I believe this is his third one. I wonder how many you can have before they make you hang up your helmet From Jayski's " Eanrhardt Jr. will not race at Charlotte or Kansas: Dale Earnhardt Jr. will not compete in the upcoming NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway after being diagnosed with a concussion following the Oct. 7 race at Talladega. Earnhardt, driver of the #88 Chevrolets for Hendrick Motorsports, was diagnosed Wednesday afternoon in Charlotte. Regan Smith will be the team's substitute driver at Charlotte and Kansas.(Hendrick Motorsports), no word who will drive the #51 Chevy that Smith was scheduled to drive at Charlote.(10-11-2012) "
from the press conference it sounds like he's sitting out mostly based on self-reported symptoms; so I wonder how much is an abundance of caution, and how much is a brilliant PR move to get NASCAR to do something about plate racing/pack racing at Dega and Daytona.
Not for a second would I consider that Jr would give up all chance of his team winning the 2012 championship just to try and persuade NASCAR to change plate racing. Perhaps if Hendrick discussed it with the team and the sponsors and they all agreed to throw away there chance at the Chase for the cause but Jr isn't selfish enough to act on his own. KB is a another story Like I said this is his third or fourth one and there is a point where he can be told he can no longer race. It won't be his decision it will be someone else's. It doesn't make sense to me that he would use up one of his " concussions " and risk ending his driving career for that.
I wrote a post, but realized I needed to keep my mouth shut about what I wrote. If Jr. wanted to make an effective statement, he'd do it by not running the next 'Dega race, or an even bigger statement by not running the Daytona 500. Drivers can get concussions at other tracks to, so I agree that the pro's and cons of faking it, don't work out.
Claims Kansas is the hit that gave him the concussion. http://www.nascar.com/news/121011/dearnhardt-jr-concussion-jmenzer/index.html
he's 11th in the Chase, avg finish so far of 13th, he's pretty much out of it. he's also been very outspoken, and increasingly so, about the plate racing. I'm not saying that's necessarily his primary motivation here but I have to think it crossed his mind.
Best career move ever. Dale, Jr, Jr, Jr T-shirt and trinket sales will be through the roof. That's where the real money is anyway. My question is when his car comes by on lap 88, will all the fans hold up 88 fingers? Congratulations to GuyI, 939 posts last month! Wow!...Just wow! BHW
You have obviously never competed in any sport at any level, correct? No matter what the sport, you ALWAYS want to compete, no matter what. But with motorsports, the difference is if you are not thinking clearly at 190mph, or you have a brain fart at 190, you do yourself and those around you no good. They will continue to run plate races until A) they come up with a better solution, or B) *ALL* of the drivers boycott plate races, but you cannot boycott anything until you have a proven better solution. I do agree with one thing: a plate race should not be part of 'the chase'. Maybe, just maybe, they need to 'retire' long Talladega in lieu of a new, shorter track? I mean, look at all the long tracks in Yurrup that don't exist anymore.
you guys are missing my point.... the original concussion happened several weeks earlier and he covered it up. he got a second on at Dega, then said "okay everything upstairs ain't right", so let's make a PR scene out of it. I wouldn't put it past Jr, to be honest. and yeah, they need to do something with Talladega in particular. lower the banking to 15 degrees would be the most obvious choice.
That I can agree with. But still, MY point was any athlete I have ever known - and I've known a lot because I have ties to sports via being a (former) pro sports photographer - they ALL lie in order to get back in the game unless physically injured to the extent they can't. I've seen guys go back in with broken arms, hands, ribs, things you and I would say are crazy. Because that is all they know, and they are afraid the next big thing will come along and take their jobs.
Speed will be prevailing factor. Novel approach. Good luck with that. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103487 BHW
They used to go by speed only and then changed to the top 35 format because they wanted to make sure those that raced every weekend were rewarded for their effort and wouldn't miss a race because of some unusual mishap during qualifying and be replaced on the grid by some part time back of the pack entry. I never liked that format and believed that you should qualify to get in and it gave those underdog teams a chance to get their foot in the door. They also got rid of the current way of choosing qualifying order which teams had quickly learned to manipulate to their advantage. Reverting back to the old way is a great move. I also saw where NASCAR sold TV rights to FOX for around a 33% increase over the last deal. NASCAR is also putting plans in place for a major development in and around the Daytona Speedway that will include hotels, shops and entertainment that will add greatly to the local economy. This demonstrates why NASCAR is such a successful racing series and why the France Family are billionaires. They are continually searching for ways to improve and if something isn't working they make the necessary changes instead of riding the mistake into the ground.
