Agronomist you said you cant imagine hearing a camry at the track I just figure it'll be something like this...

buggati...baggati...buggati...buggati............. ......................................[half the track behind]....weeeeeeernnn nnn "and there goes the number 101 cotex maxipad camry"

 

They can save their breath Pete, I've given up.

 

I can hardly wait for Volkswagen and Peugot to get into the running.

Actually, I gave up on NASCAR , except for my beautiful NASCAR F150. It isn't about the real sport of racing as it used to be...I build a car better than you, I kick your hiney...and vice-versa. Now it's more of a communist, equality in cars thing. Which we all know... that every time Ford designs some method of winning, it's suddenly made illegal until Chevy and the others can catch up with the new mods. Bill Elliot was lapping them and they couldn't take it, so they introduced restrictor plates, saying it was for safety reasons. Hogwash. They knew at that time that the chevies would run stronger with the plates than the fords. Then Ford drivers and mechanics found another way to increase power. Illegal again until the chevys could catch up. NASCAR has been pathetic for a long time.

Bring back stock designed cars, with few modifications, as they used to be. Let 'em run with what they can build. THAT is the spirit of racing.

 

Now that would be something. " weeeeeeernnn nnn "and there goes the number 101 cotex maxipad camry". and the crowd is on their feet!

They now all have a tubular frame shaped the same way. The motors are not your stock engines found at the local dealer. Why don't they race pure stock cars like they used to? All those air bags going off might slow the race down a bit, but it sure would be real world racing. They went faster back in the 60's with pure stock cars didn't they? That was then ..now is now. Money talks. I agree..Lot's of good people build Toyota's in the USA. Let 'em race.

 

I'm just glad AAA replaced Viagra as the sponser of Mark Martins car. I can once again hang a flag out on race day.

 

I’m with you there, Bruker. But unfortunately that new AAA flag of yours will never ever blow in the wind quite as rigidly as your Viagra one did.





Sorry Mods.....couldn't resist.

 

Lest we forget when ford did away with the T-Bird, how every Ford team was crying trying to get more for the Taurus, because the Monte Carlo was winning everything?

Stock car racing has changed since its inception. Used to be, cars you drove on the street, you raced. Then came the Hemis and Boss 429. Couldn't have that anymore. So they changed again. Now, the cars ARE supposed to be equal cars. This is the ultimate racing challenge. Not up to the cars anymore, its up to the driver. Thats why the cars are supposed to be equal. As mentioned Saying a car is Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or Toyota isn't saying anything, you've only noticed a sticker on the car.

This doesn't mean, that better mechanics, and more money can't give you a slight mechanical edge. Ever wonder why the hendrix cars do so well, or DEI did so well for so long at restrictor plate tracks?

And speaking of restrictor plates, I hate them, wish they'd be tossed away. It wasn't because Bill Elliot was winning so many races. It was because the cars weren't designed to go 250mph, and thats what they were going to do. Now, the cars are designed better, and I think that they can take it. Question is, can the drivers handle the G-forces. Remember IRL at Texas, 250mph and the drivers were passing out after 30 laps.

 

I think it was about a year ago that Rusty Wallace took a few laps at Daytona doing some testing without a restrictor plate. Think he ran something like 230mph. He said there's no way they could race these cars at that speed....it would be crazy.

 

I like DJ's comment about making the cars slower.

Read somewhere a company has developed more stats to show in-race (based on data collected at the various scoring stations around the tracks). Not sure exactly what the stats include, but sounds like it gives Larry Mac something to talk about in addition to track temps.

Any ideas on who will drive Red Bull cars? Robby Gordon has been mentioned as a possibility.

 

By the way- Bill Elliot will be driving a vehicle for all of the big three manufacturers during SpeedWeeks. Think that's gonna raise some eyebrows? If you didn't catch the press conference on Speed Sunday morning, they unveiled the Toyota and Gary Nelson gave a really good presentation on the "car of tomorrow" and safety advancements. They're going to phase in the new cars in '07, with one car that will keep them from building short, intermediate, road course and superspeedway-specific pieces by using bolt-on ricer-type wings and air dams. They're using laser coordinated templates, shrinking the fuel cells to 17.5 gals.,making the greenhouse bigger, standing the windshield up, double frame rails on the driver's side, re-engineered the door bars, moved the driver 4" closer to the center of the car, fully enclosed driveshaft tunnel, and moved the rear suspension to the left an inch, and more. On a lighter note, the wife just presented me the bill for all her new Tony clothes and accoutrements.

 

Amen. . .

Daytona and Talledega are dinosaurs. . . The cars of today have far outpaced these tracks. It's time for NASCAR to get rid of the plates and fix the tracks or take 'em off the circuit. The owners have spent enough money on plates (usually half their budgets). IMO, the Frances are the cheapest rich people alive.

 

I agree word for word. Now they have what they call COT (Car of Tomorrow) starting in a limited amount of races next season, I call it IROC and boring. I miss the days of the T-Bird and "real racing," not these entertainment events that gmna$car labels as races. LOL

Yep, you read it right, gmna$car is what I call it. If gm/shivy falls behind good ole na$car is right there to pick em up. Last season after the testing for new monte and new Fusion, and challenger/charger? shivy was whining that they couldn't keep up, and gmna$car was of course dupped/bought. Last on the charts last fall, now dominating this DIS test. Give me a break!

IMO It's gotten as phony as a $3 bill!

 

God, has everyone forgot all of the crying from the ford drivers when they went to the Taurus? Nascar bailed them out because chevy won so many races with the monte carlo. Remember?

 

maybe so,snake,but NASCAR didn't make the changes until several races AFTER the ford guys started complaining. when the chevy guys were crying,or the majority of fords finished in the top 10,there were changes the NEXT race. I can remember Dale sr giving an interview several years ago after he and his chevy driving boys got spanked soundly. his line was "I guess the chevy monte carlo is not up to par with the other competitors" or something to that affect.boo hoo sob wah. the funny part about that? Jeff Gordon was winning the championship and NASCAR new they couldn't do anything to change the rules to favor their favorite car,Chevy. I call it CHEVYCAR,not NASCAR. I find it quite amusing that FORDS only won a couple races less last year than chevy did,and there were only 8 fords in the field compared to the ungodly amount of chevies Whenever I bring that point up to all my chevy loving friends start ragging on fords and NASCAR,there is dead silence because they know it's the truth

 

First of all, Ford has been winning quite a few races, and doing well at most, Up until Smoke just won the championship, who won the last two? Which race were you talking about that Dale Sr said that? how many races did Ford win previously. Being a Earnhardt fan since I was born probably, I'd be willing ot say he was just saying that the guys driving those cars, had a better car that day.

Stock car racing means, that all the cars are supposed to be equal. So, if one car group starts winning more races, they've got to make changes so the other car owners can even it up. Remember Chevy and Ford threw a fit that Dodge was getting so many consessions. Thats the fact of that racing circuit. Don't you think if they made decisions based on driver popularity that Dale Jr would be winning more races?