We’re late to the party, but for anyone that loves or is new to NASCAR you now have a place to post.

Larson won last weekend from the pole position in the 20th anniversary of the Auto Club Speedway in Southern California after he finished 2nd place 3 times in a row. The 42 Target Chevy team is on fire and so is Chip Ganassi racing. 2,2,2,1 is a very impressive run, and it looks like the future is very bright for young Larson.




They're headed to the short-track Martinsville this weekend aka "The Paper Clip". The shortest and flattest track in all of NASCAR takes a ton of skill and finesse to be able to master and roll through the corner. It's considered one of the toughest to get around by the Driver's and they all want to get their hands on one of the best trophies in all of sports 'The Grandfather Clock'. They also just added LED lights to this age-old track, and now have the possibility of hosting a night race much like their counterpart Bristol Motor Speedway does, 1 day race and 1 night race.




Reviewing the weeks leading up to this one:

The most mainstream happening was Kyle Busch launching a haymaker at Logano’s face in Vegas post-race, but Logano claims he didn't make contact. It's sort of squashed for the moment, but who knows. I wish we'd see more of this type of thing anyway.


It also led to the interview "Everything's Great" which led to the T-Shirt creation and being sold for $22 (Logano's car number). Logano says he's going to buy 100 of them and sell them for $18 instead (Kyle's car number).



As for the actual incident between the two on the track, Logano tried to pin Busch behind slowing teammate Brad Keselowski. Busch door slams Logano to get out of it, and then Logano ends up wiping out Busch sending him in a smoke trail down to pit road on the final lap, ruining Busch's 4th place finishing position.


Truex goes on to win at Vegas in impressive fashion, and had one of the fastest cars last week at Fontana besides Larson. The 78 team has shown a lot of speed early in the season, especially at the larger tracks, and has to be considered one of the favorites to take home the Championship this year.



In the week following Vegas, Ryan Newman snuck up on everyone, and by snuck up I mean flat out stole the win by exercising some late race strategy staying out and holding on for dear life in front of cars with fresh tires. He also came back with blisters on his feet and legs, in what was one of the hottest races ever in Phoenix. Notice the ice bag cool down in victory lane.


Harvick dominated at Atlanta the week before Vegas leading almost the entire race, only to get slapped with a speeding penalty on his very last pit-stop, throwing away a race he surely should have won. Instead Keselowski gets around Larson for the victory, locking him into the playoffs early. Harvick has since lost a little bit of steam as far as speed goes, and is now experiencing some bad luck (damaged front on lap 1 of his most recent race).




Kurt Busch finally won NASCAR's Superbowl the Daytona 500, and by a large margin. His crew chief Tony Gibson deserves it, and he delivered one of the best reactions on top of the pit-box for the Daytona 500.



Matt Kenseth has had really hard hits to the wall in back to back weeks raising safety and concussion concerns for him. Fortunately, safer barrier was on both of them to take some energy out of impact, but the angle of the wall on the most recent in Fontana was bad. It will be interesting to see if Kenseth gets held out due to medical examination at some point. And, even if he doesn't he may have retirement thoughts already, as he has not been running too good lately.


Other than that:

New title sponsor Monster Energy (that replaced Sprint and MissSprintCup) have been really aggressive in getting their Monster Energy girls on screen and in front of our face as much as possible. :thumbup:




So far so good on the new addition of segments and the new point system as well. It looks like a success in rewarding season long and race long overall performance. The segments have added a little twist to break up the monotony of some races and long green flag runs. It has made for some very exciting racing so far, while staying true to getting the best car's upfront. It has also sprinkled in a good amount of strategy that can now be played out.

Here's what I wrote before kickoff at Daytona but ran out of time.

So, basically NASCAR has decided to break up each race into 3 separate segments to create incentive for overall performance during the race, and to avoid lulls mid-race during long green flag runs. How this change in scoring will be played out remains to be seen as far as how much separation occurs for winning races and segments throughout the Chase, we'll have to wait and see how that carries over. My take on it, is that this is an overall improvement and will have a much better chance of keeping the attention of the average viewer, not sure how it will affect the racing, but I'd imagine driver's will be slightly more aggressive if they're in a situation where they want to get segment points.

