2015 NASCAR Season Thread

[See Red]

Look, Biffle's car had no damage and didn't collect anyone else. Everyone was expecting them to push the yellow button, but they knew that they may get out to calling the race dead. Yeah Daytona's crash happened on the backstrech and wouldn't have effected the race before the finish, but there was damage and safety is the main issue. They could see that Biffle was trying to turn the car around and would've ended it if he couldn't move. Yeah it's inconsistent but this was a one car accident, not a pile up. Imagine winning the 500, you're excited and not expecting safety trucks right after you get out of turn 2.

And believe me, they are inconsistent. Talladega Nationwide race 2 years ago, they wrecked coming to the trioval, and Kasey Kahne won on a 3 wide finish, which was overturned cause of the yellow. They had literally 2 and a half miles to find out about the crash and slow. But there were atleast 10 cars scattered on the track.

Yeah, they could've let the race run 500 more feet or whatever, but there was an actual reason to throw the yellow, unlike Biffle on Sunday. You guys are complaining that they let them finish. If they through a yellow, you all would be like "CAUTION FOR THAT?". You guys are the inconsistent ones.

You're right. If only these guys had communication devices in their cars and a guy sitting high atop the track to inform them of what's going on. Maybe they could call those guys spotters -- they could spot things and relay the information to the drivers. These are some of the best drivers in the world and their cars are more than capable of slowing to a safe speed in the over a mile from the start/finish line to where the safety vehicles would have been. You think the winner would have been so excited he'd just want to run another lap at 200 mph? By the way, there was ~46 seconds between the time Logano crossed the line and got the white flag at Daytona and when he crossed the line and got the yellow and checkers. Jeff Gordon won the pole with a lap time of 44.711 (and that was with a draft) so it's pretty safe to say Logano didn't even actually slow down when the caution came out and was at, or near, green flag speed when he crossed the line yet, somehow, he didn't seem pose any threat to the safety crews.

At Fontana, Biffle was facing backwards on the track with clear damage and had to be restarted with a reasonable chance there would be debris. They called a caution a few laps earlier for a piece of debris that nobody actually has seen (I'm not talking about the piece of Larson's car that caused a later caution) because it caused an unsafe situation. This is a car, with damage, facing the opposite direction, and that doesn't create an unsafe situation? And sure, he drove it off, but in my opinion, a caution needs to be thrown in a reasonable amount of time, and I don't think waiting for him to drive it off and make sure the track is clear of debris makes for a reasonable amount of time in this case. Fortunately in this case I don't think it affected the race. Had they called a caution in a reasonable amount of time, it probably would've come shortly after Keselowski made the pass.

How am I inconsistent? I think either both races should've been ended on yellow or neither should have been. They set the precedent at Daytona that they would end the race under yellow in that situation. I'd love to see races end on green flags... but I'd also love a shred of consistency with how NASCAR calls the end of a race.

[rvrdgsfn]

Looks like we will have a replacement for the SS soon.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/03/could-the-chevrolet-malibu-make-a-return-to-nascar/

With Holden winding down its production ventures for 2017, the departure of the rear-wheel drive, 6.2-liter V8 powered Chevrolet SS will soon be upon us. That means the bowtie brand will no longer be interested in promoting it by using it as the body for their NASCAR Sprint Cup cars, so they will have to find a replacement.

Lately, Toyota and Ford have used NASCAR to promote their mid-size models, with the two brands running the Camry and Fusion, respectively. Chevrolet will start taking the mid-size segment much more seriously when they pull the veil from the 2016 Malibu in New York next week, so it would make sense if they switched to a new Malibu body for their next Sprint Cup car to help boost sales.

The current Chevrolet SS NASCAR body isn’t all that old, having just been introduced in 2013, but it will have to be replaced eventually. It’s much too early to say what Chevy has up their sleeve in regards to a future Sprint Cup car, but the idea of the Malibu making a return to the series doesn’t seem too far fetched.

I could see this happening, I mean I love the SS, but NASCAR has always been, win with it Sunday, buy it on Monday. The SS is about 40k-50k plus its built is Australia & the automakers are about to stop building. Plus Gen 7 is slowly coming around the corner, so a change is coming & it makes sense that Chevy would use the Malibu. Maybe an Malibu SS may come into play.

[Needschat]

Looks like we will have a replacement for the SS soon.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/03/could-the-chevrolet-malibu-make-a-return-to-nascar/

With Holden winding down its production ventures for 2017, the departure of the rear-wheel drive, 6.2-liter V8 powered Chevrolet SS will soon be upon us. That means the bowtie brand will no longer be interested in promoting it by using it as the body for their NASCAR Sprint Cup cars, so they will have to find a replacement.

Lately, Toyota and Ford have used NASCAR to promote their mid-size models, with the two brands running the Camry and Fusion, respectively. Chevrolet will start taking the mid-size segment much more seriously when they pull the veil from the 2016 Malibu in New York next week, so it would make sense if they switched to a new Malibu body for their next Sprint Cup car to help boost sales.

The current Chevrolet SS NASCAR body isn’t all that old, having just been introduced in 2013, but it will have to be replaced eventually. It’s much too early to say what Chevy has up their sleeve in regards to a future Sprint Cup car, but the idea of the Malibu making a return to the series doesn’t seem too far fetched.

I could see this happening, I mean I love the SS, but NASCAR has always been, win with it Sunday, buy it on Monday. The SS is about 40k-50k plus its built is Australia & the automakers are about to stop building. Plus Gen 7 is slowly coming around the corner, so a change is coming & it makes sense that Chevy would use the Malibu. Maybe an Malibu SS may come into play.

Those of us old NASCAR fans thought Malibu was going to replace the Impala, but then the SS came up. It appears the Malibu does have the racing lines...

[rvrdgsfn]

Via Jayski....

#42-Kyle Larson fainted toward the end of an autograph session at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday and had to be taken to a local hospital for evaluation. A Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates official told Alex Cavanna of FOX Sports that Larson was "being checked out at a local hospital. He was awake and alert on the way to the hospital." The Ganassi official added that the team believes he will be fine, although doctors were still completing their evaluation of him at the time the statement was made. The official also said that "at the moment," the team has "no reason" to believe Larson won't be in the #42 Ganassi Chevrolet for Sunday's STP 500 at Martinsville

Well, that sucks. I hope he's able to race tomorrow but I hope he can be healthy too.

[jc...]

Kyle Larson is out. Super-sub Regan Smith is in the #42 today.

[rvrdgsfn]

Results from Martinsville

1. Hamlin

2. Keselowski

3. Logano

4. Kenseth

5. Ragan

6 Truex Jr.

7. Patrick

8. Harvick

9. Gordon

10. McMurray

Wow, so many cautions and for Hamlin & Gordon, bad luck in the pits but managed to come back strong. Truex Jr with another top 10. Denny is now in the chase. Time for Easter break & then we race in Texas.

[DCarp1231]

Kyle Larson is out. Super-sub Regan Smith is in the #42 today.

Man, I hope this guy gets a full time ride next season... I love him driving for Dale Jr in the Xfinity Series, but I feel as though he needs to get back to the top level to really prove himself. Honestly, you could make a case that Smith should serve as Jeff Gordon's bridge* replacement due to Chase Elliott only being in the Xfinity series for just over one year. Smith has way more experience. But Chase Elliott is the son of a NASCAR great and hey, who would be better to replace another NASCAR great? Maybe Smith earns a spot at Stewart-Haas racing. After all, this is a contract year for Danica Patrick.

(bridge*- serving as a replacement for a year, but doing enough to keep the team within the chase hunt, much like the NFL has "bridge" quarterbacks)

[Needschat]

Jimmy Johns needs to get Regan Smith on their roster. He IS NASCAR's super sub!!

[LAWeaver]

I believe that Gordon would have won that race had he not been speeding in the pits before that last restart. He was flying through the field. I'm happy he got a Top-10 out of it after restarting 19th-20th. Tough to see Chase Elliott knocked out so early, but hey, it's Martinsville. As Larry Mac said yesterday: "Baptism by Fire".

[Dalcowboyfan92]

Well...AJ started 10th, had a good race until his engine gave out and he finished dead last.

