Author Topic: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...  (Read 4204 times)

Ratzso

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Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« on: February 15, 2020, 05:59:42 PM »


Belated Happy Valentine's Day to all.

I just finished watching some good hard racin' in the 'Finity Series and I'm back as a fan of NA$CAR.  Top level racin' is crashin' and I'm a fan.

Like many other Race New Yorkers, I haven't watched much Cup racing, focusing instead on other sports like water polo, Australian rules football and beach volleyball.  (I also have enjoyed hanging out at the Mall and doing macaroni art.)

Along with the Clash and Duels, the bump drafting and blocking have produced some of the most exciting racin' I have seen.  The team racing concept with Ford, Toyota and Chevrolet provides another great element.

Looking forward to the 500 tomorrow when the top professionals get the chance to show their blocking skills in the Great American Race.

Won't even venture a guess at a winner...

(Let me say in advance that I agree with any comments made on this thread.)

Respectfully Submitted,

J. Langford Ratzso

"Today is yesterday's future"


leadfoot4

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2020, 06:52:29 PM »
Looks like the only "bumping and banging" today, was done by the jet dryers.  Damn.......

leadfoot4

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2020, 06:12:59 AM »
There seemed to be plenty of "bumpin and bangin" for the bloodthirsty fans. Good thing nobody was killed!! These speedway races are simply getting out of control, especially a couple of drivers that I won't name.....


Ratzso

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #3 on: February 18, 2020, 09:59:23 AM »
First point:  Thankful to hear that Ryan survived this crash.  Very thankful.

Second point:  It should be fairly obvious that this type of racing - blocking and bumping - is now part of the sport to make it spectacular and appeal to a wider audience.  It financially benefits everyone.  Call it entertainment if you will.

NA$CAR, the drivers, car owners, sponsors and fans are all willing participants in this form of competition.  While drivers may give a negative sound bite when they're on the wrong end of a push or block, they all embrace it when it benefits them. They haven't come forward with a unified voice and said, "We're not going to do this."

It's hard for me to understand that winning a race by blocking is called racing.  Think I'll go hang out at the Mall by myself and think about it...

Respectfully submitted,

J. Langford Ratzso
"Today is yesterday's future"


leadfoot4

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #4 on: February 18, 2020, 10:58:11 AM »
First point:  Thankful to hear that Ryan survived this crash.  Very thankful.

It's hard for me to understand that winning a race by blocking is called racing.  Think I'll go hang out at the Mall by myself and think about it...

Respectfully submitted,

J. Langford Ratzso


I agree, especially the highlighted.   I know that technology has drastically changed the face of oval track racing, but I think that one big factor that has changed things, is when the "drivers" stopped becoming car owners and chief mechanics, and simply became "hired guns". This, along with teams growing to afford 3,4,5 (or more) cars, so when one gets "wadded up" through aggressive driving, it's no big deal. When you got "aggressive" on Sunday, you were fixin' it on Monday. Makes a difference, I think.

Shamrock 3x

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2020, 07:32:18 AM »
I agree with you, leadfoot.  It makes a HUGE difference in how one drives if you have no $ invested. 


Crushem

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #6 on: February 19, 2020, 11:48:37 AM »
Drivers need to be black flagged for such behavior on the track, if you bump (hit) someone and spin them out of the race, (Stenhouse on Byron for a big example) you should be liable


DPackman_PR

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #7 on: February 19, 2020, 01:14:54 PM »
This debate is interesting in the fact that you could probably poll the general race fan population on how this stuff should be treated and you'd come up with a 50/50 or 60/40 split, which means no matter what NASCAR does, they're going to upset a decent amount of people either way.
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leadfoot4

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #8 on: February 19, 2020, 05:54:33 PM »
Drivers need to be black flagged for such behavior on the track, if you bump (hit) someone and spin them out of the race, (Stenhouse on Byron for a big example) you should be liable

Or Logano on EVERYONE, as another example................


herm

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2020, 08:59:13 PM »
Blocking is not allowed in Indycar. I often wonder what would take place back in the day after a race ended with blocking as we see today in NASCAR if Foyt, Jones or Bobby Unser was in the race.


uticamike

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #10 on: February 23, 2020, 03:19:30 PM »
Indy cars don't have rules that glue 20 of them together at the finish. Fast cars are allowed to be fast.

Indy drafting isn't a group activity like it is in SAMECAR.   As long as two together are faster than one , on the last lap

with a big payday and prestige on the line, you'll get more of it.  Blocking and not lifting are both needed to win today.

A sad tale of todays NASCAR.  :P
 
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owego26

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2020, 10:04:34 AM »
nascar, Enough said, well maybe they should give the " blockER "  THE MOVE OVER FLAG   = JUST  SAYIN ...


raceannouncer

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #12 on: February 25, 2020, 08:29:38 AM »
Blocking is not allowed in Indycar. I often wonder what would take place back in the day after a race ended with blocking as we see today in NASCAR if Foyt, Jones or Bobby Unser was in the race.

Invalid comparison...Indy Cars are open-wheel, much lighter, fragile and because speed is greater, they are more prone to "take flight".

Sadly, it will require a tragedy where a driver loses his or her life until significant changes are made!  A few major problems that I see:  1.) there will NEVER be a time where racing safety will ever be enough...unforeseen future events must occur for something to be done.  This sport is DANGEROUS; thus, sanctioning body actions are reactive, as a result.  It is too easy to become complacent.  2.)  Don't the drivers share as much of the blame here? (some will say that the current rules package "forces" this kind of unsafe driving.  I somewhat agree with the statement Herm made that the "hired guns" don't have any "skin in the game".  Fair point! But the spectre of the risking one's life or serious injury will always be present. Historically, the drivers are always "all-in" in that regard!)  It's the nature of the beast...
« Last Edit: February 25, 2020, 08:35:49 AM by raceannouncer »
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uticamike

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #13 on: February 25, 2020, 10:13:32 AM »
they are more prone to "take flight". 


Oh really!!  tell that to Ryan Newman or Brad Keslowski or Carl Edwards or Darrel Waltrip or Rusty wallace or Steve park or.....

Let's use Richard Petty's 1988 "flyer" at the Daytona 500 as a start ( just cause I don't where a good starting point is) ( Maybe Cale flying out of Darlington in 60"s) ??   I'd wager  from 88 till today more stock cars have left the ground than Indy cars. ( I also don't have the time to thoughly investigate that but I bet I'm right.)   True enough though. They can't and don't throw blocks in Indy like they do in NASCAR but
to my point, they let the fast cars be fast.  That's what I'm saying.

( please don't give me the Dan Wheldon wreck as an example..that was bad bad bad but a luckily rare occurance )
"do I look nervous?" (no) " There's your answer."

raceannouncer

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Re: Bumpin' and Blocking Made Me a Fan Again...
« Reply #14 on: February 25, 2020, 04:16:02 PM »
C'mon Mike: Just because you can find many incidents from the past involving stock cars, you know the open wheel cars (INDY, F1, Sprint both wingless and winged, and the many modified/sportsman clases), are more likely to fly because if or and when the wheels touch, they instantly become a launching "ramp".  There are far more incidents in Indy than just Wheldon's!  There was once a time when NASCAR felt that anything over 200 mph was undesirable--now it's almost commonplace! (To me, it appears that the rooflaps didn't do much to help, either...)
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