2011 NASCAR Season
 

OK, let the season begin -- Bud Shootout (Sat) & Quals for Starting Positions #1 & #2 (Sun) -- Spring must not be TOO far away....:driving:

- New Points System

- Smaller Pit Crews (who will make weight adjustments now...?)

Go #5!

Man, it's gonna be great to see what drivers and teams make headway, which ones fade, and which ones break through before Jimmie Johnson just lays them all to waste in the chase again this year. :roflpuke2:

Early Bud Shootout Practice -- #88 & #5 post 199.8 MPH Lap Speeds (in the draft)

Well, looks like the Busch Series is looking a lot more like the Cup Series for the Restrictor plates - two cars = fast, large draft = not so fast... Definitely has broken up the big packs......

Watching here at the office. 2 car drafts are definitely the way to go.

Holy crap that was a close finish!

Yea - NASCAR will like the finish, I'm still not a big fan of the 2 car deal -- but I've never been a big fan of the restrictor plate tracks -- I prefer the short tracks -- intermediate tracks aren't too bad --

Will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes.....

Same here. Tomorrow should be better.

I fell asleep on lap 3 what happened?

It will be 10 years since Dale Earnhardt was killed. I was watching that race when he wrecked. I haven't watched a NASCAR race since then. I may start watching again.
Did NASCAR go too far in promoting driver safety? - USATODAY.com

I have an interesting link to the #3 -- My first trip to Daytona 1998 was Dale's only Daytona win; my first (and only trip) to Talladega 2000 was Dale's last win, and my last trip to Daytona 2001, was the race in which Dale died.

I'm still a die hard Mark Martin fan -- and regardless of all the "tweaks" by the governing body, I really love this series -- of course being originally from Arkansas, I'm sure there is some genetic rung in my DNA (I assume there are rungs in your DNA) that makes me a circle track fan.

Sorry for the diatribe -- but let the 2011 NASCAR season commence!

One day I will attend the Nascar race in Daytona and do the whole week of racing.
This year I'll be attending the race in Las Vegas.

Go Harvick! #29

Originally from WV. Great race so far! I really enjoying it!

It's ironic that with the new point system you can earn 48 points total. Guess who's number is 48?

:icon17: They should have given 5 bp's for the win so you could earn a maximum 50 points.

Trevor Bayne in his 2nd Sprint Cup start... imagine that!

20 year old winner, that was a great race.

Not a bad race, still not a fan of the RP setups/rules, but pretty happy that the #5 was able to get a top 10 finish despite an early race "wreck".....

Now the "REAL" season begins with the handling tracks.

Go #5!

Now that we have the first of the "restrictor plate" races done, we can get on with normal handling NASCAR racin.

Heard today that this will be the last Phoenix race with it's current config -- PIR was my first "attended" race back in 1994 -- they are apparently going to add some banking at the dog-leg, as well as progressive banking at both corners....

Will be interesting to see the changes.....

It will be interesting, but honestly I like PIR the way it is. Flat tracks are pretty cool, and this one certainly is unique! I always thought it put on a good show as well.

I agree Steve -- I hope they don't "screw it up" trying to make it better.....

I guess I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, though. Homestead turned out really good when they added banking in 2003.

Darn, I'm not a big fan of KB, but I am a fan of his talent -- wouldn't be surprised to see this kid sweep Phoenix this weekend, although I'm still hoping MM can pull something off from mid pack......

Can't argue with KB's results -- Carl gave him a run at the last, but I think Kyle was just "toying" with him.

Well that was an interesting crash.

18, 99, 29, and 5 all have damage.

Ok now THAT was an interesting crash!

Yea -- they're manufacturing a piece for Mark, but have him back on and still on the lead lap

Not sure what the heck happened to the 18....

CRAP there is another one....

THAT was a mess! Lot of good cars are no longer very good cars......

How about them apples? 24 back in VL. :D

Not a bad day for Hendrick/Hendrick powered cars -- #24 1st, #48 3rd, #39 5th, #14 7th, #88 10th, & #5 13th -- gotta make Mr. Hendrick happy!

The #24 definitely had a stout ride today!

OK, off to Vegas next week!

^ yea that's nice. I know Gordon is happy after that long streak.

Viva Las Vegas.....
 

Hoping for a good race today -- looking like the Fords may be tough as they've been fast in all the practices -- hopefully the Hendrick crew figured something out last night. Also, I HOPE it doesn't come down to another "fuel mileage" race -- even though "Mark the Kid Martin" pulled one out yesterday based on fuel mileage and a blown right front tire......:driving:

I wanted Tony to win. But looks as the two tire gamble for Carl worked.

I don't think Tony had a choice but to take four after that pit penalty. His left sides were much older than the 99 and 42s.

Shaping up to be a pretty competitive season so far. Good run for the 42, bad luck for the 24... that was a pretty hard hit!

Yea -- I like Carl, but Tony clearly had the strongest car -- a little frustrated by the 5 yesterday -- they could NOT get the car to loosen up -- they've clearly got some work to do for the 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks.

A week off and then the world's fastest short track! Bristol baby!!!!!

World's Fastest Half Mile
 

Looking forward to my most favorite 1/2 mile track -- hopefully the fords will be going backwards and the chevys start moving to the front.

Sounds like the Tires are still going to be the wild card

#5 looked good in practice! (I'm an eternal optimist)

Yeah I hope it's a good race! Should be.

Yesterday in the Nationwide race I thought Danica was doing well for a first timer at Bristol. She was going to get a top 20 finish until she got caught up with Ryan Truex.

I was waiting for her to toss her helmet

Which begs the question: As a Nascar driver, how would you tussle with Danica in a disagreement? You shouldn't throw punches but would a shoving match be ok?

All you can do is yell. If she hits you, you just have to take it like a man. If you lay a hand on her you'd be crucified in the media.

Of course if I was a driver and we got in a wreck, I'd go up to her and say, "make up sex?"

Then get bitch slapped 6 ways from Sunday I'm sure.

Or give her a slap across the helmet in self defense?

I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly at all.