NASCAR 2012!

[Crafty_]

So with the 500 almost upon us what are everyones thoughts for this year ?

If you haven't been keeping track there have been several firings, signings and hirings, check out the jayski chart here: http://www.jayski.com/pages/2012teams.htm

Qualifying is already done, positions are here: http://www.jayski.com/news/stats/2012/story/_/page...

Edwards starting off strong, good run for Bayne, can he make in two in a row ?
EGR cars still well down.

[Crafty_]

Fantuzzi said:

Havnt watched it before, but its on motors tv now so Ill be keeping an eye out for it.

I think thats the nationwide series. Sprint Cup is on premier sports.


PSP wrecked ? now who would of guessed that not the way to endear yourself to sceptical fans.. ah well, nevermind.

Forgot about the shootout being on tonight.. doh.

[Crafty_]

nationwide is a stepping stone to sprint cup. Cars are slightly different and they run a different schedule. Still good to watch.

If you want to watch sprint cup you may have a friend called justin that can help..

[Crafty_]

DanDC5 said:

Anyone know where I can watch streaming of the Daytona 500 tomorrow night? I haven't got Premier sports.

ask justin..

[Crafty_]

stephen300o said:

Should be more than just waiting for the big crash, just luck for who won it.

Did you see the last race of sprint cup last year ?

There is far more to oval racing than coming through a wreck ok.

[Crafty_]

slothmeister said:

what time is this on in UK time?

Race start is 6:29pm our time. http://www.jayski.com/news/races/2012/story/_/page...

[Crafty_]

Not a expert but I'll have a go..

RicksAlfas said:

Q1 - What's the difference between that and the Cup Series?

Cars are different "models" (e.g. mustang in NNS, fusion in cup) IIRC they use a slightly different chassis. Less powerful. NNS races are shorter and there are less of them.

RicksAlfas said:

Q2 - Are the cars in two car teams with different liveries, or are they all single entrants? If so, how do they sort out the drafting? Is it like road cycling where it's just the done thing and everyone does their bit?

Some teams field one car, others field multiple cars, Hendrick has 4 cars in cup (#5 Kasey Kahne, #24 Jeff Gordon, #48 Jimmie Johnson, #88 Dale Earnhardt). Other teams like Wood brothers (#21 Trevor Bayne) only run one car and will not participate in all races due to budget.

They don't necessarily draft with a team mate. There was a shot last year inside a car that clearly showed the driver had buttons to press to talk to 4 or 5 different drivers on track. Crew cheifs and spotters also talk to each other. Its something that NASCAR have tried to reduce, they have banned drivers talking directly to other drivers this year in cup.
Yeah its mutual benefit really, so you do your bit.

RicksAlfas said:

Q3 - (nearly there ) is it faster to run lower or higher up the track? We couldn't believe the speed differential on some of the passes but I couldn't work out where the speed was coming from.

Depends! High is quick because you don't slow down as much, thus higher top speed along the straights but you'll rip up tyres and you need a good handling car to do it or you'll be in the wall. Two cars drafting underneath you may be quicker. Of course it also varies greatly track to track - somewhere like daytona has a steep bank, which helps but a track like indy is quite flat - going high there is gonna be hard work. The short tracks don't lend themselves to running high either as they are usually quite tight.
The balance of the car will change through a stint too, so just because you ran high 20 laps ago doesn't mean you'll do it now.

[Crafty_]

There is a video somewhere of a stop during a sprint race, wheels done, car back on the ground and the mechanic is running around the front of the car whilst its already moving to leave. I can't find it though

[Crafty_]

^^ I think the whole emphasis on having cars look more like road cars has come from positive response to the NNS cars - you can actually recognise them pretty easily.

[Crafty_]

Phoenix!

Apparently t-shirts with "I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning" are all the rage in the garages

Chad Knaus is on six weeks suspension.

Schedule: http://www.nascar.com/races/tune_in/
Jayski Race Info: http://www.jayski.com/news/races/2012/story/_/page...

Times are in those links.

NNS race will be on motors TV from 22:15.

Its bordering on geeky, but this site can be interesting http://www.driveraverages.com/

[Crafty_]

Quite a clean race, Hamlin could of won that if it wasn't for the last stop, god only knows what was going on there.
Stenhouse did well in that last stint on old tires.

Did Kenny feel he had to make up for Steven not being on track ?

roll on the cup race tonight

[Crafty_]

Yep and how far up JPM is, given the EGR cars performance lately, I wonder if he's got a fast race car or a fast 1 lap car..

[Crafty_]

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

Green flag 3:14 ET, so 8:14pm here.

[Crafty_]

heads up just an hour to green flag.

[Crafty_]

erm best not to broadcast addresses, nascar are taking lessons from FOM on shutdowns etc..

[Crafty_]

jeez, please don't tell me those guys are meant to be singers..

here we go

[Crafty_]

Harvick

I wonder what Stewart is thinking now..

Good run for Biffle too. Hard luck for Ambrose.

[Crafty_]

So the circus is already arriving in Las Vegas.

No trucks this weekend, NNS and cup only.

Schedule, all times are ET, so add 5 hours
http://www.nascar.com/races/tune_in/

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

Nationwide race will be on MotorsTv at 11pm Saturday.
Sprint Cup green flag will be 8:16pm Sunday.

Not much gone on this week other than a bizarre episode with MWR and Elliott Sadler. MWR announced that Sadler would take Mark Martins seat for 5 cup races. As soon as it was announced a further announcement said that the deal was off. It seems that there may have been issues with Sadler driving the Toyota whilst still driving the Chevrolet for RCR, everyone is denying it but it seems the only plausible explanation.

On a more sober note the Stewart-Haas cars will be running with "Lionheart" decals this weekend in memory of Dan Wheldon.

[Crafty_]

Yep, he's going to drive the races that Sadler was going to do. I hope MWR have loads of spare parts..
I don't know why they don't put Mark Martin in the car for those races, maybe it interrupts the retirement too much ?

Edit: Not a good start for the #42, gone to the back up car as he hit the wall pretty hard during practice, apparently returned missing a brake rotor...

Nationwide practice now.

ETA:
Kahne gets pole from Kyle Busch and Harvick.

Jimmie was all set but got loose in 3/4 and had to get out of it, he ended up 6th just in front of Stewart.
Hamlin 17th. JPM ended up 29th after his problems earlier in practice.

Full leaderboard here: http://www.nascar.com/races/leaderboard/cup/qual/

Edited by Crafty_ on Saturday 10th March 01:11

[Crafty_]

Heads up people, just over an hour to go to the Nationwide race, coverage starts on motorstv at 10pm.