|| *Comments on the 2018 AAA 400 Drive for Autism:* View the most recent comment <#228> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Mr.Victory posted: 05.01.2018 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Derrick Cope's team open's it's 2nd car, the #99. 2. 34McDowellFan posted: 05.01.2018 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #51 probably won't be Custer 3. RyanRacing posted: 05.01.2018 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First race for StarCom's 99 4. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.02.2018 - 11:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also the first race for Derrike Cope at Dover since 2006, and he's with the Same crew chief he had then. 5. Rider77 posted: 05.02.2018 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The temperature should be perfect. However rain may be an issue throughout the weekend. 6. Brandon posted: 05.04.2018 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Menard fastest in practice. First time in how long? 7. Brandon posted: 05.04.2018 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Side note. Cody Ware could not have been that slow. If that's actually how slow he's gonna be on Sunday, I'd be scared if I were his competition. 8. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.04.2018 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 55 is a Chevrolet. And yes, it is possible for Ware to be that slow, although Copes first lap was slower than that, his team made adjustments and picked up two seconds. 9. Tyler posted: 05.05.2018 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What happened to Lajoie in qualifying? 10. Scott25 posted: 05.05.2018 - 8:53 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I thought Ware's Cup career was over. When you're 6 tenths slower than Derrike Cope, it should be. 11. JSPorts posted: 05.05.2018 - 10:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unfortunately, it may just be beginning. With his dad as a team owner who now has a charter, this could go on for a while. I imagine he'll eventually be put in the car for a full season. 12. #BowmanNation posted: 05.05.2018 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) At this point Harrison Rhodes might be the better driver. You know somethings wrong with you when you're slower than the SECOND driver for a start up team that started just months ago when you've got a team that's been around for 20 years. Worse, the driver is turning 60 in 6 months! 13. JSPorts posted: 05.05.2018 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To be fair, even though RWR has been around for 20 years, they don't have a lot of funding. And StarCom probably has a little more support from Chevy/RCR than does Ware's team. That said, I don't believe there's doubt that Rhodes is the better driver. In 5 Cup starts, Ware has an average finish of 37.8. In 5 Cup starts, Rhodes has an average finish of 32.6. That's a pretty big difference for guys at the back of the field. In other words, over a 36-race season, Ware would project to score 36 points. Rhodes projects to score 158 points. Also, Rhodes has looked decently competitive in Xfinity, something Ware has never done. 14. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.05.2018 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not to mention, the 99 is a new team, and they are still working the bugs out. If that team continues to run frequently, then they should be able to get closer to the 00 performance wise. 15. Gabriel posted: 05.06.2018 - 10:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Jimmie Johnson isn't competitive up front here today, arguably his best track, then I really think he's in trouble...not knocking on his driving ability, but the new Chevrolet's have really affected that. But man, the fact his previous worst season was 2017, and he got 3 wins that year, shows the level of excellence that his team works at. And the fact that this year Jimmie has just now started to slow down! Unfortunately, this new car will probably be the beginning of the end for him. I would hope he can prove me wrong today, because any time I doubt him as a hater, he goes out and wins the race. 16. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2018 - 10:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 15, Johnson had three wins last year, but two of them were won pretty much on late restarts, which speaks to his ability and experience. Aside from those wins, he only had one top five finish last year. The cars were already off significantly last year, and they're worse so far this year. 17. Rider77 posted: 05.06.2018 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The weather shows a 30% chance of rain starting at 4 PM but it's raining and misting at my house right now about 15 minutes south of the track. Weather may be a factor today. 18. 02Justin10 posted: 05.06.2018 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Going into today, the following five drivers have the best average finish at Dover over the past ten races. (With minimum of four starts) 1.) #24-Chase Elliott (3.2 average finish) (4 starts) 2.) #42-Kyle Larson (7.9 average finish) (8 starts) 3.) #48-Jimmie Johnson (10.0 average finish) (10 starts) 4.) #78-Martin Truex Jr. (10.0 average finish) (10 starts) 5.) #22-Joey Logano (11.1 average finish) (10 starts) 19. Rider77 posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Per NASCAR website the start of the race has been moved up to 200 PM due to the threat of rain. 20. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larson will go to the rear of the field after failing prerace inspection three times as well as Bowman. Austin Dillon will go to the rear for having a non-compliant splitter in tech according to Bob Pockrass on Twitter 21. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Based off this weekend I'm gonna go with Harvick to win today 22. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @20 Larson can't catch a break. 23. Tyson posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure I'd call Larson's team cutting the rules a little too close a bad break. 24. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2018 - 1:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) NASCAR sure is doing their best to shove Harvick, Truex, and Busch down our throats. 25. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We're green at Dover 26. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McDowell spins doesn't hit anything caution is out 27. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Green is back out, Harvick leads 28. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch may be having an engine issue 29. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) LaJoie blows up caution is out 30. Nucl3ar Wa4le posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Corey LaJoie blows up, caution back out. 31. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is LaJoie's 3rd blowup in his 4th start this year. 32. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Seems like Every time Corey Lajoie drives the 72, the motor pukes 33. Allen posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Mike Joy is getting old. Kyle Busch has won 2 times in the spring race before today. 34. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almost everyone pits Bowman and Larson stay out Bowman will be the new leader 35. Allen posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unless he said 2 wins, I couldn't understand him. 36. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Austin Dillon takes no tires, but Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman did not pit. They will be the leaders. 37. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Austin Dillon took no tires on his pit stop everyone else took four tires 38. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cassill also stayed out 39. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowyer had to make an extra pit stop Suarez is slow on the track 40. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill decided to be fast and holds off Jimmie Johnson. Nice job Landon. 41. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Left rear tire wasn't tightened for Bowyer that's the reason for the extra pit stop 42. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski to the lead 43. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I do kinda question why Tony Furr decided to keep the 00 out. If it was a 1-2 lap shootout for the stage end, but this early seems a little silly, unless they were testing for that situation. 44. Corey posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @43 Lower tire bill? Do teams have to pay for all the sets they are allotted or just the ones they use? 45. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Landon Cassill pitting on a contrary strategy, a strategy he used at Chicagoland last year. 46. racefangurl posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 3 of the top 5 are 'Yotas, so another Toyota flavored race. But Truex is one of them and I like him, so it's not that bad. 47. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex is on pit road may have a tire down Larson makes his scheduled pit stop 48. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Right front tire for Truex 49. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Uncontrolled tire for Larson 50. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowman makes his scheduled pit stop now 51. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some teams might be close on fuel to the end of this stage 52. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick goes back to the lead 53. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larson is now three laps down by the way Truex is only one lap down 54. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard has gone to the garage 55. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Problems for Paul Menard. 56. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Uncontrolled tire for Larson as well as Hamlin 57. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins stage 1 58. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry about 56 I meant Erik Jones ran out of fuel 59. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin was able to stay on the lead lap at the stages end 60. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Uncontrolled tire for Kurt Busch 61. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Truex will take the wave around under caution to get back on the lead lap 62. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Green is back out 63. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Byron also had an uncontrolled tire on his pit stop 64. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Derrike Cope has crashed caution is out 65. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Erik Jones will get the free pass 66. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Derrike Cope's 99 67. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski wins the race off pit road and will be the new leader 68. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman has gone to the garage 69. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With this, Cope is out of the race, an unfortunate turn of events for Starcom Racing's 2nd car. This is the first crash for Starcom, the other DNFs have been mechanical failures. 70. Chap904 posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Derrike Cope doing typical Derrike Cope things, showing no control of his stock car. 71. RyanRacing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wave arounds for Sorenson, Cassill, Austin Dillon and DiBenedetto 72. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman has a broken wheel stud 73. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First time in 14 years Cope has wrecked out of a cup race, granted there was a 8 year span he didn't run Cup, but still. His first crash DNF in anything since the 2016 Kentucky Xfinity race 74. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman is back on track 18 laps down Menard is also back on track 44 laps down 75. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick goes back to the lead 76. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Once again the old guard is stinking up the place. 77. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Blaney may have hit the wall a little bit 78. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Blaney may have a right front tire going down 79. Wot posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Justin Alexander making some pretty bad calls today 80. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins stage 2 81. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins stage 2, which ended with a fierce duel for the free-pass spot between Byron and Jones. Close racing there. 82. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Byron will get the free pass 83. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cody Ware has crashed caution is out 84. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cody Ware wrecks in turns 3 and 4 and caution is out with 147 laps to go. Ware just lost it and backed the #51 into the wall with the right rear. 85. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson, Logano, Stenhouse and Byron pit under caution 86. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Monster Mile is living up to its name today. 87. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kyle Busch has blown up 88. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution is out now 89. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch is slow and trailing smoke! Caution eventually waves with 129 laps to go. Driveshaft problem, and he's done. 90. Drakion posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ah, awesome, seeing the 18 in trouble always brings me joy. 91. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larson will get the free pass 92. Wot posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will Rick Ware ever get tired of his son destroying his cars? 93. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's a big chunk of the driveshaft from the #18 Toyota on the track. 94. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse stayed out and will be the new leader. Keselowski and Logano took two tires everyone else took four 95. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McMurray also stayed out 96. racefangurl posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Roush flavored now. Ricky took the lead. 97. #BowmanNation posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Duracell - This. Is. #1 trusted brand in ruining NASCAR races. 98. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I wonder if someone could convince Duracell to sponsor a car, the Copper Top brand had some pretty sharp looking race cars back in the 1990s with Scott Sharp in SCCA Trans-Am and Raul Boesel in CART. 99. Scott25 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McMurray's paint scheme in this race definitely brings back memories of the old Yellow Freight cars 100. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice battle for the lead right now between Stenhouse and Bowyer with just over 100 laps left. Stenhouse is using that outside lane to his benefit as Bowyer can't clear him and get ahead. 101. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowyer to the lead 102. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yellow for rain drops with 85 to go. 103. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution is out for rain 104. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will we see the #14 team start rain dancing? Maybe. The rain right now is thick enough to cause a yellow BUT not thick enough to even show up on Doppler radar. We'll see if this lasts. 105. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pits are closed during this yellow. That simplifies the strategy calls a bit. 106. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red flag is now out 107. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The decreasing ceiling means the aerial coverage of this race is out of action until the storm clears. 108. 02Justin10 posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stewart Haas will probably win this race whether it ends now or not. 109. 2 & 88 Fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The good news is that there's really one rain cell right now. The bad news of course, is that it's right over the track. 110. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They say the rain is lightening up right now, we should restart...but it's worth noting that Dover does not have any lights. 111. 02Justin10 posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Indeed. But I guess there is plenty of daylight left to take time to see if they can dry the track now. 80 Laps is basically 30 minutes of racing. 112. jensenators posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I live in New Jersey. In cloudy weather like this, around 6:30 it starts to get difficult to see. If the sun can come through at all, they have until about 7:30. 113. Rider77 posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sunset is 7:58. There is no fog or haze today. 114. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Drivers are getting back into their cars 115. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red flag has been lifted 116. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red flag lasted 41 minutes. 117. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano is back on pit road for a loose wheel 118. Nucl3ar Wa4le posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Green flag back out. 75 to go. 119. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick back to the lead 120. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With 60 to go Harvick is out front by about three-quarters of a second. Daniel Suarez is a distance third behind Harvick and Bowyer. 121. Wot posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Congrats to Harvick for winning at Dover, pass for the win 60 laps before its over 122. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Suarez having a nice run in third with 50 laps left. 123. Drakion posted: 05.06.2018 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) Its gonna be hilarious if Jimmie Johnson goes this entire season without leading a single lap. 124. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The sun is out with 16 laps to go. 125. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick leads by about seven seconds with seven laps to go. 126. racefangurl posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) SHR and Toyota flavored, going by the top 5 127. Wot posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Terrible race 128. Altracing posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick dominates in Dover and gets his fourth win of the season 129. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kevin Harvick picks up win No. 4 of the year with a dominating performance at Dover. His second career win at Dover. 130. 2 & 88 Fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins. Stewart-Haas is on fire right now. 131. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Kevin Harvick wins this one going away as he and teammate Clint Bowyer come home 1-2 for Stewart-Haas. This is Harvick's second win at Dover, his prior win also came at the wheel of a Stewart-Haas #4 here in the fall of 2015. This is the first for a Ford at Dover since Matt Kenseth won here in May 2011. And on that note, Kenseth will be back to make his first Cup start of the season next week at Kansas. 132. Wot posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (4) Sorry Harvick fans, watching your guy lead 100s of laps and win nearly every week isn't fun 133. George posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not often do you see Toyota lead 0 laps in a Cup race. 134. ToxicPudding posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sponsor updates #3 - AAA 'We Know Cars & Drivers' #23 - Earthwater / Amazon #37 - Kroger ClickList / Breyer's / Degree #47 - Kroger ClickList / Louisiana Hot Sauce 135. Gdj_24 posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Status Update #18 Kyle Busch - Driveshaft The driveshaft fell out of the car, which quickly took him out of the race. Fox cameras found it lying on the apron/ 136. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Wot, was it fun last year when it was Truex? Was it fun for ten years when it was Johnson? Was it fun before that when it was Gordon? Was it fun before Gordon when it was Earnhardt? Was it fun before Earnhardt when it was Waltrip? Nascar has almost always been a sport of cycles of dominance, much like most sports in general. 137. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (4) What a shitty noncompetitive year in this series. 138. John posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone who is complaining about dominance needs to read my posts from last week. Here is a stat for the people complaining about Harvick dominating too much. Harvick has NEVER won more than 5 races (13.88%!!!) in a year. 95% of racing series have less parity and more domination than NASCAR. NASCAR has been artificially manufacturing parity into it's series since the 1970s. 139. John posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Stat #2 There have been 6 different winners in the first 11 races! That is plenty of parity. Sometimes I honestly think people want 36 different winners every year. 140. Drakion posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) I for one like seeing Harvick dominate, he is up there in age so its nice to see him still competitive before he hangs it up in a few years. Also perhaps the ones crying should remember most other racing series are lucky if they have more than 4 or 5 different winners each season.....Nascar always has over ten different winners each year.... 141. JSPorts posted: 05.06.2018 - 6:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The start of this year has seen near-complete domination by 2 drivers, however. Between Busch & Harvick, they've had the fastest car in pretty much every race. They haven't won every race because of circumstances, but they're for sure the 2 favorites at this point. 142. possum posted: 05.06.2018 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @135 - to be accurate, the driveshaft broke, it didn't fall out of the car. What you saw on the track was the last 6 inches of the driveshaft and half a U-joint. There are retaining hoops around the driveshaft which make it very difficult for it to fall on the track, for obvious safety reasons. In the process of breaking it probably also tore up the seals on the input of the rearend, or the output side of the transmission, or both, which would be the source of the fluid coming out of the car. (side note to altracing - "blowed up" means an engine problem - historically a rod thru the block or oil pan, altho we never see that now-a-days. So Busch didn't "blow up".) 