Auto Racing

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O Really
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Auto Racing

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OK, so I know not many if any here are racing fans, but this looks silly to me. Nascar is going to start running a schedule this coming Sunday 5/17 in Darlington SC. Here's what they say about moving scheduled races:
• Chicagoland’s NASCAR Cup Series race — originally set for June 21 — has been reassigned to Darlington on May 17. The 1.5-mile Illinois track’s Xfinity Series race that was scheduled June 20 will be held May 19 at Darlington. Chicagoland was also set to host the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series (June 19) and ARCA Menards Series (June 18); officials indicated those races will be reassigned at a later date.

• Richmond Raceway’s springtime Cup Series event on the initial schedule for April 19 has been moved to Darlington on May 20. A Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race that was to be run April 18 remains postponed, with officials saying details would come later for rescheduling. The .75-mile Virginia track’s Sept. 11-12 race weekend remains on the schedule.

• Sonoma Raceway’s Cup Series date for June 14 has been moved to Charlotte on May 27. Officials for the road course said in a release they had worked with NASCAR to find an alternate date on the schedule, but a suitable replacement could not be reached, “given the ongoing uncertainty around large events in California.”
Here's what's silly: In each race, there are unique characteristics of the track or location that makes the race different from others. Some tracks are high-banked; some are flat. Distances range from about a half-mile with really tight corners in Martinsville to 2.5 miles with big sweeping high banked turns at Daytona, and 2 miles of very wide low banks at Michigan. A race at a short track isn't anything at all like a race on a long one, except that they all still turn left.

So when you "move" the Chicago race to Darlington, you're changing from a 1.5 mile tri-oval to a a 1.3 mile narrow high bank with different banking in various corners and it's own legacy of leaving cars with a "Darlington stripe" from how often they hit the wall. And "moving" the Sonoma race from a track that is a real road course, with something like 12 turns, hills, etc. and moving it to Charlotte for their pretend "roval" isn't even close.

Are they "moving" a race, or just scrapping races in Chicago, Richmond, and Sonoma and putting in new races at different tracks? It doesn't really matter to me, and maybe to nobody else, but if they think races are that interchangeable, and they aren't going to have fans anyway, why not just have a race every weekend at Charlotte and everybody gets to stay home.

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GoCubsGo
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Re: Auto Racing

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There is no purity of racing. Only $$.

Not that I care.
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Re: Auto Racing

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GoCubsGo wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 1:50 am
There is no purity of racing. Only $$.

Not that I care.
Yeah, way back when they started garbaging up every sentence with sponsor names should have been a clue of what's to come. When the Nascar cars were in fact "stock"-ish, the slogan was "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." That idea extended on past the car make to the product names plastered on the car, its driver, the crew, etc. If the "Valvoline Ford" won a race, people would ostensibly buy more Fords, and buy Valvoline oil for them. Somewhere along the line, the whole thing got out of hand - the oversize slot cars running on Sunday aren't remotely like real cars you can buy; sponsor names got so ubiquitous they weren't even closely associated with a particular driver, and drivers generally lost their personalities and simply learned standard sponsor-laden phrases to be repeated while posing for the meaningless "stand on the car window, put on a sponsor hat and hold up a product" photo.

Too bad.

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 10:14 am
GoCubsGo wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 1:50 am
There is no purity of racing. Only $$.

Not that I care.
Yeah, way back when they started garbaging up every sentence with sponsor names should have been a clue of what's to come. When the Nascar cars were in fact "stock"-ish, the slogan was "win on Sunday, sell on Monday." That idea extended on past the car make to the product names plastered on the car, its driver, the crew, etc. If the "Valvoline Ford" won a race, people would ostensibly buy more Fords, and buy Valvoline oil for them. Somewhere along the line, the whole thing got out of hand - the oversize slot cars running on Sunday aren't remotely like real cars you can buy; sponsor names got so ubiquitous they weren't even closely associated with a particular driver, and drivers generally lost their personalities and simply learned standard sponsor-laden phrases to be repeated while posing for the meaningless "stand on the car window, put on a sponsor hat and hold up a product" photo.

