Race 04: Phoenix International Raceway (10Mar17)

[jeromef1]

 
Race Length: 156 Laps (Stage 1 - 40 Laps... Stage 2 - 116 Laps)
Race Name in Game: Good Sam 500

Pre-Race Interview:
1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions?

2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?

3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?

 

[ZeKe_h30]

May miss this race, closing on a house this day, and will probably be in the process of moving that night if everything goes accordingly. Will try like hell to get on, but it's pretty much at the bottom of my list for that day.

 

[AaronWebb85]

May miss this race, closing on a house this day, and will probably be in the process of moving that night if everything goes accordingly. Will try like hell to get on, but it's pretty much at the bottom of my list for that day.

Congrats on the house! We will understand.

 

[Hootius]

May miss this race, closing on a house this day, and will probably be in the process of moving that night if everything goes accordingly. Will try like hell to get on, but it's pretty much at the bottom of my list for that day.

That's pretty awesome bro. Nothing like that first night of closing. We didn't close til 8pm, so we couldn't start moving in until the next day. Went out and bought an air mattress that night because there was no way we were not sleeping in that house lol

 

[Hootius]

1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions?
I think this is a 2 fold answer. First being the track itself. At Daytona and Atlanta, you lived and died with the draft while the cars were constantly on the edge of being out of control to be fast. Vegas was way different. The draft kept you close, but it wasn't the end all-be all because we had to lift and couldn't run balls out like the previous 2 tracks. So naturally, we should have seen less cautions due to that. The 2nd part was I believe was not so much the threat of penalties for driving behaviors, but more that I like to think that it was a league realization that we all had to tighten up a bit and not make this league Days of Thunder. While the War/Bush incident at Atlanta brought out the most emotion in the league, 27 recordable accidents in 2 races showed that all of us as a group had to start giving more respect and race cleaner. Feeling like you are faster than the car in front of you does not give you the right away and you still have to set up a clean pass, and I felt like we saw a big improvement with that Friday night.

2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?
I love the layout and racing of this track. I finished 3rd in S1 with the fastest race lap, so I am looking forward to this race. The one issue I have with this track is more so Heat as a game and not so much the track itself. Turning under braking is really terrible in this game, so of course it would have an impact here (especially once pit adjustments are made).

3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?
I would say that I am most passionate about my Tampa Bay Lightning and UF Gators football. The Buccaneers and Toronto Blue Jays are a very close 2nd in the passion department. I am also huge into MMA, my favorite fighter has to be McGoober because of the insane pro wrestling aspect that he brings to the media events. Speaking of which, I also enjoy 'rasslin and it's a sport to me damnit! For F1, I enjoy watch Mad Max only because he is by far the most "entertaining" one to watch (dude tries to wreck his s*** every week, it's great lol)

 

[vWardude]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions?[/font]
I haven't gotten a chance to watch the race in full so I can't answer 100% accurately, but I believe tracks like Las Vegas make races go much smoother. There's more than 1 line to run so you don't have 16 cars battling for that 1 certain line. 

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?[/font]
Well. In season 1, the week leading up to Phoenix left me with little confidence heading into the races. I didn't see myself in the top 5 unless it was gifted to me. After the race started, I was happy riding around 6-8th until about halfway through the race when the line finally clicked for me. I wound up finishing 1st with a strong car. With that said I'm excited for this track, I've topped my record lap there in practice many times this week and I feel stronger than last season there. I love the uniqueness of this track, not everyone can figure it out.

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Football is my #1 sport. When football season comes around, I'm glued to that tv from 1pm to bedtime lol. I've lived in Massachusetts my whole life and have always been a die hard patriots, celtics, and Red Sox fan(I'm spoiled). I like the bruins but hockey in general has gone downhill to me. I'm a firm believer that if you have a "favorite" team and a "my next favorite" team, then you really don't have a team at all and you are pure bandwagon! Lol[/font]

 

[XSYSE]

1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions?

I think the emphasis on cleaning it up helped out tremendously.  The race itself starting with the new Qualification set-up made things less stressful and set the mood for the remainder of the race.


2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?


I like my chances to get in here, be it probably LCQ again.  What I hate is turn one and the dang inside wall, it's tricky to deal with but it's a nightmare when 4-5 cars try to pile into the same real estate all with different entry's and breaking points.  I feel cautions will go up here just based on people hitting that wall and having no where to get out of the way.

3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?

I will watch anything come playoffs, but I follow the NY Giants religiously, I like to check out the Knicks and Bulls when they are on.  Was really into MMA, but have fallen off the main stream lately.  Once upon a time had a handfull of Amateur Matches myself, but that's not conducive with my career and family, leave it to the young bucks.

 

[Meattyloaf]

1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions?

I think what lead to the long green flag runs is the wide openness of Las Vegas, plus I feel that everyone is starting to put more track time in leading up to the races. I also feel that everyone is continuing to get better racing with one another. I would encourage everyone to practice tire failure practice, it helped me out a bunch this past week. I try to run scenarios when I practice, such as spins, tires going down and running out of gas. I do this to get better and use to recovering from accidents that I may run into in the race. This past week this paid off as my tire went as I was breaking to get to the apron to pit sending me sliding into the grass. I was able to maintain a decent speed without spinning out, while trying to get back to pits and it didn't cost me a lap. Allowing me later on in the race to be aggressive with my pit strategy and push my gas mileage before making my last stop.

2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?

I hate that dog leg on the back stretch (future front stretch). The dog leg is constantly killing my turn 3 entry. I, however, do like how fast the track is and I really enjoy how much of a drivers' race this is. It requires skill and some breaking, which is something we haven't had to do yet this season.

3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?
I enjoy most sports and have a tendency to pull for a favorite. The only sport that I follow more than Stock Car Racing is Football. Unlike popular opinion I prefer the NFL over the NCAA. My favorite NFL team is the Carolina Panthers, I've been a big fan since I was probably 4 years old, so 1999.
NFL- Carolina Panthers
NCAA (both football and basketball)- Virginia Tech Hokies
MLB- Atlanta Braves

 

[cjherring]

[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]1. We had an exciting finish last week with fuel mileage strategy really shaking things up. What do you think lead to the long green flag runs and how can we keep seeing reduced cautions? [/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I think two things lead to the reduced number of cautions. The first, was the way the draft works at Vegas. It isn't like Atlanta or Daytona where the lead car also speeds up from the draft. This lets people get away from each other instead of the draft constantly bringing everyone back together. The second was the new contact rules that were implemented. People were more cognisant of there surroundings and avoiding contact with each other which allowed for better cleaner racing.

2. This week we are at the unique Phoenix International Raceway, what do you like or dislike about this track?
I really like Phoenix and it's uniqueness. The only issue with this track is our inability to adjust the brake bias which makes braking into turn 1 unpredictable at times. I expect at least one person to hit that inside wall going into turn 1.
3. We all enjoy NASCAR, but what other sports do you follow and what are your favorite teams?[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]I'm a huge football fan and follow the NFL season every single year. I've been a life time Patriots fan and I have been very lucky to see such a great dynasty in the history of sports. Aside from football I'm a baseball fan my favorite team being the New York Mets. My entire family are Mets fans and we always go to games. I watch basketball in the post season (both March Madness and the NBA Playoffs) and i guess I'd have to say I'm a LeBron James bandwaggoner.[/font]

 

[ThePatsGuy]

1. I was not able to make this race. However, if everyone gives each other space and respects people's right to their line, we will keep seeing reduced cautions. 
2. Phoenix is probably one of my favorite tracks to drive in this game. The style that you need to attack the track fits in well with my style. The only thing I hate is all the people that will needlessly cut the dogleg and come flying back up the track. IMO cutting the dogleg doesn't give any benefit to a lap time. Needless to say, I absolutely cannot wait for this race. 
3. I'm a fan of just about every other sport. With family being from Boston, Ive been groomed from a very young age to become a diehard pats, , Red Sox, bruins and celtics fan, in that order. However, with me living in Houston my entire life, I'm also a huge Astros and Rockets fan. Until the Texans get rid of their shitty management (fuck you Rick Smith), I cannot fully support the Texans, as they will never cease to disappoint me.