"Nancy2" <nancy-dooley (AT) uiowa (DOT) edu> wrote

CRU

On 14 May 2007 06:22:49 -0700, Nancy2 <nancy-dooley (AT) uiowa (DOT) edu> wrote:

I'd call those valid points almost ANYWHERE outside of Darlington.
Mainly because a lot of the strung out, multi-second leads, are a
product of that track. Given the layout and the effectively narrow
racing width, that's just how it is there. We could race the CoT
there, the old car, the older cars, even something totally new (IROC
raced there IIRC) and the racing ultimately would be the same. (Ned
Jarrett once won a race there by 15 laps....that's laps, not seconds).

It's a product of the narrow groove, the old asphalt, and so on. The
race yesterday, to me - a fan whose been attending races there in
person since the mid-1970s - wasn't all that different than any other
race I've ever watched there. Tells me the common denominator is the
track, and not the cars or the drivers. But it was the same old same
old - you could only go low on fresh tires and when someone would back
off and let you, cars overheat due to rubber debris clogging up the
radiator/cooling ducts, people (even the leaders) slapping the wall,
even when alone and out front, so on and so forth. Just a normal
Darlington race to me, the cars just looked a little different.

As for aero-push: Likely never a factor there yesterday. Speeds in the
corners were down in the low 120s, speeds at the end of the straights
were barely getting into the 150s good. Those aren't really *high*
enough to cause any great amount of aero-push. That comes moreso when
the corner entry speeds are routinely above 180mph - like the D-oval
sisters (AMS, LMS, TMS) or the big flatties like Fontana, Michigan,
Chicago and Kansas...At that point aero-push is a lot more likely than
it was yesterday. If they could'nt pass yesterday, it was likely due
more to worn out tires over any aero-disadvantage to being behind
someone. If they had fresh tires yesterday, they could go low and
drive by their competitors like they were spinning their wheels, so to
speak. If there had been more laps to go at the end, those that got
fresh tires would have easily been able to run down JG and passed him,
IMHO - dirty or clean air be damned.

Sure is quiet around here....



Wonder why? Was there a race on sunday?













Maybe they're busy throwing cheap beer and chicken bones at their B/W tv...


"Rick" <pearl (AT) cray (DOT) com> wrote

"Nancy2" <nancy-dooley (AT) uiowa (DOT) edu> wrote


Yup - out in front is generally the best place to be. That's pretty much
true of most tracks. It's also true that the best racing is often behind
the leader. But... that makes it boring???? Hmmmm....


Why?

--

-Mike-
mmarlowREMOVE (AT) alltel (DOT) net