LCQ, Clash RACE thread

Conover said:
Regarding Chase Elliott’s popularity, here’s the way I read it: a majority of fans still want their favorite driver to reflect the best part of humanity. Bill Elliott was popular because he was just a straight shooter southern guy who always seemed like the guy you wish lived next door. Everybody’s favorite friend. Bill still had (and has) lots of fans. Earnhardt Jr inherited those who loved his Dad AND a lot more who wanted him to carry on a dynasty. Chase brought so much of his Dad’s persona and became the natural heir to Junior’s reign.

I pull for Ross, Elliott and a couple others. Chase is real, and that keeps him MPD.
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What people look for in a driver is very unique and personal. There are those that will just jump around pulling for the next big thing as they need a guy that wins a lot. Other guys like to root for the villain and they were mostly Earnhardt fans. LOL. Others though look for a person they feel connected to in some way and can relate to. For me the connection to Chase is easy because I have so many great memories of watching races with my dad and pulling for Bill. We stuck with him through it all and it was so awesome later in life to see his late-career resurgence. Bill Elliott was and is still a class act that drove with great respect for the other drivers and the sport and I am so genuinely happy for him to see him doing as well as he is (actually doing an IROC race this year?) and that his legacy is living on.

As for the people knocking Chase...to each their own I guess but to me you have to kind of look for reasons to not like him. For those that don't think he's "exciting" enough or gets fired up enough just go over to Youtube and listen to his audio of when Larson pinched him into the wall at Fontana. He was pretty fired up then. LOL. Also his feud with Harvick was fun and he showed he will take no BS. People were rightly upset that he wrecked Denny at the 600 in 2023 but then complain he is too mild-mannered or boring? Some people will never be happy and always look for fault. Kyle Busch is really exciting but not many like him LOL.
 
Chase Fan 79 said:
What people look for in a driver is very unique and personal. There are those that will just jump around pulling for the next big thing as they need a guy that wins a lot. Other guys like to root for the villain and they were mostly Earnhardt fans. LOL. Others though look for a person they feel connected to in some way and can relate to. For me the connection to Chase is easy because I have so many great memories of watching races with my dad and pulling for Bill. We stuck with him through it all and it was so awesome later in life to see his late-career resurgence. Bill Elliott was and is still a class act that drove with great respect for the other drivers and the sport and I am so genuinely happy for him to see him doing as well as he is (actually doing an IROC race this year?) and that his legacy is living on.

As for the people knocking Chase...to each their own I guess but to me you have to kind of look for reasons to not like him. For those that don't think he's "exciting" enough or gets fired up enough just go over to Youtube and listen to his audio of when Larson pinched him into the wall at Fontana. He was pretty fired up then. LOL. Also his feud with Harvick was fun and he showed he will take no BS. People were rightly upset that he wrecked Denny at the 600 in 2023 but then complain he is too mild-mannered or boring? Some people will never be happy and always look for fault. Kyle Busch is really exciting but not many like him LOL.
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I seem to lead towards those that could be considered "boot strap" type personalities. Of course, this could also be construed on a race-to-race basis. Will cheer on a driver that appears to be playing at higher than is normal station, especially if they have inferior teams and equipment. Hard to justify support for golden spoon participants.
 
OldTimer said:
I seem to lead towards those that could be considered "boot strap" type personalities. Of course, this could also be construed on a race-to-race basis. Will cheer on a driver that appears to be playing at higher than is normal station, especially if they have inferior teams and equipment. Hard to justify support for golden spoon participants.
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So you are saying you only pull for the underdog? I think that's cool but I hesitate to start labeling people as "golden spoon participants." Winning in this sport is hard even in the best of equipment and I think the equipment in this generation of car is more equal than ever. Look at Larson - according to many the best thing ever to get behind the wheel of anything and he almost missed the big show Sunday night and struggled mightily in qualifying/heat races Saturday. If he had missed the show I was so prepared with a sarcastic joke along the lines of "hey, at least he's freed up to run other stuff during the race" :)

Also - people are quick to label Chase that way because of the name and his dad supporting his career and there is no doubt that was a huge help and Chase would not be here without it. He had to have the talent though. I remember an interview with Rick Hendrick where he said he knew Chase the real deal because of a test where he was turning laps in the same range as Jimmie Johnson and this was back prior to Jimmie's decline and before Chase had any cup experience. Bill, while supportive, did not have unlimited resources and prior to 2014 when Chase joined JRM for the Xfinity series they had no deal in place and it came together pretty late and the rest as they say is history. I have also seen interviews with Bill where he talked about when he saw Chase making the "next steps" in his growth. In short - yes, drivers like Chase may get chances earlier and more often but they still need to perform and you cannot perform without talent no matter what car you are in.
 
