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Like I've said before, the racing with the new gen cars has been far better on intermediate tracks than gen 6 was, but I seem to be the only one here who can remember back that far.

15 years ago I genuinely believed the people running NASCAR were hell-bent on running the sport into the ground while lining their golden parachutes. I know a lot of you think that hasn't changed, but to me the last 5 years have felt like there's the start of an understanding that they need to fix fundamentals instead of adding gimmicks. Pivoting to road courses and short tracks, reducing downforce on the cars, separating Xfinity from Cup schedules, giving up on paywalls and making pretty much all new and historic media freely available; if you're not so busy being pissed off about the long list of shit that's still wrong, you might notice a few things they've gotten right.

The major issues still remain and they won't be fixed until NASCAR 1) learns to admit and remove what it got wrong and 2) stops fooling itself that it can still compete with stick and ball sports and attract big sponsors and car manufacturers. But if you can only see every change as a bad change, then you should already know where things are headed and I'm not sure why you're still hanging around unless you love the taste of disappointment.

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Oh no, I agree with you 1000% on that part. The Gen 6 racing, regardless of the package, was pretty awful on the intermediate tracks. I've really enjoyed the racing we've seen from the next gen cars at places like Charlotte, Kansas, Michigan, etc. It's still not perfect, but it's a huge step in the right direction compared to the Gen 6.

The inters tracks are the only ones producing decent racing with this car, I’m not sure though, is the trade off of crap racing on four or five (short and roadie) tracks for better racing on the inters a good trade?

Maybe we should be careful what we wish for (assuming the car is the route cause).

I think road courses and short tracks will be improved the moment they finally cave in and increase the horsepower. But what's been done is already a step in the right direction.

I know it’s improved from the worst of the gen 6 days, but I still think the intermediate racing is pretty poor. We’ve gone from shit to meh, in my opinion.

still on a platform where grip isn't entirely infinite, on a tire where proper falloff can occur, and where most of the tracks actually have asphalt aggregate that chews the tires up (rather than being genetically modified polymer mixes to the point of pool table smooth to where the tires only blister)

more power isn't the complete answer, but it's a heavy part of the equation in NASCAR's case

early Gen6 wasn't great, but I'd take that before what we have now imo

I think most of us are just frustrated that they keep doubling down on crap like stage breaks & being way too hell bent on high aero / high grip / low power + not listening to the drivers wishes all in the damn name of cost savings (when it's not saving anyone any money - either it be drivers, teams, engine builders, whatever).

With that said, I don't disagree that they've done quite a few good things in recent years though (Chicago was a grand slam & a huge boost for the sport, LA Clash was a great pivot for the sport to bring in new fans in a suedo-throwback way (if the Coliseum's floor plan didn't deter a good track design in the way a Bowman Gray or Riverhead could; it'd be a bigger hit among the older diehards imo), allowing SMI to do the ASR at Wilkesboro, off track stuff like NASCAR Classics or expanding their video game reach)

after a couple days of outrage (when it was previously noted as no spectator access), NASCAR has announced that Saturday's portion of the Clash at LA Coliseum will be free entry into the grandstands - which includes practice / group qualifying & heat races

Free racing at a football field is still a rip off.

Why would there have been no spectator access in the first place? It's like they don't want to make money or something....

No spectators = not having to employ Marshalls/security/guides etc.
You’d be surprised how much the costs ramp up when you allow the public in somewhere.

Looks like it could be pretty cringe, but I'll watch it. Maybe we can create a drinking game:
- sip for every slow-mo clip of Ryan Preece's roll
- shot every time Denny makes a sassy bitch comment
- 2 shots every time they mention or show watermelons

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I have such little self respect and I think my life is worth more than the time that would take. I shudder at the thought of watching any of that intentionally.

Now, this is a good watch!

Part-time NASCAR truck series driver Chris Hacker was involved in a serious car accident on his way to Daytona. Thankfully it didn't turn out as bad as it could have been.

Guess you can put video boards on the pit wagons now.

Dale Jr posted a bunch of old wreck pics he has:

https://youtu.be/CCLE0-TyDro?si=jjm05gHrkx7gx4wr

More awesome from Dale Jr, his full podcast episode with Jeff Gordon just dropped a few days ago.

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Something that struck me as odd was whatever happened to NASCAR's EV they were supposedly going to test/unveil at the Clash.

Well....

So.....race car has a crash in testing and causes delays to pre-approved schedule?

Is there more going on here or is that it (aside from it being an EV car in a series whose fans are the least likely to take to change, so that people are probably looking for reasons to hate it? )

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RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley