As an avid stock car racing fan I find it difficult to get through those weekends without NASCAR cup coverage on the television.Once spring is in the air and the racing season begins I get all pumped up over who's going to be dominant during the season and what drivers' ego may get rattled that week... or what bonehead's going to wreck the leaders race car and a chance at a win.
A lot like a soap opera isn't it? Can't wait to see if one of our favorite racer like Tony Stewart , Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be sitting at the top of the points chart that week.
I hate it when NASCAR takes the weekends off to celebrate Easter and Mother's day...no offense please, and we don't get to watch the best in the stock car (or any other form of racing for that matter) business battle it out at the race track.
Even though I watch the stock car race live each week, I do like to plug in the VCR and tape the sports event at the same time and save them for those Holiday weekends without a scheduled race. I save the most memorable ones.
Does anyone else do that?
One of the most memorable races for me was when Dale Earnhardt finally won that elusive Daytona 500.It's a moment in NASCAR history to watch over and over again.
Just seeing all those pit crew members line pit road and victory lane patting , shaking hands congratulating him and showing so much respect for the man we all loved to hate.
Another one for the memory books was a race I actually attended at the POCONO speedway.
Davey Allison got into one of those really scary car wrecks flipping end over end down the back stretch around the tunnel turn on the high speed flat track.
Boy,I miss those guys.
Anyway...that's how I get thru those weekends without Stock car coverage.
Any other race fanatics have a collection of memorable NASCAR races on their VCR?
How 'bout you ? .......Leave me your comments and have a HAPPY EASTER!!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Nascar Qualifying Rules/Top 35 starters
There's been a lot of buzz circulating around the stock car racing community lately about NASCAR qualifying rules and what some of the team owners may do with regard to getting their respective drivers into the starting line-up of upcoming races for the remainder of the NASCAR cup season.
Some stock car fans speculate that racing team owners that aren't in the top-35 in owner points at this stage of the season may in fact swap points with team mates in order to get all of their cars into the starting field of 43 race cars mandated by NASCAR.
Let's look at how the qualifying rules work.
NASCAR qualifying rules state that the top-35 in car owner points are guaranteed a starting position in any given race.The next 7 race cars with the fastest times on qualifying day would then be added to the starting line-up for that race.All 42 stock cars do have to make an attempt at qualifying speed for the day in order to determine it's starting position. A guaranteed qualifying spot doesn't mean that you will start in positions 1 thru 35. There are any number of scenarios besides the qualifying speed that determines a stock cars' actual starting position on race day; mechanical failures ,crashes and various other incidentals on qualifying day will have an effect on that particular race cars starting spot.
This leaves 1 provisional starting spot available for a past champion to join in the final qualifying position to complete the 43 car starting field for that race.
How did these qualifying rules come into being?
If we look at the past ; beginning around seasons 2003-2004 , a number of car owners would pick and choose which races to enter according to the purse that was being payed out by the race track.(in large part due to rising costs associated with fielding a race car and travel expenses for the race crew).
NASCAR had trouble filling the 43 car starting field with competitive stock cars for racing events and tracks that didn't pay large purses to the bottom finishing results.
On any given sunday race fans would see cars that were ill prepared for racing,run a dozen laps around the circuit,with no intention of doing any real racing and then simply pack up and go home so as not to wreck the car .
Thus, the advent of the 35 guaranteed starter qualifying rule.I don't think the number 35 was an arbitrary number.I'm sure NASCAR looked at numerous statistics and input from car owners to come up with that number in order to satisfy it's needs to provide quality entertainment for the race fan and the needs of car owners and their respective sponsorship obligations.
So now the question is:
Will race team owners swap points from car to car in order to guarantee a starting position in upcoming races?
Race car drivers and sponsors have come to be associated with specific car numbers, Why would the car owner risk running in a race, have a chance of crashing the race car and losing additional owner points associated with that team?Why would a sponsor even allow a driver to take that leap?And if you take into account the cumulative points at the end of the year needed to make the final CHASE ,I think it would be a huge mistake by the car owners.
