T1B

I didn't think I'd ever see that car again at the top level of stock car racing, but to have it win the pole at Daytona?

Let all the NAS-CALL hate begin. I don't care and neither do the legions of Dale Earnhardt fans who are happy to have that black #3 car back in the fold.

Rack Austin Dillon and Richard Childress.

War, congrats on that whole thing. Not a fan of NASCAR but there are plenty of folks who are. To each there own.


Aren't you just a bit worried about the future of NASCAR though? It is unlikely to ever go away, but it is struggling. TV viewership is down 47 percent from 2005 and track attendance and revenue is down 42 percent over the same period. Plenty of races have empty seats and retaining title sponsors for races is at al all time low.

Granted the new TV deal was very nice, but the majority of races are going to be on cable. Plus both Fox and NBC have the ability to shift more races to FS1 and NBCsports network next year if ratings don't return to close to 2005 levels. The reason the deal was so high despite the falling numbers was due to the two new sports networks having lots of programming to fill.

Finally NASCAR can't stop tweaking their chase format. The casual fan can't keep up with the constant changes to the chase and most regular fans have a hard time explaining the new format to them. The constant changes lead one to believe that NASCAR is worried about keeping people interested once football season starts.


What is your take on the future of NASCAR? More storms ahead, a boom around the Daytona corner?

No hate here, wags. It takes some level of give a fukk to muster up any sort of hate.

This is evidence that NASCAR ain't what it used to be. They need something to drum up some level of give a fukk. This should help as it will bring back a fair number of Intimidator fans who have been sitting in their trailers in a rice lite fueled stupor morning their hero the last dozen or so years.

Hopefully the heir to the thrown will have half the ballsack of Daryll. Bet he wears his helmet strap unlike dumbfukk who was too bad ass to bother with one.

Lefty, NASCAR is hurting because their clientel, the beer swilling pick up driving blue collar neck simply doesn't have the disposable income anymore. Ricky's 1/2 ton pickup now takes 100 dollars to fill instead of 35. And IF he still has a yob, he's fukking lucky to be making the same money he did then.

All this, of course is W's fault. Obama is trying to fix it, but the evil congress won't let him. No worries though. He has informed us that he doesn't give a fukk anymore and will play dictator these next 3 years.

smackaholic wrote:Lefty, NASCAR is hurting because their clientel, the beer swilling pick up driving blue collar neck simply doesn't have the disposable income anymore.

Why don't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

Maybe if baseball attendance drops, they can bring in a whole rookie class that wears #42.

If The Bulls need some extra bucks, they can have some hotshot draft pick wear #23.

And they wonder why the non-inbreds laugh at NASCAR?

smackaholic wrote:Lefty, NASCAR is hurting because their clientel, the beer swilling pick up driving blue collar neck simply doesn't have the disposable income anymore.

So Ricky can't put the foil over the rabbit ears and tune his TV to the race?

Screw_Michigan wrote: Why don't they just pull themselves up by their bootstraps?

Isn't that exactly what Smacky's example was doing? Since his costs were rising he gave up going to the track.

Left Seater wrote:So Ricky can't put the foil over the rabbit ears and tune his TV to the race?

He could if he was home. Unfortunately, he's working a second part time job at the piggly wiggly so he can gas up the monte carlo/silverado.

Racing is something that just needs to be watched live. I occasionally go to the local 1/2 mile track to watch on a saturday night. Local shleps doing it just for the love of it. And those fukkers are hardcore. It is a fukking blast. Way more fun than superspeedway draftathon on TV.

I was a fan back in the 50's-60's when they raced "real" cars that at least had production parts that people could by for street use. Also they would run on the smaller dirt tacks like the NY State Fair. Saw guys like the Flock Brothers in the Chrysler 300s and other legends like Lee Petty, Marshall Teague, and Fireball Roberts. I went to the first NASCAR race at Watkins Glen in 1957. That was a hoot. When they went for all the high speed modern tracks and custom cars I lost interest. The genie probably can't be put back in the bottle.

Left Seater wrote:What is your take on the future of NASCAR? More storms ahead, a boom around the Daytona corner?

I don't know, but suspect it will continue to decline in popularity. They got too big for their britches, so to speak, and now have to contrive interest, which is a damn shame.

Back inna day, the drivers were real every day slobs trying to make a living doing what they loved, which was racin'. Nothing had to be contrived, you knew these guys were fighting to put food on the table.

Then along came that candy ass pretty boy #24... and the whole scene changed. Then came the #48, and it changed again, only worse. Fuck Rick Hendrick.

Anyways, a part of me died the day The Intimidator did, a part that can never be brought back to life. But seeing that #3 car back on the track is some solace. Only a blood relative of RCR could take that seat and I hope he's up to the task, some big shoes to fill.

Wolfman wrote:I was a fan back in the 50's-60's when they raced "real" cars that at least had production parts that people could by for street use. Also they would run on the smaller dirt tacks like the NY State Fair. Saw guys like the Flock Brothers in the Chrysler 300s and other legends like Lee Petty, Marshall Teague, and Fireball Roberts. I went to the first NASCAR race at Watkins Glen in 1957. That was a hoot. When they went for all the high speed modern tracks and custom cars I lost interest. The genie probably can't be put back in the bottle.

smackaholic wrote:Racing is something that just needs to be watched live.

I couldn't imagine anything more hellish than sitting in the blazing sun watching cars drive around in a circle.

Papa Willie wrote:props to them for always trying to at least change rules and things around to where things might things more watchable.

Things will definitely make things more watchable if they just institute things for the things needed to make things watchable.

Here's 300 horses. Probably never see this again along with the mighty MoPars of the day.

KC Scott wrote:Todays generation would rather build / soup up their computers for gaming than build something they can take to the strip and run on Saturday nights.

I'll bet there's more speed shops today than when I was in high school.


I meet young punks on an occasion with all kinds of souped up shit... which would blow the doors off our old musclecars.

KC Scott wrote:If you look at the decline in interest in watching racing, I think you can draw a parallel to the decline of the Car culture in the US

When I was in HS, we bought cars we could work on, modify and it was fairly easy to add performance components to. Now your average HS couldn't change his own oil if he had to. Part of it falls on the automotive industry for addding so much technology to the cars in order to get them into the dealership to do even routine maintenance

It isn't just technology. The car manufacturers have come up with components that require special tools that cost huge bucks to buy. Unless one is planning on turning a wrench on a whole bunch of cars just like their own, it's too cost-prohibitive to buy all that shit.

:roll'em:

I've put plenty of wrenches to plenty of vehicles (albeit limited on very late model, for reasons obvious*), and it's so extremely rare to find a fastener that needs a specialty tool, it's hardly worth a mention. Seems to come up a lot more when the car says Mercedes on it.

* - Car manufacturers also came up with this crazy new concept -- very long, transferable powertrain warranties. Why the fuck would you work on them?

And another thing -- the dealership will generally loan you any specialty tools you need to do a repair yourself, although I'd strongly recommend showing up with a six-pack.

Papa Willie wrote:So yeah - you can hate away on it, but until you see it in front of your own eyes - you'll never understand.

That may be true to some extent, but I had never been to a NASCAR race when I started watching it regularly on ESPN in the 1980's and saw how ironhead raced, balls to the wall. To really enjoy the racing you need a driver or drivers for whom you passionately root both for and against.

But where that's really true is in drag racing. I had never really cared for watching it on TV. But when I went to my first NHRA event it blew me away. Not what I saw so much as what I felt in my bones when those fuckers mashed the throttle of basically a space rocket on wheels.

For anyone who has never been to any type of auto racing event, I'd suggest going to the local drag strip at least once to see what you've been missing.

Meanwhile, I love Daytona and Talledega, the super speedways. I love watching them try to work the draft, knowing they can go from 1st to 15th in less than 1 lap if they don't work it right.

It took Earnhardt 20 years to win his first and only Daytona 500, I doubt Dillon will be able to pull that feat off his first time out. We'll see but whatever happens next Sunday, I bet this kid has a great career. He's got a great RCR team behind him.

Papa Willie wrote:
I cared not one SHIT for racing until said buddy (above) took me to a race in ATL back in '96. I thought it was beyond stupid. We were towards the end of the front straight going into turn 1 (old ATL config) where they were hitting about 200. Needless to say, it blew my fucking mind. The telephoto lenses of the camera diminish the speed factor so much - it's hard to describe. Anyways - seeing fuckers bump each other at that speed suddenly made me realize that those guys are among the most insane people on earth.

So yeah - you can hate away on it, but until you see it in front of your own eyes - you'll never understand.

Word. I am a car guy, did some drag racing cars and boats in the past, and like fast loud cars. I was at a contracting convention in Charolette in 1995. They had an event at the raceway. We rode in on luxury buses inside the speedway which is impressive itself. They had food laid out in the garages, had Kix Brooks and Ronny Dunn milling and bullshitting people, and then you could go out and watch some cars run.

Now when they come down the straight 3 wide in an empty racetrack at 180 mph, the noise is deafening, and you will never forget it. Then they said $ 100 for 3 lap ride in the Petty cars. I threw down for 6 laps and buckled in. We hit the end of pit row at about 100 mph, it snapped up on the 23 degree bank, and some kid driving the thing asked me where yall from..and we were doing 167 mph.

Pretty amazing shit. I hit the local dirt track a couple times per year for sprint cars. Pretty good time, good racing, some helmet throwing now and then,and watching necks blow their paycheck on $ 7 beers. I will watch some when I get the chance, seldom watch a race from start to finish, but always try to get he last 20 laps. I also usually get to two NHRA events each summer as well. Drag racing is pretty entertaining as well.



http://www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com/

War Wagon wrote: But where that's really true is in drag racing. I had never really cared for watching it on TV. But when I went to my first NHRA event it blew me away. Not what I saw so much as what I felt in my bones when those fuckers mashed the throttle of basically a space rocket on wheels.

In high school and ensuing years, me and my buddies would go hit the Wednesday Night Drags. About $5 to get in (maybe that was for the whole carload). Not quite top-fuel, but bracket racing can be a hoot, although I understand that computerized traction control has kind of ruined it. A friend took his car (sweeeeeet 70 RS/SS Camaro) a few years ago, and said dude in a new Vette could drill his dial-in every time.

Couldn't pay me to watch drag racing on TV, but it's a hoot in person.

This road course racing is great two. I hit the Portland Historic races each year for the vintage cars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OqYcTEiP1Y

Why would I invest in a scanner or any software when sixpacks are cheap?

I retired from bloody knuckles. But I sure the fuck know how to talk shop, so maybe not the same issue for me as some.

End of the day, it's just nuts and bolts. The electronics are pretty freaking basic, still.

Dinsdale wrote:I retired from bloody knuckles.

Same here, aside from the basics like changing brake pads and whatnot. But I'm done crawling under cars, not even for an oil change. Just too damned lazy, I guess.

What really annoys me is when American auto makers started using metric fasteners and my Craftsman SAE sockets became next to useless.

War Wagon wrote:

Dinsdale wrote:I retired from bloody knuckles.

Same here

I meant professionally.

What really annoys me is when American auto makers started using metric fasteners and my Craftsman SAE sockets became next to useless.

Uhm, you realize they switched from SAE to Metric in 1980, right? They just stuck with the fairly interchangeable ones (11mm, 13mm, 14mm, 16mm).

Derron wrote: http://www.sunsetspeedwaypark.com/

My one and only stint on a pit crew was at Sunset. I even had to change a tire, and I think I put out a fire when some dumbass drove a running no-muffler car into the long grass. Mostly just got drunk, though. Man, that's been a while.

Dinsdale wrote:Uhm, you realize they switched from SAE to Metric in 1980, right? They just stuck with the fairly interchangeable ones (11mm, 13mm, 14mm, 16mm).

No sir, I did not know the year they changed from SAE to metric, but most of the piles of junk I worked on were pre 1980:

1967 Chevy Impala SS (rusted out but ran like a scalded dog)
1970 Buick Skylark (wrecked that car racing, broke my collar bone, cried for days losing that car)
1974 Chevy Monte Carlo (many busted knuckles)
1976 Chrysler Cordoba (biggest piece of shit ever)
1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (my future wife's car)

and w/o doing the math right now in my head, there's not a goddamn thing "interchangeable" between SAE and metric, thus many more busted knuckles and stripped out nuts and bolts.

War Wagon wrote: and w/o doing the math right now in my head, there's not a goddamn thing "interchangeable" between SAE and metric, thus many more busted knuckles and stripped out nuts and bolts.

8mm and 5/16th are identical, for all intensive purposes.

An 11 is a hair tight on a 7/16, but will always work. In reverse, 7/16 is rarely loose enough to round an 11.

13 to 1/2... 13 is a micron or so bigger.

14 is ever so slightly tight on a 9/16, but never an issue either way.

16mm and 5/8? See 8mm-5/16 and do the math.

American cars stuck with those fasteners for the most part until well into the 90's.

KC Scott wrote:
hmmmm.... and do the loan you the laptop and diagnostics program you need to tune it too?

BTW - just found out last week the next door neighbor has full software up through recent years.... and needs help with the software updates to make it run (me sees opportunity).

Dinsdale wrote:

War Wagon wrote: and w/o doing the math right now in my head, there's not a goddamn thing "interchangeable" between SAE and metric, thus many more busted knuckles and stripped out nuts and bolts.

8mm and 5/16th are identical, for all intensive purposes.

An 11 is a hair tight on a 7/16, but will always work. In reverse, 7/16 is rarely loose enough to round an 11.

13 to 1/2... 13 is a micron or so bigger.

14 is ever so slightly tight on a 9/16, but never an issue either way.

16mm and 5/8? See 8mm-5/16 and do the math.

American cars stuck with those fasteners for the most part until well into the 90's.

Wags obviously knows jack shit (yeah, I'm shocked too) about metric tools.

I agree with every example you gave with the exception of one. A 13 mm wrench is sloppier on a 1/2 inch nut than M2's asshole at a BBC convention. And no, I don't mean the british broadcasting corp.

A few others, a 4mm allen wrench makes a better 5/32 allen wrench than a 5/32 does. Same goes for 2mm - 5/64.

smackaholic wrote:A few others, a 4mm allen wrench makes a better 5/32 allen wrench than a 5/32 does. Same goes for 2mm - 5/64.

Kinda falls into that "5/16 = 8mm" ratio thing. Pretty much identical.


13 and 1/2 aren't that different, but avoid using a 13 on anything but a perfectly sound 1/2. Conversely, a 1/2 6-point is a wonderful choice for a questionable 13.

The things I learned twisting wrenches for 8.5 years.

But there's no substitute for a 15mm, which GM fell in love with in the 90's... which pissed me off in the last few days (nice job organizing tools, assface).

cockaholic wrote:Wags obviously knows jack shit (yeah, I'm shocked too) about metric tools.

About as much as you know about poured in place concrete foundations.

Holy shit, you are a metric tool. Yeah, break out the IKYABWAI... fuck, I get tired of typing that acronym... in reverse.

just so you know, my job involves converting metric to imperial, backwards and forwards.

1mm = .03937"

does the symbol " confuse you more, or less, than the five decimal places?

It really is amazing that you can get into the 10 second range in old civics for pocket change. they will blow classic muscle cars into the weeds unless you have spent a lot of money on them.

that being said, i would much rather roll around in a '69 chevelle SS than some firebreathing civic hatch. i don't give a fukk how fast it is.

Okay, I've seen enough.

schmick...that guy's not one of us. He's managed to hit every stereotype of douchebaggery imaginable. No, he's not made of flesh and blood. He's some sort of giant douchebag cyborg sent from another planet to wage war against us in the coming Douchepocalypse. We must stand our ground and fight.

[dims]My buddy Ron Capps running 3.96.[/dims]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfF1Y6Jt1w[/youtube]

schmuck wrote:
I used to take a lot of money from old dudes in domestic cars with my "rice burner"

Yeah bullshit ...whatever. Any dude worth his shit driving a muscle car would simply wave you off as the punk ass bitch you are if you wanted to run a rice wagon on the street.

None of the "old" dudes I hang out with at some evening cruise in's several times a year would even bother getting behind the wheel to go up against a rice wagon. These guys have their Chevelle's , Camaros, Mustangs, GTO's, etc..no time to waste with your ilk.

Papa Willie wrote:

You don't understand the logarithmic scale that would associate itself for the power and other variables required to make a 2 second jump between 6.5 & 4.5 seconds, do you?

Student at the LTS Math and Sciences University.

His understanding of equal and opposite reactions is clearly on a one to one ratio. Outstanding.

schmick wrote:
I used to take a lot of money from old dudes in domestic cars with my "sword swallowing" skills.

FTFY