that caution perios, it occurred during a stretch of green flag pit stops, during which not everyone had pitted, resulting in just three cars on he lead lap, all needing pit stops. When they pitted, those that were trapped as a result of green-flag pit stops didn't pit, and as a result, they ended up being between the pace car and the leader. Since the rules require the leader to lead the restart, which is a great rule cause traffic can't interfere with the leaders on the restart, every car that was between the pace car and the leader was waved by, making up one lap. Situations like that are exactly what that rule was designed for. But what happened on the last caution was simply a case of abusing that rule. Wave arounds should not happen in the last 10% of the race, but you can't put those cars in front of the leaders, either, because of how they'd interfere in the battle for the lead, and even start a crash that could take many, if not all the leaders out. 195. Red posted: 04.30.2012 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, here's my idea on how to legislate wave-arounds: Allow each driver/team to use the wave-around only three times per season. That would give competitors protection for the occassional occurrence of a caution in mid-pit sequence, but it would prevent guys from abusing it like they do under the current rules. All cars in front of the leader who elected not to use one of their wave-arounds would simply be placed back behind the lead lap cars and would remain a lap or more down. I think that's fair, and it still allows the leader to always restart up front, plus it could create interesting strategy plays. Honestly, I would apply the same three-use limit to the lucky dog as well. If the eligiable driver chooses not to use it, then no one gets their lap back. 196. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2012 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well cause every is OMG. Maybe to you a season means something different but im not you and youre not me. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. Im sorry but in my opinion 2000 sucked. Period. 197. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2012 - 11:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also meant to say Penske *re-entered* NASCAR in 1991 with Rusty Wallace, the '89 champ and only driver at the time capable of battling Earnhardt toe to toe week in and week out. This was thought to be a big deal at the time as they seemed to be the ones who could topple the Earnhardt juggernaut. They came close in '93 and made a run in '94, but couldn't do it. As it turns out, he was toppled by the car salesman and the little dude from San Francisco. Actually Dale was toppled by Richard Childress (who couldn't keep up as an owner despite having a driver that won a championship for Rod Freaking Osterlund once) and some bone crunching injuries. But we didn't know that at the time. We just knew Penske was in a class by himself in open wheel and Rusty was the only driver a) good enough to hang with Dale and b) who wouldn't be bullied by him. Speaking of which: "Gordon and Kenseth have had their problems but I don't dislike Matt at all." Matt Kenseth is to Gordon what Bill Elliott was to Earnhardt. His punching bag. Despite his talent, Matt, like Bill, is just too damn nice on track (ironically both are kinda cranky off track). Jeff knows this just like Dale knew it about Bill. As I have always said, Jeff and Dale are very similar on track. Aggression is a big part of their driving style, and if a driver is just gonna keep taking their poundings (like Matt has and like Bill did) then they are gonna keep dishing them out. "As far as the 2000 season, I can see both sides of the coin." Same here. A lot that I remember fondly about that season, a lot I slept through. Of course Dale's resurgance as a week in week out Top 5 driver caught my attention. I was loving that. I spent most of 1998 and 1999 secretly hoping he would go ahead and retire while he was still Top 10 and a winner. It seemed like he was slipping, and I wasn't sure he could come back. I didn't want him to hang on too long and embarrass himself out there like Darrell, Richard, Foyt, and a host of other legends did to finish their careers. Of course I was gonna miss him and wanted to root for him forever, but I specifically remember, prior to 2000 starting, just hoping he didn't embarrass himself. And buddy, after the first New Hampshire race, when he was just 45 points out of the Winston Cup lead, was I thinking "Boy, I am pleasantly surprised by this, I'm gonna sit back and enjoy Dale being a threat again!"? Hell no! All I could think of was "GO GET #8!!!!!". Of course he faded from there as Bobby could do nothing wrong (watching B-Lab embarrass himself for all these years recently just pisses me off, all I can think is "why couldn't you do this in 2000?"). Luckily we had the Winston 500, as he reminded everyone one last time just who the f**k Dale Earnhardt is! Rejuvenation is a powerful thing. And that is why Jeff Gordon WILL win the championship this year. Yeah, that's right, I said WILL win it. Go ahead and laugh. Get your laughs in now. This bad luck will pass, he will rip off some wins and EASILY make the cha$e. Yep, EASILY. Then he will reach back and find that 1998 season closing magic that he has lacked in his career....... pretty much every year except 1998. He is too talented to only close one season out strong in his career. 198. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, Richard Petty Motorsports has replaced Greg Erwin as the crew chief of the #43 car with Mike Ford, who will begin his duties at Taladega this week. Frankly, Dale Inman in his prime as a crew chief could not contend for a win with the current driver of the #43, Aric Almirola. I said before this season started that hiring Almirola to drive the #43 car was a huge mistake. Say what you want about David Ragan, and I've been one of his biggest critics. At least Ragan was competitve at points when he was at Roush Racing. Now I know that Almirola's situation is different, since RPM is far from a first-class operation, but Ragan could not do any worse from a competitve standpoint than Almirola has done so far this year. And even though they had Trevor Bayne in the pits as a possible relief driver for the #9 car this weekend at Richmond, I wonder if Richard Petty put him in the pits to give a message to Almirola to pick up his performance. Remember that Bayne is rideless, except for his part-time duties with the Wood Brothers. But I suspect that his appearance in the Petty pits may have been more than just a coincidence. First he shows up as a possible relief driver for Petty's other car, then Greg Erwin is replaced as the crew chief of the #43 car? Sounds like King Richard is trying to send a message to young Mr. Almirola to step it up, or be replaced, possibly before the end of the year. 199. 10andJoe posted: 05.01.2012 - 12:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talladega entry list is out. 44 cars: -Bayne in the #21 -Richardson in the #23 -Texas Terry in the #32 -Raines listed in the #33, may or may not stick -Mikey in the #55 -Bill Elliott in the #97 No #19 or #74 this week. 200. irony posted: 05.01.2012 - 1:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah DSFF, the week 2 race at Rockingham when I realized Dale was back is edged in my memory. Atlanta, Darlington, Bristol (where Dale was wrecked from the lead). I can remember everything about what I was doing on race weekends from back then. I can't even remember who won Kansas 2 weeks ago. Biffle maybe? 201. LordLowe posted: 05.01.2012 - 2:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lets Face Facts DSFF Jeff Gordon is in the declining stages of his career there will be no rejuvenation no more wins and no more championships just mid pack status from here on out. We are witnessing the beginning of the end for Jeff Gordon's career. 202. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.01.2012 - 2:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 8 of Kyle Busch's last 11 Sprint Cup victories have come at either Bristol or Richmond. He seems to be becoming one of those short track streak drivers. Dale Jr equals his top 5 total of 2011 in only 9 races, but unless he starts putting himself in position to win towards the end of races more often I don't see him getting a win soon. I'll list my favorite races and least favorite races soon since a lot of other people have already done that, it looks like. It does make for some interesting discussion too. 203. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 05.01.2012 - 5:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alright fair enough BON lol. DSFF I love ya but if you think Gordon willw in the title you are certifiably insane ;). Then again I was saying the same thing about Tony last year. But still I don't see him winning it. If I am wrong though I'll happily eat crow. 204. MStall41 posted: 05.01.2012 - 10:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS, you are absolutely correct in your statement about Almirola. Ragan was a far more qualified and capable candidate for that ride, and I'd be willing to bet that team would be close to the Top 15 with Ragan behind the wheel. It would have been the first time ever that Ragan was the focus of an organization, and he would have probably thrived in a less pressurized environment. Why RPM chose Almirola over Ragan confounds me to this day. There have been a couple races this season where Ragan actually flat out beat Almirola on track (Vegas comes to mind), in FRM equipment! 205. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 12:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) MStall41, I'm not sure the #43 car would be close to the top 15 with David Ragan, but they would be top 20 material week in and week out. I think the one thing that shied Petty away from Ragan was the almost weekly mistakes Ragan would make, but in the last couple of races, Almirola has displayed something even worse, and that is the lack of awareness, even nearly running into his teammate Marcos Ambrose on pit road while Ambrose was making a pit stop, and holding up the leaders in that same race, while not showing very much potential. When I compare how teammates are doing, I don't compare how they're doing to everyone else, but rather how they're doing in relation to each other. Now in fairness to Almirola, he did run fairly well at Martinsville, but almost every driver who's driven that car has run well there. In fact, Almirola once led 55 laps in a race there several years ago while driving for another team. But on an overall basis, Almirola's been a bust, just as I preditced he'd be, as he's been nowhere near as good as Ambrose, who's had potential top 5 runs cut short when he ran out of fuel on the final two laps in two different races. But a look at the points standings on the race page after this event shows that neither of Richard Petty's drivers are in the top 20, but for different reasons. Ambrose is not in the top 20 due simply to bad luck (those two races in which he ran out of fuel on the last 2 laps), while Almirola is just not competitve. Ambrose is 22nd with Almirola 23rd, while Mark Martin is 19th, despite not having run two races. And by the way, I hope that if Ambrose wins both road course races, that he doesn't make the Chase just because of that, which would show just what a sham the "wild card" rule for the Chase is. 206. Woodbridge posted: 05.01.2012 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whereas David Ragan was indeed a much more qualified driver to take over the #43 than Almirola, and Bayne would've been a great choice as well, I don't get the Almirola hate. Almirola has proven that he can get it done in both Trucks and Nationwide. While he hasn't exactly lit it up in Cup this year, he hasn't been terrible. I think with experience and the new crew chief, Almirola could rack up a few more top tens and make strides toward being a competitive Cup driver. Keep in mind, this is his first full Cup season. I'd give him the rest of the season.. and if he doesn't get more competitive by the end or finish in the top 20 in points, cut 'im loose for 2013 so he can get on his track to becoming the next David Stremme. 207. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.01.2012 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure what's going on with Almirola. 2 years ago after his successful season in the #51 truck, getting the #88 JRM ride and finishing 4th in the #9 Cup car to finish out the '10 season, I thought his career was going to springboard from there but he's pretty much stayed where he is, with still just that one Nationwide win (which isn't even a real win considering JGR forced him out of the car mid-race so Denny Hamlin could get in) within the two NASCAR stock car series. I hope he can eventually score a few top 10 finishes this season, but that's about all I see him doing, to be honest. 208. ii posted: 05.01.2012 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm not sure the #43 car would be close to the top 15 with David Ragan, but they would be top 20 material week in and week out. I think the one thing that shied Petty away from Ragan was the almost weekly mistakes Ragan would make, but in the last couple of races, Almirola has displayed something even worse, and that is the lack of awareness, even nearly running into his teammate Marcos Ambrose on pit road while Ambrose was making a pit stop, and holding up the leaders in that same race, while not showing very much potential. When I compare how teammates are doing, I don't compare how they're doing to everyone else, but rather how they're doing in relation to each other." I agree cjs, I believe that Almirola has very little potential in the Cup series. If he doesn't flip-flop rides with Michael Annett in Nationwide, he will be released and he'll most likely find a part-time start and park ride. I'm not a hater, though. I think Almirola is out there to prove that he can bring the #43 in victory lane. Whether it's based off of fuel milage, pit strategy, restrictor plates, etc., Richard Petty hired him to win. There isn't much more out there than Almirola. I don't think that Roush would let Bayne in the #43 and drive the #16 in Nationwide, and like you said, Ragan makes mistakes a lot of the time. If I were Petty, I would want to hire a Nationwide driver like Allgaier or Stenhouse, but they wouldn't attract sponsors. Staying on the topic of rookies, while there has seemed to be a lack of them for the past 4 years (2 in 2009 and 2010, 1 in 2011 and 2012), up-and-comers like Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and the Dillon brothers are in development teams that can get them to the top (Blaney with TBR, Elliott with Hendrick, the Dillons with RCR). While Ryan Blaney seems to be in the worst situation, I'm sure that when Dave Blaney gives up his ride for his son then we can really see what he can do. After all, in his first Nationwide race at one of the toughest tracks out there, he finished in the top-10. In fact, he was in the top-10 all day. Other rookies like the ones at Turner have seemed to hit a road-bump. I know that some day Turner will make the move to Cup, but I don't think it will be for a while. Those guys may have to stay in Nationwide and Truck until they make the move to Cup. 209. Woodbridge posted: 05.01.2012 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Blaney getting a top ten in his first start was an awesome moment. I'm definitely pulling for him to become a top-tier competitor. 210. ii posted: 05.01.2012 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, it says that Josh Wise was out because of a crash. I don't think that is the case, since he never caused a caution. #9 sponsor: Stanley #18 sponsor: M&M's Ms. Brown #29 sponsor: Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches (typo) #33 sponsor: Little Joes Autos.com/Link-Belt #51 sponsor: Phoenix Construction Services #78 sponsor: Furniture Row/Farm American 211. Anonymous posted: 05.01.2012 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree with alot of what you are saying there CJS, but one thing to keep in mind with Ragan is that he wouldve been bringing 6 years of experience with Ford cars to that team, and I think Ragan showed alot of improvement last year to boot. With how thin the midpack is this year anyway, I see no reason why Ragan couldn't be in or around the Top 15 with RPM this year. He's been noticeably less mistake prone this year in his FRM ride (thats not saying much since he's essentially just riding around there) but I think his growth as a driver in 2011 would have led him to a bright 2012 in the 43. 212. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ii, you make a good point in saying that Roush might not want Trevor Bayne in the #43 car when he's not in the #21 car, and I'm not saying Petty should hire Bayne anyway. What I am saying is that I don't think it's a coincidence that Bayne is in the #9 pits as a possible relief driver and then there's a change in the crew chief of Petty's other car, ironically with a man with Roush ties being the one released. (Could that be a sign to where Petty's organization might be heading in the future?) But Petty might use someone like Bayne, who's currently rideless, except for his part-time gig in the #21, to motivate his current driver, with no plans of ever hiring Bayne, or the driver Petty uses to motivate his current driver (Almirola). In other words, Petty's trying anything he can to jump-start the #43, but I don't see anything working. And besides, I think Bayne might be with a Chevrolet team next year (EGR's #42 or RCR's #31, both of which are struggling badly again this year, perhaps). And I don't think Petty's team is a top-15 team on a consistent basis, no matter who's driving for them. And hiring Michael Annett would be an even worse idea than hiring Almirola was in the first place, because as poorly as Almirola has done, Annett has fared even worse. After all, Almirola does a have couple of Truck Series wins to his credit driving for Kyle Busch. 213. Eric posted: 05.01.2012 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Woodbridge, It is going to be tough for Ryan Blaney getting a top tier cup team right away when he goes to cup because of the team he is with currently. Right now Ryan is with Tommy Baldwin Racing for Nationwide and I am assuming his contract also is for when he goes cup racing depending on the length of the contract. That means Ryan is with a back marker cup team when he starts his cup career. At best, Tommy Baldwin Racing could into a mid pack cup team with Ryan Blaney depending on sponsors. I know Ryan is going to be a even hotter prospect if he does well at Darlington, but he is off limits unless he gets out of his contract. The other thing is I doubt Ryan Blaney is going full time in cup before 2015 if he's not going to be rushed into cup. 214. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.01.2012 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has had cartoonishly bad luck this year. As in Wile E Coyote trying to catch the Road Runner bad luck. They have had cars as good as anyone week in and week out (nobody has really dominated to this point). So the cars are good, his luck will turn around, and he is still Jeff Gordon. At only 41. He isn't old. He is the same age as Smoke. Earnhardt won two championships after his 41st birthday (is now a bad time to mention that at Jeff's age Dale already had 5 championships despite a later start and early career turmoil?). Jeff will win the championship this year. 215. Red posted: 05.01.2012 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, I agree. Jeff Gordon is NOT done. It's amazing how people will jump to conclusions after just nine races, especially nine races where he's been fast. I predict Jeff will win 2-3 races in the regular season and make the chase as a wild card, then at least contend for the championship. Ultimately, I think the #48 is better, and JJ will bring home number six, but Jeff will be in the mix. I also find it amusing that nobody is talking about Junior as a title threat, despite sitting 2nd in points. After this many years of underachieving and failing when the pressure is highest, we know better. I see a very RCR-like 4th in points this year, with no wins and a lot of top tens. As far as Almirola goes, he's merely doing what he's always done: rack up mid-pack finishes, stay out of trouble, but rarely dominate or challenge for wins. Aric is a plodder, and will likely continue plodding to finishes between 18th and 25th every week. I don't think Ragan would be any better, as David has proven he can't get it done even in championship caliber equpiment. For 2013, I'd love to see RPM take a chance on a young up-and-comer. How about Ryan Blaney in the #43? Do you really think his dad would keep him in shitty TBR cars if he had a better opportunity somewhere else? In my fantasy world I'd love see RPM hire Johanna Long, just so she can run circles around Danica. I know she isn't Cup ready, but neither is The Princess. 