Explain NASCAR to me please
Discussion
I just found a documentary, the first 5 minutes is a bit naff as it concentrates on the deaths but picks up after that.
It covers the story of the three biggest family names in NASCAR - the Pettys, Allisons and Eanrhardts. There are some great clips from "back in the day".
http://youtu.be/4vZpUt2fqqg
90 minutes long.
It covers the story of the three biggest family names in NASCAR - the Pettys, Allisons and Eanrhardts. There are some great clips from "back in the day".
http://youtu.be/4vZpUt2fqqg
90 minutes long.
I came across this picture a while ago, that mess under the front wheels is Lee Petty's car, both drivers survived but it pretty much ended their careers. Johnny Beauchamp was in the #73.
I was reading some stuff from about a year ago and had a bit of a giggle at this:
I reckon the script writers had an easy time of it when they did "Days Of Thunder"
Congratulations to go Trevor Bayne, who proposed to long time girlfriend Ashton Clapp, she said yes!
I don't think we've explained "have at it boys" yet ?
Basically its a NASCAR policy of non intervention. If there is a bit of a tussle going on and everyone is giving as good as they get then NASCAR will do nothing. The idea is to let everyone race hard instead of bleating on the radio for other drivers to get a penalty (are we listening F1?). If you deliberately wreck someone or do dumb stuff NASCAR will step in.
Ok, so a few more current drivers:
Mark Martin, currently the oldest driver in Sprint Cup, he turns 54 in January. Many say he's the best driver never to of won a championship, he first entered the cup series in 1981 and has competed every year since, currently on a partial schedule (25 races) for Michael Waltrip Racing in the #55.
To me he's like the wise old owl, watching all these young guys flying around and taking risks. He has a pilots licence and his own plane, likes gym work and rap music.
Jeff Gordon, team mate at Hendrick to Jimmie Johnson. Actually he is part owner in the #48 car and I think he has a stake in his own #24 team. 4 time champion in the late 90s (and 2001). Since 1993 he's only finished the year outside the top 10 once (11th, 2005). Some criticise him for being a bit middle of the road, he generally stays out of controversy.. well, until Phoenix this year : http://youtu.be/GQjk1KPDFAE Gordon says that Bowyer had been ruining his races for a while and he'd had enough... doesn't mean you can go doing this though!
Danica Patrick, drives the #10 for Stewart Haas Racing, she also runs in Nationwide for Dale Jr's team. A recent convert to NASCAR, she used to run in Indycar. In case you hadn't noticed shes a girl, but far from the first in NASCAR, in fact there have been woman drivers in NASCAR pretty much since its inception.
Danica has the not entirely polite nickname of "Princess Sparkle Pony", which followed her from Indycar. To be honest most of the criticism aimed at her is because the TV coverage did turn in to "The Danica Show" on more than one occasion. To make it worse she hasn't really delivered, 4 top tens in nationwide and a best of 17th from 10 races in cup in 2012. She's also made some dumb moves, including trying to wreck Landon Cassill which didn't work but did wreck herself!
She should run lower formula for longer and learn stock cars, before running in top flight. She's probably a capable driver and has experience of open wheel on ovals, just needs some time to translate to stock cars.
I did have to laugh at Travis Pastrana in a Nationwide race this year, he came on the radio and said "Am I at least beating the girl?"
On the subject of woman racers, keep an eye out for Johanna Long in Nationwide:
Lack of sponsorship is the main issue, but she's only 20 and doing a great job with the equipment and money she has. Race results don't tell the full story, shes qualified well and run up front on a few occasions, many believe she's out performing the set up and deserves better (e.g. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1329063-johanna....
I'll start a 2013 thread to follow the season in the new year, probably around the tests (10-12 and 17-18 Jan).
I was reading some stuff from about a year ago and had a bit of a giggle at this:
some article or other said:
At Daytona in Feb. 2008, Tony Stewart and Busch were summoned to the NASCAR hauler after contact during practice for the Budweiser Shootout. During that meeting, Stewart allegedly punched Busch after Busch called Stewart fat and made remarks about Stewart’s haircut.
To be fair, Stewart is errm, "powerfully built" as PH would put it I reckon the script writers had an easy time of it when they did "Days Of Thunder"
Congratulations to go Trevor Bayne, who proposed to long time girlfriend Ashton Clapp, she said yes!
I don't think we've explained "have at it boys" yet ?
