Cup RACE thread --- Atlanta

Snappy D said:
I fall in between I guess. I’m 37 not old but not super young either. I sometimes wish I could bottle up and still have what made me fall in love with nascar (late 80’s/90’s). While I hate some of the changes I would have missed out on something’s I grew to like too. I have a son almost 10 month old, and I’m trying to see things through his eyes. The changes being made that I not might like or gripe about arnt being made for me. They’re being made for people like him, so that when he’s ready to find NASCAR it’s in a place to attract and retain newer fans. Pains me to say that the NASCAR I found and loved as a kid…would it attract people today? I don’t know.
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If you look at this place, it seems to be mostly older guys who are praising every decision NASCAR makes while the "younger" crowd happens to be more critical.
 
donthaveanickname said:
If you look at this place, it seems to be mostly older guys who are praising every decision NASCAR makes while the "younger" crowd happens to be more critical.
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I'd like you to explain that. The racing today is miles better then anything we've ever had and thats fact based. I think the older guys saw how the sport has evolved and how the competition is even closer and provides more excitement. Now if you want unlimited HP and cars going so fast they cant race and winners by a half lap then I dont want any part of it. Lastly, its kinds funny that the older guys have had to go through so much change yet we adapt and the younger guys get all bent out of shape.
 
Spotter22 said:
I'd like you to explain that. The racing today is miles better then anything we've ever had and thats fact based. I think the older guys saw how the sport has evolved and how the competition is even closer and provides more excitement. Now if you want unlimited HP and cars going so fast they cant race and winners by a half lap then I dont want any part of it. Lastly, its kinds funny that the older guys have had to go through so much change yet we adapt and the younger guys get all bent out of shape.
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Eh so many wish their lives away. I wish Nascar would do this(my way), or why are they doing that? I really don't think they know what the hell they want, but it isn't this. :idunno:. When Marcus Smith says they had more people in the stands at Atlanta since 2014 does anybody think he gives a sheet what haters say? I know I don't lol.
 
StandOnIt said:
Eh so many wish their lives away. I wish Nascar would do this(my way), or why are they doing that? I really don't think they know what the hell they want, but it isn't this.
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I think many forget sports are supposed to be entertaining. That's not unique to NASCAR's fans; some people live and die over things that have no effect on their lives. There are other things I used to find entertaining but no longer do. When they stopped being entertaining, I stopped watching or listening or participating or whatever. I'm pretty sure they're getting along without me, although I don't haunt their websites since I don't care anymore.

I either approve of most of the changes in the last two years, or don't care. I put up with pack racing because it's part of a form of entertainment I otherwise enjoy. I would have preferred to have fewer pack races, not more, but right now they aren't enough to run me off. There's a lot of things changing but my opinion the good outweigh the bad.

That's enough rational discussion. I'll go back to ranting about how SMI destroyed a race track.
 
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donthaveanickname said:
If you look at this place, it seems to be mostly older guys who are praising every decision NASCAR makes while the "younger" crowd happens to be more critical.
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2 sweeping generalizations in one sentence.

Experience is a great teacher. As you age, that statement will have more meaning.
 
Spotter22 said:
I'd like you to explain that. The racing today is miles better then anything we've ever had and thats fact based. I think the older guys saw how the sport has evolved and how the competition is even closer and provides more excitement. Now if you want unlimited HP and cars going so fast they cant race and winners by a half lap then I dont want any part of it. Lastly, its kinds funny that the older guys have had to go through so much change yet we adapt and the younger guys get all bent out of shape.
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There was a younger fan on the racing thread that was complaining that Fox was showing too many younger fans at the track lol. Wasn't long ago the trolls were saying that all it was was older fans in the stands. lol.
 
Yeah...I forgot how long Atlanta races are historically. The fire wear factor added an extra hour to the race due to speed falloff
 
DIDIT said:
Being at the track each caution was almost painful. The safety trucks and sweepers/blowers were out every time and often just sat still on the track. NASCAR didn't help much with how long they normally waited to open the pits. I assume sometimes it was because of the TV coverage. It would be interesting to see how much time was actually spent under caution.
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The cautions really all weekend did seem to drag on pretty long at times for some reason.
 

That picture for some reason just makes me wonder what Sr would have thought of racing with Brad and his whole not lifting thing etc.
 
I wouldn't mind this reconfiguration and style of racing at Texas and Michigan. Sucks that Atlanta was the one to get this though. A repave was imminent, but that track would be quite fine within a few years.

Texas needs to be reconfigured into a ... well, y'all know the speech by heart by now.
 
I think the biggest sticking point for me was 1) I'm not a fan of pack racing, and that's my personal preference. 2) Honestly the race felt like it dragged on forever. Maybe it would be better if they cut it down to 400 miles.
 
pjmolo said:
Currently, the infield of Chicagoland Speedway is being used as a secure parking lot for new Fords from the Chicago assembly plant that are still in need of various semi-conductor chips.

https://wgntv.com/news/joliet/why-are-hundreds-of-new-cars-parked-at-joliet-racetrack/
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Thanks for the update. Heard rumors of that and didn’t see an article posted.

I hope to see racing back there under the current pavement, but wouldn’t be surprised racing is done in Chicagoland after the talk of Amazon warehouse.
 
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Charlie Spencer said:
That's because the faster cars can't get away from the drafting ones. Multiple lead passes doesn't automatically mean it's a good race.
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Hey I always thought the 2000 Winston 500 was one of the greatest races out there, but now come to think that the 2011 Aaron’s 499 had more lead changes, maybe I need to rethink lol.
 
Snappy D said:
That’s a good find. Slipped right under me. I’m really sad the track is just sitting there waiting for it’s ultimate demise.
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Maybe they can turn it into a Superspeedway. 2018 was a little too spread out. 🙄
 
IMO Chicago failed for 2 reasons

1) it was a poor location, kinds close to Chicago but not really. Which is a city for the most part that isn't full of race fans

2) greed. They made people buy tickets to all the events at the track in order to get nascar tickets for a long time.

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wi_racefan said:
IMO Chicago failed for 2 reasons

1) it was a poor location, kinds close to Chicago but not really. Which is a city for the most part that isn't full of race fans

2) greed. They made people buy tickets to all the events at the track in order to get nascar tickets for a long time.

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Being relatively close to both I-80 and I-55, Chicagoland Speedway is easily accessible and less than an hour in travel time from downtown Chicago.

In the first years of the track's existence when buying the four race ticket package (2 NASCAR / 2 IndyCar) was required, the place was packed for the Cup race.

Eventually, even though the four race ticket requirement was done away with, the size of the crowds diminished somewhat but at the last Cup race there in 2019 the grandstands were full.

Chicago area race fans didn't give up on Chicagoland Speedway, NASCAR did.
 
wi_racefan said:
IMO Chicago failed for 2 reasons

1) it was a poor location, kinds close to Chicago but not really. Which is a city for the most part that isn't full of race fans

2) greed. They made people buy tickets to all the events at the track in order to get nascar tickets for a long time.

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1.) Most of these tracks are not by cities. What city is closest to Bristol? Johnson City, thats a college town but nowhere close to Nashville (6 hours away. Charlotte is also a drive away). Atlanta is the same distance from the speedway as it is from Chicago to Joliet. Homestead? Nowhere near Miami. Fontana is nowhere close to LA. Vegas is a drive from the strip of at least 30 min-45 min depending on traffic. I dont get this narrative, do people expect tracks to be at the center of downtown of a major urban city now?
 
AuzGrams said:
Hey I always thought the 2000 Winston 500 was one of the greatest races out there, but now come to think that the 2011 Aaron’s 499 had more lead changes, maybe I need to rethink lol.
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It didn't set the record for number of lead passes but most people seem to think the Nov '92 race at Atlanta wasn't all that bad.
 
pjmolo said:
Being relatively close to both I-80 and I-55, Chicagoland Speedway is easily accessible and less than an hour in travel time from downtown Chicago.

In the first years of the track's existence when buying the four race ticket package (2 NASCAR / 2 IndyCar) was required, the place was packed for the Cup race.

Eventually, even though the four race ticket requirement was done away with, the size of the crowds diminished somewhat but at the last Cup race there in 2019 the grandstands were full.

Chicago area race fans didn't give up on Chicagoland Speedway, NASCAR did.
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and they weaseled their way out of the track by using the pandemic as an excuse to give up on the track for a pie in the sky idea of a street race in downtown Chicago. . But call a spade a spade, they didnt want to go there for some reason. Which is why I'll still go to races at tracks I want to go to but no way in hell I'll support a street race here because that wont make it either if it even gets passed at all.
 
Snappy D said:
1.) Most of these tracks are not by cities. What city is closest to Bristol? Johnson City, thats a college town but nowhere close to Nashville (6 hours away. Charlotte is also a drive away). Atlanta is the same distance from the speedway as it is from Chicago to Joliet. Homestead? Nowhere near Miami. Fontana is nowhere close to LA. Vegas is a drive from the strip of at least 30 min-45 min depending on traffic. I dont get this narrative, do people expect tracks to be at the center of downtown of a major urban city now?
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My point was they're chasing more of a market than a fan base. The other tracks you listed for the most part do well because they have a great fan base and didn't make their fans purchase tickets to other races just to watch nascar

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Snappy D said:
1.) Most of these tracks are not by cities. What city is closest to Bristol? Johnson City, thats a college town but nowhere close to Nashville (6 hours away. Charlotte is also a drive away). Atlanta is the same distance from the speedway as it is from Chicago to Joliet. Homestead? Nowhere near Miami. Fontana is nowhere close to LA. Vegas is a drive from the strip of at least 30 min-45 min depending on traffic. I dont get this narrative, do people expect tracks to be at the center of downtown of a major urban city now?
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Not to mention Pocono.

I agree about the season ticket requirement being a killer. I understand it from a marketing perspective but paying for that once is one thing; do it annually isn't viable for some.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Not to mention Pocono.

I agree about the season ticket requirement being a killer. I understand it from a marketing perspective but paying for that once is one thing; do it annually isn't viable for some.
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I agree too with the season tickets. My father almost walked away after the 01 season because it was really really steep at the time for those tickets. Glad he kept them though, the old school IRL races were pretty damn fun.
 
wi_racefan said:
My point was they're chasing more of a market than a fan base. The other tracks you listed for the most part do well because they have a great fan base and didn't make their fans purchase tickets to other races just to watch nascar

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the last ten years or so you were able to buy tickets to races as you wanted them. We just bought Indy Car and Cup tickets towards the end. Then when Indy Car left just Cup tickets.
 
So I think I finally found why I didn't really like Atlanta. It came when I watch this YouTube video by The Iceberg. The Atlanta race was too similar to the Low HP/High Downforce package that was created to force pack racing at 1.5 tri-ovals, and this reconfigured Atlanta did the same thing. It's pack racing, draft racing, but no one can really make moves on their own unless they want to drop like a stone through the pack.

 
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