Nascar Monster Stage 2, Races 4, 5 & 6 From Atlanta

GA_Boater

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After the three races from Daytona on Sunday, Atlanta will host the next 3 Cup races. Throw in Trucks and X-Men, we'll have 9 races. The races are on the bottom of the Schedule of Events from MRN;

atl171.PNG

Special Note: The Truck race Stage 2 ends at lap 80, not lap 180. I guess Nascar didn't think this mess was confusing enough, so a Stage Test was in effect with the 2nd stage ending 50 laps after the end of the Truck race.

I looked out of the window and checked my shadow - The race should have good weather.


News & Notes
  • For the 1st time in forever, a Cup race does not have a full field. Only 39 entries to fill 40 spots at Atlanta. Is the shine wearing off?
  • More trouble in Paradise? Hendrick cars will only sport Monster logos when absolutely required. Pepsi/Mountain Dew is a big HMS sponsor and Monster also sells competing products. Last year Cup cars displayed the driver name on top of the windshield, the reason was to highlight the drivers. This year the driver is gone and the decal is the big green M twice with Monster Energy in the middle. I guess to highlight Monster over the drivers. No idea. HMS reverts to the driver names when off track.
  • On sponsorships - Stewart Haas Racing is still way short for Bowyer and Patrick. I think the sport has become a hard sell with falling attendance and TV viewers. Daytona said it was a sellout, but probably half the seats are gone with the recent "modernization"
  • The first Lugnutgate of the year. Almirola's CC was fined $10K for 1 loose nut. Of note - 2 loose/missing nuts means a 1 race CC suspension and 3 nuts is 35 driver/owner points with a 3 race CC suspension. And Nascsar had the gall to fine Smoke when he complained that loose and missing nuts was a safety issue just before his return to racing last year. Double standards?
  • How about this change? Cup will qualify and race the same day at the July Pocono, Watkins Glen and the October Martinsville races. More tracks are expected to be announced. Maybe they are serious about reducing the length of racing weekends.
  • Supposedly TV, Fox and NBC, are the big movers behind all the changes. One thing I know - The new side by side for commercials is horrid. One tiny postage stamp sized live race window while Monster dominates the lower half of the screen with the ad running on the upper left.
  • Circuit of the Americas would like to have a road race. Probably very unlikely because the France family or Bruton Smith would have to drop a race date to make room. Fat chance.
  • Finally - TV ratings. From Fox - " The race projects to rank as the highest-rated and most-watched sports event of the weekend and the highest-rated and most-watched sports event since the Feb. 5 Super Bowl on FOX" and "The DAYTONA 500 projects to rank as FOX's highest-rated and most-watched telecast of any kind since Super Bowl Sunday" Well duh! For all the hoopla over the "new" Nascar, ratings were flat compared to last year, which was down from previous years. Nascar/TV/Monster needs to build a younger base because us old timers are dying off and many of us don't like the endless change.

Iboats Fantasy Live
  • Get your picks and or changes in before the race on Sunday. Good luck everyone!
  • iFL stage 1 winner for Daytona is jimmy dale. Jimmy will get one of the new trophies, a special design. Congrats, jimmy
  • slurpee11.png

Humpty_Boater, Esq.
 

GA_Boater

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Qualifying results, top 12;

Harvick, Newman, Shrubby, Stenhouse, Keso, Logano, McMurray, Larson, Truex, Hamlin, Elliott and finally, Dale Jr.

Five cars didn't make a qualifying run. :eek: Took too long to get through inspection, but with only 39 entries they are in.

Trucks and X-Men qualify and race tomorrow.
 

