California To Become A Restrictor Plate Race

muggle not

muggle not

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http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=3265990

Zucker wants to reconfigure Auto Club Speedway into restrictor-plate track.

Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, believes reconfiguring the 2-mile Fontana, Calif. oval into a restrictor-plate track is an idea worth considering seriously.

"I love it," Zucker said Tuesday. "It's a game-changer. Michael Waltrip told me his idea about it Saturday night. It was funny at first, but I thought, 'Sure. Why not?'"

Restrictor plates, flat pieces of metal with small holes that are placed over the carburetors, reduce horsepower and slow down the cars. They are used at Daytona and Talladega, producing some of NASCAR most exciting and most dangerous racing.

Zucker said they are going to rebuilt part of the racing surface to repair the water seepage problems (commonly known as weepers) that arose last weekend. Heavy rain caused water to push up through the seams in the turns.

"If we are going to tear it up anyway to fix the drainage, let's make it a lot more interesting," Zucker said. "It could be a very dramatic thing for us." ....................................
 
Back to back RP races...someone please take aim and shoot me now.
 
I don't mind another RP race but I'm hoping they'd tweak the schedule a bit and spread them out...
 
They ought just take Michael Waltrip and put a restrictor plate on his mouth or crazy-glue his lips together.

Here's the address with the track president's name. Drop them a line and tell them to drop the idea...

Auto Club Speedway
9300 Cherry Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
Attn: Gillian Zucker
 
BobbyFord said:
They ought just take Michael Waltrip and put a restrictor plate on his mouth or crazy-glue his lips together.

Here's the address with the track president's name. Drop them a line and tell them to drop the idea...

Auto Club Speedway
9300 Cherry Avenue
Fontana, CA 92335
Attn: Gillian Zucker
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LMAO, Mikey does run his mouth a bit.

bobbyford, thanks for the address. Everyone that is in favor of another RP race can write them and let them know. :)
 
say what? I thought they didn't have any fans as it was- Those exec's must be having those beer samplings nightly now.
 
They just need fix the track of all the trouble, and forget the RP racing, make the repairs to make it safer for the drives is what is needed IMO
 
Move the date to the end of March or begining of April that should help the weather issues which are the main reason for the problems. There is plenty of racing on this track, 3 wide in a lot of places just like Michigan the track it was modeled after. Another plate race is not what most fans want IMO, Mikey has good ideas sometimes , but this isn't one of them
 
Screw that making repairs bit, they need to do that, they need to make it a plate track. Right now there are only Daytona & Talladega. If you don't live in the Southeast then you gotta travel all the way down there to see a plate race N that ain't cheap. Plate races in my opinion are the best races on the schedule. I mean the schedule is what 36 races and only 4 plate events. We need at least 6 plate races. You ask me I think they should also add Road America & the Mexico road course to the Cup schedule as well. Prolly get rid of Loudon all together. The fans don't come to Fontana cause that race is a yawner. Only reason Vegas packs'em in is cause it's Vegas. I've been talking about a plate race on the west coast ever since late 90's when they opened Fontana & Vegas but nobody ever listened, now they will looks like. Lets do it, heck they could make it the season finale'. It'd only take a season to reconfigure the place. Just use the existing backstretch, bank the turns at 33 degrees and lengthen the track to 2.55 miles...
 
Another RP plate isn't a horrible idea... it'd be better than just another cookie-cutter oval.
 
muggle not said:
http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=3265990

Zucker wants to reconfigure Auto Club Speedway into restrictor-plate track.

Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, believes reconfiguring the 2-mile Fontana, Calif. oval into a restrictor-plate track is an idea worth considering seriously.

"I love it," Zucker said Tuesday. "It's a game-changer. Michael Waltrip told me his idea about it Saturday night. It was funny at first, but I thought, 'Sure. Why not?'"

Restrictor plates, flat pieces of metal with small holes that are placed over the carburetors, reduce horsepower and slow down the cars. They are used at Daytona and Talladega, producing some of NASCAR most exciting and most dangerous racing.

Zucker said they are going to rebuilt part of the racing surface to repair the water seepage problems (commonly known as weepers) that arose last weekend. Heavy rain caused water to push up through the seams in the turns.

"If we are going to tear it up anyway to fix the drainage, let's make it a lot more interesting," Zucker said. "It could be a very dramatic thing for us." ....................................
Click to expand...


Of course Mikey wants plates here, he'd have a shot at winning the race.

I like what David Poole said....use dynamite on the track.

Its just not working.
 
The drivers themselves do not like restrictor plate racing so why would their fans?

If they can't fix the damned thing properly than turn it into a parking lot and send a race back to Rockingham!
 
I think it's a great idea. When it doesn't bring fans to the track, they can leave SoCal once and for all and give us the Southern 500 back.

