Rate the Race: Toyota/Save Mart 350 @ Sonoma

FLRacingFan

FLRacingFan

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8.5

It was good to see drivers work their way up through the field and beat and bang a little along the way.
 
The racing was good, much cleaner than years past. I don't know if it was the car being easier to drive or just luck. I didn't think the announcers slant constantly trying to make it a strategy race when they couldn't tell who was doing what worked very well, they didn't have any statisticians or graphics, so they kept guessing and getting it wrong. Dallenback kept counting drivers out who were having good finishes, I thought that was odd. 8.5
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
I didn't see any racing, pretty much pit stop racing.
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9- Then you should have been watching Jeff Gordon on Raceview. He went from 10th to 6th then went back to 37th on the questionable caution call, drove back through the field up to 12th then back to 18th on a pit stop, drove back to 10th then back to 20th on a pit stop and back through the field again and finished 2nd. His finish was not because of pit stops but in spite of them. I don't know what you were looking for but there was a lot of passing and action everywhere for the entire race.
 
I'll give it an 8. Those who didn't see any racing didn't look very hard. Yes, pit strategy probably had the biggest effect on finishing order, but there was plenty of passing. Jeff moved up from 15th or so on the final restart to finish 2nd (with a few spins and a car running out of gas to help Jeff gain a few of those).

Oops, looks like Johali has what I said covered.
 
Johali said:
9- Then you should have been watching Jeff Gordon on Raceview. He went from 10th to 6th then went back to 37th on the questionable caution call, drove back through the field up to 12th then back to 18th on a pit stop, drove back to 10th then back to 20th on a pit stop and back through the field again and finished 2nd. His finish was not because of pit stops but in spite of them. I don't know what you were looking for but there was a lot of passing and action everywhere for the entire race.
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Although I have bad mouthed him, Kurt busch also did one hell of a good job today.
 
10. Entertaining race all the way around, and it was nice to see Truex get the monkey off his back.
 
Truex had damage to every side of his vehicle. That right there was a dang fine race....
 
I'd give it an 8.5 overall. We still saw the beating and banging that the road courses are famous for, but the drivers also did a great job of controlling the cars enough to not crash.
 
7

Definitely entertaining, although I enjoyed the first half of the race more than the second half.
Lots of beating and banging, and that always appeals to me.

Kudos to Kurt Busch for owning up to his pit road mistakes in his post race interview.
I thought he was going to be really dissappointed and his interview was going to reflect that, even though he finished 4th. But he sees the big picture and stayed positive.
I just might mosey on over to his souvenir trailer in November if he keeps this up.
I'm impressed with the 2013 Kurt Busch, so far.
 
lucky for me I was on the road and listened to MRN radio broadcast. Beats TNT by a mile. got home and watched the last 20 laps. So it gets an 8.5,
 
7. Would be higher if the lead ever was really in doubt. Still think we need more road courses on the docket.. I love that the driver can be a huge difference.
 
8.5 I'm starting to like these road races more. Both races at Somona this weekend were filled with great racing. Would like to see Kurt win one for that Furniture Row team. They are going to get a win sometime this year.
 
Macmurray on the pole? Truex winning? The regulars have made up a lot of ground on the drivers who are usually in contention. Truex had a huge lead over Montoya (I kept saying no caution, no caution, no caution...), he was the class of the field. Gordon and Bush had impressive runs from the rear. I was bummed when Montoya ran out of gas (fantasy pick).
 
Johali said:
9- Then you should have been watching Jeff Gordon on Raceview. He went from 10th to 6th then went back to 37th on the questionable caution call, drove back through the field up to 12th then back to 18th on a pit stop, drove back to 10th then back to 20th on a pit stop and back through the field again and finished 2nd. His finish was not because of pit stops but in spite of them. I don't know what you were looking for but there was a lot of passing and action everywhere for the entire race.
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Which is why I prefer to watch Racebuddy than the TV broadcast...the TV likes to show single file up front racing most of the time which isn't exactly where the action is.

