What was up with the 20 Lap Dash's to 500 Miles Yesterday?

[Bruce Simmons]

Consistency:  Something applied to the teams that get hand slapped in NASCAR only.  Sorry Robby, your clerical error will cost you $100k.  Now let's get going on this slick track people, we have sponsors to please..

Despite reports that the drivers were questioning the slick spots on the track over the radio, and saying they need to fix it before starting the race, the race moved forward, even if it was in 20 lap bursts, or so it felt.

Not everyone hit the wet spots every lap, so obviously we didn't see a lot of wrecks, but it only takes one moment to endanger a lot of people.  Still, 5 good race teams were taken out of the event, and 1/2 the fan base was instantly disappointed.

So I ponder:

A:  I'd love to see a thorough explanation of why they tried racing Sunday.  (Pipe dream)
B:  Why they kept telling us X hour, only to change X hour to Y hour every time.
C:  I felt like an F1 fan, staying up till all hours of the night to try and catch the action.  (OK, that wasn't a ponder. Sorry)
D:  What "Safety Concerns" prompted canceling the event at 2 in the morning, ET?  Not enough AMP Energy drink for everyone?
E:  Why is Waltrip still on the lead lap after spending time on pit road? 
F:  Why did they not start the event like they do after all the other rain delayed races, under green / yellow?

Yesterday was a hard long day on even this die hard fan and it's not over yet..  and the one thing that came out of this, is that NASCAR needs to have a rule imposed on them as to how late they can try to attempt a race?

It was noted how few people were at the track, and the boys of NASCAR need to think about the fans that either tried staying up like fools or the folk on the east coast who didn't have a hope of catching the action live.

Bruce Simmons

[MLove]

While everything that happened last night pissed me off, "D" REALLY bothers me.

[Bruce Simmons]

Yea, I know what you're saying MLove.. all night I was watching the NASCAR website telling us what time the race will start.

When they hit the start time, they pushed it back.

At the 2 am ET mark, the Fox broadcasters came on the air and Jeff Hammond stated it was postponed until today for safety reasons, but it was not elaborated on.  (Or in my exhausted state of confusion, I didn't catch it if they did elaborate.)  It felt like one of those mystery debris cautions!

I am disappointed that they waited until the broadcast announcement to update the website 6 minutes after that, rather than just updating the website.  Then again the whole issue was fairly annoying.  (That's my nice, civil word for it..  I had other, more colorful expressions of disdain that I have refrained from dispelling on the readership, but they are close to busting out, so I best go now.)

[flamehothead]

At the 2 am ET mark, the Fox broadcasters came on the air and Jeff Hammond stated it was postponed until today for safety reasons, but it was not elaborated on.  (Or in my exhausted state of confusion, I didn't catch it if they did elaborate.)

It wasn't your Exhausted state of confusion Brusimm, They didn't elaborate as to why/what the safety reasons were.

[HUDSON HORNET]

It wasn't your Exhausted state of confusion Brusimm, They didn't elaborate as to why/what the safety reasons were.

Most likely it had something to do with money.
NASCAR's money.
After all, what else matters to NA$CAR? 

[KurtBuschFan]

Y'all were ahead of me.  I didn't even catch the part about postponing it for safety reasons....maybe it was cause I was exhausted or maybe it was cause I really wanted to see a race and was tired of waiting an hour only to be told to wait another hour for word.  But I'm in agreement...what a mess.

[KurtBuschFan]

Oh and I almost forgot...If you're asking about Mikey spending the time on pit road for an oil leak....my guess is that cause the repairs were done prior to the race actually starting, it was like they worked on the car during an impound time and had to start at the back of the pack.

[Chris]

yeah.. KBF you are correct about Mikey...
Rules just say you can't work on your car, make a pit stop, or put in fuel before the green flag falls... or the penalty is you go to the back of the pack.

As far as this last one...
F:  Why did they not start the event like they do after all the other rain delayed races, under green / yellow?

Thats a good point.  In all the events I have been to or saw,... the 'call' has always been the tracks needed some "help" to finish drying and the cars were put on the track to help that process... since the cars were running laps, they threw the green and yellow and started counting laps.
I suppose they figured the track was dry and no need to do that.  As it turned out the weepers got worse as the cars raced on the track and put more pressure (downward force) on the track and pushed the water up out from under the track...

I have to say... the race was pretty good today.  IMO I think these cars are going to provide good racing in general. 

[KurtBuschFan]

It wouldn't surprise me if California officials were told to fix the weepers before the series returns to the track.

[HUDSON HORNET]

It wouldn't surprise me if NASCAR demanded that California stop the rain.   

[Bruce Simmons]

It wouldn't surprise me if NASCAR demanded that California stop the rain.   

LOL.. I used to live down there near the track and on more than one occasion, I fretted for the safety of my hard spent money on a ticket because of potential weather concerns during the week leading up to the race.. the weather issues rarely made it to the broadcast, so I wasn't surprised about rain finally happening for an event.

In as much as Mikey is concerned, though, didn't the field do a lap or two while they were working on his car?  If it mattered, (Meaning if he was a competitive car) that would have put his car x number of laps up on fuel.

Thanks to flamehothead for for confirming my stable sanity base!

[Chris]

they field made several laps while Mikey was in the pits...
it took quite a while for them to clean up all the oil he dropped along the front straight...
SO in a way Mikey helped himself by buying time to get his problem fixed... but I remember him coming on the track as they were giving the field 'one to go'
SO he missed a BUNCH of 'riding around' laps... but none after the green flag fell.

[HUDSON HORNET]

LOL.. I used to live down there near the track and on more than one occasion, I fretted for the safety of my hard spent money on a ticket because of potential weather concerns during the week leading up to the race.. the weather issues rarely made it to the broadcast, so I wasn't surprised about rain finally happening for an event.

Well, Shux Howdy former neighbor!
I live about 20 miles from Fontana in Corona.
Small world, no? 

I wonder when the BIG Santana winds will schedule themselves on race day?
Think winds that blow Big trucks over will cause any problems with 200 mph race cars? 

[Racergiant]

You know what made me mad on Monday?  The fact that you have to be some kind of "member" to listen to MRN online.

It's bad enough that no radio station in SoCal carries MRN (that I could find anyways) and I don't have a satellite radio. 

I was trying to find some website that would stream at least audio coverage.

A couple years ago Time/Warner (Roadrunner) bought rights for all it's customers to have TrackPass for free.  When NA$CAR realized how much money it was losing in that deal they jacked up the renewal fee so high, the next year Time/Warner bailed...

Anyone know of an online website that covers NA$CAR (for free?)