Too Much Defense, Not Enough Offense | NASCAR Dover Race Review & Analysis
Vložit
- čas přidán 14. 05. 2024
- A classic Hamlin vs. Larson battle is plagued by dramatic aero effects. Let's break down all the key storylines from Dover Motor Speedway.
Groovy Gauge powered by Lectric eBikes: lectricebikes.com/
More content: dailydownforce.com/
Support the Show: www.patreon.com/user?u=472799...
X: / ericestepp17
Instagram: / eric_estepp
TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@ericestepp17?...
Thanks for watching and please SUBSCRIBE for more NASCAR content!
Thumbnail Cred: Logan Riely (Getty), FOX - Sport
Dover is underrated. Pocono is overhated. More horsepower and less dirty air are needed.
Pocono has always been a favorite among drivers, yet always viewed as boring to the fans. It’s one of those true tests of man and machine and not made exactly for entertainment. Its made for lots of underdog stories over the years.
The only way to fix dirty air is to repeal the laws of physics
REAL@@smunger69
My 2 home tracks wooo
@@brandonpoveromo2741same
idk about you, but larson should’ve just asked miles the monster to throw that massive inflatable duck outside of turn 4 in front of denny so he’d win
That would have been funny
Larson is whining again. Now the rules should be changed because he couldn't pass Denny.
I know. I finished 2nd boo hoo.
@@hollygolden9673if I finished second, I would thank my team and yes, be upset about not winning, but not speaking my opinion
@@garlandalmarode6396 Not really a whine in my book, a lot of drivers, including Denny, have made it clear the aero blocking at some tracks is annoying.
As a fan watching the races, I think they are right to complain here.
Kevin Harvick making slangs in the booth is quite the kerfuffle
That whole hoolaboola is lame. They don’t need to make Harvick into a character like they did to Michael Waltrip in order for him to be a good broadcaster. Just let him be genuine
It brings out that "Dawg" in him!
@@AlexE5250 its a joke him and mamba are doing. The fans decide what word he has to say somewhere in the broadcast. Watch his podcast. Harvick is having fun with it and has said as much.
Kevin harvick will be saying “rizz” by the end of the season
NO
Someone needs to make that a prediction on Wednesday 😂
*Driver spins put at Sonoma*
Harvick: L rizz Ohio fanum tax
Don't know about y'all, but I'm waiting for "no cap, on God" to come out....
Not "rizz" 🤣
This was the first Dover race since 2021 not to be affected by weather
Kevin Harvick using more and more slang as the season continues 💀
Yeet lol
dude hit clint with the “so true tho”
I was at the race, what did he say? Lol
@@trevorlambert2892they were talking about the 43 getting turned in the pits & harvick said he got yeeted out of the way. Lmao
Who can blame him? Remember how he said last week -if a Ford doesn't win Talladega, they won't win anywhere else? I'm starting to believe that 🤔 and that sucks
Yet another week of better racing in the Xfinity series than cup…
Better car = better race
Thing those cars did good
Imagine if the cars had enough power to pass in dirty air…
Imagine if some other team besides from Hendrick and JGR win a race this year 😂
Yup yet these cars are bring us parody everyone says. @@PaintStripeGuy
@@PaintStripeGuy trackhouse won at atlanta dont forget
@@dapresson5133super speedway tho, anyone with no skill could win
Maybe they can increase it to 750
Kevin harvicks slang is the only thing that keeps me watching the fox broadcast
It was insane. 4-6th were battling for the larger part of that last run. Fox showed nothing of it 🙄
Fox has turned into watching the leader turn laps and listening to commentary.
Agreed! Fox has been just a horrible broadcast. KH is the only decent part about it.
@@StlrNtn95it’s the same crap coverage NBC had last fall too, at this point I’m wondering if the coverage is done by NASCAR and provided to Fix/NBC because it seems to similar (side by side in car replays, too much blimp, following leaders only etc.).
There was virtually no passing for the last like 20 laps.
This crap HAS to change...
Up the HP to 750
Maybe borrow the cars from Xfinity 😅
I hate to see it
@@mgm1356 that’s unrealistic.
Passing has always been hard. You can’t have passing at a whim, that kills the thrill of a pass if you constantly have them. It’s why no one celebrates the first points in a basketball game, because they know more are coming.
That caution was nuts for Hemric. Good for him.
Fun Fact: Anthony Alfredo is tied for 10th in Our Motorsports Equipment
He has 5 Top 10's, More Top 10's than 3/4 of JRM & All Kaulig Cars & Has the 5th Best AVG Finish with the 4 others being all in the top 4.
Fast Pasta!
he's tied for top 10s with Allmendinger, but otherwise it's been great to see guys him, Kligerman, and Sieg with their respective teams continue to "overperform" this year. With the cup series getting clogged up it's allowed for a great era in the Xfinity series.
His development got incredibly rushed. It's great to see him rebuilding his career and developing his craft the last few years
@@andrewmeyer4124 the 38 at FRM for a while felt like a rotating kiss of death after JHN and Alfredo, glad they've stuck with Todd instead of washing, rinsing, and repeating with Zane and whoever else
Fast Pasta baby!! 🍝
Noah Gragson has to be the surprise of the year so far best car @ SHR !
The only way to truly stop aero blocking is to make the cars not dependent on aero so much
Bingo. Remove the downforce. Get rid of that ridiculous diffuser for starters.
@@civileng67 Shorter spoiler/splitter, beefier body styles, get rid of all the air ducts (or at least make them smaller), and add the damn horsepower... at least to above 770
Supercars had this problem with the last generation of cars. This gen 3 car they're using now has less aero as a result of drivers and spectators complaining about boring racing
The ratio between mechanical grip vs grip due to aero needs to greatly increase for sure. Open up the bottom and increase ride height is suggestion of mine. Might make the car less dependent on ground effect.
Won’t happen when they run splitters and diffusers.
No wonder Fox had bowling on the main channel.
The NASCAR No Passing Track Position Cup Series!
I wish Cup was the race with rain moving in. Made for tough pit calls and other strategy. Xfinity really put on a show that I was hoping for more of today.
You know, you might not like how kyle busch says everything but I don't remember him saying anything that wasn't true
I like his brutal honesty... That's what we need more of... If more drivers would be as vocal as Kyle Busch, I believe NASCAR would pay more attention to them...
Kurt too
Kurt too
Is a real shame that Bell keeps getting caught up in others mistakes. Past few races have been rough as a Bell fan.
Kansas is Toyota's playground so I'd expect a turnaround next weekend :)
As a Truex fan man I feel you
Hopefully a brighter future for Bell. It can't get much worse. He's a great driver with good equipment. It'll turn around eventually.
Can’t we not forget how havrick is doing all star practice and is a standby for Kyle Larson
Fans say he shouldn’t be racing all stars imma may ask why
only practice and qualifying@@JeffWeselyan
I remember in one of the past Dale Jr download episodes when the next gen first started being used. Dale jr said that the first 2 years this car would be horrible and fans would hate it, the racing would be horrible. So far that’s holding true, but eventually I think NASCAR will figure it out.
But no matter how unrealistic it is, I’d still love seeing them bring the Xfinity cars to cup 😊
It's year 3. it's not good.
@@drunkashull damn you’re right, hopefully they’ll figure it out soonish
@@orendz7740 time flys! yes let's hope it gets resolved soon
Kyle Busch couldn’t be more right
Lets not forget hamlin 8.7sec pitstop by his pitcrew they made the biggest difference you see the first thing denny did was talk about his pit crew
Yea Denny"s a real saint
Yes his pit crew deserves a lot of credit .. I also seen where if bowman would not have lifted coming out of pit road Denny bowman and Larson would have wrecked on pit road .. Denny is hof driver and hof ahole too ..
Wasn't that the pit crew MTJ fired last year? I wonder if he is now sticking needles into his eyes every time Denny gets out of the pit faster than everyone else...
Races shouldn’t come down to track position and pit stops every single race, otherwise, why not just have pit crew competitions every week? Passing needs to happen or the sport will die
@@hollygolden9673Not the point, he acknowledged the crew instead of just said I beat your favorite driver:
I don’t know why Denny has to win for this to become a topic. Nobody talks about it when Hendrick wins. You know what fixes aero blocking?
TIRES
Totally agree. HMS can do about anything and it'll NEVER be their fault.
The Denny Hamlin we are seeing right now is usually the feast or famine late season choke artist Denny Hamlin that comes up short and championship-less. This might finally be his year if he is the early season consistent Denny Hamlin come playoff time. Who picked Noah Gragson to be one of the strongest Ford drivers thus far this year? Pleasant surprise, I'm happy for him. This was the rookie battle between him and Ty Gibbs we should've gotten last year.
Stop complaining about the car you wanted it back in the driver's hands that's what you have let it alone
@@AlanDavis-el3fb what? Where did I complain about the car in any of my comment??
I wouldn’t be against Denny Hamlin being this generation’s Bobby Allison to be honest.
Oh don’t worry NASCAR is going to make sure Denny H. Does win the championship this season some how some way.
The xfinity race at Dover was great. Cup race, not even good.
Today was basically logano v harvick kansas 2020
I wish 😂😂😂😂!!! (I'm a Ford fan, losing my hope)
"Air Blocking Jordan"...the new NASCAR "racing".
Aero-blocking isn’t a next gen problem, it’s been a thing since the Gen-6 at least but it’s definitely more effective in the new car. They most likely can make adjustments to help but you can’t get rid of it.
Kevin Harvick on the Martinsville hotdog..."It's fire"
Jimmie Johnson is slowly becoming “the Belichick” of the Knaus/Johnson Duo!
Anyone else realize the last restarts Fox and Nascar kept the camera off the restart line and on fans or farther in the pack until they had already restarted. The two restarts Hamlin was leader he got huge jumps on the restart, but we never actually saw the cars at the line to see if they were in the restart section. The last time they kept the camera on two people in the stands forever just to miss the restart.
Eric Estepp, You're so talented! I had to hit the like button!
I agree with Eric , RCR needed a day like today 😊
Idk what KFB said to Bell at COTA, but he ain't been the same since.
He told him payback was coming.
Bring back the slingshot. Passing and strategy woulkd play a part.
NASCAR will bring back more horsepower in probably about 2 years and they'll say they thought of it
All they need to do is 750 and call it a day
Remember they also did lock in gear ratios. That affects a lot as well.
Bowman should have forced Hamlin to drive through pit boxes instead of giving him the lead.
"This car is far from perfect". Truer words have NEVER been spoken. NASCAR Cup "races" can only loosely (very loosely) be defined as racing.
I mean every car has problems
This year is going to come down to the 5 and the eleven
I sure was hoping for a Truex sweep again for two times in a row. Truex was so close to getting it done, but the damage cost his car speed.
I'm pretty confident Denny was just managing his lead a little bit in the last 25 laps which just makes fans shift blame to the aero blocking. Like I said to my wife, Larson may have caught denny but he didn't have the car to pass him
If this car could actually pass and not be so aero dependent Larson would’ve won cuz he had the faster car towards the end race was still solid nonetheless
It was hot af at the track, goodness
Show me Texas vs Dover and how packed the stands were…Texas deserves zero dates, keep that shit for Indy car or some other bunk series
Kentucky debacle 2.0
Eric the traffic was awful. 1 line for everyone into a single lot. it took 2 hours to go one mile at one point.. and we had to make an impromtu deal with a hotel manager to park there. Our kids with us couldnt really do much at the fan zone by the time we got there. Wouldnt reccomend a cup race at dover until they treat it seriously
I'm very impressed with Gragson's performance so far this season, even if strategy has something to do with it. Him going to SHR has seemed to improve both Noah and the 10 car's performance compared to last season
Kyle Larson said post race interview then maybe they should get rid of the rear camera to make it harder for drivers to block in dirty air
I think they said over the broadcast that Heim was told, “until Erik returns, you’re in this car.” So, I think that, until Erik returns from his injury, Heim will be driving the 43
Late in stage 2, I looked at the scoring pylon and wondered, “where in Dover is Christopher Bell?” He was 17th at the time, then crashes 50 laps later. The broadcast said he wasn’t able to recover from his bad qualifying effort, but Truex, Larson, Bowman, and Elliott could. Bell was just off
This got me thinking, instead trying to get rid of dirty air, NASCAR should get the car to work with the dirty air, that's what the gen 4 did, when ever a car got behind another it would pack the air and make it aero loose and that is how it created passing, maybe this whole time they were looking at it wrong, what is the solution? Get rid of the splitter and diffuser, but I know that will never happen.
Diffuser maybe easier because it is not as key to design as the splitter is now. The diffuser mainly only affects rear air flow I believe. It will take away some downforce, but not as much as removing the splitter.
The race was great, the only thing I didn't like is the commercials popping up every 5 minutes or even 2 minutes at times. In my opinion, NASCAR needs to make more side by side commercials than full screen commercials
I watch the xfinity series every weekend and I see how much they can wheel those cars. I wish we could have a car switch and have all the cup guys run in the xfinity cars just to see the racing product that it’d put on.
The Car is a GIANT TANK! They should have known this going to be a problem. Most likely NASCAR did as it is one of their tools for "Manufactured Parity"
Fun time at my home track today. Got to say hi to Bobby Pock as he was walking by. Crowd was on point. Even when the racing isn’t the greatest Dover is a great time.