Just one man's opinion. :)
What's your opinion? Leave a comment.
Some stock car fans speculate that racing team owners that aren't in the top-35 in owner points at this stage of the season may in fact swap points with team mates in order to get all of their cars into the starting field of 43 race cars mandated by NASCAR.
Let's look at how the qualifying rules work.
NASCAR qualifying rules state that the top-35 in car owner points are guaranteed a starting position in any given race.The next 7 race cars with the fastest times on qualifying day would then be added to the starting line-up for that race.All 42 stock cars do have to make an attempt at qualifying speed for the day in order to determine it's starting position. A guaranteed qualifying spot doesn't mean that you will start in positions 1 thru 35. There are any number of scenarios besides the qualifying speed that determines a stock cars' actual starting position on race day; mechanical failures ,crashes and various other incidentals on qualifying day will have an effect on that particular race cars starting spot.
This leaves 1 provisional starting spot available for a past champion to join in the final qualifying position to complete the 43 car starting field for that race.
How did these qualifying rules come into being?
If we look at the past ; beginning around seasons 2003-2004 , a number of car owners would pick and choose which races to enter according to the purse that was being payed out by the race track.(in large part due to rising costs associated with fielding a race car and travel expenses for the race crew).
NASCAR had trouble filling the 43 car starting field with competitive stock cars for racing events and tracks that didn't pay large purses to the bottom finishing results.
On any given sunday race fans would see cars that were ill prepared for racing,run a dozen laps around the circuit,with no intention of doing any real racing and then simply pack up and go home so as not to wreck the car .
Thus, the advent of the 35 guaranteed starter qualifying rule.I don't think the number 35 was an arbitrary number.I'm sure NASCAR looked at numerous statistics and input from car owners to come up with that number in order to satisfy it's needs to provide quality entertainment for the race fan and the needs of car owners and their respective sponsorship obligations.
So now the question is:
Will race team owners swap points from car to car in order to guarantee a starting position in upcoming races?
Race car drivers and sponsors have come to be associated with specific car numbers, Why would the car owner risk running in a race, have a chance of crashing the race car and losing additional owner points associated with that team?Why would a sponsor even allow a driver to take that leap?And if you take into account the cumulative points at the end of the year needed to make the final CHASE ,I think it would be a huge mistake by the car owners.
Just one man's opinion. :)
What's your opinion? Leave a comment.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Why we're StockCar Racing Fans...Bristol !!
One of the many reasons for being a race fan is because you can never guess the outcome of a race before the checkered flag has fallen and the stockcar race is in the record books.
The Nascar race at Bristol Motor Speedway was exciting to watch as the two and three wide (?)packs of stockcars struggled to gain position in the closing laps of the race .The only disappointing part of the race for me personally were the final results.Not because Jeff Burton won the race ;I like Jeff ,but because I'll admit to being a Tony (Smoke) Stewart fan and can't believe he was robbed once again at Bristol.You know the old saying it's not over until it's over.
Stewart dominated another spring Nascar race by leading more than 250 laps of the 500 total around the Bristol Motor Speedway, sometimes by as much as a 3 second advantage over the next closest competitor.Quite a feat on a short track. Aah....but as the saying goes the fastest race car doesn't always win the race; Tony Stewart 's Number 20 HomeDepot Toyota got wrecked after a brief caution with only three laps remaining in the race by non other than his good friend Kevin Harvick .
Harvick took on new tires under the yellow flag and when racing for a final green ,white checkered flag finish resumed ,Harvick got a bit over aggressive heading through the third turn and bottomed out his race car on the apron of the race track trying to get under Tony and slid up into Stewart taking him out of contention and leaving the door wide open for Kevin Hamlin's number 11 car thus allowing Tony's (Joe Gibbs Racing) teammate to duck under and take the led briefly just as he found himself having a fuel starvation problem with his stockcar and falling into the clutches of eventual winner Jeff Burton in the number 31 race car.
