NASCAR News & Discussion

A little about me. NASCAR became important when Dodge announced they were returning and wow, what a promising first year Dodge had. Drivers winning and competing for the championship. Greats like Sterling Marlin, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, all had their time dominating with their Dodge's. Those Ray Evenham red Dodge's were beastly cool! I watched Brad Keselowski win the championship for Dodge in their final year...

NASCAR did lose a lot of it's luster to me when Dodge left. It got worse that Toyota was let in and so lovingly embraced. Even today, they seem to be all over NASCAR, being an official sponsor, having the pace car at tracks, also being used as NASCAR safety trucks and jet-dry vehicles... sheesh. But when Dodge was there, I always rooted for them and their drivers whomever they were to beat those other brands. Now I have... Ford and Chevy is all to root for? Hmm.

But putting all that aside in 2020 I decided to come back into NASCAR after turning away in 2010 and loosely barely paying attention in-between. I must say, 2021 has been a very exciting year and I am VERY happy to be watching NASCAR again. A lot of the drivers I grew up with are gone, and I find myself rooting for the few remaining one's I remember. It is a blast watching these new drivers come up and without Dodge there, I am enjoying the sport for it's drivers and not just the manufacturer. It's made me enjoy it a lot. Now I would love to see Dodge back and I hope they do someday.

I wanted to share this because I really hope there are people here who LOVE their Mopar's and can still enjoy talking about this sport. If I can put aside my Mopar love to enjoy things again, it gives me hope others do too! I look forward to discussing races, drivers, anything NASCAR with whomever wishes to bite.

codypet said:

I left the sport after Dodge left but was reintroduced by SlapShoes excellent YouTube Videos on the history on the sport. That got me hooked on Dale Jr's podcast and the interesting people like Evernham being interviewed (which brings me back to Dodge). Since then I'm tacitly paying attention, seeing how Brad K is doing.

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Are you sure you aren't just reading my mind right now? That is pretty much what happened to me. SlapShoes and a few others got me interested in the real stories of NASCAR, that I never knew before. I then a few months ago started listening to Dale's Download. I was never a Dale fan back in the day, but honestly none of that matters to me anymore. All the likes and dislikes were pretty frivolous back then anyways. I've really enjoyed hearing the old racing stories and it has made me appreciate so many more drivers and people. I had no idea Ray Evernham did so much either, all his stories and scandals. Drivers back in the day everyone praised, even though their records weren't too good, it put it all into a new perspective. It is so much more than just statistics.

I didn't recognize any of the cars practically coming back, but I've learned them now for the most part. The Penske cars were pretty similar (number and color wise), the Hendrick guys are there, same numbers. RCR is quite different and Roush isn't even recognizable nor the powerhouse they were.

Good start to a rather tame Sonoma race so far. At about lap 20. It's been the "Kyle Larson Show" so far. He just won the first stage.



After the first stage, we have some interesting names up in the top 20. Maybe they can get a good finish.

Kurt Busch needs a good run for his chances in the Playoffs and is sitting 8th.
Matt Dibenedetto is in 9th.
Erik Jones having a nice day in 10th.
Chase Briscoe, who won the ARCA West race yesterday in Sonoma is 11th.
Ryan Preece is rocking it in 12th.
Cole Custer and Corey LoJoie round out the top 20 in 19th and 20th respectably.
Also a shout out to Cody Ware in an underfunded team sitting 23rd. Good for them.

And it was all Kyle Larson all day at Sonoma. He races into victory after a late caution and wins at his home track. Chase Elliott second, Truex Jr third, Logano fourth, Kyle Busch 5th.

I said to keep an eye on Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain and they came home 6th and 7th respectfully.

Hendrick Motorsports beat a record today as well, beating a record held since 1956 by a Chrysler NASCAR Team. Chrysler and their Chrysler 300's had long held the NASCAR record for team with the most 1-2 finishes in a row. It has now been beat by Hendrick and their Chevy Camaro's.

I think one of the happiest stories of the year is from AJ Allmendinger. I never thought of him much in Cup, but now that he is in Xfinity, he is like a whole new man/driver. Apparently I am not the only one who has seen his excitement in every interview. An opinion piece by the AP Sports Writer documents this as well.



