2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season

[dfwabel]

Update on the state of Nascar

http://nascar.speedt...tate-of-nascar/

& Toyota unveiled their 2013 Camry

Well played Toyota, well played. I'd say for the cars, its 3 for 3, we shall have to see what Chevy brings to the plate.

Edit

Chevy's prototype...

I get that the Camry is in the Sprint Series, but if Toyota really wants to make Scion the younger brand which it was founded to be as opposed to having a average buyer over 41, they need to put the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ in the Nationwide Series.

[oddball]

Ford took the wraps off it's first livery for the new Fusion ...

obviously isn't a complete car, no window cutouts, headlight stickers, etc ... but still, can't wait to see these cars on the track next year.

That's not a real car at all. It's a clay model... ignore it and go to this link which is what the real car will look like, http://blog.mysanantonio.com/clockingin/2012/01/ford-unveils-new-look-for-sprint-cup-fusion/.

[BigMac12]

Kasey Kahne wins the Coca-Cola 600!

[NEW.ERA]

Being a fan of this sport for almost 15 years now. I haven't been more unimpressed with the racing action then I have this year.

Anyways congrats to Kasey Kahne. We kept wondering when Hendrick would get win 200, they have now won 2 straight points race, 3 if you throw in the All Star Race.

[floydnimrod]

Being a fan of this sport for almost 15 years now. I haven't been more unimpressed with the racing action then I have this year.

Anyways congrats to Kasey Kahne. We kept wondering when Hendrick would get win 200, they have now won 2 straight points race, 3 if you throw in the All Star Race.

I was talking about this with my brother. Usually, F1's the parade, and NASCAR has the action. Well, this year, F1 has had 6 different winners in 6 races, and NASCAR has had more 10+-car-length-apart finishes than I can remember

[NEW.ERA]

Being a fan of this sport for almost 15 years now. I haven't been more unimpressed with the racing action then I have this year.

Anyways congrats to Kasey Kahne. We kept wondering when Hendrick would get win 200, they have now won 2 straight points race, 3 if you throw in the All Star Race.

I was talking about this with my brother. Usually, F1's the parade, and NASCAR has the action. Well, this year, F1 has had 6 different winners in 6 races, and NASCAR has had more 10+-car-length-apart finishes than I can remember

I don't know what it is? It's not the new car because we've seen tremendous action before even with the splitter and wing.

I look at the two races that we expect crazy finishes at, Daytona and Talladega. Really sub-par stuff throughout, and we thought it would get better after tandem drafting was kicked to the curb, I would gladly take that back, after the first two plate races.

This sport keeps losing fans, and it's going to keep losing those fans if something isn't done. F1 finally has gotten it right the last few years, with more parody. In NASCAR we want both parody and action, parody is still kinda there, but the action is missing. Be it new infusion of tracks, or some new rules package, it's just not fun anymore.

[theSLVRBCK]

Ford took the wraps off it's first livery for the new Fusion ...

obviously isn't a complete car, no window cutouts, headlight stickers, etc ... but still, can't wait to see these cars on the track next year.

That's not a real car at all. It's a clay model... ignore it and go to this link which is what the real car will look like, http://blog.mysanantonio.com/clockingin/2012/01/ford-unveils-new-look-for-sprint-cup-fusion/.

Yes .. I understand that it wasn't a real car. I was pointing out the livery that was slapped on it.

[waltere]

Being a fan of this sport for almost 15 years now. I haven't been more unimpressed with the racing action then I have this year.

Anyways congrats to Kasey Kahne. We kept wondering when Hendrick would get win 200, they have now won 2 straight points race, 3 if you throw in the All Star Race.

I was talking about this with my brother. Usually, F1's the parade, and NASCAR has the action. Well, this year, F1 has had 6 different winners in 6 races, and NASCAR has had more 10+-car-length-apart finishes than I can remember

I don't know what it is? It's not the new car because we've seen tremendous action before even with the splitter and wing.

