A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
The Daytona 500, the first race of NASCAR’s elite (Sprint Cup) series, begins today at noon Eastern.
No sport does an opening ceremony as well as NASCAR. Expect a prayer mentioning U.S. soldiers, someone belting out the words of the national anthem like they really mean them, and a booming flyover of military jets just as the anthem ends.
Next come the most famous words in motorsports, “Gentlemen, start your engines.” Except today they will differ slightly, as female driver Danica Patrick will be one of the racers. Today marks her debut as a driver in the Sprint Cup series.
One of the most attentive fans today will be Rick Santorum. His campaign is the main sponsor of Tony Raines’ No. 26 car. Santorum’s campaign messaging will appear on the hood and quarter panels of the car.
The favorite to win the race is last year’s Sprint Cup Series champion, Tony Stewart. But his chances to win, approximately 10 to 1, are still not very likely. One reason is the special nature of the Daytona 500. Because the track is so large, cars reach especially fast speeds. This makes them vulnerable to going airborne if they wreck, which is a danger to the fans. As a consequence, NASCAR requires each car to have a restrictor plate attached to the carburetor. This restricts the car’s oxygen uptake, which in turn restricts the speed of the car.
The result is in some ways a socialist’s dream—all cars and drivers are nearly equally-abled. Like an actual socialist economy, it also means that a driver’s success depends greatly upon cronyism and his or her networking skills with other drivers. Specifically, the most successful drivers will be the ones who can work with others to "draft" to lower wind resistance. The restrictor-plate rule even affects pit-stop decisions. Drivers will try to pit only when they can entice another driver to pit with them. The reason is that they need a partner to draft with them as they try to catch the field after pitting.
All these factors make the race more unpredictable and a driver’s success more dependent on luck. Less established racers, like Patrick and Raines, have a real chance at winning, which will make the race today especially exciting.
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Dec '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
I've never been much of a fan of rednecks turning left, but Danica Patrick... How strange should I feel that my last name is also Patrick?
Sep '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Tim, great primer on NASCAR. I happen to be in the business of professional sport, including NASCAR, so this is up my ally.
Drafting will be restricted this year. NASCAR implemented the following rules:
They also changed the location of the opening to reduce the capability to do a two car draft. Also NASCAR outlawed driver-to-driver communication to help eliminate tandem drafting.
These changes will reduce the amount of drafting done in the past. So far NASCAR has been successful with drafting at the Bud Shootout and Gatorade Duels lower that previous races.
What you will see today is a lot of pack drafting which is much less orchestrated and potentially a lot more dangerous by creating the potential for big multi-car crashes.
Another lesson in how regulating the market can have unintended consequences because the market will always seek a competitive advantage. And because the regulators always engage in state one thinking unintended consequences occur.
Let the racing begin.
Sep '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
More information than Ricochet members ever wanted on NASCAR.
Apr '11
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Don't people watch to see crashes, so a policy that could induce more spectacular crashes will drive up viewership... capitalism wins.
Feb '12
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Profound. As a classical liberal who thinks often about socialism/progressiveism not to have noticed NASCAR's restricter plate policies and the parallel with socialism makes me think less of my thinking abilities.
A couple of notes that corroborate this analogy. The late Dale Earnhart did not win his first Daytona 500 until two years before his death. This after many wins at other tracks and 6 0r 7 NASCAR season championships. Michael Waltrip who's brother is more famous only won 4 times out of 759 starts and 3 of those were on super speedways with restricter plates. (Unfortunately, his first win was the 2001 Daytona 500 driving a car owned by Dale Earnhart who died that day.) Another is Derrick Cope who won 2 races in 409 starts with one being the Daytona 500.
One more thing, listen to the invocation delivered at the start of the race. It is a prayer that is so good it will make you feel like you wen to church, even if you skipped church today!
Sep '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Yes, the invocations at NASCAR races are wonderful. Another excellent tradition they have at Las Vegas and elsewhere before races is an Air Force Enlistment ceremony (LVMS is next to Nellis Air Force base) where they swear in new enlistees. Always cool to watch.
NASCAR is unabashedly for God, family, country. Whether you find the sport exciting or not, for that is should be admired.
Now I'm off to church…
Edited on February 26, 2012 at 6:15pmAug '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Hey, Santorum's taking lessons from Stephen Harper!
The Conservative Party of Canada sponsored Pierre Bourque's NASCAR Canada car. It paid off very well at the time, earning the Conservatives a lot of unpaid publicity from a whole bunch of article about the publicity stunt.
Sadly, once the sponsorship money ran out, Bourque turned against the Conservatives on his Drudge rip-off web site.
I presume Tony Raines doesn't own a news aggregation web site, so Santorum's probably safe on this count.
May '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
It's not just NASCAR.
Billy Bates was a second baseman who appeared in a grand total of 29 games for Milwaukee and Cincinnati. Lifetime average: .125 (6 for 48).
Bates was placed on the World Series roster of the Reds after Second baseman Billy Doran was injured. Manager Lou Piniella called on him to pinch hit in the 10th inning of Game 2 of the 1990 World Series in Cincinnati and he beat out a check swing dribbler for an infield hit. Third baseman Chris Sabo followed with a single and then catcher Joe Oliver hit one down at third and Bates raced home with the winning run.
Three nights later the Reds would complete a 4-game sweep of the A's and Bates would be a World Champion, unlike Ty Cobb, Ted Williams or a dozen other Hall of Famers. But as fate would have it, when Bates crossed home plate at Riverfront Stadium on that October night, it was the last time he would wear a Major League uniform in competition.
May '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Sounds like bicycle racing only at 200 mph.
Aug '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
It should be noted that when Danica starts her first Sprint Cup race, she will be the 16th woman to race at NASCAR's highest level. http://www.nascar.com/news/110824/retro-racing-maumann-dpatrick-history-women-nascar/index.html
Feb '11
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
EJHill
It's not just NASCAR.
Billy Bates was a second baseman who appeared in a grand total of 29 games for Milwaukee and Cincinnati. Lifetime average: .125 (6 for 48).
But EJ, Dale Earnhardt, The Man in Black, The Intimidator, won 7 Championships and was undoubtably the most popular driver in NASCAR for almost 2 decades, before he ever won the Daytona 500. So although the Bates story is enlightening, it's not quite in tune.
May '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Well NASCAR is not in tune with a lot of things. It has its ultimate event at the beginning of its season, not the end.
But the point I was making (apparently poorly) is that popularity and past successes mean nothing when it comes to the biggest stages in sport, often the unheralded do things not even the best of the best can do.
I enjoy NASCAR but I do not understand its fans. Their devotion to a dead man is incomprehensible. They show up with all their 3 memorabilia and its like showing up to Yankee Stadium to cheer on Babe Ruth. But the Babe is dead and so is Dale, Sr. It borders on high-octane necrophilia.
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Ronaldus Maximus: Tim, great primer on NASCAR. I happen to be in the business of professional sport, including NASCAR, so this is up my ally.
Drafting will be restricted this year. NASCAR implemented the following rules:
They also changed the location of the opening to reduce the capability to do a two car draft. Also NASCAR outlawed driver-to-driver communication to help eliminate tandem drafting.
What you will see today is a lot of pack drafting which is much less orchestrated and potentially a lot more dangerous by creating the potential for big multi-car crashes.
Another lesson in how regulating the market can have unintended consequences because the market will always seek a competitive advantage. And because the regulators always engage in state one thinking unintended consequences occur.
Let the racing begin. · 2 hours ago
I'm watching the pre-race show right now, and the announcers mentioned some of your points - but also omitted lots. Wow. Great stuff. Thanks!
Nov '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Rain delay. Ugh. Now I have to watch Zbigniew Brzezinski with Fareed Zakaria on CNN.
Aug '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Please tell me no one ever has to do that...
Oct '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Or you could shave your head with a cheese-grater or chew tin-foil. Up to you.
Oct '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
More! More! And more on "the business of professional sport" whenever you can. (Sponsorship, hosting, licensing, rights protection...)
Nov '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
genferei
Or you could shave your head with a cheese-grater or chew tin-foil. Up to you. · 3 minutes ago
Tried both. CNN was all that was left.
Jun '11
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
EJHill
I enjoy NASCAR but I do not understand its fans. Their devotion to a dead man is incomprehensible. They show up with all their 3 memorabilia and its like showing up to Yankee Stadium to cheer on Babe Ruth. But the Babe is dead and so is Dale, Sr. It borders on high-octane necrophilia. · 3 hours ago
This might make some sense if Babe Ruth had been at the pinnacle of his career in 2001, was beaned in the bottom of the 9th in the 7th game of the World Series, and died instantly at home plate. You certainly realize that most NASCAR fans today were alive when Dale died in 2001. And, since it happened at the very end of the Daytona 500 most of us were actually watching the event when he died.
Necrophilia? Really?
Oct '10
Re: A New NASCAR Season Begins Today
Wow. Talk about overwrought.
Restrictor plates are there for safety's sake, to offer a measure of protection to fans and drivers alike (whether they accomplish that is debatable; but that's their purpose). To conflate the use of the plates with socialism is really silly. Really silly.
Furthermore, to assert that the use of restrictor plates makes "all cars and drivers...nearly equally-abled" betrays about as simplistic an understanding of what is involved in setting up, and what it takes to drive, a NASCAR racecar as is humanly possible.