Posted on 10/17/2005 5:40:57 AM PDT by Nasty McPhilthy
NASCAR had the opportunity to build on its fan base Saturday night when the UAW-GM 500 roared to life seconds after Southern California's 34-31, come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame.
NBC viewers who were curious about stock-car racing simply needed to stay put following college football's thriller in South Bend, Ind., where the Trojans charged past the Fighting Irish with three seconds remaining. But as the prime-time TV cameras cut to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., NASCAR failed to seize the moment.
A rash of tire failures sent a succession of cars slamming into the track's concrete retaining wall and scared drivers so witless they barely raced at all. Instead of dicing for position as NASCAR's best do so expertly, racers kept safe distances between one another and didn't push their cars to their limit, many said afterward, for fear of blowing a tire. Despite the precautions, the 500-mile race was halted for a crash roughly every 20 laps. Nearly all of the crashes were caused by blown tires; not necessarily the fault of the tire supplier, Goodyear, most drivers argued, but the result of speeds generating more heat and abuse than the tires could withstand.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You would think that these high dollar crew chiefs would know that the manufacturer's recommended tire pressures are posted on the inside drivers door frame near the door latch. Jeez!
Many moons ago, I would fine tune adjustments on the wedge of a stock car by manipulating tire inflation.
Nascar ping...
Goodyear came out between seasons earlier this year and stated they were changing the tires so that they (Goodyear) could control (I think influence was the term) the outcome of the race.
It no longer depends on driving skill, pit strategy for fuel or mechanics skill. Goodyear has taken drivers lives into their own hands.
Makes one ask; why doesn't Goodyear build an all season, all terrain commercial passenger tire that will last for 50,000 miles? Job security...
They have the ability to. The fact most commercial aircraft fly with goodyears is one point. If they "controlled the outcome of a flight" as they have decided to do with NASCAR" think of the lawsuits.
Heck, how much will they lose in a court with the death of one driver? Not much.
Goodyear has decided to play God with this. It is one reason I have lost interest in the sport for the most part. Bill France would be smart to go to Bridgestone.
There would have been riots in the streets had the game gone into OT...
woops, that "all terrain" should read "any terrain"
My two favorite teams are Miami Hurricances and whoever is playing Notre Dame.
I'll go one more and say for years the elites opinion of stock car racing was as a laughable event for uneducated, beer drinking, Confederate flag waving rednecks....until of course their greedy eyes noticed the increasing popularity of the sport....and the $$$$$....now they're all "fans".
The more the MSM trys to cash in on NASCARS recent success the worse it's going to be for the true race fan. It's already waaaaaay too commercial as it is. The "hollywood" influence is showing.
Then again, maybe that's the idea. To wreck the sport and replace it with more "chick TV".
Sounds like NASCAR needs to set some standards for track quality and road surface conditions. If the State DOT can do it, surely NASCAR can do it...........
Uhhhhh, go fast and turn left a couple hundred times perhaps? Zzzzzzzzzz......
Might as well watch soccer.
You mean shavin' a few ozs off the wagon wheel spokes?.......
NASCAR is well on its way to following the NFL into television-induced mediocrity. How ironic is it that the National Hockey League -- despite (or as a result of) canceling an entire season in a labor dispute -- has maintained the strongest loyalty among its serious fans by resigning itself to its position as a "cult sport" with limited appeal to broad audiences?
Oh, a Roundy-Rounder!..........
Well, everybody had complained about how rough the track was so the owner had it smoothed out some. Now they are complaining that it is too smooth...
Yeah, they weren't very exciting... but my man Mark Martin did good, again! Go Viagara Ford!
(speaking of which, wasn't the interview with Michael Waltrip funny. During an interview during a red flag stop, hee named every sponsor, with a decal on his car, then said, "now what can I do for you?" I just spewed...
There are some people, like myself, who watch racing (in my case, motorcycle racing) for the skill and mastery, the sheer beauty of the sport, not for the wrecks.
Tire technology simply can't keep up with with the power being put down by the engine builders. Don't foget the Indy 500 this last year, where the Michellin drivers weren't allowed to race. This was also seen last year at the tire testing for the (motorcycle) Daytona 200 race. The Superbike class is simply too powerful for the tires available on the superspeedway portions of the track. Last year there were two "catastrophic tire failures" (separations or blowouts), one at over 185MPG, the other at over 190MPH. Needless to say, both riders wound up in the hospital.
Because of the danger, the Daytona 200 "banner" race was switched from Superbike to a different, less powerful class of bikes, and the Superbike race was shortened in order to make it safer.
Mark
Tire failures have influenced the outcome of several races recently. I'm not sure what the problem is but races should be won by the fastest car/driver and not by the luck of the tire draw. With that many caution flags, a 400/500 mile race comes down to a five mile sprint after the majority of contending drivers have been eliminated from competition.
The drivers are expected to drop a laundry list of sponsors every time they get on camera (or microphone) so Mikey decided to have a little fun with it! I got a good chuckle out of that myself.
I still remember the interview with Richard Petty when someone asked him about his cowboy hat. He said he got tired of getting chewed out for wearing the wrong sponsor's baseball caps at the wrong times.
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