Fontana RACE thread

mreed said:
Gordon had a great car today, but had JJ not blown a tire he would have probably won. The caution would have surely come out with a few laps to go as it did and the 48 car would have pulled off to a massive lead like he did several times near the end.

JJ wins.
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JJ would have pitted with the rest of them. Nobody knows where he would have lined up so to say for sure he would have won anyway is laughable.

If you told me Gordon would wind up finishing 13th with the car he had today I would have called you an idiot.

But leave it to Alan to make stupid adjustments with 2 laps to go and totally screw Gordon which he did.
 
NASCAR allowed teams to fix their cars and keep their positions at the Coke 600 last year when the TV cable snapped.......nobody was complaining about that. I think that was the fairest thing to do.

I only complained because NASCAR didn't allow the 24 team to fix their car at Martinsville in 2004 when a big chunk of the track came apart and they threw the red flag. Your welcome Rusty Wallace for your last NASCAR victory.

It just seems rare for NASCAR to own up to mistakes and right the wrongs during races. Remember in 2011 when Paul Menard intentionally spun in the spring Richmond race to give Harvick a shot at the win? NASCAR didn't do a thing. And maybe if they would have, it would have deterred what ultimately happened again in 2013 - with much bigger consequences.

And even then, NASCAR initially was very defiant against any wrongdoings happening in that Richmond race. They didn't do anything until evidence was overwhelming but at least they did take a very strong stand.
 
reck said:
JJ would have pitted with the rest of them. Nobody knows where he would have lined up so to say for sure he would have won anyway is laughable.

If you told me Gordon would wind up finishing 13th with the car he had today I would have called you an idiot.

But leave it to Alan to make stupid adjustments with 2 laps to go and totally screw Gordon which he did.
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I don't really blame Alan.....the call made sense (unlike last week at Bristol). I couldn't tell if Gordon's car was actually that bad or he just got himself in a really bad spot going into 1. It looked like he really had to check-up with all those cars on the outside of him coming off 2.

I put more blame on the 24 crew for a 13 second stop when Kyle Busch had an 11.8 stop......if Gordon was the first car on 4 tires, he would've started where Kyle Busch did and maybe he would've had a better shot at it.
 
....not to mention Kyle Busch throwing a wicked block on Gordon going into 1. Not that I'm blaming Kyle Busch in anyway, but it just put Gordon's entry into turn 1 very, very low and ruined his exit off the corner.
 
reck said:
JJ would have pitted with the rest of them. Nobody knows where he would have lined up so to say for sure he would have won anyway is laughable.

If you told me Gordon would wind up finishing 13th with the car he had today I would have called you an idiot.

But leave it to Alan to make stupid adjustments with 2 laps to go and totally screw Gordon which he did.
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Take JJ out of the equation and Gordon still doesn't win. His car was not good out of the box on restarts, so with just a couple laps to go with the GWC I don't see Gordon winning that race.
Gordon would have needed at least 5 or 6 laps on the final restart to win.
 
mreed said:
Take JJ out of the equation and Gordon still doesn't win. His car was not good out of the box on restarts, so with just a couple laps to go with the GWC I don't see Gordon winning that race.
Gordon would have needed at least 5 or 6 laps on the final restart to win.
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If Gordon had the preferred line, he could've held his own on the restart......Johnson was the class of the field on new tires. Gordon wasn't as bad on new tires as what people making it out to be - I guess they just think that because they mentioned it so many times on the broadcast, and because Gordon was so fast after a handful of laps. Nobody was as good as the 48 after the restarts, not just Gordon.
 
mreed said:
Take JJ out of the equation and Gordon still doesn't win. His car was not good out of the box on restarts, so with just a couple laps to go with the GWC I don't see Gordon winning that race.
Gordon would have needed at least 5 or 6 laps on the final restart to win.
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For the majority of the race that car was insanely fast right off the gate.

In one of the restarts he was 20th and gained 10 spots in like 1 lap. I think its an aggressive thing. Gordon wasn't on it on the last stretch. He needs to not give a ****. And I mean absolutely not give a damn.

