[dgthe3]

Seeing as today was the Daytona 500, i was wondering if there are any fans out there who want to talk about the sport here. I know that Canada isn't the heart of Nascar Country so if this thread withers and dies i will not be surprised.

All that being said, As Jeff Gordon won the 5th 500 for Hendrick Motor Sports, I think he is on his way to winning his 5th Championship

[Stellar]

I watched the last 13 laps earlier today it was really exciting. But hockey is still and will always be my favourite sport.
Regards
Stellar

[Streaker]

I'm normally more of an F1 fan but lately it's been pretty boring and predictable - Schumacher Schumacher Schumacher.... Hopefully they'll be able to change the rules to level the playing field.

NASCAR has a growing fan base in Canada, no doubt about it, and they are beginning to talk about running a race or two here. At least it's competitive but I'm not really turned on by cars going around in circles... One proposal is to run one of the Canadian races at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which would be interesting because it's not an oval speedway-type track. This could make it much more interesting to me.

Another thing I would like to see is NASCAR racing with REAL stock cars, that is to say with cars that are modified versions of what is available to the general public. Nowadays their cars have nothing in common with "stock" cars whatsoever...

[dgthe3]

They actually have run up here, back quite a while ago in Niagara Falls. And as far as the cars being stock, i think they share the same hood, trunk, and roof design as their production counter parts. And unless you go way down in the stock car racing circuits, you won't see cars that were once stock production vehicles then modified into race cars. In any case, they at least look like casr, unlike in F1 or Indy. And i think that they also use a stock engine block for theirs cars too, they bore out the cylinders but i think they are stock.

I do agree however that stock cars should have more in common with their production cars, get the big three back to what brought they to the dance, so to speak. And now with the rebirth of the American muscle car, i think that it could be done too. Dodge is now runnig a 'charger' instead of a 'intrepid', chevy runs 'monte carlos'.

[ziggy]

I stopped watching regularly after Dale was killed. But I watched it yesterday and it was one of the best I've seen.Dale jr. pulls into first place from nowhere in true Earnheart fashion. That was Dales old trick,hang back taking it cool and then balls out the last 10 laps. He almost pulled it off but that last caution did him in.
Would have been nice to see Rusty win,would have been a fine end to his career.

[dgthe3]

Yeah, that was pretty cool. Remember back in what was it, 2000 at Talladega when Dale (not Dale Jr) passed 16 cars in 4 laps, granted it was 3 wide racing, but still. That man was an amazing driver, his son is pretty good too, lots of his dad in him. But as far as the here and now, Jeff Gordon is number 1.

As far as Rusty is concerned, he still did pretty good, would have been nice for him to win Daytona in his last season, the same goes for Martin too.

One thing i would like to see is what those Nascar boys could come up with using the 1975 rule book, plus the newer saftey equipment such as HANS and the roof flaps. 280 mph at Daytona? 200 mph at Bristol? Never gonna happen, too unsafe. An interesting thought experiment though

[ziggy]

They go fast enough now,any faster and they would be flipping into the stands. I like all the cams and views you get now.I think it was an indy race I watched were they had brake cams,showed the rotors turning red hot when the brakes were touched.

All that technology though and they still use duct tape.

[dgthe3]

Quote:

All that technology though and they still use duct tape.

Not just any duct tape: 200 mph tape, the army uses the stuff to fix bullet holes in their helicopters. lol

They have the brake cams on for fome of the Nascar races too, mainly the short tracks where they go from 160 down to 60 in a second or two, the rotors can get red, orange, even white hot sometimes.

[Richard]

I think Gordon is a good driver but I can't stand the little twerp.
Little known factoid....Roy Smith from Victoria was given the chance to run the car Martin drove for the last 18 yrs or so but turned it down because he already had a deal driving a car sponsored by Victoria.

Roy Smith

Racing in any form is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

[ziggy]

Richard wrote:

I think Gordon is a good driver but I can't stand the little twerp.
Little known factoid....Roy Smith from Victoria was given the chance to run the car Martin drove for the last 18 yrs or so but turned it down because he already had a deal driving a car sponsored by Victoria.

Roy Smith

Racing in any form is the most fun you can have with your clothes on!

I'm not much of a Gordon fan either,The intimidator was the best and in Busch racing no-one was better then Harry Gant as far as being a gentleman was concerned. He didnt win many races but he had class.

[dgthe3]

Looking at that link reminded me of just how tough those cars used to be, and the drivers too. Back 50 years ago on tracks like the original Daytona Beach track or Darlington, driving around there all day, no cooling for the drivers, no powersteering, none of that stuff. And when the day was done, you went to the garage and worked on your own car.

But i'd say the most interesting part of the history of Nascar is it's origins in the days of bootlegging. Bunch of good ol' boys running moonshine durring the depression, and racing each other for braging rights about who has the fastest car.

[Richard]

crew chiefs will still try to bend the odd rule but it is getting pretty hard to slip a fast one through tech.
The days of Smokey Yunic, Junior Johnson, Wood Brothers, and the Petty's pulling some of the stuff they did are pretty much just a memory to make ya smile now.

[dgthe3]

I remember a quote from Days of Thunder:

"The cars are all same in stock car racing, right?"
"That's what the rule book says..."

It isn't breaking the rules if the rule has not been made yet, i would love to be an engineer in a Nascar garage, thinking up 'creative interpretations' of what is allowed and what isn't, then building it and winning with it. But yeah, the days of that type of stuff happening is largely gone.

As far as driver go, there will never be anyone as dominant as The King, or as bold as The Intimidator ever again. Still exciting racing though, lots of echo's from the past present today. But they are merely echos: faint and barely noticed.

[Richard]

Things were different in Petty's day he had the money to run all the events so he dominated allot by virtue of cash.

Guys like Pearson who was in my opinion a better driver didn't have the backing to race the whole season. Pearson only ran a full season three times and won the cup all three times.