Daytona Road Course Race...

[Sweaty Teddy]

Same result: lots of wrecked cars and yellows; just at a much slower speed. Neither was very entertaining to watch.

NASCAR could solve a lot of its road course problems if they just brought their IMSA crew in to officiate these races. The institutional knowledge is already on the payroll.

[DaveL]

NASCAR is the only racing organization in the world I'm aware that has no rules regarding on track conduct. The 24 Hours can run hours at a time on the same track (save for the final chicane) without a single caution. NASCAR can't go five laps it seems.

They were under caution every time I surfed over until I gave up on it.

[JSJLW]

Not only that but with what FOUR DIFFERENT CLASSES...And I presume that the lower classes are slower than the higher classes, and the slower cars manage to keep from destroying the faster cars, at least for the most part.

[window]

That’s part of what I don’t get. Dale Earnhardt his ownself raced at the 24 Hours. And so do many of the NASCAR regulars. Don’t give me this nonsense that they don’t know what’s going on. It’s the regulating body that needs to get its act together.

[Jakester]

I plan on working NASCAR at COTA.
If they play the same as at Daytona, I expect Turns 1, 11, 12 and maybe 14/15 to be very 'active'...

[DaveL]

And don't think them IMSA boys and gals don't race any less hard. I've seen plenty of paint trading in the 24 and other races. They go at it hammer and tongs not just there but at other sports car races around the world. Some of the most aggressive, take no prisoners racing I've seen has been in various GT races. The difference is those racers know there are rules they must follow as far as on track behavior is concerned, and there are consequences if those rules are broken.

[jandj]

Some of y’all appear to be under the delusion that NASCAR has a problem with cars intentionally running into each other.
😉

[KevMcNJ]

I think NASCAR has a problem figuring out what rain is.

[JSJLW]

Let me see...It is Wet, it is Slippery, it is hard to drive in...Special Tires to drive in.

The problem was that they were kind of Stuck In The Middle with the Rain, couldn't really go with Rain Tires, and Soft Tires were marginally better. Maybe if they had Intermediate Tires like Indy Car/Formula 1?

Have I figured it out better than NASCAR at least.

[KevMcNJ]

Happens all the time in F1.

They stay green and let the teams figure it out.

[happyscrappy-t]

And don't think them IMSA boys and gals don't race any less hard. I've seen plenty of paint trading in the 24 and other races. They go at it hammer and tongs not just there but at other sports car races around the world. Some of the most aggressive, take no prisoners racing I've seen has been in various GT races. The difference is those racers know there are rules they must follow as far as on track behavior is concerned, and there are consequences if those rules are broken.

Consequences is the big issue, if you take away all the penalty for a mistake you're going to get more mistakes. Similar to paved runoff area and track limits. If it's paved and faster, and there is no penalty, than the runoff becomes the racing line.

I recall being dumbfounded when I first saw an F1 race where a car harmlessly spun into the gravel, got stuck, and it was race over. I wondered why they didn't push him out to keep going. Well, those consequences kept those drivers on the asphalt.

There is some great road racing in NASCAR with the cars slipping and sliding around and bouncing off curbs, ect. But unfortunately in the last several years they have become caution fests because the racing is the "best" when there bunched up like a short track. They've lost the idea that one of the great aspects of road racing is watching driver B chase down driver A for 15 laps to get close enough to take a shot as a pass. If they can't run more than three green laps without a caution you'll never get more than dive bomb, dump and run, passing, and that's not just bad road racing, that's chicken poop racing in general.

I have the same complaints, to a lesser extent, about IndyCar.

I agree that the racing would be far better if driving standards were in place and policed. Strict track limits and avoidable contact penalties would quickly make for better racing, and longer green flag runs, but the races would also be more spread out. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Big G 94]

I'm sitting here shaking my head that y'all somehow have this expectation that because NASCAR goes, quote, "road racing," unquote, like that's something with its own sacrosanct and inviolate code, they're going to go away from their basic MO, honed on a jillion dirt bull rings by people who wouldn't be able to afford tickets to today's races and wouldn't be welcome if they could, which is "rubbin' is racin'."

And before you say what's happening far exceeds rubbin', you are 1 million percent correct. That definition certainly has expanded.

I'll repeat again what some talking head on Sirius said after the 500 ... that everyone who was at the front of the field did absolutely what they were supposed to at the end of that race, and that included Logano blocking.

When you have that attitude ... and when equipment is treated as disposable widgets about like Kleenex and the risk of someone getting hurt in one of these cars has been so dramatically reduced ... then what's there left to say?

The thing is, the risk of someone getting hurt is not zero and at some point there is going to be a painful reckoning.

[Unzerdog]

The problem is the car.

It don' stop.

It don't go

and it aint suppossed to turn right.

But we are going road racin' with it.

[KevMcNJ]

And its 1000lbs too heavy.

[Doctorindy]

Pretty much all of the above, but I do think the Daytona Road Course is just not suitable for stock cars. NASCAR has put on delightful road races at Watkins Glen over the years, and I'm pretty confident Road America will be also competitive. But the Charlotte Roval and the Daytona Road Course need to go. I'm a little skeptical about the IMS road course, but the Xfinity race last year was not bad. We'll just have to wait and see.