143. possum posted: 05.06.2018 - 7:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @140 - in part that's because NASCAR has twice as many races as other series, and in part that's because of the plate races, and in part it's because of 4-car teams. Altho I don't know if F1 would look much different with 4 Ferraris and 4 Mercedes in each race. 144. possum posted: 05.06.2018 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @33 - sadly, this is true. I recall back in Ken Squier's last few years broadcasting he started coming out with random driver names when calling the action, and I'm seeing Mike Joy doing the same thing recently (at least 3 times in this race). Hopefully he'll see the writing on the wall and retire before harming his reputation as Squier did. 145. John posted: 05.06.2018 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I for one like seeing Harvick dominate, he is up there in age so its nice to see him still competitive before he hangs it up in a few years." Harvick to me seems like someone who won't retire for a while. It's not that he will retire but that his performance will slip. The only legends who didn't die who retired before they were washed up were Carl Edwards, Bobby Allison, Jeff Gordon, and Rusty Wallace. Father time is undefeated in stick and ball sports and in racing. People seem to forget that sometimes when talking about racing in my opinion. "Also perhaps the ones crying should remember most other racing series are lucky if they have more than 4 or 5 different winners each season" Thank you for making that point. But you know what it really is? People on Internet forums complain about everything. They will always find something to complain about. Just how it is. @143 Read my posts from last week. It is not just because of the amount of races. The win percentage in NASCAR is WAY lower then most other racing series in the world. 146. Rider77 posted: 05.06.2018 - 8:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hendrick cars finish in 9th 12th 14th 23rd At a track that they usually are strong at. Johnson was so so. 147. TeamDCR fan posted: 05.06.2018 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joys errors are not as bad compared to Marty Reid 148. Corey posted: 05.06.2018 - 9:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @147 Was it Bill Webber that got the track wrong at the finish of one of the races? 149. Rider77 posted: 05.06.2018 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm thinking back to the mid 2000s. I think I remember Benny Parsons taking a car out to show how to drive the track and got stopped by track officials because he had no fire suit gloves or a helmet. Anyone remember that? If so that was the greatest of all on air announcer errors. 150. Sandy posted: 05.06.2018 - 9:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @148 Richmond fall 2006 151. Ryan posted: 05.06.2018 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think it's safe to say that Kevin Harvick has been the best driver this decade. Just think if he would have been in top tier equipment from 2001-2013. He even won 12 races from 2010-2013 and in that time frame and he only led a total of 1285 laps in those four years (One reason why he got the nickname "The Closer" for being notorious snatching victories from other drivers late in the race one way or another). He's won 18 races since joining SHR in 2014 when he won the championship. He won 23 with RCR in 13 seasons. 2015 arguably was his best season statistically (2006, 2010, 2014 debatable) and was a woulda shoulda coulda year with all the 2nd places finishes including 2nd in the final standings. Had Nascar not granted Kyle Busch a gift in 2015 Harvick would have made it back-to-back. Last year the switch to Ford set them back for most of the season, but it looks like the whole organization has figured things out with winning four of the first 11 races. The 10 car finally got someone in it that could be a legit contender at races. 152. Sector posted: 05.07.2018 - 3:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kevin Harvick is my favorite driver presently (second all time to Jeff Gordon), so I love the fact that he's finally closing out wins rather than losing them like his 2014-2016 era. Chevy may not have been a good choice for Kevin Harvick + SHR for closing races during the regular season, but this year and last year (Texas especially) they were able to close out the races STRONG the races they won at, so leaving Chevy was an absolute positive move. Winning the championship in 2014 just seems like a bonus since Harvick and Busch joined SHR all of a sudden. I really want Kevin Harvick to have on his resume winning the most races in a single season. He's been close FOUR times (2006, 2011, 2014 & 2016) by being one win shy of tying the driver who actually won the most. "Also perhaps the ones crying should remember most other racing series are lucky if they have more than 4 or 5 different winners each season" Just TWO seasons ago, prior to the championship finale race at Homestead that gave Jimmie Johnson perhaps the worst championship of all time, there were FIVE drivers who had 4 wins, tied the most that season. None of which were on the SAME TEAM(Jimmie Johnson for HMS, Brad Keselowski for Penske, Martin Truex for FRR, Kevin Harvick for SHR, Kyle Busch for JGR). 2014 and 2015 were another great seasons of winners bunched up within the same numbers. 2017 had 15 different winners, all close in numbers among total wins. It's just Truex Jr that stood out with 8 while the rest were 1-2-3-4-5 wins. A driver/team dominates, so what? It happens. Don't be a Kahne Elliott and whine about everything to your unliking because that's just how life is. To want anything more than that is too unrealistic. 153. John Royal posted: 05.07.2018 - 4:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Funny how there is no debris cautions anymore these days. Imagine how different the race results would have been for past several years without all the debris cautions... 154. ARosser14 posted: 05.07.2018 - 8:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As a Stewart-Haas fan from the beginning, always fun to have a banner day like yesterday with their fourth 1-2 (Newman and Tony at Loudon in 2011, Kurt and Kevin at Richmond in 2015, and Kevin and Clint at Sonoma last year), especially coming off a pair of coulda-woulda-shouldas at Richmond and Talladega. I think I read that this is SHR's first triple top-five as well. I was getting greedy at the end when Kurt was on Truex's as the 78 and 19 were battling for third, but hopefully that 1-2-3 result is coming down the road. They finally got Aric dialed in at the end, really looking forward to when he and Johnny Klausmeier can hit these tracks for a second time and have a notebook to go off of. 155. Mile501 posted: 05.07.2018 - 9:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Even though we're not quite 1/3 way into the season yet, there are only 3 drivers who have been running at the finish of every race this season: Logano, Bowman, and Bubba Wallace. Cole Whitt and D.J. Kennington have also been running at the finish of all of the races they've started (7 and 5, respectively). I find that surprising, although no doubt the crash damage rule is continuing to impact stats like that one. 156. Pancakes posted: 05.07.2018 - 9:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I did some research when someone said it ain't so when I said Kyle Busch was as talented as some of the greats from way back when because he has more competition. Anyway, it proves my point and it also fits in with the current argument in here and it blows a gigantic hole in the side of those whining about a lack of parody. 49-59 405 Races(69 winners) Top 4 Drivers won 175 43.2% Top 10 Drivers won 278 68% 60-69 502 Races(55 winners) Top 4 Drivers won 240 47.8% Top 10 Drivers won 366 72.9% 70-79 335 Races(23 Winners) Top 4 Drivers won 228 68% Top 10 Drivers won 307 91.6% 80-89 296 Races(29 Winners) Top 4 Drivers won 155 52.36% Top 10 Drivers won 237 80% 90-99 309 Races(29 Winners) Top 4 Drivers won 147 47.57% Top 10 Drivers won 231 74.75% 00-09 358 Races(43 Winners) Top 4 Divers won 134 37.43% Top 10 Driver won 229 63.96% 10-18 297 Races(33 Winners) Top 4 Drivers won 118 39.73% Top 10 Drivers won 218 73.4% 2000-2009 was easily the most competitive and divers decade in NASCAR yet everyone was complaining about Jimmie Johnson. 2010 though 2018 so far is the 2nd best decade to watch NASCAR from a competitive and parody stand point. Its pretty obvious watching NASCAR in the 80s and far worse in the 70s it was the same ole same ole week in and week out which is pretty much what I remember about it. I wasn't bored with NASCAR back then either. I think NASCAR just invited too many whinny young fans into the sport. Now they cannot keep anyone happy. 157. Dan posted: 05.07.2018 - 11:17 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) #156 - I hate when people don't know the difference between "parity" and "parody". Those that use them incorrectly are really making a "parody" of the English language. 158. Pancakes posted: 05.07.2018 - 11:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @157 I thought it was wrong but my computer keeps correcting to party. The only reason I even know the difference is because of reading about sports. My last year of school was 9th grade and then I went to work full time before I turned 15. I grew up in a different era and different culture than most of you will ever know. Also, I am almost certain, even with my lack of education and even in my senile old age, that we are here to talk NASCAR and not grammer, english or spelling. No need to be an ass about it. 159. Not Sure posted: 05.07.2018 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Scheduled green flag for Kansas: 8:46pm Eastern time. Last year's race was 3 hours, 24 minutes long. NASCAR: Races in the Eastern time zone can't start at 1pm any longer and must be pushed back an hour or two so people on the West Coast can see the start of the race. Also NASCAR: People in the Eastern time zone must stay up past midnight to see the finish (at a cookie-cutter track no less!) because FU that's why. 160. Mile501 posted: 05.07.2018 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why is the Kansas race starting so late? I don't ever remember a Cup night race having such a late start time. That's ridiculous. Last year the Kansas race started an hour earlier. 161. 02Justin10 posted: 05.07.2018 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That later start time plus the race being at Kansas will probably lead me to just skipping it and looking at the results early Sunday morning. Plus, my brother will likely watch the race and can tell me all about it. 162. Corey posted: 05.07.2018 - 1:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A couple of the Daytona ones have started really late, but that had to do with weather. What were the start times for the Phoenix night races? 163. RaceFanX posted: 05.07.2018 - 2:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A couple of rain delayed July Daytona 400s have gone way into the night, especially 2015 and 2004. A long rain delay also turned the 2001 running of the Winston All-Star Race in a post-midnight special. The 1997 Coca-Cola 600 was so delayed by rain it pushed into the early hours of Monday morning until the race had to be ended just before the 500-mile mark due to a local noise ordinance. Of course the undisputed champions of late night start times were NASCAR's exhibition races in Japan in the mid-to-late 1990s. While the races were a mid-day start in Japan the 1996 and 1997 races at Suzuka and the 1998 race at Motegi all started late Saturday night in the USA due to the time change and ended in the early Sunday morning hours. TBS televised all three of those races and somewhat acknowledged the timing wasn't great, each one was run live then rerun the following morning when more people would be able to watch. 