What did you do today?

Started the day working on an ADSB in issue in the new to us 182. Saw a short body Mooney gear up and otherwise nice landing. Everybody was ok. Came home and lit the smoker.
 
Watched the first five laps of the Daytona 500 (crash). Came back while later to watch the obligatory mid-race crash which involves ~1/2 the field. Came back later to watch the finish, saw the also-obligatory crash with 10 laps to go, which bunches up the field for an exciting finish. This was followed by a restart, then the usual last-lap crash to produce a surprise winner.

NASCAR has become as predictable as a Hallmark movie. They desperately need some new plots.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Right turns?
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The only NASCAR races I find interesting are the road courses, particularly Watkins Glenn and Sears Point (aka Sonoma). But then I'm an old road racer.

Some of the short oval races are sometimes okay, but the restrictor plate stuff is terrible. It takes too long for the cars to get up to speed after a stop, and the result is a boring parade with inevitable large crashes.
 
I tried desperately to find an alternative to what I already new. The wife went to start her Ford Escape to take the kids to church and it didn’t start.. I go look at it and it sounded like the bendix wasn’t engaging the flew plate, so I had my son bump the starter while I looked under the hood.. the pulleys were turning… I pull off the the oil fill cap and can see the camshaft is turning… I called a buddy who brought over a scanner and the position sensors are firing… I think the timing chain jumped and being an interference engine the valves all got bent resulting in zero compression…. Bad day…
 
I accidentally took a few sips of a half-caff coffee after 5 pm. So, of course, that means I'm wide awake well past my normal sleep time. I will be awake for a bit longer, I can tell, and I'll be completely ruined tomorrow, tired and grouchy all day.
 
Half Fast said:
NASCAR has become as predictable as a Hallmark movie. They desperately need some new plots.
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One thing NASCAR needs is drivers and owners with personalities again. Remember the final lap of the '79 Daytona 500.?? And Buddy Baker. When he stormed through the garage area folks got out of his way.

And announcers that are excited to be at a race, not required to be there.

NASCAR is turning into country music, where everyone looks the same, acts the same and sounds the same.

What's next, participation trophies.??
 
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Half Fast said:
The only NASCAR races I find interesting are the road courses, particularly Watkins Glenn and Sears Point (aka Sonoma). But then I'm an old road racer.

Some of the short oval races are sometimes okay, but the restrictor plate stuff is terrible. It takes too long for the cars to get up to speed after a stop, and the result is a boring parade with inevitable large crashes.
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They did COTA last year and a street race in Chicago. Doing a street course at the San Diego naval base this year
 
Zeldman said:
One thing NASCAR needs is drivers and owners with personalities again. Remember the final lap of the '79 Daytona 500.?? And Buddy Baker. When he stormed through the garage area folks got out of his way.

And announcers that are excited to be at a race, not required to be there.

NASCAR is turning into country music, where everyone looks the same, acts the same and sounds the same.

What's next, participation trophies.??
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There's a lot wrong with the sport. I love me some Mike Joy as an automotive/racing historian. But announcing races is BORING.

I too wish drivers had more personality. It's a bit of a double edged sword. Drivers have been forced to sanitize the personality to gain sponsors. But the lack of personality doesn't really sell product or bring eyes to the racing.

Now, dirt Sprint car racing is another story. Their announcers are fantastic and drivers show personality.
 
To me it's boring because it's all the same. The drivers are the same, the cars are the same, the events are the same. I was never really a fan, but would sometimes watch it long ago. Today's races remind me of the old IROC races. Real racing was about winning, which meant getting the most you could out of the car and bending or breaking the rules a little bit. I get why they put in restricter plates years ago, slowed things down and made it safer. But having engines that can't breath isn't the right answer to that to me. If you want to lower the speeds, decrease the displacement. I also get why they want it to stay family friendly. But competition and a little dissimilar technology can make it more interesting without it either being rough or more dangerous.
 
