NASCAR

[kenarmy]

You mean I'm the first to mention Ross Chastain's "balls to the wall" move at Martinsville to get by Denny Hamlin and into the championship?

I'm becoming a Chastain fan, and I'm not a fan of Hamlin's, so I loved that move.

I was good with Logano winning the championship, but I was rooting for Chastain. I'm just glad Elliott didn't win. I haven't been a fan of his since he dissed Harvick last year.

And I'm genuinely curious what happened to Coy Gibbs. My guess is a massive heart attack. I had a friend who unexpectedly died of a massive heart attack who was younger than Gibbs.

Oh I didn't know about Elliott dissing Harvick. But anyway, I was hoping anybody but Joey would win the championship but oh well. Hamlin always comes close but never wins.

[7/8]

I happened to see the final laps of the Xfinity race at Martinsville and saw Ty Gibbs knock his teammate into wall for the win. It was hilarious hearing the crowd booing during his interview.

As someone new to NASCAR, how far do you have to push your luck to get a penalty? That move seemed very blatant, but I didn't hear any talk of penalizing it.

[Max Rockatansky]

I happened to see the final laps of the Xfinity race at Martinsville and saw Ty Gibbs knock his teammate into wall for the win. It was hilarious hearing the crowd booing during his interview.

As someone new to NASCAR, how far do you have to push your luck to get a penalty? That move seemed very blatant, but I didn't hear any talk of penalizing it.

Usually it has to be pushed to the point where someone overtly takes out another driver.  Bumping into someone or push into them on a short track likely isn't going to be enough to warrant a penalty.  There is a more famous example of this when Dale Earnhardt bumped (and wrecked) Terry Labonte to win a race at Bristol. 

NASCAR is historically very resistant to taking wins away even if there is some sort of outright cheating is detected.  I'm to understand the idea is that it is better to have the fan base know who the winner is and not end up changing it later.  Usually only points penalties about the worst that will happen. 

[NWI_Irish96]

Jeff Gordon went to high school at a neighboring district to my wife's, so he's the reason I started following NASCAR. By extension, I've always been a Hendrick fan first. Beyond that, Tony Stewart is from Indiana so SHR is my second favorite, followed by any other Chevy team.

Penske and Gibbs are the lowest for me. Never want to see them win, though I do like Denny Hamlin a bit.

[formulanone]

As someone new to NASCAR, how far do you have to push your luck to get a penalty? That move seemed very blatant, but I didn't hear any talk of penalizing it.

I think you have to either 1) kill someone 2) SpinGate 3) engine irregularity caught you this week, to get penalized.

It's to the point where bumping a competitor you can't pass on the track is encouraged, because the assumption is that you'll just get them the next time around, like a TV/movie plot. Part of it is normal - like any motorsports - especially on a short-track...rubbing's part of racing is kind of an essential part of the sport because otherwise it would be a procession. And that's okay; accidents and mistakes do happen, but when a driver just rage-quits into a win is too much like a video game. I don't care much if "it was revenge for the ____ race" excuses. A bullshit win is a bullshit win. To the audience, a little chaos makes things interesting.

On the other hand, it's better than F1s half-assed penalty system:

Performed a jump start? 30 second penalty.
Take out you competitor? We'll add on 5-10 seconds.
Also, it's not your fault your engine/transmission blew up, but here...take a 5-place grid penalty.

But that's for another thread.

[hbelkins]

Putting the bumper to someone for the win, or to gain a position, is pretty much accepted behavior.

It has to be very blatantly retaliatory, such as Kenseth coming back on track to wreck Logano at Martinsville several years ago; or Wallace taking out Larson a couple of weeks ago; before any penalties are levied.

Earnhardt, to my knowledge, never really got too upset if someone used the chrome horn on him for the win. Mayfield did it to him at Pocono one year and I don't remember Earnhardt getting mad about it.

[WillWeaverRVA]

Putting the bumper to someone for the win, or to gain a position, is pretty much accepted behavior.

It has to be very blatantly retaliatory, such as Kenseth coming back on track to wreck Logano at Martinsville several years ago; or Wallace taking out Larson a couple of weeks ago; before any penalties are levied.

Earnhardt, to my knowledge, never really got too upset if someone used the chrome horn on him for the win. Mayfield did it to him at Pocono one year and I don't remember Earnhardt getting mad about it.