I look at the two races that we expect crazy finishes at, Daytona and Talladega. Really sub-par stuff throughout, and we thought it would get better after tandem drafting was kicked to the curb, I would gladly take that back, after the first two plate races.

This sport keeps losing fans, and it's going to keep losing those fans if something isn't done. F1 finally has gotten it right the last few years, with more parody. In NASCAR we want both parody and action, parody is still kinda there, but the action is missing. Be it new infusion of tracks, or some new rules package, it's just not fun anymore.

This.

Especially about F1, holy crap has that got good in recent years.

THe word is parity though, not parody.

[NEW.ERA]

I

Being a fan of this sport for almost 15 years now. I haven't been more unimpressed with the racing action then I have this year.

Anyways congrats to Kasey Kahne. We kept wondering when Hendrick would get win 200, they have now won 2 straight points race, 3 if you throw in the All Star Race.

I was talking about this with my brother. Usually, F1's the parade, and NASCAR has the action. Well, this year, F1 has had 6 different winners in 6 races, and NASCAR has had more 10+-car-length-apart finishes than I can remember

I don't know what it is? It's not the new car because we've seen tremendous action before even with the splitter and wing.

I look at the two races that we expect crazy finishes at, Daytona and Talladega. Really sub-par stuff throughout, and we thought it would get better after tandem drafting was kicked to the curb, I would gladly take that back, after the first two plate races.

This sport keeps losing fans, and it's going to keep losing those fans if something isn't done. F1 finally has gotten it right the last few years, with more parity. In NASCAR we want both parity and action, parity is still kinda there, but the action is missing. Be it new infusion of tracks, or some new rules package, it's just not fun anymore.

This.

Especially about F1, holy crap has that got good in recent years.

THe word is parity though, not parody.

Thank you. I don't know what I was thinking.

[crashcarson15]

Hands down, the most exciting part of the NASCAR season was the crash at Daytona... with the track dryer.

[oddball]

What's wrong with the season? Nothing. It's just gone back to the way racing was and what everyone screamed they wanted, "Racing the way it was back when Earnhardt, DW, and Petty drove." I've heard that year after year, and it's always made me scratch my head and ask myself, "Have they ever watched racing back then? Because if they had, they obviously wouldn't want it." Now you have it. There are factors for why most people would think that there is something wrong with the season.

#1 Short attention spans - Most people won't sit around and watch a 500 mile race to see the ebb and flows of a race. That's what makes the 600 one of my favorite races of the year. Most people don't want to bother with seeing the evolution of a race and how one guy who was leading, finished 15th due to pit strategy. They want the instant result.

#2 Plate racing - Has ruined people's understanding of what racing is. Plate racing is manufactured exciting racing. Not all tracks are like that.

#3 Better drivers - The drivers today have better equipment, and are better drivers and aren't running into each other as much causing wrecks. Their cars a setup "better" and more drivable. Better drivers and lack of cautions, thin the lead lap field due to long green runs and drivers not getting the free pass or wave around. Also, better drivers, less green-white-checkers which means less "manufactured exciting" endings.

#4 TV - The biggest issue. TV shows the leaders, because that's who everyone wants to see. Well, the leader is the leader because he is usually that much better than everyone else and thus the racing is "boring". The real excitement happens between spots 10-20 where drivers are fighting for positions and banging off of each other because their setups are off a little and they have to fight for it. Unfortunately tv doesn't capture that all the time, and so racing gets this "boring" label because they are forced to always show the leader. If you ever go to a live race, you'll never see a boring live race.

[RyanMcD29]

I hate to say it, but the racing throughout the pack hasn't been good, not just up front. Look at this week's results for instance: http://www.nascar.com/races/leaderboard/cup/race/ Yes it's the 600, but 9 cars on the lead lap, with the closest gap between two drivers over a second and a half apart, shows that the lack of racing's through the whole field. Don't even get me started on how nobody was anywhere near one another during the final 10 lap sprint of the All-Star Race. This isn't even getting into the terrible races at Kansas and Texas last month. Sure, the TV networks like to show up front, but even then there's not much racing going on from 3rd to 20th, either.