"AJ Allmendinger was so over the grind and the losing and the lack of any enjoyment in his job that he walked away from NASCAR after the 2018 season rather than run for another mediocre team.

His friends pulled him back in.

It was a little at a time, five races the first year, 11 the next. But now he is running a full season and he is rejuvenated, refreshed and maybe just a little winded after celebrating his latest win.

Allmendinger, at 39, is in a full-fledged career renaissance.

His close friendships at Kaulig Racing got him to this point, celebrating with team owner Matt Kaulig and team president Chris Rice after he won his second race of the season Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Kaulig's home track..." Full Article

I'm excited for Kaulig Racing too and I look forward to seeing them in Cup next year. AJ is really bringing some great experience to the team and helping them grow. I think he enjoys the success he can bring for them and how he can see the visual changes and transformation of the whole team as he races. He gets to mentor two younger racers too. He seems so much more fulfilled.

A million dollars is on the line at a NEW location for the NASCAR All-Star Race. Texas Motor Speedway.


Article

The starting lineup and pole for Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway were set by random draw among the drivers who automatically qualified for the event.

The starting grid for the race at Texas (5 p.m. PST; FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will be led by Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

So who are you picking to be among the top?

A good set of races today.

John Hunter Nemecheck in his Tundra pulled out a victory based on strategy to beat Chase Elliott in the 24 Silverado in the Camping World Truck race. Both of those trucks were the class of the field today though.



In the Xfinity Series, Kyle Busch mostly dominated but had some hard chargers in Allgier, Cindric, Hemric, and others to pull off his 99th victory in his 54 Twix Supra. Kyle Busch is one win away from 100. What an amazing feat and truly a stat that must be respected.

Just a ten lap shootout remains of the All Star race. We've had many ups and downs from drivers whether Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, or Tyler Reddick, it's been varied field of drivers so far.




Congrats to the pit crew of the 9 Chevy who won the 100,000 pit crew challenge!



I will update when the All-Star race is over and we have a $1 million dollar champ!

This is also FOX's last Cup Series broadcast for the year, as it will move over too NBC. FOX will still broadcast the truck series and their popular NASCAR Race Hub Show that is on FS1 everyday at 3PM Pacific.

What a thrilling 10 lap dash to the finish. 3-Wide racing that ended with a very close battle between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson. Brad K. gave it all he had as they came into the last lap and was right on Larson's back bumper, but it wasn't enough. Kyle Larson took the win and the $1 million dollars! His third win in a row (even if this race doesn't count for points or anything). Congrats!

mopar22 said:

Not sure how you could call it a mediocre team. It's pretty much a 5/6th Gibbs car. Either way it will be better than whatever he's doing at Ganassi right now, just look at what Larson is doing not compared to when he was over there

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Kind of... 2311 has done nothing but mediocre runs all season, not yet even capturing a top 10 and barely capturing a top 15 here and there. Though their numbers are improving. The driver has well as been quite over-dramatic denying live interviews when things don't go his way.

The Ganassi teams on the other hand have several top tens and a handful of top fives and are running much better, even 'newbie' Chastain is doing better than the 2311's driver as well.

I remember when Ganassi was a powerhouse with their Dodge's. Sterling Marlin looked like he had a championship locked up before an injury. Even Richard Childress Racing or Roush, all once powerhouses. They've all taken a few steps back.

But back to Ganassi, they are doing decent with what they have. The last few weeks they've definately improved their finishes between Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain. Both had a good outing at Sonoma and in the All-Star Race.

I really think that if Kurt Busch was in top tier equipment, he'd still be up front more than he is.

I think if Brad Keselowski went to Roush or started a new team, he would drop from being a top tier driver, to mediocre due to equipment. I know this year hasn't been Brad's best season, but I think there is a lot going on behind the scenes too. I am a little shocked Roger Penske didn't make sure he kept Brad, because his team is for sure the top Ford team and one of the elite team right now in NASCAR with Logano and Blaney. I would argue Blaney is doing much better purely because he IS in Penske equipement (And I don't mean that as a disservice to Blaney).