Is there a list...[and other work musings]

[celticfang]

Okay, so my new job has a few Americans over here (who are either transfer students, or live here) and naturally, we got to talking about sports. Having exhausted the NFL and NHL, we (all 5 of us) got to NASC AR.

The questions/opinions we (well, mostly I for #4 and #5) came up with...

1. Who are the drivers who won the Daytona 500 as their only career start?

2. Why won't NASCAR ditch some of the 1.5 milers and go back to shorter tracks?

3. What can be done to make the COT look like the COY? Personally I think the COY looked miles better

4. Who would be your dream announce team for a race, and where and what drivers? (this is very much a fantasy pick. I came up with Bob/Benny/Ned at the Rock)

5. Can NASCAR ever go back to having 3 different schedules for the series? Like Cup in Michigan, N'Wide at ORP and Trucks at Memphis (as an example) rather than having all 3 together? It would help eliminate people like Kyle or Carl who run all 3 series.

6. Finally, the Chase is here to stay. Could NASCAR ever make it a 26, or 36 race long chase, instead of the final 10 races? Or even half the year? (For instance, soccer has its playoffs scattered throughout the year)

 

[Markfan]

1. None . . . . .why would someone retire from NASCAR if they won the biggest race in their debut?

2. Because NASCAR's schedule suffers from a virtual dipoly. The International Speedway Corporation (which currently owns California, Chicagoland, Darlington, Daytona, Homestead, Kansas, Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond, Talladega and Watkins Glen) only has two short tracks: Richmond (which is in a key location), and Martinsville (which is the only track that has been on the circuit since 1948, and thus carries historical significance). ISC is run by the heads of NASCAR, itself, so these tracks aren't going to go anywhere, and with the financial issues that NASCAR is starting to have, ISC can not and will not create any new tracks at the moment. The other big member in the schedule is Speedway Motorsports Inc, which owns Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Infineon, Kentucky, Las Vegas, New Hampshire and Texas. (They also bought North Wilkesboro in 2007, but have basically abandoned it this year) The owners of SMI absolutely love quad-ovals, so much so that in 1996, they turned Atlanta from an oval similar to Homestead to a semi-clone of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Only a year later, they made another quad-oval, Texas Motor Speedway. This leaves only Dover (which is owned by Dover Motorsports) and Pocono (Mattco, Inc.), which are independent from the other two companies.

The fact of the matter is that ISC and SMI make it virtually impossible for independents to get into the cup series now. For example, Kentucky had been in the Busch series and Craftsman Truck series for over a decade before the Cup debut, but it was not purchased by SMI until 2008. As long as SMI and ISC have a stranglehold on the schedule, 1.5-milers will dominate NASCAR. It doesn't help that short tracks inherently have less seating capacity, though with ticket sales lately, a seating amount similar to Martinsville should be enough.

3. Basically, anything. It's NASCAR's choice to make it look nothing like the COY. The COT could have looked almost exactly like the COY and served the same safety benefits that it is intended to have. The only reason that they got rid of the braced-nose and the wing is because people absolutely hated it and stopped watching NASCAR because of it. If money was not a factor, the heads of NASCAR would make them look like touring cars and disregard everything about their history given the chance.

4. Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett at the Rock.

5. Could they? Yes. Will they? No. The companies, such as the aforementioned ISC and SMI, find 2-day and 3-day seasons too lucrative to be interested in any adverse effects that it has on the racing. NASCAR could just prevent the cup drivers from entering, but they feel that they bring in too much money for them to be out. They're not interested if only one or two Nationwide drivers get a win in the entire season, if there is money, that is all they want. (There REALLY is no other explanation for this, unfortunately. Almost everyone else in the Nationwide series (save a select few) go sponsorless many times, even when they're battling for wins. More likely than not, if the cup drivers weren't there to steal the glory, the sponsors would actually choose Nationwide regulars.)

6. They could do anything that they want with the chase/points standings, that is why it has changed, not once, not twice but three times (2004, 2007 and 2011) in only the past ten years.

The odds of them changing the chase-length are minimal, though. I could only see it getting shorter to prevent the "dull finales" that it was made to "counter".

 

[celticfang]

I slightly messed up on Q1

I meant it as:

Which drivers had their only win in the 500, not as their only career start and win.

 

[2448fan4life]

For question 1:
Trevor Bayne, Tiny Lund, Pete Hamilton, Derrike Cope, Marvin Panch, Lee Petty, Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Ward Burton, and Dale Earnhardt. That's all I can think of.

 

[Phantomguy24]

For question 1:
Trevor Bayne, Tiny Lund, Pete Hamilton, Derrike Cope, Marvin Panch, Lee Petty, Dale Jarrett, Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Ward Burton, and Dale Earnhardt. That's all I can think of.

He meant drivers who got there first and only win in the 500. Not drivers who have one win in the 500.

 

[2448fan4life]

He meant drivers who got there first and only win in the 500. Not drivers who have one win in the 500.

Oh lol.

 

[2448fan4life]

For question 1:
Trevor Bayne and Mario Andretti. That's all I can think of then.