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If it ain't broke, fix it anyway: NASCAR 2017 Thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Batman, Jan 23, 2017.

  1. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    Kurt Busch ... that'll be a popular champ.

    (That said, after the shit show first 190 laps, the last 10 were very good.)
     
    doctorquant likes this.
  2. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I always watch the Daytona 500, but I guarantee I will not be on the couch to hear "so-and-so wins Stage 2" again this year. Very unimpressed.

    Kyle Busch blowing up Goodyear in his post-wreck interview was a highlight.
     
  3. cisforkoke

    cisforkoke Well-Known Member

    Whenever I switched to it, the cars were parked. Much like when I switch to the Oscars, it is complete shit. But one of those events is complete shit every year.
     
  4. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    So much for this race making the headlines.
     
  5. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    Gotta scroll for a bit on ESPN.com to find it.
     
  6. maumann

    maumann Well-Known Member

    Was interested to see how the new gimmicks might move the social media needle. The race never cracked the top 10 in Twitter topics in such racing hotbeds as Indianapolis, Detroit, Charlotte, Atlanta or Raleigh -- and just barely registered in Orlando.

    And most of the headlines I saw today online? Tony Stewart finally wins Daytona 500 (as an owner). Yikes.

    Penske and Gibbs can tow the company line all they want -- and good for them that Shell and Home Depot still have faith in the sport -- but having Junior, Jimmie, Danica and close to 20-plus other cars already in the garage for the final 90 minutes of the race did nothing to dispel the widespread feeling that TV viewers quickly boogity, boogity, boogitied from Fox long before Elliott and Larson ran out of gas on Lap 199.

    Hard to crank it up when click it off got there first.
     
  7. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    Apparently the ratings were a touch better than last year, but still pretty dismal.

    As much as I dislike it, it's not like the 'segment' thing is a radical change. Kind of like the intermediate sprints in a Tour de France stage, something to perk up the earlier moments and help you forget you're two hours from the end. The bigger problem with yesterday was just general plate race tomfoolery. I'm not an engineer, but I can't figure out how they haven't been able to come up with something better over the course of 25 years, though I suppose maybe they don't want to. Plate races have their appeal, particularly for the carnage-loving segments of the population. The first of the three big wrecks was just a tire failure in the wrong spot (which has started quite a few "big ones" over the years), and the other two are mostly attributable to former Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray being a dumbass and running someone over at speed.

    The ending was pretty good, and even though Kurt Busch is, by all accounts, an asshole, it's better than if, say, Cole Whitt had come out of nowhere (though Auston Dillon winning in the 3 would have gotten some attention). Getting people to pay attention to the Daytona 500 isn't the issue, it's the Atlantas and spring race at Bristols and the stupid 1 1/2-mile cookie cutters where they need to make hay.
     
    maumann likes this.
  8. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    It's easy for Penske and Gibbs to talk sponsorship cash, they run blue-chip operations that corporate America is still eager to get behind. But ask Roger to explain how his beloved May race at Indy can have 300,000 fans and then that same track has 60,000 (at best) two months later for a far more popular series overall. I'll hang up and listen.

    As for plate racing, it's never going anywhere. Heck, I'll admit I even like the wrecks. But Nascar knows carnage is coming yet track cleanup is a never-ending charade. The crash that took out Kyle and Junior should not have required a long red flag. I think Nascar and Indycar have relied on the red far too much in recent years.
     
    maumann likes this.
  9. UPChip

    UPChip Well-Known Member

    The other thing that came to mind after the race was, I wondered if Kurt's ex-girlfriend was able to watch the finish or if she was too busy on a covert op to get to a TV.
     
    franticscribe and doctorquant like this.
  10. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    Schedule changes afoot for 2018. New Hampshire is out as a Chase playoff race, and Las Vegas is getting the date.
    Considering that's in late September, will they shuffle the schedule some more? Does Vegas have lights? Or does the weather cool off to tolerable enough levels by then so that people won't be spontaneously combusting?

    Las Vegas adding second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in 2018
     
  11. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    So they're taking the only road course out of the playoff and replacing it with ano there cookie-cutter oval? How exciting!
     
  12. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    There aren't any road courses in the playoff, New Hampshire is an oval. Can't really argue with the swap though, LVMS is a great facility. I don't think it has lights but after its Sunday afternoon race goes up against a Las Vegas Raiders game, that might change. And Vegas might be a good place to try a midweek race too.
     
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