cp

Don't want to hijack a NASCAR thread, but if you want to watch a race that definitely won't finish under caution, watch the US Grand Prix Formula 1 race at Indy on Sunday. It will be on SpeedTV, maybe network.

Rain? They switch tires and run all-out in the rain.

Caution? Something has to drastically go wrong before they will bring out the safety car. Typically, a yellow flag will be for only a small portion of the track--racing continues everywhere else.

A two-car team's annual budget is typically ~$250 million, a huge part of which comes from tobacco advertising. Of course, being anti-Big Tobacco here in the USA, when they run at Indy (and Canada), they have to remove all the tobacco logos from the cars, so in essense, Big Tobacco is giving us a free race.

Pit stops are like none other. The Indy 500 this year looked like amateurs in comparision. F1 pit crews consist of about 20 choreographed personnel who can change tires, wings, make adjustments, and fuel up in about eight seconds.

The points leader, Michael Schumacher, is probably the best driver the world has ever seen (to date, anyway). Jeff Gordon, who had a chance early in his career to try out with an F1 team, said in an interview that he could never do what Schumacher is doing. Maybe if he'd started early, but not now. How old is Jeff Gordon?

The cars are probably more closely related to jet fighters than they are automobiles. Engines that can turn 19,000 rpm. Brakes that can generate 5.5 g's of stopping power. 3.5 g's cornering force. 9 second quarter mile times--in the rain! Power to weight ratio of about 1.5 lb/hp. A go-kart (with adult rider) would have to have at least 200 horsepower to match it.

OK, what were we saying about NASCAR? Oh yeah--finishing under a caution sucks.

wannadiesel

The reason F1 rarely has cautions is because F1 drivers rarely pass on the track. Not really the drivers' fault, the courses and the cars are to blame for it. Makes it kind of boring to watch even though the cars are incredible. Really a shame.

Get NASCAR to let 20 guys over the wall, allow fuel to be pumped rather than poured, and let 'em run spinners instead of 5 lug nuts and you'd see 8 second stops there too. 14 seconds ain't too shabby for 8 guys who have to deal with 5 times the lug nuts using only one jack and have to pour the fuel out of cans.

phox_mulder

Don't forget the bed full of furniture.

Couple mattresses or microwaves falling out on the track for "natural" hazards.


phox

snowman

Man I just hope they get the rules ironed out for Sundays race, and I look forward to seeing Harvick and Kenseth pass each other without leaving a bump and run mark, yeah right????

Kyle

wannadiesel

How 'bout a class pulling fivers instead? I think your idea would make for a few too many cautions for debris. Imagine how long pit stops would take, ten tires to change with only 8 guys over the wall, gotta run the 20 yard dash just to get all the way around the rig. And just think about what happens if your driver misses the pit stall and has to back up!

Begle1

I honestly want the DHRA or Craftsmen or somebody to pick it up. The current NASCAR Craftsmen Truck Series is terrible. Now, having over 20 straight piped Diesel's going three wide at Taladaga at 160+ miles per hour would be incredible, and distinctly American as there would only be Fords, Dodges and Chevys. (Don't bother with the Isuzu in the Chevy.) I believe NASCAR doesn't currently allow overdrive, to get up to speed Diesel's would have to have overdrive. I say they put manual auxillary overdrives in! Make the drivers row the gears, I say! Allow only single turbochargers, no variable vanes, and only be allowed to smoke on the pits.

And, to avoid turning this into a full fledged hi-jacking of the thread, the Diesel NASCAR series will not allow finishing under yellow. When a yellow comes out at the end of the race, you keep circling until it goes green again, even if you go over the number of laps on the bill. When green comes out, if you are over the number of laps on the billing, you race that many laps. So, if it is a 300 lap race, and you go over by 3 laps on a yellow, you race 3 more after green, so it totals 306 laps. Its the equivilant of overtime in a NFL game, I say. The points system also needs to be changed so that races are worth more at the end of the season. That way it is easier for people to come from behind in a points race.

Cowhand

Open wheels.....

sherod

All the foreign drivers are what get me. Rather watch the good ol boys.

canucktrucks

I have watched and been to VERY many race's over the years, even found a women that would cheer for the Dodge camp, and now as the other guy mentioned, caution seems to be the way NASCAR wants to end the race's....They mention that it's safer this way ??? So I guess the end of the race is more dangerous then the begining or halfway through ??? Sounds like $%^&*# to me....There is A LOT of politics in NASCAR, just ask Junior Johnson, he wont even drive close to a track anymore......NASCAR wants this to be about MONEY, thats why they are going to let the rice burners show up, MONEY......THE Great American Race, is NOT ever going to be the same, I think loosing "The Southern 500" is like Apple pie and NO Ice cream.......I would'nt watch a Grand Prix race, to save my soul.......I guess Sundays are startin' to change, and as far as there points system is......why do people allways try to fix something that ain't broke.........Canucktrucks

wannadiesel

Overdrive is fine with NASCAR, it just makes lots of heat in the trans because power is being transmitted through the countershaft. At tracks like Pocono and Indy where they shift halfway down the straight, 4th is direct and 3rd is OD. They just flip the linkage on the 3-4 shift fork so the driver doesn't get confused. All the load of accelerating up off the corners goes straight through the trans rather than through the countershaft, and you can still grab a gear when it runs out of RPM.

A diesel truck would probably be best served by a custom rear gear set, like a 2:1 at a superspeedway. Then just use a Jerico like everybody else in NASCAR.

Begle1

That's why they don't drive with overdrive that much. I know that, in order to take emphasis off of overdrive, they have very small rear gears. This is why they have to shift from the low gears so fast while coming out of the pits, just so they can get the power to start with such a small rear gear.
I would assume that the gear boxes are staggered, something along the lines that you press forward for first, back for second, then forward again for third, back for fourth. Well, thats how they have it on NHRA prostockers, but those are centrifugal clutches, so I'm probably way out of the way with that one.

As for the points, the way it is now is rather anti-climatic. I mean, who ever wins the first races gets too far ahead to be caught with the points that are available at the smaller races at the end of the seasons. It is the opposite of how they do it in every other sport. Its almost like having the superbowl first in the season. IT JUST DOESN"T MAKE SENSE. They should have Daytona last, only tradition keeps it first.

Oh, and with the Diesel NASCAR, you can use drugs on the last 5 laps. It's impossible for the race to end on yellow, AND you can use nitrous on the last laps! Imagine the shoot-outs we'll have!