2009 NASCAR Season

[Jigga]

Great driver. Great crew. Great win.

Great champion.

Damn it!

[dfwabel]

Great driver. Great crew. Great win.

Great champion.

Damn it!

Hendrick power and the "may" bend the ruled. Only 48, 24, 5, and 14 can win. Just (hendrick) horsepower now is the key.

[NEW.ERA]

So next years main story line will be who can win 5 first? Jeff or JJ.

[dfwabel]

So next years main story line will be who can win 5 first? Jeff or JJ.

Sadly, as long as 48 is with Knaus and Hendrick power, it is over unless the get caugh.

Wait, that did occur and the 48 still won the Daytona 500. .

[HedleyLamarr]

Did you notice all the empty bleachers in Charlotte last night? (I'm sure Infrared did.)

A Saturday night race, in the capital of Nascar, in the middle of the Chase playoffs, and the backstretch was full of folks painted up as blue bleachers.

[TBGKon]

Did you notice all the empty bleachers in Charlotte last night? (I'm sure Infrared did.)

A Saturday night race, in the capital of Nascar, in the middle of the Chase playoffs, and the backstretch was full of folks painted up as blue bleachers.

To be fair, I think the weather in Charlotte was unseasonably cold, which probably scared away some of the would-be walkup crowd.

[epper]

I hate to say that NASCAR has to "Jimmie-Proof" the Chase....but the guy is just too damn good at the 10 tracks that currently make up the playoffs. I've always thought those 10 races need to incorporate every style of track, to determine the best overall driver. Something like:

1. Indianapolis (Move the Brickyard 400 to be the Chase Opener. 2.5 mile flat Superspeedway)

2. New Hampshire (Flat 1-mile)

3. Dover (High Banked 1-mile)

4. Bristol (High Banked Short Track)

5. Martinsville (Flat Short Track)

6. Darlington (1.3 Mile Egg-Shaped Oval)

7. Charlotte (1.5 mile High Banked QualOval)

8. Sears Point (Road Course)

9. Fontana (2-Mile D-Shaped Superspeedway)

10. Daytona (Restrictor Plate. Would LOVE if they moved the 2nd Daytona race to be the season finale.

[infrared41]

Did you notice all the empty bleachers in Charlotte last night? (I'm sure Infrared did.)

A Saturday night race, in the capital of Nascar, in the middle of the Chase playoffs, and the backstretch was full of folks painted up as blue bleachers.

I sure did notice. The place was easily half empty. It was still probably a crowd of 60 thousand but that's pretty small by NASCAR standards. Especially in Charlotte. I should add that it was freezing cold there last night so that may have played a role in the turnout. We looked at upgrading our tickets to the cup race and the ticket office was showing a lot of those seats as sold. But the place was still nowhere near sold out. The track was running all sorts of great specials trying to sell seats. It was pretty obvious that they knew they were looking at a poor turnout. Last night may have been the smallest crowd I've seen at a cup race this season. Hell, ever. What Hedley said is right on the money. I don't know what it means to the sport or how big a role the weather played but I have to think NASCAR is getting worried.

That said, other than freezing my ass off, we had really great time and my driver won the race. We also scored 60 dollar seats to The Nationwide race for 10 bucks each so we went to that one too. I'll post some pics later if anyone is interested.

[NEW.ERA]

I hate to say that NASCAR has to "Jimmie-Proof" the Chase....but the guy is just too damn good at the 10 tracks that currently make up the playoffs. I've always thought those 10 races need to incorporate every style of track, to determine the best overall driver. Something like:

1. Indianapolis (Move the Brickyard 400 to be the Chase Opener. 2.5 mile flat Superspeedway)

2. New Hampshire (Flat 1-mile)

3. Dover (High Banked 1-mile)

4. Bristol (High Banked Short Track)

5. Martinsville (Flat Short Track)

6. Darlington (1.3 Mile Egg-Shaped Oval)

7. Charlotte (1.5 mile High Banked QualOval)

8. Sears Point (Road Course)

9. Fontana (2-Mile D-Shaped Superspeedway)

10. Daytona (Restrictor Plate. Would LOVE if they moved the 2nd Daytona race to be the season finale.

I'd think you'd have to keep Talladega in the Chase it's such a wildcard and a lot more unpredictable then Daytona but any Restrictor Plate race is a good race.

