NASCAR 2012!

[Crafty_]

I didn't watch, bed appealed more. I'll try and catch up with it, although it doesn't seem to of been too entertaining until the last 50 or so.

Apparently a reporter interviewed Danica before the race and asked her about the Cup race being longer than the Nationwide race, the reply was "Are all sprint cup races 500 miles?"
Seriously ? she drives in the series and doesn't even know what the average fan knows ? Its easy to see why she attracts criticism.

Anyway, Darlington is still Stewarts bogey track..

Charlotte next weekend for the all-star race, trucks are back too I think.

[Crafty_]

Quite a few open wheelers do manage to get a grip, Stewart, Allemdinger for two.

Of course Scott Speed was open wheel too, but not sure he really counts given he starts & parks

Looking at NASCAR videos yesterday with my mates little lad (he's obssessed ) we came across this, fantastic bit of film : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecRZq8wdyYk 97 cars! feck me!

[Crafty_]

I think he should employ DeLana Harvick to kick his ass until he sorts his head out, if she can't do anything with him he's a lost cause. Shes used to dealing with assholes

[Crafty_]

So here we go again, but something a little different this weekend.

This weekend Sprint Cup is in Charlotte for the All-Stars race. This is a non championship round. Winner takes home $1m.

There is actually two races, the first is a 40 lap showdown,
The race itself has a special format and qualifying system. Rather than me type it all out you can read the details here: http://www.jayski.com/stats/2012/all-star2012.htm or here: http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2012/5/16/3024848/n...

Trucks are back too, they are in Iowa along with Nationwide

Tune in Schedule: http://www.nascar.com/races/tune_in/

Nationwide race is being shown on Motors TV Sunday at 10pm.

[Crafty_]

Still in Charlotte this weekend, trucks are taking a rest so just Sprint and Nationwide.

The cup race is the Coca Cola 600, its the longest race of the year. Qualifying was on Thursday and Almirola in the #43 got pole with Ambrose next to him. The cup race is scheduled for 11:19pm our time Sunday. This is primarily to avoid clashing with the Indy 500 of course.

Nationwide is on Saturday, motors tv are showing it live at 8:30pm.

Jayski race info page : http://www.jayski.com/news/races/2012/story/_/page...

Edited by Crafty_ on Friday 25th May 19:50

[Crafty_]

Yep princess is running cup this weekend.

Some talk about Kurt Busch joining JGR for the rest of the season. Not really sure what coach is thinking, but I guess if anyone can sort Kurt out, its him.

[Crafty_]

Yeah Danica is running both series this weekend.

Nice article here, pit lane stalwart Dick Berggren celebrates his 70th birthday next week and is going to retire: http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-dick-berggre...

[Crafty_]

Just tuned in, thought it was 8:30 ? ah well.

[Crafty_]

Travis seems to be doing his best to get beat by the girls again, hopefully Long can get a lap back.

That carb change didn't do Hamlin any favours.

[Crafty_]

Team people
Steve Letarte @steveletarte
Leonard Wood @leonard_wood
Greg Zipadelli @gzipadelli

Media
Dick Berggren @dickberggren
Darrell Waltrip @allwaltrip
Jamie Little @jamielittleespn

Drivers
Kyle Busch @kylebusch
Juan Pablo Montoya @jpmontoya
Trevor Bayne @trevorbayne21
TJ Ford @tjford413
Mark Martin @55markmartin
Matt Kenseth @mattkenseth
Jimmie Johnson @jimmiejohnson
Joey Logano @joeylogano
Jeff Burton @rcr31jeffburton
AJ Allmendinger @ajdinger
Elliot Sadler @elliot_sadler
Jamie McMurray @jamiemcmurray
Denny Hamlin @dennyhamlin
Kasey Kahne @kaseykahne
Michael McDowell @mc_driver
Landon Cassill @landoncassill
Princess @danicapatrick
David Ragan @david_ragan
Robby Gordon @robbygordon

I follow too many people

[Crafty_]

First trip to Dover this weekend. All three classes will be battling on the monster mile.

Green Flags, UK time.
Truck: 9:50pm Friday
Nationwide 7:15pm Saturday
Cup 6:15pm Sunday

So ironically we are back to normal timings, but given its a bank holiday night races would of been ok !

Nationwide race is love on motorsTV 7pm Saturday.

Mark Martin is back in the #55
Truck racer Ty Dillon will be making his debut in nationwide.

[Crafty_]

Dover just looks a totally crazy place to be going that fast..

A few minutes away from green

[Crafty_]

Yeah sam and danica don't seem to be able to keep away from each other

Naughty Joey getting impatient with the #24 too.

[Crafty_]

P8 for Ty Dillon, thats pretty respectable for a maiden NNS drive.

[Crafty_]

Agree on all points, you do wonder how long the danica charade will continue before someone goes "actually, we can do better". I guess it'll be when the bucks stop rolling in.

Poor truex looked gutted didn't he, he got a nod from Mark Martin on twitter for his performance though, which must mean something.

In other news Kurt Busch reminded everyone why he's an asshole :
On Air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_OJCl5wJUw
Off Air: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJV64B_QdaM

[Crafty_]

Due to him continuing to act like a prick Kurt Busch has been suspended from next weeks race and his probation extended until December.

[Crafty_]

Eldora is owned by Stewart.

Seems Danica doesn't know quite alot of stuff, shes often heard on the radio asking pretty simple questions. Before Darlington cup race someone pointed out that the race as longer than the nationwide race that she'd just run, slightly ditsy she then asks the interview "are all cup races 500 miles?" erm ? really ?!

[Crafty_]

Contrast princess with Nelson Piquet Jr who got in to trucks and has spent time learning how to drive the cars and he's turned into a decent racer. He's turned down full time nationwide seats until he feels comfortable..

At some point the bucks will run out and the team/sponsors are gonna go "yeah, umm we can do better here".

How Trevor Bayne still isn't in cup full time I don't understand. Seems Stenhouse may get a seat next year from what I read.

BTW Finch had this to say about Kurt:

"Here's the deal: Quit wrecking the cars, get a good finish, be nice to people, that's not real hard to do," said Finch. "It's affecting me. If I can't get a sponsor, I can't keep running without a sponsor. That's a slow death. I don't want to do that."

"Hopefully if we can get Kurt's mind right, we can win some races. If we can't get his mind right so we can race into the future, then I'll go do something else. It's just that simple. I'm doing my part.

"We've wrecked 14 cars this year. Four at Daytona. We've killed three or four cars and had to completely throw them away."

Edited by Crafty_ on Thursday 7th June 21:26

[Crafty_]

Split schedule this weekend, Trucks are in Texas, Nationwide have a weekend off, Cup is in Pennsylvania at Pocono.

As mentioned earlier, Kurt Busch is parked this weekend.
There were concerns about speeds at Pocono as its been resurfaced, some even suggested they might end up using restrictor plates. In the end speeds in testing were deemed acceptable at 180mph (lap), with peaks of 212mph on entry to turn 1.

Truck race starts at 1:30am Saturday morning.

Cup race will start at 6:19pm our time on Sunday. Biffle fastest in practice so far.

Jayski page : http://www.jayski.com/news/races/2012/story/_/page...

[Crafty_]

The show has moved on to Michigan this weekend, no trucks so NNS and Cup.

The track has been repaved and its upped speeds, they're topping 200mph and averages are just a whisker under.

Nationwide race is on Motors TV live at 9:30pm Saturday.
Cup race will start 6:19pm Sunday.