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General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 122

Background Pony #7B8D
Okay, now that my internet access has been restored, I can finally talk about the most recent race at Pocono.
A lot of teams used a wide variety of strategies, so you saw many different drivers end up in the lead at several points throughout the race, not to mention all the fuel saving by many of them that has apparently become typical of Pocono. Some cars were taken out by hitting the wall on their own, others were taken out by mechanical failures, and Kyle Busch once again just can’t catch a break as he is wrecked by Corey LaJoie and results in a big crash that takes out several other cars. In the end, it was Ryan Blaney who was able to hold the lead after the final restart to win the race, first time in several years that a Penske car was able to get a decent finish at Pocono, let alone actually win the race.
Next, NASCAR will be on the oval track of Indianapolis for the return of the Brickyard 400. It’ll be interesting to see how these next-gen cars can handle such a unique racetrack.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 121

Background Pony #FCB1
While the rest of the weekend saw good weather, it was literally as soon as the Cup Series race was about to begin that it suddenly started raining. Thankfully, past experiences made it possible to get the race going, not only by letting the teams decide for themselves when to put on wet tires or slick tires, but also setting an absolute latest time to end the race due to evening darkness. There was a red flag period during stage two for a couple hours to clear away all the large puddles to improve visibility, but otherwise were able to get the race going. Shane van Gisbergen (winner of not only last year’s Cup Series race on this track, by also won this year’s Xifinity Series race the previous day) was the heavy favorite to win, and was so dominant in the first stage that one could argue the only way he could lose would be if he was taken out in a wreck… which is exactly what happened when Chase Briscoe spun out. After that, the next heavy favorite to win became Kyle Larson… until he locked his brakes and smashed the front of his car against a wall with hardly any tire barrier to soften the impact.
So with both of the heavy favorites finishing in last and second-to-last, now the race became a lot more interesting to see who would actually win. While many teams would later choose to pit to replace the wet tires with slicks for better speed, Alex Bowman was among the few who chose to not pit, forcing him to hold the lead on older wet tires. Once the timed deadline arrived, Tyler Reddick came very close, but Alex Bowman managed to stay up front to win the race, his first win in over two years (and his first win following his back injury last year and the concussion he got late in the previous season). And with that, all four Hendrick drivers and teams are now locked into the playoffs.
Next week’s race will be a Pocono. With twelve winners so far this season, it’ll be interesting to see if any of the other winless drivers can pull off an upset before the end of the regular season.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 120

Background Pony #FCB1
For much of this race, I had assumed the brief rain delay at around halfway would end up being the most significant part of it, but then someone spins out with only two laps to go. That leads to an overtime finish… followed by a wreck and another overtime attempt… then another one… and another one… and another one before they finally finished the race. To make things even more crazy, earlier cautions meant that most of the drivers leading were cutting it very close on fuel to reach the end of the scheduled race, but all those attempts at green-white-checkered forced many of them to either give up their position to pit for fuel or simply keep going until they finally ran out (and potentially causing another crash). When it was all finally over, the results were so mixed up that you’d think these results came from a track like Daytona or Talladega rather than Nashville. Ultimately, it was Joey Logano who not only finally got his first win of the season, but managed to do it with barely one more lap of fuel left in his car.
Next weekend, it’s the street course in downtown Chicago! I really hope we don’t see any rain this time like we did last year. I would very much like to see how a NASCAR race on a track like this would really be like under ideal conditions.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 119

Background Pony #FCB1
The race at New Hampshire started out fairly typical, but after a red flag period for rain, the last 82 laps became an excellent opportunity to see how well these Cup Series cars could race on the wet tires on one of the biggest and fastest oval tracks where they’re provided, and boy did we see some amazing racing (aside from a few cautions for wrecks and spin-outs). A lot of drivers had some rather interesting runs in this race, but I’ll limit myself here to perhaps the two most extreme results: Christopher Bell dominates and wins yet again at New Hampshire, while Kyle Busch just suffered through several incidents in what could arguably be the worst race he has ever had in his Cup Series career.
Next week’s race is Nashville. Let’s see how that one will go.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 118

Background Pony #FCB1
Despite some initial apprehension due to the partial repave at the bottom of the turns and numerous tire failures in practice, the first ever Cup Series race at Iowa turned out to be rather good. Some drivers did surprisingly well, while others did surprisingly poorly. Kyle Larson did great in the first two stages, only to wreck out at the start of the third stage. There were a few cautions scattered around, and it was during pit stops on the final caution that some drivers gambled on changing just two tires instead of four, among them was Ryan Blaney who got the track position he needed to be able to win the race. Definitely a fun track that I really hope gets to stay on the Cup Series schedule for years to come. (I only question why it took so long to make it happen, considering the track first opened in 2005 and the Xfinity and Truck series have raced there several times over the years.)
Next week’s race will be at New Hampshire. Not sure what to expect, is all I can really say for now.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 117

Background Pony #551D
And the madness just keeps on coming. First half of the race, there were several cautions which not only took out quite a few good cars, but also allowed everyone else to try a wide variety of pit strategies. Second half of the race ended up staying green all the way to the finish, and amidst the different strategies that were applied, Kyle Larson ended up taking the win. And for the second time in a row, one driver unexpectedly ran out of gas on the final lap, this time it was Martin Truex who was running second, only to stop just feet away from the finish line and had to barely creep his car forward the rest of the way just to finish in last of the lead lap cars.
Next week’s race will be at Iowa Speedway, a short track that the Truck series and Xfinity series have raced at several times before, but this will be the first the Cup Series has ever raced there, so this should be interesting to watch.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 116

Background Pony #551D
Now that was a crazy way to end a race. Christopher Bell had dominated much of the race, winning the first two stages, was just about to retake the lead from Ryan Blaney after alternate pit strategies, but then suddenly has engine issues (not enough to take him out, but enough that he no longer had any chance at winning). Then, just as Ryan Blaney takes the white flag to start the final lap, he suddenly runs out of fuel, allowing Austin Cindric to pass by and take the win (his second career win, his previous being the 2022 Daytona 500). Considering how Cindric did not have enough points to reach the playoffs, this win locks him in and other drivers without any wins must now really step it up (especially Kyle Busch, who essentially wrecked himself out of this race while battling for position with Kyle Larson).
Next week will be at Sonoma, a road course that was just recently repaved, so it’ll be interesting to see how that race will go.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 115

Background Pony #551D
BIG NEWS!!!
Stewart-Haas Racing has officially announced their entire NASCAR team (both Cup Series and Xfinity Series) will be completely shutting down after the end of this season.
It’s obviously sad to see a once powerhouse team come to a point where it closes its doors for good. I don’t think we’ve such a collapse of a once-powerful team since the likes of Robert Yates Racing or Dale Earnhardt Incorporated approximately fifteen years ago. In this era of charters, I never imagined we would see a four-car team just suddenly fail so spectacularly, but here we are.
Of course, now there are big questions to ask. Where will those drivers and crew members go next season? Who will those four charters in the Cup Series end up being sold to? Who will ultimately benefit by filling the huge void that will be left by the end of this team? This season is not yet even halfway over and already it’s clear there’s going to be some big changes in NASCAR going into the 2025 season.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 114

Background Pony #551D
Well, thanks to some impeccable timing of rain in both Indianapolis and Charlotte, the most hyped day in auto racing for this year had turned into a major let-down. Brief rain at Indy postponed the start of the Indy 500 by a few hours, forcing Kyle Larson to make a choice, so he ultimately decided to stay and run the Indy 500, leaving Justin Allgaier to start the Coke 600 in the #5 car as a relief driver for him. Larson had some good speed in that indycar, but a couple of rookie mistakes caused him to lose position and struggle to regain much, ultimately finishing 18th. He then quickly got on the plane to Charlotte, arrived at the racetrack, and even got as far as putting on his helmet ready to jump in, but it was right at that moment when rain halted the race just past the halfway point, so Kyle Larson unfortunately never got a chance to run even a single lap in the Coke 600 this year.
Christopher Bell got the win with this rain-shortened race, though it seems there might be quite some controversy over whether or not the race could’ve been resumed. I’m not going to speculate on that (though it should be noted this year marks the last time the Coca Cola 600 will be broadcasted by FOX, as next year it will be the first of five NASCAR Cup Series races that will be streaming on Amazon Prime), but I will highlight a couple of positive moments we got that day. In the Indy 500, Kyle Larson actually led a few laps, albeit thanks to some pit strategy, but at least that’s one good stat to his name. In the Coke 600, while it took Justin Allgaier a while to get used to Larson’s #5 car, he did eventually figure it out and was running 13th when the race was halted, so one can only imagine just how much better Larson could’ve been if only he had a chance to actually race it. Also, I really liked William Byron’s “pass through the grass” move to advance up to 3rd just a few laps before the rain arrived.
With that big day in auto racing now behind us, time to look forward to the next NASCAR Cup Series race, which will be at Gateway.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 113

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 112

Background Pony #551D
The big story going into the All-Star race was the use of the softer “optional” tires. While they did show some good wear-out during practice in daylight, once night fell during the race, they turned out to be just as durable as the standard tires, so a step in the right direction, but not as much as we had hoped for. As a result, Joey Logano led all but one lap from pole position to win the race, but despite that dominance, there were moments that showed some real signs of competitiveness. And with more than one lane of the track being raceable, that’s especially impressive for a recently repaved track, so as dull as this year’s All-Star race was, it was at least a modest improvement over last year.
Of course, the big thing everyone is talking about after the race is the fight between Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Right on the first lap of the race, Stenhouse went three-wide and caused Busch to hit wall, so Busch immediately responded by punting Stenhouse into the wall and taking him out of the race. After the race ended, the two drivers confronted each other and a full-on brawl broke out between them and their crews. That sure was some unexpected excitement, and Something tells me we have not seen the last of this conflict between those two drivers.
Next week, we have not only the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte, but also the Indianapolis 500 where Kyle Larson will be competing as well to attempt “the double”. He just recently managed to qualify 5th for the Indy 500, so there’s a real possibility he could not only complete both races, but also be a serious contender to win both of those races on the same day.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 111

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 110

Background Pony #F579
That race at Darlington sure was interesting. With this being throwback weekend, there were definitely some interesting paint schemes on the cars. Among them was Kyle Larson’s throwback to Terry Labonte’s Kellogg’s Corn Flakes cars from the late 90’s, a design so widely publicized that not only was Terry Labonte there at the track for the race, he even joined the broadcast booth for the entire second stage of the race. (In a rather cruel twist of fate, just after Terry left and the third stage had gotten started, Kyle Larson, who had led many laps, had a tire blowout and crashed out of the race.)
This race certainly got very interesting in the closing laps between Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, and Chris Buescher. On the final restart, Reddick and Keselowski raced side by side for the lead, and despite help from his teammate, Keselowski couldn’t quite complete the pass, so Buescher eventually just went down low to pass both of them at once. Soon after, Reddick made a dive bomb attempt in the turns for the lead, but slid up and put himself and Buescher into the wall, not hard enough to put out a caution, but both cars were damaged enough that they had to pit, allowing Keselowski to take the lead and ultimately win the race. (Keleowski’s previous win was three years ago back when he raced Penski’s 2 car, so it’s great to see him finally get his first win in the 6 car, and as a driver-owner for the first time since Tony Stewart) While Keselowski celebrated his win, Buescher furiously confronted Reddick for taking away the chance for the win (and I’m pretty sure one of the things said that was caught on microphone was Buescher saying “This means war!” so this might be the beginning of a new rivalry).
Next week, it’s the All-Star race at the newly repaved North Wilkesboro Speedway. This particular race has in the past been used for experimental things to see if they might improve the racing, and in this year’s running, they will be using multiple types of tires (regular tires and softer alternate tires that should be faster but less durable, and teams will be requited to use both types of tires at least once throughout the race). This should be a very interesting experiment, as the short tracks have not been racing well with these new cars, and after the accidentally exciting race at Bristol, it seems we will see if this effort at a new kind of tire strategy could improve the quality of racing on short tracks.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 109

Background Pony #F579
At this point, I think we can fairly say that Kansas is one of the must-see racetracks on the NASCAR schedule. Sure, the race didn’t see much action in both of the first two stages with full green flag runs. As soon as stage three started, there were four cautions one right after another, allowing alternate pit strategies to mix up the field. Then one more caution set up an overtime finish, resulting in Kyle Larson winning over Chris Buescher by only 0.001 seconds, the closest finish ever in the NASCAR Cup Series! It was so close, everyone initially thought Chris Buescher had won, but unfortunately it seems we have gone yet another week with Fords not winning any races at all in NASCAR this season.
Next week is throwback weekend at Darlington, so there should be plenty of interesting paint schemes to see. (I’ve heard that the Hendrick cars will have some really good ones, especially the Terry Labonte throwback being run with Kyle Larson.)