I have no idea what's made the racing less competitive in races (the season as a whole has had a nice mix of drivers so it's still maintaining a competitive balance from race to race), because it's mainly the same setup as last year, just with fuel injection which I doubt is the reason behind it. Hopefully, though, with the lull the past couple of months of the season, everyone's just saving their stuff for the Chase and the real fun will begin in September again

[theSLVRBCK]

What's wrong with the season? Nothing. It's just gone back to the way racing was and what everyone screamed they wanted, "Racing the way it was back when Earnhardt, DW, and Petty drove." I've heard that year after year, and it's always made me scratch my head and ask myself, "Have they ever watched racing back then? Because if they had, they obviously wouldn't want it." Now you have it. There are factors for why most people would think that there is something wrong with the season.

#1 Short attention spans - Most people won't sit around and watch a 500 mile race to see the ebb and flows of a race. That's what makes the 600 one of my favorite races of the year. Most people don't want to bother with seeing the evolution of a race and how one guy who was leading, finished 15th due to pit strategy. They want the instant result.

#2 Plate racing - Has ruined people's understanding of what racing is. Plate racing is manufactured exciting racing. Not all tracks are like that.

#3 Better drivers - The drivers today have better equipment, and are better drivers and aren't running into each other as much causing wrecks. Their cars a setup "better" and more drivable. Better drivers and lack of cautions, thin the lead lap field due to long green runs and drivers not getting the free pass or wave around. Also, better drivers, less green-white-checkers which means less "manufactured exciting" endings.

#4 TV - The biggest issue. TV shows the leaders, because that's who everyone wants to see. Well, the leader is the leader because he is usually that much better than everyone else and thus the racing is "boring". The real excitement happens between spots 10-20 where drivers are fighting for positions and banging off of each other because their setups are off a little and they have to fight for it. Unfortunately tv doesn't capture that all the time, and so racing gets this "boring" label because they are forced to always show the leader. If you ever go to a live race, you'll never see a boring live race.

I disagree with a couple of these, especially #4. I have been to several Daytona races, and for the most part, it's boring. The first 30 laps are awesome .... the smell, the sounds, the sight of them moving that fast down into turn one. But then it's a whole lot of boring until the big one, or until the last 20 laps. And I disliked my experience at Homestead a couple years ago that I will never go back. But the issues there were less the race and more the facility/people.

As for the old style of racing, I want the old style of DRIVERS!!!! i want guys with f'n personalities. Somebody to hate, somebody to love, all of that crap. That is what NASCAR is missing for me. I want people I care about in the sport. i honestly couldn't care less who wins and who loses anymore really. With Martin running a reduced schedule, the actual cup winner means nothing for me.

..........

Personally, I'd like to see NASCAR do the following:

- trim the fields down to 30 cars or less

- kill restrictor plates with fire

- kill the chase or make it actually matter and park the cars that dont make the chase like a real playoffs should be

[rvrdgsfn]

Reports on Dodge via Jayski...

Recent reports have linked the manufacturer to an IndyCar team [Andretti Autosport] moving into Cup and suggested Dodge could make an announcement in two weeks at Michigan International Speedway. But a Dodge executive said in a Wednesday statement to USA Today Sports that nothing has been finalized. Aside from not having any teams in its 2013 lineup, Dodge also hasn't settled on an engine builder. The manufacturer could cut a deal to keep receiving motors from Penske's shop or could start its own engine room. Current Cup teams without a manufacturer deal for next year include Richard Petty Motorsports, Furniture Row Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Furniture Row and RPM declined to comment.

