cheated up cars for last race???

Its no coincidence that each year the sport has had “the final 4”, that one of the 4 has won.

Whether its Jeff Gordon moving out of the way in 2014 or the phantom caution that lost Larson the race in 2015. NASCAR wants the final 4 in the hunt to win at Homestead.
 
Greg said:
Stay out of the way of the Fab4 and protect Brian's dream, unless you want a lifetime of unpublished cucumbers.
Click to expand...
If Danica's car fails inspection will she get cucumbered? Jest askin'
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Its no coincidence that each year the sport has had “the final 4”, that one of the 4 has won.

Whether its Jeff Gordon moving out of the way in 2014 or the phantom caution that lost Larson the race in 2015. NASCAR wants the final 4 in the hunt to win at Homestead.
Click to expand...
I would expect that the final 4 cars get a little extra attention during preparation and I would think that the final 4 drivers would try just a little harder to bring their A game for this race because they have a lot more to lose then the other drivers...and as you said other drivers moving out of the way probably helps also.:)
 
Not looking at stats, but I bet the final four have won the majority of the races. The final 8 probably come close to winning them all.
 
Bobw said:
If the final 4 get the ''benefit of the doubt'' what about the other 36 teams?
Click to expand...
They are more strict on them. Guys, this kind of thing happens in every sport. Once you bring human officials into it, you're open for subjectivity. Holding calls in football that are easy calls to make in the first quarter sometimes go uncalled with under 2:00 minutes to go in the game. Same is true in Basketball, Hockey etc. There is an expression "the refs have swallowed their whistles" which means they've given the benefit of the doubt to the players, and aren't calling every little ticky-tac foul. There's situational leniency. Because NASCAR is unique in that only 4 teams are competing for a championship...but ALL teams are competing in the event against them...NASCAR will be "swallowing their whistles," so to speak, for the Championship Four (at least during pre-race inspections. It's not like they'll be allowed to speed on pit road). It also doesn't mean they can attach a jet engine to the rear (just like "swallowing a whistle" in football doesn't mean you can run around tackling people by the face mask). It just means that if there's a .01 inch dispute between how the team thinks a (whatever) is being measured and how the officials think it's being measured, at Fontana the teams would be told to get lost, fix it, come back through tech. At Miami, those four teams will probably be given the benefit of the doubt and pass tech despite the .01 variance, while the other 36 might be told to come back when it's CLEARLY the right measurements.

And to be fair, aside from the .01 inches here and there that the final four get, there's also another reason why one of the four traditionally win...the other 36 cars are terrified to race them hard. NO ONE...and I mean NO ONE wants to be the reason one of those four cars gets taken out of contention. It's a lot easier to work your way through the field when very few are trying to stop you.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Whether its Jeff Gordon moving out of the way in 2014 or the phantom caution that lost Larson the race in 2015. NASCAR wants the final 4 in the hunt to win at Homestead.
Click to expand...

It also explained why Gordon was lightning fast at Homestead that year. If its true that they send the cars to R&D even before they get to Phoenix then it's fair to say they thought Gordon would be one of the 4 given that going to Phoenix he was in the top 4 and ony lost it by what? 1 point?
 
Reck said:
It also explained why Gordon was lightning fast at Homestead that year. If its true that they send the cars to R&D even before they get to Phoenix then it's fair to say they thought Gordon would be one of the 4 given that going to Phoenix he was in the top 4 and ony lost it by what? 1 point?
Click to expand...

JG was always pretty damned fast at Homestead
 
Nascar letting the 4 final cars be a little looser on the rules it just one more step.closer to a scripted sport. Can we all say WWE.
What stops Nascar from giving one of the final 4 cars an edge over the other 3 because it would make a better story and headlines for Nascar if they win.
If I was a sponsor of any of the other 36 cars I would not pay for this last race because no one is racing and won't be shown anyway.
Why are we watching this scripted crap? What about integrity ?
At least in other sports the refs might swallow the whistle but the teams are even, one doesn't play with heavier cleats and weighted balls, and 9 on 11.
 