The other aspect is that now, if someone dominates the race but doesn't get the win at the very end because of a late race caution restart, they now will be more rewarded for their overall performance during the entirety of the race, this also puts more emphasis on qualifying well for the 1st segment points.

The press conference lays it all out way better than I can. But, I do think it's important to note that this was a massive collaborative that took place over a long time period, and it's not just aimed at "shaking things up". It's aimed at improving their product both live and televised. IMO it's a BIG step in the right direction. And, what I'm really hoping for is that it significantly rewards regular season performance and regular season wins and segment wins throughout the Playoffs, I've never really been onboard with them wiping the slate clean as soon as the Chase started, just never seemed fair to me to the regular season performers, so I would like to see outstanding regular season performance heavily rewarded.



This is something that the traditional NASCAR fan should be ecstatic about, if it stays true to heavily rewarding regular season performance in the playoffs. It's still different, but what sport do you know of that isn't at this point? It's still tires and horsepower and wrecks and America, if you're a fan you're a fan of that.


Carl Edwards stepping away from his JGR ride and racing altogether is the most shocking announcement going into this year. It's basically the NFL equivalent of Julio Jones retiring after losing the SuperBowl. Edwards was completely in the prime of his career and in highly successful equipment on arguably the most dominant team in NASCAR JGR. It definitely just sounds like he's burned out on racing, so I guess he is moving onto a new chapter in his life, but he also didn't rule out returning. I mean his last memory is going to be getting dumped by Logano on a restart for the Championship really? Daniel Suarez will be his replacement in the #19 car, a very talented young driver from Mexico that won the Xfinity series last year.


Dale Jr. returns to the 88 after sitting out the majority of last season due to concussion concerns. It should be interesting to see how this develops, as it's going to be impossible for him to avoid being in another wreck at some point, when that will occur is anybody's guess, it could happen as soon as Daytona, and then what? It's tough to know if he was being extremely cautious with how he felt last season, or if it's 1 more time and he can't race anymore. It's just alarming because this is something that typically gets worse. Eventually NASCAR will find out what life after Junior is going to be like (JR in the booth?).




Jimmie Johnson won his 7th championship in 2016. JJ will be remembered as the GOAT eventually in an extremely competitive era. He's just as clutch a winner as it gets, and it wouldn't be surprising if he eclipses that mark of 7-time sending him into sole lead for Championships all-time. He's in great shape physically and trains triathlons. I don't see him going anywhere until he holds all the records, and I believe that's what he really wants to do to add to his legacy.




So there you have it, and we can now proceed with anything pertaining to NASCAR. Also, hopefully we won't have to re-create a new thread as long as Monster stays the sponsor, and then we can just update it for the New Year, when that rolls around.

Good post.

I have no idea what's going on in NASCAR these days so it was cool to get a nice recap.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. deciding to retire at the end of the 2017 season.

Really a continuation of what has been happening as these older drivers start to call it quits. Stewart, Gordon, and now Jr. My money would be on Kenseth next.

Should be interesting to see how these fans flock, especially the older ones. Luckily for them, there's still plenty to choose from that are on the older side, and guy's that used to be young are now approaching old so there's that. But, man really wish some of these millennial types had some more flare and personality.

I think the driver's as a whole are really going to have to start providing more spark for entertainment value, and sound bite material. Just being really good at racing properly and saying all the dull right things is a recipe to lose the casual viewer.

Not the final nail in the NASCAR coffin but definitely one of them

Given the awful ratings I can't imagine that major networks are going to be lining up to sponsor and broadcast races once the most popular driver in the sport is gone

I'd say their ratings are similar to Golf, which isn't awful awful, but is sometimes down.

Just for example for the good ratings on both of those sports, 2016 Daytona 500 (6.6 rating 11.4M viewership), compared to the final round of the 2016 Masters (7.7 rating 12.4M viewership). This year it was a (6.6 rating 11.9M) for Daytona, while the final round of the Masters which was fantastic btw came in at a (6.8 rating 11.1M). Still...a whole lot of people watching.

2014 it was (5.6 at 9.3M) for Daytona way down from 2013 at a (9.9 16.7M), but then bounced back the year previous. So ratings are funny and can fluctuate year to year for whatever reason, but yes NASCAR's heyday is more than likely over for now and doubtful to return to it's peak level. But, that doesn't mean they're destined to die off. I think it's more likely they've just come down to a level they can sustain.

