Xfinity RACE thread --- Portland

Revman said:
A few thoughts here....Track design doesn't force the drivers to run into each other....talent and ethics (and rain) enter into that. 2) Noah ate the wall on his own going straight--nobody else did....maybe the issue is him and not the track, 3) I get his comment on the track, but that had to have stung the racer hungry fans of the PNW. I was there on Friday. Tons of people at 10 in the morning for Practice....and they stayed all day--and more kept coming after practice and before qualifying--with 0 on track activity. I mean it was so cool....people just wanting to be there. Refreshing as hell after listening to the bull**** from the industry about how nobody wants to see practice and qualifying anymore.

More about being there....not trying to derail the thread.....Friday was the perfect PNW day to watch. The rain was consistent, but not heavy....and the temperature was warmish. I watched them try to put the power down at Turn 7 and it was awesome. Sideways the whole session--just incredible. So proud of the fans....they made a statement......I had not been to the facility in 20+ years.....it has been maintained, but I was shocked to see that little had been done to improve the facilities. Cup in the early 2000's would never come here. It is a new day, however, and NASCAR is making bold moves.....but again, IMO, the place needs a ton of help. The all important bathrooms and concession areas are not up to big time standard IMO.

I will throw this in about Noah's comments about coming all the way to Portland to tear stuff up. I am completely done with the industry bitching about coming west. It even exists in Fontana....and to a certain extent at Phoenix as well....Sonoma a bit too. We had a thread about NASCAR expanding outside of the North American market. How the hell would this ever happen if the industry can't handle going across country? I am sick and tired of it really.

...As for Mr. Gibbs.....He is aggressive as hell--even in practice. When he was working on his stuff in Practice, he would harass lesser drivers for his line...squeezing them on exit of 7 and down the backstretch. I won't argue feelings about Ty--no use in that...people think what they thing....but he is extremely talented and entertaining....reminds me of the driver of the M&M's car in so many ways...and I get what people think about him. The kid is so good. So good. I might argue with @Spotter22 about the best road course racer, honestly. Loved watching him work this weekend.
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Glad you had a good time Rev. Of course rain doesn't affect attendance here- it's Oregon! If we don't do things in the rain- then we don't do things! About the track- I live in Sandy about an hour east of the track and have lived in the Portland area since'89 and I'm not a fan of the track. I just think it's too narrow with not enough passing zones. Especially for stock cars. When Indy was here in the 90s/00s even they only had a few real passing zones and the races were pretty uneventful. That and scheduling it in early June(rain) definitely curbed my enthusiasm for this event. I will say the rain did make it an interesting race. I have been on the track a few times (not racing- different events) and have always thought as I was riding or driving around it that as much as I would love to see cup here it's just too narrow. The one good thing about it is lots of run off without gravel traps and tire barriers that require full course cautions for every incident. As always- just my opinion.
 
Revman said:
A few thoughts here....Track design doesn't force the drivers to run into each other....talent and ethics (and rain) enter into that. 2) Noah ate the wall on his own going straight--nobody else did....maybe the issue is him and not the track, 3) I get his comment on the track, but that had to have stung the racer hungry fans of the PNW. I was there on Friday. Tons of people at 10 in the morning for Practice....and they stayed all day--and more kept coming after practice and before qualifying--with 0 on track activity. I mean it was so cool....people just wanting to be there. Refreshing as hell after listening to the bull**** from the industry about how nobody wants to see practice and qualifying anymore.

More about being there....not trying to derail the thread.....Friday was the perfect PNW day to watch. The rain was consistent, but not heavy....and the temperature was warmish. I watched them try to put the power down at Turn 7 and it was awesome. Sideways the whole session--just incredible. So proud of the fans....they made a statement......I had not been to the facility in 20+ years.....it has been maintained, but I was shocked to see that little had been done to improve the facilities. Cup in the early 2000's would never come here. It is a new day, however, and NASCAR is making bold moves.....but again, IMO, the place needs a ton of help. The all important bathrooms and concession areas are not up to big time standard IMO.

I will throw this in about Noah's comments about coming all the way to Portland to tear stuff up. I am completely done with the industry bitching about coming west. It even exists in Fontana....and to a certain extent at Phoenix as well....Sonoma a bit too. We had a thread about NASCAR expanding outside of the North American market. How the hell would this ever happen if the industry can't handle going across country? I am sick and tired of it really.

...As for Mr. Gibbs.....He is aggressive as hell--even in practice. When he was working on his stuff in Practice, he would harass lesser drivers for his line...squeezing them on exit of 7 and down the backstretch. I won't argue feelings about Ty--no use in that...people think what they thing....but he is extremely talented and entertaining....reminds me of the driver of the M&M's car in so many ways...and I get what people think about him. The kid is so good. So good. I might argue with @Spotter22 about the best road course racer, honestly. Loved watching him work this weekend.
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Great raw talent, but there is a reason AJ is drinking victory Champagne and Gibbs is wondering what happened.
 
The track is owned by the City of Portland and I believe it's officially considered a "park". In years past there has been talk of getting rid of the entire place because it costs money for upkeep so that's why you don't see much in the way of new and improved facilities. Since going to races here from the '60's on, I've seen the changes and it's not too bad but definitely could get better.

A couple of things that were real disappointing to me as a fan was no access to the pits for the Xfinity and ARCA cars. By that I mean, I'm used to getting close enough to looking at the inside of cars and sometimes the crews and drivers even talk to the fans about certain things they're doing or about the cars themselves. Guessing NASCAR just fenced it all off so they don't have to deal with dumb fans getting into places they shouldn't.

The biggest surprise was no souvenir trailers of any kind. Not even an Xfinity trailer. I was ready to spend some money. NASCAR lost a huge opportunity to further promote their series and product there.
 
TommyGunn said:
Glad you had a good time Rev. Of course rain doesn't affect attendance here- it's Oregon! If we don't do things in the rain- then we don't do things! About the track- I live in Sandy about an hour east of the track and have lived in the Portland area since'89 and I'm not a fan of the track. I just think it's too narrow with not enough passing zones. Especially for stock cars. When Indy was here in the 90s/00s even they only had a few real passing zones and the races were pretty uneventful. That and scheduling it in early June(rain) definitely curbed my enthusiasm for this event. I will say the rain did make it an interesting race. I have been on the track a few times (not racing- different events) and have always thought as I was riding or driving around it that as much as I would love to see cup here it's just too narrow. The one good thing about it is lots of run off without gravel traps and tire barriers that require full course cautions for every incident. As always- just my opinion.
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I thought so also. Looking at the diagram and it looked like a decent track, not enthused with their idea of what a chicane is but when I saw it on TV my thoughts were the same as yours too narrow and not enough passing zones. All the way out to Portland not nested in a west coast swing is bad scheduling IMO. I don't think it will be on the schedule next year.
 
StandOnIt said:
I thought so also. Looking at the diagram and it looked like a decent track, not enthused with their idea of what a chicane is but when I saw it on TV my thoughts were the same as yours too narrow and not enough passing zones. All the way out to Portland not nested in a west coast swing is bad scheduling IMO. I don't think it will be on the schedule next year.
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I would like to see them try it in July, August, or September. September is still usually a pretty good month for staying dry. Although it is Oregon so there's no guarantee at any time hahaha!
 
TommyGunn said:
I would like to see them try it in July, August, or September. September is still usually a pretty good month for staying dry. Although it is Oregon so there's no guarantee at any time hahaha!
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It's definitely more than a decent track for sports cars and some of the other series. I just don't think it works for heavy stock cars. But then again I'm also of the opinion that I don't think a street course would work for heavy stock cars either. I could get proven wrong on both, would love to have cup come up here and prove me wrong!
 
Spotter22 said:
Great raw talent, but there is a reason AJ is drinking victory Champagne and Gibbs is wondering what happened.
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Fair, but winning is only one metric for performance....kind of an important one though.
Tony_K said:
The track is owned by the City of Portland and I believe it's officially considered a "park". In years past there has been talk of getting rid of the entire place because it costs money for upkeep so that's why you don't see much in the way of new and improved facilities. Since going to races here from the '60's on, I've seen the changes and it's not too bad but definitely could get better.

A couple of things that were real disappointing to me as a fan was no access to the pits for the Xfinity and ARCA cars. By that I mean, I'm used to getting close enough to looking at the inside of cars and sometimes the crews and drivers even talk to the fans about certain things they're doing or about the cars themselves. Guessing NASCAR just fenced it all off so they don't have to deal with dumb fans getting into places they shouldn't.

The biggest surprise was no souvenir trailers of any kind. Not even an Xfinity trailer. I was ready to spend some money. NASCAR lost a huge opportunity to further promote their series and product there.
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Great post. The "great access" NASCAR narrative is such BS....and likely to get worse if Hamlin has his way. He wants the garages and stuff exclusive for the pretty people. The whole Portland event was "loosely" organized except when it came to the garages. I thought that maybe as Xfinity is a support series that maybe things would easier, but not so much.