Either Dodge is out of luck or they're playing dumb. In all seriousness they either need a factory team or a big name team to switch or come in, no offense to Furniture Row of course.

[oddball]

What's wrong with the season? Nothing. It's just gone back to the way racing was and what everyone screamed they wanted, "Racing the way it was back when Earnhardt, DW, and Petty drove." I've heard that year after year, and it's always made me scratch my head and ask myself, "Have they ever watched racing back then? Because if they had, they obviously wouldn't want it." Now you have it. There are factors for why most people would think that there is something wrong with the season.

#1 Short attention spans - Most people won't sit around and watch a 500 mile race to see the ebb and flows of a race. That's what makes the 600 one of my favorite races of the year. Most people don't want to bother with seeing the evolution of a race and how one guy who was leading, finished 15th due to pit strategy. They want the instant result.

#2 Plate racing - Has ruined people's understanding of what racing is. Plate racing is manufactured exciting racing. Not all tracks are like that.

#3 Better drivers - The drivers today have better equipment, and are better drivers and aren't running into each other as much causing wrecks. Their cars a setup "better" and more drivable. Better drivers and lack of cautions, thin the lead lap field due to long green runs and drivers not getting the free pass or wave around. Also, better drivers, less green-white-checkers which means less "manufactured exciting" endings.

#4 TV - The biggest issue. TV shows the leaders, because that's who everyone wants to see. Well, the leader is the leader because he is usually that much better than everyone else and thus the racing is "boring". The real excitement happens between spots 10-20 where drivers are fighting for positions and banging off of each other because their setups are off a little and they have to fight for it. Unfortunately tv doesn't capture that all the time, and so racing gets this "boring" label because they are forced to always show the leader. If you ever go to a live race, you'll never see a boring live race.

I disagree with a couple of these, especially #4. I have been to several Daytona races, and for the most part, it's boring. The first 30 laps are awesome .... the smell, the sounds, the sight of them moving that fast down into turn one. But then it's a whole lot of boring until the big one, or until the last 20 laps. And I disliked my experience at Homestead a couple years ago that I will never go back. But the issues there were less the race and more the facility/people.

As for the old style of racing, I want the old style of DRIVERS!!!! i want guys with f'n personalities. Somebody to hate, somebody to love, all of that crap. That is what NASCAR is missing for me. I want people I care about in the sport. i honestly couldn't care less who wins and who loses anymore really. With Martin running a reduced schedule, the actual cup winner means nothing for me.

..........

Personally, I'd like to see NASCAR do the following:

- trim the fields down to 30 cars or less

- kill restrictor plates with fire

- kill the chase or make it actually matter and park the cars that dont make the chase like a real playoffs should be

You can take the restrictor plates off no problem, they'll just use the new EFI to restrict horse power. For all legal purposes, restrictor plates are here to stay. They were testing at somewhere around 215 mph at Michigan on the new surface... TESTING at 215!!! That's just plain stupid and not in a good way. More speed at Daytona will not make better "racing" as a matter of fact it will make the racing "worse", if you don't believe me then rewatch the 600 and that's what will happen.

If you want to make racing better, Rusty Wallace hit the nail on the head. Reduce the season to 30 races. Myself I say reduce the regular season down to 20 races giving Daytona the opener and the July 4th race. You reduce all races to 300 miles, with the exception of the Brickyard 400, the Daytona 500, the Southern 500 at Darlington, and the Coca-Cola 600, and you give out huge pay days for winning one of them and an friggin ridiculous amount of money for winning all 4. Then for the Chase, you have 9 out of the 10 tracks earn their way into the Chase and have the last race at Charlotte and be the 600. I believe shorter races and a shorter schedule would make for a better season and 30 total races (not including the Shootout and the All-Star race) would give teams natural breaks to repair equipment and just refresh allowing them to go out and compete at a higher level.