It was a decent race for Sonoma, I'd give it a 7. Very excited for Watkins Glen :D
 
Give it a 9. Great racing throughout with JGordon coming from the back and Kurt Busch making up for his errors, not once but twice, and working his way back from the back. All in all, an afternoon not wasted watching cars making left hand turns on a cookie cutter track.
 
6.5 - liked the winner, and good racing through out the race, but it did lack some excitement that we usually see from road courses. Wasn't the worst race of the season, but I did expect more.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
No, more battles for the lead would have been nice. Jesus, if someone says they want more excitement for a race you guys automatically think talking about wrecking. Get a clue.
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If if you do want more wrecks, that's your business :)
 
#17D500winner said:
If if you do want more wrecks, that's your business :)
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I am not afraid to admit that wrecks add to the excitment, but for me it isn't about watching the cars get destroyed. It is about the drive aspect. Who pushed the car too far, who pissed of who, or the late race caution that brings the field together with 3 to go. It is more about mixing things up then it is about destroying a car.

As far as yesterday's race goes I didn't want to see more cars in the wall, tires, or sand traps, I wanted to see more pushing around especially up front. Like I said it wasn't a bad race, just wasn't the best we've seen from a road course.
 
8.5. I probably would have gone higher if Road America hadn't provided such a great opening act. Road courses are the new short tracks.
 
Jeffrey00 said:
I am not afraid to admit that wrecks add to the excitment, but for me it isn't about watching the cars get destroyed. It is about the drive aspect. Who pushed the car too far, who pissed of who, or the late race caution that brings the field together with 3 to go. It is more about mixing things up then it is about destroying a car.

As far as yesterday's race goes I didn't want to see more cars in the wall, tires, or sand traps, I wanted to see more pushing around especially up front. Like I said it wasn't a bad race, just wasn't the best we've seen from a road course.
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Right on.

How many Nascar fans do you think cheered when Johnson put it in the wall at Michigan last weekend?
 
#17D500winner said:
Right on.

How many Nascar fans do you think cheered when Johnson put it in the wall at Michigan last weekend?
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LOL, all one that aren't Johnson fans. I cheer when he hits the wall or blows an engine. I also cheer when a driver is dominating a race and hit the wall. I am not cheering that the driver wrecked his car, I am cheering because that gives hope to a better more exciting race now. Same reason why I like fuel mileage races. Never know if the leader is going to run out of gas on the last lap and the guy behind him steals a win. I like that type of stuff, because it is exciting.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
8.5. I probably would have gone higher if Road America hadn't provided such a great opening act. Road courses are the new short tracks.
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Road courses have always been that way..if you want to call them the new short tracks, new would go back to the 60's I'm old I guess it would work..yeah the "new' old road courses.
#17D500winner said:
Right on.

How many Nascar fans do you think cheered when Johnson put it in the wall at Michigan last weekend?
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there will be fans cheering when a car is cut in half and the driver is flying thru the air. In this case you could tell that it wasn't anything serious and he drove the car back to the pits. I am sure while he was going around on a flat..many cheers and jeers were flying..after all it was Ford country up there. Just like it was Toyota country in Cali. They don't cheer out there though..they bow:sarcasm:
 
StandOnIt said:
Road courses have always been that way..if you want to call them the new short tracks, new would go back to the 60's I'm old I guess it would work..yeah the "new' old road courses.
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What's changed is that the drivers now take them more seriously, and more of those drivers are capable of doing well on them. Sonoma's had five or six new winners in the last several years; it's not just the same three or four drivers dominating. Ringers no longer show up confident of an easy win. Series regulars see them as opportunities to gain points, not just something to get through and look past. They get more practice on their way up, too; N'wide now runs more of them than Cup. (Someone explain THAT to me.)
 
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