I really thought that Blainey (#12) was going to win it.
Both Harvick and Blaney, my two picks, were very strong.
Up until last year Blaney raced for the legendary Wood Brothers, based just down the road from me in Stuart, Virginia. Leonard Wood, Jr. gave me a private tour of their museum several years ago, something I'll never forget.
I remember watching Harvick race at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, CA (his home track) many moons ago. He's a gifted driver, and has given much back to the community in general, and Bakersfield specifically.
Lady Luck is very unpredictable.
Indeed. Can't say I'm amped about Dillon's win (he really didn't deserve it, but...lady luck), but happy to see #3 in the winner's circle again. Richard Childress gave Harvick his first ride in the Bigs, after Dale Sr.'s untimely demise.
quote:
3/11/01 - Atlanta - Kevin Harvick's emotional first NSCS victory Kevin Harvick holds off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon, on the final lap, to capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in only his third start. Harvick's win was the first win for Richard Childress Racing after the passing of Dale Earnhardt.
^ Be sure to watch Harvick's victory lap; pretty emotional for the fans. I watched this race live; I was pretty emotional, too.
Bill Hemmer from Fox News just commented on his first 500 and how great it was, have to agree. We went to the 2002 500, and being a long time fan of Dale made it pretty emotional. I grew up next to the Milwaukee Mile and could hear the cars every time they hit the track. I went to see all the great oldies there, like Rutherford, Foyt, Unsers, Johncock, Andretti, Butch Hartman, Ramo Scott, and others. I had programs from all the races with all their autographs, which are now probably at the bottom of a landfill somewhere. All those races made me a lifetime race fan, of all types with man and machine. I do believe that NASCAR does offer more diversity and parity than any other form of motor sports that I've noticed. As far as the conspiracy theory of fixed races, kinda hard to manage at 200 mph with 40+ cars on the track.
One thing is for sure, if you haven't stood 10' away from a pack of 40+, 3200 lb. cars, and drivers flying past you at 200 mph, you are definitely missing out on a lifetime experience. Your eyes can not follow or focus on them, even though they were right next to you. Cool Stuff!
"Mn, there’s so much laughable nonsense in your post I don’t know where to start."
Badlions: I'm glad I could entertain you. It is just a discussion, and discussions can be fun even with those who disagree. You taught me a lot in that short post.(seriously you did, thank you) It doesn't change my opinion on the sport, but it would tweak the "official mnscrounger NASCAR rulebook" Okay, so if its actually " National Association" in the title, that restricts manufacture to here in the good ole USA. (still good) I'd still leave it wide open for platforms, but probably restrict the air intake opening and engine displacement to given numbers in order to even the field. I still think with all the modern safety advances in the car, driver gear, and track equipment, applied to slower car speeds, the risk is lower to everyone involved. I just would like to see more diversity in the cars. From what "stock" are they being produced from? Is there a single part on Austin Dillon's car available in the Camaro options checkbox at my local Chevy dealer? Winning on Sunday doesn't mean squat in showrooms on Monday anymore. Perhaps they should just drop the "S", (and the "C" since it would become redundant), and call themselves N.A.A.R. (I like the way that sounds when you say it with feeling.)
Thank you for pointing out the only "official" products are fuel,and tires. You mentioned that the fuel is free to the teams, is that also true of the tires? One brand of fuel kind of make sense, to make sure no one is brewing a cauldron in the pits,( safety concern). I've heard of drivers actually being fined for bad mouthing the official tire, if teams are unhappy with a given brand, why couldn't that team seek out another brand to use?
The tech rules for the cars stifle any team innovating anything significant, because any deviation from the standard is illegal. I understand the importance of maintaining safety foremost, and mandatory safety equipment is a no brainer, but for criminey sakes,the "Fusions","Camrys", and "Camaros" all fit into the same plywood cutouts.
All that aside, I still managed to catch, and enjoyed watching, the last 60 laps. It was a good race. I'll take motorsport on TV over almost anything. We might even agree on at least that.
Mn. You seem to comprehend fuel brewing. Tires are the same. The compounds and casings are specifically tuned to each track by one company to keep teams from killing their drivers by going too far for the sake of winning.
They brought other tire companies in several years back and tire expense went through the roof as well as wrecked cars as they strived to top each other. At well over a hundred grand for stuffing a car in the wall with experimental tires, not counting wear and tear on the drivers, it had to stop.
The tires are all as much the same as can be manufactured at each track and purchased on a blind draw.
Etenuly, This is so cool, I'm learning things that to be honest, I never even thought to research. You learn more on Badweb by accident...
