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Except at Daytona and Talledega they just keep having big ones over and over all race long. Most SM races don't have a melee at the beginning, either. It's a bad rap, IMHO. Yeah, I've got video of a few, but I've got more video of good starts. Plus you have to remember that SM is popular and thus attracts a lot of newbs. The NASCAR guys got no such excuse.



Well yeah. The cars are ugly and nothing like their real world counterparts even in terms of shape any more. That's the truly sad thing.



The real problem is those tracks are too big. You can go so fast without any handling problem that as soon as you do anything to "fairly" slow them down you end up with the big drafts. And like Aaron said, too many of the other tracks are just all the same now. The only good racing left is on the short tracks, and there just aren't many of those left at all since by nature they can't have as many seats. Yes, the heyday is over...


--Donnie

North American Spec Car Racing.
I don't believe there is a single stock part left on these cars. All the chassis and bodies must meet the same specs and templates. The only difference is the trim decals and which foundry cast the engine block, even Chevy dropped using their basic SB engine block design this year for a clean sheet of paper racing block design that isn't even remotely related to anything they ever built in the past. I used to be an avid NASCAR fan attending all the races within reasonable driving distance. Now they aren't even interesting enough to watch on TV except possibly the last 10 laps if and when they aren't run under a caution. I now typically wait until the race is over and look at the results on Jayski.
It might as well be a slot car race, the main function of the driver is to relay to the crew chief what the car is doing so they can try to make it better, and try to make sure the car is still running at the end of the race. The aerodynamics are so manipulated and critical on the bodies that even a small amount of contact damage relegates a car to also ran status, so they try to avoid contact almost as much as F-1 drivers.
Nascar blatantly manipulates the "rules" (there is no official rule book per say) week to week as they see fit to favor whoever is the fairhaired child of the day. See the "Tony Stewart Rule" that was added so that he could run in the Shootout.
Short track racing with the COT is as dead as a Dodo bird. Enough seating isn't the real issue (see Bristol) it's just that it is plain boring! The on track racing is a freight train waiting for someone to make a mistake and wipe out 1/2 the field or a yellow so they can pit. The race is won or lost in the pits because a track < 1.5 miles long doesn't have enough room for 43 pits in a row and pit road is so long and slow that any out of sequence green flag stop is going to put the car down one or two laps, which is near impossible to make up on the track.

_________________
SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

That really pissed me off. Not that they changed it to let Tony in, but that they DIDN'T let in several other people in pretty much the same situation who were also plenty qualified. They just didn't have as big a name.



I don't see how the short track racing is that different with the COT and the prior car. The pit lane issue has certainly always been there. *shrug*


--Donnie

The COT car is larger, highly aerodynamically balanced even on a short track, and designed to wad up if hit to absorb the g shock rather than transfer it to the driver's cage, so the drivers know if they bang it up they will be out of the race. Notice how you no longer see cars with fenders or front ends ripped off running around like you used to. Heck, some of the short track races used to look more like modified races by the end. Once in a while one might try to gain some points, but they will not handle worth a flip, will not be able to maintain even minimum speed or be retired as soon as there are no more points to gain. They are no longer a driver's race, just an equipment maintainance parade between pit stops.

_________________
SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Ah, so you see the problem now as they can't beat and bang any more on the short tracks thanks to the car being more fragile. Gotcha. I admit to not having watched much of any NASCAR since COT so I hadn't even noticed that about short track racing. Well, it's truly dead to me in all forms, then. I had hoped to go to Martinsville one day to see a race, but I guess I'll give up on that, too. I did make a Bristol one back in the day (well, even went to a North Wilkseboro race way back when) as well as Lowes, Darlington, Rockingham, and maybe one or two others.


--Donnie