164. Mile501 posted: 05.07.2018 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) SHR, Gibbs, and Penske (plus affiliates) have earned all the stage wins so far this season. They have also accumulated all the playoff points available so far, except for the 5 points Dillon got for winning at Daytona. Hendrick, Ganassi, and everyone else have all been locked out so far. 165. Diburrito24Fan posted: 05.07.2018 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^The Phoenix night races still started at 7:45 EST 166. Not Sure posted: 05.07.2018 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Reuters: Majority owners explore sale of NASCAR https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nascar-m-a-exclusive/exclusive-majority-owners-explore-sale-of-nascar-sources-idUSKBN1I825P Ding-dong the witch is dead? Or better the devil you know than the devil you don't? 167. Corey posted: 05.07.2018 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @166 This will be very interesting. We complain about all the changes they are currently making. Imagine what new owners could do. Both good and bad. 168. #BowmanNation posted: 05.07.2018 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I live on the east coast, yet l personally like to see an 8:00 race, just hope it doesn't overlap SNL 169. JSPorts posted: 05.07.2018 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @166 I'm afraid that Rob Kauffman & the RTA will turn NASCAR into a CART-like organization and will eventually kill it off. 170. #BowmanNation posted: 05.07.2018 - 7:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill sr. is rolling in his grave. Brian France was always a cheapskate son of a gun who never cared about the sport, just wants to make himself look good. I hope the sport finds people who know how to run it and truly care about it. 171. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.07.2018 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Be careful what you wish for comes too mind... 172. #BowmanNation posted: 05.07.2018 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) F1 is controlled by liberty media. Trust me, I know. 173. Ryan posted: 05.07.2018 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'll try to be short and sweet on why Nascar is in its present state right now, but that could be difficult because there are many factors. One of the most common themes in business history... 1st generation starts the business with a good foundation, the 2nd generation makes it bigger than what it can imagine, and the 3rd generation generally runs it into the ground. That's what we have here. - Nascar got away from its Southeast roots. They closed down N. Wilkesboro and Rockingham in hopes for more people at bigger tracks which brings in more money unless you have more empty seats than you have people like now. They reconfigured Bristol (nice job Bruton) which looks like a mini-Dover now, and made way too many cookie cutter 1.5 miles tracks (Texas, Vegas, Chicago, Kansas, Kentucky) and added California which is basically another Michigan. Darlington holds 75,000 people and it sells out every year and they cut it back to one race. They also tore up a completely good track at Atlanta making it a cookie cutter so it could have more suites. They also added Indianapolis to the circuit which was a good idea for the first few years. Sadly the best race at Indianapolis was the very first one and there really hasn't been one to top it since. The France's wanted to appeal to the Midwest and West and got away from its blue collar fan base. The France's say too many dollar signs. I will say this however, Iowa needs to be added to the schedule at some point. - Instead of paying one hotel night the night before the race, hotels started making race weekend rooms triple than what they normally were. - In 2005, Nascar's track revenue was $462 million dollars and in 2016 it was $247 million. That's a drop off of 47%. - I think that the cars are too aerodynamically dependent now days and that has really ruined a lot of the competition in racing. It's really hard to pass now. One guy gets out front and it's almost impossible to run him down. All the cars look alike and Nascar took the "stock" out of stock cars. The Chevrolet, Ford, Pontiac, Dodge rivalry is not even close to what it used to be. - A lot of Dale Earnhardt's fans quit watching after he died in 2001. Looking back on it the sport seemed to be at its peak when everyone out on the track was Dale Earnhardt's rival. Dale's fans hoped Jr. (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) could duplicate a lot of his dad's accomplishments, but he just couldn't do it. - Restrictor plates have ruined racing. It would be nice to see these cars go to a V6 for Daytona and Talladega. Talladega was a snooze fest the other day. - The stage racing must go. At Talladega cars were pitting 15 laps into the race! I hope whoever takes over does a complete overhaul and looks back at what worked and what hasn't. They need to develop a committee or something to meet with the car manufacturers, owners, and drivers and get an idea of what will be good rules all the way around. Racing is racing, planned cautions is a joke! - They must find ways to attract sponsors. Race tracks hardly have any vendors, hospitality or promotional tents anymore at the track. All the corporate money is gone. It really is sad. - The announcers are too politically correct. Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, and Bob Jenkins were great and these guys now are jokes and everyone knows it. At least Dale Jarrett and Dale Jr. tell the truth when they speak. Fox all the away around is a joke. The Waltrips are a joke (Michael being a bigger one than Darrell), and so are Hammond and McReynolds. McReynolds being the biggest. - Nascar is VERY fortunate that they got the TV deal they got a few years ago. They're lucky they didn't see the writing on the wall like Sprint did. Winston saw the writing before many people did. Honestly, many people say it just hasn't been the same since Feb. 18, 2001. - Some popular drivers have retired in the last few years such as Stewart, Gordon, Edwards, and Dale Jr. A lot of these drivers have no personality and most people pull for a lot of these guys to lose because they don't like their attitudes. The interest just isn't there like it used to be. - The way the champion is determined is ridiculous. Not to mention Nascar makes rules up as it goes as well as caution flags. I really believe Carl Edwards quit because of the caution that was called when he was going to win the championship. There should have never been a caution flag with about 15 laps to go in that race. - Some good things Nascar has done is getting more sponsors involved with the teams. They saw a decline and told teams to get multiple sponsors to split the bill instead of having a traditional one sponsor for the whole season. That's only going to last so long though. The biggest thing they've made strides in is safety. Although it came after some drivers lost their life. - It must reach out to the millennials. Sadly the millennials will probably decide whether or not NASCAR makes it. Millennials can't stand still for 500 miles and must be doing something to occupy their time even if their time is occupied. A lot of them just don't understand. Perhaps Nascar could look into shortening the season some, go back to some old tracks, lessen the race length at some tracks, get stock back into stock cars, and make it fun again to go to races. Allow coolers again! Devoted NASCAR fans love speed, hard racing, photo finishes, rivalries, wrecks, fights, car manufacturers, hospitality, good food, and moonshine. Lets hope this new blood that is coming into the sport are more personable and doesn't mind to rub fenders and show some emotion every now and then. Those things are what NASCAR was found on and what they need to get back to sooner rather than later. 174. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 05.08.2018 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @173 I like that post, but I don't nesicarrily agree with it fully. Let me disect some of it. "- Nascar got away from its Southeast roots. They closed down N. Wilkesboro and Rockingham in hopes for more people at bigger tracks which brings in more money unless you have more empty seats than you have people like now. They reconfigured Bristol (nice job Bruton) which looks like a mini-Dover now, and made way too many cookie cutter 1.5 miles tracks (Texas, Vegas, Chicago, Kansas, Kentucky) and added California which is basically another Michigan. Darlington holds 75,000 people and it sells out every year and they cut it back to one race. They also tore up a completely good track at Atlanta making it a cookie cutter so it could have more suites. They also added Indianapolis to the circuit which was a good idea for the first few years. Sadly the best race at Indianapolis was the very first one and there really hasn't been one to top it since. The France's wanted to appeal to the Midwest and West and got away from its blue collar fan base. The France's say too many dollar signs. I will say this however, Iowa needs to be added to the schedule at some point." I do sort of agree with this, but I think to some extent the cookie cutters were a product of cookie cutters being super popular in the mid 90s. unfortunately in the 6-7 years it took to build the tracks, there was a shift in the meta and people were more into tracks Richmond, Hence why Iowa came to be. I think maybe we could have decent racing there but as you even say it's the cars that are the issue. "- The announcers are too politically correct. Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons, and Bob Jenkins were great and these guys now are jokes and everyone knows it. At least Dale Jarrett and Dale Jr. tell the truth when they speak. Fox all the away around is a joke. The Waltrips are a joke (Michael being a bigger one than Darrell), and so are Hammond and McReynolds. McReynolds being the biggest." The commentary is terrible but I completely disagre as to why, I think it's more on the production team rather. Benny Parsons when he was with ESPN was a master at being able to explain some basic concepts about NASCAR without treating the viewer like an idiot. Fox has always treated it's viewers as if they were dumb, since 2001. Micheal Waltrip is terrible, he tries way to hard to be nice to everyone %100 and it fails miserably at it. "Some popular drivers have retired in the last few years such as Stewart, Gordon, Edwards, and Dale Jr. A lot of these drivers have no personality and most people pull for a lot of these guys to lose because they don't like their attitudes. The interest just isn't there like it used to be." It's funny cause a lot drivers had attitudes in the past. Granted I think it's easier to get infor and soundbites out of a driver and PR is harder to do. Thats my comments on your post Ryan, let me know what you think. 175. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 05.08.2018 - 12:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Honestly the other issue is there's still a small but vocal portion of the older fanbase that suffer Xenophobia. The anti-Toyota sentiment is still out there and I even had a guy who told me that Toyota's might be made in America but the parts are still made in Japan and that should mean they aren't American. This is of course false. Heck there are two Toyota suppliers within 30 minutes of my house. I would be happy to see this part of the fanbase fade away. 176. NewJack posted: 05.08.2018 - 4:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) All one needs to do is look in the comments from previous races to see the decline in popularity of NASCAR. From the Daytona 500 page: 2014 - 1175 Comments 2015 - 1042 Comments 2016 - 1055 Comments 2017 - 526 Comments 2018 - 376 Comments I think the 2016 Championship played a decent role in killing off most of the old guard, and turned off some newer fans. With the caution that came out and cost Edwards the championship, giving it to Jimmie Johnson, it came off as very manufactured. A lot of the older drivers retiring contributed as well. Another issue is that simply, the younger drivers coming in are not nearly as good as the Veterans yet. The younger drivers do lead laps and have speed, but they don't have the skill to make changes to the car to make it better in anticipation of what the car will do, rather than how the car is working at that moment. The best drivers (Harvick, Busch, Truex) have the ability to make setup changes in anticipation for how the track will be at the end of the race. And that just comes with experience. But with a mass amount of younger drivers thrown into cars, it puts the few with that skill at a major advantage. Hopefully whoever buys the sport will bring it closer to it's roots, but unfortunately there isn't much money going that route. Companies who go backwards tend to not being around long due to impatient investors. Hopefully I'm wrong though. 177. Scott B posted: 05.08.2018 - 7:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) You know Toyota isn't really "creating" jobs, right? Those jobs you see popping up in your neighborhood are replacing jobs lost in northern states by higher paid union workers. If and when the wage gap narrows too much, or the tax breaks that make locating in your locale expire, final assembly work is by nature quite portable. They can and will pack up and leave if they don't get the concessions they demand. They are not building cars down the road from you out of goodwill. They are doing it because it's the most cost effective way to accomplish the task. When it ceases to be, they can bolt. As far as the profits from the operations in your hometown, well, Toyota is a closely held company based in Japan. That's quite different from Ford or GM. 178. Ferret posted: 05.08.2018 - 8:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I'll try posting this again since my Firefox decided to act up IMHO.....and this is purely my opinion.... I do feel that the older fanbase is a double edged sword, you have the xenophobic fans, the GET THE f**kING TOYOTA JAP SHIT OUT OF MAH MURKIN SPORT!!!!!!!111 type, but you do also have the oldr fans who remember the history of the sport. I'd honestly rather take the historically minded, over the xenophobic angry ranting fans. The sport has changed, yes, I feel NASCAR has gone and chased the dollar too much, in effect watering down the series to appeal to everybody. Maybe it's the time period but I had no isssue with Winston sponsoring the Cup series, to my way of thinking a dangerous glamorous sponsor goes hand in hand with a glamorous dangerous sport, Winston sponsored the NHRA at the same time too, which if anything was more glamorous than NASCAR. I feel Nextel/sprint got away from the 'glamorous' sponsors, the 'dangerous' and 'edgy' ones, Monster has gone a tiny way toward this with its ideas, but....in a perfect world I'd take a cigarette firm to sponsor a fast paced racing series, rather than a tech giant. At the time, mid 90s/early 2000s you had Camel GT in IMSA, you had F1 with a handful of big name cigarette sponsors, you had Indycar with the omnipresent Marlboro Penske team. If anything it seemed normal to have a cigarette firm involved with auto racing, like I said up there dangerous sponsor for dangerous sport. Hell, Embassy cigarettes even sponsored snooker's world title and for snooker fans, Embassy and snooker are forever linked by one of the great matches in that sport. The sport's got away from its roots? Yes, I agreee but at the same time I feel it was a catch 22. Now, Eurosport used to broadcast NASCAR in the 90s in a block with CART and other US auto racing series, a French network, in Europe, broadasting the US feed, to European audiences....and......by all accounts, the European fans loved Eurosport's coverage. In fact the famous Youtube clip of Rusty's flip at Dega is from a Eurosport broadcast. NASCAR had a bigger reach in the 90s, whereas now if I want to watch NASCAR I have to basically pirate the races to watch them or catch a stream that gets taken down within a few moments. When the NFL has free to air games on European TV and there's consistent talks of a European TV deal for the NFL, it's really something. Here's the stupid part. The NASAR Euro Whelen series isn't easily findable in Europe. I asked at Brands Hatch why it isn't easy to find on TV in the market ir races in and the answer I got was because TV deals and because NASCAR wanted it that way. It baffles me. That's like FOX shoving the Cup series on FX and shoving FX down with the adult channels in the listings. So why do I feel it was a catch 22 for NASCAR to expand? Because if they didn't and the older fans died off, the younger fans ran the risk of not caring, which has happened. If they did expand they ran the risk of striking out, so to speak with the new places.. Next up, I feel that the cars are too high tech Not with the EFI and things, no. I mean too high tech in terms of aero and the teams know all the tricks. I'd rather have a simpler car, simpler to repair, simpler to set up, less variables on a setup and more importantly, less aero sensitive. If you track how aero dependent the cars have become over the past 10 years there's a huge, huge jump over that time period. Now go 1998-2008, the jump is there but it isn't as pronounced. I'd rather see simpler, less aero dependent cars that can run side by sidee and race competitively, while being safe. Next, the tracks. I feel there's too many 1.5 milers. Yes it's a common complaint and I know, iI know each oval drives differently but to a casual observer or new fan they don't know the difference between an Atlanta or a Texas or a Charlotte or a Kansas or a Kentucky for instance. I'd rather see more track types and a nod to their past and a schedule that worked. Next. The format: I'm gonna sound like a broken record here but holy shit....why, why they need to change the format every few years is beyond me. I want simple, easy to understand. If I tell Sam Yokel from Alabama (points if you get that reference) that if Kevin Harvik scores the most points throughout a year he wins the title, he'll get that easily. If I tell him, oh hey Harvick wins stage 1 so he gets 5 playof points, but he finishes third in stage 2, and finishes first at the end of the race so he's got X playof points and Bowyer has Y and MTJ has Z and is 2 behind, he'll lose interest. People like simple easy to grasp things. Yes, the Latchford system wasn't perfect but it's still a damn sight better than the convoluted mes we have now. Also why is Brian France obsessed with this Game 7 moment? Not every Game 7 is a barn burner. There's been a hell of a lot that are snoozers. Pick any World Series that went to seven or any Stanley Cup Final and you have a good shot at pointing to a snoozer of a Game 7. Or pick any of the preceding playoff rounds, for that matter. Even my Sox in that 04 ALCS had a boring Game 7 compared to the thre before it and the drama that went on in those three games. Stage racing is a complete and utter joke. They want to split the race up into three segments, why not just run three races of 1/3 distance each and say that's the races. After all the then V8 Supercars had rounds, BTCC had two and three race rounds, the WRC has times across a stage and then the overall winner, the NHRA has round winners and keeps track of things, motorbike racing has multiple races per event outside of specialist events....so it isn't like the concept is new, even the then CART feeder Atlantics had double headers, and hell CART itself had twin races at Atlanta. So it can be done. Hell even the trucks had a halftime break (that I feel needs to come back) in their first few years to save costs. So why does NASCAR insist on making a 400 mile race into three seperate races? It's inane and turns the older fans off. I showed a younger NASCAR fan the classic races from the 70s via MRN through to the 2005-6 seasons and they were awed at the drivers and cars. Next. Drivers need to not be so vanilla I'll admit, I'm biased. I don't like drivers going off and being boring PR robots. I'd rather take a driver who speaks his mind over one who mindlessly recites the same thanks Target, thanks Kroger.... every interview. I get it, PR is a part of the sport. I get it, but I'd like to see PR handled differently...and not for drivers to be muzzled in what they say. Why should a driver be fined for pointing out issues with the sport? If the Jets had pointed out, say, Brady stealing signals and Geno Smith got fined for it, he'd not do it again, if say, Brett Hull got fined for saying the refs missed a call in a hockey game (and no, I'm not a Sabres fan!) and got fined there'd be an uproar by the fanbase over the league's actions, so why is NASCAR getting away, effectively, with muzzling any and all criticism of the sport, then ignoring anyy and all criticm, deserved or not and sticking their heads in the sand. I was wondering who'd buy NASCAR and Liberty Media sprung to mind, then I thought of the downsides, we know Liberty's been posting more and more F1 content on the official F1 channel but they've also ben taking down unofficial videos at times and only leaving races up for so long, I wouldn't mind Liberty buying NASCAR as long as they knew what they were doing, and left the Youtubes alone. Or Indycar. I would love for the hulman-George family and Indycar to buy out NASCAR for one reason, they know how to run a series a lot better than the Frances. Also to the comment about NASCAR being turned into a CART like idea, that's my worry too but several things all came together to kill NASCAR Hypothetical question. If, say, Ganassi, Hendrick and Gibbs split off and went to another series with Toyota...would it be 1996 all over again? Addendum: I do feel the drivers that come up are rushed up to Cup too fasst and have a hell of a lot of weight on them and are practically demanded to perform at an elite level out of the gate when that won't happen. 179. George posted: 05.08.2018 - 8:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) It's not only the fact that NASCAR has decided to make Toyota dominant over the past 3 seasons, but it's who their drivers are too. It's entirely possible to dislike prima donnas like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin regardless of whether they are currently driving Toyotas, Chevys, Fords or Lamborghinis. 180. Ferret posted: 05.08.2018 - 10:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I doubt NASCAR intended to make Toyota dominant in the rules package, I very much doubt that right now, I think Toyota hit the setup and aero and car package perfectly. Would you then argue they made Chevy dominant in the 90s and early to mid 2000s then? I think not. Eah manufacturer saw the other cars and no issues were raised with the 2017/2018 cars by Ford or Chevy so NASCAR saw no need to alter the Toyota. That being said racing series go through years and cycles of dominance though and car makers pour tons of money into racing ventures, okay maybe not as many millions as in the past but they do put money in. Does that mean they pay off a sanctioning body? It's certainly possible, but would a car maker run the risk of sombody saying yes, we were bribed by....let's say........Ford. It'd be a PR nightmare or both parties. I think a hell of a lot has to change in NASCAR as a whole from the top on down, I hope somebody competent buys it out. Also I'd rather take a driver like Kyle or Brad who displays emotion over a vanilla politically correct muzzled driver, I can't think of a modern 2018 driver that comes off as interesting in interviews at all. Even Kyle and Brad, who I just credited, come off as vanilla PR robots. 