"At well over a hundred grand for stuffing a car...it had to stop." Fair point, but an OEM chassis and motor, safety spec'd by the mnscrounger rulebook, wouldn't likely be be a hundred grand a stuffing.
And i understand teams do occasionally express dissatisfaction with tires, to the ire of the governing body.
"comprehend fuel brewing" Maybe. I know there's lots of go fast stuff in a can that's downright bad for you, (like neurotoxic, carcinogenic bad.)and can do bad things to engines too. That stuff has no business in a giant tank on pit row. "What's that purple film inside your intake Michael?". Disclaimer: I do not believe the purple substance inside Michael Waltrip's intake a few years back was such a substance, but I do believe whatever it was, was not allowed under the rules. I'm aware the official fuel today is almost 100% ethanol, and I am a big fan of the whole process, but I prefer mine at around 45-65%, to be aged a bit, and dispensed 1 or 2 ounces at a time.
(Message edited by mnscrounger on February 20, 2018)
Interesting pseudo-history. Legend has it that in the 60's a famous stock car team had the hauler overturn on the way to Daytona. In those days a hauler was a truck.
They got the car to the race all bent up. They went to Hertz and rented a car, swapped all the race parts over, ran the race, put the car back stock and returned the now somewhat beat up rental car.
Forever after, rental agreements say you can't use the car for racing. Truth or fiction?
Back in '67, Hertz rented Shelby GT-350 Mustangs. Many went to the dragstrip, returned on Monday with much-worn rubber. I suspect that's the origin of the "No racing" clause
While camping in my old suburban in the infield at Daytona in 1992 for Richard Petty's last 500, my son and I had bolted a sheet of plywood to the roof for our lawn chairs and cooler. You had to elevate to see anything.
Next to us were two young very drunk race fans. They had flown to Orlando and rented a new Chevy Lumina or Corsica for the weekends races. I wish I had taken pictures of this. They were standing on the roof of the car.
As they got drunker they would jump from the roof to the hood or deck lid, then to the ground. Of course the slightly domed shape of the roof was slippery, so they jumped on it until it was concaved.
Being a body shop guy I mentioned that was going to be a costly rental. They said they were not worried they paid with a credit card that covered damages and even bought the extra insurance from the rental agency.
We sure had fun watching them having a good time. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they beat that car. They slept in it, ate in it and even puked on it.
After Sunday's 500 race they got in the car having to kick the roof back up to be able to sit in the seats. It had been beat right down to the headrests! The hood had been pounded down so much that the bolts that held the air cleaner on the throttle body were protruding through the hood! The deck lid would no longer latch. It was awesome!
I could not help myself Sunday as we prepared to leave. I asked if they had read the fine print in the rental agreement about damages to the car. So they pulled the papers out and commenced reading.
The look on their faces was priceless as they discovered they might not be covered for everything as they thought. Uh oh!
In the bad old days of formula 1..... medium days? They allowed custom fuels. Each team brought their own or bought at the track. ELF, the gasoline company brewed up some uber octane stuff allowing their team cars to run higher boost. They dominated that season & rules got changed. In 1996 F1 switched to unleaded pump gas to stop the chemistry race.
ELF wasn't alone in brewing up exotic fuels and they had to pump the exhaust gas out of the garage to protect the mechanics from the leaded gasoline rocket fuels of the early 90's.
I like Lemons & have been inspired by Roadkill, from it's start. But neither, by design, is big business franchise material, despite sponsored engines and parts. ( I hate the expected burn outs. I always have paid for my own tires and Potlatch isn't in my heritage )
I get that NASCAR isn't as accessible and relevant to the daily driver as it was when I was a teen.
Feel free to complain and suggest.
I think nostalgia drives a lot of the rules. Otherwise they'd run turbo 4 cylinder hybrids. Which would be closer to customer cars..... and more expensive by far than the V-8 restrictor plate normal.
3/11/01 - Atlanta - Kevin Harvick's emotional first NSCS victory
Kevin Harvick holds off a hard-charging Jeff Gordon, on the final lap, to capture his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory in only his third start.
quote:
Kevin Harvick Remembers The Race That Changed His Life FOX Sports, February 23, 2018
"Mentally, I was in a kind of a whirlwind. You got to victory lane and everybody was happy, but they didn't really know if they were happy, because Dale was gone, and there were so many things that had changed.
I'm sure this is going to be pretty difficult for all of us, but none of us expected this this soon. All I've got to say is this one's for Dale.
Coming out as a 25-year-old rookie, replacing Dale Earnhardt to win my first race in my third week was definitely the moment that changed my career."
Today, seventeen years later, Harvick takes another emotional victory lap at Atlanta Motor Speedway, site of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win, three fingers held high in the air to honor the late, great Dale Earnhardt.