It's still accepted behavior. The issue with Ty Gibbs is that Brandon Jones was his teammate and needed to win to make the championship four. Gibbs was already locked into the championship four, so he had no reason to wreck Jones - the crowd mostly knew this, so that's why the move was unpopular. Any punishment would probably have come from JGR, but given that it's Ty Gibbs, it was horribly unlikely that anything would happen. Brandon Jones was the better man in the end for not wrecking Gibbs the following week at Phoenix (he had several opportunities).

[epzik8]

Jeff Gordon went to high school at a neighboring district to my wife's, so he's the reason I started following NASCAR. By extension, I've always been a Hendrick fan first. Beyond that, Tony Stewart is from Indiana so SHR is my second favorite, followed by any other Chevy team.

Penske and Gibbs are the lowest for me. Never want to see them win, though I do like Denny Hamlin a bit.

I got into it when one of my paternal uncles worked at DuPont in Wilmington when Jeff was really good. I've gone on to become a Ford and Penske fan.

[NWI_Irish96]

The inuagural Chicago street race is coming up soon. I checked into tickets, and the cheapest general admission tickets are $269 and the cheapest reserved seats are $465. I get that you get two race days plus concerts, but I really just want to go to the cup race.

For comparison, we go to the Indy 500 every year and we have very good seats that are $130 each.

[SP Cook]

There is nothing less NASCAR than a street (parking lot) race in Chicago.

[abefroman329]

There is nothing less NASCAR than a street (parking lot) race in Chicago.

Well, they're closing the streets, but yes, agreed.  Chicago isn't the place for people who support treason-in-support-of-slavery.

[Dough4872]

I have a feeling the NASCAR street race at Chicago is gonna be one and done. Something tells me it's gonna end up being a disaster from both a racing standpoint and a logistical standpoint as it's causing disruption to the city. But I'll watch on TV and see how it actually ends up going.

[NWI_Irish96]

There is nothing less NASCAR than a street (parking lot) race in Chicago.

Well, they're closing the streets, but yes, agreed.  Chicago isn't the place for people who support treason-in-support-of-slavery.

I like that they are doing more non-ovals and in bigger cities mainly because it triggers the crowd you mentioned.

[Dough4872]

There is nothing less NASCAR than a street (parking lot) race in Chicago.

Well, they're closing the streets, but yes, agreed.  Chicago isn't the place for people who support treason-in-support-of-slavery.

I like that they are doing more non-ovals and in bigger cities mainly because it triggers the crowd you mentioned.

I am glad that NASCAR is adding more road course races and trying to market to fans in larger cities (would love to see them come to NYC or Philly), but the core fan base is still in the South and nothing can deny that, just look at North Wilkesboro.

[abefroman329]

I have a feeling the NASCAR street race at Chicago is gonna be one and done. Something tells me it's gonna end up being a disaster from both a racing standpoint and a logistical standpoint as it's causing disruption to the city.

I do too.  I was watching a press conference about logistics yesterday and no one seems the least bit concerned that LSD will be closed from Grand to 47th while the Kennedy is down to two lanes inbound from Montrose to Ohio, and that there aren't any other north-south limited access roads until you get to the Tri-State (not sure if people will be able to access Lower Wacker from the Grand Street exit or if both levels of the LSD bridge will be closed).

However, it sounds like NASCAR may be paying for the necessary repairs to the streets that are part of the course, so maybe that was one reason the city agreed to this.

I also have a feeling that most of the attendees will stay at, and eat at, hotels and restaurants in far-flung suburbs, since they've been conditioned to believe that Chicago is a war zone where one can't walk to the corner store without dodging bullets.  Which means the City won't actually see any additional revenue.

[epzik8]

I have a feeling the NASCAR street race at Chicago is gonna be one and done. Something tells me it's gonna end up being a disaster from both a racing standpoint and a logistical standpoint as it's causing disruption to the city.

I do too.  I was watching a press conference about logistics yesterday and no one seems the least bit concerned that LSD will be closed from Grand to 47th while the Kennedy is down to two lanes inbound from Montrose to Ohio, and that there aren't any other north-south limited access roads until you get to the Tri-State (not sure if people will be able to access Lower Wacker from the Grand Street exit or if both levels of the LSD bridge will be closed).

However, it sounds like NASCAR may be paying for the necessary repairs to the streets that are part of the course, so maybe that was one reason the city agreed to this.

I also have a feeling that most of the attendees will stay at, and eat at, hotels and restaurants in far-flung suburbs, since they've been conditioned to believe that Chicago is a war zone where one can't walk to the corner store without dodging bullets.  Which means the City won't actually see any additional revenue.

Take them back to Chicagoland Speedway by any means next year.

[Max Rockatansky]

I have a feeling the NASCAR street race at Chicago is gonna be one and done. Something tells me it's gonna end up being a disaster from both a racing standpoint and a logistical standpoint as it's causing disruption to the city.

I do too.  I was watching a press conference about logistics yesterday and no one seems the least bit concerned that LSD will be closed from Grand to 47th while the Kennedy is down to two lanes inbound from Montrose to Ohio, and that there aren't any other north-south limited access roads until you get to the Tri-State (not sure if people will be able to access Lower Wacker from the Grand Street exit or if both levels of the LSD bridge will be closed).

However, it sounds like NASCAR may be paying for the necessary repairs to the streets that are part of the course, so maybe that was one reason the city agreed to this.

I also have a feeling that most of the attendees will stay at, and eat at, hotels and restaurants in far-flung suburbs, since they've been conditioned to believe that Chicago is a war zone where one can't walk to the corner store without dodging bullets.  Which means the City won't actually see any additional revenue.

Take them back to Chicagoland Speedway by any means next year.

Is anyone else bothered by how assumptive most NASCAR fans are that this event will bomb?  I swear the fan base can't accept even the slightest new concept or track type. 

[abefroman329]

I swear the fan base can't accept even the slightest new concept

From your mouth to God's ears.

[formulanone]

I swear [any] fan base can’t accept even the slightest new concept

fixed for posterity

Even if it is one and done, it's a pretty ballsy attempt. Or as they say it in Skokie, it took some chutzpah.

[SP Cook]

NASCAR's 20 years of "new concepts" have driven away 2 of 3 fans over that period. 

There is a form of racing that involves barely stock appearing cars racing on road courses and city streets.  It is called IMSA. 

NASCAR, however, is about long races on oval tracks built where land is cheap, often near but certainly not in, a big city.   

[Dough4872]

NASCAR's 20 years of "new concepts" have driven away 2 of 3 fans over that period. 

There is a form of racing that involves barely stock appearing cars racing on road courses and city streets.  It is called IMSA. 

NASCAR, however, is about long races on oval tracks built where land is cheap, often near but certainly not in, a big city.

NASCAR does seem to be going back to its roots and racing more at traditional oval tracks in the South. The All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro is a good example, also a second date at Darlington. Most tracks in the South have two dates a year whereas most tracks outside the South only have one date a year. Also hearing there could be changes for next year's schedule including no dirt at Bristol and Indy would go back to the oval as opposed to the road course.

[hbelkins]

I have a feeling the NASCAR street race at Chicago is gonna be one and done. Something tells me it's gonna end up being a disaster from both a racing standpoint and a logistical standpoint as it's causing disruption to the city.

I do too.  I was watching a press conference about logistics yesterday and no one seems the least bit concerned that LSD will be closed from Grand to 47th while the Kennedy is down to two lanes inbound from Montrose to Ohio, and that there aren't any other north-south limited access roads until you get to the Tri-State (not sure if people will be able to access Lower Wacker from the Grand Street exit or if both levels of the LSD bridge will be closed).

However, it sounds like NASCAR may be paying for the necessary repairs to the streets that are part of the course, so maybe that was one reason the city agreed to this.

I also have a feeling that most of the attendees will stay at, and eat at, hotels and restaurants in far-flung suburbs, since they've been conditioned to believe that Chicago is a war zone where one can't walk to the corner store without dodging bullets.  Which means the City won't actually see any additional revenue.

Take them back to Chicagoland Speedway by any means next year.

Hasn't Chicagoland been torn down?

[Konza]

Hasn't Chicagoland been torn down?

It has not.  They've announced that some of the land around it is for sale for redevelopment as an industrial park, but they haven't done anything with the speedway itself.

[74/171FAN]

Hasn't Chicagoland been torn down?

It has not.  They've announced that some of the land around it is for sale for redevelopment as an industrial park, but they haven't done anything with the speedway itself.

I have heard that the track is still race ready based on videos I have watched on YouTube from The Iceberg the last couple years.

[Dough4872]

Hasn't Chicagoland been torn down?

It has not.  They've announced that some of the land around it is for sale for redevelopment as an industrial park, but they haven't done anything with the speedway itself.

I have heard that the track is still race ready based on videos I have watched on YouTube from The Iceberg the last couple years.

So if the street course doesn't work out, maybe they can return to Chicagoland in 2024 and keep a race in America's third largest metro area. Chicagoland did have some good racing, look at the 2018 finish between Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson.