The flag stand is a long way from the corner. If you look at the video when JR turns down he is in front of Patrick, slightly, but had position.
I never said Patrick moved up, but you do have to turn left in roundy round racing so JR was coming down at some point either way.
I agree that if JR would have taken the corner normally Patrick would have had to whoa up quite a bit and lost a lot of momentum and JR would have driven on.
Of course, I am speculating that he would have won, I am not even sure how many laps were left at that point and Patrick was obviously faster if he tracked him down from the rear of the field.
Good / Bad racing…Good for the fans, bad for torn up cars. Good for Karnac…
7 or 8 laps left, I think. But as Phil Jacques also speculated, “It was an attempted block [by Beckner] to make sure Patrick didn’t get next to him because he knew once he did, it was all over.” That is, that may have been Beckner’s thinking even though he may have come out of two in front. Of course, it also may not have been…
I can still remember Mario Andretti, in Indy cars and F1, repeatedly lamenting, “All I know is that I was on my line, and all of a sudden I am in the haybales”.
Yes, Mario, but if “your line” intersects with another car that is now there… you in fact wind up in the haybales.
Hard to believe that was his point of view since he came from sprint cars.
Speaking of which, for those in Mount Dora and surrounding areas, give Harris Oil a call for all of your fuel & A/C needs, and ring Harris Storage for your Storage Needs.
They also have leaded fuel available for your race or street car.
Trust me, Jim Harris and the Harris team support racing.
[QUOTE=OldSchool+;170872]7 or 8 laps left, I think. But as Phil Jacques also speculated, “It was an attempted block [by Beckner] to make sure Patrick didn’t get next to him because he knew once he did, it was all over.” That is, that may have been Beckner’s thinking even though he may have come out of two in front. Of course, it also may not have been…
I can still remember Mario Andretti, in Indy cars and F1, repeatedly lamenting, “All I know is that I was on my line, and all of a sudden I am in the haybales”.
Yes, Mario, but if “your line” intersects with another car that is now there… you in fact wind up in the haybales.
Hard to believe that was his point of view since he came from sprint cars.[/QUOTE]
Old School I know you have watched enough races at new smyrna to know that the fast grove through 1and2 is the second not the bottom
Well, “the groove” at the joint has moved up a bit over the years. The low side used to be the place to be on re-starts.
But to your interesting point: If a car is in the 3rd lane (up from the apron), and the fast lane is the 2nd lane, why did they make contact in the first lane?
Yes, Patrick entered at a tough angle, He may have certainly washed up a bit because of said angle. HOWEVER, if Beckner had simply done as he truly should have, and held his line rather than chop down all 3 lanes, two things would have happened.
There would have been no crash. Patrick would have washed up a bit and pinched off his speed. What I believe Patrick was attempting to do was not make a pass for the lead, but minimize time lost by not getting himself stuck behind a lap car.
Beckner holding the middle/high line, would have had momentum and driven away from Patrick because his car was not bound up and was able to roll more freely.
It was a poor decision to cut down across 3 lanes. Never in my life have I seen a move that poorly executed and I have been watching short track racing for at least 25 years. For people to jump out and say Patrick pushed up into him or did it intentionally is insane. Watching the video, he wasn’t even hardly turning into the corner yet. Beckner turned down the track way earlier and at such an aggressive angle that it’s obvious to me, exactly what was in his mind and that was to BLOCK. Sadly, it was not a move that was going to help him even if no contact was made because an aggressive move like that was going to bind up his car and kill his momentum which would have allowed Patrick to stay much closer than if he had just kept the car rolling free on the high side.
The lapped car did nothing wrong. He only has to give a lane. It is up to the leaders then to navigate by. I have raced with both Thomas and Beckner and both are top drivers. However in this instance Thomas took a chance by splitting the lapped car. The 71 had the lane around the lapped car and the 111 could have followed him around the outside and then tried to pass again. Good hard racing but if there is any fault it is the chance that Thomas took.
As you said, the lapped car is only obligated to move down one lane.
Following a car is not passing a car, and why wait to pass when you can possibly do it now? In fact, Thomas was there and had been trying to pass for several laps. “Waiting” to pass Mr. Beckner, as you may know firsthand, is a good way to finish second.
The goal was, of course, to win, and clearly the #111 made a move that put him in position to do just that, without touching anything.
So if you (or anyone) would, please explain how the existence of the #111 at the bottom of the track is responsible for the #71 heading into turn one earlier and lower than usual, and in fact on a path that intersected with a car that was already there, that would be of interest indeed.
“Taking a chance” does not cause an accident, contact does.
Of course, you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
BTW, SPORTSMAN racing is again at NSS Saturday, 8/13! The #111 is ready to go and I assume the 71 is as well. Should be an exciting event!