Is there some black cloud that looms over the Joe Gibbs teams at Bristol Tennessee?Tony Stewart has led the most laps at the track three years in a row and Kevin Hamlin has inherited the lead two years in a row only to experience a mechanical failure with the checkered flag within his sights with less than a lap remaining.Kind of reminds this race fan of the numerous times Dale Earnhardt Sr. struggled at the Daytona 500 after what seemed like a million times only to see that elusive prize stolen away.
What's your take on the Bristol race event? Leave me a comment.
The Nascar race at Bristol Motor Speedway was exciting to watch as the two and three wide (?)packs of stockcars struggled to gain position in the closing laps of the race .The only disappointing part of the race for me personally were the final results.Not because Jeff Burton won the race ;I like Jeff ,but because I'll admit to being a Tony (Smoke) Stewart fan and can't believe he was robbed once again at Bristol.You know the old saying it's not over until it's over.
Stewart dominated another spring Nascar race by leading more than 250 laps of the 500 total around the Bristol Motor Speedway, sometimes by as much as a 3 second advantage over the next closest competitor.Quite a feat on a short track. Aah....but as the saying goes the fastest race car doesn't always win the race; Tony Stewart 's Number 20 HomeDepot Toyota got wrecked after a brief caution with only three laps remaining in the race by non other than his good friend Kevin Harvick .
Harvick took on new tires under the yellow flag and when racing for a final green ,white checkered flag finish resumed ,Harvick got a bit over aggressive heading through the third turn and bottomed out his race car on the apron of the race track trying to get under Tony and slid up into Stewart taking him out of contention and leaving the door wide open for Kevin Hamlin's number 11 car thus allowing Tony's (Joe Gibbs Racing) teammate to duck under and take the led briefly just as he found himself having a fuel starvation problem with his stockcar and falling into the clutches of eventual winner Jeff Burton in the number 31 race car.
Is there some black cloud that looms over the Joe Gibbs teams at Bristol Tennessee?Tony Stewart has led the most laps at the track three years in a row and Kevin Hamlin has inherited the lead two years in a row only to experience a mechanical failure with the checkered flag within his sights with less than a lap remaining.Kind of reminds this race fan of the numerous times Dale Earnhardt Sr. struggled at the Daytona 500 after what seemed like a million times only to see that elusive prize stolen away.
What's your take on the Bristol race event? Leave me a comment.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sex in a Race Car ?!
So, here I am reading an article about Chrissy Wallace and have to wonder if a female Nascar driver will ever rise above the fray.We've all seen attempts by the female sex take a run at auto racing's elite class by the likes of Shawna Robinson ,Erin Crocker and Patty Moise over recent years but yet to have seen any remarkable results.
My question : Is it the brain , the body or a little bit of both ?
Men and women are different, everyone knows that. But, aside from external anatomical and sexual differences, scientists know that there are many other subtle differences in the way the brains of men and women process information.
One of the most interesting differences appear in the way men and women estimate time, judge speed of things, carry out mental mathematical calculations, orient in space and visualize objects in three dimensions, etc. In all these tasks, women and men are strikingly different, This may account, scientists say, for the fact that there are many more male mathematicians, airplane pilots, bush guides, mechanical engineers, architects and race car drivers than female ones. (attribute:Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD )
So now we have scientific proof that the lady drivers do not see a race track environment the same way that the men do.
There are some important physiological differences between the sexes that can't be overlooked or overcome as well.
The female heart is smaller relative to body size than that of a male and produces 10% less oxygen carrying capacity to the blood stream thus their physical stamina is less than that of a male.
Here's the rub.
I realize that these ladies are reasonably successful on the short tracks on the Nascar circuit But,those races require only a few laps to cover the distance and not much change to the race tracks characteristics over a given period of time.So, once the chassis is set-up not many changes or communication with a crew chief is required.
Once the ladies try to wrestle around a heavy and many times obstinate Stock car for five hundred miles I don't think their physical stamina is really capable nor is their brain or cognitive skills up to the challenge of making the proper chassis adjustments to remain competitive for the distances necessary for a Nascar Cup race.
Sorry Girls :) ..Just one man's opinion.
