Coca Cola 600

[Jeff]

The Coca Cola 600 had 22 cautions, it broke the old record by a bunch. I am just wondering why they are having more & more cautions this year, is it the higher speeds, aggresive driving, or are the drivers just not as good as the ol timers? Just figured I would get some other thoughts on this, it seems to be getting talked about more than Jimmy Johnson's 3rd straight win there or Dale jr's running into the back of his partner ( Waltrip).

 

[SmarterThanYou]

over all its the driving package that the Nextel guys have to deal with. They shortened the spoiler by an inch this year which decreases the downforce on the cars. Lowes motor speedway has its hat to throw in also since its a very old track and 'grinding' it down may have made it somewhat smoother, its still an old track. It made side by side racing possible but still risky.

 

[dilloduck]

over all its the driving package that the Nextel guys have to deal with. They shortened the spoiler by an inch this year which decreases the downforce on the cars. Lowes motor speedway has its hat to throw in also since its a very old track and 'grinding' it down may have made it somewhat smoother, its still an old track. It made side by side racing possible but still risky.

The track conditions basically sucked and pieces used for reparing it were flying everywhere. It certainly look its toll on tires which are important when going 220+mph. Additionally I think aggressive driving (bump passing etc) has increased with the popularity of the sport. I'm afraid the once "good old boys" smell Hollywood and glory.

 

[SmarterThanYou]

The track conditions basically sucked and pieces used for reparing it were flying everywhere. It certainly look its toll on tires which are important when going 220+mph. Additionally I think aggressive driving (bump passing etc) has increased with the popularity of the sport. I'm afraid the once "good old boys" smell Hollywood and glory.

when you have to red flag a race to repair parts of the track, its time to dump the money in it to repair it. Debris is a very common factor in yellow flags and accidents. bump drafting always has been a stupid tactic, in my opinion, because all it does is push the guy ahead of you out in front. The competitiveness in any sport can get out of hand especially when theres more money pumped in to it. The increasing popularity of nascar is only going to see things get worse. soon it will be an imitation of baseball, sorta.

 

[Jeff]

The track conditions basically sucked and pieces used for reparing it were flying everywhere. It certainly look its toll on tires which are important when going 220+mph. Additionally I think aggressive driving (bump passing etc) has increased with the popularity of the sport. I'm afraid the once "good old boys" smell Hollywood and glory.

I agree with you 100% dillo, seems that money is more important than anything. But in a sport were it is very possible to cancel Christmas ya think they would have better sense. They will keep going this way until more get hurt bad or even killed , then the sport will be labeled to dangerous, seems some of these younger drivers will do anything to get a rep. But as in all sports when it becomes nothing more than a money game it just isn't as fun

 

[no1tovote4]

But WHAT AN ENDING! That was one awesome race. I don't remember how long it has been since I saw a red flag when there were under 10 laps to go.

 

[Jeff]

But WHAT AN ENDING! That was one awesome race. I don't remember how long it has been since I saw a red flag when there were under 10 laps to go.

The ending was fantastic! Jimmy Johnson lost the race in Atlanta the same way to Carl Edwards( I was there & was sure Johnson won)After the race in Charlotte they talked to Johnson who said " Edwards took him to school in Atlanta, & he was a good student..lol..
As for the fed flag, there have been a couple ever since Talladege were Jr lost under a red flag finish I for one am glad they changed that rule, it makes for very intresting finishes to say the least.