It might actually make a halfway decent race for once.
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
I think it's a great idea. When it doesn't bring fans to the track, they can leave SoCal once and for all and give us the Southern 500 back.

It might actually make a halfway decent race for once.
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I agree that they should leave SoCal and give a second race back to Darlington. The racing is usually not good at California and the fan interest leaves much to be desired. Plus the cost for the teams would be reduced if they replace it with Darlington.
 
I love this idea plate races are so exciting, the finishs are always so close!
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
I think it's a great idea. When it doesn't bring fans to the track, they can leave SoCal once and for all and give us the Southern 500 back.

It might actually make a halfway decent race for once.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on this 100 percent...the problem is that Cali is an ISC track.....if they take a date away from it..which i dont think they will...itd go to another ISC track, which is good news for Darlington...but not for the Rock.

Id love to see them racing at the Rock again, its a shame they arent now.
 
Terrible idea. We have already seen the formula for making the racing better: add more banking.
 
MRM said:
Terrible idea. We have already seen the formula for making the racing better: add more banking.
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i think that's what they're getting at. They're going 205 into turn 1 on what, 8 degrees of banking? If they go to 15 like homestead did with progressive (now THAT would be a show!) banking, they'd be going headlong into 1 at closer to what, 210, if not more? I think that's where the RP idea came from. But after seeing what the tapered spacer did, i think 90% throttle stops or the same spacer busch had would put speeds back in check.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Best idea I've heard is shorten the track to 3/4 mile and add a little more banking. hehehe
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Im with you. We all see how popular bristol and richmond and them are why cant somebody build another short track for cup race? They want to say they are going to their "roots" build a short track that is the root of racing around america. What sucks is they got such a great track of irwindale in socal and i dont know if it could handle a cup race. But they could build a track about the same size and build it for cup race. Leaves irwindale for the real racing in the super latemodels too so its kind of win win...plus the supers could run at a cup short track. So thats another place for them guys to race thats not a road coarse, and the drifters hopefully wont be there :D
 
Patrick9999 said:
The drivers themselves do not like restrictor plate racing so why would their fans?

If they can't fix the damned thing properly than turn it into a parking lot and send a race back to Rockingham!
Click to expand...

There you go now you are talking!:beerbang:
 
The Raz Man said:
I love this idea plate races are so exciting, the finishs are always so close!
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Plate racing isn't real racing, it is fabricated by the plates, the drivers hate it, most fans hate it(myself included). To add another plate race is a huge mistake IMO.
 
Mopardh9 said:
Plate racing isn't real racing, it is fabricated by the plates, the drivers hate it, most fans hate it(myself included). To add another plate race is a huge mistake IMO.
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Plate racing is similar to painting all the cars red. They all look the same. :)
 
muggle not said:
I agree that they should leave SoCal and give a second race back to Darlington. The racing is usually not good at California and the fan interest leaves much to be desired. Plus the cost for the teams would be reduced if they replace it with Darlington.
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I think that we'd all like for that to happen, but it just won't happen. The main reason for that is the location of the track. One has to remember where NASCAR is today and that is in the hands of the sponsors. We all know the importance of sponsorship and when NASCAR has threatened to throw out a sponsor for one reason or another, there has been a huge clatter amoung the fans. Well, those same sponsors demand that they be taken care of at the track. Yes, they put up big pavilions at the track, and they put huge amounts of money outside of the teams they may sponsor, so for that to continue, NASCAR must satisfy them at least to some degree. Darlington, SC doesn't have much to offer in aminities for sponsors and the closest place to offer anything like that is Myrtle Beach. The same reasoning closed down Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. It won't matter a lick is the stands out there in SoCal are only half full, NASCAR will do it's damnest to stay there. I believe that is why they are toying with this idiotic idea.
 
I'm a season ticket holder, I buy at least eight seats for both days, every year. I have already sent my letter to the track president and many of my friends (season seats) are going to do the same.
Dale Sr. would be pitchin' a fit at the thought of another plate, crash-fest track.
 
Tho if you think about it, if SoCal goes RP and the fans still don't show up, making it a losing proposition 2 races a year might this not cost them a date?
At some point even Nascar will see that another track may bring in more money.
I just don't think it will be back to Darlington or the Rock or anywhere else they have left. Their egos would get in the way. But, a new track or another date at an existing track is possible.
 
you know an angle i guess i havent heard is that nascar keeps talking about trying to save the teams money. maybe one less race way out west will help cut the cost of the fuel to transport everything out west so many times a year. I mean there has to be a time when you cant look at markets so much and start thinking practical. Atleast Darlington and Rockingham is within a few hours from charolette. Just sucks that cool tracks that everybody wants to see raced on like rockingham have to sit so tracks that nobody cares about like california can waste a weekend with everybody trying to not fall asleep during the race. The only way i got through last weekend was that i had a bunch of latemodel races on dvd and could switch to those for awhile during the downtime in action.
 
