NASCAR 2012

I watched some NASCAR today (a very rare thing for me) and it appears to be Danica has two issues but is otherwise very fast:
1. She cannot draft ... major issue in this sort of racing where drafting is everything, and
2. She cannot handle being tapped, as car number 88 gave her a very light touch and she was off.

Thus she will qualify well but not race well until she sorts the above 2 points out, as it is a elbows out sort of racing. Anybody that denies her being fast though is having issues as an insecure male, but racing is more than just being fast.
Pete

 

1) from the sounds of your response...i suspect your dad could beat up my dad as well.

2) my comment was not based on my ability to out drive danica...your response was however.

3) sadly i wont ever get a chance to prove if i could have matched danica while in my prime and never in my day would i have had access to the equipment that she has throughout her carreer...back in 85, i was at the height of my racing opportunity and was lucky to have raced (twice...i could never have been able to support a full season) an ex jim fitzgerald 280zx GT2 car that we raced a few gtu events. wow was i out motored. i would stay with roger mandeville in the infield @ CMS but he would leave me for dead on the banks. i digress...

3) Sadly too i will never get paid $20mn/yr. to drive the best equipment for one of the best teams in nascar...and sadly there are many other drivers in the prime of their carreers (that CAN and have out driven danica) that will never get paid as she is either.

4) ANY driver that gets an effective hendrick car and cannot run out front will get similar abuse...even if your name is dale jr.

5) please don't point to her pole at daytona as the yardstick by which you measure her talent as there is no question that she has ALL the car to be wicked fast on the superspeedway and as i have been clear in my posts previously...she will be awarded a win by the france family before too long.

6) You are free to question anything i say but in fairness, you really don't know much about my driving history nor do you know much about my personal network and their role in racing...i have had lots of discussions w/ folks in danica's racing circle and i promise you that i am not unique in my dismissing her as a winning driver.

last, wax, you will get a chance to tell me that you "told me so" but in the meantime, i will call her out often when she fails to perform.

pcb

 

Probably a dumb question but why isn't Danica racing at the Phoenix 500 ?

 

She is running a full Nationwide schedule in 2012 and will race in ten Sprint Cup races to gain experience before she moves to Sprint Cup full time. This Phoenix race was not one of the ten picked but she will race there in the fall when they return.

 

the majority of the remaining starts on her 2012 Cup schedule are at the end of the season; presumably as a tune-up to a full schedule in 2013.

she will be starting the fall Cup race at Phoenix.

 

Congrats to Denny Hamlin! As always it is fun place to photograph!
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Start of Race
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as always, your photos are lovely!!!!

pcb

 

blah blah blah, my dad is dead so I don't think he can beat your dad, but thanks for suggesting that.

I also was not talking about a driver from 25 years ago, I'm talking about a driver today.
If I had my druthers I'd take a David Pearson or a Cale Yarbrough over today's drivers - BUT - technology has changed, surfaces have changed, the entire sport has changed. 25 years ago guys didn't stay fit/work out, today they do. 25 years ago guys didn't do near as much promoting/make public appearances, today they do. It's a different sport - ALL motorsports are much different than they were in 1985, I know you will agree on that.

My point is, it looks to me like she is beating guys she is not supposed to be beating, other guys have been around a lot longer and have a lot more stock car experience, some are not doing as well.

I did not mean to offend you personally, I apologize if you took it that way.
Let's agree to disagree, and revisit this mid-season.
I'm not saying she will have racked up wins, or top-10 finishes by then, but I think her results will show improvement.
For the record, I am not her biggest fan, but I don't think she is as bad as some make her out to be.

 

'They said' the new body would look just like the street car, it appears they were correct.

Penske said he was leaving because of the lack of another team to compare notes with (develop the car), I believe it was a little of that, and a lot of $$$.
I don't know if I see Roush, RPM, et al sharing too many notes with their competitors, just as I don't see Hendrick sharing notes with RCR or Ganassi.

 

Penske approached Ford, Ford made a pitch/presentation, and Penske was impressed with what he saw.

All Ford engines are made by Roush/Yates, and all engine data, wind tunnel data, suspension data, etc. is available to ALL ford teams. And this is what Penske was looking for.

 

Not to mention, on the tracks where aero, mpg, and power mattered, the Fords where awfully strong last year.

Toyota's JGR, has got a brake package figured out that really lets them do well on the shorter tracks. Denny and Kyle both do very well on the short tracks.

It will be an interesting season, I'm looking forwards to next year when the team's move to much better looking cars.

 

Still sorting through the pictures...

Here is a funny one that needs a caption!
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I love Ferrarichat!

 

Gallery is up!

Enjoy The Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway!

http://www.viacorsa.com/news_updates/racing_news/NASCAR/NASCAR030512.html

 

Just being kind! I have a couple good sour puss face pictures of her too. But I passed on uploading them.

 

I always like to look at NASCAR pics. Thanks for posting!

I noticed one thing about these shots and I hope you take it as a friendly question and or constructive criticism

In all of the people shots you have cropped the person and left a lot of " empty space " above them. For example the one of Jr walking with his hand in his pocket you cropped at his knee but have extra space with the track behind him. The people on stage had their feet cropped out but there is plenty of sky.

For the shot of Jr I would've much rather seen his shoes and a bit of pit road than the bank of the track for example.

I had one of those extra things over my viewfinder once and it got bumped and moved a bit so when I looked through it the view was cropped without me knowing and I was adjusting for it when I framed my shots. When I looked at them when I got home they were all done with about a third of the composition " dead space " that I normally wouldn't frame my shot with.

I'm curious if you cropped these like that on purpose and if so, why. If you hadn't given it any thought that's cool too. I would've done it differently.
Again, I'm not trying to be critical, I'm just wondering what the thought process is.

 

I guess the easy answer is that is just the way I shoot.

But to elaborate, all photographers are restricted to stay behind this white line and the only lens I was shooting was with a 300mm 2.8 lens on a monopod sitting 5 feet up in the air. Other...more springy..younger photographers would crouch down and shoot up at that white line. But my knees would have no part of that.

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

I thought I had killed the thread with my post and I'm relieved you took it with a grain of salt

The mono pod is a great explanation and I can see where it would have its limitations just as you stated. While I'm 54 my biggest problem at times is my height at 6' 7".
Sure its great for shooting over the fence but when shooting someone like Danica I have to crouch down to get a normal angle.

Recently at the Rolex 24 I spied Sir Jackie Stewart walking through the garage at a brisk pace. I had to run in front of him
and then drop to my knees to get an angle that would give him some height. I used to just stand back up after a shot
like that but now its about a five step motion to boom me back up

Sorry everyone for the thread derail. I hope you all can get it back on track. Another race starts in a little over an hour from now.
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Thanks!

Of course he was getting a lot of attention as he moved through the garage and I got this shot as he was almost to the end.
As I was walking back a group of " new " race fans stopped me and asked who was that.
I excitedly said " That's the guy who invented plaid ". The look on their faces was priceless