More reflection on the race now that I heard Radioactive....Chase and AG were talking before the race saying this was a great opportunity for the stuff they talked about in the offseason. I am curious what that was. Maybe just being more aggressive? Whatever it was though they just sounded different to me form the last few years. Very confident. When Chase got passed for the lead and 2nd in less than 2 laps he was just like "yeah I got no rears left that's why" and AG came right back saying they would fix him up....and they did. I really hope this is a sign of things to come. For all the talk about Larson and Chase and how Larson is so much better and blah, blah what NASCAR needs to for both of them to be up front and winning. Obviously we need others to win too but man would it be cool to see Chase and Larson each get 5+/- wins and have some good battles. I am officially buying my tickets for Bristol this weekend so would be nice if Kyle leads less than 400 laps. LMAO.
 
wi_racefan said:
I always wonder that myself. He's not close to the most successful driver, doesn't have much of a personality (at least publicly) and doesn't really do anything outside of the track for the fans.
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RaceCritter said:
How is Chase still and always the “most popular driver? I honestly didn’t think there were that many teen girl NASCAR fans and I’d think most adults would find him as exciting as watching paint dry. What am I missing? Ah well it’s just the Clash. Would have been fun to see a dark horse win but such was not in the cards. Congrats Chase I guess.
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Were you two around during Dale Jr’s career ?
 
OldTimer said:
I seem to lead towards those that could be considered "boot strap" type personalities. Of course, this could also be construed on a race-to-race basis. Will cheer on a driver that appears to be playing at higher than is normal station, especially if they have inferior teams and equipment. Hard to justify support for golden spoon participants.
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None of these fellas are boot strap types. None. Maybe Ross because he farms but he farms probably at a high level with farming equipment your local farmer could only dream of. It always amuses me when the fans wish for the “down home, man of the people’s driver who goes to work like you and I” when said driver is chartering his yacht to go fishing in the Bahamas in the off season, has multiple car dealerships, Major Land investments and a garage full of luxury/performance cars that would make just about anyone blush.
 
Chase Fan 79 said:
More reflection on the race now that I heard Radioactive....Chase and AG were talking before the race saying this was a great opportunity for the stuff they talked about in the offseason. I am curious what that was. Maybe just being more aggressive? Whatever it was though they just sounded different to me form the last few years. Very confident. When Chase got passed for the lead and 2nd in less than 2 laps he was just like "yeah I got no rears left that's why" and AG came right back saying they would fix him up....and they did. I really hope this is a sign of things to come. For all the talk about Larson and Chase and how Larson is so much better and blah, blah what NASCAR needs to for both of them to be up front and winning. Obviously we need others to win too but man would it be cool to see Chase and Larson each get 5+/- wins and have some good battles. I am officially buying my tickets for Bristol this weekend so would be nice if Kyle leads less than 400 laps. LMAO.
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Larson vs Elliott is really the on track rivalry the sport needs. Larson vs Bell is up there too, but we really haven’t had a driver vs driver rivalry on the same team since maybe Jeff vs Jimmie when JJ was well on his way to ascending. A 9 vs 5 season rivalry where both are a threat to win each week and racing each other for wins would be so much fun imo.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Were you two around during Dale Jr’s career ?
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Yes I was and he has and had far more personality. I do get the whole “his daddy” part but Jr was way more of expressive that I can credit for his popularity. Though he was not the complete driver Chase is, he was far more fun to listen to.

Again I’m just addressing the Most popular award not skill or accomplishments or anything else. Just that annoying award.
 
RaceCritter said:
Yes I was and he has and had far more personality. I do get the whole “his daddy” part but Jr was way more of expressive that I can credit for his popularity. Though he was not the complete driver Chase is, he was far more fun to listen to.