I was there today. I'd give it a 60. Always fun going to the races though, but the racing could've been better.
My first race in person after watching on tv for 25 years, absolutely amazing experience. Didn't care about who won, the experience itself was super fun. Hearing the engines open when the green flag waved was jaw dropping.
(only have basic channels) all i got was a CZcams 27th place -4 lap down ride form an in car camera of Austin Dillon all race and it was horrible... i didn't count until stage 3 and walked away .. but 40+ caution laps... REDICULIOUS! 11 laps on a one car spin out.... like how frustrating for a driver... and then an immediate wreck and 10 more caution laps... watched the end of the race replay and the online score board Larson ran him down with 15 to go then just... stalled out ... not much you can do when your car just can't go because of not being able to turn into the corner as fast cause there's no air on the cars nose to keep it stuck to the track... great for drafting but really hard to pass like that.
More horsepower. Less downforce. Narrower tires.
No undertray and diffuser, solid rear end gear
Jimmie in the 43 would be a crazy sight to see, but I'm here for it.
Was at the race yesterday. Traffic getting there was insane. But shoutout to the track for the new security setup, definitely helped getting into the track way faster. Then they scan your ticket closer to the grandstands. Much more efficient and faster way of getting in. And was able to be in my seat before the green flag waived after sitting in traffic for over an hour about a mile from the track. I hope other tracks follow this new security setup.
I would be so happy to see jimmie in the 43. Even if only for one week
Love your take on the racing being produced... I believe they need to take away some aero, add some horse power and twist in tire wear= a compound that wears quicker under aggressive driving ,but if taken care of - gives you the edge towards end of that run... yeah its a tough one but more of Bristol uncertainty would be a nice factor - lets see how the different tire compound choice works for the all star race ... fingers crossed
You said it yourself: "It seems like it's Hendricks against JGR". It seemed like Bowman breakchecked Truex, who had the fastest car again today. Don't know if he meant just to slow him down, but eventually created enough damage to slow him down for the rest of the race. Truex screwed again.
HMS drivers never do anything wrong. Sarcasm.
Noah G carrying Stewart haas
Noah G is carrying FORD
Sophomore
@EricEstepp, did you see the pre race interview with Larson? Harvick is going to be in the #5 car for practice during the all star weekend! Thoughts?
As a kiwi and SVG fan I don't whats happening except AJ snd Ross appeared to do it tough as well ,Bring on the road courses...😊
personally, thought todays race was a really good one. I don't understand how you say the ending was controversial though, my buddies and i were going crazy at the end. that aero blocking was phenomenal and Denny got the dub!
They're whining cuz HMS didn't win.
It was a bummer to watch Bowman get bad called out of a top 5 finish.
Glad Busch got that Top 5, the start of 2024 has been a struggle, and now we are entering a stretch of the season of tracks where KB ran good at last year, the faith for me is still alive!!
They said hiem was the only guy they were gonna use if Jones is out a bit
NASCAR always taking one step forward and 2 steps back
This stuff is never brought up when larson or Byron lead 200 Laps and win
Bs it got talked about a lot after the Vegas race … there was tons of whining after the martinsville race also .. Hendrick derangement syndrome once again
"More of these races" is literally what Kyle Busch said at his end of race interview
Thanks, Eric, for another great post-race video. I'm looking forward to the next time you rank the teams. Hendrick and Gibbs are just eating the other teams alive. And a somewhat overlooked part of the teams nowadays is real-time data operations and data analytics. While the Next Gen cars might have introduced some parity relative to car costs, I wonder how much the bigger teams spend on data processing and analytics. Regardless of the car, there's just so much more data available now. I'm not sure the smaller teams can compete in this area.
I agree with your 70% score on the groovey gauge Eric. I’m really glad the temps helped the track take rubber and widen out almost up to the wall, because that’s the version of this track that puts on the best shows. I am slightly biased since this is one of my home tracks, however I do miss seeing 2 races a year at Dover. It’s a track you have to be at to fully understand how cool it is, the multi grove racing, how fast the cars are going on such a small track, how loud it is, etc.
Did anyone else notice how fox knowingly put us through a commercial break for the start of Green flag stops in stage 2? Mike Joy got cut off by a commercial break even when trying to end the segment with a statistic. Fox broadcast aside, today was pretty good for us Busch fans. I think he could’ve finished slightly better had he not pitted the 2nd time though
How about when they blew it after the lap 39 Gilliland spin... we got to watch wreckers try and get #38 unstuck, and when they did come back from commercials, we missed most of that pitstop cycle!!! We ALL KNEW every driver/team was going to want tires/adjustments, yet they showed us wrecker action and MISSED that 1st cycle of pitstops. Come on man!