[HedleyLamarr]

Did you notice all the empty bleachers in Charlotte last night? (I'm sure Infrared did.)

A Saturday night race, in the capital of Nascar, in the middle of the Chase playoffs, and the backstretch was full of folks painted up as blue bleachers.

To be fair, I think the weather in Charlotte was unseasonably cold, which probably scared away some of the would-be walkup crowd.

It's not like baseball or basketball, where there's 40-80 more home games to go to if the weather's not good on a particular day. Charlotte's got two points races per year, and only one race during the Chase.

North Carolina is the heart of Nascar's diehard fanbase. For Charlotte not to sell out this race is incredible....

[NEW.ERA]

Did you notice all the empty bleachers in Charlotte last night? (I'm sure Infrared did.)

A Saturday night race, in the capital of Nascar, in the middle of the Chase playoffs, and the backstretch was full of folks painted up as blue bleachers.

To be fair, I think the weather in Charlotte was unseasonably cold, which probably scared away some of the would-be walkup crowd.

It's not like baseball or basketball, where there's 40-80 more home games to go to if the weather's not good on a particular day. Charlotte's got two points races per year, and only one race during the Chase.

North Carolina is the heart of Nascar's diehard fanbase. For Charlotte not to sell out this race is incredible....

To add to that I don't think any race has been sold out this year. (except the 500 I think)

[oddball]

I taped the race and had a chance to watch it tonight and I noticed way more empty seats at Charlotte than I did at Auto Club the week prior. The week prior the empty seats were at the edge of turn 4 and 1, basically two sections. I saw way more empty seats at Charlotte, so I want to start hearing people whine and cry about how Charlotte doesn't deserve two races. They have less of an excuse than Auto Club does, as someone pointed out it is in the heart of Nascar. I don't want to hear about the weather. Any time someone states that there are other things to do or there's great weather and people are at the beach in SoCal people complain that's a horrible excuse. So whether is now the excuse in Charlotte? Please. I want to see one of these lame writers/critics blast Charlotte and North Carolina for the pathetic showing at Charlotte.

[dfwabel]

I have thought that Kyle and his ugly American persona could really work since he's got talent. But they need an engine first!

Peter Windsor (USF1) wants Kyle Busch

Peter Windsor has revealed that the number one target on F1 2010 newcomer USF1?s radar regarding the driving line-up is NASCAR favorite Kyle Busch ? who he is confident will be similarly keen to join forces once he sees the team?s potential, and who he contends is a future world champion in the top flight.

Busch is a big name Stateside, having achieved no fewer than 58 victories in NASCAR circles ? 16 in the headlining Sprint Cup, 28 in the Nationwide Series and 14 in the Camping World Truck Series. Whilst single-seaters are undeniably a very different beast to the stock cars to which the Nevada native is accustomed, Windsor ? one of the two co-founders of USF1 ? is convinced that the 24-year-old possesses the necessary talent to not only make the switch, but also make the grade.

[dfwabel]

I taped the race and had a chance to watch it tonight and I noticed way more empty seats at Charlotte than I did at Auto Club the week prior. The week prior the empty seats were at the edge of turn 4 and 1, basically two sections. I saw way more empty seats at Charlotte, so I want to start hearing people whine and cry about how Charlotte doesn't deserve two races. They have less of an excuse than Auto Club does, as someone pointed out it is in the heart of Nascar. I don't want to hear about the weather. Any time someone states that there are other things to do or there's great weather and people are at the beach in SoCal people complain that's a horrible excuse. So whether is now the excuse in Charlotte? Please. I want to see one of these lame writers/critics blast Charlotte and North Carolina for the pathetic showing at Charlotte.