[theSLVRBCK]

What's wrong with the season? Nothing. It's just gone back to the way racing was and what everyone screamed they wanted, "Racing the way it was back when Earnhardt, DW, and Petty drove." I've heard that year after year, and it's always made me scratch my head and ask myself, "Have they ever watched racing back then? Because if they had, they obviously wouldn't want it." Now you have it. There are factors for why most people would think that there is something wrong with the season.

#1 Short attention spans - Most people won't sit around and watch a 500 mile race to see the ebb and flows of a race. That's what makes the 600 one of my favorite races of the year. Most people don't want to bother with seeing the evolution of a race and how one guy who was leading, finished 15th due to pit strategy. They want the instant result.

#2 Plate racing - Has ruined people's understanding of what racing is. Plate racing is manufactured exciting racing. Not all tracks are like that.

#3 Better drivers - The drivers today have better equipment, and are better drivers and aren't running into each other as much causing wrecks. Their cars a setup "better" and more drivable. Better drivers and lack of cautions, thin the lead lap field due to long green runs and drivers not getting the free pass or wave around. Also, better drivers, less green-white-checkers which means less "manufactured exciting" endings.

#4 TV - The biggest issue. TV shows the leaders, because that's who everyone wants to see. Well, the leader is the leader because he is usually that much better than everyone else and thus the racing is "boring". The real excitement happens between spots 10-20 where drivers are fighting for positions and banging off of each other because their setups are off a little and they have to fight for it. Unfortunately tv doesn't capture that all the time, and so racing gets this "boring" label because they are forced to always show the leader. If you ever go to a live race, you'll never see a boring live race.

I disagree with a couple of these, especially #4. I have been to several Daytona races, and for the most part, it's boring. The first 30 laps are awesome .... the smell, the sounds, the sight of them moving that fast down into turn one. But then it's a whole lot of boring until the big one, or until the last 20 laps. And I disliked my experience at Homestead a couple years ago that I will never go back. But the issues there were less the race and more the facility/people.

As for the old style of racing, I want the old style of DRIVERS!!!! i want guys with f'n personalities. Somebody to hate, somebody to love, all of that crap. That is what NASCAR is missing for me. I want people I care about in the sport. i honestly couldn't care less who wins and who loses anymore really. With Martin running a reduced schedule, the actual cup winner means nothing for me.

..........

Personally, I'd like to see NASCAR do the following:

- trim the fields down to 30 cars or less

- kill restrictor plates with fire

- kill the chase or make it actually matter and park the cars that dont make the chase like a real playoffs should be

You can take the restrictor plates off no problem, they'll just use the new EFI to restrict horse power. For all legal purposes, restrictor plates are here to stay. They were testing at somewhere around 215 mph at Michigan on the new surface... TESTING at 215!!! That's just plain stupid and not in a good way. More speed at Daytona will not make better "racing" as a matter of fact it will make the racing "worse", if you don't believe me then rewatch the 600 and that's what will happen.

If you want to make racing better, Rusty Wallace hit the nail on the head. Reduce the season to 30 races. Myself I say reduce the regular season down to 20 races giving Daytona the opener and the July 4th race. You reduce all races to 300 miles, with the exception of the Brickyard 400, the Daytona 500, the Southern 500 at Darlington, and the Coca-Cola 600, and you give out huge pay days for winning one of them and an friggin ridiculous amount of money for winning all 4. Then for the Chase, you have 9 out of the 10 tracks earn their way into the Chase and have the last race at Charlotte and be the 600. I believe shorter races and a shorter schedule would make for a better season and 30 total races (not including the Shootout and the All-Star race) would give teams natural breaks to repair equipment and just refresh allowing them to go out and compete at a higher level.

I just hate the idea that the cars are restricted in some way on purpose. If you want to limit the cars, do it with the rulebook. Make them all run 6cyl engines without power adders. Make them run production motors. But I want them running the same motors at every track. Not plates/efi restrictions at this track and wide open at that track. That is what bugs me about the plate races.If you want to limit their speeds, fine by me. Just do it without adding restrictions.

