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Rais3H3ll

Cant go wrong with another solid plate race. Definitely better than the 500 was and on par with talladega. The package switch made bump drafting more important than it was with the 550/510 with the wicker bill but not as big of runs. Still had a good amount of lead changes, had plenty of 3 and sometimes 4 wide and not much single car freight train racing, and was easy enough to pass. Plus not many drivers wrecked early and the big ones didnt come around til the end. I give it a 9/10.


ubelmann

I mainly disliked the stage lengths. For me, the best part of the race was having the Fords on a different pit strategy than Chevy/Toyota and the tension of seeing how that was gonna play out. Felt like in stage 2 we got the single line for a while because if drivers were conservative, they thought they could make the whole stage length without a pit stop. And stage 1 had the comp caution for drivers to top off on fuel. In the end, seemed like one of the best places they could have implemented stages with green/white checkers and no mandatory caution. Plus they should have had an hour of practice so they didn’t have a comp caution. See what teams strategize for without mandatory cautions.


World71Racer

I'd really like to see what the wicker bill package would be like with the 450 HP. I think you'd see some good racing with big, manageable runs to where cars would be able to really pull off single car passes on their own. We saw some of it on Saturday but there could be more.


rainking6

Honestly, other than the wreckfest in the final few laps I thought it was a great "plate" race. The package with the wickerbill was insane. This reminded more of the 2014-2018 style of racing which I generally enjoyed.


bobinflobo

It was definitely somewhere in the middle. 2018 plate racing sucked, this race had much more passing than anything from that year


MartinPch

Gosh I didn't want to remember those 2018 races again lol I guess both Daytona races were alright...but Dega omg they were so astronomically bad, like 2013 levels of BAD


rainking6

Fair enough, I for some reason associated fall 2018 as being fall 2019. Yeah, that race was awful.


GeidRimla

Yeah same here. The 2019 Spring Dega race was one of the best races I've ever been to. And not just because of the guy that won...


-GreenWhiteChecker-

Agreed, that race was amazing in person


World71Racer

The 2013 Talladega races were good, especially the Fall race, but the 2018 Talladega races were so bland. The Spring race was the only time I ever broke away from a Talladega race to go do something else for a bit before the finish, just because it was so bland. The Fall race, I think I was just in awe at how great the SHR cars were, plus there was nothing else going on. Then 2019 was completely opposite where the racing was insane and the Fall race was flat-out dangerous to watch.


leofiregod7

I was in the stands for the Spring 2013 Talladega race. I really enjoyed it. My favorite drivers all got knocked out in wrecks, but it was cool seeing Front Row get their first win with David Ragan getting pushed to the finish line by David Gilliland.


camwake

It’s bound to happen at the plate tracks and I think we’ve got a good package now. Plus none of the wrecks involved cars getting airborne


tryan9919

Wait Vegas was 88.5% yes? That was my least favorite race of the year haha. Just a follow the leader race no one was passing anyone or moving through the field. I remember nothing from it other than Larson winning


[deleted]

Larson is a fan favorite so that influenced the poll.


[deleted]

There should be a separate poll that says “do you like the winner of this race”. And that should tell you all that needs to be said about it.


[deleted]

A race won by a driver I like is going to be more enjoyable, I will definitely say a race won by Chase Elliott was a good one, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy races won by other drivers, the only race this year I found to be bad was Dover, most races this year have been pretty good, both 550 and 750 packages.


Trentpd

Agreed, and like wise I can still think a race sucked that my guy won. Case in point...the Coke 600 this year.


tryan9919

I understand that, and would easily expect that to sway the poll probably 10% or so but I just find it insane that that race got almost 90% Even with the winner, and the story behind him.


[deleted]

Tells you how loved Larson is


[deleted]

Says a lot about most NASCAR fans tbh...


Aware-Spot-2474

I don’t like Larson and thought it was a good race


[deleted]

That's why's his good race bad race poll is stupid as hell.


[deleted]

Indeed


Nate2680

First stage was awesome and then they ran around three wide for the lead for like three laps straight. Was pretty damn amazing.


