Official Daytona 500 race thread

[TennesseeFan07]

Nascar needs to find a way to juice it up a little. I say stop giving some tracks two races. Pocono is a borefest, california is too. Build a couple of more short tracks and maybe another superspeedway with some banking on it Whoever suggested daytona for the final race, i like it. They should cut about a month and half of races off the schedule. They shouldn't be racing in november. Make the chase six races long and put some tracks in there that are entertaining races. Junk the COT and go back to building their own cars. Give the crew chief back his car and let him work on it, instead of mandating certain spring and shock combinations, etc, etc. Don't give them a license to cheat, but let them work on their cars again. I guess i'm just old school, i miss the nascar of the 90's.

I wish I was alive back then. I've found myself looking everywhere recently to download or buy races from back in the mid-90's. Things seemed so much different. It will never be the same now. Nascar's transferred into a business instead of a sport. And marketing wise, it's worked. The economy is in a rough spot, but the sport is still salvageable. Brian France is really hurting it right now though.

 

[TennesseeFan07]

I agree with ditching a race at Pocono. That place sucks.

I love Pocono. I'd love to go to a race there. It's pure racing. There's no wrecks and long green flag runs. As opposed to most racing fans I love green flag runs and fewer wrecks. I love seeing the pack get stretched out. Longer runs separates the men from racers once the tires wear off.

 

[Cartervol]

I wish I was alive back then. I've found myself looking everywhere recently to download or buy races from back in the mid-90's. Things seemed so much different. It will never be the same now. Nascar's transferred into a business instead of a sport. And marketing wise, it's worked. The economy is in a rough spot, but the sport is still salvageable. Brian France is really hurting it right now though.

Well, i was spoiled on watching dale earnhardt race. The man could just do things with a race car that shouldn't have been possible. He was great at taking most of a race to make it too the front. He rarely qualified well, so he'd put on a show getting to the front and he did.

I say the racing was better because the cars were different cars and guys would whine about chevy having a advantage, vice versa when ford seemed to have a edge. You also had guys with more raw personality's than they have today. To many cookie cutter guys makes for bad tv. Some don't care for tony stewarts fire, but i think nascar needs more of it.

Cut out some of the year and add more tracks that have less indy like racing and nascar would be back. Get rid of the COT car also and give the car back to the crew cheif and the crews.

 

[DownNDirty]

I grew up in the 80s so I feel extra privileged myself. You can look at stat sheets all you want but those races in the mid 80s especially were GREAT. Yeah, maybe only 3 or 4 cars would finish on the lead lap sometimes but those guys raced hard and raced every lap. Points racing and radial tires RUINED NASCAR.

I heard Carl Edwards after the fricking Nationwide race Saturday talking about it being a good points day. A good flipping points day!! On the first race of the season. I wanted to throw up. You never ever would have heard those words even 10-12 years ago until at least May or June.

The bias ply tires were so much better to produce side by side racing as well. Guys could run all over almost all of the tracks in NASCAR. Once they went to radial tires the side by side racing stopped nearly immediately.

I think Earnhardt was very, very talented in a race car but IMO only Tim Richmond was the one that could do things no one else could. I think had it not been for his unfortunate situation and getting AIDS he would have won 2 or 3 of the Cup titles that Earnhardt got.

My dad was smart enough to save alot of races from the 80s on VHS and I still watch many of them to this day. Plus being able to get some of these old races now on DVD and watching them is great. Nothing in the world better than the hard nose to nose racing they used to do in the 70s and 80s. They just don't make guys like Earnhardt, Allison, Waltrip, Yarborough, Gant, Elliott, Richmond, etc anymore.

 

[Cartervol]

I wish I was alive back then. I've found myself looking everywhere recently to download or buy races from back in the mid-90's. Things seemed so much different. It will never be the same now. Nascar's transferred into a business instead of a sport. And marketing wise, it's worked. The economy is in a rough spot, but the sport is still salvageable. Brian France is really hurting it right now though.

Goody's 500 1995 find it somewhere and watch it, you'll be glad you did.

YouTube - 2000 Talledega fall race,Earnhardts last win earnhardts last victory at dega. Poor video qaulity but earnhardt comes from 17 to first in 4 laps to win.

 

[Cartervol]

I grew up in the 80s so I feel extra privileged myself. You can look at stat sheets all you want but those races in the mid 80s especially were GREAT. Yeah, maybe only 3 or 4 cars would finish on the lead lap sometimes but those guys raced hard and raced every lap. Points racing and radial tires RUINED NASCAR.

I heard Carl Edwards after the fricking Nationwide race Saturday talking about it being a good points day. A good flipping points day!! On the first race of the season. I wanted to throw up. You never ever would have heard those words even 10-12 years ago until at least May or June.

The bias ply tires were so much better to produce side by side racing as well. Guys could run all over almost all of the tracks in NASCAR. Once they went to radial tires the side by side racing stopped nearly immediately.

I think Earnhardt was very, very talented in a race car but IMO only Tim Richmond was the one that could do things no one else could. I think had it not been for his unfortunate situation and getting AIDS he would have won 2 or 3 of the Cup titles that Earnhardt got.

My dad was smart enough to save alot of races from the 80s on VHS and I still watch many of them to this day. Plus being able to get some of these old races now on DVD and watching them is great. Nothing in the world better than the hard nose to nose racing they used to do in the 70s and 80s. They just don't make guys like Earnhardt, Allison, Waltrip, Yarborough, Gant, Elliott, Richmond, etc anymore.

Didn't follow the sport in the 80's. I have heard similar things about richmond though.

 

[TennesseeFan07]

Goody's 500 1995 find it somewhere and watch it, you'll be glad you did.

YouTube - 2000 Talledega fall race,Earnhardts last win earnhardts last victory at dega. Poor video qaulity but earnhardt comes from 17 to first in 4 laps to win.

I remember watching this race. The Atlanta race earlier that season, this race, and the '98 race at Bristol are my favorite Sr. moments.

I was also a big senior fan myself.

 

[rbroyles]

I grew up in the 80s so I feel extra privileged myself. You can look at stat sheets all you want but those races in the mid 80s especially were GREAT. Yeah, maybe only 3 or 4 cars would finish on the lead lap sometimes but those guys raced hard and raced every lap. Points racing and radial tires RUINED NASCAR.

I heard Carl Edwards after the fricking Nationwide race Saturday talking about it being a good points day. A good flipping points day!! On the first race of the season. I wanted to throw up. You never ever would have heard those words even 10-12 years ago until at least May or June.

The bias ply tires were so much better to produce side by side racing as well. Guys could run all over almost all of the tracks in NASCAR. Once they went to radial tires the side by side racing stopped nearly immediately.

I think Earnhardt was very, very talented in a race car but IMO only Tim Richmond was the one that could do things no one else could. I think had it not been for his unfortunate situation and getting AIDS he would have won 2 or 3 of the Cup titles that Earnhardt got.

My dad was smart enough to save alot of races from the 80s on VHS and I still watch many of them to this day. Plus being able to get some of these old races now on DVD and watching them is great. Nothing in the world better than the hard nose to nose racing they used to do in the 70s and 80s. They just don't make guys like Earnhardt, Allison, Waltrip, Yarborough, Gant, Elliott, Richmond, etc anymore.

I had the privilege of getting to know Tim Richmond when he was racing sprints and champ cars in Ohio. I lived about 20 miles from him, and his father was a client of mine. I became good friends with his engine builder. There was no one, not even Earnhardt, who had better car control.

I know what you are saying re radial tires. It was common to see Richmond and Earnhardt smoking the tires through the turns, which meant they were on the very edge of spinning out every lap. Bias-ply tires had so much more "feel" to them, and in the right hands, a car could be drifted all the way around a turn. I have said exactly the same thing about radials ruining the racing.

The aero package of the more recent cars and the COT have prohibited side by side racing as well.

It was interesting to have watched the sport since 1961 when I went to my first race at the initial Bristol race. I saw Earnhardt's first win, Cale Yarboroughs first Southern 500 win, Roger Penske's first Indy 500 win, got Fireball Robert's autograph just two weeks before his fatal wreck, and went to at least one race at Bristol every year from 1961 to around 1990 or so.

I have tapes of many 1980's races. Well enough old man rambling.

 

[cd12]

I had the privilege of getting to know Tim Richmond when he was racing sprints and champ cars in Ohio. I live about 20 miles from him, and his father was a client of mine. I became good friends with his engine builder. There was no one, not even Earnhardt, who had better car control.

I know what you are saying re radial tires. It was common to see Richmond and Earnhardt smoking the tires through the turns, which meant they were on the very edge of spinning out every lap. Bias-ply tires had so much more "feel" to them, and in the right hands, a car could be drifted all the way around a turn. I have said exactly the same thing about radials ruining the racing.

The aero package of the more recent cars and the COT have prohibited side by side racing as well.

It was interesting to have watched the sport since 1961 when I went to my first race at the initial Bristol race. I saw Earnhardt's first win, Cale Yarboroughs first Southern 500 win, Roger Penske's first Indy 500 win, got Fireball Robert's autograph just two weeks before his fatal wreck, and went to at least one race at Bristol every year from 1961 to around 1990 or so.

I have tapes of many 1980's races. Well enough old man rambling.

Nice post rb! I started in the early 70's, dad drug me to every track in the southeast. I was a big Pearson fan, mainly because Petty got all the attention in those days. Back then you were considered a redneck if you like racing. Its funny because the guys that gave me grief jumped on the bandwagon and became Gordon fans(in his heyday) much latter in life. I laugh my ass off at some of them! I jumped on the Davey train after Pearson and havent had a favorite since. Today's racing sucks in comparison and is hard for me to watch. As I have said before the deaths of Davey, Tim and Alan took the sport down a different path. Something that doesn't get mentioned as much though is the death of Adam Petty. That was the demise of Petty Racing! The kid would have been a major player had he lived.

 

[TennesseeFan07]

I had the privilege of getting to know Tim Richmond when he was racing sprints and champ cars in Ohio. I lived about 20 miles from him, and his father was a client of mine. I became good friends with his engine builder. There was no one, not even Earnhardt, who had better car control.

I know what you are saying re radial tires. It was common to see Richmond and Earnhardt smoking the tires through the turns, which meant they were on the very edge of spinning out every lap. Bias-ply tires had so much more "feel" to them, and in the right hands, a car could be drifted all the way around a turn. I have said exactly the same thing about radials ruining the racing.

The aero package of the more recent cars and the COT have prohibited side by side racing as well.

It was interesting to have watched the sport since 1961 when I went to my first race at the initial Bristol race. I saw Earnhardt's first win, Cale Yarboroughs first Southern 500 win, Roger Penske's first Indy 500 win, got Fireball Robert's autograph just two weeks before his fatal wreck, and went to at least one race at Bristol every year from 1961 to around 1990 or so.

I have tapes of many 1980's races. Well enough old man rambling.

My papaw was in attendance when he had his horrific wreck.