Good job, NASCAR. Bravo.
So, good work NASCAR—way to keep vanquishing the hoi polloi.
UPDATE: NASCAR released a statement. It’s the usual dreck, but this quote stands out:
The Commission reaffirms that the race team is ultimately responsible for all components on the race car, including any supplied by third-party vendors.
They did not add “unless you’re Robby Gordon, if you were Robby Gordon, that’d be okay.”
Coming soon to a NASCAR track near you.
NASCAR.com: Toyota hybrid to become first race-long pace car
I think Casey Atwood will agree with me on this one.
Yesterday at Phoenix, on two separate occasions, a car managed to hit the “non-SAFER-barrier” portion of the wall, slamming into hard concrete. It’s time for that to change.
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A fiery horse with the speed of light, followed by a cloud of dust. A hearty "Hi-Ho Silver" is optional. (Credit: John Harrelson, Getty Images)
I was all set to put together an article about the recent rise in Exploding Engine Syndrome or EES, and then the Good Professor, Diandra Leslie-Pelecky, put together a much better article over at Stock Car Science than I could ever hope to do myself. So your reading assignment for today is to go check out her article.
Pick a disaster, any disaster.
On the sport’s biggest stage, NASCAR steps up to the plate and shows everyone that everything they can think of that’s bad about NASCAR is completely, absolutely, 100% true.
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Oh, the humanity! Another season of this crap!
Tony Stewart complaining about Goodyear’s tire issues? Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
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Can you hear "me" now?
Have we officially crossed over into the threshold of ridiculousness?
Does NASCAR just expect the viewing public to play 20 questions with who’s sponsoring the 12 car this season?
Does Verizon really have the kind of money to spend on sponsoring a driver to carry just their brand’s colors?
Is this really a sound business plan for NASCAR: to force teams to turn away hard-to-come-by sponsors?
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Mike Helton would like to explain this year's Bud Shootout changes.
NASCAR has made some bone-headed changes over the years, but switching the Bud Shootout from a semi-meritocracy based on pole positions to a pointless manufacturer competition has got to be up there on the list somewhere.
Previously, the Bud Shootout lineup was based on pole winners from the previous season and previous Bud Shootout winners. It was hardly a perfect way to determine a preseason matchup, but it was fairly equitable. If you were able to qualify on the pole, even just once, that got you a shot to go for a lot of cash early in the season. This led to a fairly-diverse blend of drivers in the field.
But that’s gone now. In its place, we have qualifying based on the top six teams for each manufacturer based on the previous season’s owners points. In other words, get ready for nothing but large teams.
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Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen
Watkins Glen International
August 9, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Zippo 200 at the Glen
Watkins Glen International
August 8, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
O'Reilly 200
Bristol Motor Speedway
August 19, 8:00 p.m. (SPEED)
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