Should the NASCAR stock cars with a Camry wrap be replaced? And if so, by what?

Personally, I would love to see the 2024 Nissan Z. Thoughts?

Like a NASCAR engine swapped into a LMP or touring car or GT car or something like that. I know some drift cars in Formula D have used NASCAR engines but I'm looking more towards sports car racing or even off-road and rally racing

Harrison Burton as you all know will be running for AM Racing in the #15 in Xfinity next season. Moffitt had strong runs but quite inconsistent with AM, driving the #25 in '23. Deegan was very poor last season but was honestly a below average driver at this level.

Harrison Burton won at Daytona but overall had tremendous difficulty being competitive in the Cup series. He ran a little bit better after the Daytona win but it was too late. He didn't have a top 10 finish outside of the plate tracks last season, only five overall top 10's in three seasons at Wood. The win was his only top 5 finish. Last season he had five finishes inside the top 20.

He will have a hard time finding another Cup ride, I think there's a good likelihood he becomes another Xfinity lifer, which isn't anything to be ashamed of. He's running for AM and they have had their difficulties stepping up to the Xfinity level as mentioned above and honestly that holds true in trucks as well. They've had moments of being top flight among the independents but haven't been able to consistently establish themselves there in the upper levels of Nascar yet. Harrison didn't cut it in Cup, but I don't think he's a bad driver for the Xfinity level and his money goes a longer way in Xfinity.

How well do you expect Burton to run in 2025 for AM in Xfinity? I think a top 18 points finish would be a good result for both he and the AM team. Anything more would be a bonus. Their equipment is not as bad as some think, IMO, and Harrison is pretty much a veteran at this point, so there's no....really no business why they shouldn't be a top 20-ish team honestly in my mind. What do you all think?

If NASCAR went full on electric? What if they made artificial noise, I still would because I just love racing but I could see purists not liking it, the sport was built on souped up cars, buuuut it seems manufacturers are leaning i to electric.

I’m just now reading all the breaking news from today’s court ruling. Did anybody listen to Sirius XM and if so, can anybody describe how Dave Moody was? Typical insufferable carrying nascar water, or just beyond pissed off and hanging up on everybody? Wait….thats typical of him too.

The Road Racing Center of the East

Across the Nutmeg State we go, deep into the northern Appalachian Mountains where we find one of the new boys on the Truck schedule: Lime Rock Park.

Route 7 must be hell on racedays

Overview and History

Situated in the northwestern corner of Connecticut in Lakeville, the Lime Rock Park is the newest addition to the Craftsman Truck Series calendar for 2025. Opening in 1957, Lime Rock is the 3rd oldest continuously operating road course in America, after Willow Springs in California and Road America in Wisconsin. With the help of the Calspan Corporation under the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory moniker, Jim Vaill and John Fitch built the track using (for the time period) state-of-the-art roadmaking technologies to construct a 1.53 mile circuit that cuts through the foothills of the Berkshire Mountain area. In 1984, Skip Barber (founder of the eponymous racing school) took ownership of the track, and held it until April 2021 when a group of investors under the Lime Rock Park LLC name bought the track.

It wasn’t long until the first race was held in April 1957, nor for major sports cars to come knocking on Lime Rock’s doors to race, which they have done for decades. In 1989, a chicane was added to the inside of The Uphill turn, with a further reprofiling in 2008 that added another optional chicane in the West Bend past the backstraightaway to go along with a much-needed repave, the first in 50 years. But apart from those minor alterations, the track has remained more or less the same since it opened back in ‘57.

expected course layout for the Trucks in 2025

Among the oddities of this track include the fact that there’s only one “real” left-hand turn on the main course: turn 2 after the questionable pit exit line approaching turn 1. Owing to the mountainous topological profiling of the area, the track has no grandstands or bleacher seating anywhere on the property, unique for big American road tracks. The facility is northerly neighbored by an auto glass shop, an episcopal church, a classic car dealership, and a farm called Skinny Dog Farm, which (according to Google Maps) has a fantastic view of the turn 1 area overlooking the pedestrian bridge.

the homely feel to the track makes Lime Rock quite unique across American motorsports

Did You Know?

- The length of the track has been disputed for ages; legend has it that when they measured the track right after it was built, someone took a lap in a Chevrolet that had the odometer at 1.53 miles, and that measurement was used for years. However, after the 2008 reconfiguration track officials found that each variation was around 1.5 miles, give or take a couple hundred feet in either direction. 

- It’s because of the nearby episcopal church that Sunday racing doesn’t happen at Lime Rock, but instead on Fridays and Saturdays, an injunction that has withstood Connecticut courts since 1959.

- Lime Rock Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

How Do You Win Here?

In a truck? We will find out in 6 months on national television. In a sports car? Make sure you hook the curbs in the chicane and the final 2 sweeping curves, and avoid hooking the center of the corner in the double apex Big Bends of turns 1 and 2. The short laptime leaves little room for error, and the relatively thin racetrack leaves little room to pass cars for position or to get around lap traffic, which WILL stack up quicker than you may think for a 1.5 mile track.

hard to go 2 wide on a track that feels like a winding county highway at times

Along with the Trucks, the ARCA Menards Series will make its debut at the Connecticut circuit; it will be interesting how stock car and supertruck alike will take the terrain of Lime Rock in the heat of the New England summertime.

FOX better be thanking that episcopal church that they can broadcast a truck race on Saturday to make room for IndyCar the following day

On the next episode of 2025 Daytona 500 Countdown...

We'll be crossing state lines again to find dirt on some old racetrack in the 518...

https://www.gibbonsfuneralhome.com/obituaries/2024/12/18/fred-lorenzen/

Taylor Grey and Kyle Sieg in the lower series also had their first flips.

Just a question with not a lot of espousing coming from me, more something I've been meaning to ask and want to put in the air. They have had a few elite seasons during this time and obviously, run much better in Xfinity than Cup though that's also easier to do. But in Cup, yeah, they've had strong years, but overall, this has been a second class team, and you can even take it back a bit further than that, where Dale started seeing his results....while still great, going from Elite to Great in the late 90's. Skinner with plenty of bad luck but still never won a race. And there is a history of guys performing better either after leaving RCR (Harvick, Bowyer) or seeing their performance drop after joining RCR (KyBu, Mears). I think there is an argument to Harvick, Burton, guys with that level of talent elevating this equipment.

What do you all think? They may have the name and legacy but this is no elite team to me at the top level, but maybe you all disagree.

I'm cutting down my NASCAR watching (don't care who wins the champ any more, looking at you play offs). So, what tracks, if you could only watch 5, would you watch and why?

The guy's in one of the top 5-6 best teams of the cup,yet he doesnt highlight as much as for example:Buescher or Chastain,he is more like a Daniel Suarez,chill,charismatic,hell of a person but not as talented as others on the track. At least thats my perception of him but i'd like to hear more of yours

Simple question. He had an interesting career. His Cup career never got off the ground. His best opportunity in Cup was in the #30 for RCR but that car was a struggle for years, and Sauter was no different. That was basically his only shot in anything resembling above average equipment although the #30 was not elite equipment, however it is true Burton came in and was competitive with that car. He had an opportunity in the #70, which was another car that struggled for years, during the time Cup was at its most competitive. He didn't have the worst 2007 season but was replaced for 2008. Really Johnny was kinda on the sidelines and came in to replace Mayfield who had been released from the #70, but Johnny was unable to perform any better and was also replaced himself again in that car.

He had an up and down Busch series career where he had some very high moments, was able to capture a few wins, but also was pretty accident prone and never a real contender for a championship. He was racey and developed a reputation as a guy with a bit of a temper who ran his cars hard.

Johnny really broke out as a driver in the truck series with Thor and GMS. Won a championship and a decade's worth of top 10 seasons and elite performance. Still feisty but think he was a better thinker behind the wheel and put full races together more efficiently. It didn't help he was in some of the best trucks but obviously it took until he reached his 30s for him to find his groove as a talent.

He's still around now although he is now obviously past his prime as a driver. How would you rate Johnny Sauter's career and he as a driver?

Have there been any reports of NASCAR coming back to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park? There was talk about it last year, and the NASCAR CANADA CUP has good racing. There was talk of Xfinity going to around 2025 back in 2019, but then COVID-19 hit. Does anyone know?

Welcome to this week's General Discussion Wednesday!

General Discussion Wednesday - a post to discuss whatever you want: the economy, other sports, books, movies, or anything else on your mind, even further NASCAR discussion!