All-Star race experimentation receives mostly high marks

Kyle Larson – Finished 7th: “It was just tough. I felt like I could get to around second or third, just getting to the lead was tough. I never really got to lead. The times I would get to lead, they would get a run on me and pass me right back. We just didn’t have the speed the Toyotas had. I thought the Toyotas were super-fast and then obviously, (Kevin Harvick) I mean he won, but (Martin Truex Jr.) was ridiculous. But yeah it was a pretty fun race"

https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2018/05/19/what-drivers-said-after-the-all-star-race/
 
Chase Elliott – Finished 5th: “Yeah, I actually had some fun, really. It was different for sure, but it wasn’t all bad, I don’t guess. Obviously, there was way more potential to crash and what not, which is I guess good and bad depending upon who you are. If you are sitting at home and watching it was probably fun because we are all close. If we see this package more, I’m sure you will see some more torn-up cars, too. And I’m sure the teams will get better at building and preparing for it too, but proud of our night. To be able to come from last to fifth, and I get the fan vote and end up coming home with a top five wasn’t all bad.”
https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2018/05/19/what-drivers-said-after-the-all-star-race/
 
I posted a while back that I guaranteed this was a test for next year, and I got told I was crazy and it was just a one off by a few people. Anyone lining up to admit they were wrong yet? It's all but a lock.
 
Larsonfan1995 said:
I posted a while back that I guaranteed this was a test for next year, and I got told I was crazy and it was just a one off by a few people. Anyone lining up to admit they were wrong yet? It's all but a lock.
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Yeh it will happen, ok pretry sure it didn't matter either way whether reviews were good or bad...Nascar was going to do it. Why do a plate? Just have less hp motors...makes no sense.
 
Spotter22 said:
I was there.( in the 90's) I loved it, I wouldnt crap on it but at the same time I love this. Great race last night, you had handling in play, side by side racing and ability to run different lines and pass.
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I just think it kinda sucks that it takes restrictor plates to get back to "great" racing at a 1.5 miler. Just shows how much these cars have changed over the past 20 years.
 
ReturnTrip said:
I think the novelty would wear off once teams figure out the package and a few dominant cars emerge.
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yeah fer sure. That pretty much already happened, Harvick 36, Busch 19, and Truex 17, Hamlin 7, Larson 6, Stenhouse 5, and Kez 3 all led laps. Those guys aren't going away. Suarez up front was different, and A.J.
 
2 Sweet said:
I just think it kinda sucks that it takes restrictor plates to get back to "great" racing at a 1.5 miler. Just shows how much these cars have changed over the past 20 years.
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I don't ever remember a 1.5 miler being like that where 7th place finishes around a second and a half behind the leader. But I'll go with it:D
 
Johali said:
The wife and I'll be putting our butts in the seats at Chicagoland this year. Maybe that'll help. :D
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I put my butt in a seat at Chicago once and that is enought for me.
This whole discussion is quite interesting. You have one side that wants to see the fastest possible cars win a race. Then the other side wants to watch a race an be entertained. I get it. My problem with the first scenario is that will never happen anymore in NASCAR. There are already too many restrictions and rules, otherwise I would be all for it. The other camp says let's have good racin for entertainment. I get that too as I can stand around a local tourist go cart track and be entertained when momma spins out the guy in front of her to pass him.
Bottom line to me, if NASCAR doesn't throw out the rule book completely, which will never happen, then I vote for the entertainment side.
 
DIDIT said:
I put my butt in a seat at Chicago once and that is enought for me.
This whole discussion is quite interesting. You have one side that wants to see the fastest possible cars win a race. Then the other side wants to watch a race an be entertained. I get it. My problem with the first scenario is that will never happen anymore in NASCAR. There are already too many restrictions and rules, otherwise I would be all for it. The other camp says let's have good racin for entertainment. I get that too as I can stand around a local tourist go cart track and be entertained when momma spins out the guy in front of her to pass him.
Bottom line to me, if NASCAR doesn't throw out the rule book completely, which will never happen, then I vote for the entertainment side.
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yep right on. F-1 has reduced speed and HP three times recently, Indycar, the old Trans Am series, on and on. They can make a thousand HP out of a small block without breaking a sweat now days. They can't afford to have one of them fly up and over a twenty foot fence into the crowd.
 
StandOnIt said:
I don't ever remember a 1.5 miler being like that where 7th place finishes around a second and a half behind the leader. But I'll go with it:D
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It was never like that, and I'm not implying that it was. But apparently pack racing automatically means great racing so let's run the plates everywhere :idunno:
 
Mopardh9 said:
Yeh it will happen, ok pretry sure it didn't matter either way whether reviews were good or bad...Nascar was going to do it. Why do a plate? Just have less hp motors...makes no sense.
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What difference does that make? If they run wide open with a plate or with a smaller engine its still wide open and you would get the same thing you got last night.
 
Imagine the cautionfest if there had been a full field out there! Plus the bigger teams will start ganging up and blocking! The big mistake was building those 1.5 mile tracks! But this is what the young generation wants, anyone can win, controlling the outcome, trophies for everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It seems the general consensus is that races are the best when the outcome Is always in doubt right to the last lap. My opinion is that it's great when it ends up that way naturally. What's not great to me is handicapping the cars so that no one can get away.

I'm all for testing this package without the plates. Let the faster cars get away if they can but hopefully a fast car will be able to make passes and come through the field.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
'Organic' is the new 'cucumbered'.
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I consider it a basic term with a clear meaning. I don't understand the confusion.

