2017 Michigan - Pure Michigan 400 - Pre Race Thread

BradBlaney said:
Well we wanted rivalries back this Gibbs/Penske rivalry is getting better and better
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Absolutely. You like Penske better, I like JGR better, but I totally agree with this statement and I am all for a good team rivalry. :biggrin: Just think, next year, Team Penske will be up to three full-time cars. Fun!
 
SlicedBread22 said:
Penske front row! Nice!

I know qualifying doesn't necessarily mean anything but the speed is there.. and that's a good sign for this guy.
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My, my. It just got more interesting. :) I have been wondering when your guy would catch a break. I don't like him very much, but I've been appalled at some of his luck (like Pocono, dang it), lol.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Anybody else more enthused about X at Mid-Ohio than Cup at Michigan?
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I am so happy I came across this post. Is there a thread on here I can pick my favorite race of 2016, because the wet X race at Mid-Ohio was AMAZING last year. It provided me with the best memories of them all. Had the TV on, family all around, and some were fixing up a nice pot of jumbo shrimp. Six pounds worth of shrimp, at that. So we chowed down after Justin Marks clutched his way to an outstanding win in an extremely challenging race. :biggrin: :cool: ^_^
 
Invisible Guest said:
Stage racing was a great addition as well, but I'm pretty sure you hate it ;)
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Nah, truthfully I don't mind the stages.

I liked single car qualifying because every single car got an equal share of the spotlight. I enjoyed watching the lap tracker and seeing how they stacked up against the guy who was currently on the pole. I liked that each driver had two laps to go as fast as they can, and that was that. Simple, yet effective.

Knockout qualifying is just a gimmick. It feels like I'm watching Happy Hour.
 
2 Sweet said:
Nah, truthfully I don't mind the stages.

I liked single car qualifying because every single car got an equal share of the spotlight. I enjoyed watching the lap tracker and seeing how they stacked up against the guy who was currently on the pole. I liked that each driver had two laps to go as fast as they can, and that was that. Simple, yet effective.

Knockout qualifying is just a gimmick. It feels like I'm watching Happy Hour.
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Hit the nail on the head. :) They should go back to it... oh, but that's just a dream... ;)
 
Invisible Guest said:
I bet you are .. your guy wins most of them. Haha. It has been a good addition .. the racing really picks up. It adds a decent strategy element as well.
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"Heck ya, get you some! Stage winner - MTJ." - Clayton Hughes, dang near every single race this year. :p

It's fun, regardless of who wins them, tbh. What counts to me is whoever wins the race. ;) Yeah, love the strategy element, too. It's given some "nobodies" some interesting results. ;)
 
qualifying has proved to be an improvement popularity wise, I believe that is all that matters. I watched both styles. They would invert the field the old way and you had to watch back marker after back marker until it would get to the top 5 or so. They get rid of those the first round the new way. Top cars have to take three shots at it, a lot harder to do to come out on top.
 
StandOnIt said:
qualifying has proved to be an improvement popularity wise, I believe that is all that matters. I watched both styles. They would invert the field the old way and you had to watch back marker after back marker until it would get to the top 5 or so. They get rid of those the first round the new way.
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Back then, backmarkers barely existed. The "bottom feeders" of the field weren't guaranteed to qualify at the tail end every week. There was actually some parity, especially in qualifying.

Maybe the backmarkers of today might have a better chance to attract sponsorship if they had a little more exposure.
 
StandOnIt said:
you were looking at different qualifying sessions than I was I guess.
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Click on any year you want before the COT era and look at the various pole winners. Hell, just look at the starting lineup from any race back then and look at how much it varied from race to race.
 
Fordracing7 said:
Dude you know ive been watching all year and you know that truex and Kyle have led the most laps all year long. Not just lately.
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They were not fast until Kansas. That's when NASCAR gave us the blower. We took it off this week because Brad said that NASCAR was going to take the cars. Need it for the playoffs. Shhhhhhhhhhh.....Keep this between us, Dude.
 
I have. back markers existed... even more so than today, a large number didn't run a whole season, 4 or 5 a race sometimes during qualifying trying to get in on speed. Most miss that when they point to the old days and look how many cars they had then compared to now..most of the lower 20 were pretty much junk
 
Kiante said:
Penske has found qualifying speed, I wonder how their race pace will fare?
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They will be good because Toyota dialed it back because NASCAR is going to take the cars according to Brad. Ford is still getting killed. Read Brad's blog. I am sure it will be in there next to a really nice recipe for brownies.
 
:laugh::laugh: brownie recipe , sure Brad will complain that another brand bakes faster than his.
 
