I feel like every time I write about NASCAR I have to start by convincing people that I'm not some kind of racing hipster that hates on NASCAR because it's not "sophisticated" racing like Formula 1. My story (and I'm sticking to it) is that I like NASCAR, but I don't love NASCAR. Regardless of what you think about NASCAR however, the Daytona 500 is the Daytona 500. This race is probably the second most famous race in the United States, and definitely in the top ten most famous races world wide. So, you can imagine that I was excited for the first race of the NASCAR season, and I thought that deserved a write up.
I'll be honest, after watching both the the Xfinity series race, and the Sprint series race, I wasn't sure what there was for me to write about. Yes, there were a couple of big wrecks, including Kyle Busch's broken leg. Surprisingly, I think my favorite moment of the weekend didn't come from the 500 at all, but from the Xfinity race on Saturday when rookie Daniel Suarez, who was two laps down at the time, began leading a third line on the outside of the track, around the leaders. I'm not sure what his plan was, but he definitely wasn't following the usual script, and you knew things weren't going to end well. Of course, the three wide racing for the last sixteen laps of the 500 was a thing of beauty to watch. I get nervous in rush hour traffic like this, and these guys were doing it at 200 MPH. You kept asking yourself if how long could they keep this up before one guy took out half the field. Answer? A lot longer then I thought, but it still ended in a pile of twisted sheet metal and ruined cars.
As I sit back and reflect on the racing at Daytona, the quality of racing last weekend was actually better then I originally gave it credit for. I do have one complaint about the Daytona 500, and this is really more of a problem with restrictor plate racing as opposed to just a Daytona problem. Drafting plays an important role in all NASCAR racing, but at the restrictor plate races, the importance of drafting is elevated to a stupid level. As a result, it sometimes feels like the winner of the race isn't the most skilled racer, but the guy whose at the right place in line when the checkered flag waves.
That being said, it often seems like the fast cars are at the front of the pack, while the slow cars are at the back, which is as things should be. Racing always has a little bit of randomness to it, which is also as things should be, so I probably shouldn't complain too much just because one guy has a good drafting partner and another guy doesn't. If I had unlimited power over NASCAR though (and was smart enough to figure out how to do this), I'd like to see the cars at the restrictor plate tracks a little less aero dependent and be a little more engine dependent. That way, guys are better able to drive around each other with less drafting help. Of course, if NASCAR ever did this I would probably complain that the bigger teams can afford to develop stronger engines which ruins the quality of the racing.
You know what NASCAR, just keeping doing what your doing, you're fine as is.
Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Nice try NASCAR
Although NASCAR was the series that first got me interested in racing, I'm not the world's largest NASCAR fan. NASCAR is a fine racing, and if you don't like the night race at Bristol, please leave right now, but I prefer IndyCar and Sportscar racing. Pure personal preference. That being said, I probably watch more NASCAR during the course of the year then any other form of racing, which isn't hard considering the shear volume of NASCAR racing available. Hint, hint, IndyCar.
Anyway, it's the Daytona 500 weekend right now, which mean's the racing world turns it's attention to NASCAR. I plan on writing more about the 500 in the days to come, but I'd like to start with a discussion on the current NASCAR qualifying mess. The Daytona 500 group qualifying fiasco was over a week ago, but better late then never. Right?
I'm going to assume that most of you are aware of what happened, because I'm probably the only person in the world still trying to write about Daytona qualifying, but I've got column space to fill, so let's recap real fast. NASCAR tried group qualifying at Daytona for the first time this year, and the results were...not good. I normally don't watch race qualifying on TV (I may be The Racing Nerd, but I'm not The Racing Nerd Who Has Nothing Better To Do with His Life), so I won't pretend to be an expert on how group qualifying for NASCAR worked at every track last year, but from what I understand, the problems with group qualifying at Daytona has everything to do with the draft. At Daytona, if you want to be the fast guy, you want to be the guy at the back of the line, letting someone else punch a hole in the air for you. That means the first guy out of the pit is like the first guy off the boat in Saving Private Ryan, it just doesn't end well for him. So, if your clever, you leave the pit's last. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea, so everyone waits for someone else to leave first. Basically everyone is sitting around going "you leave first."
"No, you leave first."
"No you leave first."
It reminded me of a really annoying couple I knew in highschool who turned hanging up the phone into a three act play.
Back on topic. So, everyone leaves the pit at the same time and is trying to qualify in a pack. We've all watched restrictor plate races before, and we know what happens when guys are pushing hard in a pack? If you answered "wrecks," give yourself a cookie because that's exactly what happened at Daytona. Needless to say, drivers weren't happy when their primary car was wrecked by someone else's stupidity.
Honestly, I don't blame NASCAR for trying group qualifying. Ultimately, any racing series is a business, and NASCAR needs to find ways to make money, and trying to add excitement with group qualifying (which makes it a more attractive product for TV), as opposed to single car qualifying, seemed like some awfully easy, low hanging fruit. Too bad the idea didn't work. Single car qualifying may not have the excitement of wheel-to-wheel racing, but at least you're guaranteed to see stuff on the track, as opposed to group qualifying where you see a traffic jam on pit road followed by everyone trying to cram in a flying lap at the last possible second.
What I find surprising is that NASCAR didn't see this coming. From what I understand, the same thing happened at Talladega last year. Heck, I personally saw the same thing happen at Texas last year when the NASCAR trucks tried group qualifying for the first time. Did NASCAR seriously think that the teams wouldn't try and draft to gain a qualifying advantage?
In any kind of group qualifying, track position is important, but doubly so on a speedway where a guy can get a tow to gain speed. NASCAR has already tweaked the group qualifying format to try and prevent a repeat of the qualifying we saw last week, but I have a simpler solution. Go back to single car qualifying. I just don't think group qualifying can be made to work on ovals.
Anyway, it's the Daytona 500 weekend right now, which mean's the racing world turns it's attention to NASCAR. I plan on writing more about the 500 in the days to come, but I'd like to start with a discussion on the current NASCAR qualifying mess. The Daytona 500 group qualifying fiasco was over a week ago, but better late then never. Right?
I'm going to assume that most of you are aware of what happened, because I'm probably the only person in the world still trying to write about Daytona qualifying, but I've got column space to fill, so let's recap real fast. NASCAR tried group qualifying at Daytona for the first time this year, and the results were...not good. I normally don't watch race qualifying on TV (I may be The Racing Nerd, but I'm not The Racing Nerd Who Has Nothing Better To Do with His Life), so I won't pretend to be an expert on how group qualifying for NASCAR worked at every track last year, but from what I understand, the problems with group qualifying at Daytona has everything to do with the draft. At Daytona, if you want to be the fast guy, you want to be the guy at the back of the line, letting someone else punch a hole in the air for you. That means the first guy out of the pit is like the first guy off the boat in Saving Private Ryan, it just doesn't end well for him. So, if your clever, you leave the pit's last. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea, so everyone waits for someone else to leave first. Basically everyone is sitting around going "you leave first."
"No, you leave first."
"No you leave first."
It reminded me of a really annoying couple I knew in highschool who turned hanging up the phone into a three act play.
Back on topic. So, everyone leaves the pit at the same time and is trying to qualify in a pack. We've all watched restrictor plate races before, and we know what happens when guys are pushing hard in a pack? If you answered "wrecks," give yourself a cookie because that's exactly what happened at Daytona. Needless to say, drivers weren't happy when their primary car was wrecked by someone else's stupidity.
Honestly, I don't blame NASCAR for trying group qualifying. Ultimately, any racing series is a business, and NASCAR needs to find ways to make money, and trying to add excitement with group qualifying (which makes it a more attractive product for TV), as opposed to single car qualifying, seemed like some awfully easy, low hanging fruit. Too bad the idea didn't work. Single car qualifying may not have the excitement of wheel-to-wheel racing, but at least you're guaranteed to see stuff on the track, as opposed to group qualifying where you see a traffic jam on pit road followed by everyone trying to cram in a flying lap at the last possible second.
What I find surprising is that NASCAR didn't see this coming. From what I understand, the same thing happened at Talladega last year. Heck, I personally saw the same thing happen at Texas last year when the NASCAR trucks tried group qualifying for the first time. Did NASCAR seriously think that the teams wouldn't try and draft to gain a qualifying advantage?
 |
| View of the pit road during NASCAR truck qualify at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2014. Like Yogi Bera said, it's deja vu all over again. |
In any kind of group qualifying, track position is important, but doubly so on a speedway where a guy can get a tow to gain speed. NASCAR has already tweaked the group qualifying format to try and prevent a repeat of the qualifying we saw last week, but I have a simpler solution. Go back to single car qualifying. I just don't think group qualifying can be made to work on ovals.
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