The track looks great. Lots of grip...
But the two car draft packs and the way they can simply take off with a 20 mph difference is insane..
Is it just me or does anyone else agree that this is this just more jelly bean and all aero draft racing that leads to boring racing. This despite eliminating splitter and improving the rear spoiler..
I fell Asleep wow boring!!!
I feel the same way....this type of racing is simply boring and on the other hand it is downright dangerous,remember too there was only 24 cars that started the shootout wait till we have a field of 43 for the 500 😮
Yep, dumb racing. The splitter still remains on the cars, look how much mud Mikey kicked up in the grass. The cars are to TUFF. Put a front veilence like all the late models have on them, like they had in the 90s.
And easiest way to get rid on the dumb style of drafting, is go back to the old car. You cant push cars like that when the front end of your car fits UNDER the back of the other car.
And Jeff Gordon hit it on the head about the mystery spins...the bumpers match up, UNTILL they get beat up a little bit, then your HOOKING EACH OTHER. Holy F***ING dangerous!!! A ticking timebomb that you dont know when ur gonna hook sombody around.
Wait till Talladega!!
I agree that the "splitter" in a sense is still there, but it's no longer the shovel it once was, its now tucked behind the front air dam and to be sure the cars picked up speed because of the change.
The superspeedways are always dangerous - never going to eliminate that part of the equation. What I didn't like about the "racing" was the two car missile tandems that simply made it boring to watch - yet the teams were forced to run in order to be up front. You lose your partner, your car goes to the back in a hurry.
It wasn't "fun" to watch a tandem fly by at 20 to 25 + mph faster then anyone else. The ARCA race was just as boring for the lack of passing running single file for the last 10 laps with nobody having the ability to go it alone.
I may be in the minority on this view, but something has GOT to change and I think it's the jelly bean one size fits all car shape. NASCAR should go back to bodies that are based on actual production cars. Run what you brung and eliminate the equalization of cars through aerodynamics.
It's only going to get worse next year with the introduction of fuel injection. It was announced that there will be two vendors that will supply the fuel injection components. From NASCAR's website:
Freescale will provide the processors for McLaren's engine control units (ECUs) that will be used to manage the fuel and ignition systems in the engines for all Cup Series cars, replacing carburetors which have been used in the series since its inception in 1949. NASCAR and its top series teams will test the technology during the 2011 season with the anticipation of the systems being rolled out for the 2012 season.
The fuel injection system will bring increased technology and efficiency to the Cup Series cars while at the same time complementing the car's high performance. This announcement marks the most significant strategic change to NASCAR's engine platform in decades. As part of this program, Freescale is designated as the "Official Automotive Semiconductor of NASCAR" and McLaren the "Official Engine Control Unit of NASCAR."
"This move gives us an additional opportunity to incorporate the best technology in our race cars that will enhance the sport in a variety of ways," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition. "Selecting these two industry leaders reflects our commitment to this new technology which our manufacturers and teams have embraced. This is a positive step that will provide greater fuel efficiency and a greener footprint while maintaining the same great competition we have seen on the race track."
For decades, most of the parts and equipment on NASCAR race cars have been highly customized for racing but at the same time relevant in standard automobiles. This move to fuel injection brings back an important synergy between these two vehicle types.
ECUs maximize each racing team's ability to get the most performance and best fuel economy under all race conditions. With this announcement, plans call for every Cup Series race team to use a control system with Freescale's advanced 32-bit Power Architecture based engine management processors at its core, beginning in 2012. These same processors power millions of today's most energy efficient engines.
The ECUs are tamper-proof, ensuring that only approved software may ever be run during a race weekend. Additionally, NASCAR will have special electronic tools at its disposal during every event to ensure the legality of all ECUs.
In my opinion that eliminates a lot of the competition between brands and thus will lead to lower fan attraction.
sigh... NASCAR is going the way of F-1 and we all know what mess that sanctioning body is in...
What really stuns me is that NASCAR has lots of experience with fuel injection and appropriate rules that should be put forward for its biggest series. These future NASCAR rules are nowhere near what they have in place for their subsidiary Rolex - Grand Am. So why are they going in the opposite direction?