Bonehead of the Race: Daytona 500

Jeff Gordon's front bumper. How many wrecks did he cause today? Especially after his whining about bump drafting...
 
Jeff Gordon's front bumper. How many wrecks did he cause today? Especially after his whining about bump drafting...

Awe don't dis him, he didn't break any rules. I watched it a few times everyone checked up in front of Kayne.
What about Sadler he bumped a few people too.
The track and red flags def get the boo's.
 
I think the pothole was where digger cam was last year!
 
I vote the track and/or FOX for running LESS commercial breaks during the red flags than during the race.
 
I wish I would've counted how many laps we actually got to see...
 

LOL I don't need a gun. me >
kick.gif
< you :p
 
My vote goes for the first track patch job! That didn't go to well.

As far as repaving the entire track because of a pothole. I vote NO. IMO that would be a good way to ruin the racing on that track. Most times they repave a track it takes years to produce good racing again. Fix the hole and let em run.
 
definitely the track. it needs resurfaced and putting it off just delays the inevitable. i don't want to see any more red flag fixes like yesterday.
 
I vote "NONE".

It was just good racing Sunday. No real boneheads.

I also vote no for repaving the track. I don't want to see another Bristol type ruination of a good thing.
 
No brainer: whomever is responsable for the track maintenance.

As much as I'd hate to say it, I think they do need to repave. Although it usually takes several years after a repaving to make the racing good again, I think if they just patch it they're putting off the inevitable. They wont be able to patch it in time for the July race, but I think there will be a new surface for the 500 next year.
 
Apparently the plan was to repave before the 2011 season, but I have to wonder if theyll consider doing it before the Firecracker in July.
 
Yea. They were going to repave it after this season anyway. This will most likely speed the process up.
 
I agree that it usually kills the racing on most tracks for a few years, but on the plate tracks, I think it's a non-issue. It gets smoother, so the cars don't get as upset, they're running wide-open 98% of the time anyhow,and the end product is that the racing gets tighter.
Not to brag, or gloat, but a year ago, I purchased the ride around Daytona in the petty driving experience, and even at 160mph ish, that place about shook my fillings loose. It's really bumpy.
MoMike
 
Bonehead is to the track workers for taking a total of 2 hours to fix the track.
 
Bonehead is to the track workers for taking a total of 2 hours to fix the track.

Bah...give the poor trackies a bit of credit. I work in construction - specifically road contruction as an inspector and I have to admit that I was a bit surprised they fixed it that quick. I think they used some sort of quick-set concrete for the fix. The quickest I have ever seen a concrete patch get opened to traffic on a normal project is 24 hours. Besides any repairs done have to be a perfect match to the existing track slope. An imperfection in the track could be deadly. Personally, I would much rather they take their sweet time getting the repair as close to perfect as possible.

This should NEVER have happened in the first place. Not at the NASCAR premiere event.

But for those that want to repave the track let's look at the costs shall we? I will make a few assumptions so bear with me as I do not know what is the current cost of HMA (hot mixed asphalt) in the great state of Florida...

Let's assume that we need to just remove and replace the surface - say 3" of HMA. The track is 50' wide and 2.5 miles (13,200') long making it 73,333 SYD (square yards) in area. To remove the HMA, a typical cost for a road mill is around $1.50 / SYD.

Removing the old surface = $1.50 * 73,333 = $110,000.00 - This would probably be A LOT more because of the banking but I have no idea how to estimate that.

Asphalt is notoriously difficult to predict cost. For a project like this I think that since they have to pave on such a ridiculous cross slope (30 degrees) the cost is going to be in the $150 per ton range. Probably a lot more. 3" of HMA goes down at 330 pounds per SYD...

330 # / SYD * 73333 SYD = 24,199,890 # = 12,100 TONS
12,100 TONS * $150 per TON = a cool $1.8 million

Total cost $1.9 million

And that is a temporary fix that could work for 5 to 10 years assuming the base below the track is good. I am postive there are oodles and oodles of things that will add to the cost so I have no doubt the real cost would be 2x that number.

Hmmm...170k people watching at $150 per seat average...you'd think they'd be able to come up with the $$$ to pay for this.
 
I read they used BONDO to repair the pothole.I'm surprised that lasted and didn't crack and come out.
 
Well I think that Daytona should be smoothed out in the corners,repave it there smooth out some of the major bumps, and leave the rest of it alone. that would cut costs.
 

Hehehehehe You tell 'em tk! Can't win for losing. People say he's too vanilla and should do something and that they wanted the bumping and banging, so he does it, and they still hollar about him. ROFL :D
 
I can't believe this thread made 3 pages without mentioning who the real bonehead of the race was....Jamie Mcmurrays dad! He left to beat the traffic and missed his sons biggest win of his career. That's pretty hard to top.
 
I can't believe this thread made 3 pages without mentioning who the real bonehead of the race was....Jamie Mcmurrays dad! He left to beat the traffic and missed his sons biggest win of his career. That's pretty hard to top.

Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! I didn't hear that! GAH!
 
IMO, it really wasn't boneheaded. He'd ridden his motorcycle to the track. When the race ran long and it was getting dark, he didn't want to be on the road with all the traffic on a bike. He rode away from the area and stopped at a sports bar so he could watch the rest of the race.

Personally, I don't blame him.
 
IMO, it really wasn't boneheaded. He'd ridden his motorcycle to the track. When the race ran long and it was getting dark, he didn't want to be on the road with all the traffic on a bike. He rode away from the area and stopped at a sports bar so he could watch the rest of the race.

Personally, I don't blame him.

I do. I've got a rule of thumb when attending live races. Never, EVER, leave before the race is over.
 
I do. I've got a rule of thumb when attending live races. Never, EVER, leave before the race is over.

VADIRT that is me. I don't understand people who pay all that money and leave the last 50 laps. I don't care that much about getting ahead of the traffic. I have an aunt who don't understand why I won't go to a race with her. She always leaves early. As for the motorcycle I don't like them anyway. They are so dangerous so I guess I don't blame him.
 
Having been a bike rider in my younger days, I don't blame him for leaving early. It isn't the bike or the rider that's dangerous, it's the people in cars who "don't see you." I was almost hit several times on the streets close to my home. One person stopped, and told me flat out that they just didn't see me.

At night, it's even worse.
 
I do. I've got a rule of thumb when attending live races. Never, EVER, leave before the race is over.

I agree. Typically someone tells me I have to leave or I will get locked in...
 
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