Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: gofaster on February 11, 2004, 09:47:16 AM
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Interesting point is made by Jeremy Mayfield in this article about post-race celebrations where the driver revs his engine so hard that it blows apart. I hadn't considered that.
Victory Celebrations Become Burning Question
By TONY FABRIZIO afabrizio@tampatrib.com
Published: Feb 11, 2004
DAYTONA BEACH - Kyle Busch had just taken the checkered flag in Saturday's 200-mile ARCA race. He put the nose of his Chevy against the wall near the start/finish line, popped his clutch with the engine revved and sent a plume of smoke into the grandstand.
Here we go again.
Victory burnouts, once unthinkable because of the stress on equipment, have become a staple. They're stock car racing's answer to the slam dunk and touchdown dance. They're the Lambeau Leap, Terrell Owens with the Sharpie, Joe Horn with the cell phone, the pitcher leaping into the catcher's arms after a no- hitter.
More than that, they're a total sensory experience. They're loud, smelly and, at times, spectacularly visual.
Young drivers love 'em. The heavy-metal set in the grandstands loves 'em. Old-school drivers are split, with some saying they're unprofessional, wasteful or even dangerous.
``I'm literally sick of the burnouts,'' said Rusty Wallace, one of the biggest critics. ``I think it's ridiculous. I think it's dumb. That's my opinion, and they all think I'm dumb for saying that. I get so tired of guys sitting there just doing doughnuts like a bunch of school kids. I don't see any maturity in it whatsoever.''
Wallace said that if he wins Sunday's Daytona 500, he'll do his trademark ``Polish Victory Lap,'' started in the early '90s by Alan Kulwicki.
``I'll go around the race track backward like I normally do and salute my fans,'' Wallace said. ``It'll be an energetic Victor Lane, but it won't be spinning around in circles. I want my fans to see my car. I don't want it to be sitting in a big ol' pile of smoke.''
NASCAR doesn't take an official position on burnouts, although Vice President for Communications Jim Hunter says he thinks ``they're cool.''
Still, it's telling that during a year of burnout one- upmanship, the 2003 celebration that garnered the most attention was Terry Labonte's classy parade of the checkered flag at Darlington. Labonte took a slow lap in a tribute that fit the mood at the final Labor Day weekend running of the Southern 500.
``I'm too old to do doughnuts,'' Labonte explained afterward. ``I think it's goofy looking.''
Burnouts date at least to the '50s. They disappeared from racing's top leagues for a few decades until the mid '90s, when Alex Zanardi brought them back in CART.
Zanardi, the ebullient Italian, made doughnuts not only his trademark but also a work of art.
Then came Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s long-overdue Daytona 500 win in 1998. Earnhardt celebrated by pulling into Daytona's manicured infield and laying down four black swirls. It hadn't been done before, and it created a monster.
From there, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Greg Biffle started smoking up the grandstands after Busch series wins. It wasn't long before burnouts and doughnuts came to Winston Cup.
``They're a lot of fun,'' Earnhardt Jr. said. ``When the rear tires catch on fire, that's the king in my book. I've seen a few of those.''
Harvick gets the nod for the best tire melt. After winning last year's Brickyard 400, he subjected his rear tires to so much heat that one shredded and tore chunks out of the rear quarter panel.
But the longest burnout belongs to Tony Stewart, put down after his Pocono victory last June.
``I went the entire length of the frontstretch,'' Stewart brags. ``Unless somebody can beat that, I'm not interested in watching them anymore.''
Rev-limiters are supposed to protect an engine during a burnout, but there's always the risk of blowing the engine, tearing up the brakes or otherwise damaging the car.
Jimmie Johnson blew his engine after his first Winston Cup victory in 2002 and has toned down his celebrations since.
``I had rods hanging off the side of it when it was all said and done,'' Johnson said. ``I was told not to do it to that extent again.''
Mike Skinner doesn't mind burnouts but would like to see more originality in victory celebrations. Reminded that Carl Edwards does back flips after winning in the Craftsman Truck series, Skinner joked, ``I can't wait 'til he busts his [rear] one day. It'll be hilarious. I don't care how good you are [at flips]. If he was that good, he wouldn't be driving a race truck.''
Bobby Hamilton Sr., an owner/driver in the truck series, worries that a burnout will go awry and someone will get hurt.
``For example, when Jamie McMurray won that race for Sterling Marlin [at Charlotte in 2002], the crew ran out there, and he was doing burnouts,'' Hamilton said. ``I've been waiting for somebody to spin around and clip somebody.''
Jeremy Mayfield sees another angle. He wonders whether there's an ulterior motive to over-revving an engine just before it's subjected to the post- race inspection.
``What gets me is, how do you check the motor after you've beat up all your valves and beat up your heads?'' Mayfield asks, hinting that engine damage may be making an illegal competitive advantage.
Even drivers who don't like burnouts don't complain too much about the showboating unless it's over the top.
Kyle Bush's burnout at Darlington last September for finishing second in the Busch race rankled a few people.
Said veteran Ken Schrader, ``I've always said, the next race I win, I'm not going to do a burnout. The coolest thingI've seen was how Terry Labonte just pulled into Victory Lane. That was so cool.''
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If they want to impress me, do donuts during the race (http://home.earthlink.net/~mikeywaltz/Gilles%20&%20Herv%e9%20Panizzi%20-%20Peugeot%20206%20WRC%20-%20Rally%20Catalunya%202002%20(Viladrau%20I).avi), and go on to win.
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Many have, Funked-Stewart did it last year and Gordon has done it several times.
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I don't think we are talking about the same thing. I'm talking about intentionally spinning a car 360 deg during the race and continuing on to win the race. Post race doesn't count, accidents don't count, yellow flag doesn't count.
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I guess when you race for fun you can do that, when there is a 20 million dollar program involved it would be kind of stupid.
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I believe Danny Sullivan spun 360 heading towards the finish line and still managed to win the 1985 Indy 500 race.
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Originally posted by Lizking
I guess when you race for fun you can do that, when there is a 20 million dollar program involved it would be kind of stupid.
That car in my video has a $168,000 transmission. :)
It's about a $120M program. The driver is just crazy, and he had a huge lead.
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Show me the money.
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Hehehe if I had that money I wouldn't be posting here. :)
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Yes you would.
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lol
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Anyways, back on topic, I think donuts are cool, and if it causes equipment problems, that's for the teams to deal with by controlling their driver or building a car that can handle it.
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If they can build a car that will run at the red line for more than 15 seconds, they'd better patent that motor and make money off it.
Post-race celebrations? I know they're excited, but why waste a perfectly good motor or tranny to celebrate? That's like getting a touchdown in football and running to to owner's box to break some champagne glasses...
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I see nothing wrong with the burnout. It's all about the show for the fans. I don't think they are intentionally trying to destroy the engine to avoid a tech disqualification. Earnhardt, Jr. had a Tech D/Q after jumping on the roof of his car in victory lane and that ended a long time celebration by many drivers. My personal favorite is when they do the sliding donuts thru the logo in the grass.
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i put post race "doughnuts" in the same catagory as spraying champagine from the podem, >> stupid , juvenile, and wastfull.