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Crash Test Dummies


blksn8k2

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I wonder if anyone has ever done a comparison of the percentage of cars that actually finished each Daytona 500 before and since the inception of restrictor plates in 1988?

 

The number of cars not finishing would only include cars taken out in accidents and not due to mechanical failures.

 

I still can't believe the car owners are willing to put up with cost of all those totaled race cars.

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The real problem is that they are forced to run in these huge packs. All it takes is one even minor mistake and all hell breaks loose. This is not real racing. It's just running around in circles waiting for someone to screw up. The fastest car seldom ever wins which is the exact opposite of what real racing should be about. If I were an owner I would boycott the superspeedway "races". The odds are that I would be money ahead. The risk has to be worth the reward.

 

I get it that the cars are way safer than they were in 2001 but sooner or later somebody is going to pay the ultimate price again for putting on a good show for the so called "fans" that would be just as happy watching Roman gladiators duke it out. If you could get an honest answer from most of the drivers (or at least those not afraid of being fined for their honesty) I bet most of them would say they hate this crap.

 

I also understand why Daytona and Talladega are the races that get the most attention from the TV networks but that also means these are the only races a lot of people bother to watch. And then NASCAR wonders why so many people don't take their sport seriously? Really? ?

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Some would argue that racing in circles isn't real racing, period.  But the problem is you can't let them run flat out - they'd be way over 200 mph and that's just not safe on a track with concrete walls so close (even if they're "safer").  

 

With road racing you have slower speeds but you also have runoff areas and tire walls, etc. making it orders of magnitude safer.

 

I think they need to do what LeMans did and put in chicanes.   Daytona already has one on the backstretch for the road course.  Or just let them run the road course at Daytona.  Not sure it Talladega has a decent road course.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Think small (NASCAR tracks)!

  • Do away with the qualifier races and instead of stages, run the Cup races as heats of 12-15 cars, or 3-heat minimum each, 50-75 miles or ~40-50 laps/heat, depending on the track. The top 5 in each heat advance to that day's Cup Final. The cars are staged in order of their finishing time in the heats, i.e., the fastest car of the 3-4 heats is on the pole and so on. Sunup to sundown racing. This would make it easier for the fans in attendance to keep track of their favorites, maybe also to have more favorites, and cut down on the wrecks. Everybody likes smoky-sparky-firey, sod chewin' wrecks, nobody likes multiple 30-40 minute cleanups.
  • The top 4 or 5 from each final advance to the (insert several naming right and "Presented By" sponsors here) Season Finale, to be held at a randomly selected track. Could be Talledega, Rockingham, Chicago ("ICECAR," yeah!). And to help insure good clean fun, only one (1) car per team in Cup. You would be allowed as many teams as you can afford, but you run only one car each, "Banquet-to-Banquet."during the season. Same chassis, same motor, same everything (rebuild of the original parts would be allowed) once the season starts. Hammer it back into shape and put it on the grid next week. You break, you park, you watch.
  • Did I mention the rain? The racing goes on. Rain tires would be allowed. Nothing worse than sitting in my $196 seat eating a $15 corndog & lemonade watching the jet dry trucks lapping the field at 2mph.
  • We could do away with restrictor plates at the bigger tracks: Mandate 9:1 axle ratios. 200mph? Gonna need 16-17000 rpm. NASCAR oval is 80% V8 roar, 20% racing. By raising final drive ratios, you would have all the sound & fury and race strategy, but at a more controlled pace. OK 9:1 is ridiculous, but you get the idea.

 

Don't get me going on Formula 1.

 

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