216. ii posted: 05.01.2012 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, just because Bayne was a potential sub for Ambrose doesn't mean a thing. They only chose him because he was already at the track that weekend and he is very good as long as he has the equipment. But I think I remember Mark Martin was a potential to sub in for Gordon during paternity leave in 2007, even though 2 years later he joined the team. Also, Ricky Rudd subbed for an injured Tony Stewart in 2006. I agree, though, that Petty SHOULD give him a ride. I think that expanding to 3 teams is only a benefit for RPM. Bayne should jump off of the Roush development fail team (as well as Stenhouse) and join other teams that are itching to expand, now that they have the money to expand. Red, even though Almirola is only in a 1-year deal with RPM, Petty taking Blaney is far, far too risky. He's only 18. He needs more time in Nationwide, and then he can go up to Cup. 217. Eric posted: 05.01.2012 - 8:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red, Ryan Blaney shouldn't be considered for cup for anytime in the next 1 or 2 years despite the fact I was impressed with his Nationwide debut. If Richard Petty picks Ryan Blaney, Ryan Blaney would turn into another Casey Atwood, or Joey Logano at this time. Ryan only has 1 Nationwide start under his belt. Ryan is only going to have 7 Nationwide Starts this season. A driver with only 7 truck race start or Nationwide starts before going to cup on a full time basis is a recipe of a driver ending up not living up to exceptions on the cup level. I know cup drivers and owners knew about Ryan Blaney's talent before his first Nationwide start, but you are dealing with an 18 year old that is very raw and needs more experience on the Nationwide level. Joey Logano didn't race a full Nationwide season before taking over for Tony Stewart and now is on the hot seat. What happened was Joey was rushed into cup one or two years too early. Joey as a result of being rushed to cup, his confidence is a question mark. That is a risk that happens when a driver is rushed to cup. 218. LordLowe posted: 05.01.2012 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey Woodbridge you have been absent from the comment board for a long time where have you been. 219. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ii, the fact that Bayne was there in the #9 pits to sub for Marcos Ambrose, if needed was, by itself, much ado about nothing. But add that to the fact that Petty then changed the crew chief for his beloved #43 car a couple of days later, and the two things combined was what made me wonder if Aric Almirola's seat in the #43 car is a little hotter than anyone would believe. And by the way, the two other things you mentioned did lead to other things. Jeff Gordon's selecting Mark Martin to be his stand-in driver at Sonoma in 2007, the same weekend his crew chief ran afoul of the rulebook, eventualy led to Martin driving the #5 car for three years, and having his career rejuvenated in 2009, which is happeneing again this year. Rudd's relieving of Tony Stewart, in his only racing action of 2006, led to his farewell season with Robert Yates in 2007. And as for your saying that Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse should get off the Roush development thing. Well, Bayne's already off it, for all practical purposes, for lack of sponsorship, which is why I think it would be a good idea for one of the Chevrolet teams to go after him, and I mentioned EGR's #42 and RCR's #31, since they're going nowhere fast. After all, he's already got a win in the sport's biggest event on his resume. And let's not forget that there are a couple of links between Bayne and his team and EGR. However, Roush has already stated that, when sponsorship arrives, if it does, that the #6 car is Stenhouse's. He said that at Texas. And another thing that may explain the lack of cautions this season, except for Daytona (and I think Talladega will be a wreck-fest, with potentially as few as 12-15 healthy cars running at the finish). On the pre-race show last week at Richmond, Darrell Waltrip said that everyone's being very conservative this year. Though he didn't say it directly, I think he was taking a shot at the points system, which rewards conservative driving and keeping what you have, instead of going out to try to gain positions and putting themselves in position to win races. After all, I think the point system was a main reason for the competitve balance we saw last year, because it doesn't really pay to take the chances necessary to win races. After all, if not for Tony Stewart's win in the finale at Homestead last year, last season would have produced no dirvers win at least five times in a single season, and I blame that on the points system more than anything else. 220. jabber1990 posted: 05.01.2012 - 9:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne in the #43? wont that just be ironic 221. Red posted: 05.01.2012 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ii and Eric, I realize that rushing 18 year old Ryan Blaney to Cup would likely be a poor decision for everyone involved. I was just making a point that RPM would be better served taking a chance on a young driver with lots of upside, rather than going with a safe pick with limited potential like Almirola. I also feel that MWR wasted a golden opportunity by putting Brian Vickers in the #55, when they could have signed a high-risk prospect for five races and rolled the dice for a potential star. Everyone already knows what Vickers is, and he amounts to a nothing more than a seat filler in that car. Why not give someone like James Buescher or even Nelson Piquet Jr a try, and see if lightning strikes? 222. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.01.2012 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Blaney could be something special, lets hope he doesn't get the "Casey Atwood" treatment. Give the kid time but don't rush it. So many guys now a days get ruined because sponser/owner want an instant star. 223. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jabber1990, that really would be ironic for the old time fans that remember the great battles between the #21 and #43 cars in the past, especially considering Bayne has already won the Daytona 500 in the #21 car, but there is precedent for something like this. After five unsucessful years driving for the family team, Kyle Petty moved on. And he moved to, of all teams, the Wood Brothers team, and had some good runs in 1985, including a runner-up in the Winston 500 at Talladega, passing Cale Yarborough on the last lap. A rare feat indeed. And a year later, Kyle Pety earned his first win, doing so for the Wood Brothers at Richmond, backing up that win with his only win in any of the sport's big events (and the Woods' last until last year's Daytona 500) a year later in the 1987 Coca-Cola 600. And to make that win sweeter, Richard finished fourth. Another great memory for old-time fans would be the Woods' last victory until last year's Daytona 500, when Elliott Sadler won in the #21 car at Bristol. Who did he beat? John Andretti, who was driving none other than the #43 car in another duel between the #21 and #43 cars, the last for a race win. And in another irony, Bayne's win in the Daytona 500 last year saw both Petty, who was listed as the car owner (how bizarre was that?) and the Wood Brothers celebrating in victory lane together, and were greeted by many NASCAR drivers. Drivers of the present congratulated Bayne, who is very popular among the other drivers, as well as the Woods, and a lot of the older drivers congratulated the Woods, as it reminded them of the days when the Woods won often, and was a reminder of why they're one of the truly great orgainzations in the sport's history, even if current day fans don't. (Even old-timers like A.J. Foyt, who won four times for the Woods, including the 1972 Daytona 500, and Mario Andretti congratulated them on the victory.) A reason why that was such an important victory was that it got the current day fans to realize what a great and long-lasting organization the Wood Brothers team has been, and have been competitve even this year, finishing ninth at Las Vegas. 224. 18fan posted: 05.01.2012 - 10:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I know Ambrose has had 2 top 5 runs ruined by running out of gas, but he really hasn't been competitive in the other 7 races. 225. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2012 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18fan, that's a fact that backs up what I said about Dale Inman not being able to put a driver in victory lane in his prime as a crew chief with the current Petty team. But it also makes me wonder how much help they're really getting from Roush and Ford, which might also mean that the move to put Mike Ford in charge of the #43 car might be the beginning of a break away from Roush, if not Ford. Remember that part of what is now called Richard Petty Motorsports (specifically the #9 car) was Ray Evernham's team, and it was there, with Bill Elliott driving, that Mike Ford got his first big shot as a crew chief. Also remember those cars were Dodges. Also remember that Ford and Todd Parrott, the crew chief on the #9 car, worked together at Robert Yates Racing, and I don't think there's any love lost between Parrott and Roush, either, especially with how Roush was somehow involved in the collapse of Robert Yates Racing, where Parrott had so much success, often at the expense of Roush's teams. I'll be very interested in seeing how all this winds up going. And let's also remember that, unlike Juan Montoya, Marcos Ambrose is not obsessed with winning on an oval, and has even talked about leaving NASCAR and going back to Australia, so we'll see how all this works out. 226. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2012 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buddy Baker drove for both Petty Enterprises and the Wood Brothers. 227. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2012 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think he is the only driver to win for both. 228. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.02.2012 - 12:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Why not give someone like James Buescher or even Nelson Piquet Jr a try, and see if lightning strikes?" Sounds good to me, at least James and Nelson have both had necessary experience and respectable runs to merit a chance at Cup racing. 229. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, you're incorrect. 