Now that NASCAR has admitted their qualifying procedure is a farce, time to admit a complete rethink of the points structure is next for an overhaul. Try to get one NASCAR director or any of their media minions to explain the points structure. It's impossible. How could anything that should be so straight forward get so convoluted? BHW
it's not very intuitive but not impossible to understand, either. other than the chase, which I hate with a passion, I don't have a problem with their points structure (other than maybe not giving enough of a reward for winning). but there are a lot of other things I'd change about NASCAR first....
There were a few years before the latest points system where drivers had the championship clinched with several races to go. That sure takes the suspense out of the championship unless of course it's your favorite driver At first I wasn't happy with the Chase format but I must say it certainly helps create suspense and drama for the entire season. The battle between Kyle Bush and Gordon for the last spot in the Chase this year was amazing. Last year's championship came down to a tie and had to be determined by a tie breaker. NASCAR found a way to draw people in not bore them away with an easy to understand points system and it works very well.
call me old fashioned but the points/chase system now doesn't reward those who put in a phenomenal season. to me an Earnhardt or Gordon clinching early is more of an achievement than Stewart winning on a tie breaker. NASCAR isn't a stick and ball sport, a playoff system doesn't work unless they want to stop putting 43 cars on track at once and start doing head to head bracket racing. and trust me that would be paint-drying boring.
I fully agree and that is why I had a hard time accepting it. I'm a competitor when it come to games and sports. I play by the rules and relish the challenge of winning the game or beating my opponents. For a driver / team to have done everything right and amass a nice points cushion so they can coast the rest of the way is a testament to their performance. To have that reset for the Chase and re level the field stinks for them. I came to accept it because everyone knows what the deal is from the start. Everyone competes under the same rules. The #48 team changed their strategy to capitalize on the Chase format and have been very successful. I look at the season as two parts. The race to the Chase which then becomes the race to a championship. The old points system only benefits the one team that might have amassed a points lead that couldn't be matched while the new system keeps the points much tighter all the way to the end which makes for a better " show "
43 cars in a field. Last place gets 1 point. Twentieth place gets 20 points. First place gets 43 points. Winner gets a couple extra points, lead the most laps gets you a few extra points, lead one lap gets you one point. Not neuroscience. I don't disagree with the discussion about 'building a nice points lead only to have it taken away', but if someone you don't like has an insurmountable points lead with 5-4-3-2 races to go, will you watch? That was the problem, nobody was watching the last races of the year. That'll happen when you get to football season.
fall is an awful time to have any sport...college football, NFL, baseball playoffs, beginning of NBA and (theoretically) NHL seasons. NASCAR needs to end their season by Oct 1 IMO.
I think the new points are very easy to understand. I didn't really like the chase format, until they added the wildcard. I also think there should be some form of kudos for the points leader after the last non chase race. First pick on pit stall for the chase, an extra point, or something. The wild card format, allows someone that only had part season sponsorship, like Mark Martin, to make it in the chase if they did very well in the races they entered. MM almost had two wins, and with his points position, that would of put him in the chase. Would of been cool, but he made a few mistakes that cost him. The reason for the top 35, for those that don't understand, is that you have guys who simply go to spring cup events to qualify - last place $$$ is $100K+, so you do a few practice laps, stick around for race day, run a lap, leave, and collect the money. Its not good for the racing, as you have a several cars that would drive into the garage after the opening lap. The top 35 rule made less space for guys doing this, typically, only 1-2 that never intended to race would make it in. This meant more of the field was committed to running the race.
I totally agree, but I have no idea what this 'NBA' and 'NHL' you speak of is. I USED to - back when they were legitimate sports - but that was 30 years ago. I have not seen a guy actually DRIBBLE a ball upcourt in f-o-r-e-v-e-r, and I quit hockey after about the Mike Bossy days. 1) I think the points winner going into the chase is spotted 15 points, 2nd place 10, 3rd place 5, all the rest are equal. 2) I have zero doubt Joe Nemechek can qualify on speed alone, and then drop out on lap 6 from 'handling' or 'electrical' problems, same with about 5 other clowns.
I was in Daytona yesterday and I saw this truck on the street coming in my direction. Far away it looked like it was a lowrider but as it got closer I saw it was something similar to a NASCAR truck. It didn't sound like a race engine but came close to it. He had a passenger and the inside looked gutted with no door panels and all the other stuff missing. I managed to pull my camera out just in time to get a few pics after he passed me.The cars shows a tag and he was driving on a public street just off A1A near the beach. So what do you think it is? Is it an old race truck made street legal? Is it a truck made to look like a race truck? Is there a series where he could race it on weekends and still drive it on the street? Is it a race truck and he faked the tag just to drive it on the street? I don't like the graphics at all but the rest of it was pretty cool and sure made me smile when he drove by. Image Unavailable, Please Login
