[rolling money pits]

Was awesome.
If one hasn’t watched it, catch a replay.
History was made.

[tom s]

Great race!The dual with the 31 and 91 was as good as it gets.Tom

[fyrffytr1]

I wish it could have gone the full 100 laps. But, it was a good race and I enjoyed watching it.

[The Champ]

It was better than I thought it would be, but not a fan of turning city streets into a race course.

Too many weather related incidents affected the race outcome and the shortening of the race took most of the top cars out of contention due to pit stops.

Too much of this:



If I remember correctly, Noah Gragson ended up like this 4 different times.

They signed a 3 year contract with Chicago, so we'll get to see this 2 more times.

Hats off to the Aussie - he drove a great race!

[Tom Vaught]

Street Racing is not something that can be learned in a few test sessions.
Be it F-1, Trans Am, Indy Lites, etc.

We needed the rain due to the Canadian Fires and Smoke. Nasty Nasty Air.

If they continue this street racing each year they will learn more of what it takes to
lead and finish the race.

So 2 more years of racing should be good for the racers, the crowds, and the promoters.

Tom V.

[Cammer-6]

do you think Richard is looking for a new driver?
5X crashing in the same spot? Almost comical

[Stuart]

I don't know how much rain fell right at the race course, but parts of Chicago got 8 inches or more so it was an exceptional situation.
It was pretty neat that Shane Van Gisbergen won the race in his first appearance in NASCAR (he is an accomplished driver in the Australian Supercar series, so he's used to horsing a big powerful car around a road course.) He was the first person to win his first Cup race since Johnny Rutherford did it 60 years ago.

[rolling money pits]

That race had a little of everything. I was waiting for the nextgen car’s IRS to be noticeable, and that was on display yesterday. Turn 4, IIRC, was a potential calamity corner. Bumpy and a hard breaking zone, the old truck arm cars would have been wheel hopping themselves over the barriers.

The rain, the half wet/half dry track, the turns that gave drivers fits….looking squarely at Gragson….then the final dozen or so laps made for one cool race, with the lone exception being my boy Blaney having another dumpster race. At least he’s got win under his belt.

[carbking]

I have always enjoyed the road courses more than the ovals.

Not sure about street racing, as different surfaces, and paint on the surfaces can make additional challenges for the drivers.

The tire barriers did their job, and the drivers adjusted better than I thought they would.

And while I am always interested to see the rain tire/slicks changes, a little LESS rain would have made the race better, but as Tom V. mentioned, the rain helped clear some of the air.

I did enjoy the race.

Jon

[The Champ]

Totally agree we needed the rain.

But my major problem was the decision to shorten the race, AFTER 9 cars pitted early after a full course caution and got enough gas to finish the race without another pit stop based on the race being shortened from 100 to 75 laps - just coincidently a distance that wouldn't require those drivers to pit again as they would have without shortening the race that much. Those drivers (there were 9 of them), went from the back to the front and that ended up changing the race.

In the wet, 3 of the Toyota drivers (Reddick, Bell and Truex Jr.) were pretty much the class of the field along with SVG in a Chevy. I think it's well known I am not a fan of Toyota, so none of those 3 drivers are drivers I care about. But when the rest of the field had to make a pit stop after another full course caution, those 9 drivers were able advance to the front of the field and knew they didn't need to pit again.

Then some of those 9 drivers that had been at the back of the field made mistakes that ended up totally blocking the track. SVG was one of the few drivers that got by the mess before the track was 100% blocked. All the drivers that caused the blockage were able to keep their spots, so SVG and a couple of other drivers gained several spots due to the track blockage.

SVG may very well have won the race either way. He showed a lot of talent and control.

But Justin Haley and Chase Elliott would never have been in contention without shortening the race, yet they finished 2nd and 3rd (they both drive Chevy's and I'm a GM guy). Had the race been shortened to 80 or 85 laps, they would have run out of gas and been forced to pit.

There were no longer any weather issues as a reason to shorten the race, it was lighting (or the lack of it). It was still light enough to go another 5 or 10 laps to put everyone on equal footings. But 75 was the number that NASCAR picked.

I hate it when arbitrary decisions decide who wins or loses. It should have been Bell, Reddick, Truex Jr. and SVG battling for the win.

[Tom Vaught]

Champ, Street Racing on a Road Course is a lot different for some who have never raced that type of circuit in that type of chassis.

They will get a lot better in the next two years.

Tom V.

F1, Trans Am, Indy Lite National Tech Inspector10 years, (Region Executive for SCCA) for the first BELLE ISLE Street Race.

[Stuart]

For a couple years back in the 1990s there was a street course race for Trans-Am in Minneapolis. It was a pretty well organized affair (fortunately the weather cooperated) and was a lot of fun to watch.

