that time of year is upon us

the NASCAR season starts saturday night with the Bud Shootout

lets get some talk from last year out of the way

so glad to see Gordon didnt make the cut

not real surprised to see Jr. didnt make it, his head doesnt really seem to be in it

for this year i expect Tony to be very strong again

for the future personally i think bringing in Toyota is great for the sport, i hear honda is also bringing in a car soon

i say the more manufacturers the better


i hope to see alot of people posting we have a long season, should be lots of good stuff to talk about

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO said the Redneck.

I personally hope Tony dosen't do worth a damn this year. Don't get me wrong he is a fantastic driver, i just don't like him one bit...........LEAVE THE FENCE CLIMBING TO THE ILLEGALS TONY!!!!!!

And i am hoping that Micheal Waltrip has a strong showing this year, but my hopes are not that high.

I have all ways said let all manufactures in and let the best man, with the best team, and the best car win. Dosen't matter if he is behind the wheel of a American or Japanease car, just throw the gas to em.

Finally someone to talk a little NASCAR with. Last thread didn't get much coverage.



Just one more kind of car to kick fords butt.

I thought the officals didn't start counting points till Daytona.



He was so bad last season, I was ticked. Sure his crew chief kept changing and they didn't meet up, but he could have done a bit better.

The one guy that really ticks me off in NASCAR (besides Gordon ) is Carl Edwards... ever since Atlanta, late in the season '04 when he wiped out Dale Jr. by driving like a pansy in a race that really didn't matter to him at all, basically wiped out Jr.'s chance to beat out Kurt Busch. For that, he will forever be marked, by me.



Yeah, he will be. That guy runs off ego and that champ title is going to inflate his head. I like him a bit though, he was my pick to win the cup after Dale Jr. didn't get in then after him I was on Jimmy Johnson to win if Tony couldn't take it.

If he keeps his temper under control, like last season, he might just take the cup again.

tonights race isnt for points

just a truck load of money

and to show off new paint schemes



i always remember something his car owner Joe Gibbs said

id much rather have someone that is fired up then someone with no spark at all

NASCAR hits a few bumps before opener

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Chad Knaus will probably watch the Daytona 500 on television at home. If Tony Stewart really wants to take a stand, he'd join him.

The season is barely a day old and NASCAR already has two major issues to work through. The sanctioning body acted quickly on the first one, suspending Knaus on Monday from the biggest race of the year because the crew chief made an illegal alteration to Jimmie Johnson's car before his qualifying attempt.

Now NASCAR must turn its attention to Stewart's warning that current racing conditions could lead to a death in the season-opening event.

The defending Nextel Cup champion was upset about the dangerous practice of bump-drafting after his third-place run in Sunday's exhibition race. Bump-drafting is an aggressive rear-ending maneuver that calls for one driver to slam into the back bumper of the car in front of him to maintain momentum.

The practice is common at Daytona and Talladega, the only two NASCAR tracks that require restrictor-plates to choke the horsepower and keep speeds down. Although it's been going on for years, Stewart thinks it's out of control.

"We're going to kill somebody," Stewart said. "Somebody else is going to die at Daytona or Talladega with what we're doing right here. I hope I'm not around when it happens."

Stewart spent more than 20 minutes arguing the dangers in a closed-door session with NASCAR officials, and they said they heard the two-time champion's complaints loud and clear.

"Tony can be emotional at times, but when Tony speaks we're certainly going to listen to him," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said. "He was very rational in the way he presented his thoughts."

But if Stewart is serious about how dangerous it is, then he should be the first to take a stand against it.

Refusing to participate in the Super Bowl of racing might do the trick.

But of course, he never would and never could take such a drastic measure.

For starters, skipping just one event could cripple his season before it even began. Because of NASCAR's complicated points system, missing a race would cost him dearly in the standings and make it very difficult for him to defend his title.

Then there's all the money sponsor Home Depot has shelled out to support his Joe Gibbs Racing team. Sponsors want to see their logos on the track during the "Great American Race." And because Stewart is such a talented racer, his flaming orange paint scheme is guaranteed a ton of television exposure come Sunday.

And don't forget, unlike almost every other professional sport, NASCAR has no union that Stewart could lean on for support. If he did decide to skip the 500 and NASCAR chose to punish him for it - in this France-family owned sport, anything is possible and rules can be arbitrarily applied - Stewart would have no one to defend him.

So Stewart will climb into the No. 20 Chevrolet, hit the high banks of Daytona and do what every other driver in the field does: bump-draft.

"Trust me, I did my share of bump-drafting, too," he said after the exhibition race. "But we're going to hurt somebody really bad next Sunday if we don't find some way of calming this down soon."

Although NASCAR has options, including softening the front bumpers so that any significant contact would cause catastrophic, race-ending damage, there's not enough time between now and race day to make the changes.

So there are only two solutions:

-NASCAR can place a handful of officials in the four corners at Daytona who can monitor bump-drafting, then issue subjective penalties to the offenders.

-The drivers can universally agree to stop doing it.

Neither solution will likely work.

Teams will riot if NASCAR attempts to police the drivers and undoubtedly find the process unfair. And any sort of gentleman's agreement not to bump-draft is fine - until someone breaks it.

Because NASCAR acted quickly Monday in suspending Knaus, a repeat offender when it comes to breaking rules, teams won't be able to spend the rest of the week criticizing officials for letting him off easy. It gives them plenty of time to gripe about a racing technique they are the only ones capable of correcting.

"I don't know how you fix it," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., adding that softening the bumpers wouldn't work because "we'll find something else to run into each other with, if it's not the front bumper."

So where does that leave Stewart?

"I learned I need to up my life insurance policy as soon as I can," he said.

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Stop bump drafting?! That's insane.

Bump drafting has long been part of the sport and to simply stop it would mean an entire different style of racing... cause it is dangerous, yes but it can also give that little bit of help to take the lead for those wonderful lead points (5) and/or win you the race.

yes..................it's called F1

bump draft there and youre dead

but i totally agree, bump drafting is NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt made his whole career bump drafting

though i do agree the racing could be made safer

more 'soft walls' and safer pit entrances

more barrels filled with water

even using the gravel skirt they use in F! road courses

one major point i think is i think the crowd is too close to the track

back up the stands by 20 feet, then fill that space with gravel

*twitches* I can't stand F1... snobby rich euros running around.

Yeah, I agree on the safer barriers, the ones the tracks put in last year helped a great deal.

Perhaps NASCAR officals should be a bit more careful on decieding tail fin heights, couple races last year the drivers were complaning that even though it was faster, you give up control for speed. I still question what the hell they were thinking. Maybe they think those softer walls will be magical.

Gravel would eat up the tires like no tomarrow, why they where having tire problems at Darlington, last year because the track was basically coming apart and the little bits where digging in. That was an insanely long race because of tire blow outs.

For the crowd being close, I'm sure they have warnings up and taking them away from being in charge of those people. Lots of tracks have them, all of the smaller tracks around here do. People would rather be up and close though.

ive been to Daytona for the 500, didnt really care for it, my parents brought me in 89

actually went to the F! race in Monacco years ago, now i dont much care for F1 either, but c'mon man it's Monacco

i think the greatest invention over the past several years were the roof flaps

i still remember seeing Petty roll along the fence, and Rusty doing his flips in the infield

i honestly wouldnt mind if they slowed the cars down some, put more of the race in the drivers hands

the speeds dont impress me anymore

since Elliot set the record (at Talladega i think)

would make for more exciting racing i think





damn i cant wait for the season to really start Sunday

The roof flaps are great. Seen those more then once in action, lucky for the drivers. Forget what race it was but it was Sandler (38 m&m car at the time) but he went for a couple good barrel rolls in the air.

I also like the new seats and head restraints for the drivers. Gives them a bit more security.

Well, if it's all drivers and not as much speed then it kind of takes away the crew element and the car luck, I think.

NASCAR to begin policing bump drafting

Just a quote from it:


It always gets a little rough even between teams. Nextel is just digging further under my skin.

I can't wait either...just put me in a coma till then.

Sadler runs away from field in first qualifying race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) _ Elliott Sadler added his name to the list of drivers to beat in the Daytona 500 with a dominating victory in one of Thursday's qualifying races.

Sadler's Ford has been stout since he arrived in Daytona last week, and he narrowly missed winning the pole for Sunday's season-opener when he posted the fourth-fastest speed during time trials.

He took the lead after a round of pit stops, then ran away from the field in the 150-mile race.

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?s...Id=2&id=2333172

go jeff burton ...put that chevy into victory lane at least once.

i can agree with that

my 2 favorite drivers arent racing

Earnhardt died and Craven is apparently not worthy of a job


other then them i havent picked a favorite

all i know is i hate Gordon

He's pretty much one of those rich snobs from F1. I don't mind seeing his wife around though.

Jeff Burton winning would be nice for him, but I really don't see it happening.

I just hope a Ford doesn't win.

so, favorite drivers ?

like i said i dont have a new one yet

my wife likes dale jarrett because of the race the brown truck ads

Dale Jr. and Kevin Harvick for me. Even though my pick out of the ten last year was Tony, because...well nor Dale or Kevin were in it and I had to keep amused on Sunday.

That's one way to pick a driver.

I like jimmie johnson and kyle busch hes so dangerous and fun to watch.

i never liked Harvick, he doesnt deserve to replace a Legend

I don't think anybody will replace Dale Earnhardt.



Jimmy is good, just I can't see myself cheering for him. I'm glad he's out of Jeff's shadow and basically his own.

i gotta believe he had knowledge of the cheating

pretty sad to resort to that

good luck to all race fans today may your driver prevail...Goo Tony

Yeah, it is sad.

Ticks me off to no end that he won today because of that.

Tony was sure stirring the pot today with drivers. Thought Matt was going to ram Tony. Not that I would have blamed him... he screwed all his chances to win.

Dale Jr. got 8th place, still in the top 10. He was kind of cranky during yesterdays interview about his car so I wasn't expecting him to win.

Keivn Harvick got 14th... not bad.

i would have to say i am most pleased with the fact Ken Schrader finished in the top 10 and Jeff Gordon didnt

ok

it's official

rain outs suck

Time to open the Nascar thread. My favorite driver is Mark Martin.
Anybody think Mark might stay in the rest of the year is he keeps leading the points?