WSJ Auto Writer Dan Neil

[twintornados]

Dan is a jerk, and I've happily emailed him at a previous employer to point out ridiculous errors in some of his columns. His eventual retirement will improve the world.

.

Not for the retirees....

[silvrsvt]

 

Here's a bit of time travel for you:

 

 

And you can see why they don't do starts like that anymore, after that Yellow GT nearly or did sideswipe that car.

[RichardJensen]

 

And you can see why they don't do starts like that anymore, after that Yellow GT nearly or did sideswipe that car.

 

Also, drivers used to sprint across to their cars.

 

If memory serves, Ken Miles walked slowly and deliberately over to his to reflect his disdain for the "Le Mans Start"

Edited June 13, 2017 by RichardJensen

[bifs66]

"Even though the current 358 ci V8s still use pushrod technology they are pretty damn impressive. When an engine can produce about 900 hp at over 9000 RPM for up to 600 miles plus practice and qualifying laps that is nothing to be ashamed of. Not sure how many were paying attention to yesterday's race but Kevin Harvick missed a shift in his Ford during an early race restart and still managed to finish the race in 2nd place. That engine easily rev'd way past 10,000 RPM and never missed a beat. I wouldn't even want to try that in a new GT350 with its 4-cam flat plane crank engine. As a matter of fact, the electronics wouldn't let the Voodoo rev that high to begin with."

 

I believe Harvick engaged a lower gear which mechanically over revved his engine via the drive train. No amount of engine electronics could prevent the high rpms. Thus, a Voodoo/Coyote OHC V8 would have also revved to extreme rpms under the same circumstances. It was interesting that Jr. blew up two GM engines over the weekend committing the same error; yet, Harvick's FR9 survived. Maybe there really is a difference in the designs.

[silvrsvt]

Speaking of Racing not innovating new tech...this is kinda interesting

 

Don Panoz's holy grail unveiled: An electric car to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans

IT MIGHT TAKE 10 1,000-POUND BATTERIES, BUT THE CAR VISIONARY HAS A PLAN TO CHANGE RACING

Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/24-hours-le-mans/don-panozs-holy-grail-unveiled-electric-car-run-24-hours-le-mans#ixzz4k5H7BLrb

[Joe771476]

The reason why NASCAR is fading is because these new generations of kids have no desire to even DRIVE a car, let alone watch them race! And most of the time when the winner is announced in the sports section, I'll be damned if I can see one mention of the car badge. It's all just a game anyway. I was at our annual car show here in Middletown CT and they had a Joey Logano replica on display with the Ford logo. Next to it was the enclosed car hauler/trailer attached to a CHEVY truck! That just wouldn't have been done back in the old days. But nobody cares, except me! I remember when a trailer load of Fords would be hauled by a Ford tractor and ditto for GM and Chrysler (Dodge). The only company who might be able to pull that off now is Ford with a beefed up F750! Would it necessarily have to be a tandem axle?

[tbone]

The reason why NASCAR is fading is because these new generations of kids have no desire to even DRIVE a car, let alone watch them race! And most of the time when the winner is announced in the sports section, I'll be damned if I can see one mention of the car badge. It's all just a game anyway. I was at our annual car show here in Middletown CT and they had a Joey Logano replica on display with the Ford logo. Next to it was the enclosed car hauler/trailer attached to a CHEVY truck! That just wouldn't have been done back in the old days. But nobody cares, except me! I remember when a trailer load of Fords would be hauled by a Ford tractor and ditto for GM and Chrysler (Dodge). The only company who might be able to pull that off now is Ford with a beefed up F750! Would it necessarily have to be a tandem axle?

I think that pretty much sums it up, unfortunately.

[rmc523]

To be clear, I don't watch much racing at all, but to me NASCAR is toward the bottom of the list of racing I'd be interested in watching. Why? I really could care less about watching cars go in a circle hundreds of times for hours on end.....cars that are differentiated by nothing but stickers. It just doesn't appeal to me at all.

[fuzzymoomoo]

To be clear, I don't watch much racing at all, but to me NASCAR is toward the bottom of the list of racing I'd be interested in watching. Why? I really could care less about watching cars go in a circle hundreds of times for hours on end.....cars that are differentiated by nothing but stickers. It just doesn't appeal to me at all.

That's a problem nascar has always had imo. The only real need to watch is the first 30 laps or so, then the last 50 or so depending on the track. They tried to fix it with this new goofy stage format but it's just so damn confusing it's really hard to figure out what the implications are.

[RichardJensen]

The reason why NASCAR is fading is because these new generations of kids have no desire to even DRIVE a car

 

I think this is something of a generational bias: The Silent Generation basically created the hot-rod scene, and their kids, Gen X, have been decidedly less enthusiastic about cars, but because both generations are significantly smaller than Baby Boomers & Millennials, the fall-off in interest is suddenly drawing comment.

 

Also, the fall-off is being exaggerated by people who earn their living talking about change.

[silvrsvt]

 

I think this is something of a generational bias: The Silent Generation basically created the hot-rod scene, and their kids, Gen X, have been decidedly less enthusiastic about cars, but because both generations are significantly smaller than Baby Boomers & Millennials, the fall-off in interest is suddenly drawing comment.

 

I dunno about that Gen X is responsible more or less for Fast and Furious and the JDM Tuner scene...at least thats what I remember from almost 20 years ago

 

Gen X was more or less the last generation to be able to afford "cheap" cars right out of high school. You could get a decent car for $1500 or less back in the early to mid-1990s or so. I know my wife's cousin (Millennial) was looking at a 5-10 year old Honda Civic a few years back and it was well over 5 grand for it!

 

I was reminded yesterday that my mom didn't get her drivers license till she was 21....that was back in 1970! Part of it was she lived in the city and took a bus every where, so you didn't need it.

 

The neighborhood I live in now has a decent amount of younger millennials (17/18-early 20s) that live there with their parents yet and they all seem to be driving and own cars that are about 10 years old or so.