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 108

14Fan
Nightmare in the Moon - Had their OC in the 2024 Derpibooru Collab.
Solar Guardian - Refused to surrender in the face of the Lunar rebellion and showed utmost loyalty to the Solar Empire (April Fools 2023).
Crystal Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.

Let’s go gambling!
I’m gonna say it first, HELL OF A FINISH! CAN’T ASK FOR MORE! A RECORD BREAKING CLOSEST FINISH IN NASCAR HISTORY, ALL THE TOP 4 WITHIN A BLANKET AND IN STRIKING DISTANCE, A GREAT BATTLE, A GREAT RACE, BEST OF 2024 NO DOUBT

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 107

Background Pony #CEC6
Hello chris buescher I have a question for you can or will you sponsor me for a wild water derby raft or fastenal can you let me know either way OK thanks jim

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 106

Background Pony #F579
Before I get to the race itself, a couple things worth noting. Eric Jones had apparently suffered a back injury from that severe crash at Talladega last week, so until he fully recovers, Corey Heim (who races full time in the Truck series and happens to be a championship contender there) will be driving his number 43 car, starting this week at Dover, and it just so happens that car would have a special paint scheme similar to what Richard Petty had used near the end of his racing career.
Also, with Dover having a concrete racing surface like Bristol, it seems the excessive tire wear we saw at Bristol was similar to what we saw at Dover during practice on Saturday when it was cooler weather, but when it significantly warmed up the following day for the race, the tire rubber actually managed to lay down onto the track, providing much better grip and durability, so I guess it can now be reasonable argued that colder temperatures played a significant factor in the crazy tire wear we had seen at Bristol earlier this year.
Anyway, as for the actual race, there were a few spins and crashes to keep things interesting, but also plenty of long green flag runs as well. There were some lead changes throughout the early stages, but after the final round of pit stops, Denny Hamlin was easily able to use “aero-blocking” to defend his lead against the notably faster Kyle Larson, so Hamlin wins the race (extending his all-time record to 54 wins, which now ties him for 12th most wins with Lee Petty).
Next week is Kansas, an intermediate track where these next-gen Cup Series cars seem to perform at their best, so this could be exciting to watch.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 105

Background Pony #F579
Not much happened for much of the race (though a lot of drivers who have never won a cup series race were able to run up front and lead laps for much of the first stage). In the final stage, the Toyotas tried working together on a pit strategy, but that quickly failed when half of them suddenly wrecked out. With that final caution taking away everyone’s concern of running out of fuel before the end of the race, everyone remarkably kept it together up until literally the end of the final lap, when leader Michael McDowell made one too many blocks on Brad Keselowski and started the big wreck (Corey LaJoie crossed the finish line while sliding sideways against the wall), allowing Tyler Reddick to slip by to take the win.
Next week will be Dover. I honestly don’t know what to expect after what happened at Bristol about a month ago.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 104

KennyC
Nightmare in the Moon - Had their OC in the 2024 Derpibooru Collab.
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).
Crystal Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.

Would it be safe to call Denny Hamelin nascars posey?
And yes I’m a fan of his have been since he first showed up as a rookie

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 103

Background Pony #3D8E
Texas was a pretty wild race. Several cautions, many of which were caused by someone spinning out in the turns (it was even specified that four times in this race we saw the driver in second place spin out and hit the wall). With so many cautions, there was a wide variety of pit strategy, some worked out well and got drivers from further back up to the front (such as Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski), while others had poor stops and quickly fell way behind. Kyle Larson led early, but was given a major penalty after a wheel fell off. After that, it was amazing to see how many different drivers kept moving up to the front as others fell back from either crashes or bad pit stops (usual suspects like Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, but also a few surprises like Michael McDowell and even Harrison Burton). In the end, Chase Elliott was able to win the race, his first win since late 2022, so after how poor his performance was last year, it’s good to see him back in contention for wins.
If you thought Texas was crazy, next week will potentially be even wilder as the next track will be Talladega.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 102

