Darlington Pre-race Race Thread

dpkimmel2001

dpkimmel2001

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Have you ever? No, I've never. What a better way than to start off this weeks pre-race race thread with a 10 year flashback to one of the greatest finishes of all time. These are the kind of moments that keep me wanting to watch this sport from week to week. They don't come along often but when they do.....







Times are local to the Track​
Friday, May 10
9:00 - 10:30 am NNS Final Practice
11:30 am - 1:30 pm NSCS Practice
2:15 - 3:00 pm NSCS Final Practice
3:35 pm NNS Qualifying
5:10 pm NSCS Qualifying
7:00 pm NNS Driver Introductions
7:30 pm NNS VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200​
Saturday, May 11
6:15 pm NSCS Driver Introductions
6:45 pm NSCS Bojangles' Southern 500​
NSCS = Sprint Cup Series
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Times are local to the Track​
​
​
PRACTICE & QUALIFYING
Dates / Times / TV coverage

(times in eastern time)
  • Practices:
    Friday, May 10, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm/et, TV-SPEED
  • Happy Hour 'Final' practice: Friday, May 10, 2:15 - 3:00pm/et, TV-SPEED
  • Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-36, Friday, May 10 at 5:10 pm/et, TV-SPEED, re-air scheduled for 12:00am/et.
 
If only those neck and neck finishes existed these days...
 
Kasey Kahne's ride for Friday night.

BJrOneUCIAI-ot0.jpg:large
 
^^Does Great Stuff have to do with Great Clips?
 
Great stuff. You'll notice there were no popped tires or intentional walling. Reasons why we don't see this anymore...

Side pipes are a tire spear.
Splitter is a tire spear.
The Aero dependance doesn't respond well to being dinged.
....and the number one reason....

These "respect" pansies today flip out over the slightest contact. Nobody wants to die for putting on a good show.
 
Darlington fastest practice times.

2003 - 169
2012 - 175

Shows that higher speed has little to do with the quality of the racing.
 
The Gen 6 car will probably be faster then 175, and hopefully more controllable at that speed? Have to watch and find out.
 
FenderBumper said:
Great stuff. You'll notice there were no popped tires or intentional walling. Reasons why we don't see this anymore...

Side pipes are a tire spear.
Splitter is a tire spear.
The Aero dependance doesn't respond well to being dinged.
....and the number one reason....

These "respect" pansies today flip out over the slightest contact. Nobody wants to die for putting on a good show.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what you're going on about. So far we have seen plenty of close finishes this season alone and Gen6 has produced some amazing races. Especially at tracks that would normally have a ho-hum boring race.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
That explains it then. I was thinking about the next race and not years gone by.
Click to expand...

No wonder you never think about good changes to the sport. You wake every morning with a clean slate and forget the very different style of racing you've been watching since the CoT arrived.
 
Gotta believe winning at Darlinton has to be on the wanted short list for drvers.

The egg shape, the variable banking, the darlington stripe has the loved short track quirks because it shouldn't be possibile at that speed.
The ability to let someone over drive a corner and then dive under them and get the spot back, is just sweet stuff, cooler than hell.

She eats tires and you have to have the finesse (all while using all of the track (or stripe).
Darlington stands alone there is no place like her, like a miracle that could have never been planned.

The local ticket sells hurt, but I still think two races should be on the schedule. The tv public needs to see the quality racing done right, it is good for the brand and helps across the board.
 
Hard to believe that Busch-Craven finish happened 10 years ago. Man, time flies when you're having fun.
 
FenderBumper said:
No wonder you never think about good changes to the sport. You wake every morning with a clean slate and forget the very different style of racing you've been watching since the CoT arrived.
Click to expand...
I like what I've been watching. I've been entertained by what I've been seeing week in and week out and think this season has been going well. I'll leave all of the changing to you.
 
I don't think Hamlin is going to change his driving style, whatever that is. He keeps dumping people for whatever reason, he will get it back. Nobody is going to cut him any slack...except Tony I guess.:)
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I like what I've been watching. I've been entertained by what I've been seeing week in and week out and think this season has been going well. I'll leave all of the changing to you.
Click to expand...

Groovy! I hearby institute a change that says there will be more beating and banging, just like the old days we younguns hear so much about.
 
When there were strict rules on car contact, everyone bitched about how it wasnt real racing. Now they let the drivers have at it and now everyone bitches that there is contact. Everyone wants a reason to be upset at whatever is going on. Also Denny doesnt go dumping everyone. Every driver has been responsible for spinouts at some point. And personal feuds are always going to have a lot more fender rubbing.
 
Best track I have ever visited. Can't wait to go back one year.
 
It's not functional. Just a indent and black sticker to mimic the production car.
I actually like the paint scheme on that one.
 
I'm in the middle of Brasington grandstand in turn 1. They come right at me and I can see them fighting for position going into the turn. You can tell who's going to be trouble while they're still half up the front straight.

I'll have four friends who have never been to The Lady. Good times, and no nasty red hot dogs!
 
a simple yah or nay will do

who's been to Darlington ?

How 'bout a Labor Day Southern 500 ?

I never made it . . .
 
I agree with dpkimmel... Gen6 has produced incredible racing so far. Haven't seen a season this riveting in a long time. The sport's been in dire need of excitement like this.

As for "respect" - there's so much beef in the NASCAR garage right now that it's funny.
 
Some tire notes courtesy Jayski.....

Teams in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will run the same Goodyear tire codes at Darlington this week . . . this is the same left-side tire code (D-4392) that teams in these two series ran at Darlington the last two seasons . . . these teams have also run this left-side tire at Texas (including earlier this season), Homestead and Chicagoland in the past . . . this is the first time these teams have run this right-side tire code (D-4552) at Darlington, though they did run it at Charlotte last season and will do so again later this month . . . compared to what was run at Darlington last year, this right-side tire features just a slight construction change to bring it into line with what is run at similar speedways . . . this tire set-up came out of a Goodyear test with the Gen-6 car at Darlington on February 5 . . . drivers and teams participating in that test were Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Roush Fenway Ford, Denny Hamlin the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Paul Menard in the No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.and Martin Truex Jr. in the No. 56 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Darlington . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

Set limits:
Sprint Cup: 5 sets for practice/qualifying and 11 sets for the race;
Nationwide: 6 sets for the event
 
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