sdj
Just a race fan
watching the trucks slowly make their way around the track last night brought home the fact that speed is an important part of the NASCAR show.
I totally concur with this.
watching the trucks slowly make their way around the track last night brought home the fact that speed is an important part of the NASCAR show.
What if they split the show up like the Duels at Daytona, but reversed? Do two 20-car races, both assign points from 20 down to 1. Or make it a non-points race. Even qualified cars in race 1, odd qualified cars in race 2.Last nights race made it clear why you don't want the Cup teams there. First, that small a track can't handle that many cars. The Cup series would have another 8 cars on that track. Drivers up front would have to continually battle slower cars as they lapped them and we all know how much Harvick complains when he has to do that. Secondly, I've never been a big endorser of speed but watching the trucks slowly make their way around the track last night brought home the fact that speed is an important part of the NASCAR show.
My personal preference would be for Tony to round up the best cars available from the locals who race regularly and put Cup drivers in them in an exhibition race. That would save the Cup teams the costs of developing a car for one race. Let 'em race in cars designed for the purpose.
I'm not sure how well drivers and teams would accept lengthening the season, esp. for another race that doesn't count. I see all the favorable driver comments, but I wonder how many of those assume Eldora would replace another race, not be an additional one? As with all other suggestions to change the schedule, nothing is going to happen for a few more years.
That's one big 'IF'....IF NASCAR wants to see the Cup cars there.
They literally did that for several years. Ever heard of the Prelude to the Dream?My personal preference would be for Tony to round up the best cars available from the locals who race regularly and put Cup drivers in them in an exhibition race. That would save the Cup teams the costs of developing a car for one race. Let 'em race in cars designed for the purpose.
Kyle actually won the Prelude to the Dream. It might have been the last one they had. Jimmie Johnson also won it one year. I think Kenny Wallace won the first, which falls into your mid-packer acclimating scenario.Who wouldn't want to see Kyle Busch try dirt racing? I'd love to see what elite cup drivers adapt the quickest, and if some of the mid packers acclimate quicker and can actually beat the big dogs for a change.
Vaguely, but I don't follow dirt or what stock car drivers do in their off time, at least not to any level of detail.Ever heard of the Prelude to the Dream?
yeah cup cars will never work on dirt..smh
Keep NASCAR Cup off dirt, Larson says
Don’t look for Kyle Larson to be a proponent of NASCAR running more on dirt tracks.
“Tony (Stewart) is probably going to get mad, but I would like to see it just stay as it is,” Larson said when asked of the Xfinity or Cup Series ever running on dirt. “If anything, Xfinity maybe, but I wouldn’t like to see Cup on dirt.
“To me, Cup belongs on pavement and real road course tracks. If we went to Eldora, yeah, I would be excited because I would be really fast and I feel like I would definitely have the best shot to win, but at the same time, I think we are fine not going there.”
The conversation around NASCAR running more dirt races intensifies about this time every year when the Camping World Truck Series runs at Stewart’s dirt track in Ohio, Eldora Speedway, as it has for the past six years. And this week, Stewart used a radio appearance to urge fans to pressure NASCAR into putting its other two divisions on dirt.
Larson is a dirt talent and still runs sprint car races across the country and even overseas. Conceding that Eldora — where Larson won in a truck in 2016 — would be the first track on the list should the possibility ever start to come to fruition, he also said there are also other “good dirt tracks” in the country.
“Knoxville has got the facility to do it,” Larson said. “I don’t know off the top of my head; I would think Knoxville would probably be the only other half-mile. You have your dirt miles that you can go to, but I don’t think a dirt mile would put on a good race. It would just end up being a pavement race.”
Pressed to further explain his feeling as to why the Cup Series should stay on pavement, Larson said, “I’ve raced the trucks, and I don’t know, I feel like maybe if Goodyear could make a way better tire and us be actually able to use the horsepower — or even more horsepower — in our Cup cars on a dirt track, I think it would be a lot more fun.
“I don’t really know how to answer the question without making people mad.”
Looks like some folks have had their head buried in the sand longer than I thought. Probably missed it.Had everyone here forgotten the prelude to a dream at Eldora?
Oh, yes --- never missed watching.Ever heard of the Prelude to the Dream?
Had everyone here forgotten the prelude to a dream at Eldora?
Maybe, instead of this just being another race that lengthens the season and becoming another race that doesn't count, it could become the all-new All-Star Race?My personal preference would be for Tony to round up the best cars available from the locals who race regularly and put Cup drivers in them in an exhibition race. That would save the Cup teams the costs of developing a car for one race. Let 'em race in cars designed for the purpose.
I'm not sure how well drivers and teams would accept lengthening the season, esp. for another race that doesn't count. I see all the favorable driver comments, but I wonder how many of those assume Eldora would replace another race, not be an additional one? As with all other suggestions to change the schedule, nothing is going to happen for a few more years.
Ovaltine.Diroval.
https://racer.com/2018/07/20/keep-nascar-cup-off-dirt-larson-says/
He's right. I love dirt track racing more than I love Cup racing. While it is great to see the enthusiasm for dirt, the two don't combine well, barring some radical efforts to create a dirt-specific package that would perform much better.
Explain to me how come ARCA teams who are not exactly rich can afford to have 2 dirt races and NASCAR teams can't...If the teams are trying to cap their cost building a one off car for a dirt race really isn't gonna do that. Taking the Cup teams there or the Xfinity teams there isn't going to do much for the sport. The novelty will wear off. Bad idea and I hope NASCAR isn't desperate to do this.
just have heat races....Last nights race made it clear why you don't want the Cup teams there. First, that small a track can't handle that many cars. The Cup series would have another 8 cars on that track.
To add to my point...
People talk like this sport has fallen off a cliff...but these teams and drivers still need helicopter pads, grandstands, executive suites, media centers, camping areas, hauler parking, area accommodations for thousands of crew members, NASCAR big-wigs, VIP's, sponsor guests... and modest area hotels for thousands of fans...
My point is...even the most marquee of dirt events pale in comparison to what would be the humblest of NASCAR events. And creating adequate facilities would take a massive investment that has no ROI with the current economy/health of the sport.
ARCA dirt races aren't really dirt races though. They race on flat horse tracks that are packed as firm as asphalt.Explain to me how come ARCA teams who are not exactly rich can afford to have 2 dirt races and NASCAR teams can't...
Aren't those track expenses, not team expenses?Maybe the teams need to reduce expenses. Don't need more than 10,000 seats. Executive suites? Eff that, only need a few. Media center... Motocross brings in a tent and creates a makeshift media center. In the era of phones and tablets, I'm not sure you really need these big working infield and tower media centers anymore.