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2020 NASCAR Thread


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35 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I have my doubts, but it ticks some boxes for NASCAR

  • Probably get a sweetheart deal from the raceway, Texas, and City of Austin (let's not kid ourselves, money will drive this).
  • Expands their market/footprint into an area they aren't in, and it's not just Austin, but also pulls from San Antonio.  Would also get Houston and Dallas fans.
  • The infrastructure to handle a NASCAR event is already in place, due to the existing race and numerous festivals - Austin already has the hotels, nearby airport, etc.
  • A lot of people have been pushing them to expand outside of existing ovals.

Would be cool.  I was dreading taking my kid up to TMS.

I doubt the city will kick in anything directly for the race. They don't do that for the other races, but there's zero doubt that COTA will use it to tap more millions from the Texas MERP. 

Edited by wood
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Also, hearing some talk now that COTA is only (maybe) getting that NASCAR date because Bruton Smith has either bought COTA or is about to. So he would still own the date, & would just be using it at COTA.

This would also  explain the rumor that COTA's Bobby  Epstein has stepped aside or is out completely. 

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On 9/23/2020 at 6:54 PM, wood said:

Also, hearing some talk now that COTA is only (maybe) getting that NASCAR date because Bruton Smith has either bought COTA or is about to. So he would still own the date, & would just be using it at COTA.

This would also  explain the rumor that COTA's Bobby  Epstein has stepped aside or is out completely. 

That makes some of the Indy rumors much more interesting.

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About that COTA buyout rumor ... try this on: 

SMI/TMS gives COTA a 'Test Drive' - leasing COTA for the May 23 NASCAR date, & running the race on the National (short) Circuit. That allows them to keep their NASCAR schedule date, but use it at COTA. They commit minimal resources, and if it works out, they keep doing it. 

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NASCAR had a great turnout in Mexico City when they tried the road course there. Unfortunately the Mexicans stole a shitload of equipment so no more going there. Austin isn't MxCty, but it does have a large hispanic population within travelling distance. 

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I'm actually impressed NASCAR is going to do a dirt track with the Cup schedule.

It's almost like they are finally waking up to the fact that a lot of fans have gotten bored and left.

Now if they can replace some of the robot personalities....

Kid and I will definitely make the Austin race.  And I found out about this, because I had multiple relatives asking about staying with us next May.

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So, looks like we were right ... the COTA NASCAR round comes to us "courtesy of Speedway Motorsports". SMI is promoting the race, not COTA.

http://links.engage.ticketmaster.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NjEwOTQxNgS2&r=MjIxMTExNzI1OTY0S0&j=MTEwMTM4MDI4MgS2&mt=1&rt=0

Weird that Smith & Gossage didn't mention it in the TMS stream thingy.

ETA: So since it's just a track rental with SMI as the promoter, they'd presumably get the TV money and any potential MERP money as well. 

Edited by wood
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Those motherfuckers completely screwed over everyone who DVR'ed the race when they changed the broadcast to NBCSN. 