That's how drivers like Kyle win races. LOL Busch had no business winning this race at all and yet he did. Aggressiveness pays.
 
ColeTrickle said:
If Gordon had the preferred line, he could've held his own on the restart......Johnson was the class of the field on new tires. Gordon wasn't as bad on new tires as what people making it out to be - I guess they just think that because they mentioned it so many times on the broadcast, and because Gordon was so fast after a handful of laps. Nobody was as good as the 48 after the restarts, not just Gordon.
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It has nothing to do with the announcers.

Gordon usually had to pass a few cars after each restart to begin reeling in the leader. JJ wasn't the only one to get in front of Gordon on restarts today. Only once did Gordon maintain his position on a restart, but still was far behind JJ after just a few laps.

I don't see Gordon winning that race from a GWC restart. His car needed more than 2 laps.
 
reck said:
For the majority of the race that car was insanely fast right off the gate.

In one of the restarts he was 20th and gained 10 spots in like 1 lap. I think its an aggressive thing. Gordon wasn't on it on the last stretch. He needs to not give a ****. And I mean absolutely not give a damn.

That's how drivers like Kyle win races. LOL Busch had no business winning this race at all and yet he did. Aggressiveness pays.
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Some got it, some dont. You could e-mail him yer suggestion though :D
 
reck said:
For the majority of the race that car was insanely fast right off the gate.

In one of the restarts he was 20th and gained 10 spots in like 1 lap. I think its an aggressive thing. Gordon wasn't on it on the last stretch. He needs to not give a ****. And I mean absolutely not give a damn.

That's how drivers like Kyle win races. LOL Busch had no business winning this race at all and yet he did. Aggressiveness pays.
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Gordon was a non-factor after pit stops, restart didn't matter. And Kyle had the fastest car in the first two laps of every single green flag run. Everything went Kyle's way and nothing went Gordon's way. Just one of those days.
 
reck said:
For the majority of the race that car was insanely fast right off the gate.

In one of the restarts he was 20th and gained 10 spots in like 1 lap. I think its an aggressive thing. Gordon wasn't on it on the last stretch. He needs to not give a ****. And I mean absolutely not give a damn.

That's how drivers like Kyle win races. LOL Busch had no business winning this race at all and yet he did. Aggressiveness pays.
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Wtf? How?

You could tell Gordon was driving extremely aggressively on that next-to-last restart - where it was him and Jiimmie restarting 1 and 2. Gordon's car was wiggling a ton on the bottom, but he cleared the rest of the field. I thought it was a fantastic restart on Jeff's part and he did exactly what he needed to do. Jimmie was just flat out faster on newer tires and ran off to a near 2 second lead before Jeff ran him back down - then Jeff had the vibration and Jimmie ran off again.

Second......really? If not for dumb luck and the caution comes out one lap later, or Bowyer's flat happens on the straightaway......Gordon wins the race and everyone's happy. But instead, after he had a stellar race car, suddenly Jeff doesn't care? And you're going to get down on Jeff and the team? Wow dude.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Gordon was a non-factor after pit stops, restart didn't matter. And Kyle had the fastest car in the first two laps of every single green flag run. Everything went Kyle's way and nothing went Gordon's way. Just one of those days.
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I'm guessing you meant after the final restart.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Gordon was a non-factor after pit stops, restart didn't matter. And Kyle had the fastest car in the first two laps of every single green flag run. Everything went Kyle's way and nothing went Gordon's way. Just one of those days.
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Part of that is because of pit stops......Gordon never came out of the pits with the lead. The one time he went into the pits with the lead, he came out 4th. It's really tough to be a factor after pit stops when you're not even on the front row.

To my recollection, Gordon only had one re-start on the front row, and he cleared the field and maintained 2nd place that entire run.
 
ColeTrickle said:
Wtf? How?

