very nice collection up there..^^^^

 

He's even got Bill Elliott cars from the years he sucked!!!

Elliott was the man... that '87 Thunderbird will probably always be the fastest NASCAR in history.

 

Well well well.... Brian Pattie is the man who probably screwed Montoya out of a Pocono win. He also screwed him up at Indy twice... maybe the new chief will get Montoya to victory lane in Indy... or maybe Montoya will keep Montoya out of victory lane...

Pattie replaced as crew chief on Montoya's car - Jul 19, 2011 - NASCAR.COM

 

So Ford isn't bringing the Mustang to cup.... Chevrolet already neglected the Camaro for Nationwdie... Ford will stay with the Fusion

Guess I'll just have to go be a Chevy guy...

Ford sticking with Fusion brand for new Cup car - Jul 20, 2011 - NASCAR.COM

In all of their defense, the Ford Mustang has a recessed grill... this feature is why the Torino was redesigned for hte '69 Talladega. The recessed grill creates a lot of front drag at high speeds. The Talladega had a flush mounted grill....

The Camaro, Challenger, naD Mustang all have a 60's-70's esque front grill that can create a lot of front drag at 150 mph... below that, you're good. Ford may very well be stickign wtih their fusion, and Chevrolet may have kept the Impala in Nationwide, because the sloping front end is much more aerodynamic...

What I'm talking about...


'68 Torino, of course... recessed in front grill, big cavity between bumper and hood...



The '69 fix for the front end:




Bring us today... the front of the Mustang.... recessed grill:



You can tell when Ford adapted the design, they were trying to work around the recessed grill as much as possible.

Compare to the new Fusion:



It's just an easier, more aerodynamic front end to work around than that Mustang can ever give you! IT may be that hte Ford guys are having problems setting up the cars around the front end on the Nationwide side and don't want it brought to Cup.


Perhaps Ford looked back and realized what fixed their problems in '68 and applied to to 2011. Weird. None of this is stated in the article, but I think this is the reason they were so fired up about bringing ni Mustangs and are suddenly shying away... I mean, it's either redesign a car for NASCAR that you are selling hundreds of thousands of a year, or just get another car from the line up that already works better....

 

Hi `Duane, our MCF Historian...Again you have posted, shared some great information and history...Thank You 4-Sure.
Below is from Nascar for your viewing pleasure:

Inside NASCAR
^click above^

Wednesday

After 19 Cup races, 13 drivers won. To the casual observer, every celebration may look the same, but as this photo essay shows, each journey is unique. More2011 Highlights: Choose by race, driver, teams, etc.

EnJoy
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Lots of firings going on this off week... Todd Berrier is out as the crew cheif of the 31 of Jeff Burton... about time, the guy is one of like 2 full time drivers with no top 10 this year... the other is like Landon Cassill or some crap. Lots of drivers at the RCR camp have done better after parting ways with Berrier. Also, the Executive VP at Michael Waltrip was fired. Can't say that's going to make a difference, but it might.... real problem there is the owner as far as I can tell.

 

Just watched the forecast. Scattered showers Friday for practice, maybe some scattered on Saturday and high of mid 90's both Sat and Sunday. Track temps will be up and maybe provide a slippery track for some action. Better take that into acct for your picks. Was anyone penalized after the last race. I think there was mention of Kurt Busch being too low.

 

I think im gonna go with
Gordon
Stewart
Johnson

They seem to run good at indy

 

I never read about any penalties last race, but Kurt Busch got away with murder. Loose pushing rules this year.

I also just read that Kenny Francis will be crew chief of the 5 car with Kasey Kahne next year - i.e. Lance McGrew will get **** canned at the end of the year for doing a lousy job, but he's good enough for Martin until then.

No picks from me until after qualifying (more then a little significant at the Brickyard)

 

I may come home from practice and quals and edit my picks.