Too bad.
And the Ford, Chevy, Dodge whatever care aren't what they advertise. They are all the same cars with different badging.

Complete bullshit.
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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 12:13 am
OK, so I know not many if any here are racing fans, but this looks silly to me....
Is it really racing if there's no chance that redneck spectators will have to scatter to avoid flying shrapnel?
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Re: Auto Racing

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Vrede too wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 4:07 pm
O Really wrote:
Wed May 13, 2020 12:13 am
OK, so I know not many if any here are racing fans, but this looks silly to me....
Is it really racing if there's no chance that redneck spectators will have to scatter to avoid flying shrapnel?
Yeah, well that's just something else wrong with current racing. You don't get much of that anymore since they put in the taller stronger catch fences.

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Re: Auto Racing

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So Nascar has run a couple of races, and as of now are pretty much the only live sports on TV. Got the whole show to themselves. Time to show off, try to get new fans or win back old fans who lost interest. Boogity boogity boogity. So where is the only place to find them on TV? FoxSports1. :roll:

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 12:00 pm
So Nascar has run a couple of races, and as of now are pretty much the only live sports on TV. Got the whole show to themselves. Time to show off, try to get new fans or win back old fans who lost interest. Boogity boogity boogity. So where is the only place to find them on TV? FoxSports1. :roll:
My mother hated Fox News and the Murdochs so much that she would not watch anything on the Fox broadcast channel, even when I tried to tell her that it had some of the most progressive shows out there. I feel the same about FoxSports. I'm there for the sport - not NASCAR! - and don't really care who's showing it. It's not like other media conglomerates are any better when the comparisons aren't among news channels.
Always be yourself! Unless you can be a goat, then always be a goat.
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Re: Auto Racing

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You may have missed my point of view. I don't have a problem with FS1 per se - it's got little if any relationship to the Faux Noise people. But its' a cable-sat channel that's not on everybody's TV. Seems like they would have been able to get a wider coverage since they're close to the only live show around. F'rinstance, broadcast Fox is showing NFL re-runs in the same time slot. Hard to believe they wouldn't be better off showing the race.

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 1:35 pm
You may have missed my point of view. I don't have a problem with FS1 per se - it's got little if any relationship to the Faux Noise people. But its' a cable-sat channel that's not on everybody's TV. Seems like they would have been able to get a wider coverage since they're close to the only live show around. F'rinstance, broadcast Fox is showing NFL re-runs in the same time slot. Hard to believe they wouldn't be better off showing the race.
Ah, my bad :oops: , sorry. I still like mentioning Mom's Faux-hatred. ;)

Idk, but it may have to do with contracts that were signed long ago, or with giving FS1 some viewers when broadcast Fox doesn't really need them. Plus, I THINK that FS1 and Fox are completely different News Corp entities. Maybe sharing between them isn't simple?
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Re: Auto Racing

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Yeah, I don't care - I haven't actually watched a Nascar race in years other than maybe a tivoed fast version of Daytona or something. But I might have watched this one just because it is the only fresh sports on an afternoon unsuitable for outdoor activey. I like highlight films, but I'm not nearly desperate enough to watch an entire re-run of a football game.

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 3:04 pm
Yeah, I don't care - I haven't actually watched a Nascar race in years other than maybe a tivoed fast version of Daytona or something. But I might have watched this one just because it is the only fresh sports on an afternoon unsuitable for outdoor activey. I like highlight films, but I'm not nearly desperate enough to watch an entire re-run of a football game.
Otoh, maybe you're sorta correct, most people are like us, and it really is just that NFL re-runs get more viewers than live NASCAR. :D After all, it was the Iggles almost beating the Pats in 2005. At least play happens in different directions.
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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Sun May 31, 2020 3:04 pm
Yeah, I don't care - I haven't actually watched a Nascar race in years other than maybe a tivoed fast version of Daytona or something. But I might have watched this one just because it is the only fresh sports on an afternoon unsuitable for outdoor activey. I like highlight films, but I'm not nearly desperate enough to watch an entire re-run of a football game.
Social distancing graduation, better than NASCAR:

2020 graduates receive their diplomas at Daytona International Speedway
Graduates start your engines
Always be yourself! Unless you can be a goat, then always be a goat.
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Re: Auto Racing

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A few other tracks had ceremonies, including Indianapolis. That'd be sooooo cool. Who needs a stodgy ceremony in an auditorium/stadium? Graduates, start your engines!

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Mon Jun 01, 2020 12:12 am
A few other tracks had ceremonies, including Indianapolis. That'd be sooooo cool. Who needs a stodgy ceremony in an auditorium/stadium? Graduates, start your engines!
:thumbup:


NASCAR is banning the slaver/traitor flag, and at least one car will have "Black Lives Matter" on it. :---P :clap:

Edit:
NASCAR bans fans from displaying Confederate flag at racetracks

...

Bubba Wallace driving Black Lives Matter car

NASCAR’s ban came hours before the Cup Series races at Martinsville Speedway, the site of Wallace’s first NASCAR win in 2013. Wallace, the only black driver racing full-time in any of NASCAR’s top three series, won a Truck Series race at the track seven years ago to become the first black driver to win a NASCAR race since Wendell Scott in 1964.

Wallace wore a shirt ahead of Sunday’s race that said “I can’t breathe” in reference to Floyd’s final words. His shirt also supported the Black Lives Matter movement. Wednesday night, his car will support it too. Wallace is driving a black No. 43 car for Black Lives Matter.

He was asked about NASCAR’s decision before the race and had nothing but good things to say.

“Bravo, props to NASCAR and everyone involved,” Wallace said. He also noted that it was the biggest race of his career....
Great for him, but I'd love to see a white driver do it.
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Re: Auto Racing

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I see that today's Nascar race's primary sponsor is Dixie Vodka. To their credit, there's no sign of any traitor flag on their website or on their brands, despite the fact they make much of their "southerness."

Also, it might be a little too obvious right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if somehow their token Black driver, who hasn't come close to a checkered flag yet, might pull off a win soon.

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Re: Auto Racing

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O Really wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:25 pm
... Also, it might be a little too obvious right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if somehow their token Black driver, who hasn't come close to a checkered flag yet, might pull off a win soon.
You think they fix races?
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Re: Auto Racing

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Vrede too wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:56 pm
O Really wrote:
Sun Jun 14, 2020 1:25 pm
... Also, it might be a little too obvious right now, but I wouldn't be surprised if somehow their token Black driver, who hasn't come close to a checkered flag yet, might pull off a win soon.
You think they fix races?
"Fix" may be a little strong, but they certainly can and do affect races. For example, the timing of a caution flag thrown for "debris" can mean the difference in a car leading by, say, a half lap vs. giving the others a chance to catch up or pass. I don't think they can make an awful car with an awful driver win, but they can affect who is in contention for the win and how close it is.

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Re: Auto Racing

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Of course.

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Re: Auto Racing

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GoCubsGo wrote:
Mon Jun 15, 2020 2:20 pm
Of course.
... (Bubba) Wallace (Black Lives Matter car) competed at Homestead over the weekend, too, and finished 13th in the Cup Series. (Kyle) Weatherman (Blue Lives Matter car) didn't finish his race.
The NASCAR gods have spoken.

NASCAR truck racer Ray Ciccarelli says he's quitting over the company's decision to ban the Confederate flag

Bye, Felicia!
Always be yourself! Unless you can be a goat, then always be a goat.
-- the interweb, paraphrased
1312. ETTD.

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