I'm with ya there. attendance at IROC races is mediocre at best, and I'd venture it would be nonexistant if there weren't a follow up race to lure people in. they should try runnin' a few iroc races stand alone and see what kind of turnout they get. that might disuade them from the idea some people i know have been grumbling for a few years that nascar is turning into nothing more than a glorified iroc, lets hope they don't make it official.
The article said the 48 didn't have any illegal parts while the Labonte car had an illegal carb. Sounds pretty lame to me. Deliberate cheating versus getting a part number wrong, plus i doubt an illegal carb would be much help for a plate race. The carb will only pass so much air. As for Johnson, he badly needs to shut his mouth. He sounded like the whole incident was some terrible misfortune, like an illness, that struck the team. In fact, a serial cheater was caught cheating yet again, and the penalty was a slap on the wrist. The whole Hendricks team was basically out of control at Daytona. Johnson was cheating, Gordon and Kyle Busch were all over the track running into people and Vickers was in the way. No wonder fans despise them so much. I was really hoping the fans would give Johnson the same beer can shower they gave Gordon when he "won" that race in Texas a couple of years ago when NASCAR yellow-flagged the last lap just as Junior was passing him.
NASCAR has let the aero packages get too important, resulting in 43 identical cars. Take the names off them and they are hard to tell apart. At least Chevy actually makes a two door Monte Carlo coupe, even though it is front wheel drive. Ford doesn't even make a car that remotely resembles its race car.
What engine does Toyota run in the truck series? They don't make an OHV V-8, do they? I think all their motors are overhead cams, giving them a big advantage. What will they run in the Cup next year? I can't find anything on the NASCAR website about this.
How many times do you need to be caught before a real penalty is addressed? I wonder how often modifications or illegal parts aren't caught. I bet it's alot or they would stop doing it if they were busted every time.
I suspect Hall of Fame Racing (HOF) will appeal this decision by NASCAR. Although Terry Labonte's Crew Chief (P. Lopez) should have known better, Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has apologized for the mix up. HOF buys their engines on spec from JGR, and the inadvertent attachment of an improper carb was clearly unintentionally. NASCAR claims the carb violation has precedent (See Mark Martin's points penalty years back), yet their explanation for 'no points' penalty for Johnson and car owner Rick Hendrick makes absolutely no sense. NASCAR claims keeping Chad Knaus off the race track represents a significantly harsher penalty than a points deduction. The results of Sunday's Race proves just how 'severe' a team deep with talent finds NASCAR's decision. - Spydertrader
Do you know where that engine came from? I didn't realize toyota carried a pushrod V-8. Is it a special manufacture or a chevy with toyota heads or what? Also the spec sheet says a 390 cfm carb. Can that possibly be right? Seems awfully small.
Even street carbs for a 350 are usually 600 cfm. http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?target=/egnsearch.asp&N=400178
I believe Toyota built the engines specifically for NASCAR as I do not recall Toyota ever having these types of engines in the past. http://www.toyota-trd.com/ http://www.trdusa.com/ - Spydertrader