LGP NASCAR Thread

[dodint]

Kind of hard to fault Daytona. That was a pretty freak accident. Looks like he was really trying to hold it until he realized he was out of track. Hindsight is 20/20 but doing pretty much anything else probably would've ended better for him. Hope he gets well soon, no Busch's in the D500 seems weird.

[shafnutz05]

Bad news for Busch, I haven't seen the accident yet. Understandably, they put the SAFER barriers in the portions of the track where a collision is most likely. No way you can fault them agreed, freak things will happen.

[shafnutz05]

Just saw it, wow. Have never seen anyone collide with that wall like that.

[dodint]

I've been jumping between the 500 and hockey all day. NASCAR has a ton of commercial breaks. I wonder if they have ever investigated doing a pay-per-view or subscription service where you get the race commercial free. Having watched Formula 1 races uninterrupted in Europe on BBC/Sky it really does change your viewing experience to not have any commercials. I've had times watching an F1 race where I couldn't find a spot to stop and go to the restroom because you're so dialed into it. Not sure if NASCAR cares or thinks their fan base would pony up or not but I'm curious if they've looked into it or not.

[dodint]

The run to the finish was absolutely riveting until the 3 to go caution. Restrictor plate races are a blast in the last 20 laps, really wanted to see if Logano could hold them back, too bad we'll never find out.

[shafnutz05]

The run to the finish was absolutely riveting until the 3 to go caution. Restrictor plate races are a blast in the last 20 laps, really wanted to see if Logano could hold them back, too bad we'll never find out.

Agreed. Really think it hurts Earnhardt the most, dude was charging to the front

[pittsports87]

Hate the fact this ended on a caution half way through the last lap. Really think Junior was gonna take it.

[dodint]

Well, there you go. Would've liked more for J.Gordon, but I doubt this is his last 500. If he wants to race part time I imagine this will be on his calendar.

[Beveridge]

I'm kind of glad JR didn't win. Taking away the car for the year is a dumb reward (I think they still do this).

[TheHammer24]

The run to the finish was absolutely riveting until the 3 to go caution. Restrictor plate races are a blast in the last 20 laps, really wanted to see if Logano could hold them back, too bad we'll never find out.

Bah. Logano was a beast. Hamlin had a shot. Darn it.
Agreed. Really think it hurts Earnhardt the most, dude was charging to the front

[relantel]

I'm kind of glad JR didn't win. Taking away the car for the year is a dumb reward (I think they still do this).

Yes - Daytona USA. Which means they got 2014's car back today.

I don't get the lack of a caution on the final lap of the Saturday race but similar circumstances - a turn 1 wreck, even closer to the S/F line, no yellow, but backstretch with even more cool-down space in the Cup race and a yellow flag is thrown. The inconsistency, more than the result, is the baffling thing. Similar conditions but different reaction by NASCAR. Despite the history of 2007 where they let them race back to the flag, with the Harvick/Martin side-by-side finish, where had the yellow froze the field Mark Martin would have won.

Lesson of the yellow: Don't wait too long. This cost Earnhardt at Talladega in the fall of 2013 when McMurray was out front when the yellow came out during the last lap when Earnhardt had a huge run down the backstretch.

[relantel]

David Ragan filling in for Kyle Busch, so Joe Nemechek gets the call to fill Ragan's seat in the Front Row #34. David Reutimann was considered but he hadn't renewed his NASCAR license for 2015 yet so was not eligible.

[Ad@m]

Travis Kvapil's car stolen

Check out his tweets

https://twitter.com/TravisKvapil

[dodint]

Hah, awesome.

[relantel]

88s sweep on Saturday, Harvick in the Xfinity (nee Nationwide, nee Busch) race and Crafton in the trucks.

Rain in Atlanta today though. Lot of good cars starting in the back after a number of cars (including the 24) could not pass inspection and thus didn't get on track for qualifying. It's how Ron Hornaday was able to make the race, as fewer than 36 cars were able to post a time. And Michael Annett is car-hopping into the 33 after failing to qualify.

[shafnutz05]

Gordon wins the pole at Vegas, and runs into Patrick during Happy Hour when she spins out in front of him. Poor guy.

[relantel]

Harvick wins going away at Vegas. His 2015 start is the same as Earnhardt's 2014 start -- a win and two second place finishes through 3 races.

[Cooper7108]

Beerman and I are doing a Yahoo fantasy Nascar league for fun if anyone wants to join PM your email and I'll send you an invite. So far there's 3 of us in the league.

[relantel]

Vickers out again with blood clots, Brett Moffitt back in the #55 this weekend for MWR.

AND: Eligibility changes for the All-Star race. The 10 year limit on winless past champs and event winners has been lifted, getting Kenseth (03 title) and Newman (02 winner) into the event. Both were winless last year. Earnhardt Jr had this problem as his 10 year window expired in 2010, whereby they had to be voted in or race in for a few years there. I forget which year it was - 2013 maybe - where Earnhardt won the open and won the fourth segment of the allstar race but the rules gave the pit position to the segment winners in the first three ahead of the fourth and Johnson ran away with the 10 lap shootout. (Think of that year's all star format much akin to the current Chase format. Win a segment, start near the front for the end. Win a race, get in the Chase.

[relantel]

NASCAR being inconsistent again... spin on the last lap, car stalled on track, no yellow and a great run to the finish. A winner different than who would have won had the yellow flown. In stark contrast to the Daytona 500, where they did not let them race back to the line after an incident on the last lap.

I almost don't care which one they choose -- just choose the same one each time. No, that's not quite true. I firmly favor racing back to the flag like they used to. The freezing the field thing is for the birds. But even if those days are gone, they should be consistent in how they are calling these things.

I find it funny that NASCAR has a press release explaining the debris caution that caused the 2nd G-W-C. But they glance over the non-yellow for Biffle's spin. Just change the rules already and allow them to race back to the flag on the final lap in all instances.

Oh, and add Keselowski another entry on that list of race winners that led only the last lap. Last done by Harvick at Auto-Club a few years back but Keselowski has done it at least once before (his first win I believe was like this when driving in Finch's 09 car part-time). Four tires will beat two tires almost every time...