NASCAR news

[HossC]

3 hours ago, Spike said:

If they wanted to attract more casual viewers I think they should have had a simpler format instead of 4 knockout qualifying races. My wife kept asking during the knockout races is this the race, I'd say no just some stupid qualifying/knockout race. She replied didn't they do qualifying last night (Saturday) to which I said yes. She replied why are they doing these races if they did the qualifying already... I don't know ask the idiots who thought it up.

I didn't get to see any of the action, but it sounds a mess. I'll have to read up on what they were trying to achieve.

F1 wanted to increase the number of sprint race qualifying events from three to six this year, saying that they increased audience figures and income, but several teams wanted the budget cap increased before agreeing, so they'll probably only be three again this year. I can't say that I was a huge fan of them.

There's only just over a month to the start of the 2022 F1 season, and I'm not feeling any of the usual excitement and anticipation this year. I should've been looking forward to seeing a great fight between two Britons at Mercedes: 8-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton and very talented youngster George Russell, but Hamilton was denied his 8th title in the debacle at the last race of 2021 in Abu Dhabi (see my previous posts), and he hasn't even decided if he's racing this year. After following the sport since the mid-80s, I may have to find something else to watch.

3 hours ago, Spike said:

This definitely isn't the Nascar of old anymore, they done turned it into a 3 ring circus.

You reminded me of this proverb which I came across last week. I've no idea if it's genuine, but from the context, I think it was directed at the British PM:

"When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus."

Disclaimer: I'm aware that we don't discuss politics here. I gave the context for reference, but did not include my opinion!

[Hobie Hartkins]

When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus

 

This is MOST excellent  cousin Hoss!! I'm going to have to remember this one!   

[Spike]

15 hours ago, HossC said:

"When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus."

We definitely know what that's like, we had to deal with a circus for 4 years.

 

Nascar's Growth and Engagement Officer/Advisor was arrested in Las Vegas over the weekend https://sports.yahoo.com/police-alvin-kamara-party-beat-man-unconscious-broke-his-eye-socket-050616004.html After reading this Nascar better distance themselves from this guy, like yesterday. The longer they wait the worse it's going to look for Nascar's brand. 

[Spike]

Greg Biffle will try and make the Great American Race with NY Racing in the 44 Chevy Camaro https://www.jayski.com/2022/02/14/ny-racing-to-attempt-daytona-500-with-greg-biffle/

Busch Light will spend $10  million dollars over the next 3 years sponsoring women drivers https://www.jayski.com/2022/02/14/busch-light-launches-accelerate-her-program/

There are 42 teams vying for 40 spots for the Daytona 500, 6 driver's have to race their way in, 4 will make it 2 will go home. https://www.jayski.com/nascar-cup-series/2022-nascar-cup-series-daytona-500-entry-list/

Current and Former Nascar Cup Series driver's formed a Driver's Advisory Council and named Jeff Burton Director https://www.jayski.com/2022/02/11/drivers-form-drivers-advisory-council-jeff-burton-named-director/

The racing kicks off tonight at 7pm with the Arca Menards East series race on Floracing if you get that channel. Wednesday night is Cup single car Qualifying on FS1, Thursday night is the duels FS1, Friday night Truck series race FS1, Saturday afternoon Arca Menards series and Xfinity Daytona races FS1 and Sunday afternoon the Daytona 500 on Fox.

[Spike]

Nascar is making a rule change after the 1st practice of the season in the new car. Some teams skewed the cars so much it looked like they were crab-racing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7N34qJDDIY

 

[HossC]

16 hours ago, Spike said:

Nascar is making a rule change after the 1st practice of the season in the new car. Some teams skewed the cars so much it looked like they were crab-racing.

That looks fun - I wonder what the race would've been like without the rule change.

[HossC]

Michael Masi, the F1 race director who screwed up last year's championship by failing to follow the rules at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, has been removed from his post. Two new race directors will now alternate in the role, and teams will no longer be able to communicate directly with the race director.

The full report won't be published until the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 19th, and I still haven't seen any word on whether Lewis Hamilton is competing this year.

[Spike]

22 hours ago, HossC said:

That looks fun - I wonder what the race would've been like without the rule change.

A lot like the "twisted sister" gen 4 car races. The last few seasons the gen 4 car was raced some of the cars looked almost like they were drifting all around the track. Gen 5 or as it was better known the CoT debuted in 2008. 

Greg Biffle, Jacques Villeneuve, Kaz Grala and Noah Gragson survived the Daytona Duels and made it into the 500 Sunday. JJ Yeley and Timmy Hill were not able to get in on qualifying speed or finishing order.

[HossC]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Greg Biffle, Jacques Villeneuve, Kaz Grala and Noah Gragson survived the Daytona Duels and made it into the 500 Sunday.

Jacques Villeneuve, there's a name I've hardly heard since he left F1 (I don't get to see IndyCar). He's not doing bad considering he's nearly as old as me.

[Hobie Hartkins]

I just wonder how Brandon is doing? Let's go Brandon!!

[HossC]

On 2/17/2022 at 2:45 PM, HossC said:

The full report won't be published until the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 19th, and I still haven't seen any word on whether Lewis Hamilton is competing this year.

Well, Lewis Hamilton announced yesterday that he will be racing in this year's F1.

[Spike]

Austin Cindric won his first Daytona 500 race. Although the Hendrick Chevy's qualified on the front row the Fords quickly shuffled them out of the way. Brad Keselowski led most of the laps early on with Austin pushing him to the lead. Then the Gibbs and 2311 racing Toyota's linked up and showed their strength. Brad Keselowski pushed Harrison Burton a little too hard and caused the first small big one taking out 2 of the Gibbs Toyota's and Harrison rolled over. Some teams had issues with the new single lug rims and them coming off. The TMT 50 Chevy was the first to suffer a wheel flying off and causing a caution and Nascar immediately suspended the crew chief for 4 races and gave him a substantial fine. The 2nd big small one was caused by Kyle Larson having to big of a run and hitting Kevin Harvick too hard causing him to lose the car with 10 laps to go. This set up a 2 lap overtime shootout which Austin Cindric won. The 3rd big small one came at the end with several cars spinning/wrecking across the finish line. 

Top 10

1 Austin Cindric

2 Bubba Wallace

3 Chase Briscoe

4 Ryan Blaney

5 Aric Almirola

6 Kyle Busch

7 Michael McDowell

8 David Ragan

9 Brad Keselowski

10 Chase Elliott

Jacques Villeneuve finished 22nd.

Chase Elliott signed a 5 year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports https://www.jayski.com/2022/02/20/chase-elliott-signs-contract-extension-with-hendrick-motorsports/

 

[HossC]

4 hours ago, Spike said:

Some teams had issues with the new single lug rims and them coming off. The TMT 50 Chevy was the first to suffer a wheel flying off and causing a caution and Nascar immediately suspended the crew chief for 4 races and gave him a substantial fine. 

F1 has been using single lug rims for decades (it's one of the reasons that F1 pit stops can be so quick), but they still cause problems from time to time. It's been a while since a car left the pits with a loose wheel that subsequently came off, but there were several cases last year where teams either struggled to get lug nuts undone or cross-threaded them putting wheels on.

P.S. Thanks for including Jacques Villeneuve's finishing position, Spike.

[Spike]

On 2/21/2022 at 2:31 PM, HossC said:

F1 has been using single lug rims for decades (it's one of the reasons that F1 pit stops can be so quick), but they still cause problems from time to time. It's been a while since a car left the pits with a loose wheel that subsequently came off, but there were several cases last year where teams either struggled to get lug nuts undone or cross-threaded them putting wheels on.

P.S. Thanks for including Jacques Villeneuve's finishing position, Spike.

One team couldn't get the lug off so they changed the other 3 tires and left that one on, I forget which car it was but I think it made it to the end. One thing that multiple teams complained about was the rims not seating correctly. Funny thing is Penske and RoushFenwayKeselowski Racing both saw this as an issue before Daytona and modified the drivepin holes, even contacted Nascar about the issue. So far Nascar hasn't penalized either team after confiscating their rims before the Daytona Duels last week.

BTW I think Villeneuve's car had the best scheme at Daytona. After he qualified for the 500 Woodie's Wash Shack stepped up to sponsor him

 

 

[HossC]

Tires come in sets in F1, so changing 3 would have resulted in the car being recalled to the pits and possibly a fine for the team.

BTW. In Ireland, Woodies is a store similar to Home Depot in the US.

[Spike]

Not to get political but I see F1 has cancelled the Russian Grand Prix for now.

The Daytona 500 had a huge jump in viewers from last year's 500, 8.8million people watched this year compared to just 4.9million viewers for last year's Daytona 500.

Here's the penalty report for the Daytona 500 https://www.jayski.com/2022/02/23/daytona-post-race-penalties-announced-4/

RFK and Penske did not get penalized and Nascar has decided to make changes to the wheels that those teams did. 

Nascar has also suspended the crew chiefs and tire changers from the #50 TMT team and #31 Kaulig Racing. If teams will also lose tire changers I think we might see slower pitstops to make sure the rims are seated right and lugs tightened properly as top tier teams do not want to lose valuable pit crew.

[RogerDuke]

I hope Chase Elliott does better than at Daytona 

[HossC]

6 hours ago, Spike said:

Not to get political but I see F1 has cancelled the Russian Grand Prix for now.

It looks like the US-based Haas F1 team may be trying to ditch their Russian driver, Nikita Mazepin. It turns out that his father, Dmitry, is a billionaire who supplies a lot of sponsorship money to the team, but he also has close ties to Vladimir Putin. If he does go, I don't see it being a great loss to the sport!

[Spike]

California Autoclub race was pretty exciting yesterday, due to that plans to change Autoclub speedway to a short track are now on hold. Several lead changes and Smaller teams actually dominating. Tyler Reddick looked poised to win his first Cup race but a slow pit stop put him in traffic and he was involved in a wreck which ended his chance for the win. He led the most laps and won Stage 1 & 2. Erik Jones in the #43 was up front all race and ended up finishing 3rd. Chase Elliot had a long race. Went down 2 laps early in the race and when he finally got back on the lead lap and his pit crew got him out in the top 5 to fight for the win his teammate Kyle Larson put him in the wall and he spun a few laps after that and wound up 2 laps down again. He showed his displeasure by running Kyle Larson all the way down to the grass when he lapped him. Kyle Busch also had a bad race, the handling was off on his car and hit the wall and had a flat tire. He went down 5 laps but by the end of the race he finally made it back onto the lead lap and finished 14th.

Top 10

1 Kyle Larson

2. Austin Dillon

3 Erik Jones

4 Daniel Suarez

5 Joey Logano

6 Aric Almirola

7 Kevin Harvick

8 Kurt Busch

9 Daniel Hemric

10 Ricky Stenhouse jr

Edited February 28, 2022 by Spike

[Spike]

Forgot to mention Jimmy Johnson was showing some speed at the Indycar St. Petersburg race yesterday. He made it up to 13th or 14th from starting last but he was running a different pit strategy and had to save fuel so he ended up finishing 23rd.

[RogerDuke]

4 hours ago, Spike said:

California Autoclub race was pretty exciting yesterday, due to that plans to change Autoclub speedway to a short track are now on hold. Several lead changes and Smaller teams actually dominating. Tyler Reddick looked poised to win his first Cup race but a slow pit stop put him in traffic and he was involved in a wreck which ended his chance for the win. He led the most laps and won Stage 1 & 2. Erik Jones in the #43 was up front all race and ended up finishing 3rd. Chase Elliot had a long race. Went down 2 laps early in the race and when he finally got back on the lead lap and his pit crew got him out in the top 5 to fight for the win his teammate Kyle Larson put him in the wall and he spun a few laps after that and wound up 2 laps down again. He showed his displeasure by running Kyle Larson all the way down to the grass when he lapped him. Kyle Busch also had a bad race, the handling was off on his car and hit the wall and had a flat tire. He went down 5 laps but by the end of the race he finally made it back onto the lead lap and finished 14th.

Top 10

1 Kyle Larson

2. Austin Dillon

3 Erik Jones

4 Daniel Suarez

5 Joey Logano

6 Aric Almirola

7 Kevin Harvick

8 Kurt Busch

9 Daniel Hemric

10 Ricky Stenhouse jr

Thanks for the review Spike. I just ran out of reactions so couldn't post one. Too bad about Chase Elliott. 

[HossC]

On 2/25/2022 at 7:53 PM, HossC said:

It looks like the US-based Haas F1 team may be trying to ditch their Russian driver, Nikita Mazepin. It turns out that his father, Dmitry, is a billionaire who supplies a lot of sponsorship money to the team, but he also has close ties to Vladimir Putin. If he does go, I don't see it being a great loss to the sport!

Yesterday, Haas decided to sack Nikita Mazepin and sever ties with his father's company which was their title sponsor. F1 has not only cancelled this year's Russian Grand Prix, but also the contract for future races which were due to move from Sochi to St Petersburg in 2023.

[Spike]

Las Vegas was another race where the David's almost beat the Goliath's. Ross Chastain led the most laps and won stage 1. His car was strong throughout the race and ended up finishing 3rd. Kyle Busch came from last place to almost winning in a backup car after wrecking his car in practice. A late race caution caused by something breaking or a tire going down on Erik Jones car causing him to almost collide with the pace car near pit road exit. He was having another great race up until that point. All the lead lap cars pitted for newer tires, only one team had a new set left. Tire wear was a major issue as all but one team ran out of new tires and had to make due with tires not completely worn out during the race. The teams that took two tires came out of the pits ahead of Kyle Busch. It was a side by side 2 lap drag race between Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson with Alex winning at the line. Kyle Busch gave a rare mature post race interview on Fox but later threw his typical tantrum interview calling Bowman an "all luck, no skill" driver. Alex and his pr team took that and ran and now have a shirt for sale on his store with proceeds going to animal shelters https://abrinc.shop/collections/t-shirts/products/pre-order-all-luck-no-skill-las-vegas-win-black-t-shirt

Top 10

1 Alex Bowman

2 Kyle Larson

3 Ross Chastain

4 Kyle Busch

5 William Byron

6 Aric Almirola

7 Tyler Reddick

8 Martin Truex Jr

9 Chase Elliott

10 Christopher Bell

[HossC]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

All the lead lap cars pitted for newer tires, only one team had a new set left. Tire wear was a major issue as all but one team ran out of new tires and had to make due with tires not completely worn out during the race.

It always used to appear that NASCAR teams had unlimited tires. Have they recently started limiting them or has that always been the case? F1 teams often have to put on used (or scrubbed) tires, but they've probably only done a few laps, and even the softest compound normally lasts at least 1/3 race distance.

[RogerDuke]

3 hours ago, HossC said:

It always used to appear that NASCAR teams had unlimited tires. Have they recently started limiting them or has that always been the case? F1 teams often have to put on used (or scrubbed) tires, but they've probably only done a few laps, and even the softest compound normally lasts at least 1/3 race distance.

Does NASCAR still sell used tires to fans as souvenirs?