General Nascar Chat

It's like Willy Ribbs (who attempted NASCAR at one point, but it didnt work as he was a black man and this was the 80s)
I hope I got his name right, Im sorry. Look up the movie/doc "UPPITY"
Anyway, he was a good road racer, convinced his parents to take the money they saved for his college to send him to Europe for Formula 4 or 3, I forget. Basically, they used college money to get him in a car and hoped it would take him higher.
He was good! ...but the F2 or F1 required 1.5M (in those times) to even get a seat in a crappy car. Not to mention all the other expenses.

He had a good career in sports car racing in America, but funds still limited things a bit.
Look at today with IMSA - there are 'gentleman drivers,' but they're all older successful business guys with lots of disposable income. And they pay a lot for about 4 or 5 hours in the 24 hour race.
 
HMP said:
It's like Willy Ribbs (who attempted NASCAR at one point, but it didnt work as he was a black man and this was the 80s)
I hope I got his name right, Im sorry. Look up the movie/doc "UPPITY"
Anyway, he was a good road racer, convinced his parents to take the money they saved for his college to send him to Europe for Formula 4 or 3, I forget. Basically, they used college money to get him in a car and hoped it would take him higher.
He was good! ...but the F2 or F1 required 1.5M (in those times) to even get a seat in a crappy car. Not to mention all the other expenses.

He had a good career in sports car racing in America, but funds still limited things a bit.
Look at today with IMSA - there are 'gentleman drivers,' but they're all older successful business guys with lots of disposable income. And they pay a lot for about 4 or 5 hours in the 24 hour race.
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Unfortunately racing costs a lot more than a $10 basketball. I can guarantee some local guys are just as talented as the highest level guys. Not everyone has chances like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Chase Elliott.
 
HMP said:
It's like Willy Ribbs (who attempted NASCAR at one point, but it didnt work as he was a black man and this was the 80s)
I hope I got his name right, Im sorry. Look up the movie/doc "UPPITY"
Anyway, he was a good road racer, convinced his parents to take the money they saved for his college to send him to Europe for Formula 4 or 3, I forget. Basically, they used college money to get him in a car and hoped it would take him higher.
He was good! ...but the F2 or F1 required 1.5M (in those times) to even get a seat in a crappy car. Not to mention all the other expenses.

He had a good career in sports car racing in America, but funds still limited things a bit.
Look at today with IMSA - there are 'gentleman drivers,' but they're all older successful business guys with lots of disposable income. And they pay a lot for about 4 or 5 hours in the 24 hour race.
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I'm going off topic, but your mention of Willy T Ribbs reminded me of Marvin Webster's Nascar skit on Johnboy and Billy of a black man's take on Nascar. Hilarious šŸ˜‚

 
Chase Elliott fan here. He did fizzle towards the end of the playoffs and never really ran good.

I am not a fan of 1 race deciding the champion. It works in other sports because the playing field is the same size. Tracks are too unique.

NASCAR is too gimmicky now and inconsistent in how they officiate races. They are truly their own worst enemy and make the sport look like a clown show at times.
 
Railsplitter said:
I'm going off topic, but your mention of Willy T Ribbs reminded me of Marvin Webster's Nascar skit on Johnboy and Billy of a black man's take on Nascar. Hilarious šŸ˜‚

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I had the same thought! Probably heard it first, 30 years or so ago
 
I was a pit crew member for various teams from 99-08. Even in that short time Nascar changed a lot and not for the better. We ran Busch cars and trucks at local short tracks which made for some good racing. Once they moved all 3 series to the same tracks the quality and excitement of the races dropped. I know that they never will but I would like to see the trucks go back to tracks like South Boston, Orange Co etc.
 
Gunner67 said:
I was a pit crew member for various teams from 99-08. Even in that short time Nascar changed a lot and not for the better. We ran Busch cars and trucks at local short tracks which made for some good racing. Once they moved all 3 series to the same tracks the quality and excitement of the races dropped. I know that they never will but I would like to see the trucks go back to tracks like South Boston, Orange Co etc.
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Yeah you saw the biggest change then. They decided to kill lots of different smaller tracks to make a bunch of generic 1.5miles and go out west.

Hell, those guys were just buying tracks to have ownership of the date. Then moved that date to a different track.
 
