Talladega

Zeke · 10-07-2012, 06:09 PM

Having lived in Talladega for a year, I spent many days out at the track. I worked the races. But today's finish was a barn burner. The driver comments were all over the place from Biffle saying he had the "million dollar shot" but no in-car camera to Dale Jr. saying if that's how the races are going to be run, he's all done.

It was the Las Vegas Indy car crash x 2.

CUP: The Big One - Talladega 2012 - Watch on SPEED

I don't watch too many NASCAR races, but I always tune in to Talladega.

peppy · 10-07-2012, 06:18 PM

hope nobody got hurt, but I kind of like the idea of wrecking them all at once

black73 · 10-07-2012, 06:20 PM

It's almost impossible to get hurt in those cars these days, so why not wreck the field if you're not going to win?

Buckterrier · 10-07-2012, 06:25 PM

Saw the lowlights on ESPN. Was a great show. Isn't that what CRASHCAR wants, a show?

Can't wait for the 2014 season of Grand Am & ALMS merge.
Hopefully it won't be quite the show.

motion · 10-07-2012, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peppy

hope nobody got hurt, but I kind of like the idea of wrecking them all at once

I wonder if nascar wrecking tech trickles down to passenger cars? That would be really groovy if it did.

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

I wonder if nascar wrecking tech trickles down to passenger cars? That would be really groovy if it did.

A lot of it probably won't, a key element is a restrained driver, who has very little available movement. A head restraint limiting head motion, straps to limit body, and custom fit seat that allows little wriggle room.

I can't see people taking time to buckle all that stuff in every time they get in a car...and it'd be dangerous not to in such a vehicle. Instead, passengers are allowed free space to turn on AC, hold a cell phone, slap the misbehaving passenger in the back seat, etc, and safety relies on airbags to deploy in all that movement space, to restrict the occupants.

I agree with Biffle on making it a shorter race if this is how its gonna be. Maybe do two races, and the wrecked guys come back in back up cars.

Zeke · 10-07-2012, 07:27 PM

I got a laugh when I happened to remark, "Dale Sr. would have said, 'If I have to ride to the finish line on top of someone else's car, my bumper better get there first.'"

Indeed. A tough ol' SOB that never thought HE would be the one dead.

Yeah, no one went to the hospital as they did commonly not that many years ago. This, of course, is the controlling factor why these wrecks occur at every 2.5 mile restrictor plate race. Mark Martin was one of the first to be vocal about how stupid it is.

However, I'll tell you this: unless you've been there, you don't understand why they sell 100's of 1000's of tickets and the place can hold a quarter million people. When that pack of cars comes around it feels like you're at a Space Shuttle launch. And you get to experience this 200 times in 3 hours. Yellow flags notwithstanding.

Great for the spectators, not so much for the drivers. I've been there for ARCA and IROC. It's good, but not Cup racing.

chapo · 10-07-2012, 07:31 PM

What a joke. Taledega used to be a big deal. Only the big boys could run high speeds to run out front. Someone is going to get killed. Bring back the high speeds, only the top dogs can drive like that, no packs, the best wins. Can't wait to see how the Frances eff up the sports car merger.

Zeke · 10-07-2012, 07:39 PM

@chapo, that's pretty negative. Dave Despain just got done saying that Jim France has a good handle on this. There are good Frances and not so good Frances. There's a lot of bad legacy to overcome.

Rusty Heap · Rusty Heap's Garage

I've been in the stands at the track.

$85 was the cheap seats.

you could bring beer in by the cooler full passed the ticket takers.

Red necks, welll, I did meet Rufus and Skeeter, no I'm not making up those names.

chapo · 10-07-2012, 07:47 PM

Zeke, it's not neg, just letting racers race. Negative would include JC France getting busted high on coke racing his Lamborghini n the streets of Miami and having it all swept under the rug. Glad they hung AJ out to dry for Adderall, much worse than coke according to NASCAR. He missed be or two races in grandam?

LakeCleElum · 10-07-2012, 08:32 PM

Quite a finish for sure.......4 wide on the last lap......Only 3 cars got thru up front......Tony Steward upside down and gets 2nd place.

I was there in 1998.....Dale SR got wrecked, he'd pull into the pits every lap to get panels beat on for about 5 five laps....Later, as he worked his way thru the pack, I can still hear that Southern slang: "Hit 'em Dale"...

Was a good time .....

widgeon13 · 10-08-2012, 04:16 AM

If they could do all that on the first lap it would shorten the races and save a lot of fuel.

rouxroux · 10-08-2012, 05:32 AM

NASCAR: nothing more than WWE "rasslin" on wheels.

URY914 · URY914's Garage

One of these days a driver is going to get out of his wrecked car and grab a folding chair and after the other driver. That will be the WWE moment.

dennis in se pa · dennis in se pa's Garage

More ridiculous than professional wrestling. Too bad, there are some good drivers in this series like Tony Stewart.

widgeon13 · 10-08-2012, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by URY914

One of these days a driver is going to get out of his wrecked car and grab a folding chair and after the other driver. That will be the WWE moment.

Hasn't that basically happened with throwing of the helmets!

ted · ted's Garage

what happened, did 2nd back to 15th just get crashed on the last turn?
That just looked stupid when 1 or 2 cars lose control and collect 12 more mid pack cars.
Cluster phuc racing at its worst.

Zeke · 10-08-2012, 07:28 AM

Sports cars go round and round, different track, different day. I haven't made it through a whole Gran Am race yet....ever. ALMS pretty much the same. They are fun to watch in person when they come to Long Beach, but they make poor TV, IMHO.

CrashCAR does road races to speedway to short track. Something for everyone. And a LOT more talent to set up and drive those solid axle cars than any other kind. That's why I watch some of the races.

Just ask Chip Ganassi. No driver has come from outside the NASCAR genre and dominated. I'm considering dirt tracks to be part of it since that's where most of them cut their teeth.

If Montoya, Fanchitti, Raikkonen, et al, had done anything, I would stand down. The "show" is sometimes tacky. Everyone has their problems. See the recent F1 thread.

VaSteve · 10-08-2012, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

More ridiculous than professional wrestling. Too bad, there are some good drivers in this series like Tony Stewart.

Any of those drivers could out drive anyone on this board. I guarantee it. Tony was the one who went for the block and Waltrip didn't let up, yielding that disaster yesterday.

That race sucks, if it wasn't wet and rainy I could have done someone else with my day.

The sport is suffering. TV coverge sucks and is killing off the casual fan. As is the economy. Crowd was WAY down yesterday. there was only about 88k people there, stands hold a LOT more. You didn't see a lot of crowd shots or the empty infield.

I agree on the space shuttle launch, I go to Richmond and Dover a bit. The drop o the green flag, Everyone stands for two laps. Awesome!