Atlanta..... Welcome Back Tony Stewart!!!

[hoghelmet14]

[hoghelmet14]

I am so glad yall are as excited to see him come back as you were to see him go.... LOL

[Racinray]

I'm glad he's back.

[hogs24]

I'm glad he's back.

+1

[PorkerOinker]

Good to see him back, makes the races even more interesting now!

[Flying Razorback]

So he's ineligible for the Chase, unless given a special exemption from NASCAR.

Right now the Chase is the Top 16 drivers who have won races while finishing in the top 30 in points and attempting to qualify for every race.

So if Tony came in, won a race, finished in the top 30, he would not have attempted every race.

But I think NASCAR may be willing to give the exemption because I would bet they wanted him to sit out.  I doubt they would have liked the negative publicity anyway from him racing.  I would like to see him win just to throw a wrench in the system and make NASCAR have to come up with a decision.

[hogs24]

I don't think they let him in. Win or not but would be interesting to see that happen for sure.

[DeWayne R]

Good to see him back on track.

[hoghelmet14]

I don't think they let him in. Win or not but would be interesting to see that happen for sure.

If they "asked" him to not race and he is cleared... they would have to let him in.... that's my thinking anyways

[hoghelmet14]

Very Emotional Press Conference today....

[hoghelmet14]

Tony Stewart Eligible for chase if one of remaining races!

[HogScoutMaster]

I hope he steps out of the car !!!!!


Too Soon?

[Flying Razorback]

I honestly think it would be important for NASCAR from a precedent standpoint to allow Stewart in to the Chase if he wins one of these two races.  Though I don't think he will.  They should state it early anyway though.

I think if they were to leave it ambiguous or say he wouldn't be allowed then people would be less willing to make the right decision in the future out of fear of missing the Chase.  And with sponsors and the amount of money in the sport that can be a big deal.  If someone were to have a tragedy on track, off the track, or a run in that needs to be investigated, NASCAR should want them to step out of the car for a week or a few weeks.  Especially when it's the right thing to do like in this case.

[berryhog]

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/8/29/tony-stewart-eligible-for-2015-chase-mike-helton.html

[Flying Razorback]

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/8/29/tony-stewart-eligible-for-2015-chase-mike-helton.html

Well there you go.

[hogs24]

The right decision. He still looks pretty shook up.
10th quick in practice

[Flying Razorback]

Harvick on the pole again after slow practice speeds!

[hoghelmet14]

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/8/30/sprint-cup-series-tony-stewart-sponsor-shows-support-bass-pro-shops.html

[PorkerOinker]

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2014/8/30/sprint-cup-series-tony-stewart-sponsor-shows-support-bass-pro-shops.html

Good to see his sponsors did not bail on him.

[hogs24]

Welp the 4 and 24 are the class of the field again.
Who's gonna have the freak bad luck tonite?

[hoghelmet14]

looks like your boy just got a "break"

[Flying Razorback]

Hamlin is FASSTT out front too.  Just like Harvick was.

[hogs24]

Was away. He cut a tire or what?

[hogs24]

looks like your boy just got a "break"

El oh el

[hogs24]

This is fixin to get crazy.

[Flying Razorback]

Sigh.

Another race that Harvick dominates that he won't win.  This team just can't figure it out.  They better fix that in the Chase.

[Flying Razorback]

Well.

Good night everyone.

[hogs24]

Blaming your pit crew was pretty classy.
Good job harprick.
And harprick fans...I feel your pain.
Happened at least 3 times to the 24 this year.
Yalls guy is gonna be a player for this championship...if he doesn't piss his crew off too much.

[hogs24]

And just to add to that...legayno and mernard are what did him in.
I see bad things in joeys future. Just cause he has the speed to be up front with the real players.
Somebody's gonna bust his ass pretty soon.

[Racinray]

I don't get blaming your pit crew for everything either. Your a team, win as a team, lose as a team.

[Flying Razorback]

I don't know if I would blame the pit crew tonight but I also don't know if it's uncalled for.  It's hard to tell what you say when they shove a microphone in your face right after you get out of a hot car after a long night where you straight whooped the field for 90% of the race.

The only place they were passed all night was on pit road.  Not a single car passed the 4 while racing all night which is pretty impressive.

But at the same time the cars that were passing him on pit road were having 11.0 second pit stops.  That's insane. 

[hogs24]

His restarts towards the end weren't exactly spectacular. He might want to take a little of the blame.

[Flying Razorback]

His restarts towards the end weren't exactly spectacular. He might want to take a little of the blame.

I thought the same thing until literally every car that started p2 the entire night spun its tires and lost 3 spots or more.  Hamlin lost 8 on one of them.  I'm not smart enough to know why, but that outside line seemed to be having to turn the car left at the exact moment they put the hammer down and would lose the back end every time.

And the only reason Harvick was starting p2 is he never was able to get out of his pit first after coming in first.

[hogs24]

I thought the same thing until literally every car that started p2 the entire night spun its tires and lost 3 spots or more.  Hamlin lost 8 on one of them.  I'm not smart enough to know why, but that outside line seemed to be having to turn the car left at the exact moment they put the hammer down and would lose the back end every time.

And the only reason Harvick was starting p2 is he never was able to get out of his pit first after coming in first.

good point.
Hard to beat 11 second stops regardless.

[Flying Razorback]

good point.
Hard to beat 11 second stops regardless.

Agree.  At one point they put up Hamlin's stops and his previous 4 had been 11.8, 11.2, 11.2, and 11.0.

That's insane.

[TheRazorback500]

Much-needed win for Kasey.

Top ten for Danica? What a  concept!

[hoghelmet14]

Well.... now we know how ole denny got the lead every pit stop.... new "technology" in their air guns...... hmmmmmm

[Flying Razorback]

Well.... now we know how ole denny got the lead every pit stop.... new "technology" in their air guns...... hmmmmmm

Hmmm....  I mean those stops were insane.  We were talking about how fast stops were compared to when I started watching in the 90s.  My family was over and rarely if ever watch racing.  Then they put up the numbers and Denny was an 11.0 and the next closest was 12.4...

[hoghelmet14]

Joe Gibbs Racing, new air guns?

UPDATE same guns all season: Denny Hamlin's #11 team was especially strong at Atlanta Motor Speedway, performing 11-second pit stops every time their driver came to pit road. While no one seemed to be able to get by #4-Kevin Harvick on the track, Hamlin's pit crew successfully gave him the lead multiple times throughout the night. The team's fastest stop of the night came at Lap 174, when the pit crew changed four tires and added two cans of fuel in an astonishing 11.0 seconds. Another thing that helped the JGR teams beat the competition on pit road is a reportedly new generation air gun being utilized by the teams as of late. Though few details are known about the new air guns at this point, their advantage was clear Sunday night. After the race, Kenseth would not go into details about the new technology, saying he honestly had no idea, but credited the organization's training skills for the fast stops.(in part from FoxSports) and see an opinion piece about the air guns at Pit Talks: Gibbs dominance on pit road in Atlanta has everyone talking.(9-2-2014)

UPDATE: As the JGR team of Denny Hamlin consistently beat the Stewart-Haas Racing team of Kevin Harvick off pit road Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Harvick crew chief Rodney Childers told Harvick that JGR had some new air guns they were using. Mike Lepp, the JGR athletic director who oversees the pit crews, swears that these are the guns that they have been using all year to loosen and tighten lugnuts during a pit stop. He said the team typically has some pit stops under 12 seconds and others over 12 seconds but Sunday whipped off all pit stops under 12 seconds. With JGR not having been in contention to win as many races this year, it just became noticeable Sunday with Hamlin and Harvick battling for the lead. Lepp said he believes it was just Childers trying to calm down his driver. "There wasn't anything new or anything," Lepp said in a phone interview Tuesday with the Sporting News. "It was an attempt to calm his driver down. ... (Like the cars), it's the same thing with these guys, you still have to have good athletes. But there's nothing that we brought to Atlanta that we haven't been bringing. The difference is we were running up front. When you go from 12th to ninth, you're not going to be feature (on TV)." Childers said Monday in an email that he wasn't trying to knock the JGR pit crew ability and talked to Lepp to make sure there were no hard feelings. Childers did say he believes the JGR air guns are better than the current ones SHR uses. But what about the sound of the guns? The guns might sound different depending on the tire changer, Lepp said. Each of the major teams make their own guns, which must be air-powered, and each tire changer is responsible for determining how fast they go. The only rule on air guns dictates that they must be NASCAR approved, air-powered and can only do one lugnut at a time. A NASCAR spokesman said Tuesday that it has "no issue whatsoever" with the air guns that JGR is using.(Sporting News)(9-3-2014)

[10thPlanet]

Remember Ole Benny Parsons saying,"I'll give a hundred dollars to any crew that can get below 13 sec."  He probably wasn't the best commentator in the world, but thinking back to Benny and Hickory Motor Speedway sure makes me smile.

[hogs24]

Remember Ole Benny Parsons saying,"I'll give a hundred dollars to any crew that can get below 13 sec."  He probably wasn't the best commentator in the world, but thinking back to Benny and Hickory Motor Speedway sure makes me smile.

His obsession with McMurray used to drive me nuts.