Forum Activity for @andy-denardi

Nearly time to saddle up, but with who?

Stock Car Racing History

You'll get the most bang for your buck by going with Danica. She has the biggest possibility for improvement and you can follow her arc as it goes up (or down). You can cheer her on as she makes her way from a consistent mid-pack runner to a steady top ten runner. She'll get lots of coverage and looks good in post-race interviews. I don't like her, but I feel her season will be the easiest story to become involved with for someone who needs to start fresh. It depends on how important winning is for you. Some of these guys had their chance and never achieved greatness. Some were great but are winding down their careers. They can still win but not be champions.

Kahne is a good 2nd choice. Some say he's a superstar. I don't see it but he's very good and will contend for a title. His personality seems a bit bland to me and that keeps me from feeling a bond.

Some are still strong on McMurray. He hasn't been able to make the big leagues and has something to prove. His team sucks though, and won't get better in 2013. I'd put him on top for 2014 if Danica doesn't work out for you.

I feel that it's hard to form an allegiance with a well-established driver that wins reasonably often. They make it seem easy, and I want to be able to root for the underdog.

There are four or five other guys that I pull for, but I'd say that my driver would be Kyle Busch. When cars were stock, I paid attention to brands. When Petty left Chrysler, I was forced to embrace whatever brand he was driving and I grew away from brand allegiance. I have no problems with Toyota, and they're the only NASCAR model that's still built in the US so they should be commended for that. Now that Earnhardt isn't around, I'm free to go for a Chevy driver. That 2013 Dodge was a good looking car; it's a shame that we won't see it race. I don't think that they will be back; I think the company will fold up permanently within the next five years.

November 15, 1992 - The final ride

Stock Car Racing History

It's been a long time since the 43 was in Victory Lane too. I hope that when it finally happens again, it will be one of those rare days when the car is Petty blue. It breaks my heart to see that number on a lime green car.

Mid-Ohio Road Course on 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Schedule

Current NASCAR

Mid-Ohio should be a good racetrack. I think they made some improvements last year because the Indycar crowd was getting bored with it. It's a little bit small, only 2.5 miles.

Anything that gets the series on exclusive tracks is a good thing.

Wanning attendance at races

Stock Car Racing History

I agree with what you say, but I'm not sure that competition is worse. I haven't seen a direct comparison of the number of winners each season, but my impression is that there are more different ones now than there were in the Eighties. Remember, Chevy has won the manufacturer championship about 600 times. The Fords weren't doing well most of the time. And Dodge hasn't really been competitive since 1973. Toyota has done more with fewer cars. I don't think we've had more than four Dodge teams at one time since the comeback and they didn't do well until this year. Even then, Brad may be getting the championship but Chevy has the title.

I definitely agree that eBay has affected the drivers' attitude toward signing. Other celebrities also. But I think they drew the wrong conclusion. Yes, for a time, people will be making money from your autograph. But if you sign often enough, the value goes down and it's not going to pull good money on eBay. I guess they don't like the idea that their name is no longer worth anything. Petty has signed so many things that it has to be something really special to get more than $10. Drivers can also reduce the saleability of signed items by including the person's name or something specific about the encounter.

Wanning attendance at races

Stock Car Racing History

These reasons and more have been mentioned over and over. But part of it is not NASCAR's fault, and that's the lack of interest in cars today. Not only will we lose NASCAR, but we'll soon lose personal transportation. With robotic vehicles somewhat perfected, we're headed toward the day when you get a subscription to a car service just like you pay your monthly cable bill. People haven't got the attention span for driving anymore. They'd rather fix their makeup or tweet their friends. Few can drive a standard or change a flat. Cities are overcrowded and are trying to find a way to reduce noise and traffic. With emerging holographic technology, you won't have to go down to Wal-Mart to see what something looks like before you buy it $20 cheaper online. Consider how your taxes will go up when the local police can't rely on tickets to generate revenue.After years of excitement, Detroit and the government turned the automobile into an appliance. Although today's compact car is faster than many muscle cars, and muscle cars have unprecedented horsepower, nobody really cares. Every car looks identical and has a cheesy rear wing.If you can't sustain interest in automobiles, you can't sustain auto racing. The emphasis on thrills and spills is because they can't promote epic battles between manufacturers anymore. With reliable engines, better tires, power steering and driver cooling, there's no attrition to make the outcome unpredictable.I've said it before, but a decade from now I expect that most racing will be done by people sitting in their living room participating in online competition. All you need is talent and cost is in the thousands instead of millions. No injuries, no repairs, no crew, no travel or real estate. Current online racing rigs can run into the multi-thousand dollar range. They tilt and swirl, vibrate and shake the steering wheel. The software incorporates realistic mathematical models to replicate track configurations and surfaces. The games incorporate the same fancy mathematics That a Sprint Cup race engineer pores over to determine shock and spring settings. Racing online is almost real, and many professional drivers use a simulator more often than an airline pilot.Stick & ball sports are popular because everyone has exposure to them when they're young. Most regions don't even have a decent go kart program. Unlike baseball, you can't compete at your local playground with $50 of equipment. Like larger forms of racing, it costs a couple hundred to get into karts and a couple thousand if you plan on winning.

The right direction ?

Current NASCAR

What PKL described is an excellent example of the racing that I'd like to see. Her point about pulling back to show the action is also valid.Additionally, I'd like the announcers to call the race that's happening, not the one they want to see. They have about 40 cameras at each race, why do I only see close-ups of the sponsor logo on the leader's hood?Reduce the in-car shots to a maximum of five minutes per race. There's nothing to see there. Even when used to show how a driver avoided an accident there's more smoke than revelation. Reduce the bumper and roof cams to zero minutes.Reduce on-air staff to one announcer, one color man and four pit reporters. Reduce all pre-race shows to just Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader sittin' in a booth telling us the straight truth. Cut all of the post-race interviews. They rarely serve as anything more than sponsor call-outs. Bring back race queens in Victory Lane. Have them kiss the pit crew if the driver's wives are jealous.But the needed fixes go beyond the race and how it's broadcast. There's more that must change.If there's gonna be a fight, fines should be reduced for each actual punch that connects. All we see know is a bunch of guys standing chest-to-chest and yelling. Sometimes the smallest guy on the team will hold back the gas man while he waves his arms around like the robot in a bad science fiction movie. The 1979 Daytona 500 would have been nothing if Cale had his guys go see Donnie's guys to tell them he was perturbed.I want the nascar rule book published and all fines, and penalties determined by a six person panel consisting of three former champion drivers, and three retired championship-winning crew chiefs from any of the three major nascar series. They should preside over all three series and be chosen by the car owners for a one year term.I want to see cars with stock sheetmetal, running engines available in my street car, driving the same wheels as my street car.I want more types of tracks. Short tracks, dirt tracks, road courses, superspeedways. Run green-white-checker laps in reverse. They couldn't possibly run into each other more than they do now.I want teams and sponsors to loosen up their contracts so that drivers can freely move between F1, Indycar, sportscars and nascar.I want a two car maximum for all nascar teams. Holman-Moody and Petty Enterprises furnished a lot of cars and parts for teams in an earlier era but it didn't seem like only two teams were running everything. I'd like to see whatever we have now be more like what we had then.I want Dodge back. Unlike seemingly every other fan, I also want to see Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.

Any Myrtle Beach Goat Rodeo Broadcasters Out of Touch? Stay Tuned Tuesday Night

General

Is the Penthouse Club one of those gentleman's establishments?

Penalties...Wait maybe NASCAR should read this.

Stock Car Racing History

I think they're right to ban all electronic devices in the cars. You can fit many types of electronics inside a cell phone case and it will get easier as things are downsized more. Besides, why do you need a cell phone in a race car?

But I knew that Brad had gotten away with it earlier and had not heard of a rule change since then. I guess it's handy having a secret rule book! If all else fails, they can always hit you with "actions detrimental to stock car racing".

Brad &@#$ Keselowski

Current NASCAR

Agreed. He hit on some of the same points in his ESPN interview just after the race, and he was able to contain his language then. I think he expected to be able to be more natural in the post-race press conference, knowing that the journalists could censor what wasn't printable. In the clip that you offered, Speed had already had an opportunity to clean things up, unlike the mumbled curse that went out live during the interview with Bowyer's crew chief.

Most folks are tired of the squeaky-clean non-sponsor-offending images that the drivers present. Brad's language was in some ways a good thing. We don't want Stepford Drivers but we don't want them cussing like sailors on live TV either. It's a difficult path to follow. I'm not expecting NASCAR to come down on him.

Brad &@#$ Keselowski

Current NASCAR

Seems no matter what these guys do, someone calls them childish and immature. Last week it was Hamlin and Dillon. I personally have no problem with his vocabulary but agree thatit's not appropriate for national TV. Censoring it does virtually nothing to remedy the problem, we all know what he said.

I agree with the sentiment though. It was a cheap shot by Gordon and IMO the 40 year old champion, was a poorer role model for his actions than Brad and his coarse words. I understand that everyone wants the drivers to "man up", but veering directly into the side of Clint's car was poor sportsmanship and I have no admiration for it. I also don't think that any of Bowyer's crew intended to land a solid punch. That was another display of macho posturing that ultimately accomplished nothing but add some fines to the costs of repairing Clint's car. Had Brad been caught up in it, I would have been sorely disappointed that his best hope for gaining the title were crushed by a bunch of schoolboys.

There are many ways that Gordon could have extracted his revenge on the track. The method he chose was, in your words "downright childish and immature". Tempers flare, people lose control. I understand that. But if it had been Kyle Busch, they would suspend him. I don't feel that the NASCAR's system of fining teams is of any value and they should park Gordon at Homestead. Besides, it will calm down those that say Hendrick is immune from NASCAR control, and shut up at least one conspiracy theorist who'll claim that Gordon was actually trying to take out Keselowski by proxy.