181. George posted: 05.08.2018 - 10:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not recalling any rules package changes prior to NASCAR's gift to Toyota in 2015 which had such a spectacular impact on turning things around in the middle of a season. Perhaps a Toyota exec, who just happened to be carrying lots of cash at the time, paid a visit to NASCAR HQ and told them: "This just isn't working out for us -- only 1 win in 36 races in 2014 (Chevy & Ford basically split that season) and just nominal improvement in 2015. Looks like we made a bad decision in joining NASCAR and might have to reconsider. Oh, and aside from that threat, just look how much money I have with me! Maybe we can work something out." If that's not how it happened, then that's one hell of a big favor to do for free. P.S. I'm no fan of vanilla corporate robots either, but "having a personality" isn't the same thing as being an arrogant SOB with a massive ego and sense of entitlement, and being a real dick on the track (that last one is more Diva Denny than Kyle, though he has his moments too). 182. Scott B posted: 05.08.2018 - 11:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not to nitpick, but let's be careful with using the term "Xenophobic." The first definition that pops up if you Google the word is "intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries." Some dictionaries expand this to include other aspects of foreign cultures, but the emphasis is always on the people first. Disliking Toyota as a company is not the same as being a racist POS. It's more in the category of arguing about Ford versus Chevy, which is a part of NASCAR's appeal (from back in the days when there was still stock in stock cars). Not to say that you can't find racist NASCAR fans... but don't throw everyone who isn't thrilled to see Kyle Busch, JGR, or Toyota in general win under that bus. 183. Scott B posted: 05.08.2018 - 11:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Hypothetical question. If, say, Ganassi, Hendrick and Gibbs split off and went to another series with Toyota...would it be 1996 all over again?" Ganassi and Penske are both active in other series, so I would expect them to be the most open to leaving. They'd only have to take one or two other multi-car teams along to have a pretty devastating effect. The protection NASCAR has that would have to be overcome is their control of the majority of the tracks. Putting together a schedule would be a big obstacle for anyone trying to form a rival series. 184. Scott B posted: 05.08.2018 - 11:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "They want to split the race up into three segments, why not just run three races of 1/3 distance each and say that's the races." This! The 400 and 500 mile distances are a throwback to when these were endurance races to prove how much punishment the factory stock cars could take. There was a large number of mechanical DNF's, that could change the complexion of a race where one driver seemed to be dominating. This is out of touch with the media habits of today's viewers, and the non-crash DNF failure rate is down to a small fraction of what it used to be. I'd like to keep the Daytona 500, Darlington, and a few other key races at their current length for the sake of tradition, but those should be the exception. 185. DelValRailfan posted: 05.08.2018 - 11:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @176 And meanwhile over on the forums that started up after the 2016 finale... 2017 Daytona 500: 1,091 comments 2018 Daytona 500: 1,815 comments All the major posters went to the forums and away from the trolls and fanboys on the main site. 186. Mile501 posted: 05.08.2018 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #183 - "The protection NASCAR has that would have to be overcome is their control of the majority of the tracks. Putting together a schedule would be a big obstacle for anyone trying to form a rival series." I'm not so sure that it would be. There are plenty of tracks not owned by ISC--mostly short tracks where the racing is more exciting anyway. A new series could go to those tracks. 187. Scott B posted: 05.08.2018 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, short tracks and road courses would have to be a bigger proportion of the rival group's schedule (and a shorter season than 36 races). And you know what? I think that would be quite interesting. I'd watch. Done right, I think that would be easy package to pitch to cable TV and a title sponsor for the new series at a lower price than Cup. You'd also have to have some cost control built in for team owners. 188. Sector posted: 05.08.2018 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'd like to keep the Daytona 500, Darlington, and a few other key races at their current length for the sake of tradition, but those should be the exception." While these should keep their distances, I stand corrected that Homestead shouldn't have stage racing whatsoever since it's a finale and the "championship race." They should leave it as a classic race if anything IMO. Someone once said "one race shouldn't be different because of the final four drivers," that's just an excuse. Everyone would be racing the same so why wouldn't it? The Indy 500 and finale race are on a different points structure than the rest of the races in IndyCar, so I don't want to hear that excuse again. Out of all the personalities that isn't "so vanilla," I honestly think Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, and a little bit of Hamlin/Larson are literally the only ones entertaining to listen to in their interviews, good behavior or not, whereas the rest are just typical same shit, different week interviews. 189. Wot posted: 05.08.2018 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Am I the only one who doesn't want shorter races or seasons? 190. Timothy Eklund posted: 05.08.2018 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since we are arguing over race distances I guess I will voice my opionion. I would like to see a homestead 600 miler. Why you may ask? Because of the strategy. Remove the stages In it (sector mentioned this.) The reason for me wanting it as a 600 mile race is that it will push the teams. Instead of it being a short 400 miles teams will have to go 200 miles longer. It will put strategy into play and the drivers looking for the title will have to keep running. It could make for some interesting battles. They could start the race earlier and run it into the night like they do now. That was my opionion, tell me what you think! Also please don't bash me because it is different than your used to. That is my goal! So the race will have more emphasis. 191. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.08.2018 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I said it before and I will say it again; be careful what you wish for. When/IF TPTB decide too sell. Then whom ever takes over for all we know could very well (speaking in extreme terms here) A. keep everything the same or B. Blow the whole thing up. When/If the sale does happen then I would happen too guess everything will re-done in some fashion, TV contracts, the tracks, hell even the RTA and sponsers. Be careful what you wish for. 192. John Royal posted: 05.08.2018 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I would like the idea of Homestead being 600 miler. It is rather odd that it is not even 500 miler. Old Atlanta finale was always 500 miler. If I were to buy NASCAR, these would change: -No Chase -No Stages -Reintroduce Latford style points system, but maybe so that only top-20 are awarded -More short track races and less 1.5 - 2 mile aero races -Complete overhaul on the car rules. Because driver safety comes first, sanctioning body would spec the center section of car (around the driver) which would be identical for all teams. After that is back to manufactures to try to figure out what sort of car does the job best (within limits of course). FWD and RWD would be allowed, but any config is required to be available for the passenger version as well. V6 and V8 pushrod engines allowed, same way as these days. V6 cars would be allowed to weigh less than V8 counterparts. More short tracks would mean lesser dependency on aero systems, so there would be more options for the car manufacturers and teams. Different car models would be allowed for the same team. Similarly to early 70's when we saw Superbird at Talladega and Satellite at Martinsville. Teams could freely select any car make and model, given that chosen manufacturer can provide race spec engine. Car bodies would have same measurements as factory versions, but within given tolerances. Hood and decklid would be required to be a exact factory part, not a sheet metal or composite copy. This means that any built race car would actually require a real donor car. Body shaping below axle center would be free or within sanctioning body spec. Just dreamin'... 193. Sector posted: 05.08.2018 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -No Chase Agreed -No Stages Agreed -Reintroduce Latford style points system, but maybe so that only top-20 are awarded I happen to have the old Latford points memorize back in the day before they changed it in 2011... If it aint broke, don't fix it. It was perfect the way it was IMO aside from the constant changes to winner's point system. Only thing I would change? The laps led structure and I don't even want to go there. -More short track races and less 1.5 - 2 mile aero races I would keep Fontana, Michigan, Homestead, Atlanta, Texas and the 600 mile Charlotte race all one dates. The rest would be what we have now PLUS MORE short tracks, again, all one date. Though the short tracks (plus Iowa) are perfect with two IMO. Daytona is iffy because I happen to like the 500 and 4th of July exclusives, so it'd be weird for Talladega to have just one when its rival has two. I never cared or liked the 267 lap intermediate tracks. Referring to Kansas, Kentucky, Chicago and Las Vegas. I've always viewed Richmond (and Iowa) as a baby version of those but since they're short tracks, I'll let those slide haha. 194. Sector posted: 05.08.2018 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^Oh and Pocono one date too. 195. Timothy Eklund posted: 05.08.2018 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If I recall in the last 80s some nascar cars had front wheel drive, I think it was the pontiacs. And I believe arca had v6's and v8's at the same time in the 90's. Both had advantages and disadvantages. I would like to see it where Nascar cars had the same style body, but of the car was front wheel drive, it had to be front wheel drive. And if the car had a v6, the car in NASCAR had to be a v6 as well. But if the car had a v8 option, you could choose which one you ran. But I would like to see rules that would keep them even (weight, aero, etc). I would watch it that way, because each car would be more unique. And John, I agree with the different models. Hendrick would run the Camaro on the superspeedways, but the Malibu on the short tracks (albeit with a v6). Or teams could run the Malibu on superspeedways. And teams could run older bodies too (Jeremy Clements running the impala in 2013 for instance). And tire wars too! Come on, I would love to see Firestone return, and Hoosier too. Goodyear v Firestone v Hoosier 196. Wot posted: 05.08.2018 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Latford system was broken, it's stupidly confusing 197. JSPorts posted: 05.08.2018 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More confusing than the current system? 198. Sector posted: 05.08.2018 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Latford system was broken, it�??s stupidly confusing" Not really. It's been 8 years now that I have to think about it, but from I remember: The winner would score 180, with three additional bonus points: 5 for winning (which is always 185 instead of 180 anyway), 5 for leading a lap and finally, 5 for leading the most laps. So the winner would always end up with 190 or 195 barring any penalties. The winner would have a huge margin, without the three bonus points, second place would be 10 points behind starting at 170. Finally, the next 5 positions (2nd through 6th, somewhat treated like a Top 5 if you take out the winner) you would decrease 5 points for every positions down the list. 7th through 11th (similar to treating this as the bottom half of Top 10), you would decrease every 4 points per positions. Then finally, 12th on back would all decrease 3 points for every positions all the way to 43rd/dead last with 34 points as the fewest points. Then don't forget, simply leading ONE lap would grant you 5 bonus points, and leading the most laps would be an additional 5 (10 total if leading the most). Therefore, if Matt Kenseth finishes second without leading a lap at Kansas this weekend, he'll simply have 170 points. However, if he led simply 1 lap, it'll be 175 points, whereas leading 135 laps of 267, it'll be 180 points. The winner will still have 190 points with Matt leading the most laps, having that 10 point margin advantage no matter what. Barring any penalties come Tuesday. That's just basic math in all honesty. Although, you're horrendous with numbers and math in general, it's understandable if your IQ can't understand the pattern. 199. Ryan posted: 05.08.2018 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gray Gaulding I think Michael Waltrip is a complete joke. I think his career was a joke. He acts like he really did something winning two Daytona 500s. Him and Dale, Jr. had the best cars there from 2001-2004 (2005 debatable). He has made his fame off of his brother's career. Then had the audacity to write a book about winning the Daytona 500 in 2001 and that day being taken from because of Dale's death. Like his big moment was taken from him because of a death. It really told me what type of person he was. He even won another Daytona 500 and he still wrote the book. He was out of money obviously. Good for Buffy that she got away when she could. I liked Benny and Ned because they were down to earth and you could have a conversation with them even if you didn't know them. Drivers had attitudes and personalities in the past, but they were cowboys. We need more cowboys (not necessarily in a literal sense)! And Dale, Sr. was the last one. I agree that people to this day do not like Toyotas. My grandfather was in World War II and he was a big race fan, so if he knew that Toyota was racing he would have a very hard time with that. There would never be anything in his driveway besides American made. However, I think it's good that they're in it. I'd like to see Honda in Nascar. Honda is a very smart company. They actually made money during the "bailout" phase. They know it was bad to get in Nascar and the going rate was too expensive to get in. I'd still like to see them get in it, though. I believe for the most part people have adapted well to the Toyotas because a lot of people in the U.S. drive them. Them and Honda are some of the most reliable cars. They have more cars on the road than anyone in the last 25 years. Sector I liked the Latford system but I think the current one isn't bad. Just do away with the stages. I too can remember the Latford system. More times than not the more consistent and better driver won with some exceptions. 1985, 1996, 2003 are debatable, but still yet the guys that won the title were very consistent and ran up front all year. 200. possum posted: 05.08.2018 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @185 - your memory is not serving you well, there. To the best of my recollection, there has never been a NASCAR series with front wheel drive cars. It's possible they were legal in the early days of the Goody's Dash, but I don't recall any. Since around 1960, the Cup series has always been V8 (before that it was an actual stock car series, and teams used whatever came with the car, which was often a straight-6, as in the fabulous Hudson Hornet). For a while in the 80's the Busch series (now Xfinity) used V6 engines, much to everyone's annoyance. The Dash series also used V6 (and inline 4) engines. 201. possum posted: 05.08.2018 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @173, 174 - let's be clear that NASCAR didn't close N Wilks and Rockingham, or build all the 1.5 mile tracks. ISC and SMI did those things. NASCAR made no move to stop them, but it's doubtful they could have done even if they'd wanted to. The reason there's so many 1.5 milers is mostly bad luck. There was a time when races at Charlotte were really good, and that, combined with the fact it's easier to fit a lot of seats around a big track than a little one, inspired SMI and ISC to build more of them. Unfortunately at the same time NASCAR was allowing the car bodies to deviate more and more from stock, creating ever more downforce and going ever faster - and being continually more ill-suited to the 1.5 mile tracks. The result is what we have today, a bad mis-match between the tracks available and the cars racing on them. 202. possum posted: 05.08.2018 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @199 - " the guys that won the title were very consistent and ran up front all year." Which is exactly what a season championship is susposed to reward, right? The guy who was best all year long. 203. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.08.2018 - 9:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since a few posters on here have given their dream scenario. Might as well give my mine. Scheduale: 28 races (each track gets one date plus The Pole Race, Duels plus Daytona, Darlington, Martinsville, Richmond, Kansas and PIR. No Indy race either.) Wouldn't mind adding another road course or short track. Tracks keep their dates if they put butts in the seats and the season would be over by maybe October. I'd allow testing for the purpose of tires and aero packages. Testing would be allowed privately as well but teams must give ample notice where they are going and it must be at a track that hosts a Top 3 series race. This would happen during the All-Star race weekend because it wouldn't exist. Spoiler, Splitter (that would be made in such a way that you can't seal off the front of the car), side skirts and shark fin are spec as are the bodies. Mechanically teams would have more room too wiggle around for increased mechanical grip but within tolerances (and no skewing the cars either). The whole garage area is under a "collective punishment policy." Standard penalty is 25 points for the 1st time someone is caught, 2nd time it is 50, 3rd time is 75 and you get the picture. No Commitment Cone, Restart Zone or Yellow Line rule. Tech Inspection would handled as follows: Pre-Post Practice, Pre-Post Quing and Pre-Post Race. Fail Practice the first 2 times you lose sets of tires. 3rd time you don't practice for the rest of the year. Fail Pre-Quing the first 2 times you start dead last, do it the 3rd time you start 3 laps down. Fail Post Quing the first 2 times you start dead last 3 laps down the 3rd time you don't race. Pre Race for the first 2 times start dead last and 3 laps down, 3rd time miss a race (and keep missing races the more you screw around). Post-Race the Collective punishment policy applies here too. Keep the trophy but whatever the penalty is, it is. Rob Kauffman can go take a hike and so can the fan council. Driver Council can stay. Field Size is 42 cars with provionsionals (each teams has 3.) Charters can stay but do not give you a spot in the field. Must do it on time. Cup guys can stay in the minor leagues but earn no points, no money and their cars aren't even scored. They would just be driving billboards. Lucky Dog is gone but the Wave Around stays. And flag man starts and restarts the races. When the green hanky waves green means go. Bias Ply tires would return, race distances would universal 400 miles or 400 laps depending on track size (with expections like the 500 and 600 and maybe a few others). Road Courses are timed. Heats races stay but majorly changed. After Quing the field is cut in half. One does 25% race distance the other does another 25%. Top 10 advance too the A-main were points are awarded and the remaining 50% would be completed. 3 races over 1 or 2 days. That is from my personal blog but it is jest of it. 204. Ryan posted: 05.08.2018 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Which is exactly what a season championship is susposed to reward, right? The guy who was best all year long." Yes, unfortunately we haven't always got that with the Chase. Gordon probably should have won a couple of times, Hamlin, Harvick in 2010, Busch should not have won in 2015. Edwards had '16 wrapped up. "Let's be clear that NASCAR didn't close N Wilks and Rockingham, or build all the 1.5 mile tracks. ISC and SMI did those things. NASCAR made no move to stop them, but it's doubtful they could have done even if they'd wanted to." France started ISC in the early 50's.. So it's pretty much Nascar. They joined up with Penske in 1999. Bruton (SMI) basically worked together with NASCAR to weed out N. Wilkesboro and the Rock and build the 1.5 mile tracks. They definitely didn't tell him not to build. I can promise you that. "The reason there's so many 1.5 milers is mostly bad luck. There was a time when races at Charlotte were really good, and that, combined with the fact it's easier to fit a lot of seats around a big track than a little one, inspired SMI and ISC to build more of them. Unfortunately at the same time NASCAR was allowing the car bodies to deviate more and more from stock, creating ever more downforce and going ever faster - and being continually more ill-suited to the 1.5 mile tracks. The result is what we have today, a bad mis-match between the tracks available and the cars racing on them." I agree with this. I also believe Nascar was trying their best to be more global than a regional sport. They got too far away from the hands that were feeding them. I don't see a problem with some expansion, but they made a lot of mistakes during that whole process during the mid to late 90's. 205. Ryan posted: 05.08.2018 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice Subaru I agree with putting fans in the stands to keep dates. Nascar could look at the scheduling towards the end of each year for the next year. I have some ideas. I would cut down on some of the races when it comes to how many they get and how long, and leave some of the traditional ones. Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Martinsville, Darlington and Charlotte get two races. Schedule coming. 206. Anthony posted: 05.08.2018 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1.5 mile tracks are a cancer. 207. Ryan posted: 05.08.2018 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Subaru, I take it you liked the bias ply better than the radials? 