^3 was at that race, and the crowd reaction was worth the price of admission on the last lap. So much happy immediately followed by so much mad.

10/11/2013 7:23:36 AM

I bet they blamed ethanol

10/11/2013 7:30:19 AM

^i am sure they blamed everyone except Jr

10/11/2013 7:46:47 AM

There was one guy like 5 rows down from me that was a Harvick fan going wild, and a good chunk of the rest of the people in the area looking like they wanted to kill him. One of the best things I've ever seen in person, so much butthurtedness from JUNIOR NATION.

10/11/2013 8:30:34 AM

A guy in my section didn't realize it was the last lap and saw Harvick slowing down on the back stretch during the cool down lap and got very excited. "HAHA! At least that sonofabitch Harvick's not gonna win it!"

10/11/2013 10:07:43 AM

I will be at Charlotte tomorrow and Martinsville come the end of the month.

10/11/2013 4:22:13 PM

If tonight is any indication, you'll have plenty of leg room.

10/11/2013 7:35:56 PM

they've effectively killed the nationwide series by letting kyle busch turn each race into a glorified practice session. we stopped going years ago but will be there tomorrow for the cup race

[Edited on October 11, 2013 at 10:16 PM. Reason : . get rid of the cup guys already]

10/11/2013 10:16:08 PM

Notes from Charlotte.

1. BORING BORING BORING Except for the last 15 laps, and when Jr took the lead.
2. I'd have been inside the track, really cramped rows imo. My knee was hurting so bad after being cramped up for 3 hours.
3. Some kind of power outage in the "VIP speedway club". Didn't bother me since I was cramped in with the commoners.
4. LOUD
5. The tightrope walk had me on the edge of my seat.

mdozer73 where are you sitting at Martinsville? I'll be in Bill France tower.

10/14/2013 10:14:43 AM

Quote :

"they've effectively killed the nationwide series by letting kyle busch turn each race into a glorified practice session."

Was it any less of a glorified practice session when Mark Martin dominated in the #60 Winn Dixie car?

Nationwide (or whatever it's going to be called in the future) is in a catch-22. They need the Cup regulars to get crowds and TV ratings (which drives the worth of Nationwide's TV contract), but they need it to be a series for young up-and-comers. The standalone Nationwide race at Chicagoland earlier this year on July 21st where the only Cup regular racing was Logano had maybe 5000 people in attendance.

10/14/2013 12:23:14 PM

personally i like there to be 5 or so cup drivers in a NW race. A young driver gets more credibility when he/she can run top fives when the talent level in the race is higher.

the problem in my opinion is the cup TEAMS in NW not the drivers. that's who they should kick out

10/14/2013 12:38:29 PM

Quote :

" Darlington and Kansas swapped spring dates, giving the Mother’s Day weekend event to Kansas, which will host its first night race (May 10). Darlington’s race remains a Saturday night race (April 12) on the weekend of golf’s Masters. The only other change is to the spring date at Texas, which will be Sunday afternoon April 6 instead of its traditional Saturday night date. "

well that sucks. would have been nice to get another short track or road course race.

10/15/2013 1:25:38 PM

^ Dates are only going to places owned by SMI or ISC, unless someone buys out one of the Hulman-George family, Mattioli family, or Dover Downs Entertainment.

10/15/2013 9:26:47 PM

seriously?

Quote :

"Todd Parrott, crew chief for the No. 43 Ford driven by Aric Almirola, was suspended indefinitely Thursday after violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy. Parrott joins drivers Jeremy Mayfield and A.J. Allmendinger as the most high-profile offenders of the random drug testing policy that was implemented by NASCAR before the 2009 season. He has been a crew chief in NASCAR's premier series since 1995, starting his career at Robert Yates Racing and winning the 1999 championship with Dale Jarrett."

10/17/2013 7:31:22 PM

Here comes the rim ride of sleep, nascar should ban single file racing at Talladega. Following each other against the wall is not 100%

10/20/2013 3:01:09 PM

planning on going to Martinsville next weekend. Anyone know the best way to get tickets? I was just planning on getting them through their website, but just wondering if anyone with more experience knew something else.

Also...lol at ESPN putting Kyle Busch's radio traffic on the air after he missed his pit stall. It was like a censored Katt Williams comedy show. You couldn't hear a word.

10/20/2013 3:08:54 PM

Quote :

"Beeep beeep fuck it beeep beep"

I got my tickets through the ticket office. I'd suggest up high in the middle of the turn (That way you can look ahead and see everything without turning your head). Weather forecast is looking good so far

10/20/2013 3:12:50 PM

NASCAR robs its fans again with a dumbass caution flag to end the race. They wonder why people aren't coming to the races anymore. All that buildup and they throw the flag for a 2 car wreck. At least let mcmurray and junior race back to the line. There's no reason to throw a caution there

10/20/2013 5:16:50 PM

PATHETIC.

