2022 NASCAR THREAD

I am glad the FOX portion of the season is over. I am not a fan of all the gimmicks they seem to bring to it. I will miss Mike Joy though.

 

Yeah, fuck that and Clint’s money. Even how everything in the booth is a joke. I get it but all the Clint stuff being a joke all the time is getting old.

 

i think Clint is tired of it too. I bet we see Jamie Mac replace him next season.

 

Can't wait....

 

That and the 17 with a legit 2nd. I for one appreciated the change of scenery up front.

 

I think that Clint has to be getting tired of being the brunt of every joke. I mean he had a decent career and came up doing it the hard way. It has to sting that he is treated as the brunt of every joke. Couple that with Clint not wanting to get out of the car. He didn’t have a ride. Did well at RCR, then went to MWR and that went to shit because of company orders and MWR bullshit. Then had to take a crap ride just to try and get into decent equipment. Then he goes in the booth and is the punchline for every joke. I doubt it is wearing well.

 

I think I didn’t realize how annoying the three stooges act had become in the booth until it was just Mike, Tony and Larry Mac in the booth today. Much better broadcast and much more professional. It was a welcome break. Dale Jr mentioned a few weeks ago how frustrated he had become with the slap stick comedy that the announcers had become. He was like, this is our premium series with our best. And these drivers in the booth are some of the best we have had and we are acting like we don’t know what we are doing. No, fuck that.

 

now we're talking!

 

Careful now, ole Theresa might try and sue your ass for having that.

 

Gonna have a slight fender rub when you mount those oversized big rig wheels.

 

That little car is tough as hell. My son had the exact one with the Lightning McQueen stickers and he beat the hell out of it. He drove it, his sister drove in five years later then we gave it to his two cousins and they beat the hell out of it. Best little battery car ever. And pretty quick in 2nd gear or hi. My daughter has one of the Tesla's and that thing is pretty sweet too.

 

The 51 car has been penalized 20 points for multiple inspection failures. There goes Cody Ware's championship hopes.

 

Yeah, I heard he failed pre-qual inspection 4 times, didn't turn a lap but got in because there were only 36 cars that showed up. He had to do a pass-through penalty when they went green. I wonder what they found on the car.

Edit: Here's the report snippet

 

LOL, I didn't read the article but from the speed he shows I suspect it was a stock small block from Summit Racing or something under the hood. Perhaps a junkyard motor.

 

I saw that. The comment section on social media was gold.

 

Well, we're halfway through the season. It's been a delightful shift from previous seasons. New variables have shuffled the running order and winners.
Chevy is leading the way with 9 victories. Ford trails with 8. Meanwhile, Toyota is severely lacking with only 4.

Ford came out at Daytona guns blazing but they've tapered off. McDowell has put up consistent numbers this season as an Also Ran. Almirola is retiring and rumor has it that Preece has that seat locked up for '23, providing adequate sponsorship comes along. The big Ford question is will or won't Harvick retire. Another rumor has Tony Stewart eagerly looking at Reddick to come aboard. Man, Briscoe, Reddick, and Preece would be a killer lineup to build a dynasty on.

Denny Hamlin's foray into ownership continues to be a disaster with pit road miscues dooming his driver's on-track efforts. Kurt and Bubba can sure wheel those cars but poor pit stops place them deep in the pack where they get caught up in other people's troubles. Given Kyle's contract distraction, we could see Kurt win more trophies than his younger brother this season. Also of note: Will Truex retire? There are several eager Toyota drivers waiting in the wings for a seat to open. Gibbs has not shown dominance this year, and personally, this is a good thing.

I'm not sure who the Big Dog is in the Chevy camp right now. It's ALWAYS Hendrick but Larson, Bowman, and Elliott have only one win each while Byron, who was on fire earlier in the season with two wins and consistent runs, has tapered off. Still, Hendrick tends to come alive in late-July as they build their championship runs. Meanwhile, Trackhouse is just killing it out there, leaving Kaulig in the dust on success.

Overall, it's been a fun season to follow. Lots of new variables and with all the winners, we'll surely have a late-summer showdown to see who slips into the playoffs. There's a hot race from 13th to 19th place with a bunch of hungry guys.

Biggest surprises: McDowell has been very consistent, putting up a career-best season thus far. Same for Buescher who is getting everything out of that 17 car this year. Suarez!!! Trackhouse in general. I knew Chastain would eventually win but the dude has been a hoss out there this year. Larson is not dominating like he did last year. It's interesting how the new car suits some dirt guys more than others.

Biggest disappointments: Hamlin sits 21st in points. Outside of the Daytona 500, Cindric has been an also-ran. Harrison Burton is having a par rookie season but I expected a few glimmers of performance from him. Same goes for Gilliland in the 38. Keselowski's penalty obliterated his season. Without the penalty, he'd be 20th in points. Cole Custer. Buddy needs to go back down to Xfinity for a year.

It's too early to make predictions for the playoffs. What with all the new variables, I've removed myself from making any week-to-week predictions. I can make a playoff wishlist:

Almirola making a legit charge deep into the round of 8.
Reddick's luck turning and he wins 2-3 playoff races.
Penske gets locked in and Blaney getting into the final 4.
Erik Jones sneaking into the playoffs with a win.
Chastain, Suarez & Kurt Busch plowing deep into the playoffs.
Hendrick & Gibbs getting shut down after the round of 12. Well, except Bowman. I'd like to see him have a great season-ender.

Preferred Final 4:
Bowman
Blaney
Reddick
Briscoe

 

It looks like the reason Clint Bowyer took the last weekend off for personal reasons from the Fox Broadcast was, He hit a Woman Pedestrian and killed her. She was possibly under the influence of a controlled substance.

 

That sucks. Ironic Tony was in the booth I guess.

 

I find this funny because I often point to the 2007 season when Chevrolet won 26 races. If Toyota is successful, they're "cheating" and "NASCAR is favoring them." But when Chevy does it: silence.

No question Tony needs some fresh blood. I'm also not sure how much of SHRs fall has had to do with the slight rift between Tony and Ford over Kyle Larson, but we can't really assume that. I expect that RFK racing will get their first win maybe next season or the year after. Jack Roush hasn't invested much into the team (or as much as needed) over the last few years and they haven't won since 2017. I believe they'll improve with the young boss at the helm as he figures out the ins and outs of ownership.

I wouldn't exactly consider this to be a "disaster." The miscues are expected, but they now have multiple wins (no matter what you may have to say about Wallace's rain-shortened race win). No, they're not Trackhouse, but Trackhouse is basically Chip Genassi racing and the new car has really leveled the field for them. 23XI is much more of a start-up by comparison. Bringing in Kurt was all about improving the team as a whole and not just from a driver standpoint. Kyle (and the other Toyota's) have been showing a lot of speed as of late. Kyle finished 30th this past week, but was running top 10 before his late-race spin and has had several top 3 finishes recently. As for Truex, I think he walks away after this season to focus more on family, especially with his partner's health. I'm not sure if Gibbs will rent out that charter or temporarily hire someone for a year before handing the reigns over to Ty Gibbs in 2 years. I think Kyle will get a contract done, but it won't be anything like what we're used to seeing with M&Ms as a sponsor for the majority of races.

Trackhouse has been a big surprise. However I think much of this success comes down to two things: the new car and the Genassi guys. I still think Hendrick is the team to beat in the Chevy camp.

I'm not sure it's all the new car though. NASCAR just has this way of certain drivers dominating and then next season not being a big factor. Great examples of this are people like Larson, Hamlin, and Harvick.

The Daytona 500, while prestigious, also (in my opinion) boils down to luck more than anything. Being in the right place at the right time and avoiding the selective service system that is the Big One are more important than actual skill behind the wheel at places like this. So it isn't too much of a surprise to me that Cindric hasn't done anything since. Gilliland, in my opinion, mostly has a ride because of his dad. He wasn't great at KBM and didn't like being called out for it. Gilliland and Harrison Burton more had the feel of 2 drivers who were given rides as a favor rather than actual development drivers. Brad K's penalty certainly didn't do him any good, but he also hasn't done himself many favors since then. He'll run decent and then either wreck or taper off. I think that mainly boils down to the growing pains that is RFK.

Personally, I've been wondering if this is the season where "win and you're in" doesn't truly mean that anymore. We have 12 different winners so far and still 10 weeks left until the start of the playoff.

 

No race this weekend.