Basically its a NASCAR policy of non intervention. If there is a bit of a tussle going on and everyone is giving as good as they get then NASCAR will do nothing. The idea is to let everyone race hard instead of bleating on the radio for other drivers to get a penalty (are we listening F1?). If you deliberately wreck someone or do dumb stuff NASCAR will step in.
Ok, so a few more current drivers:
Mark Martin, currently the oldest driver in Sprint Cup, he turns 54 in January. Many say he's the best driver never to of won a championship, he first entered the cup series in 1981 and has competed every year since, currently on a partial schedule (25 races) for Michael Waltrip Racing in the #55.
To me he's like the wise old owl, watching all these young guys flying around and taking risks. He has a pilots licence and his own plane, likes gym work and rap music.
Jeff Gordon, team mate at Hendrick to Jimmie Johnson. Actually he is part owner in the #48 car and I think he has a stake in his own #24 team. 4 time champion in the late 90s (and 2001). Since 1993 he's only finished the year outside the top 10 once (11th, 2005). Some criticise him for being a bit middle of the road, he generally stays out of controversy.. well, until Phoenix this year : http://youtu.be/GQjk1KPDFAE Gordon says that Bowyer had been ruining his races for a while and he'd had enough... doesn't mean you can go doing this though!
Danica Patrick, drives the #10 for Stewart Haas Racing, she also runs in Nationwide for Dale Jr's team. A recent convert to NASCAR, she used to run in Indycar. In case you hadn't noticed shes a girl, but far from the first in NASCAR, in fact there have been woman drivers in NASCAR pretty much since its inception.
Danica has the not entirely polite nickname of "Princess Sparkle Pony", which followed her from Indycar. To be honest most of the criticism aimed at her is because the TV coverage did turn in to "The Danica Show" on more than one occasion. To make it worse she hasn't really delivered, 4 top tens in nationwide and a best of 17th from 10 races in cup in 2012. She's also made some dumb moves, including trying to wreck Landon Cassill which didn't work but did wreck herself!
She should run lower formula for longer and learn stock cars, before running in top flight. She's probably a capable driver and has experience of open wheel on ovals, just needs some time to translate to stock cars.
I did have to laugh at Travis Pastrana in a Nationwide race this year, he came on the radio and said "Am I at least beating the girl?"
On the subject of woman racers, keep an eye out for Johanna Long in Nationwide:
Lack of sponsorship is the main issue, but she's only 20 and doing a great job with the equipment and money she has. Race results don't tell the full story, shes qualified well and run up front on a few occasions, many believe she's out performing the set up and deserves better (e.g. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1329063-johanna....
I'll start a 2013 thread to follow the season in the new year, probably around the tests (10-12 and 17-18 Jan).
Edited by Crafty_ on Sunday 23 December 21:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFMU9PFd7K0 good video about that crash/fight
Excellent thread and explanations.
After all of the fuss over Kimi and his reaction over the radio its interesting to see some of the radio chatter from the nascar drivers.
Caution, both very sweary!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsrAwajLoeY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztn4uDkkVU
After all of the fuss over Kimi and his reaction over the radio its interesting to see some of the radio chatter from the nascar drivers.
Caution, both very sweary!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsrAwajLoeY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jztn4uDkkVU
Crafty_ said:
I realised that after posting
The '55 is sponsored by Aarons, a chain of furniture and white goods stores
This is where you see that NASCAR sells everything from Cornflakes to Car Parts. It's a multibillion dollar merchandising machine that is used to sell just about anything and everything. Tony Stewart's #14 car will run in the Bass Pro Shops livery - that's a BIG American "Outdoor" chain. Kyle Bush's #18 is mostly in M&M's livery, we see the #55 with Aarons, the #78 is Furniture Row - another furniture seller!, 5-time Champ Jimmie Johnson's #48 spends about half of the year in Lowes colours. Well they're the US equivalent to B&Q. Not to mention the smaller "teams" like the #47 that runs in different 'colours' regularly - Clorox (bleach/hygene), Bushes Beans, Kingswood Charcoal, all feature on that car. You can't miss the US Military presence too on cars like the #88 of Dale Earnhard Jr. Often running in National Guard livery.The '55 is sponsored by Aarons, a chain of furniture and white goods stores
My favourite is Farmers Insurance on the #5 of Kasey Kahne!
Merry Christmas!
Looking forward to the first races of 2013 in Daytona. Not long to go now...