64osby

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Ga, you been going to summer school? :confused:

I see Humpty is an Esq. :D
 

WIMUSKY

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NASCAR is trying to appeal to the younger generations, hence, the scantily clad women. Remember, sex sells.....:hippie::facepalm:
 

GA_Boater

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Seeing how things are going, I should become a member of the bar. A stool is reserved with my name on it. LOL

Speaking of selling - Fox is switching 2 Truck races from FS1 to Fox, Martinsville in April and Pocono in July. Maybe the kids can't see the Monster Girls on a smartphone? Won't they be surprised that the ladies are only for Cup races. :rolleyes:

Another update - Vegas is trying to get a 2nd race. The question is which SMI track will lose a date - Atlanta, Bristol, Charlotte, Texas, New Hampshire, Sonoma or Kentucky? Atlanta, scheduled for a repave after Sunday's race, lost their 2nd race to Kentucky, so both only have a single race. Sonoma is one of 2 road courses, so it's Bristol (boo), Texas (yea), Charlotte (yea, too many there already) or New Hampshire (boo).

BTW - Nascar thinks the 9 races at Daytona were a success. :eek: I think it's best to wait for all the insurance claims to come in. Had to be 2-3 million bucks or more damage to cars and the track.

Saving the best for last. Sunday's Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway marks the 2,500th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race.
? The first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race was held at Charlotte Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on June 19, 1949 - the race was won by Jim Roper (Lincoln)


A fact - Monster Energy was started in 2002 and wasn't even a dream in 1949. To date there has been only 1 MENCS (2017 D500) race or 3 if you count the way I do.

Nascar interchanges Nascar Premier Cup Series and Monster Energy Nascar Cup Series. Stop giving all the credit for becoming "Premier" to the current sponsor!
 

WIMUSKY

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The younger generation is into stuff like X Games, which NASCAR doesn't hold a candle to as far as excitement. Maybe when GenY/Millennials(Gen X is already getting older) get older they "might" tune into NASCAR. Heck, they can't even keep the older gen of fans..... The Baby Boomers........ Yep, I'm one of them...... :)
 

GA_Boater

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Nascar is making it harder and harder to follow. All the change makes for distracted viewing, at the track and sitting at home. Then all the extra participation points. :doh:
 

GA_Boater

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Another one - A Jayski's tweet just minuter ago.

Kyle Busch misses Xfinity driver meeting because of truck qualifying. He has been excused and will start from pole.

There is a fix for that. Cuppers stay out of Trucks and X-Men. If they want the sport to grow, keep Cup drivers out of the lower series!
 

GA_Boater

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The Busch race starts in a few with Busch on the pole. :mad-new:
 

GA_Boater

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And the green flag.

Points award at lap 40.

And the 1st yellow for a T. Dillon and then hit by Blake. 1st lap.
 

GA_Boater

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1st stage done. No X-Men get bonus points until 5th place - Hemric. Doesn't Nascar see how stupid this is? 1st-4th place are stealing points and Nascar says every point is more important than ever!
 

GA_Boater

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Stage 2 is over. This time the top 5 places are for Cup regulars. :facepalm:

There is a good chance no X-man will get a pass to the Chase. Sad!
 

WIMUSKY

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When the X-men went to you win your in, Cup drivers should have not been allowed to race in that series....
 

GA_Boater

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Same with Trucks! Limiting Cup drivers to 7 Truck or 10 X-Men races doesn't fix the problem. It's good that Cuppers can't run the final 8 races in either series. This keeps the regular season finale and Chase away from Cup drivers.
 

GA_Boater

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Shrubby wins. :blue: Sadler in 5th is the highest X-Regular. Only good thing is not much in the way of wrecked cars. Only a couple and not serious.

Truck race at 4:30 with more TruckWhackers. Busch starts 2nd. So Sad!
 

WIMUSKY

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Probably hurting those series. Who wants to watch Shrubby and other Cuppers all weekend.... I still think the sponsors wouldn't like it either since the cameras focus on the front of the field.... Not much tv time for the regs...
 

GA_Boater

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Green for Trucks this time.

Wrecking on the 1st lap again!
 

GA_Boater

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2nd yellow for Elliott losing a tire. Tires seem to be an issue, there a few problems in the X-Race.
 

GA_Boater

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Bell, a regular Trucker, wins Stage 1 over Shrubby. Keep it up!
 

GA_Boater

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Wasn't paying attention. Bell won Stage 2, so he can get max points if he can keep Busch behind him and win.
 
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