I agree that the season is too long and for the most part, the races are too long. Taking your ideas and cutting the season and race lengths ... combined with limiting the field to , say, 25-30 cars ... and I think the racing would instantly improve. And with that, I am a firm believer that Nextel Cup Drivers should stay the hell out of the Nationwide and Craftsmen series.

[Sterling84]

I do also find it interesting that we have complaints about this season. Look back only over the past 6 years and we saw one team dominate. We saw several years where so few cars had any real chance of winning it was lame. Didn't the 48,99 and 18 split like 3/4 of all victories a couple seasons ago? We also saw complaints about endless end-of-race cautions/wrecks and GWCs that people thought the first 450 miles were pointless.

Now we've got competitive parity and tons of knucklehead free green flag racing and we still aren't satisfied. I'm a little bored too...just pointing out the hypocrisy of it all.

But, let's call the disatisfaction valid for the sake of argument. I LOVE the idea of shortening the season and most races. That gets to a socio-cultural shift that I could chat with you all about for hours in and of itself. I think about this all the time. Less is more. We all already know that. The best shows on TV (for example) are all short run, high quality (basically miniseries) that only show up once per 12 months. True Blood, Mad Men, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Justified et al. And no, those programs don't drive ratings enough to sustain networks on their own. They inspire smaller,more passionate fanbases. But the methodone for the masses has had to react accordingly to these shifts. Even standard sitcoms have shortened their production from 24 eps a year to 18 or even half season runs. Nobody airs reruns much anymore during primetime. And even the loathed reality show filler focuses on half seasons. The net net effect is that even for mild=numbing dreck like Dancing with the Stars you've got an audience who feels like A) Man, it's been FOREVER since this show was on...I cannot wait. and It's only a 12-15 week committment of my time so I am not going to miss a minute of it!!!

THerefore, it seems obvious to me that sports leagues need to take a hard look at this stuff going forward into the next 10-20 years. The problem is they haven't figured out how to do it financially......with ever more expensive salaries and stadium mortgages and so forth. Thankfully, if any "league" has the flexibility to change rapidly it's NASCAR given that they don't have the same structure as the other major sports do. It's (unless I'm mistaken) more like the WWF...a travelling promotion without players unions and member teams. They can essentially do whatever they want and have....instituting double file restarts MID SEASON!! Think about how rare that is compared to the NFL or MLB which puts their changes through committee for years.

So what should they do? I love some of what you guys are suggesting. Shorter everything. Maybe 20 weeks to make the Chase and 10 weeks (less?) of playoff. For the playoff? I would suggest anything that more resembles an actual tournament. I've been blasted in this thread before I think...for floating an elimination style tourney. Chase Race 1...worst of 10 contenders is eliminated altogether and so on down the line. That would leave a 3 way head to head winner take all in Miami. Essentially what we had last year, but guaranteed every year. I also like the idea (however nuts) of just reducing the field to Chase participants only. Or, failing that? Eliminating qualifying for the Chase. Line them up by points so they are all right there near one another. And if you do it either of those ways? WHy not say that to qualify for the Chase you have to either be top 10(12) in points OR have won any race during the year? Like an All-Star bid. Then the Chase field could grow to a max of 20 cars but it adds that incentive during the regular season and the "Cinderella" possibility.