Background Pony #3D8E
This particular race at Martinsville was special because it was at this track 40 years ago that Hendrick Motorsports got their very first win in what would’ve otherwise been their final race (always amazing to think that the most successful NASCAR team of all time could’ve ended almost as soon as it began if not for that Martinsville win back in 1984). Interestingly, today’s Martinsville race results were almost ideal of Hendrick Motorsports, with William Byron getting the win, while teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott finished right behind, making this the first time that any team has ever gotten a 1-2-3 finish at Martinsville (the fourth driver, Alex Bowmen, finished not much further behind in 8th).
As for the race itself, it had some moments, such as Christopher Bell spinning out in stage 2, green flag pit stops in stage 3 began with William Byron to gain the track position he needed to win, and John Hunter Nemecheck having brake failure and hitting the wall with just three laps to go to result in an overtime finish. Remarkably few cautions, with apparently the vast majority of stage 3 supposedly being the longest continuous green flag laps at Martinsville since 1996. Overall, this race was not bad by Martinsville standards.
Next week will be at Texas Motor Speedway, now moved to a spring date in the regular season rather than in the fall during the playoffs, presumably to ensure its lone date on the schedule would be at a time with cooler temperatures.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 101

Background Pony #3D8E
Yeah, some controversy with not only the final restart in overtime, but also a caution going out in stage 2 for nothing more than Kyle Busch just lightly scraping the wall, thus ruining pit strategy for guys like Alex Bowman (a real pity, considering pit strategy is one of the few things Richmond has going for it). On a more positive note, the weather conditions provided an excellent opportunity to test the wet tires at the start of the race, and while officials mandated when they had to stop being used, the race on those wet tires did prove exciting enough that it seems we can expect any potential weather delays in future races (at least on short tracks) to spend much less time drying the track than what we’ve seen in previous years.
Personally, I see Richmond as the track most likely to be the next one to lose one of its two dates on the schedule to make way for another new track, and last night’s race only added fuel to that conviction.
Another highlight this past weekend at Richmond that gave me a good laugh was during the Xfinity series race, when one driver got wrecked out and took out his frustration on the other guy who made contact with him by ripping off the rear bumper of his destroyed car and then throwing it at that other guy’s car, right at the windshield.
Next week will be Martinsville, another short track, so we’ll see if things get any better, though I don’t exactly have high hopes.

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 100

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 99

14Fan
Nightmare in the Moon - Had their OC in the 2024 Derpibooru Collab.
Solar Guardian - Refused to surrender in the face of the Lunar rebellion and showed utmost loyalty to the Solar Empire (April Fools 2023).
Crystal Roseluck - Had their OC in the 2023 Derpibooru Collab.

Let’s go gambling!
A very controversial finish to a pretty good race, Denny potentially jumping the start, using up MTJ, Truex door slamming Larson and bumping Hamlin, a lot happened right at the end of the race. But Berry had a good race, Elliott with a good finish, Larson finishes 3rd after spinning and GAINING 2 SPOTS, Bell getting 6th after a near costly pit road penalty, lots of good and bad

General Discussion » NASCAR Track Talk » Post 98

Background Pony #3D8E
COTA was a rather straightforward race for the Cup series, with a few bumps and spins here and there, but nothing serious enough to bring out any cautions, and with pit strategy and penalties being the biggest determination of track position. It should be noted that moving the restart zone back from the start-finish line towards the beginning of the front-stretch did appear to be successful in preventing the absolute demolition derby we often saw in Turn 1 last year. Anyway, while the Toyotas proved dominant once again, it was William Byron who was able to win for the second time this season (apparently making this the third season in a row where he was the first driver with a second win of the season, an accomplishment last done by Jeff Gordon back in the 1990s).
The races in the other two series at the track proved more exciting. In the Xfinity Series, SVG actually led many laps and battled with Austin Hill on the final lap, only for that duel to allow Kyle Larson to take the win. In the Truck Series, I honestly don’t remember much except for the very weird incident where Marco Andretti suddenly had the entire rear axle assembly break loose from his truck and roll away.
Next up is Easter weekend, and since Bristol Dirt is no longer around, this special weekend will be going to Richmond this year, a rather nice place to watch a night race, so we’ll see how it goes.

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