Cup RACE thread --- Martinsville

Michfan said:
He's a cash cow and no pressure to win
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This is exactly why he should leave.

Elliott wants to win and anyone who doesn't think he does has never met the dude. But he's the #3 driver there and is treated as such. Elliott is a top-10 driver in the series.

I'm genuinely curious what happens if he goes to a team where he's truly the #1 driver, like 23XI or RFK, and is treated as such. Especially since the sponsorship money he brings to the team would go toward his efforts and not Kyle Larson in this hypothetical move.

And I know there are people who believe the narrative that Hendrick is turning sponsors away every hour which is comical. Jeff Gordon's even said Hendrick Motorsports has not made a profit in 10 years.
 
BobbyFord said:
I don’t see him setting the world on fire no matter what team he’s on.
I view him as like a Dale Jr. kinda driver.
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Chase Elliott is a top-10 driver.

Hell, even last year, which was the worst of his career, his stat line was actually one of the best stat lines in NASCAR.

Also, Dale Jr won 26 races and was a legitimate threat to win championships for a period of time in spite of everything he went through.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Chase Elliott is a top-10 driver.

Hell, even last year, which was the worst of his career, his stat line was actually one of the best stat lines in NASCAR.

Also, Dale Jr won 26 races and was a legitimate threat to win championships for a period of time in spite of everything he went through.
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I don’t disagree. I guess that’s where we are 🥱
 
The Elliott slander is wild, but not surprising. The guy has a cup and made it to 3 straight final 4's, and led the series in wins just a full season ago. Yet we're praising Byron as if people weren't just asking if he should be giving up his seat before Fugle came along to save him. Chase will be fine.

And I don't see anyone making excuses for him except the ones that blame Gustafson for everything. Kinda hard to do when the driver is on record saying he just doesn't jibe with nextgen so far
 
Larson moves into first place.

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AdoubleU24 said:
The Elliott slander is wild, but not surprising. The guy has a cup and made it to 3 straight final 4's, and led the series in wins just a full season ago. Yet we're praising Byron as if people weren't just asking if he should be giving up his seat before Fugle came along to save him. Chase will be fine.

And I don't see anyone making excuses for him except the ones that blame Gustafson for everything. Kinda hard to do when the driver is on record saying he just doesn't jibe with nextgen so far
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The only Hendrick driver I see fans calling for a firing of is Alex Bowman.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The only Hendrick driver I see fans calling for a firing of is Alex Bowman.
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Why all the drama? he is a part of the best organization in Nascar and they will do it all over again next week, that is a good thing.
 
What's going on with Zane Smith? The dude had tons of hype heading into this season. His stats are atrocious, to put it lightly.
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Byron’s seat was white hot before Fugle. You don’t remember the whole “if you can’t win with Knauss, you will never make it!” talk?
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No. Byron was brand new in cup, nobody is stupid enough to believe a driver moving up their first year to cup is going to set the world on fire.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
2.4

Terrible race. Terrible broadcast. Terrible and extremely predictable outcome.

But Byron is Jeff Gordon 2.0.
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Disagree. I think a big difference is these cars can take such a beating you see far less cautions than the previous generation. That lends itself to long green flag runs and less passing.

People forget, it’s always been hard as hell to pass here
 
Mispeedway15 said:
Disagree. I think a big difference is these cars can take such a beating you see far less cautions than the previous generation. That lends itself to long green flag runs and less passing.

People forget, it’s always been hard as hell to pass here
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You have to consider the source. I saw strategy all day long, plenty of chrome horns and beating and banging and a pretty good race overall and short tracks aren't my favorites.
 
JJ_14 said:
Hocevar finished 17th today, Lajoie has shown speed at times this season. Smith seems very mistake prone, I wasn't expecting him to struggle so badly.
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Sure but they aren’t on pace with the teams that run top 5s week in and week out.
 
OK...I really don't understand all the talk of Chase going to another team suddenly. This is very odd timing considering that he is finally starting to show race winning speed again. This is back to back top-5's after not getting one for a while and would be 3 in a row if not for his penalty at COTA. Him being the "third" driver at HMS is a little ridiculous to me. I don't believe teams hold data back from one or two of their teams. Chase has just been getting beat because his team is off and he himself has said he needs to adapt the way he is driving the new car as other teams/drivers did so around the mid-way point of 2022 and he did not because he was getting away with the way he was driving and having a great season. I will say that Chase needs to get a little meaner as he teammates have not hesitated to use him up in the past but other than that will everyone please stop with saying there is an issue with Chase and his talent level? Anyone who thinks that seriously needs to get a clue and pay attention. The dude is STILL only 28 years old and has a cup title, 18 wins, an All-Star win and has also won more road course races than all but 2 drivers. He has also won at every type of track so please chill. Is Larson more "talented" as far as raw talent? Sure but it's not that wide a margin and he SHOULD be - He has WAY more experience at different types of racing. Chase has all the talent he needs and as a fan I have to say it's refreshing to hear a driver not blame the team/car and say "I need to get better." Anyone hear Austin Dillion saying that?

I am still not sure if that win is coming soon as yesterday may have been his best chance in a while for that as upcoming tracks such as Texas are places Chase has not been great of late but then again he was good at Richmond this year so you never know. Chase should only leave HMS if he thinks the way they run their program no longer suits what he needs in the car AND there is an opportunity to go elsewhere that will and he can win there.
 
Hendrick4ever said:
Speaking of Austin Dillon....yikes
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Yeah - At some point the blame needs to fall on him. I was actually going to defend him some when I realized that Keith Rodden was his crew chief because when I was a KK fan I could not stand Rodden. I thought he was awful but Dillon was way to quick to blame others and I just don't see it getting any better. If you put him in better equipment I think he'd be a lot like Bowman - The occasional good run/win but nothing more.
 
StandOnIt said:
No. Byron was brand new in cup, nobody is stupid enough to believe a driver moving up their first year to cup is going to set the world on fire.
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Byron's seat was hot for a while. Through his first 108 cup starts (3 seasons) he had only 1 win and 9 top 5's. His 4th season he only added one more win but his top 5 rate went up dramatically as he had more in his 4th season (12) than in his first 3 seasons combined. That is when he figured things out apparently but people still put too much on winning. To me, top 5/top 10 rate is way more indictive of a driver's performance as winning happens only under very specific circumstances that are in many cases out of the drivers hands. Byron is a great driver now but there was a time he was starting to hear whispers of the word "bust."
 
JJ_14 said:
Spire as a whole have been a disappointment thus far. I expected more out of them.
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I think they're doing a lot better this year, definitely running a lot better. Problem is that in order to finish better someone else have to finish worse. So the question is who is supposed to move backwards?
 
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