I have followed NASCAR for years. The cars have modernized a lot starting this year. There is still a lot to do with the new car. The car is so rigid it is hurting the drivers. Stage racing is ok as it creates a break and rewards running up front. The old points system had got to be boring to fans. The playoffs system rewards who is hot at the right time and lucky. I use Draftkings and Fanduel to wager a little too. There is no kneeling for National Anthem. It is completely commercialized as that is where the money for the cars comes from. They are rolling billboards. My favorite drivers are the few whose wallet has not got between the floorboard and the gas pedal as Buddy Baker used to say. I like Berry in Exfinity and the watermelon man in Cup right now. I record the races and watch delayed to zip through the commercials.
 
pikepole20 said:
I have followed NASCAR for years. The cars have modernized a lot starting this year. There is still a lot to do with the new car. The car is so rigid it is hurting the drivers. Stage racing is ok as it creates a break and rewards running up front. The old points system had got to be boring to fans. The playoffs system rewards who is hot at the right time and lucky. I use Draftkings and Fanduel to wager a little too. There is no kneeling for National Anthem. It is completely commercialized as that is where the money for the cars comes from. They are rolling billboards. My favorite drivers are the few whose wallet has not got between the floorboard and the gas pedal as Buddy Baker used to say. I like Berry in Exfinity and the watermelon man in Cup right now. I record the races and watch delayed to zip through the commercials.
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Yeah a break is nice, but there usually are breaks with natural cautions. The part where a leader can be 6 seconds ahead and lose all that time and possibly lose spots in the pits due to the stage caution is a joke imo.

I also like Watermelon. I like how he races hard and pushes the limits. I'm not a logano guy, but I'm starting to come around to him. He doesn't give a shiz what other drivers think of him and he does what's needed to win. He's goofy though.

In terms of the car, I just don't see the reason for a 1 lug wheel. There are some other things. Also, suspending members on the team that have nothing to do with loose lugs is a joke. You are right about the rolling billboards. If I'm a company though, I wouldn't invest in nascar. I just don't see the return they get. I guess 1/2 the point is just to keep your name out there in general.
 
The chastain wall ride was great. Made a lot of noise outside of standard race watchers.

The Laughable moment was when Larson said it "puts a bad image on the sport". Yeah, okay Larson, as if you saying the N-word on a virtual racing event was a great moment.

Chastain used the wall when he needed to. It wasn't against the rule, he did it, everyone was in disbelief and it worked.
 
I think the wall ride was great. I don't see it working at any other track but Martinsville as the speeds are to fast and it will tear the car up before the finish line. The one lug wheel is here to stay. At some point it will be on passenger cars too. No caution at the stage breaks is fine with me, but they are going to get there commercials in regardless. Sixty to eighty percent of the cost of a team's money comes from sponsors. They have to get their investment back somehow. Planned commercials/cautions help solve that problem. The biggest problem right now is the stiffness of the car. I would eliminate the underbody panels and such to make the cars have less grip. Give them more power so they have to back off in the corners. The cars can basically run wide open all the time which makes it very difficult to pass since everybody has about the same setup to get through the corners wide open. Make handling a premium. This will string the field put though which is evidently not what they want.
 
How about let them run whatever they can? More power, faster cars; run it as hard as your skill allows. Too fast into the turn? So sorry; fix it up and better luck next time.

Get back to your roots. Go buy it off the lot, pull the fluff and put in a roll cage. Tweak the engine to get the most from it and run what you brung....
 
The problem with unrestricted speed isn't the skill of the driver, it became a debris containment issue.

Nascar was reaching speeds of 230mph on the super speedway. The catch fence can not be built to sustain the damages or debris. Remember when a tire went into the stands at 100+mph? The families of those hit sure do remember.

Remember when a little girl died from a hockey puck going over the glass?

People getting hit by baseballs flying 100mph into the foul territory?

Sure some would say that there hazards to attend. But at what point do the establishments and event holders take safety over "past time". Nascar had to bring safety of not just drivers, but spectators into a much larger thought.

Yes, it's cool to see fast race cars. But who wants to see drivers killed in a flipping race.

I do agree that it should be a stock car race again. Have weight and hp classes, but if a team wants to dump $100k into a prius, let them. Same for a mustang to a Silverado.
 
Car0linab0y said:
How about let them run whatever they can? More power, faster cars; run it as hard as your skill allows. Too fast into the turn? So sorry; fix it up and better luck next time.

Get back to your roots. Go buy it off the lot, pull the fluff and put in a roll cage. Tweak the engine to get the most from it and run what you brung....
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Nice thought but it'll never happen, lawyers won't let it (safety ). Too many people don't remember or even know what the letters N-A-S-C-A-R stand for.

.
 
Chriselalto said:
The Laughable moment was when Larson said it "puts a bad image on the sport". Yeah, okay Larson, as if you saying the N-word on a virtual racing event was a great moment.
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Or, Bubba's noose/door pull stunt.
 
Old thread, but thought it was a good place to drop this:

Real Sports with Bryant Gumble is a show I dont watch. But I was watching a movie, fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to it and a piece on a guy I'd never heard of before - Brad Daugherty.
A North Carolina man, raised in Black Mountain area.

I looked online and couldnt find the segment on youtube, but it was a good watch. Here's the breakdown
-from an early age he liked stock car racing and would get his dad to take him to the local races
-he met THE KING Richard Petty as he (RP) was exiting the bathroom before a race one time, that was his favorite driver. They spoke and it fueled this flame more
-Because of Petty, he always played the number 43.
-Started playing college ball at UNC at 16 years old in early 80s (im guessing), #1 draft pick in NBA in mid 80s
-At almost 7' tall, he knew he'd never be a driver, though that was the plan - make money in NBA and go race
-Became an owner of a small team, but not under his name
-Now is first person of color to own a Daytona 500 winner, 2023 winner Ricky Steinhouser

The man loves NASCAR and tries to get more black folks into it. Positive person, seems like a good individual
Was a cool interest piece
 
HMP said:
Old thread, but thought it was a good place to drop this:

Real Sports with Bryant Gumble is a show I dont watch. But I was watching a movie, fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to it and a piece on a guy I'd never heard of before - Brad Daugherty.
A North Carolina man, raised in Black Mountain area.

I looked online and couldnt find the segment on youtube, but it was a good watch. Here's the breakdown
-from an early age he liked stock car racing and would get his dad to take him to the local races
-he met THE KING Richard Petty as he (RP) was exiting the bathroom before a race one time, that was his favorite driver. They spoke and it fueled this flame more
-Because of Petty, he always played the number 43.
-Started playing college ball at UNC at 16 years old in early 80s (im guessing), #1 draft pick in NBA in mid 80s
-At almost 7' tall, he knew he'd never be a driver, though that was the plan - make money in NBA and go race
-Became an owner of a small team, but not under his name
-Now is first person of color to own a Daytona 500 winner, 2023 winner Ricky Steinhouser

The man loves NASCAR and tries to get more black folks into it. Positive person, seems like a good individual
Was a cool interest piece
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He started going to some races with Robert Pressley and his passion grew from there.

 
Recently gotten interested the new SRX racing series and its like the old IROC racing. Equal cars, all sorts of drivers on short tracks. Can be seen on You tube, Kyle Busch won the last one and never seen Kenny Schrader this mad before.
 
Lager said:
Recently gotten interested the new SRX racing series and its like the old IROC racing. Equal cars, all sorts of drivers on short tracks. Can be seen on You tube, Kyle Busch won the last one and never seen Kenny Schrader this mad before.
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Does Kyle Busch stll race in NASCAR or only in this?
Are other Nascar guys doing this series?
IROC was a cool concept
 
Lager said:
Recently gotten interested the new SRX racing series and its like the old IROC racing. Equal cars, all sorts of drivers on short tracks. Can be seen on You tube, Kyle Busch won the last one and never seen Kenny Schrader this mad before.
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They are not live on YouTube are they?
 
dch12007 said:
It's automotive so I figured this is an ok place.

Who is your driver? What did you think about this season?
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Donā€™t watch Winston Cup any longer. Last race I watched was Sep 29, 1996ā€¦Tyson- Holly Farms 400ā€¦last race at North Wilkesboro.

Once Nascar started dropping races from a lot of the Southern tracks and doing their best to distance themselves from Southern culture, I was finished with them. Those faithful fansā€¦the drunk hillbillies and rednecks in the infield who helped make Nascar what it was, got bent over the pit wall and ā€œbuggeredā€ by Nascar. Well, that street runs two ways and now, viewership /attendance is dropping like a turd in the toiletā€¦

Thatā€™s called Karma.šŸ‘šŸ˜Š

About the only radio station I listen to is 98.1 out of Galax VA. When ā€œNascar Todayā€ comes on, I turn off the radio.

As far as drivers go, my dude was Mark Martin. Met him a couple timesā€¦classy dude and a damned good wheelman.
 
Mr.Gadget said:
But he said it could be seen on youtube.
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I'm not sure about "Live", but here Wife here at the house runs the TV so You tube works for me. I'm really liking the TV coverage with in car vids and actually have a drone giving you some really great shots from above.
 
Dale Gribble said:
Donā€™t watch Winston Cup any longer. Last race I watched was Sep 29, 1996ā€¦Tyson- Holly Farms 400ā€¦last race at North Wilkesboro.

Once Nascar started dropping races from a lot of the Southern tracks and doing their best to distance themselves from Southern culture, I was finished with them. Those faithful fansā€¦the drunk hillbillies and rednecks in the infield who helped make Nascar what it was, got bent over the pit wall and ā€œbuggeredā€ by Nascar. Well, that street runs two ways and now, viewership /attendance is dropping like a turd in the toiletā€¦

Thatā€™s called Karma.šŸ‘šŸ˜Š

About the only radio station I listen to is 98.1 out of Galax VA. When ā€œNascar Todayā€ comes on, I turn off the radio.

As far as drivers go, my dude was Mark Martin. Met him a couple timesā€¦classy dude and a damned good wheelman.
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If you like old school half mile local short track racing ? Check out the SRX series. Runs only six races per year for 6 weeks on Thursday nights. I just found out about it, I think its neat. The fans like it too, the grandstands are filled as compared to todays Nascar races much like your local race tracks are still today. Racing is still popular today, go to your local short track, the stands will be filled. Folks just got away from Nascar for their own reasons.
 
Man, did I ever misread the title of this thread. I thought it said "General Nasser chat," and I expected invigorating academic debate about the former Egyptian president. Race cars are much more entertaining.

Edited to add, while I'm not a fan, I'll watch it if it's on TV. I don't know many, if any, contemporary racers. I've been to Charlotte motor speedway once, and I worked medical in the infield at Rockingham for 3 years, which was very cool. I could definitely get into it more if I allowed myself to do that.
 
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Went to Bowman Gray Saturday night. Ended up rained out, but was cool for about an hour (practice/qualifying)
Stands were NOT close to full. Probably be back this coming up Saturday with my raincheck
 
HMP said:
Went to Bowman Gray Saturday night. Ended up rained out, but was cool for about an hour (practice/qualifying)
Stands were NOT close to full. Probably be back this coming up Saturday with my raincheck
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Stands aren't going to be full for practice or qualifying. But sucks about the rain. BG already has a limited schedule.
 
Way back in about 1970 I used to work at Caraway Speedway in the infield concession stand. My dad at the gate where the cars came in to race. I have followed NASCAR for many years. It has changed so much. They are starting to come back to short track racing to some degree, but they still want to spread out into Canada. I did like the Garage 56 car at Le Mans, that was cool watching and listening to the V8 Camaro running.
 
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dch12007 said:
Stands aren't going to be full for practice or qualifying. But sucks about the rain. BG already has a limited schedule.
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It wasnt canceled until right near 8pm when it's supposed to start.
Yes, weather was meh (they called it after the first drops hit, so sort of late), but still, not many people,, really.
 
pikepole20 said:
Way back in about 1970 I used to work at Caraway Speedway in the infield concession stand. My dad at the gate where the cars came in to race. I have followed NASCAR for many years. It has changed so much. They are starting to come back to short track racing to some degree, but they still want to spread out into Canada. I did like the Garage 56 car at Le Mans, that was cool watching and listening to the V8 Camaro running.
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Agreed, the G56 thing was cool (why I kept updating that thread ha), and it opened people's eyes to what it COULD do
I also like that NASCAR rain in the rain on the streets of Chicago
 
HMP said:
Agreed, the G56 thing was cool (why I kept updating that thread ha), and it opened people's eyes to what it COULD do
I also like that NASCAR rain in the rain on the streets of Chicago
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The problem I have with the G56 thing and the Next Gen car is that they are essentially trying to turn nascar into a sports car series. Which is why they are adding more road courses and designed the car the way it is. They see the success that F1 is having and trying to steer that way.

These cars far more horsepower also. No reason why a place like Richmond has issues with the leader passing lapped cars due to aero. These cars should have so much power that the drivers right foot determines if they can catch the person in front of them. Also, the tires need less grip (should be far more narrow).

I have a bunch of things I'd change, but the people running nascar are the smartest people of all time and to ever question their choices would be like questioning god (sarcasm).
 
pikepole20 said:
Way back in about 1970 I used to work at Caraway Speedway in the infield concession stand. My dad at the gate where the cars came in to race. I have followed NASCAR for many years. It has changed so much. They are starting to come back to short track racing to some degree, but they still want to spread out into Canada. I did like the Garage 56 car at Le Mans, that was cool watching and listening to the V8 Camaro running.
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Nascar's trying to do this whole thing where they are trying to do everything. "Look guys, we can do short tracks"...then "look guys, we can do these road courses". Then they design the car mostly for road courses and then wonders why the racing struggles elsewhere.

The last few days they've been doing testing on it to make it race better at the short tracks. Guess what, they got almost no results because they keep d*ckin around and just trying to play with the rear diffuser. smh...bunch of clowns.
 
Here's one from back in the good old days.

Bristol 1995, Busch race, I remember seeing this and thinking "WTF did I just see?".

Jason Keller comes in for tires, tire changers go over the wall with nitrogen bottles strapped to their backs, no air hoses. I thought it was brilliant. NASCAR was not happy. They don't like surprises.

It only happened once. Keller's bunch knew what would probably be NASCAR's reaction, they had the standard setup with hoses ready to go for the rest of the race.




.
 
I don't remember that one. That is pretty smart though. The race Sunday was close.
 
I live and grew up in Darlington about a half mile from the track. Used to be a huge fan in the 60ā€™s & 70ā€™s before corporate took over. NASCAR used to be a big deal around here. We had a big parade with celebrities and even a beauty pageant where being Miss Southern 500 was a big deal. Thousands of people attended both. You would see drivers ar Raceway Grill and the Sheraton Red Fox Lounge at night. In the early 60ā€™s a lot of drivers had to make money to just get to the next race. Families would let pit crews stay in their homes because they couldnā€™t afford motel rooms. Our family and our next door neighbors housed Tiny Lundā€™s crew and my mother would wash their uniforms and cook for them at night. My father was a mechanic and one night helped rebuild an engine in the back of a pickup truck in our yard using the porch light and flashlights. That was when Racing was real Racing.It was a great time when race week came twice a year. The whole town and all the local businesses were involved in some way it seemed. Now, drivers and crews fly in and out. If they stay it is in motor homes and never go out in public. The only businesses that benefit are the convenience stores and probably grocery stores. Since there is little to no camping in the infield, some of my neighbors have fields set up for the campers and fans driving the motor homes. Clogs up traffic on my road like Ocean Blvd. on July 4th weekend. They will start moving in tomorrow and by Friday it will be a madhouse but very few locals get involved these days. Most see it as more of a nuisance than an event that helps the community.
 
I liked the older days of racing, the old "run what you brung" racing. Where anyone could build a car and qualify. Remember seeing unpainted cars going around the track because some bubba brought the car he built and qualified and ran. I remember no restrictor plates at Talladega, where the driver with the most ball to keep the pedal down won. Now it is a bunch of cars clustered up with someone finally making a move on the last lap.
I hate the stages, I hate the playoffs, I hate drivers saying it was a "good points day" and didn't try to win the race instead of racing conservatively for points. I think that they should give a 100 point bonus for winning a race, make it a game changer, you will see more aggressive driving for people trying to get that win instead of "running for points".
 
Iā€™ve been involved in automotive sports for close to 60 years.
Drove a NASCAR modified, drag raced, drove SCCA sports cars, worked on chassis design of a Modified, spent 15 years in the tower of a NASCAR short track. - and currently flag (corner worker) at VIR. I have been a guest of Richard Childress at cup races and find the time in the pits and talking with the crew exciting but the races are boring.

I prefer the short tracks ā€” Wake County, ACE, Orange County, South Boston, are close to me and I ā€œloveā€ Bowmen Grey although it is a bit over an hour drive.

Also like being in the pits at VIR during pro-races (GT challenge, TransAm, etc.) because my son has numerous connections and it is fun to be with them.


SuperModifieds coming to Caraway soonā€¦ itā€™s a must go to for meā€¦ if you havenā€™t seen a Super you havenā€™t lived.
 
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