rec.autos.simulators

Dave

Okay, let me get this straight.  You want to put gravel in place of the grass
at places like C***te, Daytona, Dega, etc.   Hmmm.  I can just see the
drivers' meeting the morning they announce that little tidbit.  I think they
better turn off the live mics before they announce it though.

"Okay guys, we're replacing all the grass in the front tri-oval and quad-oval
areas around the country for safety reasons.  So, instead of just sliding
through the grass and probably being able to drive on, you'll sink up to your
axles and require at least two tow trucks to get you out.  You'll probably
lose two or three laps while this process is handled and you'll be listening
to gravel bouncing off the bottom of your cars for at least thirty laps after
you've returned to the race track.  Any questions?"

Dave Casey
Casey#9 (NASCAR Racing 4)
www.teamcasey.net
www.lvkc.com
www.buycoolcrap.com

...

Would he have flipped when there was no gravel?

Ruud van Gaal, GPL Rank +53.25
Pencil art    : http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/
Car simulation: http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery/racer/

Nope.

Dave

Yes it would.  Not only that, it would probably stop a car travelling 150+ mph
in just a few feet and might possibly even sling the car, spinning, back out
into traffic.  I can't imagine the idiocy of this idea not gelling in the
minds of the people proposing this suggestion.  How stupid would it be to put
soft walls around the turns at Darlington?

I'm all for soft walls at the road courses and I'm sure Jimmy Johnson is too.  
Let's do it.  One thing that hasn't been advertised about his crash though,
mostly because it would hinder the cause of soft wall lunatics, is that, not
only did Jimmy punch through about 10 feet of styro but, he also punched right
through the guardrail.  How many people know that?  He didn't hit a concrete
wall, he knocked a hole in a steel guardrail, thereby transferring some of the
energy of the crash to the guardrail.

Dave Casey
Casey#9 (NASCAR Racing 4)
www.teamcasey.net
www.lvkc.com
www.buycoolcrap.com

Okay, how about the car hitting at a 10 angle?  Any wall that has any kind of
"give" at an oval is going to be nothing but trouble.

Dave Casey
Casey#9 (NASCAR Racing 4)
www.teamcasey.net
www.lvkc.com
www.buycoolcrap.com

Are you new to racing?  Explain to me how the addition of gravel to the inside
of the track would have, in any possible way, saved Dales' life.  I doubt very
seriously that you would have even one WC driver step up and say, "yeah, let's
add gravel traps to the inside of the ovals we race on."  I mean, where the
hell are you saying put the gravel traps?  In tri- and quad-ovals?  Not one
Cup driver is going to want to see this.  Not one.  Read my lips, NOT ONE.  In
the spacious grassy expanses of the turns at Martinsville?  Yeah, let's
replace two feet of grass with gravel.  That'll be a real hoot when one driver
cuts across it, throws some gravel out on the track and then all the other
drivers, for the next twenty laps are cussing in their radios about rocks
pelting their windshields.  

Like I said before, gravel traps and styro at the road courses, beautiful, no
problem.  Besides, it shows us who is adept at getting through the gravel
without hitting anything and without sinking his car up to its' axles.  Kind
of like Rusty did last year at Watkins.

Dave Casey
Casey#9 (NASCAR Racing 4)
www.teamcasey.net
www.lvkc.com
www.buycoolcrap.com

--Steve

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.ymenard.com/
-- People think it must be fun to be a genius, but they don't realise how
hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

Dave

Dave

First car into the gravel stops.  Second car into the gravel hits first
car.  Continue up to 10 cars or as high as needed.  :-(

Jason.

Yep, that was an impressive crash what with going straight in and all that
styrofoam flying everywhere.  It was great to see him get out safely.

   Nah, it'd be great.  The gravel traps and air bags and tire walls
would take up about 80% of the available track surface, so you'd have
a single lane of traffic and no passing.  Just like F1.

   How's that tickle ya?  :)

"But in a way, fear is a big part of racing, because if there was
nothing to be frightened of, and no limit, any fool could get into
a motor car and racing would not exist as a sport." -- Jim Clark