It’s the biggest dig most any other auto racing community can make at NASCAR: once drops start falling from the sky, it’s time to go inside. Normally, when rain starts to fall on a race, that’s that…it’s time to get the cars off of the track and into the hauler and wait for Race Control to figure out what is going to happen next. Which makes the Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio even more interesting than it should have been. Rain started to fall shortly after the green flag dropped, and teams were given the chance to switch to rain tires. Justin Marks (42), who has a strong background in road-course racing, proved to be the one to catch, especially while other racers were sliding around as if the track was iced over. With smaller brakes and heavier weight than a normal sports car, both Marks and Sam Hornish, Jr. were driving delicately and running at the front of the pack, while further down the line cars were spinning off into the grass or the sand traps. Marks ended up taking the victory, with Hornish, Jr. just off of his tail in the worst part of the race, his first NASCAR Xfinity win.
This is just silly.. have the author never been in a rain when on the highway,, with a bunch of cars. you can\’t see anything because of the water being tossed about..
and you think this is a good idea for circle track racing..
unlike other forms of racing that on a good day follow each other and then dive bomb in a turn.. 40 cars lined up at a race in the rain would not make it through turn 1..
Heck dragstrips won\’t run 2 cars down it if it\’s wet.. and you want 40 cars spray\’n water into a fog/cloud to only wreck in turn 1..
They could have made it thru turn 1 but we all know racers don’t have patience. Most race just as hard on lap 1 as the last lap.
as it should be.. it\’s a race not a Sunday sights see\’n drive
Kinda funny statement coming from a mostly drag race oriented site. A crosswind will shut a strip down…
I watched it on my DVR and it was just stupid. Like a Keystone Cops movie. Lottsa mud, dirt and grass and some actual damage here and there.
Nest NASCAR will have Gal’s in short skirts and go go boots using hand signals to guide drivers into the pit boxes…
Great race, glad he one. Clearly had the best car control. Some of the NASCAR regulars did a good job as well. Welcome to racing like the rest of the world does, in the rain.
when has a drag race happened in the rain??
when has a F1 indy car or any other race been anything more than follow the leader and a junkyard wrecking ball.
Sure it makes great youtube video\’s to watch cars slide inot each other in a corner,, making a million dollar pyle up..
sorry that isn\’t racing.. that\’s just counting off laps
Won, silly autocorrect
They should do this more often… it would be much more interesting seeing cars and drivers adapt to conditions!
The cars just are not really set up for this, nor do most of the drivers have experience in those conditions. However if changes could be made (beyond rain tires) I could see this working in the future. Problem is I think road courses would be the only place this would work. Racing in in the rain on a banked oval…I think not. If nascar really wants to become the premier racing league it wants to be racing in poor conditions is something that has to happen. I already think road courses should have a bigger presence in the sport (and I’m a drag racing guy), and he’ll adding some wipers to the car should help the visibility issue.
\”IF NASCAR WANTS TO BE A PREMIER RACING LEAGUE\”
Indy car, cart, F!, etc would kill to have the fan base Nascar has..
LOve how all th DRAG RACERS think circle track racers need to race in the rain, risking their neck/equipment, time,money and fans welfare,and risk a car pile up in a turn and a car fly\’n straight through the fence into the fans..
when if a mist comes through, they shut down a dragstrip..
heck the racers cry if the track isn\’t \”prep\’d\” enough..
Those in glass houses..
This race was a road course, it never fly on a oval banked or not..
Funny, people cried when circle track race is follow the leader until 25 to go, but you think this is a good idea.. It has nothing to do with car control, and everything with being a racer.. a racer wants to race.. not have to tip toe around the track to not get a DNF..
Maybe when your type motorsport starts racing in the rain you can throw stones.. I won\’t hold my breath.. heck, Lord helmet here tried to say that the equipment that can dry a 2.5mile track can\’t do a 1/4 one.. and the reason the New England race was a wash out..
what you are asking of circle track racers, is the same as asking drag racers to not race until the last 25 yards.. not gonna happen..
“I know this much about racing in the rain. I know it is about balance. It is about anticipation and patience… [it is also] about the mind! It is about owning one’s body… It is about believing that you are not you; you are everything. And everything is you.”
― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
I certainly understand not drag racing on a slick track. As for circle track racing; overweight cars set up to turn well in one direction only are not suited to wet conditions.
But all road racers know they will sometimes be tested in wet conditions. We study the art, we practice it on wet tracks, it makes us better drivers. NASCAR should be applauded for this move. Watching this video was like watching masters at work, masters of car control and patience. I submit that if you did not like watching this race, you are not really a racing fan.
My next race is at Sebring. It will likely rain in the afternoon. It will be slippery, especially turn 12. But as Garth Stein said, racing in the rain will make me strive to improve my skills, and ultimately believe in myself. If the amateurs can do that, I think the NASCAR pros should be able to handle it.
I\’d agree with you, other than After being at tracks and at the drivers meeting, I\’m willing to bet the drivers were told point blank to take it easy.. and not turn the track into a junkyard..
might as well pulled 4 plug wires from the cars..
That is not a race..
as far as the Nascar pro\’s oh, they can do it.. what happens when a block of fans get hurt/killed from a car turning backwards into a wall, and the next using it as a ramp to hop over or through the fence into the fans..
will that make you happy.. when auto-racing is killed off totally as no one will insure the tracks..
go watch video of races in the rain, other cars can\’t see the wrecks and are going full steam into them.. because they can\’t see..
unlike open wheel and such with huge gaps between the cars and fans.
many circle tracks, it\’s the wall, and the width of a country road then the stands..
They been darn lucky the wrecks into the fence have not been head on into the fence or fans would have been hurt/killed..
adding rain and wet/slippery everything is just asking to get someone killed, and not a driver or team member.. a FAN.. or FANS..
Sorry Crazy, you are just crazy wrong. Racing in the rain is very common among most sanctioning bodies, especially those that sanction road racing. And the apocalyptic scene you are painting is not the case. There are incidents to be sure, perhaps even more than normal, but it is just another test of man and machine, which is exactly what racing is and should be.
I have done a lot of racing in the rain, it is hard, it can be scary, it is also great fun when you get it right, which most of the time me and most of the people I race against do.
Racing is facing some real challenges to be sure, but it is not in any danger of being killed off because of track carnage, in fact, racing is far safer now at every level than it ever has been, for the fans and the drivers. And continuing improvements in safety are rolled out every year.
Crazy is just that, sounds like Ralph Nader. Read ” The Art of Racing in the Rain” , it’s a book, and it’s fiction, but maybe you’ll get it