StandOnIt said:
Not looking at stats, but I bet the final four have won the majority of the races. The final 8 probably come close to winning them all.
Click to expand...
Final Four have won a combined 17 of the 35 races (48.6%), the final eight brings it to 23 of 35 (65.7%).
 
nitetrain said:
Nascar letting the 4 final cars be a little looser on the rules it just one more step.closer to a scripted sport. Can we all say WWE.
What stops Nascar from giving one of the final 4 cars an edge over the other 3 because it would make a better story and headlines for Nascar if they win.
If I was a sponsor of any of the other 36 cars I would not pay for this last race because no one is racing and won't be shown anyway.
Why are we watching this scripted crap? What about integrity ?
At least in other sports the refs might swallow the whistle but the teams are even, one doesn't play with heavier cleats and weighted balls, and 9 on 11.
Click to expand...

I think that it is overstating matters, we are talking about very minute discretionary allowances, and as stated previously by @StandOnIt the odds are that one of them would have won it anyway.
The officials just want the drivers and teams to settle matters, without an official being the story.

It does breed a little cynicism, believe me I feel a little myself. But you jumped the shark with the weighted cleats, heavier balls, and 9 on 11.
 
ToyYoda said:
Final Four have won a combined 17 of the 35 races (48.6%), the final eight brings it to 23 of 35 (65.7%).
Click to expand...
I came up a bit different
2016 JJ won race and title
2015 KDB won race and title
2014 Harvick won race. Harvick won title
2013 Hamlin won race..JJ won the title
2012 Gordon won race Kez won title
2011 Stewart won race Stewart won title.
 
StandOnIt said:
I came up a bit different
2016 JJ won race and title
2015 KDB won race and title
2014 Harvick won race. Harvick won title
2013 Hamlin won race..JJ won the title
2012 Gordon won race Kez won title
2011 Stewart won race Stewart won title.
Click to expand...
I was talking about this year.
 
ToyYoda said:
I was talking about this year.
Click to expand...
I got 25 out of 36 races won by the top 8..count Larson and it is even more. I'm probably not accurate though, but the top 8 win the majority counting it that way, the final four win the majoruty of the last race at Homestead FWIW. I don't see any race fixing with any of these stats.
 
StandOnIt said:
I got 25 out of 36 races won by the top 8..count Larson and it is even more. I'm probably not accurate though, but the top 8 win the majority counting it that way, the final four win the majoruty of the last race at Homestead FWIW. I don't see any race fixing with any of these stats.
Click to expand...
I could be wrong, but here's how I got to 23 for the Top 8:

Truex - 7
KyBu - 5
Kez - 3
Harvick - 2
Johnson - 3
Hamlin - 2
Blaney - 1
Chase - 0
 
It is widely believed and accepted at this point that in 2002, there was some level of NBA officiating conspiracy to favor the Los Angeles Lakers over the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference Finals, the objective being to assure the very popular Lakers franchise made the NBA Finals where interest and ratings would be higher. Many YouTube compilations have been made dissecting this, you can look it up, the evidence is fairly overwhelming.

One can be a huge NBA fan and believe this. In fact, it was big NBA fans that drew attention to it. There have been other questionable cases in the NBA and other sports, perhaps none so blatant. The NBA deserved to be held to account and lose credibility over that, and in many minds they did. They either haven't done something similar since, or haven't been obvious about it.

For some reason, there is a contingent of NASCAR fans who in my view conflate being loyal fans of the sport with defending and excusing everything NASCAR does. Providing the "Final Four" a competitive advantage should not be acceptable, and rationalizing it every which way is shoddy thinking IMO. If it is true as many reasonably suspect, it is wrong and shouldn't be happening. One should be able to say that and still be a fan.
 
gnomesayin said:
It is widely believed and accepted at this point that in 2002, there was some level of NBA officiating conspiracy to favor the Los Angeles Lakers over the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference Finals, the objective being to assure the very popular Lakers franchise made the NBA Finals where interest and ratings would be higher. Many YouTube compilations have been made dissecting this, you can look it up, the evidence is fairly overwhelming.

One can be a huge NBA fan and believe this. In fact, it was big NBA fans that drew attention to it. There have been other questionable cases in the NBA and other sports, perhaps none so blatant. The NBA deserved to be held to account and lose credibility over that, and in many minds they did. They either haven't done something similar since, or haven't been obvious about it.

For some reason, in my view there is a contingent of NASCAR fans who conflate being loyal fans of the sport with defending and excusing everything NASCAR does. Providing the "Final Four" a competitive advantage should not be acceptable, and rationalizing it every which way is shoddy thinking IMO. If it is true as many reasonably suspect, it is wrong and shouldn't be happening. One should be able to say that and still be a fan.
Click to expand...

I tried to like this post 100 times as it is a dandy. I don't follow the NBA or MLB as the pro sports I follow are the NFL and NHL and to the best of my knowledge they have not had issues where league officials have attempted to alter the course of a game or series. I am confident that both the NHL and NFL would love to have series finales where one team originated from NYC and the other from LA but I don't think that has happened.

The vibe I get from some of the more established fans here is that there are several things they don't care for in Nascar but they are committed to the series and will accept the changes and continue to watch. Then there are some people that don't want to accept the reality of what the series has become and attempt to defend the indefensible instead of just enjoying the racing. If Nascar was running a golf tournament they would have built in mulligans and would allow you to roll your ball over until it was in a position you felt comfortable hitting it. Some people may think Nascar is a sport but it is not sporting in the way it operates. Like you said it is fine to be a fan and enjoy it but just don't lie to yourself and me about it being above board.
 
I doubt it. Kind of figured it NASCAR was going to turn their head and let someone have a rocket ship it would have been the 88. And he was crap most of the day. Of course they may have. Pretty much figure Dale Jr never wanted to get back in that car to begin with this year and was never going to get close to hanging it out there and seeing what it might really do. Now if Bowman gets in it and runs better, I think we will know
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
From a personal standpoint I don't care if they allow the 4 finalists a little extra but it makes me wonder how people can see Nascar as a sport as allowing any competitor an advantage over another is not sporting.
Click to expand...

What's funny is me and you are both "old school fans" and we don't see a huge deal with it if true. IMO, this stuff, either allowed by NASCAR or just crews staying one step ahead, has been going on for decades. I for one still pine for the "creativity" that existed back in the day.

There's instances of special treatment in certain situations in every sport, at every level. While the everyone wants "fair" history has shown when it comes to athletic competition it's kind of an impossible deam.
 
An I the only one looking forward to the year everyone in the final four wrecks and the championship is decided half way through the race? Lol not sure why I just think it'd be funny
 
Blister said:
I doubt it. Kind of figured it NASCAR was going to turn their head and let someone have a rocket ship it would have been the 88. And he was crap most of the day. Of course they may have. Pretty much figure Dale Jr never wanted to get back in that car to begin with this year and was never going to get close to hanging it out there and seeing what it might really do. Now if Bowman gets in it and runs better, I think we will know
Click to expand...
IMO you are correct. Dales goal was to get through the year uninjured.I don't blame him a bit Bowman ran better in it last year
 
formula racer said:
IMO you are correct. Dales goal was to get through the year uninjured.I don't blame him a bit Bowman ran better in it last year
Click to expand...

I wish Dale would have called it quits last year but if he came back this year and didn't give his best effort then shame on him.
 
No shame to it . He retired on his terms.He is the only one that has to decide what those terms are. Said yesterday his goal was to drive onto pit road after the race. That says enough for me.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I am confident that both the NHL and NFL would love to have series finales where one team originated from NYC and the other from LA but I don't think that has happened.
Click to expand...

The Los Angeles Kings beat the New York Rangers in the finals in 2014. I don't recall any controversial officiating to get either team to that point though.
 
as far as "cheated up" goes, the same couple of cars that had that advantage all year long kept it for the playoffs. It would have been really unusual to see another car leading the race for any period of time when the two cars running 1st and 2nd had led over 4000 laps between them.:idunno: If the stick n ballers have cheated up cars, they won't have them long, most of them are broke a couple of years after their short playing span :cuckoo:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom