Official 2010 Nascar thread: Season long discussions!!!!

• GoChiefs

  

  Listening to the prerace with Earnhardt interviews was just eerie afterwards. Talking about how he guaranteed you were going to see something on Fox that you've never seen before...and a couple other things.
  
  Gotta see the 01 Pepsi 400 if you didn't see it. Probably the most emotional race ever.
• Darkon

  

  I have been following since the mid 70's. My grandfather was into racing big time. He and Bobby Allison were friends. Took me every weekend to a race.
• coyotes22

  

  GoChiefs wrote: Listening to the prerace with Earnhardt interviews was just eerie afterwards. Talking about how he guaranteed you were going to see something on Fox that you've never seen before...and a couple other things.
  
  Gotta see the 01 Pepsi 400 if you didn't see it. Probably the most emotional race ever.

  Dont tell me you were pulling for Jr? Is that the race Mikey pushed Jr to the win?
• Darkon

  

  GoChiefs wrote:
  Gotta see the 01 Pepsi 400 if you didn't see it. Probably the most emotional race ever.

  From a non Earnhardt fan. That was pretty cool.
  
  Also the Harvick win, at Atlanta I believe, was pretty good. Seeing Chocolate and the rest of the pit crew so emotional.
• GoChiefs

  

  coyotes22 wrote: Dont tell me you were pulling for Jr? Is that the race Mikey pushed Jr to the win?

  There probably wasn't a person watching that race that WASN'T pulling for Jr to win that race. And yes..that's the one Mikey pushed him..well..he finished 2nd anyways. Where him and Waltrip parked in the infield and got on top of the car.
  
  The last few laps
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  The celebration
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  Darkon wrote: Also the Harvick win, at Atlanta I believe, was pretty good. Seeing Chocolate and the rest of the pit crew so emotional.

  Hell yes..that was another good one. It was Harvicks what..3rd race after taking over Earnhardts seat? And he wins the race..that was unreal.
  
  2001 Cracker Barrel 500 finish
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  2001 Cracker Barrel 500 Celebrations
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• Speedofsand

  

  My dad was a mechanic. His best friend was chief track steward at Columbus. My first time at the track I was a week old. When I was about 10 we started going to Atomic (K-C) in Chillicothe for the sprints. Went to Mich. a few times in the mid 70's. When I was 15 in 1979 I got out of school for a week, my first Speedweeks in Daytona. Terry and Bobby Labonte were staying at the same campground. I moved to Daytona in '80, been to a lot of 500's. Worked full time for Nascar for about 5 years in the souvenir merchandise side. I worked at New Smyrna for 10 or 15 years mostly during Speedweeks, my dad worked there every Sat. nite for 25 years.
  Best races were '79 Daytona 500, '85? Darlington when Bill Elliott won the first Winston Million, July '01 Daytona when Dale Jr. won the 400 after Dale Sr. died. That was incredible, you can't write a movie that good. When Dale Jr. won the 500 in '04 it was great. I don't bother to get many autographs, but I got his on a victory lane limited edition hat.
• coyotes22

  

  Dude,,,,,,,,,,, I got goosebumbs!!!
• Speedofsand

  

  for the younger fans, enjoy this
  
  Lee Petty and Richard Petty
  
• Speedofsand

  

  Dale Earnhardt Sr.
  
• Speedofsand

  

  Tim Richmond
  
  
  part 2
  
• Speedofsand

  

  Kyle Petty interviews David Pearson
  
• tigerfan82

  thanks for some of those memories folks........those are awesome!
• Speedofsand

  

  Jamie McMurray on the pole in Fontana
  Dave Blaney starts 5th
• coyotes22

  

  Speedofsand wrote: Jamie McMurray on the pole in Fontana
  Dave Blaney starts 5th

  Both EGR cars on the front row.
• Terry_Tate

  

  I've been following NASCAR literally since I can remember. I grew up learning numbers and math based on who drove what numbers. My Mom would ask me who Ernie Irvan plus Derrick Cope is, and I'd answer Terry Labonte or whoever. I've been a Jeff Gordon fan his entire career(was 6 when he made his debut in 1992) because my Aunt worked with Tide Racing and Jeff was going to be a teammate to Ricky Rudd, and I liked his car and the fact he was new and young. That was definitely a good decision as history shows.
  
  And I agree, that Pepsi 400 in 2001 was just crazy good. I couldn't watch the race that night, but I had no doubt Junior had won it. Sure enough when I got home my Dad told me he won. The Harvick win was just eerily good too. I don't know if you guys remember hearing it at the time, but the numbers around that win were just scary. It was the 3rd race after Daytona, and it was the 4th race of the year, car 29 won, started 5th and finished 1st. Dale's birthday was 4/29/51. Between the Harvick win, Park winning the first race after, and the Pepsi 400, it was just a crazy year in NASCAR.
• Speedofsand

  

  Critics say Dale Jr. is only popular because his fans were his dad's fans. Not me.
  I was never a Dale Sr. fan, he cheated too much. The first time I was ever in the Daytona garage, I saw his car get inspected and passed even with huge gaps between the windshield and hood with the templates. This was in the early 80's. He got away with alot, and Bill France Jr. said it was ok. They were buddies. The garage cheating pretty much stopped when Gary Nelson became sheriff, but Dale still drove dirty and was a jerk off the track 90% of the time. I saw him turn down a 10 year old kid asking for an autograph at the mall. "I ain't signing that, it doesn't say Goodwrench on it." After that I was one of the fans yelling 'Anybody but Earnhardt'. It actually worked once, when he hit a seagull on the last lap to lose the 500.
  When Dale Jr came up, I kinda liked him. He was winning in the Busch series and racing clean against Mark Martin in the Winn Dixie car. Then I was camping one morning at Charlotte listening to the radio and having breakfast. Dale Jr joined the lady dj for a good half hour in the studio. They talked about all kinds of stuff, and I felt like I knew him. He was not like his dad. He was humble, modest, all that. Then I met him a few times and he was nice. Then the way he handled his dad's crash, I told him I could not have been as strong as he is. His close friends, the 'Dirty Mo Posse' he grew up with helped him handle that and the enormous popularity. The way he handled the split with DEI and the wicked stepmother is a good example of how classy he is.
• Darkon

  

  Dale sr. was not very well liked until he had a long winless stretch and some kid(Gordon) came along and started kicking everyones butt. The good old boy fans felt that Gordon had not paid his dues to the sport. Thats when Dale sr. picked up so many fans.IMO
  
  Jr's had created a good fan base no doubt, but Dale sr's fans jumped on after his death. They were looking for someone to challenge Gordon. "Anyone but 24".
  
  NASCAR has lost the rivalry's. The sport is so political and each team seems connected in some way or another. Either teammates or sharing information and engines.
• Speedofsand

  

  Jeff Gordon's first win in a winged sprint car was at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe. I liked him because he came from dirt sprints, but I held a grudge for 10 years because of the way he left Bill Davis hanging.
  Nascar grew with the auto industry, and they are now collapsing like the automakers. Who knows how long and how far Nascar will fall until things level out ? It sure isn't the sport it used to be. Other racing series not so closely connected to the auto makers have also failed lately, and it would not surprise me to see the end of Nascar in 25 more years. Or they could be racing alternative energy fueled cars.
• Speedofsand

  

  Kurt Busch is turning into a drag queen
  
  http://www.lvrj.com/sports/drag-racing-lark-fills-kurt-busch_s-rare-down-time-85326127.html
  Busch, 31, has become a drag racer. He got his NHRA Super Gas competition license last month by completing Roy Hill's Drag Racing School at zMAX Dragway near his Mooresville, N.C., home. The Las Vegas native plans to race in the Gatornationals in March in Gainesville, Fla., on a rare weekend when he's not driving his No. 2 Penske Racing Dodge in the Cup series.
  Busch will compete in a Sportsman category in which cars can reach 165 mph in a quarter-mile. His car is a race-prepared 1970 Dodge Challenger with a turbocharged, fuel-injected 426 Dodge Hemi engine. And it will be legal to drive on North Carolina streets.
• Speedofsand

  

  David Pearson, who is 75 years old, has been announced as one of the 12 drivers for Bristol's old-timers race on March 20, a daybefore the Cup race there. Scheduled to join Pearson in that 35-lap race will be: Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Charlie Glotzbach, Dave Marcis, Tommy Houston, L.D. Ottinger, Jack Ingram, Larry Pearson, Rick Wilson, Phil Parsons and Jimmy Hensley.
  David Pearson had planned to compete in last year's race but back problems prevent him from competing. He has five wins at Bristol. His first came in the 1967 Southeastern 500. His final win there came in the 1971 Southeastern 500.
• j_crazy

  

  I fell ass backwards into bristol tickets in '03 and after that i was hooked.
• coyotes22

  

  j_crazy wrote: I fell ass backwards into bristol tickets in '03 and after that i was hooked.

  Did you get a papercut?
• Darkon

  

  Speedofsand wrote: David Pearson, who is 75 years old, has been announced as one of the 12 drivers for Bristol's old-timers race on March 20, a daybefore the Cup race there. Scheduled to join Pearson in that 35-lap race will be: Cale Yarborough, Harry Gant, Charlie Glotzbach, Dave Marcis, Tommy Houston, L.D. Ottinger, Jack Ingram, Larry Pearson, Rick Wilson, Phil Parsons and Jimmy Hensley.
  David Pearson had planned to compete in last year's race but back problems prevent him from competing. He has five wins at Bristol. His first came in the 1967 Southeastern 500. His final win there came in the 1971 Southeastern 500.

  That sounds great. I really would like to watch this.
• GoChiefs

  

  ^^^They do show it on TV.
• coyotes22

  

  Vegas BABY