Fucking infuriating. 

~~~~~

A heartfelt open letter from Kyle Larson. I think he means every word, but I also think this means that he's going to be announcing a new ride for next year soon. 

 

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19 hours ago, Prepuce of Doom said:

I didn't watch NASCAR back when his dad was driving, so I don't have any particular affinity for him based on that, but I find Chase to be just incredibly boring and nearly devoid of personality, like Kasey Kahne or Paul Menard. 

It seems weird to me how popular he is. 

what Nascar driver right now isn't exactly like that?

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25 minutes ago, hookem48 said:

what Nascar driver right now isn't exactly like that?

Fair point, and I don't totally disagree (and I get that there's a tremendous incentive not to ruffle feathers lest they upset sponsors), but I do think those three are among the most blandly uninteresting of the entire milquetoast lineup. 

Kyle Busch, Brad K., Harvick, Bowyer, and Logano are all drivers with a defined personality.

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On 11/11/2020 at 1:16 AM, Prepuce of Doom said:

I didn't watch NASCAR back when his dad was driving, so I don't have any particular affinity for him based on that, but I find Chase to be just incredibly boring and nearly devoid of personality, like Kasey Kahne or Paul Menard. 

It seems weird to me how popular he is. 

His dad won most popular driver every year until Dale Jr showed up. All of these new guys are uninteresting marketing robots. That’s the number one requirement of drivers these days. Marketing. These cars are easy to drive compared to the old days.

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On 11/11/2020 at 1:16 AM, Prepuce of Doom said:

I didn't watch NASCAR back when his dad was driving, so I don't have any particular affinity for him based on that, but I find Chase to be just incredibly boring and nearly devoid of personality, like Kasey Kahne or Paul Menard. 

It seems weird to me how popular he is. 

 

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That's nuts - thanks for posting. 

I have only been watching since 2005 or so, but I really enjoyed watching some of the older "Classic NASCAR" races that aired during the spring and early summer before the season restarted. There was a 1986 race from Richmond that was just a complete shock to my system in about a thousand different ways. 

I still have a bunch left on my DVR that I haven't got to yet, but unfortunately, that Talladega race isn't one of them. 

Edited by Prepuce of Doom
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  • 1 month later...

Recent news that NASCAR is going to race the full circuit at COTA, rather than a shortened version.  I'm glad about that.  When the Aussie V8 Supercars came several years back, it was a lot of fun, but my main regret was that they raced a shortened version that cut off half the track.

They obviously won't behave like F1 cars going 'round the full circuit, but that's okay, they're not supposed to.

https://jalopnik.com/nascar-is-going-to-race-cotas-full-track-layout-1845868750?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0K43lBb3UjAV8lBYsrOKWiAKBTQUhOYrEq8u_fZ3sl9hJu0IU0nTWhghA

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/14/2020 at 3:22 PM, Prepuce of Doom said:

That's nuts - thanks for posting. 

I have only been watching since 2005 or so, but I really enjoyed watching some of the older "Classic NASCAR" races that aired during the spring and early summer before the season restarted. There was a 1986 race from Richmond that was just a complete shock to my system in about a thousand different ways. 

I still have a bunch left on my DVR that I haven't got to yet, but unfortunately, that Talladega race isn't one of them. 

As a kid in the 80s, it was really magical, and watching some of them through the 90s was still a blast.   It wasn’t any one thing, but I could probably list 3-4 things that just kind of took the fun out of it.  The drivers becoming more and more bland certainly contributed, and the car changes didn’t help.

It didn’t help that I was a huge fan of Robert Yates’s teams, Texaco in particular, and it was such a fucking gut punch when Davey Allison was killed, and then other shit happened to his teams.   

This was one of my favorite races - Ned Jarrett helping call a race in which his son Dale won his first Cup race, and it was against Davey Allison in his prime.   

 

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So that Michigan 400 race clip I posted, this was the final results, well top 25.  Crazy thing is, 4 out of the top 15 (bolded - Jarrett, Irvan, Rudd, Speed) would drive the Texaco/Havolilne car at some point after Davey was killed.

  1. Dale Jarrett
  2. Davey Allison
  3. Rusy Wallace
  4. Mark Martin
  5. Bill Elliott
  6. Harry Gant
  7. Ernie Irvan
  8. Alan Kulwiki
  9. Michaele Waltrip
  10. Ken Scharader
  11. Ricky Rudd
  12. Sterling Marlin
  13. Buddy Baker
  14. Hut Stricklin
  15. Lake Speed
  16. Terry Labonte
  17. Ted Musgrave
  18. Rick Mast
  19. Bobby Hamilton
  20. Dave Marcis
  21. Dick Trickle
  22. Wally Dallenbach JR
  23. Richard Petty
  24. Dale Earnhardt
  25. Chad Little

There was some awesome personalities in that bunch.

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  • 1 month later...

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