RACE thread --- Daytona 500

REBS31 said:
One of the biggest waves of relief I’ve ever felt in my life. I think this event should serve as a reminder to all of us that we’re not guaranteed even the very next second, and that any day could be it, even for the toughest of SOB’s like Newman.
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I can't imagine man. One second your favorite driver is about to win the biggest race in stock car racing and the next your not sure if he's going to make it. Crazy.
 
REBS31 said:
One of the biggest waves of relief I’ve ever felt in my life. I think this event should serve as a reminder to all of us that we’re not guaranteed even the very next second, and that any day could be it, even for the toughest of SOB’s like Newman.
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Happy for you and all other Newman fans
 
I went from excited when Hamlin won to sad, guilty, and scared seeing the Newman crash, to depressed and anxious the past 3 hours, and now back to excited for Ryan being okay and Denny winning. Holy Moly where is the Tylenol lol
 
Seeing something like that where you’re not sure if you just witnessed the passing of another person’s life......and that they have family etc. can bring out strange emotions.

Most in here handled it very well.

What a freaking relief!!
 
StandOnIt said:
a whole bunch on what Nascar was going to do with examining the crash damage to Newman's car. These guys are always working their butts off to make things safer. If something failed, it will get fixed.
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Yup, One thing NASCAR does right
 
The pent-up violence lurking in any race car is hidden under the bright colours and corporate logos.

Every once in a while it escapes catastrophically. I wonder where the on-board G-meters spiked?
 
StewartHaas-Gibbs Racing said:
Denny winning 2 Daytona 500 in a row is super impressive.
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Some like to say there is no skill involved. All ya have to do is look at the top five and usually the same bunch is in it. This time it didn't happen Kyle blew up, joey got a terrible if you can call it that push from Larson, Keselowski was leading the pack late when he was turned, 7 Fords in the top ten was no accident either.
 
StandOnIt said:
Some like to say there is no skill involved. All ya have to do is look at the top five and usually the same bunch is in it. This time it didn't happen Kyle blew up, joey got a terrible if you can call it that push from Larson, Keselowski was leading the pack late when he was turned, 7 Fords in the top ten was no accident either.
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Joker said:
And in the manner he did? Amazing.
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I believe they also said this was the second closest finish ever for the race too, the first being in 2016 both of which he won. That's just wild.
 
it looked like Denny and Kyle had their strategy. I think they were going to tandem draft like back in the day. They practiced it before the race, hooked up when they could during the race, I think it was coming until Kyle blew up. Hard to do with the way these cars are built.
 
Plate racing isn't going anywhere as too many people enjoy the thrill it provides. Because of that, one of the best things NASCAR can do is provide the safest car possible. And while there is always more they could do, I think today they proved that they have done a great job thus far with the resources available.
 
Brentford said:
Plate racing isn't going anywhere as too many people enjoy the thrill it provides. Because of that, one of the best things NASCAR can do is provide the safest car possible. And while there is always more they could do, I think today they proved that they have done a great job thus far with the resources available.
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And that nothing can be done to prevent a freak accident at any track
 
StandOnIt said:
a whole bunch on what Nascar was going to do with examining the crash damage to Newman's car. These guys are always working their butts off to make things safer. If something failed, it will get fixed.
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These cars have been incredibly safe for the last 30-40 years relative to other forms of motorsports. Overall, NASCAR, the tracks and the teams have done an incredible job making this sport safe since I started to follow it. Sadly, I'm old enough to see quite a few pass but they never went in vain imo. Even Grant Adcox's death at Atlanta led to major chances regarding seat installation.

From what I gather (I'd love more input from people one this board) is the basilar skull fractures that sadly became more frequent in the late 90's, early 00's were the result (or at least a major part) of the seatbelts and seats themselves improving while nothing was done for head restraint. Basically, they had figured out how to keep the drivers body cavity and extremities in place but it started to have a catastrophic result. Prior to the advancement in restraints and seats the whole body moved a bit more freely which reduced the chance of a basilar skull fractures. The end results then was often guys smacking their arms, legs and heads off of things inside the car which rarely proved to be fatal but still caused major problems. There was also the issue of guys heads breaking through the window net for a brief period of time.

I still can't get over the balls it takes to run an open wheel car on an oval. The aeroshield is a big deal but there's still a lot of variables there....
 
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KodiakRusty89 said:
These cars have been incredibly safe for the last 30-40 years relative to other forms of motorsports. Overall, NASCAR, the tracks and the teams have done an incredible job making this sport safe since I started to follow it. Sadly, I'm old enough to see quite a few pass but they never went in vain imo. Even Grant Adcox's death at Atlanta led to major chances regarding seat installation.

From what I gather (I'd love more input from people one this board) is the basilar skull fractures that sadly became more frequent in the late 90's, early 00's were the result (or at least a major part) of the seatbelts and seats themselves improving while nothing was done for head restraint. Basically, they had figured out how to keep the drivers body cavity and extremities in place but it started to have a catastrophic result. Prior to the advancement in restraints and seats the whole body moved a bit more freely which reduced the chance of a basilar skull fractures. The end results then was often guys smacking their arms, legs and heads off of things inside the car which rarely proved to be fatal but still caused major problems. There was also the issue of guys heads breaking through the window net for a brief period of time.

I still can't get over the balls it takes to run an open wheel car on an oval. The aeroshield is a big deal but there's still a lot of variables there....
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It's like a lot of things. Making a change has a ripple effect or having a disaster brings about change. Stopping the body with the harness created more problems that needed to be solved. They had strong suggestions 20 years ago to wear full coverage helmets and neck restraints, and some were used by drivers at the time, but it wasn't mandated because the franchise driver didn't want to do so. Drivers have no choice now, you will wear this and the car will be built like this or you don't race. That goes all the way down to grass roots racing.
 
So glad to not hear anything worse than we did about Newman. Still praying for better news today.... I'm a JGR fan top to bottom, but I lost sight of the leaders as soon Newman was turned sideways. That was terrifying.

RacerrecaR said:
Hopefully this means a new rule stating a driver can only unhook their radio once cleared to do so by NASCAR
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And/or higher priority for a red-checker flag.

Bad wreck on the last lap, red-checker, just go to VL.... I haven't watched the replay, but I doubt they had set the light-system to anything other than yellow, but they could easily have gone red to try to communicate the severity of the accident to the other drivers. Red & yellow flashing lights -- just go to the garage.
 
Would this have happened if they rescind the rule of not allowing passing below the yellow line on the last lap? At least after turn 4? Just a thought...it might have been a three way tie instead of the fiasco that happened.

My opinion is that Blaney had absolutely no chance of winning at the point when he made his move, believe it was too late, too close to the finish. The only chance he had was to take Newman out, which he did. Do not totally believe that was his intent though. At the same time, Denny....according to his radio and his team communications, had every intent on pushing Blaney into a position that would require a reaction by Newman. Listen to the radio..."two back...have to get them both out..." Denny: "Ok...will do".
 
I read and never post but just felt I needed to say a few things. While I understand many were upset with the finish, wishing harm on another driver because of a racing incident is a bit much. I dont know of any driver that wouldn't have pushed to try and get the win. We see it all the time. Unfortunately this time a horrific accident occurred. It even happened (being pushed into an accident) earlier in the race and it wasn't even for the win. There are drivers I dont care for but I would never wish harm to them. They are human beings and have families to go home to. Like the winner or not, neither the 11 nor 12 meant to crash the 6. Unfortunately it's part of racing on these tracks in this format. Hopefully NASCAR will learn from this to continually improve the safety of these cars. I'm glad to hear that Newman doesn't have life threatening injuries and hope he has a full and speedy recovery.
 
OldTimer said:
Would this have happened if they rescind the rule of not allowing passing below the yellow line on the last lap? At least after turn 4? Just a thought...it might have been a three way tie instead of the fiasco that happened.
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Good point.

Stenhouse to his credit exited left of the pack (and below the yellow lines) to avoid taking damage and possibly wrecking the field -- and NASCAR rewarded him with a drive-thru penalty. Give back any advantage and move on -- these drivers are capable of that, but NASCAR's drive-thru penalty for the double-yellow violation can incentivize wrecking. Gordon's opinion is that NASCAR will respond to "body slamming" as the standard for being forced down below the yellow lines.

NASCAR wants to force the field into the chute and would rather promote contact at speed -- and when that speed is SuperSpeedway speed in a SuperSpeedway pack -- no bueno, it's only a matter of time that it's not just an expensive cluster of tore up machinery, it's also destructive on a human level. Can't eliminate the risk in auto racing, but you can mitigate it and opening up the track to provide greater maneuvering space might help.

 
Get That 88 Up There !! said:
Fun fact: This is the most replied to race thread by over 600 and only 3 more to become the first to get 2,000 replies
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R-F community meeting house in good and bad times -- this was the thread for our collective, especially last night when the situation was still unfolding.
 
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