How do you feel about?

[carolwicks]

Jimmie Johnson is working towards his 5th. championship... how do you feel about that? I am a die hard Tony Stewart fan but I would be behind the 8 ball if i didnt think JJ is one of the best racers alive. if he wins his 5th. he will be a record holder and i feel he really worked for it and deserves it...he isnt my favorite but i respect his racing ability 1,000%...
But... GO TONY! ;-)
carol aka oz

[Racefan99]

He won his 4th last year. This will be his 5th.

The empty seats and TV ratings say it all.... fans are not finding the racing entertaining.

[Boneman]

Its bad for the sport to become predictable.

Can't fault the driver and team, they are doing their job better than anyone else.

[carolwicks]

Interesting reading about this...

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/...a+lot+of+races

thank you racefan. you are right. its gonna be 5! ;-) holy smokes. what an achievement...
carol

[Shiloh64]

Glad to hear reasonable comments, rather than the usual trashing that he gets. I don't have a "favorite" but if I did, it wouldn't be him. Cup racing has become a bore, regardless of who wins it. Give me good short track racing anytime, preferrably open cockpit.

Shiloh

[Bigbuck]

Seems o'k

I have nothing against Jimmy, great driver great team. But, anyone with any imagination can name at least half a dozen or probably a dozen other drivers and teams that could acomplish as well as Jimmy Johnson give the same finances on number of team mates to share info with. I mean Hendrick owns, co-owns or whatever you want to call it how many teams? They can all share training results etc. I can't blame them, its legal. This is what people are tired with and stay home. How many really like the govt. owning Chevy and dumping millions of tax dollars into all these race teams?? Just my thoughts. I have no doubt, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, and several others can drive a race car as good as Jimmy Johnson.Kyle Busch, at least in another yr or two, (I didnt say I love or hate him, just talking about driving ability. Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Jammie McMurray, the list goes on and on. It was so much more fun when it was about driving ability. I'm not saying big Dollars will make anyone a championship driver, look at Earnhart Jr. One of the best people in Nascar but at best a mid pack driver, even in top dollar equip. Yes, Jimmy Johnson has the whole package and it will be hard to beat him for yrs to come. Sorry about the spelling, i just don't have time to worry about it!!

[Rick Williamson]

I think it will be another nail in the coffen for NASCAR!

[Benny The Mule]

I was in the infield last weekend @ Charlotte and there was no one in turn 4 on friday night and you could count the fans on sat night. (literally). people are losing interest at all levels of racing. You could have gotten a ticket for last sat night for $29.00. When the race was over both nights i drove out of the infield with no traffic jams.


P.S The only reason i was there was because my company had a mobile (truck mounted) cell phone tower set up in the infield for AT&T and i had to monitor it.

[Jimmy McKinley]

My *opinion*:

Johnson ain't the "best" full-season driver; he's only good when he needs to be - in the Chase races. I say they should go back to full-season points and let the most consistent driver win the championship *over the course of the full 36-race season*. Looking at the "classic" points over on Jayski (if they still used the old point system):

1) #29-Kevin Harvick(x), 4629
2) #48-Jimmie Johnson(x), 4365, -264
3) #18-Kyle Busch(x), 4291, -338
4) #24-Jeff Gordon(x), 4288, -341
5) #11-Denny Hamlin(x), 4274, -355
6) #99-Carl Edwards(x), 4212, -417
7) #14-Tony Stewart(x), 4169, -460
8) #31-Jeff Burton(x), 4142, -487
9) #17-Matt Kenseth(x), 4051, -578
10) #2-Kurt Busch(x), 4038, -591
11) #1-Jamie McMurray, 3916, -827
12) #16-Greg Biffle(x), 3849, -713
13) #33-Clint Bowyer(x), 3813, -780
14) #5-Mark Martin, 3802, -816
15) #39-Ryan Newman, 3789, -933
16) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 3696, -840
(x) - Current Chase points drivers

The guys from 13th on back in the points now really have no incentive to go out and win anything in the last ten races any more; it's not going to get them a better points-finishing position at the end of the year.

And in 2006, at Speedweeks at Daytona, Johnson and Knaus (and I would assume Hendrick) showed up with what some people called the most cheated-up race car since Smokey's '67 Chevelle (look that one up if you don't know the story). Johnson's car had a system in the driver's compartment that allowed him to lay the rear glass down near flat down the straightaways for less drag, and then crank it back for downforce to stick in the corners. Tech caught the car in tech after the first practice; did they get sent home? Nope. Johnson and crew were allowed to go to a backup car for the week. Knaus got suspended for six weeks/races, and the team got fined something like $25,000. For Hendrick, that's pocket change for what that team spends. That team should have been *completely* sent home (like Yunick), the driver, crew chief, *and* the owner suspended from race track properties for at least 10 races/weeks, *and* fined 150 points plus whatever they would lose from those 10 races.

I quit watching *all* of the Cup races years ago. Quit watching altogether on TV pretty much since about when Earnhardt crashed. I only check on TV occasionally, and check results and points once in a while. Tony's my guy; has been since he was still running IRL, Sprints, and Midgets. He's my current favorite. But I can't stand to see these "Cars of Today" or whatever they're calling them now; they look NOTHING like a street-stock-showroom car at all. At least when the Monte Carlos were still running, you could still buy a V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive, two-door Monte Carlo at the showroom. Once the Taurus showed up in '98, though, that was it. You could NOT go to the Ford dealer and buy a TWO-door, V8-powered, REAR-WHEEL-DRIVE Taurus. The race cars were done looking like their street-car counterparts. And I was done watching NASCAR.

[carolwicks]

so...whats the answer?

what should be done about JJ winning all the time? surely he isnt going to slow down, nor should he... his car should be stripped down and checked to see if he is legal. that would stop that rumor. there is a bond between JJ and Knaus like no other. they seem to communicate a little better than most. i sure dont know what the answer is. i wish it was Tony winning like that...lol (Tony had a great year)....
so please tell me what you think NASCAR should do to bring back the appeal... there were alot of empty seats at Martinsville... i think alot of people just cant afford to go anymore...millions have lost their jobs or had pay lowered.
carol aka oz

[23ny]

The only thing I have to say about it is go back to the old points I think It was better it made all the racers and teams race all year not just 10 races !

[Jimmy McKinley]

I gotta agree that Knaus and Johnson *are* tough together. A driver and crew chief that work well together is what a team needs to *consistently* stay up front. If you're changing crew chiefs every year, or every month - or every week - you ain't gonna have time to work *together*. The crew chief needs to understand what his driver wants from the race car. If you're not together long enough, you won't have that time to "get to know each other".

Look at when Earnhardt and Shelmerdine were together. They were nearly unbeatable. The Pettys. Cale Yarborough and Junior Johnson. DW and Junior. DW and Jeff Hammond. Tony and Zipadelli. Gordon and Loomis. These guys were together for years at a time; nowadays, a crew is lucky to stay with the same driver for a full season.

[ancrdave]

1 - The economy has much to do with it... Around 25 percent of the people in the U.S. are either unemployed or "underemployed" and cannot afford the price of a ticket no matter what it is along with the expense of going to and from a race... This is hurting Cup racing to an extent, but where you really notice it are with the crowds at Nationwide, Truck and IRL races... The crowds at NFL and MLB games are also way down...

2 - If NASCAR wants to understand why TV ratings are down, look at the second half of this season... all but two races are on networks that can only be picked up by having cable or a dish service... Plus the move to digital broadcasts has caused some folks "out in the country" to lose service altogether... The economy factor is a problem one again as many folks have dropped cable to help cut costs...

3 - Was reading the other day that through the race at California there were something like 46 fewer caution flags in Cup races this year... We all know most "fans" like to see a couple of good crashes at each race... The COT has become such an easy car to drive, that the old "being on the edge" style of driving has gone out the window...

4 - Nobody can identify with the cars... they still look nothing like or in any way resemble what is being sold in the showroom...

5 - A lot of the fan favorites are struggling, especially Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon... these guys need to start winning some races...

[ronabneysr]

here is what nascar should do .to make it more fun

have a little gambling throwed into the races like the dog track .



bet when ever they have the invisible stuff come out on the track what lap what lap and what lap they wreck . and who is big mouth hamlin # 11 going to talk about this week and what lap is danacia gonna crash on

my favorite driver was dale earnhardt sr - waltrip- pierson- cale yarbourgh- the allison

[Don Nerone]

an old friend that new what he was talking about told me that its 90% race car and at the best10% driver. Dont beat up the driver. He has the best car.
You see it short track racing even more.


Don62