208. Pancakes posted: 05.09.2018 - 12:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Latford system was broken, it�??s stupidly confusing" If you think that the Latfod system was stupidly confusing then you should probably be in some sort of assisted program of some sort. If you couldn't figure Latford out how in the world do you budget? Pay bills? Buy Groceries? It was far more simple back then. Hell I don't even try to keep up with the standings anymore. I couldn't even tell you who the points leader is anymore and all the stage points garbage I just tune it out when they start talking about it because its a gigantic waste of time. Back when the Latford was in use I could know exactly how far up or down my favorite driver could move in the standings each week and what needed to happen as the races wound down for him to have a shot at the title. Now I just watch because that is all you can really do when a train derails. I let my eyes tell me who is having the best season and I can tell you there have been more bogus champions in the last 10 years than in Nascar's first 50 years. Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson on more than one occasion. 209. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.09.2018 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I take it you liked the bias ply better than the radials?" yes. They can last for 100 or 200 laps but you abuse them your screwed until you get new ones. The minor leagues (below the Top 3 series) used them until recently. Tires that can physically last 100 or 200 laps but with grip for 50 (give or take) laps will prove how good guys are. "I can tell you there have been more bogus champions in the last 10 years than in Nascar's first 50 years." As a former poster (DSFF) once said on here "If you are going too say that Chase/playoff champions are weak/bogus/not real then you'd be better ready too label every other champion the same. It is very slippery slope you walk on. And a slope that you have no way of coming back from." 210. Clint posted: 05.09.2018 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Playoffs are necessary in other sports in a way that they are not necessary in auto racing.In other sports there is schedule variance and home/away differences to account for. Those that make the argument that its due to mechanical failure and crashes should realize the abbreviated format of the chase only magnifies those factors. It was only ever a gimmicky reset to get your favorite driver "back in it" once the nfl starts. 211. Wot posted: 05.09.2018 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Edwards was not the best driver of 2016, he had the best night at Homestead before the crash, but he only had a chance because of the chase 212. Wot posted: 05.09.2018 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) When I said it was confusing, I meant more just how the points were given to which spot, I keep forgetting. Everything else was much more simple than now 213. Ferret posted: 05.09.2018 - 7:47 am Rate this comment: (5) (0) I always found the points easy to understand for one simple, yet odd reason. Back in the day Papyrus had the license for NASCAR and for a while Indycar videogames. Those guys for both series didn't just say here, here's how you install the game (baring in mind it was hthe transition from DOS to full on Windows 98 era at the time), no. They went into a metric ton of detail in those manuals. Now how did I get to grips with the Latford system? Because each release, Papyrus always, without fail had both a graphic of how the points were distributed in the manual, and put it into simple, easy to grasp words. That made it very, very easy to pick up the system. I never paid attention to if Dale had 8540 points or if Jeff had 9455 points, I just went bywho was in what spot. Hey it worked for me, thanks to my gaming habits of the 90s really. Also, for the playoffs, exacltly. If you had all 32 NFL teams compete at home every week or all 30 MLB teams or all the hockey teams....you could make the argument there'd not be a need for a playoff in other sports. There is absolutely no need for a 'playoff' or 'game 7' in auto racing of any sort. I dislike intensely how Brian France and company are obsessed with this 'game 7' magic moment. I said it earlier, go look at the history of series that have gone to a game 7, or game 5 for 5 game series, and arguably a game 7 more often than not is a snoozefest. IMO most of the time the game 6 is much, much better than the game 7. 214. Alex posted: 05.09.2018 - 8:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Earnhardt? The last cowboy? I hope you are kidding me! Everyone can tell you he was NASCAR's first paid actor! He was a 100% different person off the track, and his at-track persona was just to polarize people. Every biography of him will tell you that. Look at his friendship with Neil Bonnett; the at-track Earnhardt would never have that kind of relationship with anyone! 215. Mile501 posted: 05.09.2018 - 8:58 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) #213 - I still have Papyrus' NASCAR 3 game and play it on occasion. Those were the days when NASCAR games were good and also highly customizable. 216. Ferret posted: 05.09.2018 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) It always amazes me going back to older broadcasts around that time how detailed things were though, and how broadcasts seemed more polished than nowadays. Also the sport as a whole seemed more open in the 90s, Papyrus, to give another nod to those guys, crammed their manuals full of information and little details about NASCAR and each track the series went to. I miss the days of little details in broadcasts and in the series as a whole though, I do feel that in the 80s/90s care was taken to make each broadcast feel special and for instance when TBS did the Coke 600 you knew it was a special event, yes it was a race in the season but TBS made it feel like the most important race of the year, same with CBS and Daytona for many years. I do feel the sport's changed for the worse in that regard, it's too technical and teams are guarding their secrets. Also for the buyout thing I've heard Liberty Media thrown around, I've heard Comcast and even investment banks too but I'm skeptical what if any changes will be implemented under new ownership. 217. possum posted: 05.09.2018 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @210 - not really. Originally you had a championship series between two leagues, who's teams did not otherwise play against each other (e.g. World Series). Then when leagues got big, they were split geographically, and the east & west played each other infrequently - so the league championship ensured differences in record because one half of the league was much weaker than the other didn't skew the result. Now-a-days, with travel being cheap and easy, all the pro sports play well balanced schedules, and there's no need for playoff series. But they're big money makers, so they're not going to give them up. In racing, since every team plays every team in every event, the idea of a playoff is simply silly and always has been, except in cases like the USAR Pro Cup that had two geographically seperate sub-series. 218. possum posted: 05.09.2018 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @209 - that's not really a function of whether the tires are bias ply or radial. It's more a function of building air pressure (i.e. heat) in the tire. 219. possum posted: 05.09.2018 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @216 - I agree, altho to be fair to today's broadcasters a lot of what they talked about years ago (differences in how teams do things) either don't exist today because of NASCAR rules that limit teams freedom, or are too subtle to talk about without a degree in aero engineering. But I'll grant you the production is a lot less polished now, compared to ESPN and CBS back in the day (TBS, tho, was renowned for random camera angles of the stands, the sky, or the ground - anything but the racetrack or whatever the announcers were talking about). Comcast was the rumored purchaser back in January. I'm guessing they didn't care for the quoted price. 220. Ryan posted: 05.09.2018 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Earnhardt? The last cowboy? I hope you are kidding me! Everyone can tell you he was NASCAR's first paid actor! He was a 100% different person off the track, and his at-track persona was just to polarize people. Every biography of him will tell you that. Look at his friendship with Neil Bonnett; the at-track Earnhardt would never have that kind of relationship with anyone!" Alex, Coming from one of Earnhardt's biggest fan, I can tell you that you didn't get where I was coming from. I believe I mentioned not in a literal sense, but more about his mentality in which you kind of mentioned talking the he didn't have a relationship with hardly at the track. He wore a villainous black cowboy hat. I'm not sure how old you are, but there was nothing like growing up in the 80's and 90's watching him. Maybe these articles will help you understand a little better, as many of the drivers considered him to have cowboy mentality ready for a duel anytime. www.espn.com/abcsports/columns/arute_jack/arute010220.html https://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/02/dale_earnhardt_retrospective_t.html 221. JR-TV posted: 05.29.2018 - 8:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #23 crew chief is Rick Bourgeois. 222. Mile501 posted: 06.02.2018 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) While Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have dominated the headlines and taken most of the race wins this year, there has actually been quite a bit of parity right behind them. Through the first 10 races of the season, 9 different drivers have been the first to finish each race if we exclude Busch and Harvick. In order, they are Dillon, Keselowski, Larson, Elliott, Truex, Bowyer, McMurray, Johnson, Elliott, and Logano. Through the first 11 races of the season, 16 different drivers have finished first and second, excluding Busch and Harvick. In order, the second-place finishers are Wallace, Bowyer, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, Blaney, Jones, Stenhouse, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, and Suarez. 223. Sandy posted: 10.14.2018 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) First Time Ross Chastain Led a Lap In A Cup Race 224. Sandy posted: 10.14.2018 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) @223 Wrong Race 225. RaceFanX posted: 05.10.2019 - 8:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) FOX aired this race again in the spring of 2019 when a rainout delayed the Cup race a day. This being the age of Twitter there were a lot of people who missed the messages that it was the prior year's race and tweeted out messages of congratulations to Harvick for his victory or made note of how they were baffled that Martin Truex, Jr. was back in the #78 Toyota. Truex won the following year's race when it was finally run on Monday. 226. TeamDCRfan posted: 05.10.2019 - 9:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Several fans Tweeted at Mike Joy that they had the wrong drivers in the wrong cars during the broadcast. Joy got them set straight 227. RaceFanX posted: 05.10.2019 - 10:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That seems to happen every time there is a rainout now. Previously we've seen people, and even news outlets, posting about Danica Patrick having a great run at Daytona when in 2014 the race was postponed a bit and the 2013 race rerun to fill time before the restart. A rainout in early 2016 prompted Jeff Gordon to get tweets about why he was back in the #24 Chevrolet that week to which he playfully joked in response that he'd be doing that whenever there was a rainout that year. 228. Rich posted: 12.14.2020 - 9:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Gordon were the commentators. Matt Yocum, Vince Welch and Jamie Little were the pit road reporters. Larry McReynolds was the in-race analyst. 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: