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#NASCAR – the chase and the competition caution

Posted on December 12, 2010 by thatconsultantbloke

I’ve droned on a bit here in favour of team orders, so you are forgiven if you think that I am in favour of races being manipulated, but doing it within a team is one thing, the organisers doing it is another.

When I go to the races I like to see cars and drivers race, but I understand the importance within a team of people working together. The DTM has taken this to an art form over the years, but it has been a part of motor racing since I can remember starting to follow it back in the 50s. The scenario where one driver might sacrifice themselves, or their car, to try and break the opposition is a classic example, especially in sports car racing.

That is part of team tactics and I have no problem with it; it all adds to the interest for me, but what I do object to is the organiser playing with the results.

The worst example of this for me is NASCAR’s competition caution. I someone has got themselves the best part of a lap clear after 450 miles then good luck to them I say, and to have a spurious yellow flag to bunch up the field for the last tenth of the race is tantamount to robbery. The argument that it makes things exiting sugests to me that those who are bored are not true race fans. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t watch these pointless All Star races where they run them in segments.

If NASCAR want a 50 lap races then let them run them, but if it’s a 500 miler then being able to run it and play the track and conditions is part of the skill. If you can get yourself set to win you should be able to do it without the organising body mucking up your afternoon and letting one of those teams that you have well beat to re-fettle themselves and pinch the prize from you.

This is why I also object so strongly to the Chase format. The season is the season and that should be it. Maniplulating the ending as NASCAR do now is the equivalent of putting out a competition caution on the season. If they want a 12 car 10 race championship then run one, but I won’t be watching it.

NASCAR, you’ve screwed up the Cup series for me, so please leave the second division and the truck series alone. If you want to make the racing better then start addressing unruly driving; cause a wreck and sit out the rest of that race plus the next. Cause another wreck within 5 races and sit out two races. Wreck on a restart in the last 20 laps and sit out three races (on top of any other penalty). That should start to wake up a few of the aggresive idiots that you have out there and we might even get to have a few good runs to the flag.

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Weekend round up – 21 November 2010 #NASCAR

Posted on November 21, 2010 by thatconsultantbloke

#NASCAR And so to Homestead for the finale. Things not looking so good for the #11 team after qualifying, but Denny Hamlin is not as flakey as a certain team mate and it looked for a while as though he had pulled it off. JJ has done this before though and he wound up the #48 to put the chase out of reach. Game over – who’d have thought it possible to win 5 in a row, but the chase has screwed up the championship race pretty thoroughly, so these things become possible.

If NASCAR want a 12 car short series then let them run one. The real cup should be about the whole field and the whole season. It’s why my interest in cup level racing has faded since they brought in this competition caution on the season, but there we go; I don’t make the decisions.

With most of the season done and dusted I’ll be doing just one more round up for 2010 to wrap up the #DTM, and then I plan to report my thoughts on some of the off season events through the Winter. I’m also working on some retro related posts to bring my slant on events of past times in the way that I did for the Sid Collins eulogy for Eddie Sachs, and the first of these relates to Jim Clark and his final race with another coming along on the Ford GT40 at Le Mans. Watch out for these in the coming weeks.

Filed under: Circuits, Drivers, NASCAR | Tagged: autoracing, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »

Weekend round up – 14 November 2010 #NASCAR #F1

Posted on November 15, 2010 by thatconsultantbloke

#NASCAR Well done Todd Bodine on a second truck title. Families likes the Bodines are part of the backbone of racing. Over at the duel in the desert, the Spring Cup rumbles towards a conclusion with just 15 points between the top two and three possible winners. Roll on next week.

#F1 Well, it’s all over for another year. It would be nice if the title could go down to the wire at one of the classic circuits rather than a glorified slot car track, but never mind. “Watta mistake-a to make-a” as Bertorelli used to put it in ‘Allo ‘Allo as Ferarri make amends for the Hockenheim team orders issue by covering Webbo and spoiling Alonso’s chances. Some you win, some you lose. Easy to be right after the fact.

Having said that, the Mineral Water Kid deserved the title with 5 good wins, so no arguments there, and a good result for the sport. Also good to see the McLarens back on form.

Nice also to see Petrov do well. The lad has had a traumatic season, but is learning the ropes and has the right to be on the grid. He had Alonso welll covered for two thirds of the race and that is pressure.

Filed under: Cars, Circuits, Drivers, F1, NASCAR | Tagged: autoracing, F1, formula one, motorsport, NASCAR, racecar | Leave a comment »

Weekend round up 31 October 2010 #NASCAR #DTM #F1

Posted on October 31, 2010 by thatconsultantbloke

#DTM Heck of a wreck for Alex Premat, but good to hear that he walked away. The series lead changes again, so all to play for still at the top of the table.

#NASCAR All the fun of the fair at Talledega. Good to see Junior doing his stuff at the head of the field for a time, but what was all that between him and Burton? Wasted day. Also good to see Front Row Joe do a great job in qualifying and got a lap led. His home town of Lakeland is just up the road from my place in Fla, so he sort of got adopted back in ’93 as my local driver and we’ve followed his fortunes since. Shame he got in wreck so close to the finish.

So, with the wreck at the whiteflag, it looks like Bowyer has the win by inches over Harvick, with Johnson edging Hamlin for seventh (at the time of writing). That should put the #48 just 10 points ahead of the #11 in the title race by my reckoning. (I’ll update this later when we get a provisional result). The Dinger is apparently OK after getting flipped as the white flag flew. JPM a good 4th.

#F1 Comings and goings at Williams? I’d like to see the Hulk get another season. He is a promising talent and hasn’t been shown up that much by the Barrow Boy.