TBK-Light.com

Did the stream just die on anyone

Nm I think it was on my end


Small chance of drafting in the afternoon session

Danica shot up to 3rd quick

Was just going say, 10mph pick up lol.

Is it the usual single car runs in the morning/drafting in the afternoon agenda? I'm at work, can't see any streams.

I got bored of the single car runs real quick so I shut down the stream. When does the afternoon session start?

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Coverage picks back up at 1 on Speed.

Yeah it's the usual. No one knows I'd they will draft or not in the afternoon. Stewart and Hamlin want too cause they have other commitments

Might as well. I'd choose drafting as much as I can if it were up to me. Qualifying means shit at Daytona unless you qualify 1st or 2nd. After that, it's all about how well your car drafts.

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"Oh but it's too dangerous! We have to save our equipment so we can keep it in one piece, then wreck it on lap one of the 500." - Chad Knaus '12

Obviously not a direct quote, but shows how much sense the "we aren't going to draft" strategy makes.

From what I'm reading on Twitter (I hate saying that but it is a great source for information), The Defending Champion is ready to draft but no one else is. Clint Bowyer is ready to go home. "David Stremme is excited about not participating in the biggest race of the year." (Jim Utter quote). Danica isn't familer with the rookie of the year program how its decided. She also didn't know the name of the new gen6 car.

Fas Lane Racing might run 2 cars for the Sprint Unlimited (hate that name). One for Terry Labonte and one for Kenny Schrader!

The softer springs are making it cool to watch heading off into the corners, you can see the car compress really well and the back of the cars are almost dragging the track surface.

Hamlin and Kenseth trying the tandoms

I saw Denny Hamlin's comments on Speed saying that the cars didn't run as fast when they tried the two car tandem. The cars were faster when there was a gap between the bumpers. He thinks that will help create more pack racing. Hamlin is leaving Daytona after today to be with his wife who is due to give birth.

I read that Tony Stewart is also leaving Daytona after today to race in the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Stewart doesn't race till Saturday. He said on speed if they don't pack practice today he has to stay tomorrow.

I saw TBR HAS Golden Corral stickers on the car. Awesome

So the afternoon session has started correct? Is anyone really drafting?

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Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

Nothing much. Hamlin and Kenseth went out early for about 6-10 laps. The Back on Kenseth Car had some plastic start to tear where Denny was bumping him.

Boring.

_________________
Go Miami Dolphins!
Go New York Yankees!
Go New York Rangers!

During the last 10 minutes of practice the 3 Gibbs car and 55 Mark Martin did a little drafting. To me, it looked like it was hard for the cars to suck up on. It was only 4 cars though. It looked like it was real hard to pass. One interesting thing that happened was Mark Martin was leading the pack and went up the track in 3 and 4. The 3 Gibbs car flew by and Mark kind of lost the draft. He ended up driving back up to the 3 Gibbs cars by the last few laps. It just really looked like the second place guy was having a problem trying to get up to the first place guy, like he was driving into an invisible wall. We will know more in the morning session tomorrow.

5 cars just went out and drafted. They looked pretty good other than being really slow, only 1mph faster then single car runs. Mark Martin actually caught the "pack" by himself.

Could be like the racing in the 70's and 80's.

Edit: Beat me to it.

...so long as it's better than 2000. That's my only worry.

Other than that, the cars look amazing, and the tandem doesn't seem to work that well (which is good), so I'm hoping for 70's\80's\early 90's style plate racing come the Shootout........ er, the "Limited Unlimited".

Surprised to hear all the talk about most of these teams only having so little equipment ready. Most of them only have just one decklid, no backups, etc. Hermie Sadler just said that among the three Gibbs cars, they only have one approved windshield.


So...that is a lot of the reason behind many teams and drivers being hesitant to pack up and draft. They also mentioned that even by itself, the car isn't completely stable. Apparently Gordon and Edwards both mentioned the car being loose during single car runs.

I've got the stream on in the background (I get to work at home two days a week) and I can't believe how much I'm actually enjoying and learning during a single-car testing broadcast.

The only part of the body that is still sheet metal is the roof. I know it was mentioned that the hoods and decklids are carbon fiber. But the sides (fenders etc.) are also apparently a different material. Also, the bodies are no longer fabricated by the teams. Each piece (fenders, side panels, skirts, etc.) is stamped out by the respective manufacturer and sold to the teams, who essentially just assemble the bodies now.