Random NASCAR Stuff to talk about.....

TexasRaceLady said:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.Verified account‏@DaleJr
The original Charlotte Speedway. Opened 1924. Made entirely of pine boards. A 1.25 mile track.

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Huh, well that's interesting.
 
DUN24 said:
I sometimes wonder how today's circle track cars would do on a lumber racetrack.. I imagine splinters everywhere.
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I don't think the wood could stand the speed plus downforce that these cars run.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.Verified account‏@DaleJr
The original Charlotte Speedway. Opened 1924. Made entirely of pine boards. A 1.25 mile track.

BoMM5buCMAIghFT.jpg
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Looks like a board track. From what I read this was very common in the 1910s and 1920s. The Harley museum here in Milwaukee has a big section on it because it was popular with motorcycle racing. They fell out of favor because the tracks were expensive to maintain (they were cheaper than asphalt at the time of original construction though). When the track owners wouldn't maintain them, big splinters would develop as the wood boards would break up. The Harley museum said a lot of motorcycle racers died/were maimed on poorly maintained tracks when they would fall off their bikes and land on giant splinters. Wikipedia knows more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_track_racing

I was surprised by the banking some of these tracks had, way before Bristol or Talladega or Daytona, these pineboard tracks had crazy degrees of banking, even while contemporary tracks that survived to modern days like Indianapolis or the Milwaukee Mile were relatively flat. I believe Bristol is currently has the steepest banks in NASCAR with 30 degrees. Wiki says that some pineboard tracks had 60 degrees (!) of banking back in the day.
 
Ambrose expects to race in USA next season: #9-Marcos Ambrose talked to the media at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Thursday and a few questions were asked about his 2015 plans, the Q&A:
Q) DO YOU ANTICIPATE RACING IN THE U.S. NEXT YEAR?
Ambrose "Yeah, I do. I do anticipate racing in the U.S. There are a lot of changes in the midst at RPM and I'm part of that. I have to renew my contract with them, but I'm gonna do whatever I can to get Richard Petty where he wants to go and his whole company."
Q) HAS YOUR MANAGEMENT TALKED TO YOU ABOUT A MANUFACTURER AND HAVE YOU GIVEN THEM INPUT?
Ambrose "No, I haven't given them input, but we have a great opportunity at Richard Petty Motorsports to improve the situation. Whenever you get a period of time like this where you can shuffle the cards and shuffle the deck, it allows your team to get better. So I think they're in a great position. They've got choices, which is the most important thing, and I'm sure they'll make the right choices for Richard Petty Motorsports and I fully support them whatever they choose to do."
Q) HAVE YOU SEEN RPM DO MORE TESTING AND IMPROVE WITH MORE FINANCES AT ITS DISPOSAL?
Ambrose "Yeah. Look, I've been part of the Petty Motorsport family since they went through all the turmoil with the Gillett crossover and they've gone through various stages. Obviously, they had to really just get some stability and then now we've gotten past stability and we're working toward the future and bringing new sponsors to NASCAR. We definitely have more funding, we have more infrastructure, we have better people around us, and I think you're going to the next level for Richard Petty Motorsports. I have seen direct results of the extra money that's gone into our company. I think we needed to to keep up and we certainly have made up some ground since 2013, but we've got a ways to go. You've got to look at everything to get better and I know that everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports is doing that, they really are looking at it from the outside-in, seeing what they can do and where they need to go to be the best they can be."(Ford Racing)(5-23-2014)
 
I'm watching a recording of last week's ARCA race at Toledo. It's a really fun track that puts on some great racing but pit road is a total clusterf**k. The stalls are barely long enough to accommodate a car. Also, pit road is curved which only serves to exacerbate the issues.
 
Matthew2470 said:
I'm watching a recording of last week's ARCA race at Toledo. It's a really fun track that puts on some great racing but pit road is a total clusterf**k. The stalls are barely long enough to accommodate a car. Also, pit road is curved which only serves to exacerbate the issues.
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That curve is a master exacerbater.
 
And if he does, he does. I don't think he has that long in a cup car anyway. He's no spring chicken.
 
Matt Kenseth suggests a return to Nashville Superspeedway.

“There are so many facilities that are capable of having races, that had races and don’t anymore, like Nashville, Milwaukee, St. Louis,” Kenseth said. “There’s all these tracks that are equipped and ready, yet they don’t have an 80,000-seat grandstand. Still, you could get 25,000 or 35,000 people in there, plus camping and all that stuff.”

The added exposure in such markets, Kenseth believes, would benefit NASCAR, whose attendance has suffered over the past several years.

“It’s a market that (Sprint) Cup hasn’t been to, and I just think it would be great for the sport,” Kenseth said.

Nashville hasn’t had a Sprint Cup-caliber race in 30 years. The last Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) race in the city was run at the Nashville Fairgrounds in 1984.

Some believed the Sprint Cup Series was on its way to the Midstate when Nashville Superspeedway opened in 2001.

By 2009 the facility with a 11/3-mile oval track seemed headed in that direction with NASCAR Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series races being run there each year.

The IndyCar Series Firestone 200 also was run at the Superspeedway for eight consecutive years.

In 2012, however, with NASCAR events across the nation strapped with declining attendance, the facility was closed.

It is now used by several NASCAR teams for testing and it wouldn’t take much to get in back in condition to host the All-Star race.

Kenseth said the response he has received since publicly making his suggestion has been mixed.

“I kind of got chewed out by Marcus Smith, who runs the Charlotte Motor Speedway,” Kenseth said. “You get asked questions and you have ideas and you give your honest opinion about what you think would be cool for the sport, fans and different markets. The problem is there’s a lot of politics, obviously. The tracks have a lot at stake; they all want to keep their races.”

Joe Gibbs, who owns Kenseth’s team, likes the idea of NASCAR returning to Nashville, but also believes persuading officials to move the all-star race will be difficult.

“Anything we can do in Nashville, we would like,” Gibbs said. “But I think you may have a tough time (with the all-star race) because there’s so much focus around Charlotte. Most of the teams are there and, of course, it’s a great facility. But if they chose to do that it would have some pluses.”

Gibbs said he believes NASCAR officials are considering the idea. “I think they’ve talked about it; there must be some kind of consideration,” he said. “It would be great to get it here in Nashville.”
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http://www.tennessean.com/story/spo...nts-see-nascar-race-middle-tennessee/9553005/
 
Another repave, what a bummer. Seems like we've had a bunch the last few years.

Look to add Kentucky Speedway to the repave list in the near future. Track president Mark Simendinger says that the racing surface, while providing outstanding action thanks to its advanced age, is on its last legs. The track is doing everything they can to keep it together and hold off on the repaving project as long as possible, but a date to pour new asphalt appears inevitable. Sources say Goodyear’s tire test recently was, in part designed to see if a compound can be built to withstand the current surface well enough to “ward off” such a process within the next year or two. (The speedway was bit by several tire failures in 2013).
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http://www.frontstretch.com/mneff/45319/
 
Quick check of the TV ratings, it looks like Sunday's Coke 600 overnighted at a 3.9 rating, down about 9% from the 4.3 the race pulled last year.
 
He is a racer and he isn't going to stop doing what he loves to do until he isn't having fun anymore. He can still breath and he can still function, so i doubt that he is going to quit anytime soon. Plus, he doesn't have a wife to tell him he can't do it anymore.;)
 
Nitro Dude said:
He is a racer and he isn't going to stop doing what he loves to do until he isn't having fun anymore. He can still breath and he can still function, so i doubt that he is going to quit anytime soon. Plus, he doesn't have a wife to tell him he can't do it anymore.;)
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He still has sponsors though, I doubt Bass Pro Shop is paying someone beside Tony Stewart to race in the Number 14.
 
SpeedPagan said:
He still has sponsors though, I doubt Bass Pro Shop is paying someone beside Tony Stewart to race in the Number 14.
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Yes, but that is between him and his sponsors...and i will bet the farm that he has their blessings before he climbs into another car. Most contracts will cover just what you are talking about. Major companies will put it in the contact if they have a problem with the driver racing in a different series. That being said...i'm not saying that driving another car is the smartest thing for Tony to do.
 
Nitro Dude said:
Yes, but that is between him and his sponsors...and i will bet the farm that he has their blessings before he climbs into another car. Most contracts will cover just what you are talking about. Major companies will put it in the contact if they have a problem with the driver racing in a different series. That being said...i'm not saying that driving another car is the smartest thing for Tony to do.
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Well it's def. not the smartest thing to do.
 
I just started collecting NASCAR memorabilia and was wondering if there is any way to find out what driver used the tire that was just given to me. The only thing that the person had written on the tire was "RACE USED DARLINGTON" It is a Goodyear tire that has LF written in silver. It also has Set 1 and 6884 which are the last 4 of the UPC on the tire. All in silver. Anything else I can look for to tell me the driver or race date? Any info would be awesome! Once again I'm a beginner collector and this is my first post so be easy on me! Thank you! (Photo attached)
 

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ColCBG said:
I just started collecting NASCAR memorabilia and was wondering if there is any way to find out what driver used the tire that was just given to me. The only thing that the person had written on the tire was "RACE USED DARLINGTON" It is a Goodyear tire that has LF written in silver. It also has Set 1 and 6884 which are the last 4 of the UPC on the tire. All in silver. Anything else I can look for to tell me the driver or race date? Any info would be awesome! Once again I'm a beginner collector and this is my first post so be easy on me! Thank you! (Photo attached)
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I would imagine that LF is left front. Goodyear keeps the tire serial numbers on file so they would know which team bought that tire...but i don't know if they would give that information out.
 
ColCBG said:
I just started collecting NASCAR memorabilia and was wondering if there is any way to find out what driver used the tire that was just given to me. The only thing that the person had written on the tire was "RACE USED DARLINGTON" It is a Goodyear tire that has LF written in silver. It also has Set 1 and 6884 which are the last 4 of the UPC on the tire. All in silver. Anything else I can look for to tell me the driver or race date? Any info would be awesome! Once again I'm a beginner collector and this is my first post so be easy on me! Thank you! (Photo attached)
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I don't believe the tires are 'officially' marked by the teams. If it was a wheel, it would have a sticker of the car number or, in a team like Roush's case, all the teams car numbers. I don't think there is a way to identify what car the tire was off of without a "#__" written on it somewhere.. as far as I know.
 
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