How NASCAR stars are trying to "swerve" rules after the checkered

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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Remember when “Swerving” was just a nickname for Ernie Irvan? Remember when a driver performing a burnout was just an innocent celebration?

Remember when simply taking a victory lap with the checkered flag was the only thing a competitor had to concern himself with, rather than worrying about jacking the steering wheel so far to the right to reset the rear axles on their cars following a race?

Boy, times have changed.

On Sunday following the Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, multiple drivers — not only the winner — made serpentine moves on the backstretch on the cool down lap that would have been more natural through the esses of a road course — not a straightaway on a 1.5-mile oval.

For the fans who haven’t paid attention, Joe Gibbs Racing crew chiefs routinely tell their drivers “Remember the check list” following wins.

On Sunday at Chicagoland, crew chief Cole Pearn reminded Martin Truex Jr. repeatedly before his burnouts: “Remember to swerve.”

So what did that mean exactly? The bottom line is that competitors are spinning and swerving to make sure the rear toe returns to legal parameters before the cars are measure on the laser inspection station post-race.
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Rest here: http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cu...ing-to-swerve-rules-after-the-checker-828431/

Xfinity swerving after Darlington [1:51:10]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ZxceJWC9bcQ#t=6671
 
Reminds me of that Chad and Jonhson video..back it up the wall if ya win.

NASCAR should start taking away wins for these kind of shenanigans.
 
I don't see this as a big deal. If the post-race inspection is now going to fine them without regard to damage incurred during the race, do what you gotta do.
 
Cheating is cheating. Is it not?

Who cares if the difference is an the decimals. If you dont fit the box, you are out of bounds.

That is how it works in most sports anyways.
 
You guys are acting like other sports have 100% clear and objective rules without any controversy, which couldn't be farther from the truth. It's just that NASCAR is uniquely able to use advanced laser technology to enforce theirs.
 
Acs said:
It's just that NASCAR is uniquely able to use advanced laser technology to enforce theirs.
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I don't think so. The same measurements on a different car with a small sponsor would make a difference in the penalty.
 
Reck said:
Cheating is cheating. Is it not?

Who cares if the difference is an the decimals. If you dont fit the box, you are out of bounds.

That is how it works in most sports anyways.
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I was watching a kick return the other day and the returner took it to the house or at least that is what we all thought. It turns out his left foot had momentarily left the playing field by the width of a hair so the play was called back to that spot as in the NFL it doesn't matter if you are 1/1000 out of tolerance or a mile.

I am with you as if the laser don't fit you must not acquit.
 
Acs said:
You guys are acting like other sports have 100% clear and objective rules without any controversy, which couldn't be farther from the truth. It's just that NASCAR is uniquely able to use advanced laser technology to enforce theirs.
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The more uniquely qualified Nascar becomes the less people watch. What a coinky dink!
 
The cars have a unique body to each make at least along the sides. with the first generation COT this wasn't the case. Nascar does not want yaw on these cars deciding who runs good and who doesn't because then you have teams complaining so and so manufacturer has an unfair advantage. however there is gains to be had if you can get any yaw to the right with the body. it puts more air on the rear spoiler and helps with side force. Some teams were using soft bushings that allowed the rear end to move so the right side would hang out more in the corners. nascar created a rule to do away with that. They even mandated a certain way the truck arms are to be mounted. Still its an area the teams really really want to dabble in, messing with the toe, messing with the truck arms all cars are likely on the edge of this tolerance to start each race anyways.

the interesting thing is at daytona and talledega they want the opposite to happen, if you watch the cars under caution the cars actually look yawed to the left. this is so when the car loads in the turns. the mounting of the track bar and with loading to the right causes the rear end to tuck and lower, pulling the blade out of the air. there have been penalties with improper track bar mounting at the plate tracks.
 
I don't really care if they crab walk or not as these cars are so far beyond stock it doesn't matter to me. All I care about is if the racing is close, competitive and entertaining. That said I think reducing skew and sideforce would have a positive effect on the racing as it would lead to even more off-throttle time in the corners.
 
I think it would be highly entertaining for Nascar to do what they do at Go-Kart tracks. Have all the cars out on the track and then you run as fast as you can to the car you want and that is what you drive. Sure it would suck to be Tony Stewart but it would be great to be Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I think it would be highly entertaining for Nascar to do what they do at Go-Kart tracks. Have all the cars out on the track and then you run as fast as you can to the car you want and that is what you drive. Sure it would suck to be Tony Stewart but it would be great to be Carl Edwards or Jimmie Johnson.
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Wouldn't Carl and Jimmie run to the 19 and 48 respectively anyway? :)
 
Is it me , or do the same people that want race teams to have more latitude , want winners to be within 1/1000th of spec ?
 
BobbyFord said:
The current "lower downforce" package has led to increased center corner speed.
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That explains why I'm hating the racing so much this year. Handling and tire wear still isn't a major factor. Speed and aero are the two biggest factors. And will be until NASCAR gets the car off the ground.

The racing was so bad last year that people think this **** this year is the greatest racing in modern history.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
That explains why I'm hating the racing so much this year. Handling and tire wear still isn't a major factor. Speed and aero are the two biggest factors. And will be until NASCAR gets the car off the ground.

The racing was so bad last year that people think this sh!t this year is the greatest racing in modern history.
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Basically , Nascar needs a slower racecar . Speed has outstripped the racing surfaces . Safety , handling , tire wear , aero , ....are all symptoms . Short of giving them all an anchor to drag around or a restricted air intake on the carb , all I hear is folks blowin smoke .
 
ted@economy said:
Basically , Nascar needs a slower racecar . Speed has outstripped the racing surfaces . Safety , handling , tire wear , aero , ....are all symptoms . Short of giving them all an anchor to drag around or a restricted air intake on the carb , all I hear is folks blowin smoke .
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NASCAR needs more short tracks. #NailedIt
 
BobbyFord said:
The current "lower downforce" package has led to increased center corner speed.
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With all due respect, I don't see how that's possible. Corner entry speeds up, sure, but mid-corner speeds have to have come down with the current package.
 
Acs said:
With all due respect, I don't see how that's possible. Corner entry speeds up, sure, but mid-corner speeds have to have come down with the current package.
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I believe I heard Carl say the exact opposite; that entry and exit were a little slower but mid corner was up because time out of the throttle was shorter.
 
BobbyFord said:
I believe I heard Carl say the exact opposite; that entry and exit were a little slower but mid corner was up because time out of the throttle was shorter.
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No, everyone's been saying the opposite including Cuz: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-me...les-changes-michigan-kentucky-sprint-cup.html

"We've got a spoiler that's 2-1/2 inches high and 53 inches wide; 53 wide is the same dimension as the superspeedway spoiler, but the superspeedway spoiler is 4-1/2 inches high," Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR Vice President Innovation and Racing Development, said Thursday. "We narrow it up and we make it shorter; we've taken downforce off the back of the car and we've taken sideforce off the right side of the car (by making it shorter on the right side of the car)."
The tapered deck fin and neutral toe changes were "sideforce reduction" plays, he said, while the front splitter change will lessen front-end downforce.
Stefanyshyn said the combined changes dropped corner speeds by 10.5 mph on average; corner entry speed was up by 2 mph.
"They're going to be going faster, but the fact that we took 10 (mph) out of the corner ... they'll only get part of it back because they'll be coming out of the corner slower," he said.
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Personally, I wish NASCAR would open the rules up and allow more creativity. However, if they're going to make these rules, they need to either be right or wrong, instead of playing between the lines. Scott Miller said a win will be stripped only if the LIS failure is "very egregious." Who determines what's "egregious"? If this isn't clarified, eventually something crazy will happen after Homestead and it will be very detrimental to the industry.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
NASCAR needs more short tracks. #NailedIt
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I'm not against Nascar having more short tracks , but not at the expense of any existing longer tracks . There are plenty of short track series' and they are great , but they aren't Nascar . Drivers normally graduate from short tracks to longer races at bigger tracks .
 
BobbyFord said:
Wouldn't Carl and Jimmie run to the 19 and 48 respectively anyway? :)
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I would bet Carl would but I bet JJ would like him some TRD as if Truex can succeed in it as he has can you imagine what JJ could do? It is scary to think about.

ted@economy said:
Is it me , or do the same people that want race teams to have more latitude , want winners to be within 1/1000th of spec ?
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As near as I can tell people would either like CC's to have latitude or have rules set in stone. The lukewarm mushy middle doesn't work.

Acs said:
NASCAR fans are nothing if not hypocritical.
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What Nascar fans on this forum do you feel are hypocritical? It is unfair to label a group of people as being monolithic don't you think?

ted@economy said:
Basically , Nascar needs a slower racecar . Speed has outstripped the racing surfaces . Safety , handling , tire wear , aero , ....are all symptoms . Short of giving them all an anchor to drag around or a restricted air intake on the carb , all I hear is folks blowin smoke .
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I think we need more tires on pit road so we can place bets on whether a caution will be called as that would be sum gud stuff right there.

oldschoolnascardude1 said:
Personally, I wish NASCAR would open the rules up and allow more creativity. However, if they're going to make these rules, they need to either be right or wrong, instead of playing between the lines. Scott Miller said a win will be stripped only if the LIS failure is "very egregious." Who determines what's "egregious"? If this isn't clarified, eventually something crazy will happen after Homestead and it will be very detrimental to the industry.
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I should have read your post before responding to Ted as you nailed it. Either you have discretion or you have rules but you don't have rules with discretion. Figure out what you want the tolerances to be and pad them appropriately and if a team wants to go right up to the limit and then fails inspection make as if he never entered the race as far as scoring is concerned.

ted@economy said:
I'm not against Nascar having more short tracks , but not at the expense of any existing longer tracks . There are plenty of short track series' and they are great , but they aren't Nascar . Drivers normally graduate from short tracks to longer races at bigger tracks .
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Over the last 20 years or so Nascar has lost 2 great races from the old Atlanta, 2 from the Rock plus another 2 from Wilkesboro and the 2 from Bristol Bruton ruined and Richmond was better prior to getting enhanced.........oh......and we lost a date from Darlington but we have 2 each in places like Tejas and Kansas. SMH.
 
Personally ... SPEC needs to be ... what I'd find at the dealership on monday. Frak this 'car of tomorrow' manure. Cars with stickers for headlights. STOCK!! That'll get your fans back. That'll get your factories back. That'll get the soul back. Yeah, I know you can't run a modern car with all it's associated BS ... but make that your starting point. And if it's an areodynamic brick, so be it. But every car on the dealership floor has a history that's gone through wind tunnel testing. They're all pretty even.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
It is unfair to label a group of people as being <insert any of several "undesirable qualities" don't you think?
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It is. You do it. So do I ... and Andy and a large number of other people here and elsewhere.

The fact of the matter is that in this case, Acs is quite right. jmo, naturally.
 
aunty dive said:
It is. You do it. So do I ... and Andy and a large number of other people here and elsewhere.

The fact of the matter is that in this case, Acs is quite right. jmo, naturally.
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I can't speak for others but unless I was trying to imitate Rick Mercer I would never use an absolute statement like "NASCAR fans are nothing if not hypocritical." If I was going to make that sort of statement I would put something in front of it like, IMO, many, a few, lots of or anything else that would make it non absolute. Saying "NASCAR fans are nothing if not hypocritical" would be like saying "All people who live on the west coast are flaming liberals" which certainly has a strong element of truth but all people on the west coast are not bent that way.
 
Professur said:
Personally ... SPEC needs to be ... what I'd find at the dealership on monday. Frak this 'car of tomorrow' manure. Cars with stickers for headlights. STOCK!! That'll get your fans back. That'll get your factories back. That'll get the soul back. Yeah, I know you can't run a modern car with all it's associated BS ... but make that your starting point. And if it's an areodynamic brick, so be it. But every car on the dealership floor has a history that's gone through wind tunnel testing. They're all pretty even.
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My personal favorite is the exhaust port decals as those suckers are to die for.
 
oldschoolnascardude1 said:
Personally, I wish NASCAR would open the rules up and allow more creativity. However, if they're going to make these rules, they need to either be right or wrong, instead of playing between the lines. Scott Miller said a win will be stripped only if the LIS failure is "very egregious." Who determines what's "egregious"? If this isn't clarified, eventually something crazy will happen after Homestead and it will be very detrimental to the industry.
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The rulebook defines exactly what is "very egregious." It is very black-and-white, nothing grey, nothing subjective. I don't understand why that is hard to comprehend.

Nascar should enforce the rules they have. In the future, I hope they change the rules to put rear skew in the history books. If they do that, then they should enforce *those* rules.
 
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