Nascar

[zargz]

yay! nascar's back!

just saw the 70 laps budwiser shootout in daytona!
never see daytona race before, cool! 8)
no points!? what's the point with that?
I'm guessing it's a pre-seasson show race coz there were only 23 of 43 cars too. :)

who else, other than RR and me, follows nascar racing?

[infoxicated]

I thought about watching Daytona on Sunday night - if only to follow the likes of Hornish, Franchitti and Villeneuve. I just cant get into NASCAR racing for whatever reason, but it's a good six weeks until the IndyCar season starts so I might have to drop my guard for a race or two.

I'm betting the first "lucky dog" pass has me reaching for the channel changer, though. ;)

[RJ O'Connell]

Don't forget Montoya - I know, hot-tempered, underachiever, overweight - I've heard it all before, but nobody lucks their way into a CART title in the late 90s (when the level of competition wasn't on par with the Azerbaijan Toyota Yaris Cup) as a rookie, same goes for the win at Indianapolis in 2000 - also as a race rookie - and his Formula 1 resume is rather impressive in an era where Michael Schumacher was guaranteed a win total in the double digits every year.

As for Newtown, he has to qualify for the race first - and it's looking as unlikely for him as scoring points in a '99 BAR-Supertec X_X

[Rapier Racer]

Yeah I'm happy to see Sky Sports finally getting their finger out their ass and getting some coverage. Sadly they have this studio setup hosted by a couple of clueless tits who know precisely ZERO about the sport eh well you can't have it all. I'll be keeping my subscription to Setanta since NASN are still showing the Nationwide series and NASCAR Now, Sky aren't even showing the pre-race shows as part of their coverage, a major letdown.

Go Kyle Busch in the 18!! :banzai

[mdhay]

Only ever seen one race, might watch more of it.

Strangely enough, I can get Setanta through Skys freeview. :?:

[infoxicated]

It's the same with the IndyCar, Stephen - the anchorman they put in is completely clueless, although to be fair the two guests are generally much more knowledgable. There's an even worse anchorman that they use on occasion and he has absolutely no idea at all.

I have a mate at work who has a big dish beside his Sky dish and he picks up all the european networks with it to watch the college football from the 'states, and he gets the proper american feeds.

I don't know why Sky haven't learned by now - brits cannot present american sports with the same knowledge and passion as an american presenter... with the exception of Kevin Cadle on the Sky Sports NFL coverage - he's useless! ;)

[Rapier Racer]

Indeed, Sky need to just copy what NASN did and that was simply full American coverage and no studio bit, hell they didn't even interrupt the coverage when the US station took a break they gave us 5 minutes or so of in-car footage from one of the 8 on board cameras. Until Setanta Ireland started showing it, they would occasionally cut in with ads, only on occasion mind still got a lot of in-car.

It's important that they don't go missing vital bits of the program out, and if one of these guys starts using their own terms to describe a car condition in place of loose and tight I'm gonna have to join the fans already firing off suggestion/complaint mails to Sky Sports, for all the good that'll do.

I thought great NASCAR on Sky Sports maybe its fan base here will grow a little more since it's now more accessible. So long as they don't cut vital parts of the show out like the Chevy Cutaway Car where they explain the technicalities of the cars as appropriate e.g a popular driving is complaining about a particular part of his car, you are provided with an in depth explanation of what exactly the problem is and the possible workaround. Cut bits like that out and I fail to see how the sport can expand here when people won't really understand it.

Sky aren't exactly the best when it comes to motorsports.

Rant ends. :P

[RJ O'Connell]

Tomorrow - Gatorade Duel qualifying races.

Any thoughts on who will earn their grid position? :D

[swift killer]

Problem with Daytona, theres no way you can clearly predict the winner.

[Lance]

Sounds more like a positive benefit than a problem. If the result were solidly predictable, there would be little point in having the event.

[Rapier Racer]

Anyone else in the UK watching the second Gatorade Dual right now? My man Kyles moved up from 20th to 1st currently, this eliminates those claims that he was only good due to Hendrick equipment.

[zargz]

Problem with Daytona, theres no way you can clearly predict the winner.I don't see how that can be a problem.
That's the way it should be in every race!

was thinking of cheering on Montoya this season. coz he is latino.
but just may change to #20 coz he's drivin a jap (the only [I think] non n.american) car brand - toyota! :D

my 1st fav ever was mark Martin when he was driving #6 ford taurus.