Racerx said:
Now, dirt Sprint car racing is another story. Their announcers are fantastic and drivers show personality.
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:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

I love sprint cars or midgets on a good dirt track. World of Outlaws puts on quite a show, but even the local stuff is great.

IMHO, much of the demise of stock car racing stems from the loss of so many local bullrings. Once upon a time (like when I was a kid), Saturday night at the roundy-round racing was a regular thing. You got to know the local drivers, you knew their kids, you saw them during the week, etc., and once in a while a NASCAR pro or two would show up, and once in a while one of the local heros would get a ride at a major race. It kept the fans more connected with the sport without requiring a major commitment to attend lots of big races.

Most of those little tracks are gone now, and they were the backbone of stock car racing.
 
Albany Tom said:
Real racing was about winning, which meant getting the most you could out of the car and bending or breaking the rules a little bit. I
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I thought the objective wasn't to go as fast as possible, but rather slow enough to win.
 
Albany Tom said:
I also get why they want it to stay family friendly. But competition and a little dissimilar technology can make it more interesting
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Agreed. It's no longer a showcase for manufacturers, and no one is developing anything new anymore.

And slowing cars down for safety tears the heart out of the sport. If open wheel cars can turn 210mph at Indy, and do so safely, then ways can be found to let a closed wheel car with a full cage do the same thing. Heck, sports cars run faster at Daytona than the stock cars.
 
Half Fast said:
:yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

I love sprint cars or midgets on a good dirt track. World of Outlaws puts on quite a show, but even the local stuff is great.

IMHO, much of the demise of stock car racing stems from the loss of so many local bullrings. Once upon a time (like when I was a kid), Saturday night at the roundy-round racing was a regular thing. You got to know the local drivers, you knew their kids, you saw them during the week, etc., and once in a while a NASCAR pro or two would show up, and once in a while one of the local heros would get a ride at a major race. It kept the fans more connected with the sport without requiring a major commitment to attend lots of big races.

Most of those little tracks are gone now, and they were the backbone of stock car racing.
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Tony Stewart started SRX racing to highlight the local hero. Local short track would hold a race and the winner would race against the "stars".

Slinger is a renowned asphalt short track in Wisconsin. 18 yr old kid won the late model race and damn near won the SRX race. He's now dipping his toes in NASCAR.

Truck champion Ty Majeski runs late model races all over the country. He was the shock engineer for his team setting up the shocks for 4 different trucks while driving full time.

Some drivers still run the big late model races like Snowball Derby or Slinger nationals. (Erik Jones, Carson Hocevar, William Byron to name a few.) But it's definitely not what it was when my grandpa would run against Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dick Trickle, Jim Sauter, Ted Musgrave, Alan Kulwicki on a regular basis. Gramps actually gave Jay Sauter his first ride in an ARTGO car in the early 80's.
 
Zeldman said:
Brother Bobby jumped in and showed his displeasure, and he wasn't even involved in the wreck.!!
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Certainly makes things more interesting. If the NHL can have brawls, I don't see why NASCAR can't.

If NASCAR wants to bounce back, they should convince Tom Cruise to do a sequel to Days of Thunder (which sucked for anyone who knows anything about racing, but was widely popular).
 
For the first time I managed to fuss with the clock in the Sanctuary without hitting the PTZ cameras (which are a HUGE pain to readjust)
 
Half Fast said:
Certainly makes things more interesting. If the NHL can have brawls, I don't see why NASCAR can't.

If NASCAR wants to bounce back, they should convince Tom Cruise to do a sequel to Days of Thunder (which sucked for anyone who knows anything about racing, but was widely popular).
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It's allegedly in the works
 
Half Fast said:
Maybe mud wrestling on the shore of Lake Loyd in the Daytona infield?
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I welcome everyone to go to Talladega for the nightly festivities. A little 'necky. But a damn good time
 
Jim K said:
Finally set up starlink.