Loews Motorpeedway seats about 160k; Fontana seats ~90k. Sure there are more NASCAR fans in CLT, especially during the week which the NASCAR HOF is named, but Fontana..."Fontucky" gets LA, San Diego and the Inland Empire as their only major event(s). I live in California and don't really want to go to "Fontucky". Californians have much more to do in a fall weekend than to see races. They have rule like 'dega, but they still are not the best for LA people.

[dfwabel]

I taped the race and had a chance to watch it tonight and I noticed way more empty seats at Charlotte than I did at Auto Club the week prior. The week prior the empty seats were at the edge of turn 4 and 1, basically two sections. I saw way more empty seats at Charlotte, so I want to start hearing people whine and cry about how Charlotte doesn't deserve two races. They have less of an excuse than Auto Club does, as someone pointed out it is in the heart of Nascar. I don't want to hear about the weather. Any time someone states that there are other things to do or there's great weather and people are at the beach in SoCal people complain that's a horrible excuse. So whether is now the excuse in Charlotte? Please. I want to see one of these lame writers/critics blast Charlotte and North Carolina for the pathetic showing at Charlotte.

Lowe's Motor Speedway seats about 160k; Fontana seats ~90k. Sure there are more NASCAR fans in CLT, especially during the week which the NASCAR HOF is names, but Fontana..."Fontucky" gets LA, San Diego and the Inland Empire as their only major event(s). i live in California and don't really want to go to "Fontucky". They have rule like 'dega, but they still are not the best for LA people.

[oddball]

Huh? Fon..what? What are you talking about. Please speak in English so people can understand you. As far as Jimmie Johnson proofing the Chase, you can't. It's not the track, it's the people at the 48. I don't care what tracks you put in the chase, the 48 team will figure them out and they've figured out the Chase and how to run it. Until people start doing what the 48 team does, they will year in and year out, get beat. It's not a matter of when Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus will get beat for the Championship, it's a matter of if. The only team who might have figured it out is the 42, the rest of them don't have a clue. At this rate, I see Jimmie winning 10 or 12 straight. Show me a TEAM, that can beat the 48. I don't see it, not even within the Hendrick stable. Jimmie Johnson is dominating Nascar like Michael Schumacher dominated F1, they are honestly head and shoulders above all the others.

[dfwabel]

Californians do not really care about NASCAR, giving them a 2nd race is because it is an ISC track.

The 48 team is better than others, but the Schumi comparison is imcomplete as then F1 had a tire war, unlimited testing and for his initial years at Ferrari, he lost to Mika. Then he got five in a row, then it went back to Renault. Then ferrari got it right, but it takes the perfect combination. Here is also a difference in power. While Hendrick can supply motors for anyone who pays, Ferrari can only supply to one other team, but like F1, Hendrick can outspend everyone as long as he sells cars at his dealerships.

I think that Hendrick engines are the key as seeing the Stewart/Hass quick assent, while it took Toyota three years. there is a thought of another engine maker coming in (M-B or BMW), but NASCAR needs to have fuel-injection to quicken that to occur. This the this initial year of the 42 with Chevy power, as opposed to Dodge.

[oddball]

So wait, if Californians don't care about Nascar and percentage wise they outdraw Charlotte, then why does Charlotte have a second race?

[dfwabel]

Actually, Loews has three, if you include the All-Star Race. Charlotte is the home to the majority of the teams (thus drivers and crews too), so having races there is good for morale, budget, and transport cost. Plus, they took Rockingham out five years ago, so there is just Martinsville and Lowes in NC.

All ISC tracks, while publicly held, are operated by the France family. Who owns NASCAR? The France family. They want as many races at their tracks in which they will not be brought back into court again.

[infrared41]

Actually, Loews has three, if you include the All-Star Race. Charlotte is the home to the majority of the teams (thus drivers and crews too), so having races there is good for morale, budget, and transport cost. Plus, they took Rockingham out five years ago, so there is just Martinsville and Lowes in NC.

All ISC tracks, while publicly held, are operated by the France family. Who owns NASCAR? The France family. They want as many races at their tracks in which they will not be brought back into court again.

I'm not sure if you're saying Charlotte is an ISC track. But just in case, Charlotte isn't ISC. Charlotte is owned by Bruton Smith and it is an SMI track.