// RR

so you are still with Kyles? what nr has he got this year?

// foxy

Give it a chance, these are fun races to watch.
I first started watching nascar coz there was no other racing on tv at that moment
I liked it pretty fast after a few crashes :D
also the 100.000 cameras on each car and every corner makes for a great tv show
with all the replays from different angles :+

[infoxicated]

Like I said, I'll watch Daytona if I'm not doing anything else on Sunday, but I've tried time and again to watch NASCAR and the purist in me just cant take the gimmicks. :)

[rageagainstgeorge]

I am a huge motorsports fan. I love anything from F1 to Le Mans to Super GT to Moto GP and yet, somehow, I can't get into Nascar. I've seen a few races, mostly on Channel 5 late at night. I downloaded the Sonoma 350 last year to see Monty's first win but that was about it really.

Has Dario Franchitti started in the Nextel Cup yet? Maybe a bit of UK interest would get me into it.

[RJ O'Connell]

Yesterday, rage. Though it was by no means an earth-shattering performance.

I'm not much for the gimmicks of NASCAR either, but it's another month until any other series starts. Well, besides the WRC which is no longer broadcast in the States :brickwall (Don't even get me started on how no one's carrying Autobacs Super GT...)

[zargz]

I was cheering for the 20 car but hey good job with the slipstreaming from 12 and 2.
Good win, dodges! 8)

[RJ O'Connell]

I'm happy for Roger Penske finally winning as an owner at Daytona, and a bit more relieved that it wasn't that knob Kurt Busch who earned it.

And Tony Stewart came away with a good finish, much better than how he started last year - I see a third championship in the near future...^_^

[infoxicated]

I thought it was okay - the lucky dog stuff didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I wouldn't have minded seeing the actual debris on those two cautions for debris, although the second one looked legit with the cut tire.

The racing was good after the second yellow, but the last 25 laps were a waste of my life. The finish was good, if a bit too random. Cant be mad at Roger Penske winning since he's a staunch supporter of the IndyCar Series, and the manner in which the team mates worked to skin Tony Stewart in the final corner was pretty cool.

The commentary would have you believe there's nothing like it on Earth - from "1959 was even faster than Indy" - which is complete bollocks, Indy pole was around 5mph faster in 1959 - and "They're doing close to 190mph here!"... well yeah, if you call around 182mph close to 190mph then it's as easy to say that the IndyCars are doing 220mph pretty much all the time.

The anchor guy in the London studio was the same guy who does the IndyCars - he's alright, but he's a motorbike guy first and foremost. He did handle the questions well and was much more enthused than the two studio guests. I liked how some IndyCar fans were texting and emailing to ask what they would do if an IndyCar race and a NASCAR race clashed and they said they'd be showing them both, which is a relief. :)

All in all, I cant say it's converted me - there was some decent racing, but for the most part I thought it was pretty dull. I'm not talking about wanting accidents, either - I just thought the actual racing came in dribs and drabs and they seemed content to hold station for most of the 500 miles.

Ah well, I tried. :)

[swift killer]

I think it's fair to say that Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in the Toyota's threw that one away.

Anyone notice how unpopular Montoya still is, he had absolutely NO drafting help.

[rageagainstgeorge]

Good report there infox. I don't have to watch it now!

It bothers me that, with the race being the showpiece of the NASCAR season, the commentator's found the time to talk all that rubbish.

What happened to Monty? He finished really far down. He does seem to be fairly unpopular no matter where he goes. I know Ralf hated him and i think Kimi did too.

Not really on topic, but what's everyone's thoughts on the IRL Champcar merger that's been rumoured. Good news as far i'm concerned. Maybe it will get back to being as popular as it was in the 80's and early 90's.

[Lance]

Tony Stewart, I do not like thee.

Such a bad sport.

You lost!!!

YeeHaaaa!

:D

----------

I'm not a fan of NASCAR, but it's occasionally good to have on the tv while I'm online.

The American racing series I like the best [but rarely get to see] is the so-called American LeMans series. Love the cars, and many of the tracks.

I also like Champ Car very well, but NASCAR is the only series that gets regular coverage on broadcast tv where I live.

