RE: NASCAR at Richmond...........Nationwide & Cup
Jr is already a big winner. He makes the best commercials. It's not his fault that they run his Wrangler commercial over and over and over and over and over.
RE: Freddie Mac & Fannie Mae....
Because subprimer-bad mortgages aren't profitable, :B
Maybe I failed to make my point.
We're bailing out a company's bad management and people's bad investorship. It follows that we should get paid by companies with good management and smart investors.
Instead, we're being forced into PAY, PAY, PAY,....no matter what.
RE: NASCAR at Richmond...........Nationwide & Cup
Yea Tony really showed his A## with his comments at the end of the race. If I owned that team he would spend all week saying "Im sorry" to the crew and I would fine him big time.
Had to be someone elses fault--not his--
Going to be intresting to see how he treats "His" people next year.
The way I see it, one of these years he'll be rid of Zippy.
Also, I did not see anything wrong with his driving,....which is what he gets paid to do.
I don't judge driving talent by what a driver says. I've been involved with racing most of life, and I gotta tell you; I EXPECT drivers to say things which they later regret.
If the crewchief and crewmembers had done their job as good as Tony did his, they would've won the race.
RE: NASCAR at Richmond...........Nationwide & Cup
I'm betting on Chad Knaus, Rick Hendrick, the #48 racecar, the fast crew, and the driver (in that order). Jimmie Johnson is probably the most intelligent driver in the top 12 group.
Tony Stewart is my favorite driver.
RE: Getting it home if you are unable??
I started passing a kidney stone, while on the road. But, I knew what it was, and how to "handle" the problem.
If I were to go into a distant hospital, we would either wait it out, or leave the motorhome for a friend, to drive it home.
RE: spider!!
Brown recluse spiders are VERY common around the San Antonio area, but most people are not aware of them. I constantly look for them, and I keep them them under control by burning them with my special spider torch and/or with Ortho spider spray.
I NEVER knew that they would grow as big as they say (here on this thread), as I've never seen one bigger than a nickel. AND, I've never seen one walking around. ALL of the ones I've seen have been IN their web, although they do not make a big web. Their web is similar to the web of the Black Widow, EXCEPT that the widow makes much larger webs. I seldom see a Black Widow around this area, but we had plenty of them back in El Paso.
I've seen infestations of both. In fact, during one 5-day boondocking camping trip, where the Frio River runs into Choke Canyon Lake, somehow we picked up MANY Brown Recluse spiders. It took me about a year to get rid of them (from under and inside the motorhome).
I look for spider webs everyday.
RE: Bad Walmart Campers II
Willie's rule:
For this type of photo to have any value, it must include a portion of the WM store, plus a portion of the signage. Otherwise, like Joe sez, it could be taken anywhere.
RE: Crime Report in Michigan Campgounds... !!!
I see this as a public service. People need to be reminded to not let their guard down. Evil people are everywhere, and that's the reason it takes me a long time to gain trust in anyone. I start out by assuming that everyone is a potential thief, then I find ways of securing our property. My wife and I brief each other on the methods that criminals might use for selecting their next victims. We take steps to not appear to be easy targets.
RE: Nascar at CA
Let me just say that there is ONE item which, above all else, explains why one car can be significantly faster than the others. The answer is millions and millions of dollars, spent by someone who knows what they're doing.
I figured that you wouldn't answer my questions. :( I would probably be too dumb to understand about chassis dynamics and all that engineering mumbo-jumbo that you would throw at me.
But I rely on my business sense--which I have a lot more of than mechanical sense.
My business sense tells me that Home Depot and Federal Express would be absolutely livid if it was discovered that JGR was throwing all those "millions and millions" of dollars at the #18 car to make it the front-runner. They pay a lot of money for product exposure that a lead car gives them on television. JGR wouldn't take the risk of alienating the other sponsors.
Same with Rousch Racing. Throwing everything behind the #99 car and leaving the other 3 sponsors with middle of the pack finishes would not make them happy at all.
If anything, JGR could spend all the $$$ on the #18 car to get it set up perfectly. Then duplicate it on the other 2 cars and send them out there.
But since it is the driver's skill that determines how well the race car finishes, Denny Hamlin isn't going to rocket to the front driving a car that is set up for Busch.
You have a misconception of how it works. There is NO such thing as all the racecars, under the same car owner, being equal. Each crewchief has the freedom to work with his driver and to select the components and the adjustments which HE wants. Contrary to popular belief, the winning secrets are NOT shared. The millions of dollars are spent on MANY things, not the least is state-of-the-art shop buildings and shop equipment. Also, the top teams incur huge expenses in all the test cars, and the testing, that they do at leased racetracks.
In this thread, there is one terrific fact which has been exposed. All the critics of this so-called "clone" car can just forget about it. If all the racecars were clones, they would all perform equally.
The reality is that the crewchiefs have plenty of leeway on selection of certain important chassis components and adjustments. The best combination of everything will usually win the race. It's a team effort, similar to football. The crewchief is the quaterback. The major difference is that you're competing against many other teams, at the same time.
RE: Nascar at CA
I don't buy it. IMO this notion about being able to win in a "loose" car is nothing more than a smokescreen. The only people that talk that stuff is everyone except the drivers.
OK, my opinion was that it is driver talent that is making the #18 and #99 so successful. Now we can add the #48 to that list.
If you would, please explain to me why Kyle Busch is able to dominate NASCAR this year. He is part of JGR, and they have 3 cars in their stable. The #18 car is performing way beyond that of the #20 and the #11. The goal of JGR (and any other racing organization) is to have the cars finish 1,2,3 every week. Why is the #18 car so much more successful than the other 2?
Same with the Rousch team. The #99 is better than the other 3 cars by a wide margin. The "Cat in the Hat" wants all of his cars to finish 1-4, so wouldn't he demand that every car be set up just like the #99?
The Hendrick team had 4 cars running at California. The #48 runs away from everyone and the #88 finished just outside the top 10. Gordon couldn't do any better than 15th--and said his car was a 15th place car. I don't know where Mears finished--but he is a lame duck anyway. 2 of the Hendrick cars dominated last season, but only one is a real contender for this year's title. The only difference between the #48 and the #24 cars should be the driver. Johnson can drive the car set up that way, and Gordon hasn't mastered it yet.
So is the #99 and #18 successes this year due to luck, driver skill, pit strategy, etc? Please tell me your opinion.
Sure, I could invest much time, and type several pages of explanation. I could go into great detail about chassis dynamics, and in particular, in the context of the NASCAR rules. But, this is hard work, and it doesn't pay very well. More than that, IMO it would not change your mind,.....to say nothing of all the arguments it would raise.
Let me just say that there is ONE item which, above all else, explains why one car can be significantly faster than the others. The answer is millions and millions of dollars, spent by someone who knows what they're doing.
RE: Nascar at CA
I don't buy it. IMO this notion about being able to win in a "loose" car is nothing more than a smokescreen. The only people that talk that stuff is everyone except the drivers.
OK, my opinion was that it is driver talent that is making the #18 and #99 so successful. Now we can add the #48 to that list.
If you would, please explain to me why Kyle Busch is able to dominate NASCAR this year. He is part of JGR, and they have 3 cars in their stable. The #18 car is performing way beyond that of the #20 and the #11. The goal of JGR (and any other racing organization) is to have the cars finish 1,2,3 every week. Why is the #18 car so much more successful than the other 2?
Same with the Rousch team. The #99 is better than the other 3 cars by a wide margin. The "Cat in the Hat" wants all of his cars to finish 1-4, so wouldn't he demand that every car be set up just like the #99?
The Hendrick team had 4 cars running at California. The #48 runs away from everyone and the #88 finished just outside the top 10. Gordon couldn't do any better than 15th--and said his car was a 15th place car. I don't know where Mears finished--but he is a lame duck anyway. 2 of the Hendrick cars dominated last season, but only one is a real contender for this year's title. The only difference between the #48 and the #24 cars should be the driver. Johnson can drive the car set up that way, and Gordon hasn't mastered it yet.
So is the #99 and #18 successes this year due to luck, driver skill, pit strategy, etc? Please tell me your opinion.
You summed it up very well. I've been trying to say exactly what you said all along but couldn't get my point across. You nailed it.
If you guys truly believe what you're saying, then all you have is a race between 3 drivers.