A lot of people had doubts they could even get a new title sponsor too, but that happened, and Monster is turning out to be fantastic.

We'll see in time how much Jr's retirement affects things as far as overall viewership and major networks go. He's definitely not the first key departure, and he won't be the last, but he's the biggest in popularity since his Dad.

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017...ship-increase/

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2017...nd-viewership/

People just moved from dad to son, helped when the # went from 3 to 8 to 88 they just had to modify the tattoo a little bit, now what the heck are they gonna do.

Think attendance is gonna hurt, I hope they cut a few of the worst races (fwiw I'm fine with the road courses, there's only 2 and they're different) and move on from there as even some of the iconic races have empty seats (way to **** up bristol guys), they built way too many cookie cutter tracks in the 90's and people get bored and move on to something else these days. Don't think too many like the chase format being similar to other sports either. It's just not easy to compete in the days where people don't have attention spans or time.

Personalities being down due to lack of corporate sponsors and inadvertently pissing one off might mean losing your ride hurts a bit too. It all adds up. Really though, when the NFL is also losing some ground, everything else is too.

I haven't watched a race in several years. Last thing I remember watching in nascar outside of a big crash highlight on the youtube is montoya hitting the fuel truck. I didn't even know who won daytona till this thread or who won the title last year so it's definitely taken a solid hit in prestige.

It's just gonna fall to the niche sport category, which frustrates the sponsors but it's not so bad, I think there's still a decent floor in the south.

I was mostly a Tony Stewart fan, used to watch every race about 6-7 years ago, most Nationwide races, and even an occasional truck race. My interest has quickly waned and the last couple years I only tune in for a handful of races, usually Martinsville or a road course. Even Bristol has been ruined by mutli-groove racing. The days of having to use your bumper to move someone from the bottom are gone.

The tracks are mostly boring AF. I have little desire to watch drivers I don't care about on the same uninteresting tracks week in, week out. Also, the races hardly matter until the Chase starts. For me it'd take some big changes to stoke my interest. Eliminate the Chase, get rid of a big chunk of intermediate track races, maybe increase road course races to 4, even though it's not super conducive to stock car racing, add in more tracks like the Rock, N. Wilkesboro, etc., and a couple younger guys with an iota of personality would help.

I always catch at least some of the Daytona races because I live 30 minutes from the track, plus the company I work for was involved in the renovation project so there's some personal interest there (it's ****ing beautiful btw) but that's about it. I actually followed Rusty Wallace for a time and really enjoyed the road courses where he generally did pretty well, but I lost most of my interest when he retired.

The sport's popularity surged when the World Wide Leader finally took notice and started featuring the sport during Sportscenter etc, I think they even had a NASCAR-themed half-hour show at one point (I may be thinking of another network), plus nationally syndicated sports talk honks like Jim Rome finally started talking about it and having guests from the sport on their shows after eschewing it and basically treating it like soccer for years, all of which provided a boost. That said, it can't be denied that it's trending in the wrong direction, to the point that many tracks are actually removing seats a la the Jax Jaguars. I really think this was the worst possible time for Little E to retire, though I completely understand why he'd do it and don't really blame him.

NASCAR will likely always be around and will always have fans, but I really think its glory days are behind it.

Also a possible contributing factor is that even if ESPN is still pimping NASCAR same as it has been for years, eyeballs are down for ESPN as well, so there goes a huge chuck of promo.

I have no idea if this is true, just spitballing.

Have you seen the new points system tho? I mean we're still waiting to see how heavily they've weighted the regular season for the duration of the playoffs, but it is much more targeted at rewarding regular season performance.

It's not just win, and then go experiment for the next 20 something races (which the 48 used to do all the time), you really want to keep winning and performing at the highest level possible to build up a cushion for the playoffs, unlike in year's past.

Also, the addition of segments is a large change.

I'm sensing the lack of interest. Putting some money down on it through fantasy or other means would solve that problem for you. It's pretty easy to change the channel on any sport where you're not vested or have some personal attachment imo.

The Monster Energy girls stoke my interest.

Pretty sweet Talladega finish in case u missed it.





One of the better plate races in a while too, a lot of lead changes, and aggressiveness all race long because of the points for segments.

I tuned in just before the big one. As a Harvick fan, I was hoping to see him in the mix over the last few laps. He was running 4th at the time, so was well on his way, but got caught in that mess. Usually being in the front is a good way to avoid all that.

Good finish, and it's always cool seeing someone get their first win.

fully half my family was at that Talladega race

Damn, good finish. Thought Stenhouse might have blown it by spazzing too much trying to block everyone.

Haven't followed NASCAR much lately, but that was a pretty scary-looking crash.

Fractured his T-5 vertebrae, and they cut the roof off to pull him out. Scary situation where his back wheels got jacked up into the air and then came slamming back down on the track where there's no give except your spine. I honestly thought there was a percent chance he might be paralyzed. Nothing official yet, but glad he seems to be recovering.

Danica had another really hard impact too. Question's remain how much more she's going to be able to take, not just wrecking, but on the track results not being what she wants. She seems absurdly frustrated.


Incident around the 2:15 mark

Seems like a good time to update since Almirola will be returning to the #43 car this weekend. Bubba Wallace substituted in for him in the majority of races and did an excellent job the more he got settled in. It’s a remarkable recovery that Almirola can return to driving this fast after a spinal vertebrae fracture. The advances in rehab/training/surgery have played a major role in that. They even put him in a simulator to make sure he could handle the spinal compressions from a medical standpoint.

Some other big news this week is the announcement of Erik Jones taking over Matt Kenseth’s #20 Gibbs ride next season. Jones is a very talented Gibbs prodigy, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets his 1st Cup win (possibly this season). It is unknown who will step into Jones #77 car next season, but that is desirable equipment as it’s teammates with Truex and affiliated with Gibbs/Toyota as well.

2 new driver's achieved their 1st win of their career in the Cup series with Austin Dillon and Ryan Blaney. Blaney's win is much more impressive imo. Not to diminish Dillon's, but his was more won off a fuel mileage game, where Blaney actually passed the dominant car of KB and held off KH at the end. Dillon has also struggled in past weeks and not really held onto any momentum from his win, while Blaney has simply been faster and running better. I would also say Blaney is in superior equipment... so it's not really a fair comparison, but I think without a doubt Blaney will turn into an elite driver in the Cup series ...while Dillon...not so much or at least a question mark.

Replay of the Pocono finish. One of the better of the year so far.


Truex, Larson, and Kyle Busch continue to run red hot and have dominated the majority of races this season. Even though KB hasn’t won yet this season (frustrations) his cars’ are too fast to hold him down much longer. Truex and the 78 bunch are on a whole other level equipment wise from everyone else with some seriously dominating performances…last week he had 2nd place down almost 15 seconds before a late race caution. Larson continues to impress as well starting in the back last week, and moving up through the field 2 separate times (passing 70 cars!) after a speeding penalty sent him to the back again. These have been consistently the 3 fastest cars both in qualifying trim and race trim this year imo.

The 2 biggest surprising struggling driver’s this season include Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth. The speed is just not there for Logano, at least not lately, and he’s in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs. Kenseth is more/less in the same boat as Logano. Junior’s final season has been a major disappointment as well, I would’ve thought he’d run much better than he has, but he does have a habit of going mia for long periods…so I’m not that overly surprised by it. For him to not even make the playoffs in his last season is really pretty bad considering the quality of car he’s in (he's running out of time, and will most likely need a win to get in).

They’re 8 races from the playoffs at this point and headed to New Hampshire this weekend.

Looks like Danica's toast after this year

I thought she would've done a bit better.

Is Truex gonna dominate the Chase then lose at Homestead on something stupid?

Yeah she never even got legitimately close to winning a race

I've never seen someone get consistently robbed of wins as much as Truex does, it's amazing. He got dive bombed by Hamlin last week after dominating all race, and then had to stick around to be crowned the regular season champion, he was not happy.

Truex leading the points in NASCAR, what in the world? Can't see myself coming back to NASCAR unless Tony Stewart decides to take over Danica's ride next year. I do enjoy the finish/crash highlights posted here though.

Yeah Truex has elite-level equipment now to go with his driving talent. The reduction in horsepower really hurt Stewart's driving style in his final years, shifted to more aero and momentum...don't see him coming back ever. Could be a landing spot for Kenseth or Kahne if they still want to race.

88 on pole for presumably his last race at Talladega

Tuned in just in time to see the big wreck. loldega