100% on the lack of souvenirs.....My wallet was willing, but no. Shocked to see the Toyota GR branding there. I get that the Supra is a GR vehicle, but I didn't think I would see the whole GR Experience there. Still wondering if TRD goes away in favor of GR......
TommyGunn said:
I would like to see them try it in July, August, or September. September is still usually a pretty good month for staying dry. Although it is Oregon so there's no guarantee at any time hahaha!
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Honestly, our rain isn't that bad....I went to the IndyCars there for years, and I had a few rain races, but also some hot ones. Part of why you would want to come here.
TommyGunn said:
It's definitely more than a decent track for sports cars and some of the other series. I just don't think it works for heavy stock cars. But then again I'm also of the opinion that I don't think a street course would work for heavy stock cars either. I could get proven wrong on both, would love to have cup come up here and prove me wrong!
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I think Cup would be fine here. You have one passing zone for sure (Turn 1 chicane)...and one heading into the last turn after the S's. Turn 1 would be fine...but I wonder if the heavier stock cars after the S's takes away that zone. Regardless....If NASCAR truly wants to come here....it's either PIR or a street course where there will be 0 passing zones.
 
I don't think it's a one and done. Fan response seemed high despite the weather and low key promotion. For better or worse, it isn't the teams making the decision. I think NASCAR has the patience to give it another year to develop.
 
I wouldn’t have a problem with how Ty drives if not for the fact if the roles were reversed he would have tried to fight Noah



With his helmet on. Kids s punk. He hates folks doing that stuff to him, but he feels he can do it.
 
Tony_K said:
gnomesayin said:
I don't think it's a one and done. Fan response seemed high despite the weather and low key promotion. For better or worse, it isn't the teams making the decision. I think NASCAR has the patience to give it another year to develop.
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....and they should. Hats off to the fans for showing up. No way in hell would fans show up in Fontana (a place I love) to sit for 6 hours and wait for qualifying....only to have qualifying ****** up by NASCAR....a few boos, but mostly fans were happy to see NASCAR here. Very cool. I will renew for sure!
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Blaze said:
I wouldn’t have a problem with how Ty drives if not for the fact if the roles were reversed he would have tried to fight Noah



With his helmet on. Kids s punk. He hates folks doing that stuff to him, but he feels he can do it.
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I don't disagree....but then again, I have a history of pulling for punks. Noah and Ty are quite a bit alike, honestly.
 
Spotter22 said:
How about the metric of coming from the back twice or more?
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Yeah, well with the wadding up of cars and insanity, it truly didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was how bad he was all weekend. AJ will always be in the mix on an Xfinity road course as there is a steep fall off in talent between the AJ's and Ty's to the next tier. Same thing happened to Ty...and it wasn't that big of a deal for him to claw back. What was interesting was how Ty checked out on the field early. Radio was struggling to figure out why.....pretty easy to tell, really....he is just that much better than everybody else.
 
Revman said:
I might argue with @Spotter22 about the best road course racer, honestly.
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AJ fought through a lot of traffic. Admittedly, much of that was because he mistook this race for a mud run, but some of that was on the car.

Once Ty lost the lead, he didn't do nearly as well making up spaces.
 
Revman said:
I think Cup would be fine here. You have one passing zone for sure (Turn 1 chicane)...and one heading into the last turn after the S's. Turn 1 would be fine...but I wonder if the heavier stock cars after the S's takes away that zone. Regardless....If NASCAR truly wants to come here....it's either PIR or a street course where there will be 0 passing zones.
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I think you kinda proved my point there Rev. There is only 2 real passing zones, and even you say one might not work for stock cars. Personally I would like more than 1 or 2 passing zones on a road course. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for my days of being a wee lad camping in the infield of Riverside at the esses and seeing a lot of passing there....
 
TommyGunn said:
I think you kinda proved my point there Rev. There is only 2 real passing zones, and even you say one might not work for stock cars. Personally I would like more than 1 or 2 passing zones on a road course. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for my days of being a wee lad camping in the infield of Riverside at the esses and seeing a lot of passing there....
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I hear ya....but the way I look at it....two is fine with me.
 
StandOnIt said:
:punkrocke
Love that Gragson lol
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Hahaha, I wish I could get that excited over a tweet about a driver. What I saw while there was him tearing the front end off his car and crying about other drivers and the track, while missing the chicane half the time 😂
 

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Allen B said:
Hahaha, I wish I could get that excited over a tweet about a driver. What I saw while there was him tearing the front end off his car and crying about other drivers and the track, while missing the chicane half the time 😂
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I take it you aren't going to buy any Iwuji merch?
 
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