As Turn 2 Turns....

NASCAR kicked-off their season this past Sunday with the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. The premier event of the season featued 500 miles of 200 m.p.h. side-by-side racing and an exciting finish.....that was interrupted by two red-flag delays totaling over two hours to fix a pothole. Yes, The Great American Race was halted, twice, to fix what we civilians face every day in traffic. Here's a shot of the first attempt to fix the pothole.

See the guy with the blowtorch? He's heating the material used to fill in the hole. It needs to be hot to work. The cold temperatures apparently didn't allow the material to set up and cure properly so 36 laps later we had this

For the second fix, NASCAR called for each of the 43 teams to come to their trailer. There, they asked for the teams to bring over their Bondo body filler. That was then put into the hole and the race continued with cars bottoming out when they went over that spot.

So how does this happen? Well, the track was last paved in 1978, so the asphalt isn't exactly new. There has been a lot of rain in the Daytona area so far this year and combined with the cold temperatures can cause problems with asphalt.

NASCAR takes great care of their tracks but, as someone once said, "stuff happens".

Was the hole there before the race? Money quote:

The morning before every Cup race, each speedway (Daytona included, as officials confirmed) has a team of people who walk every inch of the track. Some will line up across Turn 1, some in Turn 2, some on half the backstretch, etc., looking for any signs of a problem on the pavement.

Unless the hole already had started, there's no way track engineers could foresee it coming, even if they walked right over it, which someone probably did.

What is NASCAR doing about it? Another money quote:

Daytona International Speedway today has begun installing reinforced concrete in Turn 2, according to DIS President Robin Braig.

“This is the correct course of action to repair the track,” Braig said. “Our team of engineers and asphalt specialists with North American Testing Corporation has previous experience with concrete being used on an asphalt track and it is a proven solution.”

The next NASCAR race will be in early July. We'll keep an eye on the track.

Until next time.

Catsup!!

No major theme today, just lots of little things that have been building up.

• November 3 I posted about how I saw some college conference logos were placed between the yard line markers and the hash marks. I thought, at the time, this was unusual. Further research shows that it's pretty standard. Here's the Cincinnati Bearcats, they put theirs on the 20 yard line. Also, notice also their yard line markers are in red with the white drop shadow. The Clemson Tigers have theirs on the 25 yard line (which seems to be a standard placement) and also have a ribbon. The undefeated Florida Gators have theirs on the 35 yard line, and have their Gator logo out there too. I haven's seen any Big Ten schools with the conference logo at all.
• Speaking of the Big Ten, the Iowa Hawkeyes have been having a good season. I've been waiting a while to post this. Let's take a look at this shot from the Iowa/Michigan game about a month back. Take a look at the 10 yard line marker. It seems every football team has a different look for their yard lines. What does Iowa use? A check of this site reveals the Hawkeyes use....helvetica!!
• I can't tell what typeface LSU uses but they like to label every 5 yard line, not just the 10s. I also love their 'tiger eye' logo at midfield. The way they 'fade' it at the edges is outstanding. One of my favorite college midfields.
• Clemson University has their paw at midfield and in the end zone. Nice!
• The Denver Broncos end zone is unchanged since October 9. They have a Legacy game November 22, we'll see if they make any changes then.
• How many football teams put their city (or state) name in one end zone, and their nickname in the other? I don't know, I'm going to have to start keeping track of this. This past weekend reveals the Chicago Bears do it.
• College basketball season is ramping up. Here's a shot from a 1955 NC State/Clemson game at Reynolds Coliseum. Notice how narrow the lane is. And how short the shorts are.
• Ahh the Raiders. A once proud NFL team on hard times. Their field is on hard times as well. To be fair, their facility is also home to the Oakland A's. The conversion to football is not going well. The sad looking area is the second base area. I'm not sure why the area behind second base was replaced, but it looks terrible.
• The Miami Dolphins midfield classic logo.
• The Steelers recently replaced the 'main street' down the center of Heinz Field. Looks like the Chiefs need to do the same.
• Lastly...NASCAR! I love racing and it was in nearby Martinsville recently. When entering their pit box, it is critical that the driver parks their car/truck in the right spot. Check out the detail that Kevin Harvick's team achieved in marking his spot. Not so much for this team.

Well, that should do it for now.

Until next time!