NASCAR 2011 Season Catch-All

With the unofficial start of the 2011 season hours away with the Budweiser Shootout, this seemed to be a good time to start this thread for the three of us that are interested. Lots of story lines leading up to this season:

  • Can Jimmy Johnson do it again?
  • How will the new pavement impact the 500 next week (and tonight)?
  • What affect will the new points system have?
  • Does the "have at it boys" rule have more or less of an impact?
  • Do Denny Hamlin or Kyle Busch have what it takes to put together a complete season?
  • Does Ford start the season strong and compete throughout?

The list goes on and on.

Who do you follow? What drivers do you cheer when their day gets cut short?

For me, I find that I have lots of racers I enjoy watching, although I am most pleased when either Edwards, Kenseth or Biffle win. The only racers I can think of that just chap me the wrong way all the time (on the track) are Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. One of these days I expect Harvick to pull into the pit and one of his crew members is going to throw the jack through the window at him.

sheared wrote:

Can Jimmy Johnson do it again?

Nothing against JJ, but I'm getting a little tired of him. Nevertheless, the guy is a monster. I wouldn't be surprised if he repeats. (again)

How will the new pavement impact the 500 next week (and tonight)?

I missed the shootout last night (out to dinner with the missus) but I remember the pothole delay during last year's 500. Sounds like the pavement is helping overall speed.

What affect will the new points system have?

Now, from what I understand about the new points system, each driver has to pick one series in which their points actually count? Considering the main body of at least the Nationwide is composed of drivers in the Sprint series, won't this hurt viewership and sponsorship?

Who do you follow? What drivers do you cheer when their day gets cut short?

Smoke.

Now coming from a largely Earnhardt family (Both my sisters root for Junior.), this gets me some flak. But not as much as letting my son root for Kyle Busch. Carl Edwards gets some love in our little fan circle and Mark Martin got his due during his win streak in 2009. I'm starting to like Joey Logano as well.

I like Smoke. He's one of those guys I'm happy to see win if one of mine doesn't. I don't have anything against Johnson, but I do not believe he would have been a 5 time champion if the "chase" were not the way it is. That's one reason I don't want to compare his victories against those that did it before the chase was implemented.

The shootout last night was incredibly fast. They finished the first 25 laps in 20 minutes. The average speed going into the first break in action (not sure if they call it a competition yellow or not) was something like 197 MPH. Unfortunately, if two cars were not locked up bumper to bumper, they had no chance of making it to or staying up front. They may have to make a change before next week.

Racers do only get points in one of the series, but some are still going to make a limited run in the Nationwide series, and Edwards has already committed to running the full season despite no chance to win it. I think it could go either way -- it could result in more drivers getting a chance to prove themselves, but it could also kill interest in it. I hope there are more positive benefits than negative.

You're brave to start this thread, Sheared. ...

The JCTs (Junior Conspiracy Theorists) are out in force after he won the pole yesterday, especially since this year's 500 is the 10th anniversary of you know what. Damned if he does ...

I started one a year or so ago, and it went about one post.

I'd be all for Junior winning next week as long as Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth are 2 through 4 (assuming someone's planning the finish ahead of time).

Enix wrote:

The JCTs (Junior Conspiracy Theorists) are out in force after he won the pole yesterday, especially since this year's 500 is the 10th anniversary of you know what. Damned if he does ...

Is there really this much of an undercurrent in the fan base? I mean I've heard people make jokes about it and Junior is easy to pick on because his slump has turned into a Sprint series losing streak going on 3 years now. But.... Really??

I think it depends on if you believe the postings on the various websites. If you do, then yeah -- there are people that believe it. Buuuuuut.... there are a lot of conspiracy believing folks out there (NBA refs fix games, bla bla bla). I stopped putting things past some people.

GioClark wrote:

Is there really this much of an undercurrent in the fan base?

Somewhat. But then Tony Kornheiser brings it up on PTI. Then Junior gets asked about it during his availability yesterday.

Of course, NASCAR took steps to squash it yesterday by forcing Junior to wreck and making him go to the back of the field for the 500. >.>

Wow. The only DNQ cars were all Toyotas?

I'm not sure those guys would have done any better had they been driving Fords, Chevys or Ferraris. Those guys all suck.

Mears is the only one with serious recent Cup experience, but Germain Racing isn't exactly a powerhouse. They've got Geico for only half a season so far. Missing the 500 means Geico might be looking to spend that money elsewhere asap.

And, yeah, I know that Derrike Cope is a past 500 winner. But that was 21 years ago. Can't believe he's still out there.

Let's Go Racin, Boys!

Of course, while watching Kyle Busch spin out into the infield, my 5 year old busts out, "I don't want to root for him. I want to root for someone who stays on the track."

PSA: It's never too early to teach your children about the dangers of Front Running.

Well that was fun. Great story book ending for the Woods Brothers and Trevor Bayne. After hanging around the 15th to 25th positions all day, it was good to see Edwards jump up to second place, too.

Can't believe the carnage, though. I'll be curious to see if NASCAR makes a change before the next race here later this year.

On to Phoenix!

Leave it to Robby Gordon to do something stupid and take out Junior.

But, hey, that Bayne kid didn't crap his pants like David Ragan did. You see how wide Bayne made his car there at the end?

Absolutely great finish. Was good to see Junior in 5th before the inevitable wreck. I thought Smoke had a shot at it but it looks like his pusher had trouble after the restart so he faded fast.

Now, I checked the standings and this strikes me funny. Under the new points system, the Daytona 500 winner scores no points towards the Sprint Cup?

GioClark wrote:

Under the new points system, the Daytona 500 winner scores no points towards the Sprint Cup?

It's the law of unintended consequences.

NASCAR this year decided to do something about all those Cup guys running in Nationwide. They couldn't ban them, so NASCAR got clever. When the drivers applied for their NASCAR licenses this year, they had to pick one -- and only one -- series in which their points counted.

Trevor Bayne has a full-season N'wide ride but only a partial Cup ride for 2011. So he picked ... Nationwide.

Don't feel too bad for Bayne, though: He's fifth in the Nationwide standings after finishing 10th in Saturday's N'wide race.

Enix wrote:

Leave it to Robby Gordon to do something stupid and take out Junior.

But, hey, that Bayne kid didn't crap his pants like David Ragan did. You see how wide Bayne made his car there at the end?

Did he take out Junior? I thought he was down on the apron when someone else caused Junior to wreck.

I wonder if NASCAR is going to let Bayne change his selection? I wonder too if he's even going to ask. I heard him bring up the possibility in one of the interviews. If they (NASCAR) knows what's good for them, if he asks, they should let him.

No, Bayne is going to stick with Nationwide. He has zero chance of making the Chase in Cup even if he ran a full schedule.

As for Robby Gordon, I blame him for the Junior wreck. He's the bonehead who decided to merge into the pack at 200 mph. Par for the course for him.

Caught most of the race yesterday. Hated seeing Smoke miss a win on a bad pit but that #2 keeps him tied with Kurt Busch for the overall lead. And another top 10 finish for Junior moves him into #10 overall.

Enix wrote:

No, Bayne is going to stick with Nationwide. He has zero chance of making the Chase in Cup even if he ran a full schedule.

Even though your prediction is proving true, it looks like he's still getting a lot of coverage. Question will be whether he moves scoring to the Cup next year.

GioClark wrote:

It looks like he's still getting a lot of coverage ...

That's because Bayne is a fresh young face in a sport that doesn't get a lot of new faces. This year, for instance, your rookie class is road racer Andy Lally and Brad Keslowski's fat older brother. That's a Q factor that can't qualify for a Truck Series race.

It's also because most of the folks covering NASCAR remember when the Wood Bros. were competitive and not a team on the verge of ruin.

I'm guessing the plan is to move Bayne to Cup next year. The problem, of course, is sponsorship money, and the Wood Bros. clearly didn't have enough for a full season this year or the year before. A bunch of top 20s at the mile-and-a-half tracks and a solid (top 5ish) Nationwide season will definitely help for 2012.

But there's nearly as much money in Cup as there used to be, and a single-car team with little chance of placing well, much less winning, isn't exactly a magnet for sponsor dollars.

Nail biter today with Junior a virtual c-hair away from breaking his losing streak. Looks like he'll setting into 8th overall.

Now I was looking at the standings after today and I must've missed where they narrowed the Chase from 12 to 10 drivers. Any thoughts on that?

Also sheared, I was curious about your perspective, especially after this comment:

I don't have anything against Johnson, but I do not believe he would have been a 5 time champion if the "chase" were not the way it is. That's one reason I don't want to compare his victories against those that did it before the chase was implemented.

Myself, I don't really see the point of having the Chase. It just seems to be artificial to say that someone who wasn't >12th/>10th on a given date somehow shouldn't be eligible to win if they manage to lead in points at the end of the season.

Chase is still 12 drivers. Instead of the top 12, it's a 10+2 format: top 10 drivers plus two drivers after that who have won the most races this year. The cutoff race (fall Richmond) remains the same.

Yeah, sucks for Junior. Martinsville is typically one of his better tracks. But Harvick's hot right now.

As for Johnson, he and Chad Knaus took full advantage of the system. I suspect that had the Chase not been in place they still would have figured out how to win it.

Well, after a winless 2011, I'm a more than a little bit excited with Smoke's back to back wins putting him into the Chase lead.

Looks like JJ is getting a little frustrated as of late. I have this nagging feeling in the back of my head that he'll still find a way to win it all.

Any end of season thoughts? Dover starts in 30 min.

I'm excited about this chase (so far) being so wide open. Not sure if it is the new scoring system or all the crazy finishes for the chase contenders through the first 3 races, but it seems like everyone but Hamlin is still in the running.

Dover was a race Edwards should have pulled through with. Amazing comeback on his part to make it back to 3rd.

Well, sheared, looks like Smoke and Edwards are far out enough in front that the final race this weekend is a two man race. JJ was eliminated from contention last week.

Here's to capping off a great season. I've probably watched more racing the past two years than in the previous 15.

And Smoke hoists his 3rd Cup with a record 5 Chase wins. Junior finishes 7th overall. What a crazy finish.

Catch the race sheared?