2021 NASCAR thread

It’s a clean facility and real pretty to look at in the setting sun but the racing hasn’t thrilled me there since the late ‘90s.

 

Exactly.

 

And it’s not the track’s fault. They’ve got to get some ground clearance under these cars.

 

For sure .

 

Totally agree. The cars run around there like slot cars. Way too much down force.

 

2011 was fun.

 

Hopefully the NextGen cars will fix this. They are touted as the drivers car with less downforce. Making it handle more like an Xfinity car instead of a Cup car.

 

I believe I read they'll have a minimum of 3" ground clearance.

 

That splitter is genius... there's not a suspension trick in the books that'll seal that thing off.

 

The Roval is fantastic, though. Road racing is fun, and if you pick your seats right you can see a hell of a lot more than you would at any purpose-built road course.

 

I'd like to go to the roval.

 

Just ordered my tickets. Saturday race is surprisingly cheap. You can get in as low as $25. Sunday is $49 minimum.

 

Sonoma by the Numbers

Wins by Manufacturer:
Toyota-6
Chevy-2
Ford-2

Wins by Active Driver:
Truex-3
Ky Busch-1
Harvick-1
Ku Busch-1

Top Average Finishers:
Harvick 12.7
Newman 12.8
Jones 13.3
Ku Busch 13.5
Logano 14.2
Ky Busch 15.2
Suarez 16
Keselowski 16.8
Blaney 17.2
Larson 17.5

Notes:
Truex has three wins at Sonoma but he's only 13th best (18.1 avg. fin.) in average finishes among active drivers. Toyota has been dominant of late at Sonoma. Harvick has the highest avg. finish among active drivers, narrowly beating out Newman for the spot but it only amounts to one trophy here. This could be the place where he finally checks the win box for 2021. Elliott is considered the current road course king but he's never won at Sonoma and his average finish is 11th highest (17.5). Larson has been the flashy front-runner this season but Hamlin has been quietly logging consistently good finishes.

My Top Picks: 19, 9, 4
My Dark Horse: 1

Driver odds:
Elliott 9:4
Truex 9:2
Larson 6:1
Kyle Busch 8:1
Hamlin 10:1

Sources:
https://www.racing-reference.info/tracks/Sonoma_Raceway/
https://www.driveraverages.com/nascar/track.php?trk_id=10

 

Just saw an interesting theory that SHR's current slump could be due to the organization's focus on the new SRX series. I'm not worried so much for Harvick or Almirola, as they're nearing the end of their careers, but the company is letting Briscoe and Custer, arguably the near-future of that team, languish.

Harvick:
9th in points
4 top fives
11 top tens
39 laps led
0 stage wins

Briscoe:
25th in points
0 top fives
1 top ten
1 lap led
0 stage wins

Custer:
27th in points
0 top fives
2 top tens
1 lap led
0 stage wins

Almirola:
28th in points
0 top fives
1 top ten
16 laps led
0 stage wins

 

yeah, I knew they were off but the numbers show how bad a slide they’ve suffered.

 

I think it's more likely that they're focusing on the new car than it is a distraction from SRX. Tony's been stretched a hundred different ways long before SRX came to be, and he's got a lot of guys at the SHR shop that are good enough to keep things on track without him.

Plus, it's not like the Fords have really been lighting the world on fire this year anyway. Penske has had a few good runs, but all of them have seemed to fade over the past month or so.

 

Man- These past two episodes of Dale jr. Download have been BRUTAL. Kerry Earnhardt talking about Dale having nothing to do with him for years, Teresa slamming the door in his face when he came over for the first time. I had a lot of chuckles too, like Kerry & Dale sharing how they got an $80 sponsor for their street stock race car and blew it all on candy. Then with Ty Norris talking about Dale Sr. slamming stuff with a baseball bat and kicking him in his torn ACL because Ty liked to play basketball in his off-time.

 

I know. I was watching the one with Kerry the other night and was like DAMN, I knew Dale Sr. was a dick but didn't realize it was that bad. It's a shame he passed when he did because it seemed like he was starting to try and make amends for his behavior over the years. I am a big Dale Jr. fan. Dale Jr. truly is a really good person. Those kid's had it rough over the years and though people assume they had it all they actually probably had it worse than most kids growing up today. Dale Jr. did get his shot because of his name and all of the Earnhardt kids are better off as adults for who Dale Sr. was but they really had an effed up childhood. And Teressa, just F her! She can be described as nothing less than a complete and total bitch. Dale Sr. was loved on the track but he was a horrible person.

I think it is funny how much I hatted Gordon over the years back then but he is actually a good person also. I started pulling for him a little in the last few years of his career.

 

Sonoma ready!

 

In honor of national donut day, enjoy a 2010 Richmond gem!