Nextel Cup Series 2007

[Irish Caesar]

Any fellow NASCAR fans roaming around here?

The 2007 season is coming to the home stretch... 10 races to go in the season. This weekend, the series visits my "home track" of Loudon, New Hampshire. I expect to see Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart run well here, but I wouldn't be too surprised if Martin Truex pulls off an upset.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Precisely i have been seeing lately some USA motorsports. Mostly ChampCar but also some IRL and even a couple of NASCAR races:

The ones i saw were Somona and an oval one trough an internet streaming channel. I dont remember which the oval one was, but it was boring. Somona was good though, Montoya destroying everybody However a bit artificial since without the unnecesary safety cars, the guy who was most time first, (Rob Gordon IIRC) would have won hands down. Funny race though.

There are some things i found specially annoying though:
-Too many numbers and letters around the screen, even with silly sound effects (also in the IRL races). Very annoying and unnecesary.
-How easily they sent the safety car out, most times becuase there were some insignificant plastic fragments on track.
-Maybe i didnt get the point but IRL and NASCAR oval races were boring as hell. Lots of pointless passing, only the last laps having relevance.

 

[Irish Caesar]

There are some things i found specially annoying though:
-Too many numbers and letters around the screen, even with silly sound effects (also in the IRL races). Very annoying and unnecesary.

I agree completely with that; it's nice sometimes if they haven't shown your favorite driver on the screen for half an hour or so, but they could make up for that by showing more of the field instead of just focusing on the one guy in the lead...

It's too bad, I think, that they're trying to make auto racing more like (American) football; the two really have minimal to do with each other, and nobody ever decided to watch football for the flashy graphics, either.

-How easily they sent the safety car out, most times becuase there were some insignificant plastic fragments on track.

I agree with you on that one, too. And further, the amount of time it's out; they should be able to clean up a mess on the track much sooner. I like to go to a short track somewhat close to my house, and after a mess on the track, they have a crew which basically consists of a guy with a tractor, a bucket of sand, and a broom, and they have the track clean and read to go in a lap or two. I'm guessing they take so long in the big leagues because it presents the perfect time to go to the bathroom or get something to eat.

-Maybe i didnt get the point but IRL and NASCAR oval races were boring as hell. Lots of pointless passing, only the last laps having relevance.

I don't know what the IRL rules are, but in any NASCAR series, a driver will get championship points simply for leading a lap, and the guy who leads the most laps gets an additional points bonus.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

I don't know what the IRL rules are, but in any NASCAR series, a driver will get championship points simply for leading a lap, and the guy who leads the most laps gets an additional points bonus.

Didnt know it. Now the whole oval racing concept makes more sense. It is the same at the road courses? (Sonoma and Watkings Glenn AFAIK)

BTW just saw an entertaining oval race. An IRL one at Kentucky, where this babe Danica Patrick spins in boxes and then her tyres explode!. Then that other guy, Francheti, crashes spectacularly into the wall after the race is over!. Crazy and dangerous race, but funny.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Didnt know it. Now the whole oval racing concept makes more sense. It is the same at the road courses? (Sonoma and Watkings Glenn AFAIK)

Yep, same rules apply at road courses.

BTW just saw an entertaining oval race. An IRL one at Kentucky, where this babe Danica Patrick spins in boxes and then her tyres explode!. Then that other guy, Francheti, crashes spectacularly into the wall after the race is over!. Crazy and dangerous race, but funny.

I actually like the IRL a lot (despite having started a NASCAR thread...); there's just something really cool about going well over 200 mph around a 1.5 mile oval, knowing that you're really on the very edge of losing control every lap.

Do you watch F1? The American motorsports scene doesn't really follow it as much, so I don't know a whole lot about it, but are the cars similar to the ones the IRL races? I only ask because I know Montoya ran F1 cars and won the Indy 500 in an IRL race and wondered how similar those cars are.

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Do you watch F1? The American motorsports scene doesn't really follow it as much, so I don't know a whole lot about it, but are the cars similar to the ones the IRL races? I only ask because I know Montoya ran F1 cars and won the Indy 500 in an IRL race and wondered how similar those cars are.

Well, F1 cars are all protoypes built from scracht every year, and technoligically they are surreal. Also while IRL are designed to run in ovals F1 are designed to road courses. In this sense F1 are a more similar to champcar than IRL. However Champcar and IRL designs relies on floor effect and turbo, F1 rules dont allow these elements since the 80s, so they use aerodynamical and mechanical grip and 20000 rpm V8 atmospherical engines. But i think that the main difference are aerodynamics and braking power. Becuase the huge aerodynamical grip F1 cars have lower maximum speeds in straights than IRL or Champcars but turn speeds are brutal, so while in ovals current F1 cars wouldnt be not so fast in road courses there is nothing near to F1 cars. However the same aerodynamics makes difficult for f1 drivers to get near to other cars rear wing due to turbulences, adding huge braking rates, the result is very few passing and some really boring races.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson and Gordon make it a two man race. Gordon has been remarkebly consistent all year and Johnson came on really strong leading up to the chase.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Well, after Sunday's race, Gordon and Johnson are tied for the points lead; Stewart is just behind them, and Clint Bowyer pulls into fourth place overall by winning the first race of his career.

