2023 NASCAR THREAD!!!

This has been an oddball season. I've not followed too closely, having watched only one race all year. I'm itching to get to the track soon. I'm heading to Talladega 10/1 for the Cup race. I might have to "work" the Roval race two weeks later, and then I'll be at Martinsville for the season's penultimate race. Never been to Martinsville for the Fall race, but I anticipate it being cold. It snowed when I was there in April of '22. That race was the coldest and most dull race I've ever attended.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcLF4j0rJWu/

 

(Things heard through the grapevine)

• Ben Kennedy at NASCAR is eager to get CUP to Europe. This is why you've seen the increase in road courses and the push for street courses. NASCAR manages Road Atlanta and wanted to move the AMS date there. AMS reconfigured the racing surface because it was a hail mary to keep the race date at the track, and it worked.

• Chase Elliott's contract goes through 2027. He's not happy and seems over the whole NASCAR driver thing. He could step away from the cockpit and move into a late-model development role. Coincidentally, NASCAR made this announcement today.

 

No Mexico City Street Race in the works?

 

https://youtu.be/_qZGUwVT6QY

 

Elliott is having an off year. No question that his confidence is shot too and that leads to other emotions such as not feeling interested anymore. I just don't see him stepping away though. Personally, I would not be surprised at all to see him go at next season with renewed vigor and have a Kyle Larson type 2021 season. Maybe not, but I think he's ready for a reset. He could even fire up in the playoffs, making people even more happy he missed them due to the threat he becomes. But I'm spitballing

 

Just another move to try and bring Dodge back, in my opinion. I’m sure Tony Stewart is sitting back and watching this all unfold


I don’t think Denny cares what manufacturer he does business with as long he’s part of a winning program.


Ford will become a powerhouse if this all comes to light

 

As much as I'd love to see another manufacturer come into the sport, I think that dream is pretty well dead for the foreseeable future. Dodge has zero interest even after NASCAR announced the possibility of creating an EV series, and I haven't even heard anything about BMW in a while.

 

A big kicker going on behind the scenes (this is totally off-track topic and somewhat gossipy local info but I think it has impacted his performance):

Chase was happily dating a somewhat older divorced woman. Chase's mom made him break it off because she's Catholic, and it reflected poorly on her for her son to be dating a divorced woman. Chase is Cindy's only child, and his entire life has been managed by her and Bill. What's ironic is that Cindy married Bill, who already had two daughters by two women (the second, Brittany, was born from an affair while married to his first wife, Bertha).

 

This season is just a throw away year for Chase. He is not going to make the playoffs unless all the stars align at Daytona. The fact that he missed 7 complete races and is still 80 points out shows how strong that team is overall. I think Alan needs to start to transition to another role. He was good for Chase and had a lot of experience with the last gen car but seems to struggle with this one and is not nearly as in tune as the other 3 HMS crew chiefs currently. It is not the worst thing that Chase does not make the playoffs, it will force that team and Chase to make some changes. I expect that once the pressure is off and he is out that the performance will improve and he will rattle off a few wins. When Chase is running well he is great with pressure. When he is not it is to much for him. Look at how may times he finished 2nd then after he got that win he was on a roll. It is a bit like the whole Dale Jr situation. You just have to let the guy be who he is. Chase is a top 10 driver and probably the best on a road course but he does not have the love for it that Larson or someone like that has. Let him be who he is and take the good with the bad. Overall I think it will be good for Chase, HMS and the 9 team if they miss it. Hopefully it will force some change. And, missing 7 races. You should not be in it.

Larson was great for HMS but not so great for Chase. Chase is now in the Dale Jr role and Larson is the JJ, Willy B is Gordon. Hell, Willy B is starting to come for the crown. And you are crazy if you don't think that 24 team is Gordons primary focus. Mr. H is focused on the 5 as the legacy car and Larson being his guy. Chase is the Dale Jr is the current scenario. He has the fans and brings the revenue and they really don't care how he runs.

 

Always drama. But his life being managed by those two makes a lot of sense. Adds to what we already know is a shit year for him.

 

Chase has been groomed to carry on the Elliott legacy and he is carrying the whole state of GA and town on his back. Married with being the most popular due to legacy and not performance. The dude is literally Dale Jr! And that is a lot of weight to carry.

 

I also see a lot of people throwing Gustafson under the bus. I think it's way bigger than one person. One thing Hamlin pointed out on his podcast is that the reserve switch and 3 laps thing was mentioned multiple times on the radio and not one person listening threw it into question. Hamlin said exactly what I said a few days ago, that the information should have immediately raised red flags because you'd be lucky to get a single lap using that under normal circumstances. Maybe you could get away with a little more since there's more off throttle time at road courses, but not 3 laps worth.

 

I do not blame Alan for that call at all. HMS has an entire war room and engineers making those calls and giving that info to the crew chief. My issue is that Alan has never been elite. His experience was helpful when Chase started. Now they need the edge that Alan does not have.

 

Definitely a lot of pressure. And I agree about the whole Dale Jr. thing. They both showed lots of promise and potential. Although I do think Elliott at least has talent enough to justify some of his popularity. Dale Jr. likely wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular if Sr. had finished his career.

 

Yeah, every now and then you need to change things up. But I'll agree with you about the eliteness. He's had success, no doubt. But look at Kyle Busch winning 2x as many races in his first year with JGR vs 3 years at HMS. Granted, lots of factors go into that, but still. But, then again, Chad Knaus and knowing how to bend the rules doesn't come along very often.

 

I think Dale was extremely talented and would have had a lot more success had his dad not Died in Daytona. If you go back to watching Dale in the Busch series and his first few years in cup. He was about as good as anyone ever. The weight of it all when his dad died and the complete loss of leadership at DEI really messed with him. Really my belief is that he lost his nerve in that Corvette crash. His ability was never the same after that. Dale has now come out and said he should have never allowed HMS to remove Tony as his crew chief. The only crew chiefs that could make him perform was his cousin and Steve and when he and Steve got on a roll Steve was moving on and Dale was a head case. Had HMS stuck with Tony and just let him run Dale the way he needed to he would have won at least one Championship.

 

I definitely think the DEI issue played a factor, but he did pretty well at HMS. He was never the same after his concussion, in my opinion.

 

If you could rewind 10 years and put Dale in a car healed of the concussions with the life and family he has now. He performs a lot better. Dale lived a life of trauma from a young age and he is just now got to a point where he can unpack that and actually live up to his potential.

 

It’s a throw away year. Who benefited from the cation when he ran out. There’s no way they are stupid enough to run outta fuel by accident.

 

If HMS were trying to pull some shit it would have been the 48 that ran out. LOL... The 9 was a caution away from contending in that race but when I saw the 34 come from the back and pass him. I knew it was not the 9's day. If the 34 had not screwed up I think he had a really good shot at two in a row.