I wonder if they are instructing espn/fox/speed to not focus on the stands. I was at Charlotte and it couldn't have been half full.

10/20/2013 5:29:55 PM

Quote :

"I wonder if they are instructing espn/fox/speed to not focus on the stands"

yes, it's widely known that they avoid showing the stands now

10/20/2013 5:34:06 PM

They are killing themselves. A 2 car crash, middle of the backstretch (2.66 mile track) and you throw a caution on the last lap. That's about as bad as the fake debris caution last week.

5 time will be 6 time in a month.

[Edited on October 20, 2013 at 5:45 PM. Reason : ..]

10/20/2013 5:41:09 PM

it was probably only a 2 car wreck because they threw the yellow. need to go back to racing to the yellow and it won't matter.

10/20/2013 5:51:18 PM

^oh come on. The guys in the middle to back of the pack know there is a wreck going on way before they throw the yellow flag. Throwing a yellow flag at that point is useless, absolutely useless.

Nonetheless, i'll be at Martinsville this coming weekend. Section O, Row 14.

10/22/2013 10:19:27 AM

^but unless the yellow is thrown, they'll keep racing right through it. under the new rules, the race ends the instant the yellow is thrown, so unless you throw it, they'll be racing hard even though they see the wreck ahead.

10/22/2013 5:43:46 PM

what in the world was he thinking?

Quote :

"NASCAR has placed Richard Petty Motorsports development driver Corey LaJoie on indefinite probation and will require him to undergo sensitivity training for an insensitive tweet. “Is it stereotyping to ask TSA to cavity search the gentleman with a turban and a gray beard? I didn’t think so either”"

10/23/2013 6:27:37 PM

^^what? No they won't. They won't know that there is a yellow flag thrown until they're past the wreck. You really think that them throwing a yellow flag at that point is going to make them anymore aware of the situation right in front of them? You make your moves to get around the issue, and when you're past it, you hit the gas. Throwing a caution, in that instance, is useless. It serves no purpose. Its not like if they didn't throw a caution some dudes gonna be like, "Oh, no yellow? Lemme ram this SOB straight into that car!" They don't even have the time to think about a yellow flag in that situation. All they're thinking is, "Ok, let me get through this without getting hit."

10/23/2013 7:50:48 PM

Section FFF Row 40 Seat 1 WHOOOO BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY

10/23/2013 9:46:03 PM

^^i'm not saying the yellow makes them aware of the wreck. i'm just saying that without the yellow, they're still racing for position. once the yellow is thrown, they have no reason to try to race through the wreck (like they used to do when they raced back to the flagstand).

10/24/2013 6:09:22 AM

^my point though, is that its the end of the race. Nobody is racing through a wreck. Throwing the yellow there makes no sense. It doesn't make it any safer. All it does is take a possible good ending to a race and turn it into an anti-climactic mess. Do you think the fans at the track on Sunday felt cheated? I bet they did...

10/24/2013 6:15:56 AM

I was on my couch and I felt cheated.

I don't care if Jr could have passed him on his own or not, you don't throw a caution in the middle of the backstretch on a 2 mile track. Also when they threw the caution its not like the leaders slowed down that much. No cautions on last lap unless the wreck is in front of the field or close to start finish.#NewRule.

10/24/2013 7:27:13 AM

first time a black dude won a major nascar race in 49 years today.

harvick's post race interview was entertaining. not too smart when you are still in contention for the cup title

http://youtu.be/LtlqvPwA3VE

[Edited on October 26, 2013 at 6:44 PM. Reason : h]

10/26/2013 6:43:10 PM

Quote :

" I don't care if Jr could have passed him on his own or not, you don't throw a caution in the middle of the backstretch on a 2 mile track. Also when they threw the caution its not like the leaders slowed down that much. No cautions on last lap unless the wreck is in front of the field or close to start finish.#NewRule."

I always love how stupid NASCAR is in calling cautions. NHL referees have more consistency from the regular season to overtimes of game 7s than NASCAR does.

Race Control on lap 50, Junior and Danica fighting to stay on the lead lap: "David Ragan just sneezed in turn 3. The snot went out the window and onto the racetrack. That gives less traction to the cars if they run over it so we need to clean it up. Throw a caution for debris."

Race Control on the last lap: "Brad Keselowski just cleared the fence and went into the grandstands...keep it green til the checkers."

[Edited on October 26, 2013 at 8:18 PM. Reason : /]

10/26/2013 8:11:55 PM

Martinsville is my new favorite track (Until I make a trip to Bristol one day). The only complaint I have is I bought tickets in the sun.

"Rant"

Yesterday I was sitting in the stands, watching one of the greatest drivers ever (Jimmie Johnson). The fans were cheering anytime someone passed him. I asked a guy why does everyone hate him, "He wins too much". WTF kind of reasoning is that. That sums up my thoughts on what is wrong in this country, we like losers. i.e Dale JR

10/28/2013 7:52:29 AM

I have always enjoyed going to Martinsville. We usually sit high in turn one and get a pretty good view of most passes. Not a track I like to camp at but great for a day trip.

10/28/2013 8:13:46 AM

Also shout out to Danica. Godaddy was in the top 10 guys, idk where she finished tho.

10/28/2013 5:18:33 PM

I enjoyed being there. The racing, for there to be only 1 viable line, was actually quite good. Good bit of banging. My only complaint was the insane amount of cautions. Almost 1/4 of the race was run under yellow. But, its a short track. Watching Gordon stalk Kenseth for 50 laps before passing him was quite cool. Overall, a great experience. Boy did it get chilly when the sun got behind the grandstand.

10/28/2013 8:06:32 PM

another snoozer

11/3/2013 6:38:09 PM

Quote :

"Yesterday I was sitting in the stands, watching one of the greatest drivers ever (Jimmie Johnson). The fans were cheering anytime someone passed him. I asked a guy why does everyone hate him, "He wins too much". WTF kind of reasoning is that. That sums up my thoughts on what is wrong in this country, we like losers. i.e Dale JR "

For NASCAR to be fun to watch, you have to have guys that the crowd boos and wants to see lose. One thing that made late '80s and '90s NASCAR very fun to watch was the back and forth between fans on Earnhardt and Gordon.

Johnson's kind of inherited the Gordon hate although Johnson is not as successful race-to-race as Gordon was back in the day.

[Edited on November 4, 2013 at 7:59 AM. Reason : /]

11/4/2013 7:56:52 AM

having "black hat" guys does make the sport more fun. the problem is, nobody wants to pay 15-20 million dollars a year for a guy that people hate so drivers have to act PC when the cameras are on

11/4/2013 8:32:08 AM

6 time

11/10/2013 4:34:34 PM

i wish they would go back to the old points system. I'll go on the record as saying that.

11/10/2013 4:36:33 PM

The only difference between this points system and the old one on a practical level is this one completely penalizes finishing in the far back. (last in the old points system gave you about 17% of the points of the winner, in this one it's a little more than 2%)

For the guys up front, there's little difference from the old points system to the new one. I think the main reason they made the change was to ensure the guys that started-and-parked every weekend wouldn't get provisionals/start races over part-time guys that made efforts to race in the field (it'd take six 42nds to equal one 32nd).

11/10/2013 7:12:39 PM

^theres a huge difference. Jimmie Johnson would only have like 2-3 championships in the old points system instead of 6 in the new one. To say there is really no difference is...wrong. The old system was a marathon. This is nothing but a 10 race sprint. Its just NASCAR trying create some sorta false excitement. There was 10x more excitement back in the day than this bullcrap.

11/10/2013 7:28:44 PM

^ Yall are talking about two different things, you know?
The Chase for the Cup has been introduced in the past 10 or so years, but they also introduced a new points system (as far as the actual points given for each position).

I like the F1/Formula 1 points system, where you dont get any points for finishing 31st...but the sponsors dont like that...gives the teams no incentive to put a hunk of junk back out on the track 100 laps down on the off chance a viewer sees a Valvoline logo for 2 seconds.

11/10/2013 8:25:52 PM

^Ok, then I wish they would get rid of the chase. there.

11/10/2013 8:27:11 PM

Yeah I hate the Chase too, but it's part of NASCAR trying to emulate stick-and-ball sports, it's Brian France's baby, so they'll never get rid of it.

Blame Kenseth.

11/10/2013 9:10:10 PM

Kenseth ruined NASCAR with his empty championship.

11/10/2013 9:26:18 PM

i like the chase, its exciting for the championship to be decided at the last race.

not a fan of the new point system though. a pass for 2nd should be worth a lot more than a pass for 42nd, makes it not worth it to race hard and risk crashing once you are in the top 5 or so.

11/11/2013 6:50:09 AM

Quote :

"i like the chase, its exciting for the championship to be decided at the last race."

Johnson has to finish something like better than 25th to win the title.

I'm waiting for the one year someone has clinched it at the race before the season finale to LMAO.

[Edited on November 11, 2013 at 7:51 AM. Reason : .]

11/11/2013 7:46:21 AM

Trevor Bayne announces he's been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/9964490/trevor-bayne-says-multiple-sclerosis-plans-continue-racing

11/13/2013 9:32:08 AM