Way to go, Clint!



I'd love to see a Childress car (Bowyer, Harvick, Burton) win the Cup, but my gut tells me it'll either be Stewart or one of the Hendrick cars: Gordon or Johnson.

...20000 rpm...

However the same aerodynamics makes difficult for f1 drivers to get near to other cars rear wing due to turbulences, adding huge braking rates, the result is very few passing and some really boring races.

The same is happening in the Nextel Cup Series, I think; the cars used to have a spoiler on the back, but now NASCAR is mandating a wing--the result, passing is more difficult.

Odd that they couldn't have figured that out; the new car design with the rear wing was supposed to make it easier to drive side-by-side for more passing!

 

[failedreality]

I think Gordon has a really good chance to take it, although Stewart has been know to pull some wins out of the air and take it. Should be interesting the next few weeks..

 

[pacesplace]

No matter what happens, I believe Jeff deserves what should be his sixth championship (2004 should've been his fifth). He has for a most part been a model of consistency that Matt Kenseth should envy, has dominated almost all stat categories, and his massive three hundred something point lead before the Chase field was set shows he has deserved number one hands down. But, once again, "excitement" will be rewarded over season long performance.

 

[Irish Caesar]

No matter what happens, I believe Jeff deserves what should be his sixth championship (2004 should've been his fifth). He has for a most part been a model of consistency that Matt Kenseth should envy, has dominated almost all stat categories, and his massive three hundred something point lead before the Chase field was set shows he has deserved number one hands down. But, once again, "excitement" will be rewarded over season long performance.

On the one hand, I agree with you; I much preferred the "classic" points championship to the new format. (By the way, www.jayski.com posts the current points using both formats if you don't already know about the site.) On the other hand, the drivers know the rules of the season right from the start, and can plan accordingly. Whether they would do anything different is debatable (and highly doubtful, I think; the #24 had this one locked up no matter what), but even the points system in use a few years ago isn't the only one NASCAR ever used.

I still don't think winning is emphasized enough, even with the tweaks to the system, though; awarding wins more would create more exciting races, I would think. I've been to quite a few races at New Hampshire and various New England short tracks, and I've seen some great races, but I generally don't remember drivers who finished in the top five. I remember who takes the checkers, though.

I was kinda hoping Bowyer would win the Cup this year without winning a single race, just to show how absurd the Chase format can be, but I'm glad he won one. I've been pulling for the guy since he started running Busch cars for Childress and I've got no problem with him winning the whole season.

Still, with the way Gordon drives, regardless of how many championships he finishes his career with, there's no question he's one of the greatest the sport has seen.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Rough race at the 1-mile oval in Dover, Delaware this afternoon.

Carl Edwards won the race, but his car failed post-race inspection, so he may be fined 25 points.

Jeff Gordon re-takes the overall lead in the championship points standings, but he has only a 2-point lead over Tony Stewart and it's another 2 points back to Jimmie Johnson. Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer are within 20 points of the lead after a solid day finishing in the top-15. Martin Truex, Jr. and Kurt Busch were involved in a nasty crash late in the race when something in Busch's car broke (perhaps a tire went flat? They didn't know on TV when it happened) and a 12-car crash ensued. Denny Hamlin also crashed early in the race after leading a lot of laps, and Matt Kenseth, who had the dominant car--leading the most laps in the race--blew the engine in the final hundred laps.

I have to admit, I was pulling for Mark Martin at the end, there; I was hoping he would have something for Edwards. It would have been nice to see the guy win one for DEI, not to mention for himself.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Only once has the winner of the Kansas race won the championship, and this year's winner, Greg Biffle, will not win the championship this year, either.

Good day (last Sunday) for the Hendrick cars of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, and the Childress cars of Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick. As the points stand, only Johnson, Gordon, and Bowyer are within 100 points of the lead (actually, they're all within 20). Probably a bad day for the fans, though, who had to sit through two rain delays and see a race that ended up running short because of darkness. But as someone who's sat through rain delays to see one of these races, I'd prefer to just get the race done and not worry about going the full distance--I'm cold and wet, I've seen some good racin', and I want to get out of the parking lot before midnight.

Next week, the series visits Talladega, Alabama, a 2.66-mile oval where stock cars tested at over 210 mph (average lap speed) in 1987 before the carburator intake was cut in half for safety purposes.

(1997 Formula One champion) Jacques Villeneuve will attempt to make his first start in NASCAR's top series, despite criticism from drivers such as Gordon that Talladega is not a good track to debut at due to the high speeds and close racing. Generally, a quick mistake at 'Dega leads to someone ending up upside-down.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Looks like there aren't a whole lot of views here, so I won't bump this too often...