Again I’m just addressing the Most popular award not skill or accomplishments or anything else. Just that annoying award.
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I just don't see it with JR. Can you give an example of how he was so "fun." I mean he was all right but I just don't understand what was so different about his personality compared to Chase. I think Chase is a little more guarded about his personal life. He and current GF have apparently only made 2 public appearances one being the NASCAR awards banquet and the other Ryan Blaney's wedding which I guess is not really public. Maybe you are referring to Jr's reputation as a partier when he was coming up in the late 90's. I was in my very early 20's and I found it childish really. I guess I am boring. LOL. I saw a video with Chase on X a year or two ago and it was Bubba recording himself gloating about Tennessee beating Georgia in college football and he is singing the fight song for Tennessee and he pans out to show that he is doing this to gloat because Chase (Georgia fan) is there and Chase just ever so casually flips him off. It reminded me a lot of me and my friends and how we act toward each other so I loved it.

I really thought Jr's popularity was more to do with people looking to hook onto what they hoped would be a legendary career that runed out not to be. I still get sick to my stomach every time I hear DW calling races showing his bias as a JR fan. I do not miss that at all.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Larson vs Elliott is really the on track rivalry the sport needs. Larson vs Bell is up there too, but we really haven’t had a driver vs driver rivalry on the same team since maybe Jeff vs Jimmie when JJ was well on his way to ascending. A 9 vs 5 season rivalry where both are a threat to win each week and racing each other for wins would be so much fun imo.
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Man I would love it. I say that knowing Larson will likely get the better of Chase in the majority but I know Chase is good enough to get his too. Would be so great to see them race hard without anyone getting used up like at the Glen. I don't mind fender banging or a good old bump and run as long as they are not shoving each other off the track.
 
Chase Fan 79 said:
I just don't see it with JR. Can you give an example of how he was so "fun." I mean he was all right but I just don't understand what was so different about his personality compared to Chase. I think Chase is a little more guarded about his personal life. He and current GF have apparently only made 2 public appearances one being the NASCAR awards banquet and the other Ryan Blaney's wedding which I guess is not really public. Maybe you are referring to Jr's reputation as a partier when he was coming up in the late 90's. I was in my very early 20's and I found it childish really. I guess I am boring. LOL. I saw a video with Chase on X a year or two ago and it was Bubba recording himself gloating about Tennessee beating Georgia in college football and he is singing the fight song for Tennessee and he pans out to show that he is doing this to gloat because Chase (Georgia fan) is there and Chase just ever so casually flips him off. It reminded me a lot of me and my friends and how we act toward each other so I loved it.

I really thought Jr's popularity was more to do with people looking to hook onto what they hoped would be a legendary career that runed out not to be. I still get sick to my stomach every time I hear DW calling races showing his bias as a JR fan. I do not miss that at all.
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"It dont mean sh!t. My daddy done won 10 of these races"
 
Charlie Spencer said:
People forget Jr. had to be dragged into social media.
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Really? I don't remember that either. I am not big on Social Media though so maybe that's why. I just don't get the issues people try to make about Chase's personality or supposed lack thereof. This interview of his is one of my favorites. He is engaged and joking around and being really candid too. I also love other interviews though where he is becoming the master of sarcasm. Like after the Glen in 2022 where was at the media center being asked about how he responds to the way Kyle raced him and he said "offer congratulations and move on." It was perfect for me. I know people want to hear how he really feels but he has a team and sponsors to answer to so to me is great at saying it without SAYING it. LOL

 
Mike Crayne said:
"It dont mean sh!t. My daddy done won 10 of these races"
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LOL. I saw that as kind of dumb really to just blurt that out on TV. I also did not think hearing him refer to his father as "daddy" did a whole lot for NASCAR trying to shake the whole red neck image.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
People forget Jr. had to be dragged into social media.
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And alot of the Budweiser/Partying/ Awards Show appearances were social engagements he HAD to do, due to not only the Budweiser sponsorship but also a personal service agreement with them. Hes mentioned this multiple times on his podcast, I think the only partying he liked to do was at his house with the nightclub in his basement (also paid for by Budweiser) with his own friends and family. He wasn’t much for going out he’s said.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Were you two around during Dale Jr’s career ?
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Are you serious? Whether jr was pushed into doing things or not doesn't matter he did 10 times more than chase is doing. Several pop culture awards shows, super bowl commercials, MTV cribs, the man was everywhere and always doing something for the fans.

What has chase done that wasn't a nascar requirement in the past calendar year? I seriously can't think of one thing.

Is chase a great driver? Yes. He could beat me in a race if he was wearing oven mittens, an eye patch and straped in upside down. But what he does for the fans that makes him popular? Got me.
 
wi_racefan said:
Are you serious? Whether jr was pushed into doing things or not doesn't matter he did 10 times more than chase is doing. Several pop culture awards shows, super bowl commercials, MTV cribs, the man was everywhere and always doing something for the fans.

What has chase done that wasn't a nascar requirement in the past calendar year? I seriously can't think of one thing.

Is chase a great driver? Yes. He could beat me in a race if he was wearing oven mittens, an eye patch and straped in upside down. But what he does for the fans that makes him popular? Got me.
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I think you have a point there about JR doing that stuff but it's not what makes fans of Chase like him. I personally could not care less about doing stuff like that. I like that Chase seems to "live" life. He's an avid gamer and flies planes and likes to snowboard (albeit probably less these days :)) and also has passion for music and going to concerts and he is a big sports fan and keeps his circle of friends close. I feel similar to him in a lot of those ways outside of flying planes and snowboarding as I am pretty big gamer and love to go to sporting events and concerts and stuff like that. It's all about who people relate to. I don't dislike Jr at all but he seemed like a lot of "noise" to me even when I was younger and his obsession with beer was a little concerning to me.
 
wi_racefan said:
Are you serious? Whether jr was pushed into doing things or not doesn't matter he did 10 times more than chase is doing. Several pop culture awards shows, super bowl commercials, MTV cribs, the man was everywhere and always doing something for the fans.

What has chase done that wasn't a nascar requirement in the past calendar year? I seriously can't think of one thing.

Is chase a great driver? Yes. He could beat me in a race if he was wearing oven mittens, an eye patch and straped in upside down. But what he does for the fans that makes him popular? Got me.
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It went right over your head. I can flip this back to you by asking what did Junior ever do to have his massive fan base that didnt involve inheriting his dad's fanbase to start his career? Jr's popularity was jump started by just his last name alone, which then branched into the phenomena he was commercially from 2003 on. Chase is a former Cup champion which by itself should make him popular enough as well as driving for one of the most high profile if not THE most high profile team in the sport. The on track results alone should speak to his popularity as well as simply inheriting his father's massive fan base and then a portion of Jeff Gordon's when he took over driving the 24 team. The NAPA commercials Chase was in when he first came into the sport while not iconic like Michael Waltrip's did manage to get the ball rolling on introducing the uninitiated to who he was. I dont think its anymore than the points I listed above.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
It went right over your head. I can flip this back to you by asking what did Junior ever do to have his massive fan base that didnt involve inheriting his dad's fanbase to start his career? Jr's popularity was jump started by just his last name alone, which then branched into the phenomena he was commercially from 2003 on. Chase is a former Cup champion which by itself should make him popular enough as well as driving for one of the most high profile if not THE most high profile team in the sport. The on track results alone should speak to his popularity as well as simply inheriting his father's massive fan base and then a portion of Jeff Gordon's when he took over driving the 24 team. The NAPA commercials Chase was in when he first came into the sport while not iconic like Michael Waltrip's did manage to get the ball rolling on introducing the uninitiated to who he was. I dont think its anymore than the points I listed above.
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So what has he done in the last calendar year again?
 
wi_racefan said:
So what has he done in the last calendar year again?
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I think the Chase-Haters
, Haters are the largest group (of extra sensitive snowflakes that could write a sad sad country song over all the hardships and afflictions that they must endure on a daily basis. My heart breaks for them, they ain't no telling how many races have lost due to AG. So much tragedy, it just ain't right. So so very very extra extra salty sadness that fills my soul.
 
Beyond that ratings were down for a little while last year - which, I mean, they've been down YOY plenty of times since 2005, it obviously didn't stop a big deal going through - did anyone do any real analysis to determine causation vs. correlation on it being because he was hurt?

From what I've seen of him, he's an extremely clean and smooth driver: great attributes for putting together consistent lap times while managing tires and fuel. Also since just being around at the end generally results in 1-in-3 odds of the field being bunched up for a finish, having a clean race car with tires under you is a boon. He hits his marks at road courses perfectly: he'd have been as good an open wheel or sports car driver as a stock car driver. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if any of the "elite" Cup guys over the last decade have a disproportionate number of wins in GWC finishes?

