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Correct. 1984 was about the tipping point regarding speed/techology/flying cars.
What was different in 1970?
As mentioned along the way...
>>In 1970 they had just gotten there with technology, and there were no plates. And there was throttle response. Therefore occasionally they could drive out of trouble. And belted tires had far more predictable and linear break away, so again, there was a chance of saving it.
>>There were only a handful of fast cars, and fewer still running at the finish, and fewer yet with the leader. In 1984 Cale could have (and, as I said as I watched it unfold on site, should have) tried to pass Petty before the white. But that was the practice at the time.
NOW, everybody, including backmarkers, are capable of "winning" at Daytona and Talladega.
Did you notice that Jimmie let Menard pull out a few lengths just prior to um, crashing him?
The reason was twofold: To run through his low-resistance wake and gain speed over and above the leader (like the old slingshot), but more importantly, NOW it also "sucks" the leader back to the pack (of 20 or 30 cars).
That big bubble in-the-air-with-cars-in-it-at-200mph rules and you can't get ahead of it, and if you lose the draft you cannot catch it.
So, to sum up, now they are forced to run in a pack at 200, earlier they were not. And there is turbulence (changing and invisible higher and lower pressure areas) in that big bubble, and there is human error.
Crashes are therefore now inevitable, in 1970 they were accidental.
What was different in 1970?
As mentioned along the way...
>>In 1970 they had just gotten there with technology, and there were no plates. And there was throttle response. Therefore occasionally they could drive out of trouble. And belted tires had far more predictable and linear break away, so again, there was a chance of saving it.
>>There were only a handful of fast cars, and fewer still running at the finish, and fewer yet with the leader. In 1984 Cale could have (and, as I said as I watched it unfold on site, should have) tried to pass Petty before the white. But that was the practice at the time.
NOW, everybody, including backmarkers, are capable of "winning" at Daytona and Talladega.
Did you notice that Jimmie let Menard pull out a few lengths just prior to um, crashing him?
The reason was twofold: To run through his low-resistance wake and gain speed over and above the leader (like the old slingshot), but more importantly, NOW it also "sucks" the leader back to the pack (of 20 or 30 cars).
That big bubble in-the-air-with-cars-in-it-at-200mph rules and you can't get ahead of it, and if you lose the draft you cannot catch it.
So, to sum up, now they are forced to run in a pack at 200, earlier they were not. And there is turbulence (changing and invisible higher and lower pressure areas) in that big bubble, and there is human error.
Crashes are therefore now inevitable, in 1970 they were accidental.
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