2012 Racing Season: NASCAR, Indy, F1, and more

stormybadger8 said:I basically made a point of not watching.🙂
I literally passed out the second I saw he wasn't there. Man, that guy is so entertaining it’s actually maddening.🤣

That’s why the second one was actually pretty great.😁

It is quite gratifying to see that there are still others who follow NASCAR. Personally, I tend to catch the races on YouTube a day after the fact; since I have no urgent need to know the results immediately, this delay poses no issue for me. I began following the series last year, and I must say, every single race since then has been engaging. If we are strictly discussing the quality of on-track action, I would argue that NASCAR provides some of the most compelling racing I have ever witnessed.

If I’m reading this right, they’re running three separate races over the weekend. Seems like a bit much to me...🤷

neonfox65 said:If I’m reading this right, they’re running three separate races over the weekend. Seems like a bit much to me...🤷

Honestly, it’s a brilliant setup. People showing up to the track get a full day of action—three NASCAR races plus a lineup of Ginetta, Civic, Formula Ford, and Porsche cup races in between.

For the first of the three NASCAR races this Saturday, qualifying is a thirty-minute sprint where you’re basically flat out from start to finish, only stopping if you need to wrench on the car before heading right back out. This past Saturday’s qualifying session was a complete disaster.

Sunday's first race is running straight from the qualifying order.

The second race grid is set by the finishing order of the first one, plus they slap some extra weight on the top five—48, 36, 24, 12, and 6 kg, if I remember correctly.

For the third race, they’re drawing lots for positions 6 through 10. Whoever pulls the best number starts on the pole, and everyone else lines up behind them in reverse order.

It’s always pure chaos out there. Everyone's driving on the edge with zero hesitation.

Solid races this weekend. A bit too much debris on the track meant we spent way too much time stuck behind the SC during that last race, but four cars still managed to finish within a second of each other. Btw... when the SC pulls off, they add three extra laps to the total.

Usually, we’re looking at 15 to 20 laps depending on the track, so it runs about 35 to 45 minutes. During the breaks, they can totally fix a wrecked car, meaning someone who totals their ride in the first heat can still limp into a podium spot in the second and fight for the win in the third.

These tracks are top-tier. They’ve got that classic old-school vibe, and with the weather being as unpredictable as it is, you're always guaranteed a hell of a race. Plus, they actually let you race; none of that F1 nonsense where everyone gets penalized for breathing on each other.

Honestly, after reading all that about the ballast, I just had to roll my eyes—that’s easily my biggest pet peeve.

What’s there to hate? This is what actually makes the season interesting... plus, anyone who actually knows how to tune a car won't even care about the ballast weight.

I just don't get it—I really hate it when they handicap the winners...

Winners win, even with handicaps applied... nobody there complains about rules like that, if anything...

I have to disagree 🙂 Just imagine if they introduced ballast in F1—what a disaster that would be... plus, with three races per weekend? No thanks... 🙂

Comparing F1 to Stock Cars is a joke... Honestly, if you'd actually watched a few races before complaining, maybe you'd have a point. But guessing based on vibes? Not gonna happen.

Michael Lee4 said:Comparing F1 to Stock Cars is a joke... Honestly, if you'd actually watched a few races before complaining, maybe you'd have a point. But guessing based on vibes? Not gonna happen.

I don't know—can't they both be car races? I mean, look at NASCAR... there isn't any ballast and they run three races in a single weekend.

neonfox65 said:I don't know—can't they both be car races? I mean, look at NASCAR... there isn't any ballast and they run three races in a single weekend.

Look, NASCAR races run much longer than the 25-30 minute sprints you see in the British Touring Car Championship, and F1 is even longer still. Running three races in a single weekend just wouldn't make sense given those durations.

Furthermore, we have to acknowledge that these are three fundamentally different disciplines. In F1, the engineering evolution is constant and everything is pushed to an absolute extreme; adding a mere 10 pounds of ballast to an F1 car would have a far more significant impact on performance than the 100 pounds the leader receives in the British series. Since those touring cars are based on production models, you need some form of weight adjustment to maintain parity.

Then you have NASCAR, where they race on ovals. You don't really need to overcomplicate the regulations to ensure excitement or passing opportunities; the tracks themselves practically guarantee that.
I'll admit, I don't follow NASCAR religiously—I only catch a race every now and then—but my understanding is that there's very little secrecy regarding components. You can essentially inspect any part of an opponent's car, which eliminates surprises and keeps the field tightly grouped. Since you follow it more closely, perhaps you can clarify if that's still the case, though I know it was true in the past.

NASCAR typically runs three different series over the weekend—the Cup Series, Xfinity, and the Trucks—though they don't always hit all three every single week. When you add it all up, we're looking at nearly 100 races throughout the season.

I gave it a fair shot trying to tune in, but honestly? It just didn't click for me. I guess it’s one of those things where there's no accounting for taste, right?

Today, however, the focus shifts to INDYCAR. We've got one of the most historic races on the calendar coming up at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.



Broadcast starts at: 7:00 PM

Only 24 hours left until the green flag drops at Daytona!

urbanowl96 said:Look, NASCAR races run much longer than the 25-30 minute sprints you see in the British Touring Car Championship, and F1 is even longer still. Running three races in a single weekend just wouldn't make sense given those durations.

Furthermore, we have to acknowledge that these are three fundamentally different disciplines. In F1, the engineering evolution is constant and everything is pushed to an absolute extreme; adding a mere 10 pounds of ballast to an F1 car would have a far more significant impact on performance than the 100 pounds the leader receives in the British series. Since those touring cars are based on production models, you need some form of weight adjustment to maintain parity.

Then you have NASCAR, where they race on ovals. You don't really need to overcomplicate the regulations to ensure excitement or passing opportunities; the tracks themselves practically guarantee that.
I'll admit, I don't follow NASCAR religiously—I only catch a race every now and then—but my understanding is that there's very little secrecy regarding components. You can essentially inspect any part of an opponent's car, which eliminates surprises and keeps the field tightly grouped. Since you follow it more closely, perhaps you can clarify if that's still the case, though I know it was true in the past.

Well, then why doesn't NASCAR just run longer races like DTM does?

Tyler Bennett5 said:Only 24 hours left until the green flag drops at Daytona!

For anyone looking to tune in, here's the official live stream.

You can catch the broadcast on ESPN. Race kicks off at 3:00 PM...

It really looks like hybrids are the future of endurance racing. After 84 laps, it’s a clean 1-2-3 sweep for the hybrid entries...

It glides like it's made of paper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzw5i14ewXY

Gregory Ross19 said:It glides like it's made of paper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzw5i14ewXY

The thing just wasn't built for lateral grip 😬