Happy Hour: Darlington, the Chase and testing for 2016
Throughout the week you can send us your best questions, jokes, rants and just plain miscellaneous thoughts to [email protected] or @NickBromberg. We’ll post them here and have a good time.
Still coming off the high of Darlington on Sunday? You’re not alone. And your peer group likely includes a lot of drivers. If the silence and lack of direct comments after Michigan’s high-drag abomination was telling, the glowing reviews after Darlington Sunday night should be even more so.
It’s understandable why drivers would want to run the low-downforce rules in the Chase. The two best races of the year have been Kentucky and Darlington and those have been the two races that drivers have been most happy with. However, NASCAR made the right decision in August to stick with the 2015 rules in the Chase. And it’s making the right decision to stick by the choice even if drivers would love NASCAR to make changes.
You can argue that any changes to the rules for the Chase would be an admittance of failure by NASCAR when it comes to the 2015 rules. But let’s be real, the 2015 rules have already been revealed to be a disappointment by the sanctioning body. If they were good enough to not be tweaked, NASCAR would never have tried two different sets of rules packages over the course of the summer. The sanctioning body would have stayed the course.
NASCAR likes to say it’s not a stick-and-ball sport but it also has to be compared to the big leagues if wants to be considered a major league U.S. sport. And no other major league sport would change its rules simply for the playoffs (Though we’ll admit no other major league sport would experiment during the regular season as well. The NFL wouldn’t move extra points back to the 40 in Week 9.)
The way the Chase is set up, drama is already built in. The racing doesn’t have to be fantastic for the Chase to be compelling, and that’s by design. NASCAR has rigged the system to promote small sample-size success. A runaway is impossible. And though this next sentence is (we think) a joke, it does have some basis in fact. Given NASCAR’s history with changing the Chase, it’s up for a tweak or two pretty soon anyway.
The optimism surrounding Darlington should be enough to carry over into February, when NASCAR will likely be running a low-downforce package for the majority of the season. While NASCAR may be the living embodiment of the phrase “the only constant is change,” switching up the rules for the Chase is one change it didn’t need to make.
Let’s get to the questions.
The car Nick writes about is this one, which will be tested at Kansas next week. It’s a test car may or may not be the final one.
Looks a little sleeker, don’t you think? And yes, the splitter is still there, though it looks like a C cut in the middle — it juts out further on the side of the cars.
Taking away downforce on these cars isn’t going to be something that you can hack off with a chainsaw (even though we’d love that to happen.) It’s going to be deliberate. If this car tests well next week and is a step in the low-downforce direction, who knows, there could be even less of a splitter when the season begins next year.
It’s just nice that this low-downforce movement is proving that it’s not all talk.
Now, about that awesome Darlington retro part of the NBC broadcast Sunday night.
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IIt was interesting to hear the guys broadcast but Squier has not changed. He still makes stupid mistakes. Example, Hamlin is not from the state of Washington and the race was not in Martinsville. Ned was his usually great self. Been fan since 1953 so not a newbee. Kinda got choked up when Ned was talking about Benny Parsons. Met Benny once and he was a great guy. – Jay
II agree! Squires, Jarrett, and Jarrett, was a tight broadcast team that sounded like they just called the last race a week ago. And they were up against what is arguably the best team to call a race, Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte. I used to be so upset when the Fox Team ended and we flipped networks, but to NBC’s credit, the current team adds such depth to a broadcast. If they use a term any race fan knows, they explain what that is. And of course, the driver’s and crew chief’s insights are fantastic. – Paul
You couldn’t have said it any better. My father and I used to watch the races from the very beginning. Some of my best memories were sitting in front of the TV and listening to those wonderful broadcasters. And tonight’s race just brought back memories of my wonderful father and Ned and Ken and Dale – Tricia
Yes, Ken Squier made a couple mistakes. But he hadn’t broadcast a race in a long time. We’re able to give him a pass. While he and Ned Jarrett talked like they hadn’t missed a beat together they can be forgiven for having a bit of rust.
There is a danger of getting too buried into the past. You see it a lot of times with NASCAR fans who think the racing was so much better back in the 1970s and 1980s. But a once-a-year tribute at Darlington with rotating themes would be a fantastic addition to the schedule.
NASCAR and those in it can take itself very seriously at times. Sunday was a great opportunity to remember that people are getting paid good money to participate in a sport that is about cars going fast in a circle. It should be a whole hell of a lot of fun.
Was on SiriusXM earlier in the day and said the odds of a new winner Saturday night were no greater than 5 percent. Even that seems high. With what we’ve seen so far in 2015, can anyone make a legitimate case for a new winner?
Sure, disaster could strike one of the drivers currently in the Chase on points and Aric Almirola could get a top five, but even that seems unlikely too. Instead the focus is on which repeat winner will get another three bonus points. Can Kyle Busch lead the series in wins before the Chase?
If you’re going to watch something other than NASCAR – which may be a good idea if the forecast of rain Saturday in Richmond comes true – Oregon at Michigan State is going to be a fantastic football game. Oklahoma at Tennessee and LSU at Mississippi State too. We’ve got a busy Saturday night planned with all five televisions going.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
