I know alot of you are luke warm on Nascar, but Carl Edwards late race charge against J Johnson was one of the ballsiest driving performances I've ever seen by any driver in any series.

Running virtually on tire carcassas, he chased down arguably the hottest driver in the series in the best car. Getting sideways a couple of times and using every inch of track. I was sure he was going into the wall.

It would be easy for a rookie to take a 2nd place and be happy, but he didn;t back off. That last half lap... running sideways inches apart and touching fenders then nipping him by a foot.... awsome.

Regardless of what you think of Nascar, that was a classic drive.

 

Hey racing is racing and I agree, that was one of the best drives i've seen in a while. The thing that really impressed me was how he got loose a couple of times, backed off to let his tires cool a little, then made a run a johnson. Most rookies would have stayed on it and totally burned up the tires. Carl edwards is going to be the next "big thing" in nascar, and seems that it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

 

Haha Phil, he DID totally burn up the tires

Saw an interview w/ Martin Truex Jr. on Despain's show and he suggested that its not "as" hard to maintain the slides when the tires are completely gone compared to when they are green. Think he said that when you slide the rear end on new tires its a lot more sudden and harder to catch. Kinda makes sense (and I am not taking away from Edwards' ride - it was impressive ... although his backflip was weak LOL).

 

Yeah, I would love to see Jimmy Spencer do the back flip

Great race, too bad Jeff Gordon got wiped out on the first lap, would've been interesting to see if he might have been a contender at the end.

It was also cool to Jimmy Johnson walk over and congratulate Edwards on the finish. No sour grapes, just a genuine congratulations.

 

I have to admit that I'm not much of a NASCAR fan, but that race was damn exciting and I was yelling at the TV cheering for him with my arms up in the air. Carl Edwards put on a spectacular show of skill and determination. Regardless of what you think about NASCAR, it was a classic moment in sports. Edwards seems like a good guy too, real salt of the earth hometown hero. Congrats to him. Ok NASCAR you win "those guys are good".

 

Totally impressive drive. When he talks about how "it is not as hard to maintain slides" when the tires are gone. I am thinking why don't we see that every weekend? The guy has talent and a good head too. Fun to witness.

 

This last weekend's races at Atlanta, Truck, Busch and Cup all had extremely exciting finishes, unlike F1. They should change all the track's names to the "Bo-ring" if you ask me. That's just me though.

I have to chuckle to myself when I read how someone says, "oh, well I'm not much of a fan, but I was yelling and cheering with my arms in the air", c'mon, it's o.k. to admit it's really good racing at times.

I'm probably one of very few people who have raced a roundy-round late model tour car, GT1 class 930 based road race car, and A sports racer class cars. I can tell you that roundy-round racing is anything but simple and easy. In fact, most of those assumed ignorant Saturday night rednecks have a fundamentally superior understanding of chassis dynamics and setup compared to your garden variety club racer. I learned more at the speedway in a few years than I ever did in the ten years before that.

Give it a chance guys, maybe even pay a visit to your local bullring, you might enjoy it more than you think.....

 

I did admit it. I think the gripes with NASCAR have more to do with the fact that it's popularity has driven other racing nearly off the map with major media. When you are watching Speed and asked to become "a citizen of NASCAR Nation" ... well it gets a bit over the top. I have no doubt those guys are excellent drivers and deserve respect (and they get it $$$), but the NASCAR media and marketing jugernaut has become a parody of itself and really takes away from what should be the focus - the driving.

 

LOL,........What you said (in spades),.....

If a person is a fan of real, honest-to-God racing where the playing fields are pretty equal and nobody has better equipment than someone else, Nextel Cup is near or at the top of the game, at least for the present.

 

There is nothing wrong with Winston/ Nextel Cup racing, I just wish the cars were a little different (they all look alike with the new aero templates). Most of the pro drivers at PDE told me they would love to get a Cup ride.

 

I'm a long time Winston Cup/Nextel Cup fan. I've lived in the heart of it all of my life so its pretty hard not to like it, plus my next door neighbor is Benny Parson's, the NBC commentator when NBC televises the races, so its fun to talk with him about the old times and the new times of NASCAR.

I guess my only complaint would be that while they market it as the "43 of the greatest drivers", we all know that it just isn't the case necessarily. Alot of those guys have bought their way in, or their mom or dad helped someone high up in NASCAR long ago, so the NASCAR big wig returned the favor by getting them hooked up with the right people in order to get the ride.

I guess that's my biggest beef. Martin Truex for example, as I understand it got his ride with DEI because his dad donated $1M to DEI several years ago. Stuff like that. My feeling is that somewhere in the club racing circuit, SCCA, or NASA, or maybe even the DE circuit is a guy that can outdrive most of the drivers out there, but they'll never have the opportunity.

Other than that, and the fact that sometimes the media coverage is a little over the top, its a good race normally.

Brian