NASCAR fans here?

Leatherbird,

You make some poignant points. :)
I like Jr., but he's not my favorite driver. Not a big Gordon fan, but I give him his due.
Neither one was a factor, but I can still say that this was a great race.
I think you are saying the same thing....
Damn, that was fun...wooo!
 
Yes, the bump and grind of nascar kind of is becoming cliched. In the "old
days" the drivers couldn't afford to wreck. They only had one car and they
were driving it. Now they act like their supposed to do that. And there are
sad notes really (at least to me) 1. they want to take that race away from
Darlington and give it to a track out west. (maybe even the Seattle area)
2. It annoys me when they bring up a past Winston Cup champion and say
"Bobby Allison won the Nextel Cup in 19whatever" that's not true he won the
Winston cup in 19whatever. Other than that I'm okay with Nascar these
days no matter what they call they Cup winner.

And I think someone from Roush Racing is going to win. It's hard to beat
six other drivers. And if you go to local short track you will see some really
fine racing exciting stuff. In my town though they closed the track and
man this sucks, made it into a bicycle track and park. So it is either go to
TN or rutherfordton, unless permit problems get cleared up for another
track that is trying to be opened.
 
Fixer,
No doubt you are correct...the $ is way different these days.
You must still adhere to the Ralph Earnhardt philosophy...and rightly so.
Having lots-o cash shouldn't be a license to tear up a race car...and actually I don't think it is.
There is way too much at stake with a DNF to tear one up just to prove a point. Yep, $ again. The 'Cup' winner gets a cool $1.5 mil. just for winning it and could probably multiply it 3-5X based on the residual.
I am 35 years old and I still argue with my dad all the time about his longing for the good ol' days. Unfortunately, they ain't comin' back. I've seen both and have decided to take it for all that it is...and I still enjoy it. To me there is still no racing circuit which compares when it comes to racing excitement and competition...IMHO, of course! :cool:
 
It was a good race & more enjoyable on the new HDTV screen. Sad part of racing is the bottom line= NET gate. Darlington is soon going to be history. One of the drivers remarked last night that the fastest car wasn't the answer,you had to race the TRACK. We oldtimers remember those monster V-8's being beaten by Johnny Mantz in a Plymouth 6 cylinder in the first race. As the Korean war was was winding down we went to the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido to rebuild & train one big batch of draftees. One of the cooks in my platoon was a Thomas & his letters from home was all the racing news available. This was when Tim & Fonty Flock & the Thomas boys were dominant.
My only visit to Darlington was in 1960 & a choice grandstand seat was a huge $ 5.00.

Old racing is like the miner's daughter,"Gone forever ,Clementine " ! :)

Happy Mothers Day !

Uncle Alan
 
Looks as if McLaren is back as well as Renault. Kimi Raikkonen headed the Gp of France from start to finish yesterday in his Mercedes-McLaren.
 
Is that Michael schumacker who drives the Marlboro Ferrari?He seems to be very fast.?
 
Last time I checked, F1 isn't related to NASCAR, other than they both have drivers... :rolleyes: :confused:
I think the politcal correctness that got Winston kicked out of NASCAR sucks.
Nextel Cup... :yawn:
At least it's not some feminine hygeine products sponsoring... :eek:
 
Yeah,I know it's a NASCAR thread,I was just replying to FH,it's cool though cause maybe we can talk about the speed differences in F1 and NASCAR.I think they only(F1)go like 25-30 mph faster.And they cost so much more,wouldn't ya think they be a lot faster?Oh,yeah.Don't misunderstand me,I like NASCAR a helluva' lot more than Formula racing.OK.That's all.
 
Uncle Allen,

I bet none of those F-1 boys ever ran a race with a monkey in their car...ala Tim Flock!
 
Forgot about the monkey. Remember the green colored car jinx ? How about the peanuts jinx too? Richard used to stick a hand towel in with him & chew on it to relieve stress,I guess.
Before Smoky Yunick died I sold his garage batteries. " Best Damn Garage in Town " I never actually had a 1 on 1 with Smokey & I regret it .
Bill Tuthill had a racing museum of sorts in South Daytona & one day I stumbled across it just before lunch. Standing outside like a kid in front of a candy store staring ,saw Bill coming outside. Invited me in but I told him i was down to just lunch money, Laughing,he waved me inside. Boy ,what an experience ! Wish I'd had some type of recorder.He started with the beach races & brought me up to date with an insiders viewpoint .
Ray Fox had a big Firestone store & they bought motor oil & filters from me. His son actually ran the business & in the lounge/waiting room Ray & other old-timers held court. Again , should'a had'a recorder.
I learned a ton about how they cheated & Smokey bragged about how he juiced up the Hudson Hornet to give it that fast acceleration.

If anyone would like to swap racing stories,let me know. We have a 24/7 packag ;) e to use for gathering up my army buddies for our reunions & we old farts love to gab.

Uncle Alan
 
U.A.
Those are great stories...gab away...
If I remember correctly Mark Martin occasionally gnaws on a wet towel during races when the temps are particularly warm. I maybe wrong, but there is someone, since Petty, who does this.
While I obviously don't go as far back as you do...I truly love this sport and it's history. My dad took me to my first race in 1978...I was eight...drove over from Ocala, my hometown. Shoot, I remember when you could get to the track from Ocala...via highway 40...in just over an hour. That was as late as 1992. Not any more though!
In spite of all the "changes for the worse" lamented by many...I find it hard to believe that many racing fans can argue that NASCAR's top level series... Craftsman Truck/ Busch/ Nextel Cup is not the most entertaining, controversial, colorful and exciting racing circuit in the world today.
 
My first race was held on a horse trotting track at Legion Stadium in my hometown,Wilmington,N.C.It was exciting on that short "0" banked track. Biggest hazard was from fence splinters if you spun into it. Racing was really getting it together there when the neighbors complained of the noise & dust that blanketed their nice green lawns. Put up huge canvas sheets but the clamor & yammer won out so we die-hards had to search out other tracks which was an onerous task because if it wasn't Sir Malcom Campbell setting a new record,it wasn't news .Word of mouth from a few helped us.
Racing was somewhat dominated by those flat-head 239 C I Fords, Chevrolet's only engine was the overhead valve 216 Ci & lacked the oomph but one with a good driver that could sort of tune it to the track could win. Ford drivers pernitted the slightly larger GMC engine to be used & it was ,I believe,a whopping 228 CI which was an equailzer of sorts. Then a Chevy engineer [Duntov ?] produced a cam & the field was pretty level then.The GMC engine was used in the 2-door coupes that hauled 'shine & successfully outran everything but two-way radios. { Boy , do I have stories about that as an eyewitness !}
My eaddress is shown in my profile,wherever it is , so write me your phone # & let me know when you'd like to chat a bit. Wish I was a faster typist 'cause some of these tales are classics . Have written a lenghty memoir about most of my adventures but omitted racing completely.Will be 75 next month but other than suffering from a spinal injury during the Korean war,I'm still pretty much with it. These young forumites make me feel positively ancient BUT any day above ground is God's blessing.

Uncle Alan
 
U.A.,

Sent you an email.
BTW,
I still have tickets to the 1982 Daytona 500 and FireCracker 400.
Cost: $25
We bought them about 2 hours before the morning of the race at the ticket office.
For this past Daytona 500, there was not a ticket to be found for less than $150.00 and that put you somewhere in rows 1-10, where you can't see any thing anyway.
Yep, times they are a changin'
 
So read the column here in the Daytona Beach News-Urinal today.Dodge has had great finishes this year but this is their first win if my failing memory is correct.It is sad to me to see the older drivers being eclipsed by the rash of young chargers but that's life.Once upon a time one or two rookies would win but in recent years so many good drivers have appeared & done exceedingly well that it's hard for me to comprehend. Give them their due,they are great. Nowadays I have to keep the lineup nearby so I can really stay in touch with each race. Guess I'm just an old man in the fast lane & getting passed on both sides. No real complaints, racing is racing & it is still thrilling to watch.

Uncle Alan :)
 
I am a Larry the Cable Guy fan, but not so much NASCAR; although I can claim to have watched Dale, Sr.'s tragic wreck on live TV. :(
 
Dale's death was untimely but everyone is in harms way on the track. We must remember that they knew the danger but choose to be there .
God bless them !

Uncle Alan :)
 
uncle Alan said:
Dale's death was untimely but everyone is in harms way on the track. We must remember that they knew the danger but choose to be there .
God bless them !

Uncle Alan :)
Click to expand...



Ho hum !

The racing [ ? ] last night reminded me of a poorly produced highschool play. NASCAR will do anything for a buck,won't they ?
Did anyone really enjoy this contrived production ?

Uncle[better racing ahead ?] Alan :barf:
 
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