huh? and they couldn't find any other teams to go with? unlikely. they have their reasons, and to be honest they're not all bad....but if they really wanted to stay, they would.
They wanted game winning teams, Penske is that. RPM's business owner wanted to switch to Dodge, RP wanted to stay with Ford. If Penske had stayed with Dodge, Dodge would still be in the sport I think.
I believe this to be slightly accurate. I think it came down to two things: money (OF COURSE), and the fact that Penske was the only Dodge in the field, he wanted more Dodge teams (to bounce ideas off of), he was tired of doing ALL the testing. Sounds to me there are idiots out there that should have jumped at the opportunity to run a Dodge, but I think those that contractually could have don't have the money behind them. Dodge didn't want the publicity of a low budget team running 35th every week. BTW, do you REALLY think Stewart/Haas is a team unto itself? No matter how they allude it, they are Hendrick's 'B' team, just like RPM is an offshoot Roush/Fenway team.
someone needs to tell Dodge that speed costs money the four cars per car owner rule created Stewart/Haas and RPM in my opinion. otherwise Hendrick and Roush would have six teams (IIRC Roush did at one point)
You guys talk about Danica taking up a seat a more deserving driver could have, what about Kyle Bush His unprofessional attitude has been going on pretty much since the day he wrecked his car driving for Hendrick, left the track right away, crew gets it running and they have Jr who was driving for DEI at the time finish the race in it. Since then he has been nothing but a one way dirty driving cry baby and I could sit here and list several incidents over the past years of his unsportsmanlike conduct but I'll just mention a few. One is him test driving an LFA on a public road doing about 80 mph over the speed limit which was an embarrassment to Toyota. The biggest one is the time he took out Ron H. in the truck race during the caution lap that cost Ron H a chance at the championship but more importantly it could have cost him his life. I still don't understand how A. J. can get banned for taking a pill that might have created a situation on the track while K B actually did do something so detrimental it could have caused a fatality but is allowed to continue after sitting out the weekend. So here the latest in Kyle Bush's rap sheet. I say FIRE HIM! " Toyota not happy with Kyle Busch's Dover comments: After leading - by far - the most laps in Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway, #18Kyle Busch was forced to make a late pit stop under green flag conditions in order to make it to the end of the race. The stop cost him the win and he finished seventh, one lap down. Only six cars, including winner Brad Keselowski, finished on the lead lap. As he crossed the finish line, Busch let loose a short, vulgarity-laced tirade over his team radio directed at Toyota Racing Development, claiming the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota cars had cost him and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team "another one." On Wednesday, Lee White, TRD president, took issue with Busch's comments. "We're as frustrated as he was that he didn't win that race considering how many laps he led, considering he and Denny (Hamlin) both literally dominated the race. We're as disappointed as he was. However, we've got used to saying 'That's just Kyle, you know' But this is a bit of a special case," White said. "We're extremely disappointed in his negative comments and the tone of the comments after the event. It is under discussion as we move forward. We certainly are very disappointed, having said that, Kyle is an amazing talent in a race car and he takes it very personally when something goes wrong and he loses a race he thinks he should have won. I look forward to take it up with coach (Joe) Gibbs and see if we can't do something to sort it out so that we have a better working relationship in the future. I am confident that we will."(Charlotte Observer)(10-4-2012) "
not a "b" team. full back door hendrick support! nascar revoles around the france and hendrick family...period!!!
See what winning gets you? But at some point, Kyle will be another Kurt, the problem is finding another driver 'as good' or that brings (or can garner) major sponsorship. It's not like 40-50 years ago when all you needed was talent. I totally disagree. I agree the France family is terds, but you cannot argue with their success, no matter how they attained it. And if you say you would do it differently, you would be lying. Hendrick? Different era. There have been different people that 'owned' nascar over the years, Petty, Wood Brothers, Junior Johnson, RCR, Hendrick is just the latest, and one of these days someone else will be top dog, just like in F1.
You've got to hand it those guys, it must take some kind of concentration, and skill, and courage to drive (almost) 500 miles at those speeds in those packs. Really too bad that it didn't go green for one more lap.
the sad thing is these races are so predictable they aren't even interesting to watch. now it's just a 480-499 mile parade followed by a massive demolition derby.
