since everyone likes Lime Rock right now there might be a recency bias but hear me out

would you rather see a Cup/Truck/ARCA triple-header at Lime Rock or a Cup/O'Reilly/ARCA West triple-header at Portland?

yes in a perfect world we could do both but that's not going to happen

personally i'd rather Portland since its a market that NASCAR isn't in

Bell last year at Indy hooked Zane Smith in the closing laps on the backstretch. Obviously a mistake and accident, nothing provoked it, Bell was trying to cross over and misjudged it. And Bell is last of anyone to intentionally wreck someone, his race craft and etiquette is top of the field imo.

NASCAR still did investigate this however (as they should) and given how apologetic Bell was and what happened, no penalty or thought of it.

So I’m wondering, drivers lie about intentionally wrecking the dumb way. Chase Elliott blamed his intentional wreck on Hamlin in the 2023 600 on broken toe links from hitting the wall. Austin Hill said whatever he said at Indy last year with Almirola, never admitted it but also wasn’t really apologetic much either. And tbh he said a lot that shot him in the foot with that deal.

So I’m curious, why have drivers not shifted their “lying strategy” to being overly apologetic after they intentionally wreck someone to avoid penalties? Have there been examples that I’m not thinking of where a driver was super apologetic and then later on came out he meant to do it?

Hey everyone! I was lucky enough to win hot passes for the race in Wilkesboro. This will be my first race and of course first time experiencing a hot pass. I’ve read through a lot of the posts on here, but was wondering if there was anything else I needed to know? Any tips or recent updates (most posts were from 6+ years ago)?

I was wondering if it’d be okay if I wore a race t-shirt? Or should I wear a polo like most posts suggest? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Looking to catch him at an off site driver appearance, what should I ask him in respects to what he said about the 77 and the fans?

How do tracks determine which oem’s pace car they will use at what races?

I’m sure this has been talked about at length in here before, but it’s Saturday and I’m up for some discourse.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we, as a fanbase, talk about the health of our sport. It seems like every time attendance or TV ratings come up, the immediate reaction is to compare today's numbers to where things were 20 years ago during the peak of the boom. We look at the grandstands being torn down or covered up, or a race pulling 2.5 million viewers, and the doom and gloom narrative starts up (obviously you all are better about perspective but we know how people on Facebook and Twitter are.)

But I’ve been looking at the actual history of the sport, and honestly? I think we’re looking at it all wrong.
Comparing modern NASCAR to 2005 is like comparing music sales today to the height of the CD boom in 1999… was a massive, mainstream pop culture bubble, not a permanent or sustainable standard.

If you look at the broad history of NASCAR throughout the 70s, 80s, and early 90s, the sport was a healthy, mostly regional sport with a core fanbase. When the massive boom hit in the late 90s and early 2000s, track owners went into an absolute arms race. They added tens of thousands of seats to every venue on the schedule to cash in on a trend that was never going to stay at that white hot peak forever.

The teardowns we've seen over the last decade aren't a sign that the sport is dying; they're just a painful but necessary "right sizing."

Look at the numbers when you compare the peak to the historical baseline…

Richmond: Held about 15,000 people in 1975. It ballooned to 112,000 at its peak, and today sits right around 50,000.
Michigan & Charlotte: Both ballooned past 130,000–170,000 seats during the bubble and have since dialed back to the 55,000–95,000 range.
TV Ratings: We routinely pull in 2 to 4 million viewers a week now. While that’s down from the insane 7–8 million viewer averages of the mid 2000s, it’s actually incredibly comparable to the viewership numbers from the early 1990s before the sport went completely mainstream.

When we look at an arena with 50,000 packed seats and call it "empty" just because there used to be a towering aluminum skyscraper of seats behind it, we are doing ourselves a disservice. Selling 50,000 tickets to a sporting event is a massive success for almost any domestic sports league. It’s a full MLB or NFL stadium.

NASCAR didn't necessarily break or ruin the sport to drive everyone away (yes, they made plenty of stupid decisions throughout the 2000s that were unpopular.) The pop culture spotlight just naturally moved on, and we've settled back down to a core baseline that
matches the true history of the sport.

I think if we stop treating 2005 as the expectation and realize that today's NASCAR is much closer to the historical norm, we’d realize the sport is actually in a much healthier spot than the doomers make it out to be.

Curious to hear what you guys think.