That said- while he is obviously an elite talent, he's an elite talent that does the stuff that interests me in motorsports the least right now rather than doing the stuff that interests me the most. I wish I was seeing him (on occasion, not full time! I'm not trying to steal him away!) in a GTP Cadillac or GT3 Corvette or a Chevy-powered Indycar or a winged sprint car or a supermodified or even just an SK Modified or a NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock or literally anything at all beyond NASCAR when the time allowed. I realize that his skiing crash means he probably will pare that down even further below the already low number of pavement late model shows he still does.
 
wi_racefan said:
Nice try but my question is what has he done outside of showing up to the track and doing the bare minimum that was required by nascar for the fans. Clearly there isn't anything.

Last thing I remember was an SRX race
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To be fair, most of what drivers do for fans are stuff their sponsors require them to do, which isn't much different than NASCAR...
 
wi_racefan said:
Nice try but my question is what has he done outside of showing up to the track and doing the bare minimum that was required by nascar for the fans. Clearly there isn't anything.

Last thing I remember was an SRX race
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Yah know, just because you (and I) haven't heard of what Chase (or other drivers) do off the track doesn't mean they aren't doing things and we're not aware of them.

I don't expect to see drivers on the media outlets I grew up with. That's not where the crowds and people their age look for pop culture figures these days.

I don't look at media outlets where the crowds and younger people are because those media don't appeal to me. I acknowledge that these guys could be on there 24/7 and I wouldn't know.
 
Greg said:
I think the Chase-Haters are the largest group of extra sensitive snowflakes that could write a sad sad country song over all the hardships and afflictions that they must endure on a daily basis.
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"Her Daddy pulled for Elliott, my Daddy pulled for Busch.
Only I know 'Logano' is tattooed on her tush.
Daddies can fuss and they can feud and get into a fight,
When we make love, first she turns on her #22 night light."
 
wi_racefan said:
So what has he done in the last calendar year again?
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LOL. Won a race, was within about 15 laps at Martinsville of being in the championship 4, had the best average finish of anyone and just won the Clash.

I guess you are suggesting that he should be as popular because he has not been winning as much but you seem to forget that Jr went though a LONG winless drought too. So did Chase's dad and real fans don't care much about that.
 
sdj said:
Why is calling his Daddy , Daddy an issue with you. Geeezzz, get a grip boy.
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I guess it's my misogynistic side. All I can hear is George Carlin complaining about "these gown men who refer to their father as 'my daddy'." LOL
 
wi_racefan said:
Nice try but my question is what has he done outside of showing up to the track and doing the bare minimum that was required by nascar for the fans. Clearly there isn't anything.

Last thing I remember was an SRX race
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If you look at the Youtube video I shared above that is Trackside from Darlington in 2023 and Kenny Wallace is complementing him for being a "racer" for all the other stuff he races, I think the issue is that he is not as successful at it as Kyle is and does not do it as much as him but he is out there doing it more than people know. I also remember the Dale Jr Download episode where Jr was giving him credit for same and even said it inspired him to go do some stuff he had been hesitant to do.
 
wi_racefan said:
Nice try but my question is what has he done outside of showing up to the track and doing the bare minimum that was required by nascar for the fans. Clearly there isn't anything.

Last thing I remember was an SRX race
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You compared Chase to Dale Jr a few posts ago and I should have asked this before but what driver honestly is moving the needle commercially like Prime Dale Jr was? I got the answer.... none of them are. To single out Chase is easy and frankly lazy when not one of these guys are at the MTV Music Awards, Sitting Ringside at a boxing fight, starring in movies like Dale Jr was. My whole point to this is Chase deserves his fans now for what he does on track and his resulting accomplishments. He has accomplished more in his driving career than Southern Jesus 1.0 ever did, which pains me to say.
 
Chase Fan 79 said:
I guess it's my misogynistic side. All I can hear is George Carlin complaining about "these gown men who refer to their father as 'my daddy'." LOL
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Nah, it's just a regionalism thing. I'm sure folks outside the South think the same of men call their fathers 'Daddy' as I do about people who call their mother 'Maw'. It sounds backward and disrespectful to me but that's because it's not what I grew up hearing.
 
Chase Fan 79 said:
LOL. Won a race, was within about 15 laps at Martinsville of being in the championship 4, had the best average finish of anyone and just won the Clash.

I guess you are suggesting that he should be as popular because he has not been winning as much but you seem to forget that Jr went though a LONG winless drought too. So did Chase's dad and real fans don't care much about that.
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winner. Jr was still smashing it commercially and MPD awards in that hell losing streak he went through in 09-10.
 
What kinds of charitable works is Elliott involved in?
 
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