StandOnIt said:
I have. back markers existed... even more so than today, a large number didn't run a whole season, 4 or 5 a race sometimes during qualifying trying to get in on speed. Most miss that when they point to the old days and look how many cars they had then compared to now..most of the lower 20 were pretty much junk
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No way.

Jeffrey Earnhardt, Derrike Cope, Reed Sorensen, Timmy Hill, Josh Wise, etc. are all guaranteed to finish at the end of the field most weeks. How often do any of today's backmarkers ever qualify or finish in the top 15? It used to happen every race back then. Even the guy who was 35th in points would have a couple top 10's at the end of the year.
 
Blogger Brad nails the pole, and says it's because the Toyotas dialed it back. Nothing about thanking his crew, Roush-Yates motors....just Toyota. In your head much Brad?
 
Revman said:
They will be good because Toyota dialed it back because NASCAR is going to take the cars according to Brad. Ford is still getting killed. Read Brad's blog. I am sure it will be in there next to a really nice recipe for brownies.
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Yeah I can't believe Brad would even suggest that the preacher would ever manipulate a race with any of his six factory cars. BTW I think Truex gets his tire changers back this weekend.
 
2 Sweet said:
No way.

Jeffrey Earnhardt, Derrike Cope, Reed Sorensen, Timmy Hill, Josh Wise, etc. are all guaranteed to finish at the end of the field most weeks. How often do any of today's backmarkers ever qualify or finish in the top 15? It used to happen every race back then. Even the guy who was 35th in points would have a couple top 10's at the end of the year.
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you go ahead with your deal, but back in 95 for instance there were rarely more than 5 or 6 cars on the lead lap except at plate tracks. The rest were back markers.
 
Truex_rox said:
My, my. It just got more interesting. :) I have been wondering when your guy would catch a break. I don't like him very much, but I've been appalled at some of his luck (like Pocono, dang it), lol.
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It's been a rough summer that's for sure.. I'll believe he's caught a break when he rolls into victory lane lol anything else probably won't be enough
 
Stenhouse was rocking a dope Roush cap today.


Kinda bummed Blaney bombed in the final round. Gonna be quick on Sunday though.
 
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StandOnIt said:
Yeah I can't believe Brad would even suggest that the preacher would ever manipulate a race with any of his six factory cars. BTW I think Truex gets his tire changers back this weekend.
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Hardly knew they were gone.
 
StandOnIt said:
you go ahead with your deal, but back in 95 for instance there were rarely more than 5 or 6 cars on the lead lap except at plate tracks. The rest were back markers.
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Not sure what that has to do with anything? I'm talking about parity, not lead lap finishes.

In 1995, guys like Ted Musgrave, John Andretti, Hut Stricklin, and Rick Mast sat on the pole. That's parity we don't see today. The guy who finished 30th in points (Kyle Petty) had a win and 5 top 10's. I just looked at the first five races of '95 and you had guys like Steve Grissom, Derrike Cope, Dick Trickle, Lake Speed, or Todd Bodine finishing in the top 10.

As far as qualifying, look at some of the pole winners in 2001 for example.....Jimmy Spencer, Casey Atwood, Jason Leffler, Kenny Wallace, Ricky Craven, Jeff Green, hell even Stacy freakin Compton had two poles.

Like I said, it used to vary a lot more, and you didn't see the same guys at the back every single race. The scrubs actually had some moments of success every now and then. I think that's a big reason why some of these backmarkers today struggle to find sponsorship. Who wants to sponsor a car that is guaranteed to qualify and finish in the 30's every single week?
 
Revman said:
They were not fast until Kansas. That's when NASCAR gave us the blower. We took it off this week because Brad said that NASCAR was going to take the cars. Need it for the playoffs. Shhhhhhhhhhh.....Keep this between us, Dude.
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The 78 and 18 were very fast ever since Vegas and Phoenix they dominated those races. The other 4 were not fast until later.
 
Fordracing7 said:
The 78 and 18 were very fast ever since Vegas and Phoenix they dominated those races. The other 4 were not fast until later.
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Those were the only races they were decent until Kansas--TRD Toyotas turned a corner right there.
 
Revman said:
Blogger Brad nails the pole, and says it's because the Toyotas dialed it back. Nothing about thanking his crew, Roush-Yates motors....just Toyota. In your head much Brad?
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I think he is dreaming about them , well , nightmares , yes, Brad is does spend a lot of time worry about them, maybe he should come drive one:D
 
2 Sweet said:
Not sure what that has to do with anything? The guy who finished 30th in points (Kyle Petty) had a win and 5 top 10's.
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Now we have Austin Dillion, Chris Buescher, A.J. Almendinger, Eric Almirola, back markers for the most part doing the same thing. You can call that parity I guess. I don't, I call it mostly luck.
 
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