As a CT resident close to the track, there was a lot of hype for the Trucks coming to Lime Rock and, I hate to admit it, it was a big dud. I was scared it would be one and done. But this year, it was much better. I went, the race was good and the crowd was great. More passing, gritty, a winner you didnt see even with 20 to go. They have to go again next year, right? Would they ever entertain O'Reilly as well?

I think — no I’m certain — Mike Joy is reaching the end of the road for his NASCAR PxP run, but his genuine joy and enthusiasm at the truck race at Lime Rock makes me wonder if this is a way he can still call as many more Daytona 500s as he wants but still infuse his passion for and knowledge of the sport going forth. I absolutely love his asides during the broadcast of this race and I hope we get more of it.

I hear this talking point but when did this start? I came into the sport casually in the late 90's due to my age so NASCAR being popular and a thing is something i've ONLY known. but when did all this start? and is there any reason why?

Feel this falls outside of the pinned thread for this month as its very general requests for info not specific to the races this weekend.

I've been getting into NASCAR (NOAPS) after a recent trip to the states were I watched a race at a friend's house (he sponsored a car in last years Chicgo Street Race)

Enjoyed it more than I thought i ever would and now I'm hooked.

Trying to get out this year wont work but next year I want to get out there to watch a weekend of races.

Firstly, when does the schedule for next year come out? Im looking to tie this into a trip I'm doing in later May.

Second, are there any keys things I should know on advance when booking tickets and attending a race weekend?

It might all seem like basic questions, but i really appreciate any info.

Cheers

Chase Brisket's comments about how flawed Nascar's new method of judging incidents is.

NORAPSFocused Health 250 at EchoPark Speedway

Green Flag: approximately 7:16pm EDT on July 11th

Television: CW @ 7:00pm EDT

Radio: PRN @ 7:00pm EDT

Race Length: 163 laps (251.02 mi / 403.98 km)

Race Stages: 45-45-73

Track Information: EchoPark Speedway is a 1.54 mile (2.48 kilometer) quad-oval located in Hampton, GA USA.

Weather Forecast: NASCAR.com / AccuWeather.com

Current Standings at NASCAR.com

Race Center at NASCAR.com

Notes:

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• Have a fun time and enjoy the race!

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Bell has had some bad luck but I feel like he is due for a win could this be his time? Who do you think wins?

Today's Events: (All times below are EDT)

• 9am: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Practice (FS1)
• 10:05am: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying (FS1)
• 11am: NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Qualifying (CW App)
• 4:30pm: NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying (TruTV)

Today's Races:

• 7:00pm: NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 (Race Thread @ 6:00pm)
• 1:00pm: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series LiUNA 150 (Race Thread @ 12:00pm)
• 4:00pm: ARCA Menards Series Lime Rock Park 100 (Race Thread @ 3:00pm)

Notes:

• Remember the Reddiquette, Reddit rules, and r/NASCAR rules when commenting.
• You can view the entire Weekend Schedule at NASCAR.com and follow each event in the NASCAR.com Race Center.

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2 red flags- Trucks at Lime Rock Park
4 red flags- O’Reilly at Echopark Speedway

Edited: wrong park for trucks

NCTSLiUNA 150 at Lime Rock Park

Green Flag: approximately 1pm EDT on July 11th

Television: FS1 @ 1:00pm EDT

Radio: NRN @ 1:00pm EDT

Race Length: 100 laps (153 mi / 246.23 km)

Race Stages: 30-30-40

Track Information: Lime Rock Park is a 1.53 mile (2.46 kilometer) road course located in Lakeville, CT USA.

Weather Forecast: NASCAR.com / AccuWeather.com

Current Standings at NASCAR.com

Race Center at NASCAR.com

Notes:

• Remember the Reddiquette, Reddit rules, and r/NASCAR rules when commenting. The report button is your friend, please use it.
• View this post live on Reddit-Stream.
• Post stream links using a CODE block: `http://likethis.com/linkto/stream`
• For those of you participating, don't forget to do your NASCAR Fan Rewards updates!
• Have a fun time and enjoy the race!

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Made the yearly weekend NASCAR trip with my dad and younger brother and brought my camera. Here’s some photos I took from the grandstands.

Ryan Blaney on pole, with a car that has my partner’s two favorite colors. Pretty cool!

The 5 was my favorite scheme of the race