Well not really. The older cars tend to go to the ARCA series - they were still running pre-CoT spec cars, not sure if they'll move to that spec.
Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
The road race spec cars of years gone by have found their way into various championships too.
However, NASCAR still mandate sheet metal bodies that take a lot of skill to build and repair. Lower championships often run less complex bodies with composite parts (the bits that often get bashed).
Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
The road race spec cars of years gone by have found their way into various championships too.
However, NASCAR still mandate sheet metal bodies that take a lot of skill to build and repair. Lower championships often run less complex bodies with composite parts (the bits that often get bashed).
There is this too: http://www.hscrs.com/home.php
I saw a chevy truck from the early 200s for sale for $10k, could probably get it for $8k I reckon, no engine/trans but it was still metal bodied and carrying the livery from when it was raced.
I saw a chevy truck from the early 200s for sale for $10k, could probably get it for $8k I reckon, no engine/trans but it was still metal bodied and carrying the livery from when it was raced.
Toyota make a V8 to race with. Originally they didn't offer a V8 in any production car, not sure if thats changed now.
Edit: They do a whole line up of V8s for their trucks.
Not that it really matters - NASCAR specs aren't really compatible with road going vehicles, I found this: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/tundra-and-li... but keep in mind its almost 9 years old so the power looks a little low to me and obviously we've dropped carbs for injection in cup now.
Edit: They do a whole line up of V8s for their trucks.
Not that it really matters - NASCAR specs aren't really compatible with road going vehicles, I found this: http://www.caranddriver.com/features/tundra-and-li... but keep in mind its almost 9 years old so the power looks a little low to me and obviously we've dropped carbs for injection in cup now.
Edited by Crafty_ on Tuesday 25th December 19:42
I think the G/W/C rule explained earlier is slightly wrong, but I haven't gone to look.
In a G/W/C the race is only put under yellow and on to the next G/W/C if the white flag is not passed. I.e. the yellow has to be thrown on the first lap of the 2 lap shootout.
I've followed NASCAR for about 5 years, although less since SKY stopped showing it live. I don't enjoy Daytona and Talledega as there is always a big crash and racing is more than that. It's pot-luck half the time. Bristol is great, as is Martinsville, and I also like some of the high-banked 1 / 1.5 mile ovals ...
Jez
In a G/W/C the race is only put under yellow and on to the next G/W/C if the white flag is not passed. I.e. the yellow has to be thrown on the first lap of the 2 lap shootout.
I've followed NASCAR for about 5 years, although less since SKY stopped showing it live. I don't enjoy Daytona and Talledega as there is always a big crash and racing is more than that. It's pot-luck half the time. Bristol is great, as is Martinsville, and I also like some of the high-banked 1 / 1.5 mile ovals ...
Jez
thunderbelmont said:
Well not really. The older cars tend to go to the ARCA series - they were still running pre-CoT spec cars, not sure if they'll move to that spec.
Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
I'm oddly fascinated by the lower level oval series in the US. Obviously you have Nationwide and Trucks just below Cup level, but then you have the regional K&N series plus ARCA and all manner of late model stuff. Would love to find more coverage of it.Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
hornet said:
thunderbelmont said:
Well not really. The older cars tend to go to the ARCA series - they were still running pre-CoT spec cars, not sure if they'll move to that spec.
Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
I'm oddly fascinated by the lower level oval series in the US. Obviously you have Nationwide and Trucks just below Cup level, but then you have the regional K&N series plus ARCA and all manner of late model stuff. Would love to find more coverage of it.Oval Racing in the 'States is soooo popular that old chassis filter down through the ranks, often re-bodied to the spec of that series.
http://www.asa-racing.com/
http://www.uara-stars.com/index.html
http://www.craracing.net/
http://www.carsprocup.com/
http://www.acttour.com/
http://www.proallstarsseries.com/
http://hometracks.nascar.com/series/kn_pro_series_...
http://hometracks.nascar.com/series/kn_pro_series_...
That should keep you busy!!
That lot are responsible for the hundreds of events that go on across much of the US every week. There are tracks that run their own championships / open races too. For example, Dillon Speedway - http://www.dillonmotorspeedway.com/
And many many more.
Then there's Dirt racing..... have you got time to sit down and listen?
I won't even mention "Modifieds" or "Sprintcars", other than a couple of pics...
First - a Super Modified (note the engine positioned for balance)
A Sprintcar - typically 800hp, direct drive (no clutch!).
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