NASCAR 2015

Spacemans Bong · Jan 22, 2015

I don't watch NASCAR anymore, or much racing at all aside from IndyCar and the occasional F1 race, but JG was my favorite NASCAR driver.

Good, young, vaguely from Northern California, the best road course driver in the sport's history, and hell, I loved the Rainbow Warrior paint job. He's still got it - and would have won the 2014 championship under the old Winston Cup points system - so I wonder if this is him trying to motivate himself and his team to get that fifth title.

Fun fact: He'd have also won the 2004 and 2007 Cup titles under the old system. Combine that with the ludicrous, undeserved title Terry Labonte won in 1996 for finishing 8th in every race that year and Gordon might have been screwed out of more titles due to the points system than any other driver ever. It's easy to imagine an alternate scenario where he wins seven, and then the South declares another civil war to keep him out of getting that eighth.

bsj · Jan 22, 2015

Jeff Gordon fan since his first year. Sigh. This seriously bummed me out.

Detts · Jan 22, 2015

Story as told to me by a member of one of the Green brothers pit crew back in the mid 90's:

Earnhardt hated Gordon (as everyone knows), but what you all may not know is that Earnhardt was the man who started the 'Gordon doesn't like girls' rumor. Gordon never had any kind of female companionship during his first full season, which gave Earnhardt something to whisper behind his back. He'd tell anyone that would listen that he had to be a (insert crude statement here). Of course people believed it because Earnhardt said it, so the rumor spread pretty fast.

And there was nothing Gordon could do about it.

Gordon started dating the current Miss Winston right after Daytona (Brooke), but they had to hide it because Miss Winston was not allowed to date drivers.

After the season was over they started dating out in the open, however the rumor stuck.

SoxJox · Feb 10, 2015

ifmanis5 said:
Not a huge race fan but Jeff Gordon has announced that this will be his last year on the circuit. I wonder if fans will finally like him now? I'll assume not. He will get the Jeter Treatment from the media and NASCAR officials, though.

Also, here is a link to the schedule. Notice ESPN is no longer a broadcast partner as NBC steps in and FOX Sports 1 takes a biggger part of the pie. LINK: http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/8/26/2015-nascar-schedule-release-sprint-cup-series-darlington-bristol.html

I'm not quite sure where you're coming from here...unless it's the parallel to the Patriots winning ways and everyone hating on them for it.

Jeff Gordon suffers from one thing: competitiveness. Has neither backed down from it nor asked that any quarter be given. And, except for some noteworthy but otherwise rare occasions (which has now become par for the course for some the up-and-coming hot heads), has acted professionally.

I'd say he's in pretty good company and his MANY fans, which I include myself among, would agree.

I realize you just said "fans", but I think what you may have MEANT to say more specifically was wether his announcement might sway some who were not PREVIOUS fans to now appreciate his contributions to the sport and root him on in his final season.

[tablegrid= NASCAR Drivers with 50+ Wins ]Driver Strictly Stock (1949) Grand National (1950-1970) Winston Cup (1971-2003) Nextel/Sprint Cup Chase Era (2004 - Present) Modern Era Total (1972 - Present) Combined Total Richard Petty 119 81 0 60 200 David Pearson 58 47 0 45 105 Jeff Gordon 0 64 28 92 92 Bobby Allison 19 65 0 55 84 Darrell Waltrip 0 84 0 84 84 Cale Yarborough 14 69 0 69 83 Dale Earnhardt 0 76 0 76 76 Jimmie Johnson 0 6 64 70 70 Rusty Wallace 0 54 1 55 55 Lee Petty 54 0 0 0 54 Ned Jarrett 50 0 0 0 50 Junior Johnson 50 0 0 0 50 [/tablegrid]

SumnerH · Feb 20, 2015

I think SoxJox is reading "fans" as "Jeff Gordon fans" when what was meant was "NASCAR fans (in general)".

rembrat · Feb 20, 2015

ifmanis5 said:
All I can say is if I had a dollar for every Saturday night at a bar in the late 90's during a NASCAR race and Jeff Gordon's name came on the screen and the whole bar broke into throaty boo's then I'd have over 100 dollars. Maybe it was a coincidence?

Anyhow, this video from yesterday with Danica and Denny is pretty cool.

http://youtu.be/nUA5fpDTPnY

Way cool video. Thanks for posting.

SoxJox · Feb 20, 2015

So, all Gordon does in his final year is go out and win the opening pole at Daytona. I'm sure his detractors will hoot and holler just that much more. Ah well...nature of the beast.

And Team Hendricks has 4 of the top 13 spots, with Johnson, Earnhardt, and Kahne @ #2, #3, and #13, respectively.

SoxJox · Feb 20, 2015

I love these little dust up videos. And of course Stewart has to get his 2 cents worth in. I wonder if we have a video somewhere of his refusal earlier in the week to not get on the scales for official weigh-in.

rembrat · Feb 20, 2015

Tony is the owner of the #10.

SoxJox · Feb 20, 2015

rembrat said:
Tony is the owner of the #10.

Yes, realize that. He had her back. But you typically don't see owners or other teammates chirping from the sidelines when one of their own get in a little tet-a-tet. Most just let it play out and then they provide their "insights" afterwards.

SoxJox · Feb 20, 2015

ifmanis5 said:
Ah, gotcha.

