maybe this bugs me more than it should...

but i caught this pic of the inside of Dale Jr's car right after he crashed:

that dash... that stupid digital dash that NASCAR is letting the teams run next year... just one more step away from the (perceived) simplicity and purity of the cars. the gauges have been digitally controlled for the last few years now, but now they are just saying "berkeley it, everyone else has futuristic looking digital stuff in their race cars, so now we will, too"..

i imagine flappy paddle gearboxes (in place of the H pattern shifted 4 speed manual transmissions they currently run) are just around the corner, too...

Well they already don't have to use the clutch to shift.

Oddly enough, the manufacturers are going to/have gone to digital gauges because they are simpler.

That seems an odd niggle to have with a car that is supposed to be based on a "stock" production vehicle.

When was the last time the floor plan of a "stock" car was stock? The early 70's?

Now that they run EFI the digital panel is probably easier to implement than analog gauges.

I'm a NASCAR fan myself. I don't really have an issue with the digital dash. As stated, "stock" cars aren't stock anymore anyway...which for safety sake is a good thing. Digital dashes of some sort have been in production cars for decades, so it's not like it's technology only available on the street. When I was a kid, our '84 Chrysler E-Class had a digital dash, and it even talked. Frankly, I can't believe they still use a 4 speed transmission. When was the last time you saw a 4 speed manual in a new car?

In reply to Klayfish:

You mistake my point. Up until the COT you had to run a stock RWD floor pan. Why? So your Ford Fusion has a floor pan out of a junk yard Impala. It's insane.

The COTYA (Car of Ten Years Ago as it should have been named) despite have not so good aero did drag Nascar into the rest of the racing world with a true, not skirting the issue and lying to ourself about it, race car. Not some hybrid excuse to maintain the "stock" car name.

Some of the Nascar rules over the years are beyond dumb, they go to basic brain damage.

Heaven forbid there be progress and technical advancement in motorsports!

At least they are going to run the low drag package alot in 2016. Those were the best races this year.

Paraphrasing Ettore Bugatti, I have said for a few years now that NASCAR runs the most compelling, competitive, and well-marketed light truck racing series in the world.

Flight Service wrote: In reply to Klayfish: You mistake my point. Up until the COT you had to run a stock RWD floor pan. Why? So your Ford Fusion has a floor pan out of a junk yard Impala. It's insane. The COTYA (Car of Ten Years Ago as it should have been named) despite have not so good aero did drag Nascar into the rest of the racing world with a true, not skirting the issue and lying to ourself about it, race car. Not some hybrid excuse to maintain the "stock" car name. Some of the Nascar rules over the years are beyond dumb, they go to basic brain damage.

I understand what you're saying. We just need to get past the term "stock", as a lot of people get hung up on it. There's nothing stock about the cars. But the name is from many, many decades ago when they were stock. They're race cars top to bottom, which is fine with me.

Ssssdhhhh! (Don't tell him Pro Stock stopped running Dominators next season.)

In reply to Klayfish:

They generally don't need all four gears. They'ed happily run three speeds and save on rotating mass if it were allowed.

Harry always said there's nothing stock about a stock car.

On a related note. RIP Michael Waltrip Racing. Michael Waltrip, you may have been a raging alcoholic and a horrible cheat, but you were fun to watch, hopefully you will pick up an announcers gig because your days as a team owner is done.

Just because 'NASCAR allowed' doesn't necessarily mean the end of another era. Same w/ we have the technology so we gotta use it. Driver preference should surely trump team build orders.

Flight Service wrote: Harry always said there's nothing stock about a stock car. On a related note. RIP Michael Waltrip Racing. Michael Waltrip, you may have been a raging alcoholic and a horrible cheat, but you were fun to watch, hopefully you will pick up an announcers gig because your days as a team owner is done.

What happened?

It was interesting watching the tail end of the race last night and since it was in the dark, the gauges were really lit up in some of the in-car shots. Didn't dawn on me they were digital.

fasted58 wrote:

Flight Service wrote: Harry always said there's nothing stock about a stock car. On a related note. RIP Michael Waltrip Racing. Michael Waltrip, you may have been a raging alcoholic and a horrible cheat, but you were fun to watch, hopefully you will pick up an announcers gig because your days as a team owner is done.

What happened?

Never really competitive, lost NAPA as a sponsor and couldn't secure another, multiple fines and suspensions for cheating and then the primary investor split to go to Ginassi I think.

Just killed the team. So here is what happened at Miami other than the Cup. MWRacing did it's last race, Danica lost GoDaddy, and some guy who had been racing for awhile retired.

Flight Service wrote: Harry always said there's nothing stock about a stock car. On a related note. RIP Michael Waltrip Racing. Michael Waltrip, you may have been a raging alcoholic and a horrible cheat, but you were fun to watch, hopefully you will pick up an announcers gig because your days as a team owner is done.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I would be ok if he didn't get an announcing job and ended up panhandling on an exit ramp.

I just learned about the "competition yellow." At least they stopped making up reasons for yellows and just call it what it is

This is your idea of "futuristic digital stuff"?

For reference, here's the gauge package in a 1987 Corvette;

NASCAR will continue this way until it's more like pod racers from Star Wars episode one than v8s driving in oblong circles. Or maybe driverless races, that would be great fun Google! Might as well make them hybrids too

fiesta54 wrote: I just learned about the "competition yellow." At least they stopped making up reasons for yellows and just call it what it is

Obviously, you don't understand what a 'competition yellow' is for...

Ian F wrote: It was interesting watching the tail end of the race last night and since it was in the dark, the gauges were really lit up in some of the in-car shots. Didn't dawn on me they were digital.

the gauges didn't have digital readouts- they were analog gauges that were digitally controlled. have been for a while now- since they went to efi a few years ago, i think.. which was, you know, kind of like the street versions of the cars.. NASCAR just said a little while ago that the teams will be allowed to use digital gauges starting next season if they wanted, and based on the in car shots like the one i posted in the OP they let teams start using it at the tail end of this year.. maybe it will save the teams a little money- but it's more likely that the makers of the digital dash became some sort of an associate sponsor to NASCAR- "Racepak: the official dash of NASCAR" or whatever.. up until a few years ago, most teams used cheap and simple mechanical gauges to keep track of their engines, and it worked just fine. next year, they get not only the digital dash but also 2 way telemetry with the cars, so really the driver won't need to even ever look at the dash- if it's running hot, they will just tell him to come in without him needing to look at anything.. they've already got flashing lights to tell them when they are speeding on pit road instead of looking at that pesky and hard to read tach needle...

someone brought up the NHRA going to EFI in Pro Stock next year: that's something that i've personally wanted to see since Warren Johnson started campaigning for it in the early 90's. at the time, he said that they were spending so much time and money refining the carbs that it would save everyone money to switch, with the biggest benefit being that they could get rid of that ridiculous scoop on the hood and make the cars go faster while looking more stock.. of course, that was back when the cars were built with an actual production steel roof and quarter panels and weren't carbon fiber 1:1 scale models that kinda sorta look like the car that they are supposed to be..

Wall-e wrote: In reply to Klayfish: They generally don't need all four gears. They'ed happily run three speeds and save on rotating mass if it were allowed.

Well, if they really want to go to "stock cars", but CVTs in them.