Anyway, Talladega went generally well; nobody ended up upside-down. Villeneuve started the race by dropping to the rear of the field before the green flag, partly as a show of respect to the other drivers, and partly because following good drivers is a better way to learn a new kind of racing than simply being in the middle of a pack and trying to stand your ground.

Jeff Gordon won the race.

Last weekend, the series went to Charlotte, North Carolina; it was a long race with a lot of crashes, but not a lot of attrition. Jimmie Johnson spun out and hit the wall, but the damage on his car was minor and he went on to finish on the lead lap.

Jeff Gordon won the race.

As the points stand now, Gordon is leading Johnson and Clint Bowyer; most of the other drivers are hundreds of points out. The race looks to be between three drivers, with Gordon the clear favorite.

Next weekend, the series goes to Martinsville, Virginia, a short track known for close racing, hot tempers, and the best hot dogs in any sporting arena's concession stand.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Have you been to a race Irish?

 

[Irish Caesar]

I've been to many at New Hampshire Int'l Speedway in Loudon, NH; some were Winston Cup, some were Nextel Cup--I saw Robby Gordon, Joe Nemechek, and Ryan Newman get their first Cup Series wins. I've been to a ton of Busch, Truck, Modified, and Busch North/East races at Loudon as well; I knew Kurt Busch was going to kick butt when I saw him beat one of the Wallace brothers (Mike, I think) in a truck race, and I knew Martin Truex, Jr. was real talent when he dominated a Busch North race several years ago, before Dale Earnhardt, Inc. hired him to drive in the real Busch Series. Last summer, I actually stayed overnight and saw a couple of days of racing--and a quasi-legal fireworks display in the parking lot (God Bless New Hampshire!).

Other than that, I've been to local short tracks; they put on much better shows sometimes. I've been to Beech Ridge in Scarborough, Maine, and Stafford and Thompson in their respective towns in Connecticut. I'm hoping to get to a dirt track sometime, or to Atlanta or Talladega while I'm down here... I'm going to have to talk some friends into it who have cars.

Tip: Bobby Santos, III put on a great show in Stafford a couple of years ago against a field that had him beat many times over in experience and funding. He's started a couple of Busch races this season. That kid will be really good if he gets a good ride; I think he's in his early 20's, and he's from Franklin, Mass.

If I seem excited about this, it's because I really, really am; there's nothing like actually going to a race, and I understand why it's not nearly as popular on TV. But there's certain things that stick with you, whether it's everyone in the crowd on wooden bleachers on their feet pulling for the local guy, or whether it's standing a few feet from the fence during qualifying at Loudon when you have to hold on to your hat to keep it on your head... well, there's nothing like it that I've seen anywhere.



Have you?

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

No, it's the only sport I like where I haven't been to a live event. I've been to dozens of football and baseball games, and probably over 50 basketball games, but no NASCAR. My dad and I almost went to Michigan International for their NASCAR race in 2006, but couldn't make it.

I'll have to make it a priority to go to one next summer. It sounds fun.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Tickets are pretty expensive and hard to come by (at least they are for New Hampshire); what you might want to do is try to get to a Busch race. They generally are on the same weekend as the Cup race, so the spectacle will still be there, but if it looks like it's going to rain, you just decide that day whether or not to go... you can probably get tickets at the gate for a race like that. Of course, if you can get Cup tix, well, it's a great show.

Usually there will be Cup practice or qualifying the morning of the Busch race, so you can watch that, and half the guys in the Cup series run Busch races anyway.

If you decide you want to be a regular at the track, I recommend getting a scanner so you can listen in on the conversations between the drivers and their crews.

 

[Irish Caesar]

Two weeks left, and it looks like it's pretty much either Gordon or Johnson.



I have to admit, I haven't been as excited about this season as most; it seems to me that the good racing has been in the smaller series--Busch, Trucks, even IRL--this year. Although I've always liked having long races in order to test the driver and the equipment to greater limits, I read an idea this past week that I liked: split (some of) the races into segments which are each worth a full race. Instead of a 500-miler, have four 125's: each one pays the same points, so drivers can't just hang back in the field and wait until the end of the race to make a run for a good finish. I'd find that a lot more exciting, as I like watching short features at short tracks on a Thursday night...

And I feel kinda dirty hoping Jeff and Jimmie both blow engines two weeks straight to get Clint back in the mix... I feel like the #48 has this one in the bag already; I hope I'm wrong.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Two weeks left, and it looks like it's pretty much either Gordon or Johnson.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Johnson and Gordon make it a two man race. Gordon has been remarkebly consistent all year and Johnson came on really strong leading up to the chase.

Too bad though. I'm a Gordon fan and yesterday all but sealed the deal for Johnson.