Great comparison with nfl offense eric, well said
The competition director is doing so great! The best job ever.
I was there at dover today and what the car needs is a smaller flat underbody and tires that arent as wide
Eric rocking the new Texans logo hat, I like it
Love Dover, amazing track. Kind fall asleep between last stage 1 and up to middle stage 2 xD lol and... to much commercials and I can see people talk about the adds from FOX.
Wanted kyle Busch to win and hard he tried. Larson almost win. Alright Denny won but the fans were booing him xD lol. Congrats to Denny. Awesome race
These drivers are extremely talented. I know you’re saying aero blocking is easy, but there are many examples of drivers making errors while leading because of the stress of someone closing on them. Out of the 36 or so regular Cup drivers, how many could do what Denny did to maintain his lead? Let’s say that Denny’s car did NOT have any extra (which Denny says he definitely had).
I don’t know if aero blocking would have been such a prominent topic of discussion if roles were reversed and Larson aero blocked Denny for the win.
I still think that this race was pretty good! I liked it, despite me not liking Hamlin as a driver. I don't understand why people would want to leave the track so easily. For me, this was a 9 out of 10.
I wonder, but could putting the rear of the car/diffuser as close to the ground have something to do with it, would having the car more off the ground help? If so, perhaps NASCAR could look at enforcing a minimum height/ground clearance rule if the car being more off the ground reduces dirty air therefore less aero blocking/better racing/more passing?
Each generation of car has had its advantages and disadvantages. If you manage them better than the other teams, you’re the champion. Safety and fire still seems to be a problem but the racing is what it is. NASCAR sold the new cars s cheaper standardized racecars. What they really got was all the money going to NASCAR and who they want to get it, with no one building their own car.
Weird how nobody wanted to talk about “aero blocking” when Larson used it to win at Las Vegas earlier this year? Nah, it only becomes a topic of conversation when people perceive it to have been negatively used against him.
Nah people most definitely said it when las vegas was over. Stop acting like a victim
@@C4r0n1k Check again, the only people acting like victims are Larson and his fans who are coping by blaming the car for Denny outdriving him today.
Also, it’s social media my guy, I can just search aero blocking and see how much it was mentioned on any given platform. Nobody was harping about it after LV like they are today.
@@C4r0n1kamen … the Hendrick derangement syndrome is strong with Toyota fans .. pathetic .. it got talked about plenty
That is incorrect I am a very big Larson fan he didn't really have to do a lot of arrow blocking at the end of Las Vegas he had that race commanded and I didn't complain today when Denny did it to us@@FlatRR
I'm a Hendrick fan but even I was pissed off with the las Vegas finish I wanted at least a pass or 2 or some kind of side by side racing but nah all we got was air deciding that race so yeah I was unhappy about that to and this car needs fixed big time
Love the new Texans hat!
My buddy had a great time at Dover 😊
Was his name Denny?
blows my mind how much better the racing is week after week in the xfinity series vs cup
It has everything to do with the talent level
I was there and had no idea about the aero blocking. Cars did pass for the lead. It was fun watching Larson, Truex, Elliott, and even Stenhouse in the first stage climb t through the field.
I will say that short track racing has gone from my favorite to least. I have different opinions to fix. I don't know the solution. My groovy gauge 55. I am being generous, I think 55 is my lowest of the year. If I would have given the grade tomorrow the grade probably gets 65. The 55 was better than I would have given.
I think a video is warranted for the 34. Record number of DNFs, 29th in points, all in their debut year as a Tier 1 Org with Ford after three years of amazing progress
This level of collapse would make 2013 Tony Stewart blush...
Xfinity race was better, not much passing
Eric: gives the race a 70% 💀
Larson mentioned in an interview that they have rear cameras that the driver uses instead of mirrors that makes it really easy to aero block the car behind you. GET RID OF THEM!! That would put it more on the driver AGAIN, as it should be
The Byron pit crew mistake followed up by getting caught up in the wreck killed the possibility of having all 4 HMS cars in the top 10! Feels bad for Byron.
I really liked this race. I hope I can go to Dover some day
Kevin Harvick: “What an absolutely skibidi performance today by the Number 11 crew on pit road today. Chris Gabehart continues to slay with his W strategy. Denny Hamlin is giving right now, no amount of rizz can keep him from his first championship.”
WTF did I just read!? That was hella cringe!
Might be premature but Noah is not only the best SHR ford. Also one of the better fords in the field
Good race