BobbyFord said:
I'm a season ticket holder, I buy at least eight seats for both days, every year. I have already sent my letter to the track president and many of my friends (season seats) are going to do the same.
Dale Sr. would be pitchin' a fit at the thought of another plate, crash-fest track.
Click to expand...

Isn't that the truth....the last thing Nascar needs is another Plate Race people, come on..... do you think that this is trully racing? I don't, i hate it, and have been an advocate for no plates and a different engine configuration for Dega and Daytona for years. Unforunately this won't happen, because one ,Nascar has attracted new fans with this nonsense type of racing, and two it makes for great so called drama on the track. If you were to poll all the top 43 teams in Cup right now i'd be more than willing to wager that at least 80% of them would give plate racing the thumbs down.
 
barelypure said:
Tho if you think about it, if SoCal goes RP and the fans still don't show up, making it a losing proposition 2 races a year might this not cost them a date?
At some point even Nascar will see that another track may bring in more money.
I just don't think it will be back to Darlington or the Rock or anywhere else they have left. Their egos would get in the way. But, a new track or another date at an existing track is possible.
Click to expand...

Vegas will get one of Cals' dates if they don't I'd bet that NHIS looses a date to Vegas.
 
ISC Has No Plans To Change So. Cal. Track
Written by: Tom Jensen (SpeedTV).


A senior spokesman for track operator International Speedway Corp. said Wednesday that there are no plans to turn Auto Club Speedway into a restrictor-plate configuration or otherwise modify the layout of the 2.0-mile facility that hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually.

ISC owns the track and ultimately would be the entity approving and paying for any track changes. But none are forthcoming, an ISC official confirmed to SPEEDTV.com.

Track President Gillian Zucker told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Michael Waltrip suggested tearing up the track and converting it into a facility where cars would be forced to run horsepower-robbing restrictor plates at the track. “I love it,” Zucker told the website. “ … It could be a very dramatic thing for us.”


But Wes Harris, ISC’s senior director, corporate and investor communications, said Wednesday there are no plans for such an extreme and costly makeover. In fact, Harris said, it isn’t even in the discussion phase, nor is it likely to be.

“We have got some really sweet things and strong momentum out there in California with having our new race partner, Auto Club, as well as Pepsi taking a very substantial position in the fall race,” Harris said. “There are no plans to make any changes at this point. The racing was very good out there, the new car ran well.”

So, Harris said, don’t look for the track to be reconfigured soon. “We always want to look at ways to improve the fan experience, so we talk about a lot of different things, but I’m not aware of any discussions like that going on,” said Harris.
 
But I wonder is they're going to repave the track to try and fix the weepers...
 
barelypure said:
But I wonder is they're going to repave the track to try and fix the weepers...
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From what i read they are going to do that, forget where i read it but it is supposed to be fixed by the fall race. I still don't think it is a bd track, just happens to get negative press as did Texas for a few years until that was fixed. NHIS had major problems for at least 8 years and that is now a pretty good track, just a mattter of time before Calif. gets their act together, but they might lose a date in the meantime.
 
I know im trying to revive a dead horse here but, I read an article not to long ago where NASCAR was gonna try bringing country music back into the mix of NASCAR. Maybe Nashville could get a cup date now cause of this? I know there were alot of people that wanted to see it happen. I mean the market there would be the head city of country music.
 
basscatcher89 said:
I know im trying to revive a dead horse here but, I read an article not to long ago where NASCAR was gonna try bringing country music back into the mix of NASCAR. Maybe Nashville could get a cup date now cause of this? I know there were alot of people that wanted to see it happen. I mean the market there would be the head city of country music.
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The one thing that I have NOT missed, is the country music. :)
 
MRM said:
Especially that stuff they call country music today. :rolleyes:
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Really..... i'm just the opposite i like the Country Music today, just went to see Tobie Keith a few weeks ago he was awesome.
 
MRM said:
Especially that stuff they call country music today. :rolleyes:
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Agreed.

Some of this new country music sucks. New country is basically pop music without computer generated sound effects.

It, along with modern pop music, modern rap music, modern R&B music and modern heavy metal sucks.

Have I ever mentioned I'm a huge fan of the mid-90s music? :)

I love a lot of music that's been around over the past hundred years, but the past 2 or 3 years have really sucked music-wise. I'm only adding 8, 9, 10 *modern* songs to my MP3 player each year. Everything else I add is either 90's music (or earlier) or indie (independent) music off of MySpace.
 
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