You could tell Gordon was driving extremely aggressively on that next-to-last restart - where it was him and Jiimmie restarting 1 and 2. Gordon's car was wiggling a ton on the bottom, but he cleared the rest of the field. I thought it was a fantastic restart on Jeff's part and he did exactly what he needed to do. Jimmie was just flat out faster on newer tires and ran off to a near 2 second lead before Jeff ran him back down - then Jeff had the vibration and Jimmie ran off again.

Second......really? If not for dumb luck and the caution comes out one lap later, or Bowyer's flat happens on the straightaway......Gordon wins the race and everyone's happy. But instead, after he had a stellar race car, suddenly Jeff doesn't care? And you're going to get down on Jeff and the team? Wow dude.
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Dude I said towards the end. Cool your horses.
 
My dang phone died so I couldn't visit with y'all today. :(
Not sure what you guys saw on TV but it was a great day for me. 5 wide in the corners, multiple grooves, serious racing going on all over the track. Different cars performed well at different phases in a run. Best long-green car was the 24. Best short-to-mid run car was the 48.
Shame on Goodyear for bringing a crap tire. MANY teams were reporting cords, cracking, splitting after 20-24 laps. Terrible tire. Goodyear tried to blame it on aggressive set-ups; bull****t. Junk tire affected the entire race and ultimately, the end of the race. The best driver on a GWC won today. Kyle drove like a maniac after the last green flag.
 
BobbyFord said:
My dang phone died so I couldn't visit with y'all today. :(
Not sure what you guys saw on TV but it was a great day for me. 5 wide in the corners, multiple grooves, serious racing going on all over the track. Different cars performed well at different phases in a run. Best long-green car was the 24. Best short-to-mid run car was the 48.
Shame on Goodyear for bringing a crap tire. MANY teams were reporting cords, cracking, splitting after 20-24 laps. Terrible tire. Goodyear tried to blame it on aggressive set-ups; bull****t. Junk tire affected the entire race and ultimately, the end of the race. The best driver on a GWC won today. Kyle drove like a maniac after the last green flag.
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How about the crowd!!?????

Amazing turn out. Kinda got to me a bit considering the attendance woes. Hopefully they take us SoCal fans seriously.
 
BobbyFord said:
My dang phone died so I couldn't visit with y'all today. :(
Not sure what you guys saw on TV but it was a great day for me. 5 wide in the corners, multiple grooves, serious racing going on all over the track. Different cars performed well at different phases in a run. Best long-green car was the 24. Best short-to-mid run car was the 48.
Shame on Goodyear for bringing a crap tire. MANY teams were reporting cords, cracking, splitting after 20-24 laps. Terrible tire. Goodyear tried to blame it on aggressive set-ups; bull****t. Junk tire affected the entire race and ultimately, the end of the race. The best driver on a GWC won today. Kyle drove like a maniac after the last green flag.
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How was the crowd?? TV reported a sellout but many pointed out the empty seats. Wondering how this tire issues will affect fans going forward. Indianapolis is still hurting from that 2008 race. Really pathetic crowds there.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Gordon was a non-factor after pit stops, restart didn't matter. And Kyle had the fastest car in the first two laps of every single green flag run. Everything went Kyle's way and nothing went Gordon's way. Just one of those days.
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I swear he passed 300 cars.
 
It was weird Gordon got nabbed for speeding on pit road when they were all running single-file and he actually lost a spot on pit road. Didn't matter in the end though but still.
 
That's racing folks, what happens, happens. The winner took the checkered flag and it's the only lap that counts.
 
ColeTrickle said:
How was the crowd?? TV reported a sellout but many pointed out the empty seats. Wondering how this tire issues will affect fans going forward. Indianapolis is still hurting from that 2008 race. Really pathetic crowds there.
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The place was packed. Probably the most people I've seen in 5-7 years.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
How is that fair to the other guys?
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How is it fair to Keselowski, Gordon and Bowyer? Who each lost 30+ spots on account of NASCAR's mistake? There's no perfect solution in a situation like that. But it only affects the other drivers in a minimal way.....to the guy who had a great pit stop, gains 4 spots, and has to give it back - we're talking 4 spots vs. 30+ spots.

