**** OFFICIAL 2015 NASCAR THREAD **** (And Jeff Gordon's Last Full Season)

[GloryDayz]

Here's to Jeff's last chance season...

No.	Race Title	Track	Date	TV
	Sprint Unlimited	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 14	Fox
	Budweiser Duels		February 19	FS1
1	Daytona 500		February 22	Fox
2	Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	March 1	Fox
3	Kobalt Tools 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	March 8	Fox
4	CampingWorld.com 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	March 15	Fox
5	Auto Club 400	Auto Club Speedway, Fontana	March 22	Fox
6	STP 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	March 29	Fox
7	Duck Commander 500	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth	April 11	Fox
8	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	April 19	Fox
9	Toyota Owners 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	April 25	FS1
10	Talladega 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	May 3	Fox
11	Kansas 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	May 9	FS1
	NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	May 16	FS1
12	Coca-Cola 600		May 24	Fox
13	Dover 400	Dover International Speedway, Dover	May 31	FS1
14	Pocono 400	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	June 7	FS1
15	Quicken Loans 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	June 14	FS1
16	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma	June 28	FS1
17	Coke Zero 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 5	NBC
18	Quaker State 400	Kentucky Speedway, Sparta	July 11	NBCSN
19	New Hampshire 301	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon	July 19	NBCSN
20	Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	July 26	NBCSN
21	Pennsylvania 400	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	August 2	NBCSN
22	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 9	NBCSN
23	Pure Michigan 400	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	August 16	NBCSN
24	Irwin Tools Night Race	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	August 22	NBCSN
25	Bojangles' Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 6	NBC
26	Federated Auto Parts 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	September 12	NBCSN
Chase for the Sprint Cup
Challenger Round
27	MyAFibStory.com 400	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet	September 20	NBCSN
28	Sylvania 300	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon	September 27	NBCSN
29	AAA 400	Dover International Speedway, Dover	October 4	NBCSN
Contender Round
30	Bank of America 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord	October 10	NBC
31	Hollywood Casino 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	October 18	NBC
32	GEICO 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	October 25	NBCSN
Eliminator Round
33	Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	November 1	NBCSN
34	AAA Texas 500	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth	November 8	NBC
35	Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	November 15	NBC
Championship
36	Ford EcoBoost 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead	November 22	NBC

[Dylan]

Time marches on...

Why the Coke Zero 400 was run on July 5th and not July 4th? For 29 years, the summer race at Daytona International Speedway was a part of the nation's birthday. The event was always run on Independence Day, no matter what day of the week. The race was in the morning, and the drivers and their families were celebrating on the beach by late afternoon. The tradition that began in 1959 ended in 1988 when the event was moved into prime time on whatever Saturday was part of the holiday weekend. Now it has been moved once more, to Sunday night, to accommodate the return of NASCAR to NBC.

Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Sports Group, said the change was simply about audience. "The Fourth of July is annually the lowest night of television watching of the year - fewer people watch TV that night because they are all out watching fireworks," Lazarus told The Associated Press on Saturday. "In order for us to start our relationship with as big a splash as we can, we wanted to give ourselves the best chance and opportunity to have a big audience. It was simply math." The switch still comes with challenges. By moving it to Sunday night, the race now goes head-to-head against the United States playing in the Women's World Cup final. NBC's pre-race show begins at the same time as the game, but the race doesn't actually go green for another 78 minutes. Lazarus anticipates, barring overtime and penalty kicks, only about 35 minutes of direct competition. He is hopeful, though, that World Cup viewers will flip to the NASCAR race when the game ends. "It's a mixed blessing - it will bring a lot of different people to the television set," he said. "We're hopeful, if we continue to market, that we'll get some people who wouldn't be home watching TV to transfer over and check us out."

Although both NASCAR and Daytona officials signed off on the switch to Sunday, it's not the most ideal situation for track President Joie Chitwood. Running the race a day later hurts attendance because campers usually return home on Sunday, and now the World Cup likely will cut into viewership. Chitwood understood NBC's desire for the Sunday night race, but is thankful the race will return to Saturday night in 2016.

"In our conversation with them, it was just the one time," he said. "We all talked about what we could do special for NBC, and this was one of their components, and it made a lot of sense when we sat down and really talked about it. When you look at what they've done with 'Football Night in America,' they are just knocking it out of the part. They've really captured that.

Hopefully, they can sprinkle a little bit of that magic on this event this Sunday. I don't think anybody a year ago, though, knew about World Cup soccer, so that's the way the breaks are."(see full article at the Associated Press)(7-5-2015)

[chefsos]

In hindsight (50/50!) it seems NBC won't be up against the World Cup, but rather infomercials and local cable shows from some guy's basement so I guess the ratings will be smashing!

**** scheduling this stuff for ratings ($). This is what you get.

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Dylan

Time marches on...

Well try Friday night then... Sunday is proving to be a bit goofy if they're not willing to wait to run it until Monday/Monday night..

[Dylan]

4 hours and counting while waiting for the race to start.

How many times have we been down this road before?

Two, three times every year?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Dylan

4 hours and counting while waiting for the race to start.

How many times have we been down this road before?

Two, three times every year?

Seems more this year. I'm sure Al Gore will say it's some sort of Polar Cap deal...

[GloryDayz]

Has a NASCAR driver ever fallen asleep behind the wheel? If not, it might happen this week...

[Dylan]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

Seems more this year. I'm sure Al Gore will say it's some sort of Polar Cap deal...

Yep, that dumb **** - And all the Gruberites that believe in that shit. #Money Grab

[chefsos]

Polar Cap? Is that a new sponsor? Do they have lots of money? Can I have some?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by chefsos

Polar Cap? Is that a new sponsor? Do they have lots of money? Can I have some?

Close enough?

[Dylan]

Wait until the power move by Russia in Iceland this summer while O works on his golf swing and M works on her booty development.

Quick Google:
http://sputniknews.com/military/2015...024102785.html

[ptlyon]

Danica's eyes told me she shit her pants

[Dylan]

did the race start yet?

It's 11:28 ET

[ptlyon]

Just getting rolling out of the pits

[Dylan]

The pace car will be leading the cars back to their motor homes for cryin'outloud

[Dylan]

11:45 ET and the race is just about to start - Unreal

J.C. the cars are flying - a lot of movement - doesn't look good - they better hold their line - blocking going on all over the place