Anyhow, that video keeps getting better. And those people are teammates.

mmm...Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick are not teammates. Patrick races for Haas (along with Stewart, Harvick, and Kurt Busch). Hamlin races for Gibbs (along with Edwards, Kenseth, and Kyle Busch).

Greg29fan · Feb 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/jim_utter/status/568898142097301504

rembrat · Feb 20, 2015

ifmanis5 said:
Ah, you are correct. Someone at work said they were teammates and I took their word for it.
So, why would Hamlin say 'nobody has your back like I have' if they're not teammates?

Danica will always have heat for being a woman driver in NASCAR and Denny is genuinely one of the good guys. My guess is that most don't like her.

robssecondjob · Feb 20, 2015

Chevy just dropped association with Kurt as well.

Greg29fan · Feb 21, 2015

Kyle Busch likely broke his leg in a wreck in the Saturday race.

https://twitter.com/MartySmithESPN/status/569291049811775489

Average Reds · Feb 21, 2015

Greg29fan said:
Kyle Busch likely broke his leg in a wreck in the Saturday race.

https://twitter.com/MartySmithESPN/status/569291049811775489
link to tweet

Patricia Driscoll works in mysterious ways.

Greg29fan · Feb 21, 2015

https://twitter.com/jim_utter/status/569321263757467649

Deathofthebambino · Feb 21, 2015

The Kyle Busch wreck is one of the clips at the end of the Patrick/Hamlin video, and it's a nasty, nasty impact with the inside wall, after sliding about 500 feet. Head on. Lucky it was only a lower leg injury. That's the kind of wreck that killed guys before the Hans device.

grsharky7 · Feb 22, 2015

Lot of drivers very upset about the fact there was no safer barrier there. NASCAR will put tires down there today and start instillation on Monday

DJnVa · Feb 22, 2015

Thirteen laps in and Danica Patrick has not crashed out of Daytona yet.

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

I wonder if the 24 can get back up there...

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

HOly fuck they are 3 wide atleast 8 rows back

Average Reds · Feb 22, 2015

Will be shocked if no wreck

Average Reds · Feb 22, 2015

Kind of a weak caution. Certainly not what I was expecting.

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

Caution but not the big one. I don't think Logano will be able to hold them off..

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

I just realized it's Joey and Denny running 1 and 2. There is history there.

Average Reds · Feb 22, 2015

Lol ... Is that the dumbest on-track reporter question ever?

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

That side draft is something.

rembrat · Feb 22, 2015

4 wide don't work man.

SoxJox · Feb 22, 2015

There was racing this year that we simply have not seen in some time. 3-wide, 8-deep racing at 200+ mph for a multitude of laps. Generally, these things break down after 3, 8, 10 laps. Someone makes a risky move and all hell breaks loose. But there were, what, only 6 or 7 cautions in this race?

On the surface, to most uninformed or casual observers, this type of racing is boring to watch under these circumstances. But f you looked closely at the maneuvering, you saw a whole host of small and skilled, amazing tactical moves.

Joey Logano ran a great race, and had help when it was needed.

In terms of laps led:

Gordon: 87
Johnson: 39
Earnhardt: 32
Logano: 31

And after all the laps a Chevy or Hendricks drive led (and 3 finished in top 10), a Ford wins! And 2 Toyotas finish ion the top 10.

This should be a great year if this is the opening salvo.

Deathofthebambino · Feb 22, 2015

Wrong Thread

Fred not Lynn · Feb 22, 2015

They're as distinct as NASCAR and the Academy of Motion Pictures.

SoxJox · Feb 27, 2015

ifmanis5 said:
This seems hard to believe and yet it happened: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2379383-travis-kvapil-has-sprint-cup-car-stolen-from-hotel-parking-lot?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

He's out of the race this weekend. He's Tweeting out pics of his car and hoping for someone to give it back.

This doesn't quite come as close to when in [I think] 2009 at Talladega the pace car was stolen.

rembrat · Mar 11, 2015

Well, gee, that was fast.

SoxJox · Mar 11, 2015

rembrat said:
Well, gee, that was fast.

It comes on the heels of the Delaware AG's decision to not bring charges. Without charges there's no real basis for the suspension other than leveling the field from all the years of Kyle being a much- (although not unanimously) hated prick.

NASCAR also waived the requirements - at least for the period of his suspension - that all drivers must compete in every championship race to be eligible for the Chase. Details here and here.

He remains on "indefinite probation" after having "fully complied with [NASCAR's] reinstatement program during his suspension and the health care expert who conducted his evaluation recommended his return."

SoxJox · Apr 15, 2015

[media]https://twitter.com/penn_state/status/588076901098459137
[/media]

Jeff Gordon unveiled a new paint scheme for the Pocono 500.

I believe this is the first time a University has been a featured sponsor.

75cent bleacher seat · Apr 26, 2015

During today's race at Richmond Mike Joy stated NASCAR has raced there since 1956 and there has never been a last lap pass to win. Incredible to say the least.

DJnVa · Jul 6, 2015

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2015/07/06/austin-dillon-daytona-crash-catchfence-fans/29756453/

canderson · Jul 7, 2015

The 11 car is going the wrong way on the track, no wonder there is a wreck.

ernieshore · Sep 6, 2015

A Nascar throwback night at Darlington. Complete with Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett on the call -- pretty cool.

rembrat · Sep 6, 2015

First race I've seen in a while. Forgot how slideways this track can get you.

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