2020 Nascar Season thread

[Chewbaccer]

I was a big Dale Earnhardt fan. One of the bigger bummer days in my life when he died.
I guess I didn't hate Jr. personally, I just rooted against him. Mostly because suddenly he was by far the most popular driver, even before he really did anything. Every Nascar show devoted 50% of there time on him. So I took the flipside and rooted against him.

I was a big Dale Sr. fan as a kid. Been a Harvick fan since day one. I never pulled for Jr, but never hated him either

 

[Myles]

I was a big Dale Sr. fan as a kid. Been a Harvick fan since day one. I never pulled for Jr, but never hated him either

I was a big Tony Stewart fan. I know many didn't like him, but I admired his love of driving.
I wanted to be a fan of Keselowski when he can on the scene. Some because my last name also ends in "SKI", and I was looking for a new favorite driver to follow. But he is such a dick, I couldn't do it.

 

[Chewbaccer]

I was a big Tony Stewart fan. I know many didn't like him, but I admired his love of driving.
I wanted to be a fan of Keselowski when he can on the scene. Some because my last name also ends in "SKI", and I was looking for a new favorite driver to follow. But he is such a dick, I couldn't do it.

Tony Stewart was my second favorite driver his entire career, behind only Dale Sr and Harvick. I’m a MOPAR man, so I did pull for Brad when he was in a Dodge, but after the move to Ford, he didn’t do anything for me

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I guess I didn't hate Jr. personally, I just rooted against him. Mostly because suddenly he was by far the most popular driver, even before he really did anything. Every Nascar show devoted 50% of there time on him. So I took the flipside and rooted against him.

I felt similarly, because of his father everybody expected him to be just as dominant, and it made people want to see him fail. But he was (and is) such a nice guy (or at least a bland and inoffensive guy), it was hard to hate him.

 

[Chewbaccer]

I felt similarly, because of his father everybody expected him to be just as dominant, and it made people want to see him fail. But he was (and is) such a nice guy (or at least a bland and inoffensive guy), it was hard to hate him.

Also when you ignore the name and just look at his career, he was better than a lot of drivers that people consider solid. Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, Harry Giant, etc would have loved to have had Jr’s results.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I’m a MOPAR man, so I did pull for Brad when he was in a Dodge, but after the move to Ford, he didn’t do anything for me

I was always a Mopar fan myself, was really excited when they got back into NASCAR but they disappointed mightily.

But I never liked Brad. He's got a punchable face

 

[Chewbaccer]

I was always a Mopar fan myself, was really excited when they got back into NASCAR but they disappointed mightily.

But I never liked Brad. He's got a punchable face

I don’t think they disappointed.

Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin has career resurgence. They won a lot of races and a championship in their return

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I don’t think they disappointed.

Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin has career resurgence. They won a lot of races and a championship in their return

But they couldn't stick around, that was the most disappointing part. They chose to focus on funny car and top fuel instead of stock racing

 

[Chewbaccer]

But they couldn't stick around, that was the most disappointing part. They chose to focus on funny car and top fuel instead of stock racing

They unveiled their new car for NASCAR and were planning on sticking around, but Penske decided to switch to Ford the season after winning a championship, and left them with no teams. They didn’t have much of an option. Hendrick and Childress are diehard Chevy, and at the time Stewart-Haas was backed by Hendrick, and Gibbs has recently switched to Toyota and were the top dogs.

 

[obxyankeefan]

All you need to know about Jr was said on the radio during a Busch race at Richmond in 2000. After Jr drove threw a big wreck on the backstrecth he came over the radio yelling " Now that was some Days of Thunder shit." He was never going to be his daddy, he was destined to be a popular Kyle Petty.

I was a Jr fan, but mainly because I just couldn't find anyone else to root for. Andretti stopped being a full time driver not long after Sr passed. So I started rooting fo Steve Park, then his accident happened. Kurt Busch married one of my coworkers daughter, so I rooted for him. Those of us that knew/know that family found out what type of person Kurt is and none of us rooted for him anymore. That left Jr, Stewart, and Harvick that I didn't dislike. I would pull for Jr, but didn't mind when one of the other won.

 

[Chewbaccer]

All you need to know about Jr was said on the radio during a Busch race at Richmond in 2000. After Jr drove threw a big wreck on the backstrecth he came over the radio yelling " Now that was some Days of Thunder shit." He was never going to be his daddy, he was destined to be a popular Kyle Petty.

I was a Jr fan, but mainly because I just couldn't find anyone else to root for. Andretti stopped being a full time driver not long after Sr passed. So I started rooting fo Steve Park, then his accident happened. Kurt Busch married one of my coworkers daughter, so I rooted for him. Those of us that knew/know that family found out what type of person Kurt is and none of us rooted for him anymore. That left Jr, Stewart, and Harvick that I didn't dislike. I would pull for Jr, but didn't mind when one of the other won.

He was exponentially better than Kyle Petty, and Kyle wasn’t terrible in his prime.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Steve Park was one that I think would have been solid for a long time had it not been for injuries. He was starting to come into his own when that Busch wreck happened, and he was never the same after it

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Also when you ignore the name and just look at his career, he was better than a lot of drivers that people consider solid. Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, Harry Giant, etc would have loved to have had Jr’s results.

I disagree completely.
Dale Jr raced the very best equipment from day one. With HMS there was no equipment even close to those guys for most of Dale Jr.s Career.
I dont think he could hold a stick to Harry Gant or Ricky Rudd.
Hell Ricky Rudd raced most of his career on a shoestring budget & won every year despite racing HMS & Yates powerplants.
If Rudd would have landed the yates ride earlier in his career. They would be talking about him as one of the all time greats.

Dale Jr. would be lucky to hold onto the lead lap in some of the equipment Rudd used to win in.

Stats arent everything brother. (never tells the whole story)

 

[Chewbaccer]

I disagree completely.
Dale Jr raced the very best equipment from day one. With HMS there was no equipment even close to those guys for most of Dale Jr.s Career.
I dont think he could hold a stick to Harry Gant or Ricky Rudd.
Hell Ricky Rudd raced most of his career on a shoestring budget & won every year despite racing HMS & Yates powerplants.
If Rudd would have landed the yates ride earlier in his career. They would be talking about him as one of the all time greats.

Dale Jr. would be lucky to hold onto the lead lap in some of the equipment Rudd used to win in.

Stats arent everything brother. (never tells the whole story)

How many drivers have been in top equipment and failed? Was DEI really top equipment? It was solid the first part of his career, but nobody else was able to win more than a few races in it, and towards the end when Teresa went scorched earth, DEI was garbage. I don't care what what the equipment is, 26 career wins and being in championship contention several times is nothing to sneeze at.

I'm a Ricky Rudd fan, but he wasn't in terrible equipment. As soon as Earnhardt and Rudd swapped rides, either Childress's equipment got better overnight, or Earnhardt did a hell of a lot more with it, and Bud Moore is one of the most iconic teams in NASCAR history, and was still strong in the 80's, and then he went to Hendrick before starting his own team. If Rudd was in mediocre equipment, the so was Dale Sr, Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond.

If you look at what has happened to RCR and Harvick after Harvick left for SHR, should Harvick get a boost in the all time rankings?

I stand by what I said, at the end of the day, results do matter, and I can guarantee you Ricky Rudd would trade results with Dale Jr in a heartbeat, and so would everyone else I listed, along with countless others. You can add Jeff Burton and Geoff Bodine to the list of drivers most consider to have had solid careers that would trade results with Dale Jr as well, and they spent the majority of their careers in top equipment.

Not a Dale Jr fan, but those knocking his career are just zeroing in on his last name and won't give him the credit he deserves. Y'all act like the guy was Larry Pearson, Jason Jarrett or Justin Labonte, when in reality, Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett and Davey Allison are the only sons of legends that were better than he was.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Kyle Busch just got taken to school by Chase Briscoe in the Busch race BTW. Guaranteed Busch would have wrecked Briscoe if we wasn't still feeling the heat from last night.

 

[Chewbaccer]

Also, Sunday's race was a rating success. Most watched non Daytona 500 NASCAR race since March of 2017.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

How many drivers have been in top equipment and failed? Was DEI really top equipment? It was solid the first part of his career, but nobody else was able to win more than a few races in it, and towards the end when Teresa went scorched earth, DEI was garbage. I don't care what what the equipment is, 26 career wins and being in championship contention several times is nothing to sneeze at.

DEI was top equipment when Dale Sr. was still alive. hell a washed up DW did well in that equipment. Michael Waltrip won in that equipment. A new & inexperienced Steve parks won in that equipment (before his unfortunate accident) Dale Sr. knew what he was doing with building teams & was part of R.A.D.
After his death Dale Jr moved to HMS. (the greatest equipment at that time)

I'm a Ricky Rudd fan, but he wasn't in terrible equipment. As soon as Earnhardt and Rudd swapped rides, either Childress's equipment got better overnight, or Earnhardt did a hell of a lot more with it, and Bud Moore is one of the most iconic teams in NASCAR history, and was still strong in the 80's, and then he went to Hendrick before starting his own team. If Rudd was in mediocre equipment, the so was Dale Sr, Bobby Allison and Tim Richmond.

Well I am not comparing Rudd to Dale Sr.
RCR equipment wasnt as good as it looked (looking at results) that was how bad ass Dale Sr. simply was. he was to me the greatest driver in Nascar. Tim Richmond might have been able to compete for that title but died too soon to know.
Majority of Rudds racing career was in his own equipment (stupid of him to leave HMS..... stupid of DW as well)
Those other drivers you mention. Dale Jr couldnt hold a stick to any of them either. Some of the all time greats.

If you look at what has happened to RCR and Harvick after Harvick left for SHR, should Harvick get a boost in the all time rankings?

Yes. Harvick showed how bad RCR had gotten even though he was still doing well in that equipment. I dont care much for Harvick but acknowledge his talent.

I stand by what I said, at the end of the day, results do matter, and I can guarantee you Ricky Rudd would trade results with Dale Jr in a heartbeat,

of course. All drivers would like to trade results with a driver that had better results. Not my point. My point is skill. You put Dale jr in Rudds cars & Rudd in Dale Jrs cars & the results would be vastly different. (yes I know our opinions there are different. No need to go round & round on it) We disagree.

Not a Dale Jr fan, but those knocking his career are just zeroing in on his last name and won't give him the credit he deserves. Y'all act like the guy was Larry Pearson, Jason Jarrett or Justin Labonte, when in reality, Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett and Davey Allison are the only sons of legends that were better than he was.

I kind think the opposite. I do believe this is something you believe, but I think that is why you over defend his talent. because of namesake. I couldnt stand Dale Sr. so really didnt want to like Dale Jr. but the guy ends up being a cool cat. Also talked like a normal person not a walking billboard of PC. like so maany drivers in Dale Jrs era. i think he knew he would never live up to his dad's billing (who could) & eventually told the media hey I am not my dad. Also I dont mean to make it sound like he was talentless. He was way worthy of being a cup Driver. Definitely better than the likes of Greg Biffle who was also a good driver. I am just not putting him at the caliber of driver I believe you too believe he is. He was popular in top equipment didnt make him better than he was.

Anyhow I really am not here to bash Jr. (I actually ended up liking him) I just protecting some skilled drivers in lesser equipment (the Gants & Rudds of the world)

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Kyle Busch just got taken to school by Chase Briscoe in the Busch race BTW. Guaranteed Busch would have wrecked Briscoe if we wasn't still feeling the heat from last night.

that was some elbows up racing! Congrats to Briscoe!

 

[Chewbaccer]

DEI was top equipment when Dale Sr. was still alive. hell a washed up DW did well in that equipment. Michael Waltrip won in that equipment. A new & inexperienced Steve parks won in that equipment (before his unfortunate accident) Dale Sr. knew what he was doing with building teams & was part of R.A.D.
After his death Dale Jr moved to HMS. (the greatest equipment at that time)

Well I am not comparing Rudd to Dale Sr.
RCR equipment wasnt as good as it looked (looking at results) that was how bad ass Dale Sr. simply was. he was to me the greatest driver in Nascar. Tim Richmond might have been able to compete for that title but died too soon to know.
Majority of Rudds racing career was in his own equipment (stupid of him to leave HMS..... stupid of DW as well)
Those other drivers you mention. Dale Jr couldnt hold a stick to any of them either. Some of the all time greats.

Yes. Harvick showed how bad RCR had gotten even though he was still doing well in that equipment. I dont care much for Harvick but acknowledge his talent.

of course. All drivers would like to trade results with a driver that had better results. Not my point. My point is skill. You put Dale jr in Rudds cars & Rudd in Dale Jrs cars & the results would be vastly different. (yes I know our opinions there are different. No need to go round & round on it) We disagree.

I kind think the opposite. I do believe this is something you believe, but I think that is why you over defend his talent. because of namesake. I couldnt stand Dale Sr. so really didnt want to like Dale Jr. but the guy ends up being a cool cat. Also talked like a normal person not a walking billboard of PC. like so maany drivers in Dale Jrs era. i think he knew he would never live up to his dad's billing (who could) & eventually told the media hey I am not my dad. Also I dont mean to make it sound like he was talentless. He was way worthy of being a cup Driver. Definitely better than the likes of Greg Biffle who was also a good driver. I am just not putting him at the caliber of driver I believe you too believe he is. He was popular in top equipment didnt make him better than he was.

Anyhow I really am not here to bash Jr. (I actually ended up liking him) I just protecting some skilled drivers in lesser equipment (the Gants & Rudds of the world)

Park wasn't a newcomer when he won, it took him a few years before he finally won, and I think he could have had a strong career had the Busch accident not happened. Michael won a few plate races, but his results on all the other tracks with DEI sucked. It was good equipment, but wasn't on par with Hendrick, Gibbs or Roush(at the time), and like I said, it was garbage towards the end.

Rudd raced in his own equipment for 6 years. He spent one year at DiGard(a team that DW and Bobby Allison won a ton of races with), 2 years with Childress(we all know what Dale Sr was able to do at Childress), 4 years with Bud Moore(one of NASCAR's most iconic teams that was still one of the top teams, and was still a force for several years after Rudd left), 2 years with King Racing(Brett Bodine was able to win a race with that team), 4 years with Rick Hendrick(one of the top team ever) and the last 3 years of his competitive career was with Yates(a top team in the early 2000's). To say Rudd raced in mediocre equipment is just...incorrect. Rudd is one of my 5 favorite drivers of all time, but you're acting like he was in Dave Marcis equipment his whole career.

You say you're not comparing Rudd to Dale Sr, but earlier you said Rudd would be remembered as all time great if he were with Yates. He is what I said he was, a very solid driver, that is universally respected, but under no circumstance would he have ever been an all time great, he had rides with top teams most of his career, and he is what he is, and I'd take Dale Jr over him(as a driver, not who I'd pull for, like I said, Rudd is one of my all time favorites)

I was never a Dale Jr fan, never hated him, but was never a fan. I like a lot of personality in my drivers, which is why Dale Sr, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart are my 3 favorite drivers of all time. Dale Jr was just a bit of a stick in the mud to me. I just like giving credit when due. He's not an all time great, but he had a really solid career that was better than a lot of drivers that get more respect than he does. I know you didn't say this, so I'm not directing this at you, but I laugh when people call him average. The average NASCAR driver is a lot closer to Landon Cassill than it is to even a guy like Ward Burton(who was another one of my favorites)

I hate Kyle Busch, and I hated Jeff Gordon(when he was racing, I actually like him as an announcer), but I recognize their greatness.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Park wasn't a newcomer when he won, it took him a few years before he finally won, and I think he could have had a strong career had the Busch accident not happened. Michael won a few plate races, but his results on all the other tracks with DEI sucked. It was good equipment, but wasn't on par with Hendrick, Gibbs or Roush(at the time), and like I said, it was garbage towards the end.

Waltrip is not a top tier racer. So he wasnt winning but with that DEI equipment he was in the top ten a lot & had no business up there. All three cars showed well. (when Dale Sr was alive) Again. The year the Taurus was introduced they had such an advantage over Chevy. The only Chevy driver competing with them was Jeff Gordon. DW replaced for Steve Parks (when he got hurt) for I dont remember. Something like 7 or 9 races. He was 2nd in points of non ford drivers in that span (Gordon was 1st) DEI had some ponies back then. I know this because DW was my favorite race car driver all time. He was rideless & washed up, yet still managed to be in the top ten in points during that span. DEI equipment did not suck back then.

Rudd raced in his own equipment for 6 years. He spent one year at DiGard(a team that DW and Bobby Allison won a ton of races with), 2 years with Childress(we all know what Dale Sr was able to do at Childress), 4 years with Bud Moore(one of NASCAR's most iconic teams that was still one of the top teams, and was still a force for several years after Rudd left), 2 years with King Racing(Brett Bodine was able to win a race with that team), 4 years with Rick Hendrick(one of the top team ever) and the last 3 years of his competitive career was with Yates(a top team in the early 2000's). To say Rudd raced in mediocre equipment is just...incorrect. Rudd is one of my 5 favorite drivers of all time, but you're acting like he was in Dave Marcis equipment his whole career.

My point about being in yates equipment. Is it wasnt considered good equipment, it was top of the line equipment (like what Dale Jr had his whole career) So for fans that look at stats only as the measuring stick. Yes. He would be considered one of the greats if he raced that his whole career. (equipment like Jr had) I already said Rudd doesnt compare to Dale Sr. (who didnt have top equipment his whole career) Bottomline if Rudd was lucky enough to land yates equipment early in his career. he would have had a shit ton of victories, which those of you that claim "results are what matter" would be calling him one the greats. been around racing my whole life. I completely understand better drivers having lesser results.

I completely agree Dale Jr. was a solid driver & he probably does get both. Downplayed & up played for who he is.

We are just gonna disagree on at what level.

Today's racing with all the technology & aero sensitivity is so much about the car (team) you drive than the driver. Equipment is key to making a career or breaking one. (even if comparing two racers at the exact same skill level)