2019 Robby Gordon Headquarters
Pathetic Roadcourse Racing - Your Thoughts?
Today was a great day for RGM, and Robby. He proved he still has the talent and car control to compete for wins at road courses.
That being said, today left a very sour taste in my mouth for what has become Nascar racing on road courses. I will be the first to admit I originally started as an open wheel fan, but have been watching Nascar since the early 1990's and even worked in the garage for a period of time. I have participated in a few non-sanctioned track days and time attack events, but that is the extent of my racing background. To me though, the way that the majority of drivers raced today was pathetic. Moving people out of the way, dive-bombing corners and taking people out, purposely turning a driver, etc. Like I said, I have been watching Nascar for almost two decades now and that was the most ridiculous event I have seen. The Nationwide race the day before was a good warm up though to the stupidity, as much of the same occured...
I remember when Carl Edwards hooked Brad Keselowski into the fence at Atlanta I was irate Nascar didn’t come down harder on Carl. Now I understand why Carl did what he did. Brad not only acted like a moronic pinball today, but pulled the same crap while up front at Road America.
Jeff Gordon should be ashamed of how he drove. He is a 4 time champion and has won many races, but you would be hard pressed to tell that today. This is the same whiney runt that complained when Robby moved him up the track at New Hampshire in 2001 for his first win. Pick any of the bump and runs Jeff did today, they all outrank Robby's move on the chicken-sh*t scale.
I could go on and on, but I will only bring up one last incident. Mattias Ekstrom ran an excellent race, and got taken out. The broadcasters tried to talk around it by claiming the Nascar regulars do not respect new guys, but after today can it be said they respect anyone? Mattias was running under what I would call proper road course etiquette, and got taken out. Watch Indy car races, FIA events, touring car races, etc. The Nascar race today resembled a video game more than a road course event.
That’s my view on it. I am sure some of you loved the beating and banging, but all I saw was poor driving and cheap moves. Just think back to 2001, when people made a big deal about Harvick riding Robby's ass trying to get his lap back. Jim Smith pled with Childress to get Harvick to back down, the announcers played it up; it was a big deal. Today, any given minute on the track was filled with actions that far outweighed that sequence of events.
Maybe its the fact these drivers no longer fear injury, maybe Nascar is coaching them to bump more, maybe the poorly designed COT prevents passing so much drivers need to move each other out of the way. Whatever the reason, it was sad to watch. I fear Robby will more than likely get caught up in a wreck at the Glen if this continues, its almost turning into a restrictor-plate-like crap shoot to finish well. Just ask Dale Junior, even he will laugh about his decent finish today and how it wasn’t really earned.
What are everyone else's opinions? Just curious, and I had to vent...
Views: 89
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by TOG on
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From Matt- " I just read SpottedCow's twitter comments. Between that, the practice times, and qualifying, I do not see where people are "getting a feeling" from. The car does not seem capable running with top 5. That is a real bummer."
Guess those feelings were right...lol....You know I had to bust your balls on that...And I know you are glad to be wrong.
Anyways, there were some questionable moves today ( and yesterday in the Wide race ) but I also saw alot of drivers respecting each other & give & taking.
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Permalink Reply by Matt on
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Yep, I was wrong. I was purely going off of Spotted Cows twitter feed and practice times. I was extremely excited to be wrong, and can only hope momentum can be built off this. The scary part is there are not many that truly understand how improbable it is for RGM to run with the Hendricks and RCR's of the world on the budget they have, especially this year. Hendrick spends over 6 figures on farmed out analysis (FEA, CFD, etc) alone. Almost every small team out there buys equipment from the big teams. RGM used to move mountains with shovels, now its like moving mountains with teaspoons with the COT...
I still am bothered by the way people drove this weekend though. Lack of respect for real racing...
(You just lost your beer I was buying at Indy TOG. JK! Are you still going?)
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Yeah, SC twitter reports were dead on correct. However , it's amazing what a few post practice changes can make before a race. RG has also had a great car in final practice before, only to be junk in the race.This will lay to rest that RG has 'lost it' on a road course. ( Sam Smith please stand up )
I'll settle for a Pepsi-Cola then. Much better than beer. Yes, I will be at Indy for the Brickyard.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Cartwright on
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One thing that irked me is that NASCAR is so trigger happy with that damned yellow flag. No reason to bring that caution out when Logano had his spin, as soon as he stopped he got going again. No harm was done, yet NASCAR brings out the yellow, not a surprise there.
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Permalink Reply by Turtle7 on
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Yeah, but look at all the late rate spins with the cars getting back on track and no cautions. That helped RG get the second place finish.
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Permalink Reply by WJM on
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The strategy NASCAR has forced onto teams is save fuel, save more fuel, then go balls out or pray. Save the action for the closing laps, that's NASCAR's mantra. How many times have we sat through 3 hours of boredom before NASCAR throws the mysterious debris caution for the final 10 laps of cars trying to run over the top of each other?
For the roadies, make the fuel mileage game less of a factor. Require a minimum number of pit stops. When teams use them becomes the strategy.
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I agree Nascar paints them into a corner, its still on the drivers in the end though. I just wanted to see if anyone else was irked by the beating and banging.
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Permalink Reply by JoCo on
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Well, there's "rubbin" and then there's what Jeff Gordon was doing yesterday which was just reckless disregard for the spirit of the sport.
I know for a fact that were that Robby punting people left and right he would have been black-flagged...in fact, if it was anyone other than a Hendrick, Roush, or Gibbs driver they would have.
Jeff Gordon is no longer relevant, Jimmie Johnson is stealing his thunder is his (owned) car, and he is no longer revered at road-courses. What Jeff was doing was just ruining peoples' days just for one spot on the track. Talk about "Actions detrimental to stock-car racing".
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Permalink Reply by Michael Cyr on
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" All right, now I want you to go out there and hit the Pace Car"
"What "
"Hit the Pace Car, you have hit everything else on the track I want you to be perfect.
Steve Letart to Jeff Gordon at his final pit stop.
AKA Days of Thunder
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Permalink Reply by Wheaton56 on
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i saw nothing wrong, Its races like this that keep people watching, If people want boring races just watch open wheel.
anywhoo, this races reminds me of how i drive in my nascar game..........EA SPORTS.....Its in the Game
although Matt, i understand your side, Millions of viewers want good entertainment on TV and they dont understand all the details of racing. Good and bad, they just want to see action.....and action brings ratings
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