I Love NASCAR Road Racing!!

I love Sonoma!!

I love the roller coaster ride of uphill climbs, downhill runs, camber changes, big kerbs, sweeping turns, tight hairpins, did I mention big kerbs...

I love that the cars have loads of power and not a lot of tire. I love that they are big heavy cars with (by European standards) only average brakes... and I love that they have 3 pedals, and H-pattern boxes!! I love that they roll a bit, jump over big kerbs, lock up, get loose, push, and are a handful.

I love that NASCAR road racing tends to be a bit physical. I also love that NASCAR road racing follows oval etiquette in that the drivers tend to keep to a groove allowing another other driver to use the other groove, if they are 2 wide... at times... if they feel like it... if its early in a race... unless their names are Montoya or Jeff Gordon or... Jeff Gordon or...

I love that NASCAR has 2 road courses each year. I love that one is the undulating bump and grind roller coaster of Sonoma in California, while the other is the fast, flowing track of Watkins Glen in upstate New York.

I love that Sonoma has been developed with oval style site lines for fans, with its large grandstands surrounding the snake-like tarmac. I love the contrast between this and the more European style setting of Watkins Glen.

I love that each year the road race "ringers" are roped in to show the oval regulars how to turn right. I love that each year they fail. I love that the oval regulars have learnt how to turn right and now look good at it.

I love that the Sprint Cup has two road course races, no more, no less. 

Should one be in the Chase?? I think so!!
 

"Have at it Boys"... and Girls... Fathers... Wives...

I am not the world biggest Pocono fan. I find the track too flat, the staightaways too long, the turns too single groove.

However thanks to the 2 wide restarts, Sundays race went from another fuel and tire strategy race to a good'un.

Due to its comparative lack of banking Pocono is never going to be a 2 wide every lap type of track, but there were some good 2 wide battles. However the 3 wide and 4 wide racing at the end was better still. It was interesting to watch how hard certain drivers fought for position, knowing when and where to battle, and when and where to concede.

So the car action was good, however anybody who thinks racing is about cars is only watching half the show. Sport of any kind, racing and NASCAR in particular is about the people. On Sunday we once again got to see the person inside the 20 car. An incident involving one driver going for a line which the other driver was always going to make hard for him to take, turned into a pushin' and a shovin' and a shoutin' match on pit lane involving not only the drivers, but the crews, and the families as well.

While I am not sure what Logano thought was going to happen (didn't I say that last week about Mr Kyle Busch) when he went 2 wide with Harvick, what he did afterwards was great. Being able to vent his frustration in the way he did is exactly what NASCAR is about, and again NASCAR need to be applauded once again for letting it happen. Whether Logano senior should have been involved is debatable. To me he needs to get out the way and let his son do the driving and talking. Joey is the man with the steering wheel, he is responsible for his actions, and the actions of his crew, and his dad should keep out. Did I say debatable...

The way I look at the Harvick / Logano incident is this...Pocono has several strips of new tarmac thru the turns and when single file the drivers were using this tarmac and its grip to get round the track as quickly as possible. Now try going 2 wide, only one driver is going to have the new grippy line, while the other is on the old slicker line. This can't make overtaking easy. To me the 29 / 20 incident occurred because they were both trying to take the turn on the newer tarmac, and collided. I wonder what Pocono would be like if they resurfaced the rest of the turns?

What about Allmendinger... what was that about?? To me of all the open wheel drivers to cross over to stock cars in recent years, the top two have to be JPM and 'Dinger. In his first year the now driver of the 43 car had to qualify for every race as he didn't have a guaranteed starting spot, and he did it, every week. He looks like he has learnt the art of stock car driving better than most converts and races well. That went out of the window at Pocono. Moving over on someone to attempt the block is level one of stupid, putting them on the grass is something else, now remember he did it to his team mate!?!?!

So all of this added up to another exciting finish. You can criticise the three G-W-C attempts or the 2 wide restart rule but once again it created excitement and headlines.

On another note... am I the only one who thinks the late models used in the Prelude to the Dream are ugly??

"Show Business" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People"...

If the Monaco GP is all "event" but no racing then NASCAR's All Star Race is a "show" and "race" of a sort that only the Americans can deliver, from the "Showdown" race thru to the fireworks afterwards NASCAR does everything it can to put on a good show.

Different strategies, team mates at each other in Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch hitting the wall, then getting repaired and going on to win; it was a show.

From NASCARs shortest show, to its longest race the 600, somethings don't change...

Kyle in the wars... Kurt winning... again...

Its also good to see a Dodge winning in a sea of Chevys.

Kyle Busch... oh Kyle Busch...

First he gets annoyed with his team mate in the All Star Race. Kyle the race was for $1 million!! What did he think was going to happen. The red sea was not going to part saying here you go 18 car have it all to yourself, was it... Then in the 600 he pulls out infront of 2 cars leaving the pits and causes chaos, then has a run in with and runs into Jeff Burton late in the race...

All of this while his brother wins both races!

Good racing though. The tire / aero / spoiler combination worked well, as the cars seem able to run various lines around the track, two and three (just) wide, and nose to tail through the corners. The old aero push issue, when the cars would run together on the straightaways and then spread out in the turns seems to be a thing of the past! Also good to see the cars racing 2 wide and not losing out to cars running single file in front of them.

Meanwhile in Turkey, Button and Hamilton showed Vettel how to overtake in F1 without driving into your team-mate.

I thought it was nice of Red Bull to finally admit that it might not have been Webbers fault... no whatsit Sherlock!! Typical F1 corporate politics, lets blame one driver, then both, then the other one. Webber drove in a straight line, while Vettel pulled alongside his team mate and gave him no room, and they made contact.

To be fair, its much better to have an environment at the top two teams where team mates can race each than have team orders and a procession. Racing makes for enjoyable GP's.

Please Red Bull... please Gibbs...

Let 'em race!!