Working On My Redneck ™ » rule changes

Daytona Overnight Rule Changes

Leon — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 19:35:40 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

Friday the speeds at the Bud Shootout practice skyrocketed, a two car train topped 203 mph!

Saturday morning NASCAR instituted a couple of rule changes to try to reduce those lightening fast two car draft speeds that were recorded on Friday. Because of the new racing surface, those speeds reached in excess of 203 mph!

The NASCAR officials decided not to reduce further the size of the restrictor plates that are placed between the carburetor and the intake manifold. That restriction reduces the amount air that is allowed into the plenum chamber and into the cylinders to mix with the fuel. The reduction in air mixing with the fuel in essence reduces the amount of horsepower that is generated by the combustion in the cylinders.

However, what the NASCAR officials decreed was that the two air intakes in the front bumper area of the cars must now be taped up and made usable. Those two intakes were specifically hooked up to coll the oil cooler and the water. With those two intakes rendered unusable, the engines run hotter in a long, multi-lap two car break-away.

What is your view on the way that NASCAR has addressed the increased speed this year at Daytona?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

More On The Rule Changes For 2011

Leon — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:23:50 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

NASCAR announced Wednesday that it has added a wild card element to setting the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field and it has simplified its points system for 2011, making it easier for fans, competitors and the industry to understand. While the 12-driver Chase field remains intact, the final two spots will be determined by the number of wins during the first 26 races.

The top 10 in points following Race #26, Richmond, the “cutoff” race, continue to earn Chase berths. Positions 11 and 12 are “wild card” qualifiers and will go to non-top-10-ranked drivers with the most wins, as long as they’re ranked in the top 20 in points. The top-10 Chase drivers will continue to be seeded based on wins during the first 26 races, with each win worth three bonus points. The wild card drivers will not receive bonus points for wins and will be seeded 11th and 12th, respectively. It’s a move aimed towards rewarding winning and consistency during the regular season.
Brian France, NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, made the announcements at the NASCAR Hall of Fame during NASCAR’s annual media event as part of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour.

“The fans tell us that winning matters the most with them, so we’re combining the tradition of consistency in our sport with the excitement that comes along with winning,” said France. “This makes every race count leading into the 26th race of the season at Richmond, when we set the field for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.”

The new points system, which applies to all NASCAR national series, will award points in one-point increments. As an example, in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, race winners will earn 43 points, plus three bonus points for the win. Winners also can earn an extra point for leading a lap and leading the most laps, bringing their total to a possible maximum of 48 points.

All other drivers in a finishing order will be separated by one-point increments. A second-place finisher will earn 42 points, a third-place driver 41 points, and so on. A last-place finisher, 43rd place, earns one point. In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, the last-place finisher receives eight points, to account for that series’ 36-driver race field.

“Many of our most loyal fans don’t fully understand the points system we have used to date,” said France, referencing the system that has been in use since 1975. “So, we are simplifying the points system to one that is much easier to understand. Conceptually, it is comparable to our previous system, but it is easier to follow.”

During his remarks Wednesday night, France reflected on the outstanding competition the sport enjoyed in 2010 and expected to see that high-caliber of racing to continue once the green flag drops for the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 Feb. 20. “NASCAR enters 2011 with positive momentum and a great sense of excitement and optimism,” said France. “We’re extremely excited for the launch of the season. Leading the season off with Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas, we believe our fans are in store for some of the best racing the sport has to offer.”

Other competitive enhancements announced Wednesday:

Pick a Series: Drivers in all three national series now must select the series where they’ll compete for a driver championship. Drivers still may compete in multiple series and help their teams win owner titles in series where they’re not competing for a driver title. The move helps spotlight young talent in the NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

New Qualifying Procedure : The qualifying order will be set based upon slowest to fastest practice speeds.

Inclement Weather Qualifying: If bad weather cancels qualifying, the final starting lineup will be determined by practice speeds. The same rule book procedures will be used to determine eligibility to start a race. If weather cancels practice sessions, then the starting lineup will be set by points, per the rule book.

Tire Rules Revision: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams now are allowed five sets of tires for practice and qualifying instead of six. They must return four of those sets to Goodyear in order to receive their race allotment, and may keep one set of practice/qualifying tires. Tire allotments for race weekends will vary according to historical performance data.

Closed Loop Fueling System: Introduced in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, this goes into effect for all three national series in 2011. It combines a more efficient fueling system with the elimination of the catch-can man, considered the most “vulnerable” pit-crew member. Teams now will use six, rather than seven, over-the-wall pit-crew members.

Evolution Of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Car: NASCAR continues to work with the manufacturers and teams to enhance the look of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car. The cars have new fronts this season and the body makeover will continue to help appeal to fans and aid manufacturer identity.
(NASCAR)

Some additional notes about series changes:

The last two spots of the Chase will go to the drivers with the most wins who aren’t in the top 10 in the standings, but still ranked in the top 20. If there’s a tie, the playoff spot goes to the driver with the most points.

If no drivers have wins after the 10th position, the last two positions in the Chase will go to the 11th and 12th place drivers.

The wild card drivers will receive no bonus points and will start with a base of 2,000 points. The previous Chase featured a 5,000-point base and 10 points per win to start the Chase.

Any penalties will be adjusted for the new system. Last year some penalties were as high as 150 points.

If qualifying gets rained out, drivers that make the race will be the same, based on the rule book (top 35, past champion, race winners, etc), but the starting positions will be deteremined by practice speeds.

Points will not be given to owners that do not make the race, but NASCAR will keep track of attempts.

There will be no changes to the top-35 rule.

No mention was made of altering race start times.

What are your thoughts on all the rule changes that are in effect for the 2011 season?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Show Me The Money!

Leon — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 04:01:06 +0000

(Bruton Smith photo courtesy google.com)

Forget tweaking the points system and the Chase. One of NASCAR’s most influential people thinks it’s time to take a radical new approach to the sport.

O. Bruton Smith, Chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns eight Sprint Cup tracks, chief among which are Charlotte, Texas, Infineon, and Las Vegas, said Tuesday that the Chase for the Sprint Cup format may not be around in a year or two. And to him, that’s not a bad thing.

If you want to get people’s attention, he says, make it more about the money!

Despite the fact that the difference between first and second entering the 2010 season finale was the closest in the seven-year history of the Chase, Smith contends the program is not connecting with the fans. Smith says the Chase “started out as a good idea” but that it has run its course.

“I think it started off being very important, but I don’t think it’s as important as maybe we thought it would be,” Smith said. “We may be looking around here in another year or two and maybe we have done something differently and we no longer have the Chase. That’s my thinking. In one or two more years, we’ll find out. That’s just my opinion.”

NASCAR is expected to finalize its new points system Wednesday — offering a sliding scale with 43 points to the winner down to one point for 43rd, along with one point for leading a lap, one point for most laps led and two to three additional points to the winner.

While Smith has tremendous respect for NASCAR chairman Brian France and speaks with him on a regular basis, he questions whether changing the points system will have any effect on enticing new fans. Smith still believes a cash reward is the answer.

“With this (proposed) point system, I don’t know if it’s that big of a thing,” Smith said. “We could cure this whole thing with the purse. That’s the whole thing. We’ve tried this many, many times over. Money. You’ve heard them say, ‘follow the money?’ These race car drivers will follow the money.

“Look at the all-star event. It pays a million dollars to win and who cares about second? I think it pays two (places), maybe $350,000 for second place, so that’s the reason the all-star race is such a good race. That the reason people like to come is because they know they’re going to see a fabulous race.”

Smith admits he’s “sick and tired” of hearing about points. If he had his way, NASCAR would take half of the current pool of money distributed to teams at the end of the season based on points and allocate it to individual race purses. He believes that would incite buzz.

“These fans aren’t interested in points, they’re not,” Smith said. “If you can have a huge difference in the money between first and second, that’s where there’s a real race going on. Imagine sitting up in the stands and you know there’s a big spread between first and second. You’re not going to leave if second is six car lengths behind.

“Say there’s $400,000 between first and second. You’re going to stay because you know there’s going to be a helluva finish. Don’t ya? That’s what I want to see. As a race fan I want to see some serious racing. It’s going to be balls out! That’s what fans want to see.”

What do you think about Bruton’s idea of, “show me the money”!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

NASCAR May Change The Points System

Leon — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 03:04:54 +0000

(photo courtesy Leon Hammack)

NASCAR is considering scrapping the points system it has used since 1975 in favor of a simpler method that awards points per finishing position, The Associated Press has learned.

The overhauling of the system is one of a handful of changes NASCAR is considering implementing before the season begins next month. Series officials have been detailing their ideas in individual meetings with teams, a person who attended one of the briefings told The AP on Monday.

The person spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity because NASCAR has not finalized its upcoming changes.

The sanctioning body wants to go to a scoring system that would award 43 points to the race winner, and one point less for each ensuing position down to one point for the 43rd-place finisher.

NASCAR is also shying away from wholesale changes to its Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format.

NASCAR chairman Brian France floated the idea last July of shaking up the Chase to create more drama to the 10-week series that determines the Cup champion. Among France’s suggestions were widening the 12-driver field, instituting elimination rounds, and adding any other drama that could create “Game 7″ type moments rivaling those from other professional sports leagues.

But teams have been told NASCAR is leaning toward keeping it a 12-driver field, with one caveat: The top 10 drivers following the 26th race of the season would qualify for the Chase, while the remaining two spots would go to the drivers with the most wins who are not already eligible for the Chase.

NASCAR officials have also told teams they aren’t leaning toward adding eliminations.

Preseason testing begins Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, and NASCAR president Mike Helton and vice president of competition Robin Pemberton are scheduled to discuss some of the changes planned for 2011.

But the major announcements aren’t scheduled until next week when France makes a presentation during Charlotte Motor Speedway’s annual media tour.

France and his top officials found themselves in a precarious position at the end of last season, which was marked by the closest championship race in seven years. France had already publicly toyed with the idea of changing the Chase, which was implemented in 2004 to spice up NASCAR’s championship system.

“Right now every sports league, or almost every one, is looking at what they need to do to change their formats a little or a lot, depending on who they are, to make sure their playoffs or their championship runs are what they want them to be,” France said two days before the November season finale.

NASCAR’s 2011 Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck series schedules.

Three drivers went into the season finale eligible to win the championship. It went to Jimmie Johnson, who overcame a 15-point deficit to Denny Hamlin in the final race to win his record fifth consecutive title.

Because the system seemingly worked as the Chase played out last season, sweeping changes did not seem necessary.

The points system, though, apparently is a different matter.

NASCAR legend claims the current system was devised on a napkin over drinks at a Daytona bar in 1974 and implemented the next season. The complicated scoring method gives 175 points to the winner, and decreases in increments of five points and then three points down to 34 points for the last-place finisher.

Five-point bonuses are awarded for leading a lap, and to the driver who leads the most laps.

NASCAR is still debating how to award bonuses under a straight points system, and ideas being considered are for anywhere from one to three points being given to lap leaders and race winners. (Fox Sports)

What are your thoughts on the possible points system changes?

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

Reworked Rules Equals Excitement!

Leon — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:46:02 +0000

(photo courtesy John Harrelson/Getty Images)

NASCAR’s philosphy change and its new approach of “have at it boys” now seems to be paying dividends. It has brought back the excitement to racing. The addition of up to 3 green-white-checkered finishes to insure a race ending under green is creating excitement. It is also creating a new strategy for late race pit stops.

A good bit of the push for the recent rules changes can be traced to last fall’s Cup race at Talladega, where NASCAR officials had drivers on edge with their vows during the drivers meeting to punish excessive bump drafting. Many blamed that possibility of penalty for a race that was lackluster for most of the 500-mile run.

This time around, there was no mention of bump drafting in the Talladega drivers meeting. The drivers were left to police themselves, and they did a relatively good job of it. And the change back to the spoiler from the wing on the rear decklids of the cars seemed to improve the racing, as trailing cars tended to close the gap quicker than before.

When all the factors were added together, Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 had a little something for every NASCAR fan. There were an all-time Sprint Cup record number of lead changes and different leaders, with 29 drivers swapping the lead 88 times, three green-white-checkered-flag finishes that extended the race from 188 to 200 laps, another chapter in the escalating feud between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

And to top it all off, a battle to the wire for the win between Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick, with Harvick winning by a scant .011 seconds with a pass reminiscent of the old days at Talladega.

“The show isn’t going to get any better than this,” said Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished third behind Harvick and McMurray.

“I think it was very typical Talladega,” Harvick said. “I think there was a lot of pushing and shoving, two and three-wide. The spoiler made it so you could pull back up on somebody if you made a mistake. You just didn’t want to be the very last car. It was very interesting day and it played out perfect for us.’’

Harvick’s crew chief Gil Martin compared the winning pass to ones that occurred at Talladega back in the day. “That was a tremendous pass just like the old days, like you would have seen Buddy Baker or Cale Yarborough or anybody do here,” Martin said. “That was a tremendous pass, and it was timed perfectly.” (Re-read the previous article, “Harvick wins the Aaron’s 499″, on this site and you will get a feel for just how cool the Harvick pass was!)

Harvick and McMurray both said that with the aerodynamics of the current car, once Harvick made his final move, McMurray was a sitting duck.

Harvick said the record number of lead changes and the exciting finish could be contributed to a combination of the new spoiler that has replaced the wing on the rears of the cars, the drafting skills of the drivers, and to NASCAR’s loosening of the enforcement on aggressive driving.

So what is your view of the new restrictor plate racing?

If the excitement of this style of racing doesn’t get your adrenaline roaring, then I suggest that you start getting involved in curling!

TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!

NASCAR Makes The Changes For 2010 Official

Leon — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 21:32:26 +0000

(photo courtesy of Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)

On the final day of NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Media Tour, Brian France confirmed that the much discussed changes for the series will occur. He reiterated that the purpose of those changes are to make the car drive better.

NASCAR, France said, is a “contact sport”, and the leadership of NASCAR intends to let them “mix it up”. “We are going to open it up”. We want what you want”, France continued.

Those new changes were revealed at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. by series vice president of competition Robin Pemberton, and they include;

1. Elimination of the bump drafting restrictions.

2. Larger restrictor plates will be in place by Daytona.

3. Replace the rear wing with the rear blade spoiler, hopefully by April Texas race.

4. Beginning with Daytona, the Nationwide teams will be limited to 15 crew members, including driver, crew chief, spotter, and seven over-the-wall crew members total.

5. Nationwide teams may run no more than two races in 2010 without using an engine sealed by series officials.

6. Camping World Truck teams will use the double-file restarts, return to traditional style pit stops, and may use the new vented fuel cans which eliminate the catch cans.

However, the double yellow lines will remain in effect at both Daytona and Talladega for the foreseeable future. Pemberton stated that the removal of the double yellow lines was not overwhelming desired by the drivers, so the double yellow lines stay in effect.

These changes stem from NASCAR’s desire to put the race back into the hands of the drivers. France continued, “we intend to loosen up and make very good racing better”.

What is your take on the new rule changes for the 2010 season?

TILL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!