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Post by divebitch on Aug 10, 2015 11:40:56 GMT -5
Okay, I know it's more physically demanding than it looks, it's not just sitting on your ass for 4 hours. But why do they seem to decline? Slowed reflexes? Judgement/mind not as sharp? I can't imagine it's boredom or burnout. All the tracks are different, light traveling, it's only once a week, and the stress has gotta lessen. And then of course, there's the paycheck. There gotta be a fraction of post-career related opportunities compared to say football. Maybe it was the 2 seniors (44) that finished last yesterday that got me wondering. Stewart's best days are long behind him - but it's his life, and he own half (?) the team. Gordon's had his struggles this year, but he decided to retire before the year even started. And he was successful last year. He looks fit, happy.
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Post by Nathan on Aug 10, 2015 12:57:13 GMT -5
Well it really depends on who. I would say for Jeff, its a combo of new rules packages, cars, a general radical changing of the times, and him not wanting to be like Bobby Labonte in the fact that he once was a great driver and champion but then hung around way to long and was never even close to competitive. Jeff also sees his family growing and wants to spend time with them, he sees outside business interests (He's already been named the global business adviser for Axalta), and Chase Elliott is coming up. Combined with the fact that he was the real champion last year (Insert Rant) proved that he still can win championships and is ultra competitive. As far as this year goes its just a combo of bad luck and rule changes that the team, and HMS in general, haven't wrapped their brains around, it sucks. All being said, for Jeff, its just the right time.
For Tony, its been a nightmare since he broke his leg, downhill ever since, he's got to get his head strait. With him, its a big issue of lack of confidence plus lack of drive, so to speak, we'll see. He'll hang around, racing is all he knows.
But now you think about Mark Martin, and Bobby Allison, they won in their 50s. Dale Earnhardt was 49 when he died.
Nowadays the first thing to go with aging is reflexes. Quickness declines with everybody. But for Jeff, and Matt Kenseth (who's old too), there's no real on-track reason to retire. Dale Jr seemingly only has a few years left but he seems to be hitting his stride, interestingly enough. Jimmie is the one to watch, he's going to be 40 this September. But he's still going very strong, he and his crew have adapted better than anyone through these times of madness. We'll see when retirement talk begins with him.
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Post by Jeppers on Aug 10, 2015 13:06:37 GMT -5
Harry Gant won a race when he was 52. The oldest driver ever to win a race
I think alot of them see alot of older drivers just not succeed and they dont want to go down the same road.
I think Tony will retire in less than 2 years
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Post by divebitch on Aug 10, 2015 14:36:13 GMT -5
Well it really depends on who. I would say for Jeff, its a combo of new rules packages, cars, a general radical changing of the times, and him not wanting to be like Bobby Labonte in the fact that he once was a great driver and champion but then hung around way to long and was never even close to competitive. Jeff also sees his family growing and wants to spend time with them, he sees outside business interests (He's already been named the global business adviser for Axalta), and Chase Elliott is coming up. Combined with the fact that he was the real champion last year (Insert Rant) proved that he still can win championships and is ultra competitive. As far as this year goes its just a combo of bad luck and rule changes that the team, and HMS in general, haven't wrapped their brains around, it sucks. All being said, for Jeff, its just the right time. For Tony, its been a nightmare since he broke his leg, downhill ever since, he's got to get his head strait. With him, its a big issue of lack of confidence plus lack of drive, so to speak, we'll see. He'll hang around, racing is all he knows. But now you think about Mark Martin, and Bobby Allison, they won in their 50s. Dale Earnhardt was 49 when he died. Nowadays the first thing to go with aging is reflexes. Quickness declines with everybody. But for Jeff, and Matt Kenseth (who's old too), there's no real on-track reason to retire. Dale Jr seemingly only has a few years left but he seems to be hitting his stride, interestingly enough. Jimmie is the one to watch, he's going to be 40 this September. But he's still going very strong, he and his crew have adapted better than anyone through these times of madness. We'll see when retirement talk begins with him. Nowadays?!?! lol Natural selection has certainly sped up. I totally get it with Gordon. He's a star. He's have more opportunities than a Kenseth or Dinger. And even though it's weekends, the season is ridiculously long - mid Feb thru Nov. Compare to football where the season is shorter and 1/2 the games at home, more manageable probably. Keep in mind, I didn't follow racing one iota until last year, so still seeing trends and nuances, no idea how the rules have changed - only that they have. So perhaps a better way to word my true question would be 'Why are the careers so short?' (as opposed to 'retiring'). I realize quickness declines in most ways. But I figured that driving was a thing where you just get better and better at with experience including reflexes - until maybe 50s. I'm probably wrong. I'm thinking now that it probably happens by early 40's and your experience is the only thing that keeps ya in the game. Aside from the rest of a great team of course. Harry Gant won a race when he was 52. The oldest driver ever to win a race I think alot of them see alot of older drivers just not succeed and they dont want to go down the same road. I think Tony will retire in less than 2 years Well, I doubt a team owner is gonna keep a sub-par driver whether that driver wants to go down that road or not. I think Stewart also has opportunities, and may be content to manage Stewart-Haas. He's always struck me as not wrapped too tight, so IDK what to think.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 22:14:20 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2015 22:19:20 GMT -5
They get arthritis and carple tunnel. They get scared. They lose lots of testosteron. They want to go fishing. They want to do something else.
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Post by steelers1954 on Aug 11, 2015 9:39:43 GMT -5
Yes it is physically demanding that's why most if not all have some type of fitness program to get & keep them in shape during & after the season is over. If you've seen when they show the inside camera shots they ain't out on a Sunday cruise, they are fighting with the steering wheel almost constantly to get the car to do what they want. Depending on the weather the track temps can be over 100 degrees, an by the end of a race the drivers can lose 5 pounds or more. The drivers take a beating inside those cars an depending on the condition of the track,then you have all the beating & banging (rubbing)on each other not to mention those times they hit the wall or get caught up in a wreck, I guess after awhile it takes it's toll on the drivers. Tony Stewart hasn't been the same since he had multiple surgeries to his leg and killing that driver has taken a bigger toll on him then anyone thought. Call it what ya want but Tony's mind & heart just ain't into racing like it was and at this point all he's doing is running laps. With Jeff Gordon I think it's couple of factors 1) the new rule package maybe just a small part, 2) being able to spend more time with the family is a bigger part and 3) the biggest part is Jeff's back problems, it's taking longer for him to recover after the race and the therapy needed to get him ready for the next race. Speaking about the old man Mark Martin no one trained like he did when he was driving I bet he's still in better shape than most of the young drivers.
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Post by Nathan on Aug 11, 2015 14:44:49 GMT -5
Lol yeah nowadays, quick reflexes are more necessary with these cars as opposed to the 70s-80s cars. Because of greater speeds, closer racing, ride heights/suspension setups for speed, and different handling in general, the cars require a greater need of fast reflexes. There's more snappy finesse to drive these cars and less muscling them around the track, so to speak.
And YES! The season is too long, for the love of god shorten it, not as short of Indycar (Numnuts) but start the season the week after the Super Bowl and end it at the end of September or October. Do not, repeat, DO NOT try to compete head to head with the height of NFL season. There should be no NASCAR racing in November. Bring back Winter Testing in January, have a few off weeks, say 3-4, scattered throughout the year.
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Post by divebitch on Aug 11, 2015 15:53:03 GMT -5
[img src=" " src="http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-laughing024.gif"] do I need to read all this? [/img] [/img] Hey Drivebich. you know we should probably pick a winner and a car manufacturer in the bonus section right? If you don't know where to find that, PM and I will explain it. [/img][/quote] ^^^^^^^^What is wrong with him? Or should it be obvious by now? And you're starting to sound like Morkim. Lol yeah nowadays, quick reflexes are more necessary with these cars as opposed to the 70s-80s cars. Because of greater speeds, closer racing, ride heights/suspension setups for speed, and different handling in general, the cars require a greater need of fast reflexes. There's more snappy finesse to drive these cars and less muscling them around the track, so to speak. And YES! The season is too long, for the love of god shorten it, not as short of Indycar (Numnuts) but start the season the week after the Super Bowl and end it at the end of September or October. Do not, repeat, DO NOT try to compete head to head with the height of NFL season. There should be no NASCAR racing in November. Bring back Winter Testing in January, have a few off weeks, say 3-4, scattered throughout the year. Great post and sensible explanation on the diff in cars todays as it relates to reflexes. It seems Nascar is really shooting itself in the foot, not just with NFL, but it also competing with MLB playoffs/Word Series. Not to even mention that many people don't have NBC Sports. With Fox it was bad enough that practices were on Foz Sports, but with the exception on a major int'l sporting event, all the Sprint Cup races were on plain Fox. NBC apparently can't be bothered. And that's not Nascar's fault, nor NBC's, is it? But why switch mid-season to a network that's many/most people don't get? Especially the kind more inclined to watch it? That was a redneck joke. Oh, Nascar has Aug 30th as a week off, football will not have started yet. Preseason game 4 nobody even watches. Jeffrey, I was not aware Gordon had back problems. Unless you give it a long rest, they usually just get worse. No one wants to live with back pain, I know you know.
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Post by divebitch on Aug 14, 2015 11:49:51 GMT -5
But now you think about Mark Martin, and Bobby Allison, they won in their 50s. Dale Earnhardt was 49 when he died. Watching 1st practice. They showed a race from 2009 where Martin won due to 2 guys ahead of him running out of gas - think Kayne was the 2nd one. Not as bogus as that Daytona win for Almirola, after most of the field had crashed, and maybe 10 drivers didn't finish at all. Danica was 7th, having amazingly avoided any trouble. Sounds more impressive than if you saw the race.
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Post by Jeppers on Aug 14, 2015 16:25:51 GMT -5
I know who will win Michigan.
Wait...no I dont.
It could be out of 5 drivers.
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Post by divebitch on Aug 14, 2015 18:15:25 GMT -5
Well I could KEEP Edwards and still afford Ragan, or I could buy Kenseth and still afford Yeley, who looked pretty good, and perfectly happy with getting zero pts from (it's all gravy).
I'm going with Kenseth, pulling no punches, so I'm leaning that way. The LLs and FLs might make up for the PDs. Never saw Hamlin comin'. Mad for going back and forth between Brad & Kenseth. Yeah, they all say that.
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Post by steelers1954 on Aug 14, 2015 18:34:27 GMT -5
I know who will win Michigan.Wait...no I dont. It could be out of 5 drivers. Now that's a first.
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