Our soon-to-be previous ISP charges $65/mo for 25mbps. It went out the day we left for Nashville. Couldn't get it back on today, so decided to see if we were eligible for the $80 starlink residential light plan yet. Turns out they released a $50/mo 100mbps plan in January. Made it an easy decision.
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I may know a thing or two about the service. Give a shout if you have any questions or run into issues. It works great if you can give it an unobstructed north sky view. If there are some obstructions, it’ll take a day or two to figure it out. I’m partial to quad 1 (1.1.1.1) for DNS, which may be their default for residential.
 
masloki said:
I may know a thing or two about the service. Give a shout if you have any questions or run into issues. It works great if you can give it an unobstructed north sky view. If there are some obstructions, it’ll take a day or two to figure it out. I’m partial to quad 1 (1.1.1.1) for DNS, which may be their default for residential.
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On the patio roof atm. Working perfectly. Draws a neat little picture of the obstructions:

Screenshot_20260217_181759_Starlink.jpg

That little red bit is the edge of the second story. I'll eventually mount it more permanently up higher, probably on the old TV tower. Happy so far.
 
Jim K said:
On the patio roof atm. Working perfectly. Draws a neat little picture of the obstructions:

View attachment 150039

That little red bit is the edge of the second story. I'll eventually mount it more permanently up higher, probably on the old TV tower. Happy so far.
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I used the standard dish on a roam plan in the mountains of northern new Mexico. Even with the trees it gave faster speeds than my home internet. Used it for wifi calling so I didn't have to drive 45 minutes to get service to put out the fires at work.

Thinking Ill get it for the house. Dad's house is about 175' away but no line of site so think I'll set up a fiber line so we both have it.
 
Today I finished building and installed new oak railings for our main staircase. SO much fun. I only wish someone had pushed down said staircase before I started.

I can't wait to install all those wrought iron balusters. I'll bet that will be a lot of fun, too.
 
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T
Zeldman said:
One thing NASCAR needs is drivers and owners with personalities again. Remember the final lap of the '79 Daytona 500.?? And Buddy Baker. When he stormed through the garage area folks got out of his way.

And announcers that are excited to be at a race, not required to be there.

NASCAR is turning into country music, where everyone looks the same, acts the same and sounds the same.

What's next, participation trophies.??
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Definitely miss the older personalities. Let’s add to the list of things Francis doesn’t get.

To many rules and not enough cheating.

I want to be able to buy the Sunday race winner at the dealership on Monday. Now they all drive the same car.

Did I mention not enough cheating??

So boring.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I want to be able to buy the Sunday race winner at the dealership on Monday
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Sadly, we haven't been able to do that since the 60s. The last, closest racecars to street versions were when GM was running G-body cars, and Ford ran the Thunderbird. Even then, they downsized and changed aero on the cars. After that it was a complete departure from the street versions, model name being the only connection between what we could buy and what is considered a stock car. For a while, they even tried to pass off front wheel drive grocery-getters as the basis for stock car racing, like the Taurus, Grand Prix and the crappy 90's+ Monte Carlo.
 
I
Fiveslide said:
Sadly, we haven't been able to do that since the 60s. The last, closest racecars to street versions were when GM was running G-body cars, and Ford ran the Thunderbird. Even then, they downsized and changed aero on the cars. After that it was a complete departure from the street versions, model name being the only connection between what we could buy and what is considered a stock car. For a while, they even tried to pass off front wheel drive grocery-getters as the basis for stock car racing, like the Taurus, Grand Prix and the crappy 90's+ Monte Carlo.
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I figure it’s just time to go back to what made nascar great in the beginning. Not the corporate it’s turned into.

I still like visiting the local dirt track when I have the time. That’s some good racing.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
Yeah that’s about what it took for me as well. Some were in the 5-8 range. Wasn’t like a switch for me. Kinda a slow, very reluctant acceptance that started around the 5th one.
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What really drove it home was realizing all 5 were better pilots than me.
 
Ed Haywood said:
What really drove it home was realizing all 5 were better pilots than me.
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Yeah man. I feel ya.

This is a humbling business especially when you really get into the trenches and start doing things with aircraft. Bad **** happens to good pilots and sometimes it doesn’t work out well.
 
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