A 35th and a 43rd place finish have taken AJ from 5th in the standings to well past 16th.

Rough two weeks for AJ and JTG Racing.

[See Red]

I believe that Gordon would have won that race had he not been speeding in the pits before that last restart. He was flying through the field. I'm happy he got a Top-10 out of it after restarting 19th-20th. Tough to see Chase Elliott knocked out so early, but hey, it's Martinsville. As Larry Mac said yesterday: "Baptism by Fire".

Who knows. He sure looked good at the end, though. Touch break, but it's a lot less frustrating when they lose because Jeff errs and not because of poor strategy or a poor stop. He'll get a win eventually.

With that said, very entertaining race. I can't stand Hamlin so I was cheering for Keselowski to get him at the end. I hate Keselowski too but he already has a win so him winning doesn't really change anything. It's too bad Harvick's car got away from him towards the end -- he had a nice run going.

Martinsville is, far and away, my favorite track.

[Unocal]

Slightly OT, but still NASCAR related- do you think a thread on NASCAR paint schemes would work in the Sports Logos section?

[LAWeaver]

Slightly OT, but still NASCAR related- do you think a thread on NASCAR paint schemes would work in the Sports Logos section?

there are a couple of them already. I made one for this year but no one's been posting in it. it's kinda dwad

[gmoore1203]

so Im going to ask it since it doesn't seem anyone else has. What is everyones opinion on the penalties brought to the #31 team this week. I feel they are more than justified because they messed with on of the three things in NASCAR you absolutely do not mess with (engines, fuel and tires) but I've been hearing a lot of complaints from fans that they came to hard on them because they should be allowed to try to innovate which is completely reasonable but they should try to innovate elsewhere and try to find the "gray areas" of the rule book and not any of those areas that are clearly black and white that the #31 team clearly violated by drilling holes in their tires to get an advantage.

[jc...]

I think its a safety issue more than anything.

With that said, I think it would be safer if NASCAR let them use bleeder valves instead. If you watch, especially the left side tires, after a pit stop, the starting pressures are so low that bthe tires look like crinkled up pieces of paper. Not only does that build heat doing that, it's not good for the construction of the tire. Letting them start, and keep them at the pressure that they want to run on, isn't such a bad idea. Plus, these breeders, are cheap! It's a small trade off.

I'd also like to see tire pressure monitoring sensors make their way into the sport. "Stock cars" have it, and it can also be another safety benefit. Also, its more information the driver can relay back to the crew chief.

[dfwabel]

All Star Race changes in field and format.

From NASCAR.com

Segments 1, 2 and 3/25 laps each: All laps will be counted. ... Optional pit stop during break, teams that pit will not retain their position on track.

Segment 4/25 laps: All laps will be counted. ... Running order at the completion of the fourth segment will be repositioned based on the average finish of the first four segments. ... Running order ties will be broken by the finish of the fourth segment. ... Pit road will be open for a mandatory four-tire pit stop. ... Order of cars returning to the track will determine starting order of the fifth and final segment.

Segment 5/10 laps: Only green flag laps will be counted.

Drivers who have won points races in the 2014 and 2015 as well as all previous NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winners and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions who had full-time rides in 2014 are in the field.

[See Red]

This race is entirely too long. I can't believe there's still 138 laps to go.

I don't know if it's the new rules package but these Cup races, outside of Martinsville and Daytona, seem very boring this season.

[rvrdgsfn]

Yeah no joke, this race has been long.

Results from Texas:

1. Johnson

2. Harvick

3. Earnhardt Jr.

4. Logano

5. Keselowski

6. McMurray

7. Gordon

8. Khane

9. Truex Jr.

10. Edwards

All Hendrick cars in the top 10 & Truex Jr. continuing his top 10 finishes this season. Harvick barely passed Little E. I just wish this wasn't a snoozefest, I like Texas but this was just a boring race.

Hopefully next week will be exciting.... It's Bristol Baby!!!

[See Red]

I remember liking Texas too so I was excited for tonight's race... but it was awful aside from the end.

[Needschat]

500 miles on a 1.5 mile track not Atlanta is boring!