[tom s]

At the Long Beach Grand Prix there are other cars on the track other than Indy Car.They have a sports car race,off road trucks doing jumps.With a couple small course changes the Cup Cars could run on it.Tom

[jamesq]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Totally agree we needed the rain.

But my major problem was the decision to shorten the race, AFTER 9 cars pitted early after a full course caution and got enough gas to finish the race without another pit stop based on the race being shortened from 100 to 75 laps - just coincidently a distance that wouldn't require those drivers to pit again as they would have without shortening the race that much. Those drivers (there were 9 of them), went from the back to the front and that ended up changing the race.

In the wet, 3 of the Toyota drivers (Reddick, Bell and Truex Jr.) were pretty much the class of the field along with SVG in a Chevy. I think it's well known I am not a fan of Toyota, so none of those 3 drivers are drivers I care about. But when the rest of the field had to make a pit stop after another full course caution, those 9 drivers were able advance to the front of the field and knew they didn't need to pit again.

Then some of those 9 drivers that had been at the back of the field made mistakes that ended up totally blocking the track. SVG was one of the few drivers that got by the mess before the track was 100% blocked. All the drivers that caused the blockage were able to keep their spots, so SVG and a couple of other drivers gained several spots due to the track blockage.

SVG may very well have won the race either way. He showed a lot of talent and control.

But Justin Haley and Chase Elliott would never have been in contention without shortening the race, yet they finished 2nd and 3rd (they both drive Chevy's and I'm a GM guy). Had the race been shortened to 80 or 85 laps, they would have run out of gas and been forced to pit.

There were no longer any weather issues as a reason to shorten the race, it was lighting (or the lack of it). It was still light enough to go another 5 or 10 laps to put everyone on equal footings. But 75 was the number that NASCAR picked.

I hate it when arbitrary decisions decide who wins or loses. It should have been Bell, Reddick, Truex Jr. and SVG battling for the win.

I agree that Bell, Reddick and Truex got shafted, but they had the same opportunity to come back through the field as the winner.

That he was able to do so when the Cup regulars could not only increases the quality of the win for me.

James Q

[77 TRASHCAN]

Although u related, we are always thankful for rain in Oklahoma, it might not rain again for 6 months or more...

Glad to hear the rain helped with the air quality. We've had similar air problems here.

Nascar needs more races like these, doesn't have to be street races specifically. Something to stir up racing fans interest.

[pontiacstogo]

Originally Posted by The Champ

Hats off to the Aussie - he drove a great race!

He's a Kiwi (New Zealander).

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by pontiacstogo

He's a Kiwi (New Zealander).

I stand corrected...

And actually, now that you point it out, I knew that. Which only makes my mistake worse....

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by jamesq

I agree that Bell, Reddick and Truex got shafted, but they had the same opportunity to come back through the field as the winner.

Actually, they didn't.

SVG was one of the very few that got through this mess:



That's Truex on the right hand side stuck behind the car that is crossways on the track. SVG made it through right before that car blocked the opening.

So SVG got to restart in front of all those cars and Truex was stuck behind them - including the cars that he was already in front of...

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught

Champ, Street Racing on a Road Course is a lot different for some who have never raced that type of circuit in that type of chassis..

Tom

NASCAR runs several road courses each year. This year they've already run the road courses at COTA and Sonoma. They will be running at Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval later in the season.

Last year, in addition to the 4 mentioned above, they also ran at Elkhart Lake.

For many of the NASCAR drivers, this was their 18th road course race with the current chassis.

Some of the younger drivers (Noah Gragson, for instance, who ended up in the tire barriers 4 or 5 times) don't have as much experience.

The fact that Truex, Bell and Reddick (and some others) did so well in the early part of the race when there was still water on the entire track shows their expertise on road courses.

I've already stated that SVG may have won the race regardless of the decision to shorten the race so that those that pitted early wouldn't have to refuel again.

But it wouldn't have been as easy. I knew that SVG would get by Chase Elliott because SVG had 16 lap fresher tires. This despite the fact that Chase has the best road course record of all the current NASCAR drivers (4 wins, 11 top 5's and 12 top 10's since 2020).

Larson, Reddick, Bell and Truex are also in the very accomplished category. Larson, 4 wins, 7 top 5's and 8 top 10's, Reddick, 3/5/10 Bell, 2/4/8 and Truex, 1/4/7 over the same time frame.

NASCAR isn't just making left turns and hasn't been for decades.

[Tom Vaught]

I do not consider the road course at MIS to be true road course for NASCAR vehicles.
Same deal with a road course in California.

Elkhart Lake would fit the actual requirement for a road course.
Personally, I think the only other one that fits would be Lime Rock.

Gratten Raceway in western Michigan
https://www.google.com/maps/place/72...ding,+MI+48809
would fit the true road race definition.
JMO though. You have a right to your opinion as do I.

Tom V.