Mopick - Posted - 02/16/2011:  08:24:09

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NASCAR reduced the size of the restrictor plates for the Daytona 500. Great! [sarcasm] The two car packs remind me of Florida love bugs all hooked together, and I'm sorry but I find the big packs running for the whole race is boring. Yeah they are setting up for The Big One! I wish they would just let them run. One of the most exciting things I've ever done was to stand along the fence in the infield where turn 4 meets the tri-oval and watch UNRESTRICTED stock cars coming off turn 4 at over 200 m.p.h. The first race I went to at Daytona was the Firecracker 400 in 1986. That was the year Bill Elliot was winning just about every thing, but not this race. Greg Sachs won this one in an un-sponsored Chevrolet. Back then they didn't even have the roof flaps that deploy when the cars get backward. Yes it was more dangerous and I think the roof flaps are a good idea, along with the Hans device and other driver protection. But please......let them run!

myfoxorlando.com/dpp/sports/na...ytona-500


Randy

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Edited by - Mopick on 02/16/2011 08:53:58

Budedm - Posted - 02/16/2011:  12:55:10

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I agree that the races are very boring. And you can go from first to last in half of a lap if you get outta line. They might as well make the races 10 laps long and that's it. But how do you slow them down if not for restrictor plates? If it weren't for plates, they'd be doing 250 or more at Daytona by now. I don't know what the answer is but the plate races suck.

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Edited by - Budedm on 02/16/2011 12:55:58

Kevin B - Posted - 02/16/2011:  12:57:19

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I agree, let 'em race. NASCAR just can't function without shooting themselves in the foot these days. I have lost interest more each year since Dale's demise in '01. I really hoped this year would mark a new dawn. Oh well.

Budedm - Posted - 02/16/2011:  12:57:48

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Maybe they should put rules on the gearing instead of the engine?

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Edited by - Budedm on 02/16/2011 12:58:12

Randall - Posted - 02/16/2011:  13:02:52

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Sound like NASCAR has taken a lesson or two from Gibson or even the IBMA!!

Mopick - Posted - 02/16/2011:  13:18:59

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quote:

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Originally posted by Budedm

I agree that the races are very boring. And you can go from first to last in half of a lap if you get outta line. They might as well make the races 10 laps long and that's it. But how do you slow them down if not for restrictor plates? If it weren't for plates, they'd be doing 250 or more at Daytona by now. I don't know what the answer is but the plate races suck.

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They started putting the plates on at Talladega and Daytona after Bobby Allison got backwards at Talladega going over 200 miles per hour and crashed into a catch fence. The car didn't go into the stands, but a lot of people got hurt by debris.

They have determined that even the roof flaps won't keep a car on the ground going backwards at over 190 miles per hour. They reached speeds of 206 last week during the Shoot Out, that's why they decided to cut back even more on the resrictor plates. The reduction is an additional 1/64 inch and should further reduce the horsepower by an additional 10 horses.

Micki - Posted - 02/16/2011:  18:36:21

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After the first practice today, they had to. the two changes they made after the shoot out made the cars go faster. Totally boring and dangerous. After their mistake caused Jr. to loose the pole and demolished his car, they finally decided to do what they should have done in the first place! Thank gooness for back-up cars. That first practice was a bigger joke than the shootout. I am glad they did this change before a 500 miles of a bunch of dangerous crap. Micki

BanjoLink - Posted - 02/16/2011:  20:29:18

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It looks like they are trying to clone the drivers just like the PGA has done with golfers. They just about all drive the same, look the same, act the same, and if they don't they have a little visit with them to get them back in line. What happened to all of the "characters" like Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, Junior Johnson, Banjo Matthews, Cotton Ownes, etc. They are making them into TV "stars" not race drivers.

They are doing the same thing with the cars - they all look alike, drive alike, etc. The last I remember someone doing something different was when Bill Elliott's brothers had a few secrets that kept them ahead of the pack. Even then all of the other teams were ticked off at them because they wouldn't share their secret with the other teams. Nascar eventually took care of that and made anything different illegal. I still watch, but sometimes wonder why.

The problem I see at Daytona with the two car packs is that the "pusher" cannot see what is directly ahead of the car they are pushing. Sooner or later they are going to plow into a slower car or duo of cars that is going much slower, or if the pusher does not see a wreck, he may push the lead car right into it. Maybe they will figure it out by this weekend - but I doubt it!

Micki - Posted - 02/17/2011:  21:11:40

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Jr.'s car was overheated from all that drafting, and steam was rolling out of one of the little holes, now in front of car which used to be in the back, and he said this was hindering his visability , even before the wreck happened. Micki

JohnJ - Posted - 02/18/2011:  06:51:34

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If they really want to slow the cars down and keep them competitive they should go back to making the drivers run 'Stock Cars'....

For 2011 that would mean Front Wheel Drive cars with V6 engines - - exactly like you and I drive....

Pete13 - Posted - 02/18/2011:  07:46:25

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I agree with John. I read somewhere yesterday that NASCAR is finally going to allow, or force, depending on how you look at it, the use of electronic fuel injection, which has been commonly available for about 30 yrs or more on the average grocery getter. The first EFI school I ever attended was in 1979
I remember when race cars were the cutting edge of automotive technology, but NASCAR hasn't progressed past the early '70s.
If they want to call it stock car racing, then run a stock car, not something with a front wheel drive body and a real wheel drive drivetrain, an engine that bears no resemblance to anything offered in a car etc. Either that or start calling it antique technology racing. There is at least one organization I've heard of that races modified model T Fords, and NASCAR is headed in that direction.

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Edited by - Pete13 on 02/18/2011 07:49:35

bohemian - Posted - 02/18/2011:  15:26:11

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NASCAR... the equivalent of TV Wrestling