I missed the race, but caught it all here... [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_YYjxN6wg[/ame] SRB () had a bad day.
that's the problem (aside from the carnage and possibility of injury)...these races are so predictable, and all the action happens in such a small window, there's no point in watching them. just watch the highlights on SportsCenter or Wind Tunnel later.
NASCAR removed the sport element in favor of "show" a long time ago. Their fans have spoken, they want to see wrecks, carnage and dusts offs like yesterday and NASCAR is more than happy to go along with it as long as there are advertisers willing to fill x-amount of hours of their TV time each Sunday, that's all that really matters to them anyway. Stewart, who was clearly the cause of the shunt, should be removed from a race or two the way Grosjean has been in F-1. Instead, Stewart has assured himself that he and his sponsors will be in the spotlight all week heading to the next show (I mean race). BHW
My friend owns the #13 car and I've watched him climb the ranks of NASCAR from his very first experience sponsoring another friend's Dash Series car, building a team in the Truck Series where he went on to win the championship and now competing in Sprint Cup. It is very hard for a team like his to compete against the giants like Hendrick and Roush that dominate the series. I've watched as they qualified for races and eventually earned their way solidly into the top 35 which BTW will be eliminated next year. They are still a mid pack car which certainly isn't anything to be ashamed of considering the competition. They continue to improve. Yesterday they ran up front all day and even led some laps. That can be misleading as a lot of the top cars laid back until the end which is evident because of how the entire field bunched up five wide at the end. The #13 was pushing Waltrip along the bottom and would've blown past kenseth leaving Waltrip and Mears to settle it for the win. If only Stewart had conceded the bottom my friend would have had an excellent chance of winning a Sprint Cup race. It would've been amazing. My emotions went from OMFG they're going to win it to *&*#* Talladega. I hope they find a way to make the racing better. Image Unavailable, Please Login
they're using Roush cars and/or engines, no? that team did a great job yesterday, a shame they are "rewarded" for that success with a twisted pile of metal.
I've tried to imaging what the racing would be like at Daytona if they included that chicane on the back stretch before turn 3 that they use for the Rolex 24. It would certainly solve the problem of running in a big pack. It might make for better competitive racing.
it would certainly make for a good show really I think they need to pull the plates off, figure out a way to add a ton of drag and/or use the EFI system to limit power without creating pack racing.
I would think that because all the cars are so equally prepared under the rules and the fact they just have to flat foot in all the way around with little to know braking, it really comes down to driver decisions. Good ones can win the race and bad ones can take out the whole field With other tracks individual car setups, braking and handling is very important and helps break up the pack. I think as long as the cars are fairly equal they will always run in a pack due to how they can drive around Daytona and Talladega. If they were to greatly reduce the banking the driving would be very much different and allow the pack to break up. The competition would be better for the drivers but the " spectacle " would be gone for the fans. When the tracks were first designed and built it was a great idea and they worked great for the competition at the time. We've now reached a point in development where they no longer function as originally intended. Whatever the answer is NASCAR has a monumental task of figuring it out while keeping everyone happy.
I think they should put a bunch of the cars from the 50s/60s in the wind tunnel, and use the drag/downforce numbers from that to build a new template for the speedway cars.
Are you talking about nascar or F1? For the BIG tracks or the super-smooth tracks like Kansas, Texas and Chicago, I agree with you, but races at Bristol, New Hampshire, Richmond, etc. are really nice races. ALL sports have turned into a 'show' set up to attract large TV audiences, be it the NFL (it's a passing league now), NBA (3 pt line), or any form of sport that relies in TV for income. I'd venture to say that a sold-out Yankee stadium for 81 games won't come close to creating their payroll. TV does. Same wreck/different location. Hmmm, just like in F1, less downforce, skinnier tires, less cubic inches, and then it REALLY will drive the cost thru the roof! Oh you said 'without creating pack racing'. I don't think you can do that, not with the draft being such a huge part of it.
I agree this is really only a big track (1.5+ mile) problem. Richmond is my favorite race(s) of the year. I no longer believe in cost containment in any form for any top level series (nascar, F1, Indy, etc). If the money is available, it will get spent. so let's spend some $$ on making the show good without it devolving into a demolition derby.