[RJ O'Connell]

You disappoint me Lance! Though I do agree with you - Stewart can be a sore loser at times. But at least he doesn't retaliate after a crash by trying to wreck people coming into the pits.

/just saying

[Lance]

He seems to retaliate against every perceived injury with a smack at the car of the supposed or actual offender. I've seen him do it several times. Sometimes he's been fined for it and sometimes not. He did it again yesterday.

It ain't rite, Billy Bob; it just ain't rite.

[swift killer]

Not really on topic, but what's everyone's thoughts on the IRL Champcar merger that's been rumoured. Good news as far i'm concerned. Maybe it will get back to being as popular as it was in the 80's and early 90's.

It' not going to happen, Champcar will have to rot by itself, but back to the topic, Tony Stewart was foolish to not spot the two Penske boys making a run on the high side and block them down the back straight, he thought he had a drafting partner in Kyle Busch when he was no where near close enough.

Montoya got left out to dry between the two lanes because, every saw him take out the Jack Daniel's car, Jeff Gordon had a good chance but no luck and Dale Jr made a mistake in drafting Kyle Busch on the restart.

[Rapier Racer]

// RR

so you are still with Kyles? what nr has he got this year?

Of course, you wouldn't change football teams.. :p I continue to support him, not caring about all this he has a bad attitude nonsense because he says what he wants to during post race interviews instead of what NASCAR wants to hear, plenty of other pussy whipped drivers to do that for them. He's also one of them most exciting drivers to watch on the track.

He has the #18 M&M's Toyota now for JGR, used to drive the #5 Carquest/Kellogg's Chevrolet for Hendrick, but Hendrick decided he wanted an overrated talentless hick instead so that was that and now Hendrick is going to realize what a bad decision that was.

As for Montoya he drove poorly most of last season thus no one wants anything to do with the 42.

[RJ O'Connell]

So, it's been a whole half season since anyone's posted here, and here's how I've felt about this season: Bittersweet.

I'm warming up to Kyle Busch a lot. He can ****ing drive. Leading the points, with five wins so far this year, that number could easily go into double-digits. And now that he's not trying to run three races in the same weekend, every weekend, I think he can focus on winning the championship.

On the other hand, Tony Stewart could easily have as many wins as "Shrub" - he's just been snakebitten by bad luck. Maybe it's the transfer rumours, maye it's the excess stubble, or what - but his chances for the Chase aren't looking good.

And the #42 team has just been awful. In fact, all the Ganassi cars have been slow all year. Dario Franchitti can't qualify for races he's not sitting out due to injury.

Thoughts? Maybe some speculation on the race at New Hampshire?

[Rapier Racer]

My speculation is that Kyle will win it :lol What was that at Sonoma? Was is CHEERING for Kyle instead of boos? Yeah even Jr fans would have difficulty booing that performance. (I don't like that guy.....lol)

Yey! team 18 for the cup!

Hey Lance this kinda goes against your you get better with age theory in another thread as hes only 23 and dominating this season.

[Asayyeah]

But his name completely ruins his performance : how can you esteem someone named Bush ?
:g

[Lance]

Hey Lance this kinda goes against your you get better with age theory in another thread as hes only 23 and dominating this season.

He's better than he was when he was 22! :g

[Rapier Racer]

Well actually...... thats 100% correct lol

Still pretty young though, I think I'll try to follow in his footsteps when HD comes out. :P


But his name completely ruins his performance : how can you esteem someone named Bush ?
:g

*Aheam* Busch. :D

Edit: Nads that shouldn't be it was supposed to be and edit!! No worries sure someone will be along to remove the other one soon enough.

[Asayyeah]

oups :P

interesting double post :lol ( you lucky i am not a mod anymore ;) )

[RJ O'Connell]

Man, it's quiet in here.

Latest from the garage: The #40 team that Dario Franchitti was driving for has now been shut down due to lack of funds, leaving the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series Champion without a ride. They were running on one-race sponsorships throughout the season, like the Yates Racing cars - specifically, car #28 driven by Travis Kvapil. Unlike the #28 team, which is sitting in the Top 20 in points and has finished solidly almost every week, the #40 team has failed to qualify for a few races this year and sits outside the top 35 in standings.

Source (http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=346967)