NASCAR questions

[fischer]

Last night I was waiting for College Football Final to come on so I flipped it to ABC and watched the last 8 or so laps of the race. It was kind of exciting when they were actually racing, but I have a few questions.

Why do the drivers swerve like that when they are going slow?

What is a green and white checkered flag or whatever they were talking about?

Since this is the chase, does everyone who is not in it still get to race?

[Ticket Mouse]

1. They are cleaning off their tires. I do the same thing in slow traffic. If you saw how Gordon, the 5, and another car were riding around the bottom to get gas into the line, they got a lot of junk and debris on their tires. Cleaning your tires uses up gas and Gordon didn't get a chance to clean them well before the restart. That's why he spun his tires when the green flag dropped. There was also a lot of quick dry on thr track from several wrecks. They run on slicks so that certainly doesn't help things. He said he thought he was running out of gas but I think it was either an issue with the fuel pump or a plug was misfiring.

2. A green/white checker finish is an attempt by NASCAR to make sure the race doesn't end under caution. There's nothing more retarded than a finish under caution. What they do is if there is a caution and the race doesn't start back until less than two laps to go before the scheduled finish, they will make one attempt to finish the race under green for two laps. Essentially it's over time. So if it's a 300 lap race and the caution comes out at lap 294 and it takes 6 laps to clean up the track, they will make one attempt at a two lap finish, making the race 302 laps instead of 300 laps. If the caution comes out on the last scheduled lap, the field is frozen and the race is over, but if it's on the next to last lap, they will attempt one time to finish under green. Now, if there is another caution under the original caution (it's happened several times thanks to Michael Waltrip...the only guy I know who can wreck under caution) they will clean up the track for the second caution and try for a green/white finish. There had been times where a race was extended 7-10 extra laps because of cautions. It makes for some great finishes because of fuel mileage. There's usually a couple guys that run out of gas on the extended laps. It's kind of hard to put into words but if you see it a couple times it's easier to understand.

3. Yeah, everyone who qualifies still gets to race. There are still 43 starting spots in every race. It used to kind of bug me but I've gotten over it. There are 12 cars in the Chase. It used to be 10 but they extended it to 12 which is another retarded thing NASCAR did. There's been talk of having two races for the Chase. The first race would have the 31 cars out of the Chase and the 2nd would have the 12 Chasers. The races would be shorter of course but I think it would be the most retarded thing NASCAR ever did. Some Chase drivers get pissed at guys who aren't in the Chase that hold them up or wreck them but if they took those guys out, Tony Stewart wouldn't have anything to bitch about. Those other 31 drivers are racing for other things too. 1) They are trying to win. 2) Most of the guys near the bottom of the standings are racing for their rides. Several guys have 1 or 2 year deals and are easily replaced if they don't perform. 3) They have prize money and sponsors to worry about. Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson make $10 million a year but Johnny Sauter is fighting just to bring home half a million. That's a lot to us but if these guys aren't racing at motor sports highest level, what else are they going to do? Work at Auto Zone the rest of their lives? They are like a lot of other professional athletes...if their gig goes sour, they don't have much to fall back on.


That's two in a row for Gordon and they go to Martinsville next week where he lost but one of the narrowest margins in NASCAR history in the spring.

[P. Marf]

I think he is gonna choke.