Larsonfan1995 said:
I posted a while back that I guaranteed this was a test for next year, and I got told I was crazy and it was just a one off by a few people. Anyone lining up to admit they were wrong yet? It's all but a lock.
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Oh you zany conspiracy theorist. This is just about spicing up the All-Star show, which is an exhibition anyway. Why would you mind that? Nobody is talking about using the package elsewhere for 'real' races.

Ok, maybe Indy, or Michigan, or Pocono. Or Kentucky, always a testing ground. Or maybe Chicago and Texas chime in and want it. And on and on.
 
Spotter22 said:
What difference does that make? If they run wide open with a plate or with a smaller engine its still wide open and you would get the same thing you got last night.
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don't tell him they are running a tapered spacer in the cup cars now. It isn't organic
 
I am not absolutely opposed to parts of this rules package, and I think it has a lot of good potential.
I like making the cars more capable of passing, and minimizing the effects of dirty air.
But I don't see the need for the plates or reducing horsepower. I am not hung up running on 200 or even 180 mph. But I do think a package that allows them to run through an apex without lifting is flawed beyond repair.

Having too much HP, and having to lift through the corners, and the tire wear combined is a great chemistry. It should not be forsaken while pursing a better aero package.
I don't see a cost savings with plates either. A mandated radical change in spite of the speed reductions will escalate the cost. The ill advised HP reduction that was mandated in 2016, or 2015 was an added cost, and this one will be as well.

This post presented by the generosity of the "Cooter Johnsons Juniors The IIIs and Dingleberries Racing Motorsports Engineering Enterprises Associates non-incorporated Foundation"
 
gnomesayin said:
I consider it a basic term with a clear meaning. I don't understand the confusion.
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And I don't know what it means in terms of racing. I've only been on this forum four or five years and I don't recall hearing it before this year; certainly not as much as in the last 24 hours.

What's your clear meaning for it? I've asked a couple of times to have the word defined as applied to racing but so far no one's been willing to break it down for me.
 
Greg said:
This post presented by the generosity of the "Cooter Johnsons Juniors The IIIs and Dingleberries Racing Motorsports Engineering Enterprises Associates non-incorporated Foundation"
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Tanning beds, video rentals, 18 flavors of homemade ice cream, fish cleaned while you wait.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
What's your clear meaning for it? I've asked a couple of times to have the word defined as applied to racing but so far no one's been willing to break it down for me.
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The closest relevant synonym for organic is probably natural. The plainest antonym would be artificial.

Many including myself have complimented the recent lack of questionable debris cautions as contributing to races playing out naturally. The meaning here is obvious. Some may prefer more cautions and restarts, but I don't think anyone would argue that forcing more optional stoppages into the race would be more natural.

Conducting races so that the best car, driver, and team win the race is more organic. Adopting measures specifically designed to force cars to run closer together or add greater 'entertainment' value is less organic. Hopefully that is clear enough, and we can move on to debating whether natural / organic racing is necessarily better racing (which is completely open for debate), not whether it is a concept that exists.
 
It is only a matter of time before they expose some "organic" tomatoes that glow in the dark, and surprise.. organic is just a word.
 
gnomesayin said:
The closest relevant synonym for organic is probably natural. The plainest antonym would be artificial.

Many including myself have complimented the recent lack of questionable debris cautions as contributing to races playing out naturally. The meaning here is obvious. Some may prefer more cautions and restarts, but I don't think anyone would argue that forcing more optional stoppages into the race would be more natural.

Conducting races so that the best car, driver, and team win the race is more organic. Adopting measures specifically designed to force cars to run closer together or add greater 'entertainment' value is less organic. Hopefully that is clear enough, and we can move on to debating whether natural / organic racing is necessarily better racing (which is completely open for debate), not whether it is a concept that exists.
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Last night their were more " oh ****s!, dammit boys!, did you see thats?! High fives and beer consumed by me and my buddies then has been in a while. At times we were all off our seats standing in front of the tv. I'll take what I saw last night over a run away every time and they dont come more old school then me.
 
Tight in Loose off said:
Ive got an idea that will perk up the millenials! Every time they are in the pits a barista goes to each car and pours hot coffee on them(starbux) of course!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Could go with cold water.... (there bound to be some wimmins in tee shirts).
 
Spotter22 said:
Last night their were more " oh ****s!, dammit boys!, did you see thats?! High fives and beer consumed by me and my buddies then has been in a while. At times we were all off our seats standing in front of the tv. I'll take what I saw last night over a run away every time and they dont come more old school then me.
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O'Donnell talking about the suite next to him saw everybody standing in the suite and in the stands for the last ten laps. Said he heard screaming coming out of the suite next door. He never heard it before.:D
 
Spotter22 said:
Last night their were more " oh ****s!, dammit boys!, did you see thats?! High fives and beer consumed by me and my buddies then has been in a while. At times we were all off our seats standing in front of the tv. I'll take what I saw last night over a run away every time and they dont come more old school then me.
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My top priority for a race or sport is that it be a contest of skill, with the importance of 'the show' way far in the background. To me the show is the skill on display. Sometimes, often times even, true contests of skill at the top levels are runaways. I prefer this to imposing closeness and randomness on the proceedings. That's just me.

I know where you're coming from, and I bet your side wins ultimately. Prevailing winds indicate to me that this is sort of approach NASCAR needs to keep paying the bills and hold onto anything approaching the audience levels that are expected. Thankfully, there are so many forms of motorsports out there to enjoy for more purist minds, so I'm not even that bitter about it. I wish NASCAR could be more about pure competition and less about base entertainment value, but if it can't be, so be it.
 
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