2021 motor racing thread

[ralphc1]

It was an eventful Clash race on the road course at Daytona. Nobody seemed to want to lead the race as the leaders kept going off the course. Hamlin was the early leader but he fell back.Martin Truex Jr went to the front only to fail to take a turn and have to go to the back of the field. He then raced his way back to the lead only to lose control and hit the wall ending his night.

Chase Elliott had the lead late in the race but got passed with two laps to go by Ryan Blaney. Elliott and Blaney collided on final turns of the last lap putting Blaney into the wall and allowing Kyle Busch to pass them both for the win. Kevin Harvick had a miserable race as he couldn't seem to get out of his own way. He started deep in the pack and went to the back. He got further up in the pack through pit strategy only to go right to the back again.

 

[ralphc1]

The Daytona speed week is strange this season with qualifying on Wednesday night and the cars impounded until the Twin 125s Thursday night. It forced the teams to choose between making the car as fast as possible for a qualifying lap or making it fast for the qualifying race. Bowman and Byron have their starting positions guaranteed as long as they don't crash in the 125s but everybody else has to finish well to get a good starting position as well as a good pit position. The limited practice with the new cars and having to race with qualifying setups could make the 125s very interesting Thursday night.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Looks like they are adding portugal to the f1 calendar this year. I think that brings the race total to 24? That’s one long season. I hope no races are canceled. I can’t see the one here in Canada happening.

 

[RollSonnenRoll]

Looking forward to this. The Dale Jr podcast is the best thing going in NASCAR today

 

[ralphc1]

NASCAR's compressed schedule might have just bitten them in the ass when it rained in Daytona after the first qualifying race and the weather guessers predict rain showers all night. The same thing is predicted for Friday night and Saturday night when they have more races scheduled.

 

[ralphc1]

The Truck series race started out rough last night with some trucks starting near the back crashing before crossing the line at the start of the race and the crashes kept on coming all the way through.

Looks like rain most of the day today at Daytona. The Cup cars had a practice session scheduled this morning and they only got a few laps in before it started raining and it's raining harder now. NASCAR's weather forecasts rain until about 7PM so they might not get Xfinity qualifying in. They have the Arca and Xfinity races scheduled for today.

 

[ralphc1]

I'm concerned the the Australian Grand Prix might be canceled. There is COVID outbreak in Melbourne that has put the city in lockdown. It's apparently caused by people there for the tennis matches violating quarantine. The locals aren't happy that the government let anybody into the country.

 

[ralphc1]

Pretty short day for many drivers at Daytona as 16 cars are involved in a wreck on lap 15 when Almirola got turned by a bump draft incident.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

I'm concerned the the Australian Grand Prix might be canceled. There is COVID outbreak in Melbourne that has put the city in lockdown. It's apparently caused by people there for the tennis matches violating quarantine. The locals aren't happy that the government let anybody into the country.

It’s not even an official race on the calendar. I honestly can’t understand why they let anyone in for the tennis.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Pretty short day for many drivers at Daytona as 16 cars are involved in a wreck on lap 15 when Almirola got turned by a bump draft incident.

I turned it on right when that happened. Just in time for the red flag. Was a wild pile up.

 

[ralphc1]

The "louse" Keselowski turns his teamate, the leader Joey Logano on the last lap causing another big crash that allowed McDowell to win the Daytona 500.

 

[RollSonnenRoll]

The "louse" Keselowski turns his teamate, the leader Joey Logano on the last lap causing another big crash that allowed McDowell to win the Daytona 500.

He must be excited to no longer be famous for one of the worst solo crashes in NASCAR history

 

[ralphc1]

It’s not even an official race on the calendar. I honestly can’t understand why they let anyone in for the tennis.

Australia is scheduled for November 21st. They should have the vaccine by then if the mutations don't make them ineffective. I suspect they had been hoping to run it in March but they have now put Portugal in that slot.

I was surprised that all of the F1 teams agreed to the Saturday sprint races at Canada, Italy and Brazil.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Australia is scheduled for November 21st. They should have the vaccine by then if the mutations don't make them ineffective. I suspect they had been hoping to run it in March but they have now put Portugal in that slot.

I was surprised that all of the F1 teams agreed to the Saturday sprint races at Canada, Italy and Brazil.

Oh late season race. Okay. Never looked that far in the sched. I hope they have it by then. Could be a cool season if all the races happen. I’m hoping they will. The vaccine roll out here in Canada has been poor, but it should pick up.

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

Pretty cool win for McDowell. I find it weird that almost no one in the post race interviews even congratulated him other than Logano.

Race overall was pretty boring. I'm not sure if it's the new package or the fact that half the field got wiped out in the beginning but it was just single file all race long until the last 2 laps of each stage.

 

[GhostZ06]

only racing i care about is endurance racing. i cant stand nascar.

 

[ralphc1]

Pretty cool win for McDowell. I find it weird that almost no one in the post race interviews even congratulated him other than Logano.

Race overall was pretty boring. I'm not sure if it's the new package or the fact that half the field got wiped out in the beginning but it was just single file all race long until the last 2 laps of each stage.

Running single file is the way to get your car to the finish. Just find a spot and ride. You can't win anything in the first 50 laps but you can certainly lose it. They have to get a push to be able to pass anybody but that push is risky. Bell pushed Almirola and ended up turning him causing the lap 14 crash. It was similar to the last lap crash. After further review, it was McDowell slamming into Keselowski's car that propelled him into Logano starting the last lap crash.

It is understandable on the last lap of the race or maybe even the last lap of a stage but it was way out of line for Bell to do it on lap 14. Maybe Bell got hit from behind. They didn't show much from the start of the incident.

 

[ralphc1]

Chase Elliott was the fastest car by far at the Daytona road course but a decision to pit for tires on a late race caution cost him the race. It's one of those times when it sucks to be the leader. If he didn't pit, everyone behind him probably would have and just drive by him on fresh tires. If he pits, there's a chance that a lot of cars don't so he has to try to pass. Too many cars stayed out and Chase could get back through.

 

[MoparOrNoCar]

Chase Elliott was the fastest car by far at the Daytona road course but a decision to pit for tires on a late race caution cost him the race. It's one of those times when it sucks to be the leader. If he didn't pit, everyone behind him probably would have and just drive by him on fresh tires. If he pits, there's a chance that a lot of cars don't so he has to try to pass. Too many cars stayed out and Chase could get back through.

I don't know why Allmendinger kept losing 15 positions every time he pitted but he could have potentially won if his pit stops were normal.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Testing today in F1. Will post results later today.