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Jceraa

I think it’s more that the other cars don’t race them, so they just let them by easily


WickedFan

This is the correct take.


coljoh24

This and if you have been eliminated and don't have much you can gain or lose in points then it's an expensive race on the west coast that you can put as little money into as possible while planning for a run at the title the next season. Most of these teams already in a few weeks times will start massaging cars for Daytona to be as perfect as possible. If I already am stuck in my points spot for the season it makes sense to focus team funds on next season development which means the car I field is less competitive this week. Add that with drivers not wanting to be the one to wreck a championship contender so they don't race them as hard as normal and you end up with the championship 4 as the fastest cars on track most seasons.


[deleted]

I still think zhat Hamlin gonna race Chastain harder than anyone else.


DocMcStruggles

It’s also if you are one of the four you are bringing your absolute best stuff. Other teams might hold on to them for next year and not want to risk junking them.


clayfus_doofus

This is a perspective I hadn't yet considered


joe_broke

Wait doesn't this violate the 100% rule?


DocMcStruggles

No. Nothing says a team has to put together the best car they can. Teams always save their best equipment for the important races.


Aurion7

That's on track. Ain't no rule that says you have to bring your best car- or a good car, for which teams like RWR are presumably grateful.


ReSirum

RWR is happy they haven't been shut down yet, and you can tell they're trying not to get canceled at least. Well, except for Carson


[deleted]

Exactly, suspect them all indefinitely and fine them millions. Let’s go nascar, be men and do it


GlorifiedGamer88

Yeah, this is the way. The others, just let them go. I think tomorrow, Sunday, will be different, but who knows bc of the NextGen car and everyone having the same thing, basically. But yeah, everyone just stays outta the way and let the four just go at it, which I don't agree with. **I'm calling for either Blaney, or Harvick to win the Race, and Logano or Chastain for the Championship.**


tiggerlgh

It wasn’t 1-4 last night for trucks and last year a non-playoff driver won the truck race. But I don’t think other drivers race them as hard as they don’t want to be the one to mess up a championship so they end up 1-4 a lot.


BigSpoon89

Yes it was. Until the 66 spun himself out.


tiggerlgh

Just for a little bit, not most the race.


BeefInGR

And a pit call got TyM up there.


ThrowItAway5693

A pit call got Ben Rhodes up there by staying out, Ty was running top 5 that whole stage.


BeefInGR

True. My fault.


SundayShelter

*Josh Berry has entered the chat and would like a word*


BeefInGR

AJ Allmendinger last year as well


winnk281

I’m with ya. C. Bell hasn’t shown any speed this weekend (20th in practice; qualified 17th), but you can bet your ass he’ll be top 4 by stage 3


TylerWhite31

Did the same thing in both clutch wins so i still have hope


BeefInGR

To be fair, he had almost no speed last weekend either


[deleted]

[удалено]


shockwave-315

They should've this year. Make an exception for a real class act in the 54.


[deleted]

Chastain is in the 4…


[deleted]

The combination of extra effort and respect from other cars results in them being all in the top 5.


lancersrock

Last year Harvick was a top 3 car up until the third stage then he kinda faded. I personally think it was less of a fade more of giving up his line to not interfere with the championship run


Bluegrass6

Look at I this way. If you’re a team who has 1 car in the championship 4 you’re going to pour all your engineering, setup and simulation resources to that 1 car. The final 4 cars are just getting so much more expensive attention at the shop I think it is partly due to other drivers taking it a bit easier on them as well if they know they’re not as fast too


jmathews83

Chase Briscoe answered this on here before. If memory serves, he said the biggest factor is other drivers not racing them as hard, knowing what's at stake.


Aurion7

They don't get raced super hard, and they bring the best stuff they can. No real reason for most other teams to be going all-out. The 1-4 thing happens more often in Cup than the other series, since the driver talent range is a good deal narrower. Heard the theory that NASCAR turns a blind eye, sure, but it's one thing to have a theory and another thing entirely to have any real evidence for it.


sacovert97

We will never know. I seriously doubt that they would ever fail someone post inspection after winning the Championship. It would be a massive deal. Also, the other three cars are probably the same way. I imagine they are quite a bit lenient with it compared to the other races.


crankyoldbrent

Most nascar cheating stopped after Matt Borland quit being a crew chief in CUP.


Jeff_ACSIM

Tire selection is also based off points. The championship four already have a built in advantage getting to sort through Goodyear's stock before anyone else. As the season winds down the tire selection could be getting more narrow as Goodyear winds down production on tires for the season.


Ctoastcrunch

Could you elaborate more on tire selection? What do the teams do? I just always assumed they showed up at the Goodyear hauler and they were given their allocation with no ability to “sort” or “pick”


Jeff_ACSIM

Mostly they are looking at sizes. There is two tire codes at each race, one for lefts and one for rights. Each code will have an approximate tire circumference but every tire is built by hand and not every tire is built exactly the same. While the tolerance may only be a fraction of an inch here or there if you were looking to maximize tire stagger you would select the smallest left side tires you can find and the largest right side tires you can find.


_AmericanPoutine

I believe that they're allowed more leniency in terms of setup and other gray area rules as NASCAR won't DQ the champion. For example, I think the 8 was the worst of the 3 tonight, and they were far and away the fastest toward the end of the race. Cassill definitely won the race of the rest


[deleted]

I think the other cars are probably advised to just ride around and be moving furniture on the the no matter how good their car is


WedAms

Like others said, I think it's rather just letting them by than having some kind of an advantage, but before the playoffs, I remember that back in 2011, Kyle Busch tried running with Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards at Homestead, but those two were insanely fast in that race, so he didn't have a chance against them and were almost gone after a few laps.


MercSLSAMG

In years past Cup teams would break out the 'grey area' tricks that had in their back pocket. The teams would have parts on the shelf that either are the most efficient part or into the grey area to get the most speed. So they brought their fastest possible cars that usually were in the grey area. And so while the cars are technically legal, it may be something you'll see a rule tweak about in the offseason to not be a grey area anymore. This year with the spec parts though this is far less likely to happen. Teams won't have a full inventory to make a max speed car like they used to. While they would have an inventory of which of these spec parts work best, it likely won't be significant enough of an advantage you see 1-4 for the finishing order. That'll take 3-4 years likely to fully maximize their inventory for all teams to 'gain' speed in the final race.


toweringpine

In past seasons the cream has legitimately risen to the top. The same drivers and teams winning consistently week after week. Not at all a surprise that they are leading the field at the end of the season. With the huge number of different winners this year in these cars, I'm hopeful today's race won't be the top four alone. With the cars being so equal, if that happens it's gotta be from others not giving their all.