NASCAR 2016

All right, all right, all right!  The NASCAR season starts Sunday with the running of the Daytona 500.  

There are a whole bunch of rule changes and franchises and stuff this year that racing fans don't really care about....we just want our boys or girl in the winners circle.  Is this the year Danica finally finds that circle....well, the odds are against her, but I know many racing fans (including me) would love to see it.

Big new sponsor for Vancouver, USA native Greg Biffle....KFC Nashville HOT!  Greg's even got the Colonel's tie to prove it....

Haha, I was just going to start this thread. Nascar is backwards from the NFL; they have their "Super Bowl" as the first race of the year, the Daytona 500. If you don't watch racing all year, you should still watch this one. It is sphincter tightening. Think of rush hour traffic, all going 190 miles an hour, inches apart, for 500 miles. One slip, and half the field can be wiped out. The favorite is Dale Jr., but anything can happen in this one.

For you Danica fans!

Left, left, left.

blacksheep wrote:For you Danica fans!

That would be me!!  God, I wish I had been in Charlotte on that day.

One thing for sure, no more Uber for me, it's Lyft from now on, just in case...

Danica will still be driving the #10 this year, but everything else is different.  No more Go-Daddy bright green, her new Chevy SS will be quasi-North Carolina blue, and to go with her new multi-year contract with Stewart-Haas Racing and her new primary sponsor, nature's bakery, she'd got a new crew chief.

Hard to say who will win at Daytona because it's such a crap-shoot with all the wrecks, but look for her to give a good showing in Atlanta in the next race.  And of course, many of us will see Danica in Las Vegas in early March.

up7587 wrote:Left, left, left.

Hahaha, Yup!

up7587 wrote:Left, left, left.

"The brakes are smellin', the tires are smellin', which means I definitely beat them by a lot!"  

I gotta get a ride with that woman.....

DoubleDipper wrote:I gotta get a ride with that woman.....

Live vicariously.  





http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2014/08/31/buckle-up-christi-rides-shotgun-with-danica-patrick/

Arrrrrrg.....the Sports Illustrated Cover Curse has come to PilotNation:

We feature pictures of Greg Biffle and Danica Patrick in the run up to the Daytona 500, and today they wreck each other with just 15 laps to go causing Danica to finish the race in the garage in 35th place and Greg to limp home in 34th.

Good clean race, for the most part.....and as usual, a great (closest ever) finish with Denny Hamlin edging out fellow Toyota driver Martin Truex, Jr. for the win.  

Toyota's finished 1, 2, 3, and 4 today, and it was first ever Toyota win in the Daytona 500.

I'd have rather seen Kenseth hang on to win, but he tried to block Hamlin and got snookered. He dropped to 14th.

Toyota's finished 1, 2, 3, and 4 today, and it was first ever Toyota win in the Daytona 500.

Actually, it was 1, 2, 3 and 5. Harvick (Chevy) squeezed in for 4th place.

Excellent race and win for Cousin Carl Edwards today at Richmond....his second race win in a row after winning last week at another short track, Bristol.

Carl performed a "bump and run" on his teammate in the last turn and pulled ahead for the win....the first time in the history of Richmond NASCAR racing the winner was determined on the final lap.

I don't think he would have bumped his teammate, Kyle Busch, out of the way if Kyle did not already have a win this year that qualifies him for "The Chase" at the end of the season....but he did, and it was exciting.   #nolovelost

Should be an interesting meeting at Joe Gibbs Racing on Monday.

Next week, going from the short tracks to Talladega.

Can anyone give me a rundown of Darlington? I don't follow NASCAR, I am moving from Georgia to South Carolina (becoming a Gamecock) and I understand Darlington is nearby. Might be worth checking out.

Also, fun fact... Portland and South Carolina have only played head to head once in all sports: 1977-78 season, men's basketball, neutral venue, a 69-68 victory for UP.

Goergia and UP have met once in volleyball and once in women's soccer. Georgia won the volleyball game 3-0 in 1993 and UP won the soccer game 2-1 in 1998.

UGAMovingtoSCarPilot wrote:Can anyone give me a rundown of Darlington? I don't follow NASCAR, I am moving from Georgia to South Carolina (becoming a Gamecock) and I understand Darlington is nearby. Might be worth checking out.

Big race is the Southern 500 on Labor Day weekend.

UGAMovingtoSCarPilot wrote:Can anyone give me a rundown of Darlington? I don't follow NASCAR, I am moving from Georgia to South Carolina (becoming a Gamecock) and I understand Darlington is nearby. Might be worth checking out.

You don't know nothin' about NASCAR and you're moving to South Carolina?  Boy, you in a heap of trouble!!



Living in South Carolina is where I developed my love/hate relationship with NASCAR racing.  Love the door handle to door handle racing....but can't stand the politics.

Nice folks in the Darlington area, and even if you don't go to a race there, you should drop by the Darlington Raceway Museum...it will give a look at the grass roots of what is now NASCAR.  

If you do go to a race, bring your earplugs....it's like of swarm of P-47s.

DD, I will be living in Columbia. Where did you live? I have visited so many times since my girlfriend lives there, but it's the only place I have been to in the Palmetto State.

UGAMovingtoSCarPilot wrote:DD, I will be living in Columbia. Where did you live? I have visited so many times since my girlfriend lives there, but it's the only place I have been to in the Palmetto State.

Well, I have to admit I wasn't really in hard core South Carolina.....I lived on a golf course in Myrtle Beach with a partial view of the Atlantic Ocean.  

Fortunately I was part owner of a Cessna 206 that we would fly around the Southeastern US to all kinds of events....including NASCAR races in various states.

OK, for all you not paying attention, the NASCAR season finale race is Sunday at Homestead, FL. Four drivers are vying for the championship: Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano. Busch and Edwards drive Toyotas for Joe Gibbs Racing. Johnson drives a Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. And Logano drives a Ford for Penske Racing. Each driver has won three or four races this year. Busch is the defending champion. Johnson has 6 championships; one more ties him with Petty and Earnhardt Sr. Edwards and Logano are going for their first.

My prediction is Logano; he has been hot lately. I think Busch and Edwards will wreck each other, and Johnson/Knauss will be caught cheating.

Yeah, I too agree that Logano has got to be the favorite, but anything can happen on the high banked oval at Homestead-Miami.

My favorite, besides Danica, is of course Cousin Carl....and that's who I'm rooting for.  I do NOT want Busch or Johnson to win....let's get a new champion!!

Of course Knauss will cheat, but by now he's greased    enough palms he won't be caught.

Johnson didn't have the best car, but sometimes the breaks just go your way.

I had to admire Cousin Carl's attitude and comments after it looked like the race was his until the late caution came out and he was wrecked on the restart.  Definitely my favorite driver....until Danica starts winning  .

Can't wait until the 2017 season begins in Daytona in February, but who will be the new NASCAR sponsor?

Horrible result. The least deserving driver and the worst car won. Knauss was caught cheating prior to the race, and had to start in the rear. Edwards did get wrecked, just by Logano, not Busch. And Harvick, different team but part of Chevy family, blocked Logano and gave Johnson an extra cushion so he was never really challenged on the last two laps.

Now to the offseason moves. Will Biffle retire, leave RFR, or stand pat? Will Bowyer be competitive in the 14 car? Will Bowman get a full time ride? How will Junior come back from his concussion issues (I liked him better on commentary anyway)?

Well, that didn't take long:

@GregBiffle wrote:It's been a great 19 yrs at Roush Fenway racing, it was a mutual agreement we started working on many months ago for a departure after 2016