Whereas, I believe that what we have is a race between the top car owners who have the biggest number of entries and the biggest bankroll/sponsors. This are the guys who can attract the best drivers and the best crewchiefs.
I guess you summed that up pretty good. Yes, I think the race is going to be between those three drivers. Somebody is going to really get their act together to be a part of the "Big 3".
And, many of us will be watching, and cheering, for the underdog,....'cause that's the way we are. Go Robbie!
RE: NASCAR Signs of the times..
I'm not even going to want to discuss this subject very much. The thing that I can't get over is that it surprises people that there is such a big downturn in the economy. I can see it all around;....businesses downsizing or closing, people struggling to buy essentials, ssoooo many houses for sale (but, not selling), sales of cars and trucks way down, people losing their jobs or taking a cut in hours, etc, etc. We go to the movies, or restaurants, or tourist attractions,,....it's all right there, not as many people have the money to spent on these things. I certainly can't afford to go to the races, nor take as many long trips in the motorhome.
OF COURSE, there will be fewer people at NASCAR races! But, NASCAR will survive.
RE: Nascar at CA
I don't buy it. IMO this notion about being able to win in a "loose" car is nothing more than a smokescreen. The only people that talk that stuff is everyone except the drivers.
OK, my opinion was that it is driver talent that is making the #18 and #99 so successful. Now we can add the #48 to that list.
If you would, please explain to me why Kyle Busch is able to dominate NASCAR this year. He is part of JGR, and they have 3 cars in their stable. The #18 car is performing way beyond that of the #20 and the #11. The goal of JGR (and any other racing organization) is to have the cars finish 1,2,3 every week. Why is the #18 car so much more successful than the other 2?
Same with the Rousch team. The #99 is better than the other 3 cars by a wide margin. The "Cat in the Hat" wants all of his cars to finish 1-4, so wouldn't he demand that every car be set up just like the #99?
The Hendrick team had 4 cars running at California. The #48 runs away from everyone and the #88 finished just outside the top 10. Gordon couldn't do any better than 15th--and said his car was a 15th place car. I don't know where Mears finished--but he is a lame duck anyway. 2 of the Hendrick cars dominated last season, but only one is a real contender for this year's title. The only difference between the #48 and the #24 cars should be the driver. Johnson can drive the car set up that way, and Gordon hasn't mastered it yet.
So is the #99 and #18 successes this year due to luck, driver skill, pit strategy, etc? Please tell me your opinion.
You summed it up very well. I've been trying to say exactly what you said all along but couldn't get my point across. You nailed it.
If you guys truly believe what you're saying, then all you have is a race between 3 drivers.
Whereas, I believe that what we have is a race between the top car owners who have the biggest number of entries and the biggest bankroll/sponsors. This are the guys who can attract the best drivers and the best crewchiefs.
RE: Nascar at CA
I don't buy it. IMO this notion about being able to win in a "loose" car is nothing more than a smokescreen. The only people that talk that stuff is everyone except the drivers. The fact is, there's a whole lot of difference between a "loose" car and a "free" car. The problem has more to do with "freeing up" the car, while maintaining an optimum roll couple, together with balanced forward grip and balanced side grip. It's not an exact science either. It's a subject that has to be experienced in order to be appreciated.
RE: NASCAR at Richmond....??
Tony's in a real slump....If you can call potentially in position to make the chase a slump. I don't know why his car isn't performing up to the potential of Gibbs racing. Is it all the teams fault or is it the driver? He always peaks later in the season, but he's cutting it to the wire this year.
You can bet it's the car. Heck, you could've put any of the top 20 drivers in Jimmies car, and it would've won anyway. It's not like boxing. Have you ever questioned if it was the gloves? :B
This is called "auto racing", and they're right, it's the autos that's racing. A lifetime of racing has thought me to have more respect for the purser and the crewchief,....the driver is third in line. Sorry, that's the way it is.
But, I still believe that Tony is the most talented driver. The problem is that he's also smart. He's thinking about what he's going be doing in 10 years. HE wants to be the big guy that negotiates with the big sponsors, and HE wants to be the big guy who hires and fires the drivers. You know, there comes a time when you just don't want to be told what to do.