Not sure why the push here for less cars in the field though. Hate the start and park that much? I say, go the other way for now. If you show up and can reach the track minimum speed with a licensed driver? You're in the show. Most weeks that'd top out at 44-45 anyway. For the big races? 50? It's so hard to even field a team nowadays I don't get the point of sending 2-6 guys home. Most of them park anyway. And cutting them in on a small percentage of the purse might help them grow their operations a tiny bit. And if everyone is in....then the stupid top 35 owners points garbage is automatically OUT and we don't have to see the blatant manipulation of points in the offseason. WE have to remember here some of this is like a relic of a bygone era...like the DH rule. We just hang onto it for lack of will to do something different. Racing used to be...crash out in qualifying...you don't race. Sorry. But as the sport became a TV property and worth so much money; so expensive to attend....the thought of sending a fan who paid $180 to see Jeff Gordon home without having seen Jeff Gordon race? That became suicide. So they fabricate a safety net for their stars with layer after layer of protection. (Top 35, then champion provisionals and so forth) It's dumb. Just let everyone race. If it turns out in 10 years the economy rebounds and 75 teams show up for Daytona? Fine. Revisit capping the field at that point.

We have to remember, and NASCAR should realize...fair has nothing to do with anything in sports. It's an entertainment property. We like to put the idea of fairness into it to justify our investment of time, money and emotion. But what is fair about the Phillies being the best team for 162 games and then bowing out after a 5-7 game sample size? What is fair about my 15-1 Packers getting bounced after clearly being the best team for much of the year? Nothing. And thus everything. Fair has nothing to do with it. Bottom line is tournaments are exciting because they aren't fair. They are exciting because they are sudden, brutal terminations of your season....except for one person/team. NASCAR is not caught, straddling their history and tradition...where the aggregate champion is the overrall "best" driver during the year and the present day desire to field a for-TV product that keeps people tuning in.....(during NCAA and NFL football season no less). It's impossible. Can't be done. You can't be beholden to the advertisers and stick to your roots too.

So I think you(we) are onto something.

1)SHorten the season by at least 6 weeks. Shorten the races themselves. Races become more coveted to attend and watch. Give football a wide birth during the autumn.

2)Drastically alter the postseason format in a manner which seems sacreligious at first but one that guarantees excitment...not just leaves the door open to it. We've had ONE good Chase. Don't get cocky.

3) Stop obsessing about growth at all costs. Profit is good. Growth is good. But not everyone can be the NFL. Try hard to grow your brand at a grass roots level...through local tracks, slot cars, video games or go-karts (seasons?) or however. I got into this at age 30. It can be done. Move the broadcasts from Fox to all cable where lower ratings are more viable and settle in...kind of like the NHL...to be just a darned good viable niche sporting entertainment option. Like my boy Joss Whedon says..."I don't want to make a show a lot of people think is OK. I want to make shows that some people cannot live without". There is a model for success where you just worry about doing what you do and doing it well.

[BrySmalls]

There was a 13 car pileup 9 laps into the race in Dover.

[RyanMcD29]

I hate to say it, but the racing throughout the pack hasn't been good, not just up front. Look at this week's results for instance: http://www.nascar.com/races/leaderboard/cup/race/ Yes it's the 600, but 9 cars on the lead lap, with the closest gap between two drivers over a second and a half apart, shows that the lack of racing's through the whole field. Don't even get me started on how nobody was anywhere near one another during the final 10 lap sprint of the All-Star Race. This isn't even getting into the terrible races at Kansas and Texas last month. Sure, the TV networks like to show up front, but even then there's not much racing going on from 3rd to 20th, either.

I have no idea what's made the racing less competitive in races (the season as a whole has had a nice mix of drivers so it's still maintaining a competitive balance from race to race), because it's mainly the same setup as last year, just with fuel injection which I doubt is the reason behind it. Hopefully, though, with the lull the past couple of months of the season, everyone's just saving their stuff for the Chase and the real fun will begin in September again

The racing was a bit better today, but again, the ending there... not a single battle at the line with most of the cars a second apart and everybody running single file. At least there were some pretty good points of racing throughout the race

[oddball]

Here's the operative question that crossed my mind today, "What exactly is good racing." People talk about good racing and yet I've never heard anyone say what is good racing. I think people will think a good race is one where the leaders beat and bang at the end, and then they forget the rest of the race. I just think most people want good racing, but can't actually describe what it is. Define that first, and then we can talk about what is good racing.