Delaying Daytona

[Batman]

I know they used the restrictor plates at New Hampshire for a year or two after Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty died. Do they still do that?

 

[Layman]

I know they used the restrictor plates at New Hampshire for a year or two after Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty died. Do they still do that?

No. One time deal. If I remember correctly, didn't that race get run VERY late. As in, almost Thanksgiving? I may be off on this one.

 

[trifectarich]

Never seen a NASCAR race. It sounds as though, if I were going to see one, people say Talladega (sp?) is usually damn exciting?

 

[rmanfredi]

Never seen a NASCAR race. It sounds as though, if I were going to see one, people say Talladega (sp?) is usually damn exciting?

Depends on what you want to get out of a race. If you think you would like "pack" racing with most of the field bunched up in one group going exceptionally fast, with the occasional 15+ car crash to thin things out, then a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona would be for you. I prefer a shorter, tighter track like Richmond with a little more contact and leaders having to maneuver through traffic in order to win.

 

[HanSenSE]

Don't forget special cars for Infineion and Watkins Glen ... you know, cars that make right turns as well as lefts.

 

[Batman]

Never seen a NASCAR race. It sounds as though, if I were going to see one, people say Talladega (sp?) is usually damn exciting?

Depends on what you want to get out of a race. If you think you would like "pack" racing with most of the field bunched up in one group going exceptionally fast, with the occasional 15+ car crash to thin things out, then a superspeedway like Talladega or Daytona would be for you. I prefer a shorter, tighter track like Richmond with a little more contact and leaders having to maneuver through traffic in order to win.

Bristol, especially the night race in August, is sort of the best of both worlds. Lots of contact, lots of skill, great atmosphere (at least that's the rep; I've never been there for a race), some hype and an awesome venue. Bristol is basically the size of a giant football stadium. Unlike, say, Talladega, which is freaking huge, you can pretty much see the whole track in your line of sight.

 

[Batman]

I know they used the restrictor plates at New Hampshire for a year or two after Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty died. Do they still do that?

No. One time deal. If I remember correctly, didn't that race get run VERY late. As in, almost Thanksgiving? I may be off on this one.

As always, Wikipedia is our friend.
You're right -- they used the plates in the fall 2000 Cup race only, although the Modifieds series still uses it there.
The Thanksgiving race you mentioned was in 2001. It was supposed to be in September, but got postponed because of 9/11.

 

[murphyc]

I know they used the restrictor plates at New Hampshire for a year or two after Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty died. Do they still do that?

No. One time deal. If I remember correctly, didn't that race get run VERY late. As in, almost Thanksgiving? I may be off on this one.

As always, Wikipedia is our friend.
You're right -- they used the plates in the fall 2000 Cup race only, although the Modifieds series still uses it there.
The Thanksgiving race you mentioned was in 2001. It was supposed to be in September, but got postponed because of 9/11.

I believe Jeff Burton led every lap of that 2000 snoozefest. Only entertaining part was Dale Earnhardt trying to get a lap back. The 2001 race featured Gordon vs. Gordon. Jeff Gordon got slowed by lapped traffic late, leading to him being punted by Robby Gordon, who was driving the No. 31 Lowe's car (last race for Lowe's with RCR before switching to Hendrick) at the time. Jeff lost his cool under caution and retaliated, while Robby went on to get the win.

 

[murphyc]

Wasn't one idea with the COT that teams would be able to use the same car for various tracks? I.e. a Daytona car could run at Vegas and Pocono as well. Or am I mistaken on that?
And I find it quite funny NASCAR moves Daytona back a week and runs into rain problems. Hold it on the regular date, you have a built-in rain date with the Monday holiday. Yes some fans would have to leave Monday (to get to work on Tuesday or had to check out Monday, etc.) but a certain percent would be able to stay since they had Monday off. But by pushing it back a week, a lower percent will be able to stay with Monday not being a holiday. Plus TV numbers would have been better with people not at work last Monday being able to watch at home vs. today. TV numbers will help with it being a night race, but I can't imagine how empty the grandstands might look tonight.
Heck, I remember when there was an empty week between Daytona and the next race of the season. In that case, the race could be pushed back a week and you're still good to go.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

... or when the second race was at Rockingham. It was chilly some years - my stepfather almost froze when we went to the AAA race (don't think the series had a corporate name then) - but at least transportation was no big trick.

I know Richmond County, N.C., isn't considered the paradise that Volusia County, Fla., is regarded, but I miss Rockingham.

 

[Batman]

Wasn't one idea with the COT that teams would be able to use the same car for various tracks? I.e. a Daytona car could run at Vegas and Pocono as well. Or am I mistaken on that?
And I find it quite funny NASCAR moves Daytona back a week and runs into rain problems. Hold it on the regular date, you have a built-in rain date with the Monday holiday. Yes some fans would have to leave Monday (to get to work on Tuesday or had to check out Monday, etc.) but a certain percent would be able to stay since they had Monday off. But by pushing it back a week, a lower percent will be able to stay with Monday not being a holiday. Plus TV numbers would have been better with people not at work last Monday being able to watch at home vs. today. TV numbers will help with it being a night race, but I can't imagine how empty the grandstands might look tonight.
Heck, I remember when there was an empty week between Daytona and the next race of the season. In that case, the race could be pushed back a week and you're still good to go.

Even if the cars are the same, I imagine they have to swap out engines. Running 700 or 800 miles (for the race, qualifying and practice) in those cars is probably like driving 100,000 miles in a normal car.
Plus, like someone else said, they have to reload spare parts and everything else for the next stop. Even during this West Coast swing, where they go from Phoenix to Las Vegas, or the summer stretch of races in the Northeast and Midwest, they still send the hauler back to the shop before it goes to the next track.

 

[Layman]

Wasn't one idea with the COT that teams would be able to use the same car for various tracks? I.e. a Daytona car could run at Vegas and Pocono as well. Or am I mistaken on that?
And I find it quite funny NASCAR moves Daytona back a week and runs into rain problems. Hold it on the regular date, you have a built-in rain date with the Monday holiday. Yes some fans would have to leave Monday (to get to work on Tuesday or had to check out Monday, etc.) but a certain percent would be able to stay since they had Monday off. But by pushing it back a week, a lower percent will be able to stay with Monday not being a holiday. Plus TV numbers would have been better with people not at work last Monday being able to watch at home vs. today. TV numbers will help with it being a night race, but I can't imagine how empty the grandstands might look tonight.
Heck, I remember when there was an empty week between Daytona and the next race of the season. In that case, the race could be pushed back a week and you're still good to go.

All things considered, main stretch grandstand looks d*mned full....

 

[Oggiedoggie]

Wasn't one idea with the COT that teams would be able to use the same car for various tracks? I.e. a Daytona car could run at Vegas and Pocono as well. Or am I mistaken on that?
And I find it quite funny NASCAR moves Daytona back a week and runs into rain problems. Hold it on the regular date, you have a built-in rain date with the Monday holiday. Yes some fans would have to leave Monday (to get to work on Tuesday or had to check out Monday, etc.) but a certain percent would be able to stay since they had Monday off. But by pushing it back a week, a lower percent will be able to stay with Monday not being a holiday. Plus TV numbers would have been better with people not at work last Monday being able to watch at home vs. today. TV numbers will help with it being a night race, but I can't imagine how empty the grandstands might look tonight.
Heck, I remember when there was an empty week between Daytona and the next race of the season. In that case, the race could be pushed back a week and you're still good to go.

All things considered, main stretch grandstand looks d*mned full....

He has lots of family in Florida.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

NASCAR should do this once a month between now and August. Monday night racing is pretty damn cool. And I say that as a very casual fan (I watch like parts of five races per year).

 

[FileNotFound]

NASCAR should do this once a month between now and August. Monday night racing is pretty damn cool. And I say that as a very casual fan (I watch like parts of five races per year).

+1. This is cool, and will be great office conversation tomorrow.

 

[franklin lincoln]

A jet fuel explosion during the Daytona 500! WTF?

 

[imjustagirl]

Not an explosion so much as John Paul losing control and plowing into the dryer.

Unreal ****.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

NASCAR should do this once a month between now and August. Monday night racing is pretty damn cool. And I say that as a very casual fan (I watch like parts of five races per year).

+1. This is cool, and will be great office conversation tomorrow.

+2. It mixes things up rather than just having 36 races on Saturdays and Sundays. Make it a rare thing, like a couple of times a year for the more minor races, and people will talk about it.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Was this what James Taylor was thinking when he wrote "Fire and Rain"?

 

[wicked]

NASCAR should do this once a month between now and August. Monday night racing is pretty damn cool. And I say that as a very casual fan (I watch like parts of five races per year).

One of the reasons ratings dropped there for a while, I'd bet, is that they had no consistent start times for the races. One week you were starting at 3, next week at 1. They were trying to push all the races to end in prime time. In recent years the trend has been toward standard starting times (7 or 8 for most night races, 1 for Sundays).