2024 NASCAR Discussion ThreadNASCAR 

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Crazy. It went from "Will Truex get by Hamlin before the end?" to the closest finish in Cup history with two different drivers. I was really pulling for Buescher, but an exciting finish either way.
 
Blitz24
0.001 rounded up knocks off the Craven/Busch Darlington finish in 2003 and the Johnson/Bowyer finish at Talladega in 2011.

EDIT:
This is NOT the closest NASCAR finish, but the closest Cup finish. It is tied for 2nd with a 1995 Truck race:
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Isn't it crazy how 3 of the closest finishes ever have occurred THIS YEAR and we aren't even halfway through the season... NASCAR is delivering like never before. The level of competition right now is extremely high in both Xfinity and Cup. No wonder why our Supercar drivers are coming over to have a crack. Sure, the Gen 7 isn't perfect but on the whole, it's been a massive success.

Also, Kyle Larson is the only person to have benefited from a racial slur. If Ganassi didn't fire him, Hendrick wouldn't have been able to get his hands on him and win a championship. I'm bummed that Buescher missed out by a nose but I can't complain too much because Larson's not a bad person to lose to. The RFK Fords are fast so I'm sure there'll be another chance for him and Brad.
 
In Charter news:
  • The part of the France family active in NASCAR dealings wants in on charters, which they currently cannot do except on a "caretaker" basis
  • The owners' demands are four-fold: 45% of traditional media revenue (up from 25% currently per the update), 33% of "new" revenue (e.g. gambling money, again per the update), permanent charters, and more of a say on how NASCAR is run
Update: More Charter news from Bob Pockrass - Stewart-Haas is looking to downsize as it has yet to renew with Ford, with Trackhouse (which has loaned 2 of its drivers out to other teams this year), Legacy Motor Club, 23XI and Front Row all sniffing around. Also, the JTG portion of JTG Daugherty looks to be on the way out as Tad Geschickter continues to be MIA.
 
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Be interesting to see if the rumored contraction at SHR results in the driver cut going to Front Row.
 
Blitz24
Be interesting to see if the rumored contraction at SHR results in the driver cut going to Front Row.
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Given McDowell's departure, I doubt they're expanding as some reports had suggested. I also believe that the Love's sponsorship is tied to McDowell rather than Front Row. It is at least plausible that SHR and Front Row merge to free up 2 charters, though Front Row had just shifted their technical alliance from Roush to Penske (and judging by relative performances, they're ahead of the Wood Brothers in the pecking order).
 
Eggstor
Given McDowell's departure, I doubt they're expanding as some reports had suggested. I also believe that the Love's sponsorship is tied to McDowell rather than Front Row. It is at least plausible that SHR and Front Row merge to free up 2 charters, though Front Row had just shifted their technical alliance from Roush to Penske (and judging by relative performances, they're ahead of the Wood Brothers in the pecking order).
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Never said expanding. SHR is reported to be contracting which means one of the current drivers will likely be dropped. My comment was if they had an opening in the 34 and are committed to 2 teams, would either Preece/Briscoe/Gragson be moving from their ride to the 34.
 
Blitz24
Never said expanding. SHR is reported to be contracting which means one of the current drivers will likely be dropped. My comment was if they had an opening in the 34 and are committed to 2 teams, would either Preece/Briscoe/Gragson be moving from their ride to the 34.
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I was referring to Front Row's reported sniffing around at least one of SHR's charters. I'm seeing more chatter that SHR and FRM are merging, which would free up 2 charters and (potentially) reduce the amount of time both Haas and Jenkins would need to self-sponsor.

Also, McDowell is moving to the 71 next year.
 
RACECAR


Well damn.
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It almost feels like SHR has rapidly deteriorated losing both Almirola and Harvick over successive seasons and not really replenishing the talent. Herbst maybe could move up but the team seems stagnant.
 
RACECAR


Well damn.
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I'm not terribly shocked. By now both people the team is named after are probably only involved in name only, considering Haas is too busy being a non-entity in F1 and Tony has his own vanity league in SRX. Though it does make me wonder who the list of potential buyers would be, since a whole package of a race shop and charters would be pretty attractive to newcomers but I imagine it'll be priced well out of the range of any Daytona 500 one-offs.
 
EngieDiesel
I'm not terribly shocked. By now both people the team is named after are probably only involved in name only, considering Haas is too busy being a non-entity in F1 and Tony has his own vanity league in SRX. Though it does make me wonder who the list of potential buyers would be, since a whole package of a race shop and charters would be pretty attractive to newcomers but I imagine it'll be priced well out of the range of any Daytona 500 one-offs.
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SRX was bought out in late 2023. Stewart is pretty much now doing NHRA.
 
Blitz24
It almost feels like SHR has rapidly deteriorated losing both Almirola and Harvick over successive seasons and not really replenishing the talent. Herbst maybe could move up but the team seems stagnant.
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Reminds me of the team from which SHR bought two of its first three charters, Michael Waltrip Racing.
 
Goodness, I love the throwback liveries at Darlington! I almost thought the Castrol Toyota Supra of GT lore was in this event with the Castrol car. Unfortunately... it is on a Mustang and not on a Supra...
 
Keselowski wins after Tyler Reddick and Chris Buescher make contact and both cut down tires with less than 20 laps to go.
 
NASCAR to use the last 3 races of the Amazon Prime schedule (points races 15-17) and the entirety of the TNT schedule (points races 18-22) to run an in-season tournament starting next year. The (sketchy) details:
  • The best finish in the last 3 Amazon Prime races will set the seeding for the 32-driver tournament, with the next-best finish in those 3 races and overall season points being, respectively, the two tiebreakers.
  • The top 32 drivers will be put into a single-elimination bracket, and go head-to-head over the 5 TNT races, with the better-finishing driver in each head-to-head match-up moving on.
  • The winner of the tournament gets $1 million.
 
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I don't think I could care any less about an "in-season tournament" and have no idea why it's needed. It's yet another gimmick that people will be bored with in a season or two.

Going into my old man complaining mode - I remember back when the there were 30 some odd races, all of which counted equally, that counted towards the championship where the guy with the most points won the title. And there were two non-points events that weren't overly complicated just for funsies. Okay, one more event if you count the qualifying duels. It was popular with fans, drivers, and teams. And more often than not it crowned the most deserving driver. Can we please just bring that back?
 
Dolph Drago
I don't think I could care any less about an "in-season tournament" and have no idea why it's needed. It's yet another gimmick that people will be bored with in a season or two.

Going into my old man complaining mode - I remember back when the there were 30 some odd races, all of which counted equally, that counted towards the championship where the guy with the most points won the title. And there were two non-points events that weren't overly complicated just for funsies. Okay, one more event if you count the qualifying duels. It was popular with fans, drivers, and teams. And more often than not it crowned the most deserving driver. Can we please just bring that back?
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I'd love that, though the forefathers of the in-season tournament, the Winston Million and the Winston No Bull 5, were features of those days. Also, what the finishing order of the Twin 125s set, the lineup for the Daytona 500, was pretty complicated, involving finishing order, qualifying speeds, and provisional statuses.
 
Eggstor
NASCAR to use the last 3 races of the Amazon Prime schedule (points races 15-17) and the entirety of the TNT schedule (points races 18-22) to run an in-season tournament starting next year. The (sketchy) details:
  • The best finish in the last 3 Amazon Prime races will set the seeding for the 32-driver tournament, with the next-best finish in those 3 races and overall season points being, respectively, the two tiebreakers.
  • The top 32 drivers will be put into a single-elimination bracket, and go head-to-head over the 5 TNT races, with the better-finishing driver in each head-to-head match-up moving on.
  • The winner of the tournament gets $1 million.
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That's going to result in a lot of drivers trying to wreck one another so NASCAR should be ahead of these shenanigans.
 
Blitz24
That's going to result in a lot of drivers trying to wreck one another so NASCAR should be ahead of these shenanigans.
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More than now? Maybe PD could do some post-race marshaling :dopey:

I suppose the bigger problem will be the size of the field. This year started with 34 drivers intending on running the full season. With Erik Jones needing a couple weeks off due to injuries, we're down to 33.

That is actually optimistic. The last time 32 or more drivers ran the full Cup season was sometime prior to 2019 (Jayski's drivers points sheets before 2019 doesn't list the number of starts).
 
The entry lists for the Open and All-Star race have been posted. The part-time drivers/team:
  • AJ Allmendinger in the Kaulig 16 Chevy for the All-Star race
  • Kaz Grala in the Rick Ware 15 Ford for the Open
  • Timmy Hill in the MBM Power Source 66 Ford for the Open
 

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