What's you thoughts on the matter?
My question : Is it the brain , the body or a little bit of both ?
Men and women are different, everyone knows that. But, aside from external anatomical and sexual differences, scientists know that there are many other subtle differences in the way the brains of men and women process information.
One of the most interesting differences appear in the way men and women estimate time, judge speed of things, carry out mental mathematical calculations, orient in space and visualize objects in three dimensions, etc. In all these tasks, women and men are strikingly different, This may account, scientists say, for the fact that there are many more male mathematicians, airplane pilots, bush guides, mechanical engineers, architects and race car drivers than female ones. (attribute:Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD )
So now we have scientific proof that the lady drivers do not see a race track environment the same way that the men do.
There are some important physiological differences between the sexes that can't be overlooked or overcome as well.
The female heart is smaller relative to body size than that of a male and produces 10% less oxygen carrying capacity to the blood stream thus their physical stamina is less than that of a male.
Here's the rub.
I realize that these ladies are reasonably successful on the short tracks on the Nascar circuit But,those races require only a few laps to cover the distance and not much change to the race tracks characteristics over a given period of time.So, once the chassis is set-up not many changes or communication with a crew chief is required.
Once the ladies try to wrestle around a heavy and many times obstinate Stock car for five hundred miles I don't think their physical stamina is really capable nor is their brain or cognitive skills up to the challenge of making the proper chassis adjustments to remain competitive for the distances necessary for a Nascar Cup race.
Sorry Girls :) ..Just one man's opinion.
What's you thoughts on the matter?
Monday, March 10, 2008
Tony Stewart "Fires Goodyear Tire Co."
O.k..So Goodyear brings a lousy racing tire and the fans have to suffer along with every NASCAR driver on the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The word of the day was Loose,Loose and more loose as Crew chief and drivers alike had to figure a way to hook-up at the Kobalt Tools 500.
With the average lap speeds down at least 8 miles per hour slower than in previous years ,We stock car racing fans got to watch the"Car of Tomorrow" slip sliding away all day long.What is amazing is that only one of the 43 starters of the race ended up crashing out.Elliot Sadler spun off the corner several times until finally wrecking the race car to end his day.
Despite finishing in second place behind eventual race winner and Gibbs racing team mate Kyle Busch,Tony Stewart would like to rid Nascar of Goodyear tires.Stewart says "Goodyear should be embarrassed" for bringing the racing tire that they did.
I'd have to agree with that assessment.This is not the first time drivers and racefans have had to deal with lousy racing due to a tire compound that was either too soft or too hard for the racing surface.
Do you remember when Hoosier Tire tried to enter the Nascar racing game?Those racing tires never gave out and provided plenty of grip for the drivers.
I can understand Nascar allowing only one tire provider per season because they want to keep the competition as close and exciting for the racing fan as possible however,this weekends race was a fiasco.
What is your thoughts on the subject?
The word of the day was Loose,Loose and more loose as Crew chief and drivers alike had to figure a way to hook-up at the Kobalt Tools 500.
With the average lap speeds down at least 8 miles per hour slower than in previous years ,We stock car racing fans got to watch the"Car of Tomorrow" slip sliding away all day long.What is amazing is that only one of the 43 starters of the race ended up crashing out.Elliot Sadler spun off the corner several times until finally wrecking the race car to end his day.
Despite finishing in second place behind eventual race winner and Gibbs racing team mate Kyle Busch,Tony Stewart would like to rid Nascar of Goodyear tires.Stewart says "Goodyear should be embarrassed" for bringing the racing tire that they did.
I'd have to agree with that assessment.This is not the first time drivers and racefans have had to deal with lousy racing due to a tire compound that was either too soft or too hard for the racing surface.
Do you remember when Hoosier Tire tried to enter the Nascar racing game?Those racing tires never gave out and provided plenty of grip for the drivers.
I can understand Nascar allowing only one tire provider per season because they want to keep the competition as close and exciting for the racing fan as possible however,this weekends race was a fiasco.
What is your thoughts on the subject?
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