And I say Keselowski because they ended up just staying out, rather than coming back in, and Keselowski fell to thirty-something place on those old tires.
 
T
DUN24 said:
The place was packed, amigo. I was standing up the entire race, because everyone there rows ahead was standing the whole time. Great stuff. The SoCal fans have a lot to be proud of IMO.
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That's awesome and i'm glad you had a great time.
 
Nitro Dude said:
That's right it was the same rules for everybody all day long.
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Eh....results don't tell the whole story. If someone was just looking at the results, was Jeff Gordon really a 13th place car? Jimmie Johnson a 24th place car?
 
ColeTrickle said:
How is it fair to Keselowski, Gordon and Bowyer? Who each lost 30+ spots on account of NASCAR's mistake? There's no perfect solution in a situation like that. But it only affects the other drivers in a minimal way.....to the guy who had a great pit stop, gains 4 spots, and has to give it back - we're talking 4 spots vs. 30+ spots.

And I say Keselowski because they ended up just staying out, rather than coming back in, and Keselowski fell to thirty-something place on those old tires.
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To add to my own post.....fortunately this wasn't super crucial as there was plenty of time to make it up and track position wasn't particularly crucial. But what if something like this happened halfway or three quarters of the way through Martinsville? Or New Hampshrie, where track position means everything? I'd be livid. NASCAR has to do what's fair.
 
Im just glad to see the cars have somewhat come back to the drivers it gives the sport more credibility in my mind.
 
BobbyFord said:
My dang phone died so I couldn't visit with y'all today. :(
Not sure what you guys saw on TV but it was a great day for me. 5 wide in the corners, multiple grooves, serious racing going on all over the track. Different cars performed well at different phases in a run. Best long-green car was the 24. Best short-to-mid run car was the 48.
Shame on Goodyear for bringing a crap tire. MANY teams were reporting cords, cracking, splitting after 20-24 laps. Terrible tire. Goodyear tried to blame it on aggressive set-ups; bull****t. Junk tire affected the entire race and ultimately, the end of the race. The best driver on a GWC won today. Kyle drove like a maniac after the last green flag.
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Both Kyles did.
 
Clutch said:
Very cool of you to pass on those tix ND
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I have had 6 free tickets each year for the past 3 years and i only needed 2 of them this year so i'm just glad someone else was able to use them. The two things i hate to see go to waste are tickets and food.:)
 
tire problem was evident in practice. but same tire as last yr.
diff this yr------low air...camber...bound suspension....more downforce/ lger spoiler........ta go fast.
some got it right......some went over tha edge.........but every team had same leeway in set up.

sure made for non-boring race ! enjoyed it !
 
this tire deal today reminded me of ole jr johnson story.
pre-race tv guy asked jr..."how do ya win at darlington ? "
jr looked at reporter and said only 1 word...... " TARES " ...an walked off ! ha!
 
Nitro Dude said:
I have had 6 free tickets each year for the past 3 years and i only needed 2 of them this year so i'm just glad someone else was able to use them. The two things i hate to see go to waste are tickets and food.:)
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They went to great use I promise! Thanks again. Hope to see you in Parker in a couple weeks. Very up in the air though.
 
hawg dawg said:
tire problem was evident in practice. but same tire as last yr.
diff this yr------low air...camber...bound suspension....more downforce/ lger spoiler........ta go fast.
some got it right......some went over tha edge.........but every team had same leeway in set up.

sure made for non-boring race ! enjoyed it !
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It was exciting for sure, but the purist in me likes to see competition that isn't affected by constant flat tires/cautions and everything come down to a crazy, semi-crapshoot GWC.

In other words, if this is how racing was every week, it would probably be a joke.
 
Clutch said:
Very cool of you to pass on those tix ND
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You don't just find generosity like that. Some racing-forums magic. You know how it goes though. Some of these guys are just damn cool.
 
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