The way I look at it though, The Harvick/Pruett incident wasnt intentional. (I am probably wrong.. Fuzzy memory) But IIRC wasnt Harvick actually forced to run wide into T1, and then had to either A)Cut through T2, or B)Get back on track. Unfortunantly Pruett was there. Correct me if i'm wrong (Which I probably am)Well, nobody can say you are right or wrong there because nobody will ever know. But to me, from the replay camera before the corner Harvick looked completely behind Pruett after being forced out and then just dive bombed into a space less than 1/4 the width of his car.
I still say NASCAR NEEDS MORE ROAD RACES. I'd be shocked if by 2009 the Cup series isnt running up in Montreal, as evidenced by the amazing turn out for a busch race (They said around 130k between praccy and race... I'd call that good for a busch race). Oval races are, IMO, quite boring. Oval races are an aquired taste. They certainly aren't for everyone. IMO, oval races are often fun (but like road courses, there is a bunch of bad ones too...look at todays Hungarian GP for example) but NASCAR races are simply too long. They are great at the start, great at the end, but the middle 3rd is often too dull and drawn out as the drivers are saving the cars (and who can blame them?). If I ran the series the first thing I'd do is cut most of the races from 500 miles to 350-400, only keeping the special ones at the 500 mile limit.
I think Nextel Cup may end up in Canada, but at the very least we'll get a situation similar to Mexico where no Nextel race is scheduled on the same weekend as the Busch race, allowing for alot of Nextel drivers to take part.
The way I look at it they already are building the cars for it, and why not actually use them (Remember when the Trucks had, IIRC, 5 Roadies a year?)Not anymore. The Car Of Tomorrow uses 1 template. The same car can be used on the road courses as can be run at Talladega or Daytona. Just swap the spoiler and spliter which bolt on and off and its done. Oh and a restrictor plate obviously lol.
ALOT of fans have been crying out for more of them, as they are usually quite good, and it is something different, But NASCAR just seems to forget the fans IMO. I bet if you asked every attendee to a NASCAR Event if they wanted more Road Course racing, it would be a yes.)I think if you asked normal motorsport fans that they would agree, but not if you asked NASCAR fans. I'm on a couple of NASCAR forums and NASCAR based forums and they LOVE there ovals. I love ovals too, but I'd quite like a few more roadies (5 or 6 would be good for me), but these guys REALLY love there ovals. I think adding more road courses might take away from what NASCAR really is about. However that Speedcar Series could be the answer to your prayers, even if they arent strictly NASCAR spec stock cars, but Late Model spec.
Why is the Daytona 500 finishing at NIGHT? (When did that happen anyways... It seems like every year its darker and darker by the end of the race... It pisses me off!)That was this year. It started later than normal and then there was hold ups. It generally didnt go to plan too well. I'd expect it to go back to finishing during the day as normal next year. There was also the strange fog of a couple of years ago which meant it looked alot darker than it was, but NASCAR Cant control the weather (if they did we wouldnt have these bloody rain delays).
I do agree that NASCAR needs to get back to tradition regarding the ovals somewhat. California needs droppecd completelty, Texas, Atlanta and Lowes need 1 date each, Darlington needs the 1 DAY race, Bristol needs to go back to tarmac and Rockingham needs to return (I miss the rock
).
But at the same time, what series isnt forgetting tradition? F1 is going off to tilke dromes in countries we dont care about. Champ Car is making advances on Europe and dropped ovals completely, Tony George said the famous 33 is "just a number", DTM is branching out into Europe and is running what is effectivly GT cars, not touring cars...its happening all through the motorsport world unfortunatly.
I'd say overall, NASCAR is pretty good at listening to the fans. Cautions were taking too long to sort, so they installed timing loops and it helped. Too many races finished under caution, so they gave us GWC finishes, and it helped. Fans wanted wet tyres for RCs back, so NASCAR put them into development on the Busch cars, with plans for Nextel later. Fans loved the truck racing, so the COT is based on a similar aeropackage.
They were the first to bring the hand held TVs to the fans at the track, theyhave worked on safety without killing the racing like F1 has done, the TV coverage is fantastic with great technical insights (FAR too many commercials, but same goes for all American TV unfortunatly).
Im agaisnt the schedule changes, Im not sure the COT is going to help, and I think the chase needs dropped. But other than that, the changes NASCAR have made to the sport in the name of safety and fan interest have been quite good really.
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