1961 Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch also won for both Petty Enterprises and the Wood Brothers. Panch drove for the Wood Brothers in the mid-60s, and he's best known for having run with them. But Panch's final victory, the 1966 World 600, actually came driving for Petty Enterprises. Ford boycotted most of the mid-to-late stages of 1966, which was a big reason drivers like Panch and Ned Jarrett retired after the 1966 season. Panch was entered in a Petty Enterprises car as a teammate to Richard Petty, and although Petty drove the last 42 laps to victory in Panch's car, Panch was the official driver of record in the winning car that day, the last of Panch's 17 wins. 230. Spen posted: 05.02.2012 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almirola's kept the car out of the wall for the most part, which is more than Ragan would have done. His ceiling likely isn't very high, but it was worth a shot. Cjs: As I've said before, if Bayne were to replace anyone at EGR, it would be McMurray. Montoya's history with Ganassi goes too far back for him to be fired, particularly since he is currently the top performer for the team. (Heck, he was running top ten for a considerable period this race.) Burton you have a point about, but he's just keeping Austin Dillon's seat warm. Bayne would be a one-year solution at best. Lordlowe: Gordon's done winning championships (I said that back in '04, and I still haven't been proven wrong), but it's very short-sighted to say he's done winning. As fast as they've been, he's gotta get a win or two during the summer stretch when everyone's in test mode. Maybe at Kentucky? Regarding the future prospects of Turner drivers, don't forget that Turner is a sattelite of Hendrick. Hendrick will likely have three drivers retiring within a few years of each other, so there will be spots opening up. Chase will probably replace Junior, but Gordon's seat will be open sooner, and I believe that James Buescher is in the right posistion for the ride. Allgaier will probably never move past Nationwide (if he does, it will probably be as Josh Wise's replacement ROTY shoe-in at FRM.) Piquet might have a future in-house. But when Turner does move to Cup, they'll be RPM level at best, so it won't be much of a future. Kasey Khane might move there when/if he gets fired from Hendrick. Cjs again: Little trivia question for you. Name a driver that has driven for Petty, the Wood Brothers, and Junior Johnson. 231. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.02.2012 - 3:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And let's also remember that, unlike Juan Montoya, Marcos Ambrose is not obsessed with winning on an oval, and has even talked about leaving NASCAR and going back to Australia, so we'll see how all this works out." Hang on a minute, is there another Marcos Ambrose racing in NASCAR that I don't know about? CJS, Marcos IS obsessed with winning on ovals - perhaps more than any other driver in the field. And there hasn't been any talk at all about a return to the V8's. There was a one-off drive lined up for the final round of the 2009 season, but this was unable to go ahead, as V8 Supercars is a franchise-based series and a team is not permitted to run an extra car for a single event. The reasons behind his move to NASCAR run far, far deeper than just a desire to compete and challenge himself; Marcos Ambrose will never race full time in Australia again. 232. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.02.2012 - 4:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, I guess I'll jump in on the theme of posting up favourite and least favourite races, as well as my take on championship fights. Being an outsider looking in, I no doubt see things from a different perspective to many people here and it is interesting to compare my thoughts to the thoughts of others. Races that stand out to me as being good races (in no particular order or ranking): The 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings 250; This was without a doubt, one of the best NASCAR races I have ever seen. The last 125 laps is why I am a race fan. With that long of a green flag stretch and a seemingly dominant Kevin Harvick, it was fascinating to watch the drivers and teams figure out a way to overcome their rivals and fight to the finish, without being able to fall back on cautions, restarts and adjustments. Kurt Busch did an outstanding job to hold off Denny Hamlin and take a third placed car to the victory. The 2008 Daytona 500; This race stands out to me, because I don't normally enjoy plate racing, yet this one managed to be full of excitement and fair racing without any controversy or randomness to it. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch working together to pass Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch was fantastic to watch and for, that is how plate races should be run and won. Also worth mentioning here is the 2007 UAW-Ford 500, for much the same reason. It was an exciting race start to finish, especially seeing Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon push through from back in the back and break the outside line of Dodges. Great stuff. The 2008 Zippo 200 at the Glen; This was a truly great race and proves that NASCAR can do road racing. There were a lot of alternate strategies playing out through the race as teams and drivers tried everything they could to push their car further up the leaderboard. There was a lot of gambling going on and it wasn't clear who the winner would be until the very end. There was an epic fight going on for second place between Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick, whist Marcos Ambrose was able to hold on for his first ever NASCAR victory (and I swear that's not what I'm listing this race!) The 2006 Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods; This is the first NASCAR race that I watched start to finish and it is the race that got me into the sport. I had no idea who the drivers were or what any of this "Chase" business was, but I remember this race quite fondly. Through my first look into NASCAR, I saw plenty of fast and exciting racing (Hey, maybe these ovals aren't so bad after all!) and a great fight for the win. What I really admired about this race and what made me appreciate NASCAR, was just how much responsibility was in the drivers hand. Jimmie Johnson, who had led the majority of the race and looked set to win, was booked for speeding on a late race pit stop. That's his race done. And then on the other hand, Tony Stewart was able to pace himself and conserve enough fuel to coast home for the win. I was so impressed by all of that, the fact that one momentary lapse of concentration was enough to turn a win into disaster and that a driver was able to be in control enough to hold on to finish without making a final pit stop. The 2011 AdvoCare 500; Do I need to explain this one? Everything that needs to be said has been said already - that's what it's all about. 233. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Forgot to add an honourable mention to the last post in the 2011 Samsung Mobile 500. If Tony Stewart didn't speed in the pits for his final stop, it would have been a truly great win for the 14. For the next part, I'm not going to list races that I thought were bad, but races that ended up disappointing me for various reasons. The 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400; This is the race that Denny Hamlin led 381 of the first 382 laps. I was completely and 100% ok with that. In fact, I was genuinely enjoying the race. The way I saw it was that Hamlin was going to win and definitely deserved to do so. It was impossible not to be impressed with his performance and even though I have never been a fan of Denny Hamlin, I remember feeling a great deal of respect for his driving in this race. Then everything changes. First, the 11 has a tyre going down and ends up losing the lead to the 88. I was in complete awe at this point: all of a sudden the race had been turned on it's head, from a race that was looking to be one to remember for the outstanding performance of one driver, it then became a question of "what happens now?" I was loving it. And then the 11 stopped on the track and brought out a caution. That was weak. Lame. Pathetic. I couldn't believe it, what a way to ruin a race, you selfish bastard! So anyway, that's happened and you can't change that, let's get on with it, I hope that there isn't any more nonsense, because my excitement as slowly died out here. And the the 18 dumps the 88. You've got to be kidding. I was disgusted. And then even more disgusted by the fact that NASCAR is ok with that. Any my feelings have nothing to do with Dale Jr either, I've never been fan of him as a driver. But that was one race that turned into an absolute mess that became impossible to enjoy and it represents many of the things that I think are wrong with NASCAR. The 2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge; I was really looking forward to this one, as I look for to all road racing. And it should have been a good one, but the race turned into something of a farce when it turned out that NASCAR really wasn't prepared for what they were about to do. Wet races are supposed to be exciting and interesting. Down here, when the clouds roll in, you always think "Rain, this'll be good!" But NASCAR's lack of research and preparation meant that the race was delayed for nearly an hour, as teams fitted ill-effective equipment that should have been better engineered and on the cars from the moment they took to the track. And then to top it off, these devices were so poor that drivers weren't able to properly race, which resulted in a red flag and a considerably large and nasty pile up, all of which would have been avoided if the cars had've been properly equipped from the get-go. The 2008 Pocono 500; This race was actually a pretty good race, but NASCAR can't seem to accept the idea of one driver flat-out schooling the entire field. Kasey Khane was fastest in all the practice sessions for this race, sat on the pole and won the race with a driver rating of 145.2. It was obvious from the moment that they rolled out of the hauler that the 9 car was going to victory lane. On each stop that he made, Khane's team kept adjusting the car and he was absolutely untouchable on restarts and was the strongest car in traffic too. It was looking like there was going to be a long green flag run to end the race and, because no one was ever going to beat Khane on outright speed, teams began to gamble with different pit strategies, trying everything they could to find a way to beat the 9. Around about then, Kyle Busch, running by himself, many laps down, has a lose in the tunnel turn, bringing out a caution. My issue with this, is that there were no cars anywhere nearby, he didn't hit anything and he was immediately able to continue running - he never even stopped moving! This is back when the COT had the rear wing with those big end-plates, which meant a car was never able to spin out completely. So effectively what happened is that Kyle got loose, gassed it up and kept going...yet NASCAR threw a caution. I have no doubt that they saw this as an opportunity to bunch up the field and hopefully have someone pass the 9, for an "exciting" finish. I even remember the commentators talking about how exciting it was going to be and that we were going to see some real racing and that now the teams can pit and adjust their cars and be able to take on the 9....and at this point I'm thinking to myself, "Have we been watching the same race?" No one, NO ONE was ever going to beat the 9 and so of course, on the restart, Kasey Khane did the same thing he'd be doing all day long and drove away from the field and was never challenged. The funny thing is, if the race had've gone green, all of the different pit strategies meant that we probably would have had an interesting finish. Ah well! The 2011 Kroger 200 Benefitting Riley Hospital for Children; This was a great race at IRP, which (for me), was overshadowed by numerous "debris" cautions, thrown because one driver was performing too good for NASCAR's desired level of "excitement". Ricky Stenhouse was absolutely dominating and was putting a remarkable number of cars a lap down. If I remember correctly, there was less than a dozen cars on the lead lap when they threw the first caution and even less than that when they threw the second. After all that was said and done there was an exciting battle for the lead between Keselowski and Stenhouse, where experience prevailed with Brad taking the win. However I wasn't able to properly appreciate or admire that win, as the 22 was among the cars that had been put a lap down, only to be bailed out by a phony caution and the wave around rule. The 2007 NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge; Part of my disdain for this race is probably centred around my support for Marcos Ambrose, so I won't go too far into it. But I will say that I couldn't believe what I was seeing unfold over the final few laps of the race. To me, it seemed like NASCAR didn't care one iota about what happened and that drivers were free to do whatever they pleased, regardless of any rules they may or may not have broken. It was a mess, but it was only a mess because NASCAR allowed it to become one and then, rather insultingly, they tried to play it off as "excitement". Sorry, not buying. An honourable mention in this section goes to the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400, because a phony caution near the end to tighten the field turned what had been a relatively clean race into an absolute wreckfest. TThe only redeeming factor from all of this was a genuinely exciting and intense battle for the win between Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, but it wasn't worth the carnage that it cost. 234. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As for championship battles, to be honest with you, I have never really found NASCAR title fights to be as engaging as I find the fights for other championships. I feel this probably has a great deal to do with the Chase and with the points format. The battle last year was exciting, but to me, it didn't really have much of the epic build up or tension that truly great points fights have. Congratulations and respect though, to both Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, because that run to the finish was certainly something special. 235. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 10:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) MyothercarisanM535i, Marcos Ambrose certainly wants to win on an oval to prove that he can do it in something other than a road course, just as all road course driver in this country want to, but he's not as obsessed with winning on an oval like Montoya is. From what I heard last year, and that's what I base this on, Ambrose accomplished his main goal of winning a Cup race when he won at Watkins Glen. Would he like to win on an oval? Of course he would, but based on what I heard others say, he's not obsessed with it like Montoya is. My thing is, I just hope that a road course specialist like Ambrose doesn't make the Chase just because of his road racing prowess, because that would prove just what a sham the "wild card" entry into the Chase really is. If he were to win both of he road course races, he would virtually guarantee a spot in the top 20, the other qualification to earn a "wild card" berth, and thus virtually lock up a spot in the Chase, despite his spotty record on ovals. 236. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2012 - 1:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for the correction cjs. Can't believe I forgot about Pancho. Another driver that has slipped through the cracks of time unfortunately. 237. Woodbridge posted: 05.02.2012 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #218 LordLowe- Hey! That's cool that someone remembered me despite me not commenting very often over the last couple years. I moved away from home and haven't had steady internet access until just recently. That's why I haven't been on very much. I'll be back a lot more often now! I'd personally love to see Ambrose win a couple races and make the Chase on Wild Card. If JPM can be a Top Ten driver in Cup, so can Ambrose. He's one of the most talented out there and mark my words, he WILL win on an oval in the next couple years. Yes, it's probably >50% chance that the win will be at a restrictor plate track.. but I also think he could pull it off at Bristol, Richmond, or Dover. #52 Hamilton Means announced today that Mike Skinner would be their driver at Darlington. That won't matter much because they will either not qualify or park within 50 laps. That brings me to a question I'd love to pose to you guys... ...Start-and-parks won't be going away any time soon. Would ya'll rather see experienced, long-time drivers take those low-tier rides, or up-and-comers that wouldn't really get a ride any other way? 238. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2012 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good Lord. Did Junior Seau really kill himself? That is heartbreaking and shocking. As a kid, he was one of the giants of the sports world. When it appeared the unlikeable 2007 Pats were inevitably heading towards 19-0, I thought about Junior finally getting the ring he deserved to make myself feel better about it. I pray he is at peace now. 239. Talon64 posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "...Start-and-parks won't be going away any time soon. Would ya'll rather see experienced, long-time drivers take those low-tier rides, or up-and-comers that wouldn't really get a ride any other way?" Up-and-comers. Landon Cassill translated some solid qualifying efforts in 2010 into a full time Cup ride, showing that thriving under the pressure of qualifying GOGH cars into the field is a good way of getting noticed for better and more stable rides. 240. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, how do you think something like that would feek for someone that lived in the San Diego area most of his life? Though I was born in Baltimore, my dad and I moved there when I was at the age of five, and stayed there until he died in 2008. But Seau was a genuine Southern California sports icon. Growing up in Oceanside, CA, he went to USC, where he was a standout. He then was drafted by the Chargers in 1990, at a time when there were still three NFL teams in Southern California, not like it is now, where the Chargers are the only game in Southern California where the NFL is concerned. But he was the unquestioned on-field leader of the only Chargers team to ever play n a Super Bowl and played there 13 years before moving on. And Seau, a definite first ballot Hall of Famer in the eyes of many, was the greatest defensive player in the history of the franchise, which has been mostly known for it's great offensive teams, something that continues to this day. Now I don't root for any team, but having lived out there for 31 years, this has to be like a Muhammad Ali punch to the stomach for every sports fan in Southern California, either in San Diego or Los Angeles, and not unlike what the death of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was to the traditional home of NASCAR. Sports fans in Southern California will be grieving about this for quite some time, and I think the traumatic symptoms of concussions had a significant role in this tragedy. 241. Talon64 posted: 05.02.2012 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's being reported that Seau shot himself in the chest, likely so his brain could be contributed to research on the long-term effects of repeated blows to the brain. 242. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.02.2012 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "My thing is, I just hope that a road course specialist like Ambrose doesn't make the Chase just because of his road racing prowess, because that would prove just what a sham the "wild card" entry into the Chase really is. If he were to win both of he road course races, he would virtually guarantee a spot in the top 20, the other qualification to earn a "wild card" berth, and thus virtually lock up a spot in the Chase, despite his spotty record on ovals. " Agreed. I'm as big a fan as you'll find and would love nothing more than to see Marcos in the Chase, but at the same time, I'd rather see him make the Chase on genuine speed and actually be able to contend for the title. It would be a sad thing to see someone simply doesn't have the speed and consistency for the battle that is the Chase make it in on the wild card rule, only to put in a dismal and humiliating performance. I am optimistic about Marcos' future, but I'd rather see him race his way in. 243. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Please, Talon64, that's inappropriate, and you should be ashamed to make such a comment. Seau might end up being another martyr to the efforts to make the sport safer and prevent future brain-related deaths, if this is such a case, much like Mike Webster, Dave Duerson, and others previously, but to make such a comment at a time like this is deplorable and you should be ashamed. Nobody should EVER make such a comment just hours after such a tragedy. 244. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.02.2012 - 7:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872: Unfortunately Talon64, that is the report. Some people really are thinking he shot himself in the chest for that reason. Thus departs one of the true role model football players of this generation (although he had some post-football troubles). RIP. 245. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Again, NicoRosbergFan, I suspect that some of his post-NFL trouble have may have been, as was the case with numerous other players, due to concussion-related injuries suffered in more 25 years of football, going back to high school. Just look at what has happened in recent years to other players, even legendary players such as Mike Webster, and you'll see that many of these situations were brought on by brain injuries. The odd thing is that prior to the 1970s-era players, you seldom heard of things like this. And those that played linebacker, like Seau, on the interior line, like Webster did, or tight end, like John Mackey, who died last year from brain injuries suffered while playing football, had literally thousands of head-on collision during their careers, and I believe Seau played more seasons (20) and games (286) at linebacker than anyone else in the history of the game, so he would be especially vulnerable to brain-related injuries, considering how long he played in the NFL. 246. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.02.2012 - 7:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tragically, cjs, you taught me nothing. I watch too much ESPN. 247. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2012 - 8:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NicoRosbergFan, what's wrong with that? There are far worse things to do with your spare time than watch ESPN, ESPN Classic, SPEED, NFL Network, and other sports channels. I know I watch animation programming a lot, as well as classic NFL, and Daytona 500s during the winter. You can even learn something about your favorite sports by watching the sports channels. 248. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2012 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My heart definitely goes out to the SoCal sports fans. I can imagine this will sting for a while, and I hate that. I apologize if this is inappropriate, but I am curious as to whether or not they will examine his brain to see just how much damage was inflicted. The NFL has been ducking the hell out of the whole post football issues former players have as the result of concussions, inexplicably refusing to help out ex players. But if it turns out that an NFL icon who was beloved by so many died at the ridiculously young age of 43 due to brain damage, they will have to take some major steps and help these guys out. Comparing this to Dale's death is a good parallel. Like NASCAR had drug theiir feet on safety for so long despite the warning signs, the NFL has been doing the same with retired players. Now they will have to act. And again, I apologize if this goes too far, but I also have to wonder if he wanted his brain looked at, if he felt something was wrong. I am speaking totally in generalities here, but males that shoot themselves typically do so in the head, wheras women typically go for the chest. 249. LordLowe posted: 05.03.2012 - 1:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Things like this are going to tragically happen sometime 250. cjs3872 posted: 05.03.2012 - 2:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, if the death of legendary Steelers' center Mike Webster a few years ago (at the age of 50) didn't cause the NFL to take more major steps than they have, I doubt this will, either. Now, if someone is actually killed during a game due to head trauma, that will cause major changes, you can bet on that. And again, I think it's stupid to say that anyone WANTS to shoot themselves to become a research tool, and frankly, a statement like that is uncalled for at this time. Maybe in a week or two it might be easier to think about something like that, but not at this time. 251. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2012 - 3:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Its just that, not long ago, a former NFL player killed himself by shooting himself in the chest, and wrote in his suicide note he wanted his brain donated to be researched. I just wonder if this is a likewise situation. Again, I apologize for bringing this up less than 24 hours later, but I can't help but wonder. As far as forcing change, that very well could be wishful thinking on my part. I just think as much as he meant to so many people, it should wake some people up that have been asleep at the wheel on this issue. Maybe I am looking at this through generational eyes. As a kid, he was a larger than life sports star and remained a top tier defender well into me reaching adulthood. Bottom line, they need a program to help players once they leave the NFL. Far too many have already died far too soon. Of the Chargers on their Super Bowl team, he is the eighth of them to die young. 252. cjs3872 posted: 05.03.2012 - 3:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, about the fact that eight of the 1994 Chargers have now died for some reason or other, you begin to wonder whether or not San Diego is jinxed when it comes to it's champion sports teams, which are rare to begin with. The 1984 San Diego Padres were also ravaged by tragedy in the years following that team's NL championship, as more than one of their members suffered tragic deaths and Dave Dravecky lost his left arm to cancer, and the 1998 team also suffered through tragic circumstances. Not to mention that the Padres' greatest player, Tony Gwynn, has been battling cancer himself over the last year. 253. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.03.2012 - 6:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I will had that head trauma has resulted in trouble for hockey players. Thank God we haven't trauma related post-retirement deaths in NASCAR, just dopes like Kevin Grubb. 254. Anthony posted: 05.03.2012 - 6:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There have now been 1001 laps since Texas and there hasn't been a single crash, only spins and debris cautions 255. 10andJoe posted: 05.03.2012 - 7:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >Landon Cassill translated some solid qualifying efforts in 2010 into a full time Cup ride, showing that thriving under the pressure of qualifying GOGH cars into the field is a good way of getting noticed for better and more stable rides. This. It's interesting to compare Cassill and Stephen Leicht. Leicht had a better resume coming up through Nationwide. But Cassill took S&P rides, Leicht didn't, and who has the full-time ride now? Your Name Must Be Out There, or you're toast. 256. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.03.2012 - 11:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't like the NFL and ther are only 4 players i GREATLY respect (i respect the rest for having a job and making a living out of what they love to do). But i'm going to 'call it like i see it': The NFL doesn't give a damn about the players. they just don't (IMHO). The NFL is the NHL (National Hypocrate League). "we do things to increase player safety." BS, your trying to get more money and increase the season from 16 to 18 games...........how does that "increase player safety"? It doesn't. All the players deserve guaranteed money because all it takes is one hit and your carrer is over. The guy who ran the NFL before Goodell toke over the players liked alot, NO BODY (except the owners) likes Roger Goodell. The NFL doesn't give a damn about its players (active or retired) because they used them and then throw them away. It's sickening. Troy Akman said awhile ago that the NFL in the near future is going to face issues that will hurt the league if they don't do something. The NFL isn't going to go anything. 257. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2012 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1995 Subaru WRX STi, Paul Tagliabue was no angel towards the former players. Him and Gene Upshaw screwed retired NFL Players. I think Paul needs a share of the blame of how the former players were treated despite Former NFL Players hated Gene Upshaw's guts by how Gene handled retired players for benefits. Mike Webster wasn't able to get disability money while he was alive despite the fact he wanted it for oblivious reasons that are known now. The case of Mike Webster was covered up by the NFL under Paul Tagliabue's watch because his head injuries were known before Mike died and the NFL denied it at the time. NFL icon Johnny Unitas was bitter towards the NFL in his last years of his life. Johnny was bitter how the NFL treated him after he retired due to the fact he wasn't able to get disabilities from the medical problems h. Johnny Unitas was not able to use his right hand because of his elbow, and could not perform any physical activity more strenuous than golf due to his artificial knees. Could someone explain to me why Johnny Unitas got turned down for Disability benefits by the NFL despite the problems Johnny had I mentioned. 258. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2012 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @ 256 and 257, quoted for the truth. 259. Red posted: 05.03.2012 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only reason Goodell is feigning interest in player safety is because he wants to avoid lawsuits. Remember, Goodell is a former lawyer, and the son of a politician, two of the sleeziest professions on the planet. It's all about the $$$ for him and his owner buddies. That's why he wants to extend the schedule to 18 games, in spite of his "emphasis" on safety. When Roger says he wants to "protect the shield", that really means he wants to protect his own ass from legal trouble and continue to line his pockets with copious amounts of money. As an aside, are there ANY good comissioners in sports right now? I honestly can't think of one, in pro or college sports. Bud Selig is a neanderthal with no balls, David Stern is a greedy, corrupt egomaniac, Gary Bettman's league plays on the obscure Versus network after enduring a full-season strike, the BCS and NCAA conference leaders are all about $$$ and don't care about the game or the students playing it, and Brian France is, well, Brian France. The problem is that all of these "leaders" have direct financial ties to the sports they're overseeing, so any decisions they make are undoubtedly clouded by how much money it will put in their pockets. It'll never happen, but these leagues would be in better shape if they were comissioned by people with no financial stake in their respective sports, and their singular objective was to make decisions in the best interest of all parties involved. 260. Eric posted: 05.03.2012 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Stern isn't the only person corrupt and Greedy in the NBA. Billy Hunter, the person in charge of Player's Union is being investigated by the government. Billy Hunter has NBA Players pay for members of his family, and businesses his family member own that don't do nothing for the NBA Players. There is another thing to look at with NFL is the average age of a retired NFL player is 53 to 59 years compare to 75 years old for a person that didn't play in the NFL. Concussions is a problem with the NFL, but I don't think it is all concussions in terms of life expectancy. Chester McGlockton died when he was 42 years old of an enlarged heart. Chester had weight problems and he was over 330 pounds when he played. If you look at the Defensive and offensive linemen, they are much bigger than they were 25 years ago. There were 300 pound linemen in the 1980's, but in the late 1980's there still were offensive linemen that are less than 300 pounds. The weight of today's lineman can be up to 360 pounds. The problem is when a player retires, they have problems with their weight and actually need to lose weight in to live longer. 261. Smiff_99 posted: 05.03.2012 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So Furniture Row has been talking to Kurt Busch.....interesting.... 262. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.03.2012 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "As an aside, are there ANY good comissioners in sports right now? I honestly can't think of one, in pro or college sports. Bud Selig is a neanderthal with no balls, David Stern is a greedy, corrupt egomaniac, Gary Bettman's league plays on the obscure Versus network after enduring a full-season strike, the BCS and NCAA conference leaders are all about $$$ and don't care about the game or the students playing it, and Brian France is, well, Brian France." Brian France is different from those you mentioned. His grand-dad created NASCAR, his dad ran NASCAR into a new era and he toke over in bad times (which they are). Brian Frances only problem is that he continues to listen to a "not caring, never happy, 4,000 wreck, 6,000 caution, 10,000 lead change, finishes by 0.0000000000000000000000001 of a second, all 43 cars on the lead lap, every driver recieves a trophy and a 1 million dollar check" infantile pillicks. Brain needs to let his balls drop and run NASCAR like his grand-dad and dad did: "who cares what others think, just the damn race." 263. Red posted: 05.03.2012 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Let me be fair to Brian France for a moment. Any business leader is well served to be forward thinking, open minded, and adaptable. I actually credit Brian for experimenting with new concepts like the Chase, the top 35 rule, and the CoT. At least he hasn't been like Selig and just sat on his hands the entire time. HOWEVER, where Brian has failed miserably is realizing when his experiments aren't working, and having the balls to admit he was wrong and change things back to how they were before. The Chase has mostly been a failure, and has cheapened the championship in the eyes of many, the CoT has been a mixed bag but is no better than the old car, and the top 35 rule has been a complete disaster, as it has quite obviously hindered the ability of new teams to enter the sport. But will he ever get rid of the Chase and the top 35 rule? Of course not. His ego won't allow it. The Chase is his baby, and even if everyone else on Earth hated it, he would insist that it stay anyway. Remember last year when a reporter asked him how he feels when people complain about the Chase, and he responded oblivously, "People complain about the Chase?" His ego has enveloped him to the point that he is basically living in any alternate reality. In that sense, he's probably the worst executive in all of sports. 1995 Subaru, I don't know you can say that Brian France is a slave to the fans' opinions. Regarding the most contentious issues, like the ones I mentioned above, he has his head so far up his ass that I'm afraid he'll never find his way out. I know you're a Brian France fanboy, but can you at least admit that he's pissed off way more fans than he's pleased? 264. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.03.2012 - 11:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regarding Brian France, I'm very, very curious to see what happens with Grand-Am and the American DTM. I was honestly a bit surprised when I read that not only was DTM expanding into America, but that it would be a NASCAR sanctioned series! We can only wait and see, I guess. 265. LordLowe posted: 05.04.2012 - 1:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey 1995 subaru how many more times are you going to beat this dead horse into the ground and blame the fans of NASCAR for all of its problems cause it is getting really old. 266. Cooper posted: 05.04.2012 - 10:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch is a funny guy. He will be driving the legendary "Me" car from Talladega Nights. Good ol' Ricky Bobby style. "I Wanna Go Fast!" Kurt, if you only weren't a complete AHole, you could've been something special. Still will cheer for him though this weekend... 267. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2012 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least the other commissioners are getting results. The NFL just keeps getting bigger and more watched every year. The NBA is having its best ratings and attendance since Jordan's heyday with the Bulls. And baseball is steady. But Brian's NASCAR is noticeably down from where it was when he took over. When he grabbed the reins, they couldn't build enough seats. Now they can't get enough large billboard tarps to cover the empty areas. 268. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2012 - 3:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Labonte on Trackside tonight. What the hell are they gonna talk about? "Well Bobby, you stared down The Intimidator to win the Winston Cup back when Bill Freaking Clinton was still president, and have pretty much done dick since, how's it going?" 269. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2012 - 5:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can't believe I posted that about Bobby. Guess I'm still bitter about 2000 and the disappearing act he has pulled since. Bobby is a good dude and had one hell of a run from '95-'00. His 2000 season where he completed all but nine laps all year was amazing. But Good Lord, in the 11+ seasons since he has just 5 wins, 2 Top 10 points finishes (none of either since '03) and had lowered himself into some really crappy rides. I guess that really bugs the Earnhardt fan in me. At least when Rusty beat him in '89 with bonus points from laps led (Dale had a better avg finish), he had the decency to go out and lead 2860 laps in '93, 2142 laps in '94, and 1731 in '00. When Jeff likewise beat Dale in '95 with a slightly lower avg finish but MUTILATED him in bonus points and overall dominance, he had the decency to go out in the next six seasons and win 268 races and 10 championships (just kidding, those are Petty Enterprises' lifetime numbers, but you get the point about Jeff from '96-'01, although he wouldn't have won the title in '79 like Richard did). Bobby beat him and has barely been seen since. He is most known for losing photo finishes (Atlanta '00, Charlotte '05) than anything. 270. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.04.2012 - 6:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I know you're a Brian France fanboy, but can you at least admit that he's pissed off way more fans than he's pleased?" Fanboy? I throw him under the bus for doing things wrong, i just don't do it like its going out of style. He has pissed off the old fan base, that much i'll say. "1995 Subaru, I don't know you can say that Brian France is a slave to the fans' opinions." He is a slave. He changes or does something people either say "it sucks" and they call for his head (like usually do). He changes it, and it "still sucks". Whats he to do? Keep tweaking and changing crap until he either gets it right just gets rid of it? after searching for 30 mins to find something i found it: "Just so I'm clear ... if NASCAR doesn't pay attention to the fans, it's a soulless monolithic corporation that's lost touch with what made it great. If NASCAR does pay attention to the fans, it's watering down the racing to appease the masses, and it's lost touch with what made it great." ^this quote basically makes my point for me. (thank you Jay Busbee) Anyone want to disagree with this? See it doesn't matter what NASCAR does, people will ask for Brian to burned at the stake, tar and feathered and shot at dawn for ANYTHING he does (ditto for Helton and company). Like i said before, quit caring about others, just the ran the damn race. If people like it fine, if people don't, fine. 271. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2012 - 7:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good Lord, this friggin ARCA race is never gonna end. Why does that Series still race there. The racing is crap and there are cautions every 2 seconds. Totally ridiculous. I bet Brian France has something to do with this (just kidding SmokeFan) 272. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.04.2012 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man did that ARCA race suck... NO passing unless the leader made a mistake. None. Zippo. Follow the leader for 250 miles. You call THAT racing? Better racing is found at NASCAR Speedpark. 273. Smiff_99 posted: 05.04.2012 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, the ARCA race was awful AT BEST. Why is it that the ARCA cars seem to wanna fly or turn over so much? Even more than the Cup series when THEY were still running the COY. 274. cjs3872 posted: 05.04.2012 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Obviouisly, there are a lot of people that don't remember the racing action prior to the current car at the restrictor plate tracks, because it was always like that at the plate tracks. You could not pass because the draft actually worked in reverse. Once you got within a certain distance of the car in front if you, especially if it was the lead car, the air box confiuration actually robbed the trailing car of horsepower, instead of the draft giving it more horsepower. In fact, if you watch the 2002 Daytona 500, Benny Parsons even mentions exactly why that was going on. He called it "negative air pressure". As a result, the cars are, in effect, stuck in place, even at 190 MPH. When the current car came out in 2007 (the first plate race run with the current car was the fall race at Talladega in 2007), it actually brought back much of the drafting style from back in the 70s and 80s that made racing at the big tracks so popular. Remember that back then, racing almost all of the big tracks were affected by the draft, not just Daytona and Talladega, and the current car brought back the slingshot pass those races were known for. It used to be that if you led with 10 or 15 laps to go at Daytona and Talladega, you had the race in the bag, because nobody could even get a run at you to pass you. That's what happened for most of today's ARCA race. Most of the ARCA race was like most of the pre-fall 2007 races at Daytona and Talladega. You could pas in the pack, but you could never even get to the leader. And as for cars getting airborne. That happened at almost every plate race in which there was an accident, though that rollover crash late was scary because a wheel got ripped off the car and sent about 30 fet in the air. Fortunately, it never got over the catch fencing. And congratulations to Brandon McReynolds, the son of 2-time Daytona 500 winning crew chief Larry McReynolds, for winning the ARCA race today. Of course, Talladega was the site of the worst day of McReynolds' career as a crew chief when Davey Allison had his fatal helicopter crash in the Talladega infield. From what I heard in the post-race, Davey was Brandon's godfather, and Brandon had not yet reached his first birthday when he visited victory lane with his father to celebrate Davey's 1992 Winston 500 win, his third in that event. So it's somewhat ironic and symobolic that McReynolds got his first major stock car victory at what was his godfather Davey Allison's best track. In fact, yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of that 1992 Winston 500 win for Davey Allison, with Brandon's father Larry McReynolds as crew chief. 275. Red posted: 05.05.2012 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "See it doesn't matter what NASCAR does, people will ask for Brian to burned at the stake, tar and feathered and shot at dawn for ANYTHING he does" You make a fair point here. However, the reason fans don't give Brian the benefit of the doubt is because almost everything he's touched has turned to shit. Nobody had an issue with him when he first took over in 2003; it was only after he started making idiotic decisions that people turned on him. In almost every conceivable way, NASCAR is in worse shape now than it was before Brian took control. TV Ratings are down considerably, attendance is WAY down, the number of competitive teams are down, sponsorship is down, start & parks are way up, and the talent pipeline has dried up. Safety has improved, but that's about it. Of course these issues can't be blamed solely on Brian, as the economy has been a factor as well. But his track record speaks for itself: failure. And then there's this ridiculous nonsense you posted earlier: "4,000 wreck, 6,000 caution, 10,000 lead change, finishes by 0.0000000000000000000000001 of a second, all 43 cars on the lead lap, every driver recieves a trophy and a 1 million dollar check" Here's a reality check for you: The vast majority of fans don't expect every race to be an instant classic, or anything close to it. All fans want is for NASCAR to return to how it was before Brian took over. If we could go back to 2002 and leave everything alone, I think almost all the fans would be satified. And lastly, please stop putting FANS in quotation marks, as if anyone who disagrees with you is not a real fan. Your petulance doesn't reflect well on you. 276. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 10:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I might be the first to mention the obvious, but if we look back at the last three Spring Talladega races (Aaron's 499) '09, '10 and '11, there have been some of the most hair-raising on-track action. I fear this weekend, we are in for a dud Talladega race. As for the inability to pass the leader in the final 10-15 laps statement, it was mostly true from 1996 through Spring 2000 before the advent of the wicker bill. 277. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 12:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To add to that, Jarrett88fan, not only was that about there being no passing in the last 10-15 laps at Daytona and Talladega true from 1995, when the new Monte Carlo ushered in the modern era of aerodynamics in stock car racing through the 2000 Firecracker 400, but it was also true from 2002, when that rules package was reinstated, all the way through 2006. Another major reason for the lack of passing under that rules package that I forgot to mention before was blocking. They didn't used to worry about whether or not they were being passed, because they knew thay could get back up to the front, but because of blocking, which was made even worse by that silly yellow-line rule, it became nearly impossible to pass up front. and if you went below the yellow line, it was, in effect, a one-lap penalty, and if you did it at the end of the race, it IS a one-lap penalty. And of course, if you go back and check, most of the huge crashes at Daytona and Talladega since 1999 have been caused by blocking. That's the very reason that blocking's outlawed in open-wheel racing, because of the danger it potentially causes. After all, where else do you se vicious blocking in NASCAR other than at the restrictor plate races? I think NASCAR should seriously consider outlawing blocking, except in the last few laps, at the restrictor plate races, and have thought that way for years. And NASCAR should do away with the yellow line rule, especially in the final five laps of the race when blocking is at it's worst. 278. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.05.2012 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "All fans want is for NASCAR to return to how it was before Brian took over. If we could go back to 2002 and leave everything alone, I think almost all the fans would be satified." If fans return to the paradigm of back then yes they will but i don't think so. "And lastly, please stop putting FANS in quotation marks, as if anyone who disagrees with you is not a real fan. Your petulance doesn't reflect well on you." "4,000 wreck, 6,000 caution, 10,000 lead change, finishes by 0.0000000000000000000000001 of a second, all 43 cars on the lead lap, every driver recieves a trophy and a 1 million dollar check" not all fans want ^^^^this but some do, why do you HONESTLY think NASCAR threw the yellow with like 15 laps left? To cater to those "fans." Oh also, why is it "nonsense" when some ACTUALLY WANT IT. How does that reflect on the rest of us who don't? "And lastly, please stop putting FANS in quotation marks, as if anyone who disagrees with you is not a real fan. Your petulance doesn't reflect well on you." I do the same thing on other forums and people on there tolerate me. (perhaps others get what i've been saying on there). i don't have to stay here, if it makes you feel better, i'll post less so pissing match don't start. 279. 18fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did they really need to throw that caution for Bliss spinning way behind the field and getting going right away. 280. Spen posted: 05.05.2012 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Subaru, don't you dare leave us. You've been a part of this community for what, seven years now? It's not worth leaving just because someone disagrees with your opinion. I'm sure that wasn't Red's intention at all. 281. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kurt Busch is a funny guy. He will be driving the legendary "Me" car from Talladega Nights. Good ol' Ricky Bobby style. "I Wanna Go Fast!"" That's pretty cool, I'm gonna go check out the paint scheme if it is up on Jayski. I won't be pulling for Kurt on race day though. 282. the_man posted: 05.06.2012 - 8:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan on a 32nd place finish: "Our car wasn't bad. Early in a run, especially, it was everything I could want, and then it would tighten up. I think we could've been a little better. We'll keep working on our cars back at the shop to get a little more out of them. Our pit crew had another good night. It's always good to be able to count on them. There are a lot of new guys on the '34' pit crew this year and they're really starting to gel as a group and hit their rhythm." 283. startandparkfan posted: 12.30.2012 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone know what happened to the #26? 284. ch posted: 07.18.2013 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #26 Sponsor: MDS Transport (consistent with all 2012/2013 starts) 285. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 04.24.2014 - 12:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew 52 TBA Toyota Crusader Staffing Jimmy Means 286. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.23.2015 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #9 Stanley Bostitch/Dewalt Tools #27 NIBCO/Menards #29 Jimmy John's #36 SealWrap #42 Target/Clorox #43 Smithfield #47 Bush's Beans/Scott Products #49 America Israel Racing #88 National Guard #98 Phil Parsons Racing 287. NASCARLover22 posted: 12.24.2015 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #9 Bostitch/DeWalt Tools #78 Furniture Row/Farm American #51 Phoenix Construction #36 SealWrap.com 288. TheDewCrew posted: 09.23.2019 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart's interview, still cracks me up, especially watching Dale try not to laugh 289. BOBO83329521 posted: 03.29.2020 - 8:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) This race is exactly why I think NASCAR should implement a rule saying that if the caution comes out in the middle of a green flag pit cycle, they should let the lead lap cars that take the wave around or are the lucky dog come up and restart in position and not have to start behind 10-15 lapped cars. Had the potential to have a great finish and some very memorable Richmond racing with the way that the lead battle had evolved throughout, but then the caution in the middle of pit stops came and absolutely ruined this one. 290. Rich posted: 12.19.2020 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Dr. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit road reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter. Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: