Montreal........................

[dawg]

You folks, know I don't cut NA$CAR much slack. I think that they've done more things wrong, than right lately.
 That having been said, I have to give them two thumbs up. For their decision to bring out the Rain tires, & go for it. Yesterday showed that, under the correct circumstances, it could be done successfully. Not just by the road course experts, with many laps of experience in rain, but by the entire field. A few cars had off road excursions, but hey, so do the F1 guys. The self proclaimed best drivers in the world. The show went on, the fans got more than they were expecting, & the drivers seemed to enjoy it. The loudest complaints seemed to come from Scott Pruitt, but what the hell, he complains about everything!
 Well done, It took some guts. from not only the drivers, but NA$CAR as well. Can you imagine the headlines if they had all run down into the first corner, &  ended up in one big pile. They were right to start it. They were right to stop it, but they showed that with some refinments. Such as blowers to put some heat on the windshields. This is viable.

[20forLogano]

Agreed Dawg and I do applaude them for doing this.  I still feel we wouldn't see it in the Cup Series yet.  They still have some things they need to work on such as the windows fogging but this was a giant step in the right direction for the future.  The fans deserve to see racing on the day they are scheduled.  It's a lot for us fans to come back the next day and miss work.  If they cannot shift their schedule around for reasons suc as TV, hospitality and sponsors then they need to make sure they can run things in almost all adverse conditions. 

[Chris]

I agree with both of you...
And road racing in the rain sure ADDS an element of drama.
Folks that don't even like road racing had to like this just to see if the guys would keep the cars on the track.  Sure throws some different elements into racing, and strategy.

I DID think it was wrong for NASCAR to try and dictate when a team could race on rain tires and slicks.  That should be a team decision, just like when to refuel, 2 tires or 4 , etc...
I know at one point the TV announcers stated "NASCAR has said anyone that wants to change tires much still put on the rain tires"...
I just can't agree with that in general.

Yeah it rained again and didn't mean much this time... but in MOST cases if they end up racing on  rain tires, and then the track starts drying out,.. WHEN to pit and go back to slicks is a HUGE part of strategy.  Is the race line dry, how fast will the track continue to dry, etc.
Staying on rain tires too long will wear them way too much, and then drivers have to start seeking the wet spots on the track to help perserve the tires.
SO being able to switch WHEN a team wants is important...
If we do this exercise again... thats an area NASCAR should keep hands off.

[CodeBlueEMT]

 I agree with Chris about the tires.

 The only thing I can add is this:

 Learn how to mount wiper arms/blades. The blade does better making contact on the windshield than waving aimlessly at the fans. Also, try Rain-X. Great product.

 Shayne

[Chris]

Learn how to mount wiper arms/blades. The blade does better making contact on the windshield than waving aimlessly at the fans. Also, try Rain-X. Great product.

 Shayne

Yeah I agree... I saw a lot of wiper arms just waving at the fans... not up against the windshield.
I saw when they were adding break light, etc... several of the teams got out their handy-dandy industrial sized bottle of rain-x... lol

IMO there rain tires will probably EVER be used on road courses... (and maybe somewhere like Martinsville... you get the idea.)
I see no way to ever run at much high speeds on rain tires on high speed tracks.
Sure they use them at Daytona when the run the 24 hours race in Feb... but they LAOS run the road course, have the chicane on the back straight, etc... all of that keeps the speed down.  It's a FAR cry slower than CUP or NNS cars run. 
It's nothing like bolting up rain tires and running lap after lap.

[south jersey girl]

can you imagine running at 'Dega in the rain

[CodeBlueEMT]

can you imagine running at 'Dega in the rain

 Around here it's I-40 and I-85...LOL.

 Shayne

[20forLogano]

Agreed Chris.  Your short tracks are likely candidates as well but I would say anything more than 1 mile may be pushing the limit.  Ad for Nascar dictating when and when not to change I think was just Nascar being overly cautious because they had never doen this before.  I AGREE though in the future let the teams dictate when they put on slicks.  Make the CC jobs that much harder.

[dawg]

I agree with Chris about the tires.

 The only thing I can add is this:

 Learn how to mount wiper arms/blades. The blade does better making contact on the windshield than waving aimlessly at the fans. Also, try Rain-X. Great product.

 Shayne

Rain-X is simply wonderful. With it, you don't need wipers.

The main problem was the inside fogging up. Cousin Carl's low tech solution might work. After a fashion, but it's a poor plan. especially on a road course, with the shifting etc.

As I said, a defroster blowing on the inside should work. Lord knows any race car has an abundance of hot air.

[Chris]

Rain-X is simply wonderful. With it, you don't need wipers.

The main problem was the inside fogging up. Cousin Carl's low tech solution might work. After a fashion, but it's a poor plan. especially on a road course, with the shifting etc.

As I said, a defroster blowing on the inside should work. Lord knows any race car has an abundance of hot air.

Obviously the guys that race IMSA and the races like the 24 hours at Daytona have solved the problem.
Heaven forbid NASCAR should lower themselves to go to them and ask for assistance..??