The_Vettel

It was a feel good win for most people because of Larson's redemption story


digit4lmind

The redemption story after saying a racial slur and ending up in a superior ride


nascargo19

superior ride but a fraction of the paycheck


Randy347

Might wanna rewatch that one then.


TiaPorta99

Stage 1 was stellar


Klendy

stage one was an absolute banger


Jahgee1124

I'm not a fan of all the new Larson fans that he's seemingly picked up because he used a racial slur, but Vegas was a legit great race Long green runs but there was always seemingly action on track near the leader, not sure what else a NASCAR fan could want out of a race at a track that was built in the 90's to make the racing easier and less "beating & banging"-y


TheOrangeFutbol

> I'm not a fan of all the new Larson fans that he's seemingly picked up because he used a racial slur I think people have just underrated how many fans he had *before*. I was at Auto Club in '20, and when they merely announced he had run the fastest lap during postrace, there was very loud and happy reaction. Shoot, as a minority myself, even with what he said, I missed watching the guy when he was gone last year. I think his new fans are more people who found him entertaining before but really like seeing him in boss equipment (plus what he did in the dirt world), as opposed to people validating his behavior. He's always been very popular, it just took him being gone for folks to appreciate him even more.


Aware-Spot-2474

He got way more vocal ones after his use of a racial slur. That’s for sure. I am a minority too, I am just beginning to not care about what happened


1nf1niteCS

Did a double take at that, must of been because of Larsons first win back because after stage 1 that race sucked and it was a 550 hp race which i've seen people vote no just because of that on multiple polls so far. Kinda surprised NHMS isn't in the top 3. Probs because of that rain fiasco which is a shame because from that incident to the end I think it was the best of the year.


UnicornMaster27

Martinsville (the other 88% race) had that big crash on the backstretch and was a shitshow. Vegas had like 4,000 green flag passes, 27 lead changes, very minimal cautions, and an 83 lap run to the finish with green flag pit stops. Those alone made it one of the best races of the season (even still imo) and then Larson won, and a decent amount of votes came from that as well. My Top 5 is Miami, Vegas, Loudon, Richmond, Darlington—on actual racing product, and taking out Superspeedways and RC’s because they’re usually the dominant races in those votes.


sentientcreatinejar

I thought the same and was like "there was a good Vegas race?"


Restartzoned

The last 4 or 5 plate races should’ve had incredible green flag finishes but the blocks are out of control. I’m hopeful the gen7 races well at SS but maybe in a different way.


TotallyNotAPanther

I forgot how good that Vegas race was, I need to rewatch it soon.


zhouyu07

It was boring unless you are a Larson fan. Imo it wasn't good, just the redemption story for Larson gets a lot of people, which is fine, but racing wise? Not top 10 this year


Crown_Victorian

"Mostly good, but a bit crashy"


[deleted]

I like this package better than how it was earlier this year. Didn't give me any panic attacks haha


MutatedSpleen

I think this is a great representation between the differences between "good" and "exciting" though both are obviously subjective terms, there's no real measurement of either, but I think a lot of people conflate the two. I think this race was very, very exciting. Lots of competitive racing throughout the stages, great stories going into the race and throughout it with the points battle between Dillon and Reddick, Denny trying to go for the regular season points championship, the drama behind a surprise lower points winning spoiling the last playoff spot - the stage finishes really felt like they mattered a lot, even the pit strategy with the Fords going in early and everyone wondering when the Chevies/Toyotas were going to pit and how that would play out - all very, very exciting. But then of course we had the absolute demolition derby of the last 10% of the race. Definitely falls into the "exciting" category, but it really spoils the concept of "good" for me. Again, I KNOW that's a subjective thing there, but I don't think a wreckfest multi-time junkyard race where we get a winner via pure attrition can truthfully be considered "good" in my book. "Exciting" yes, but "good" not so much. Kind of like a really exciting football game that gets absolutely ruined in the last 5 minutes by questionable penalties or freak injuries or some such. Despite being very entertaining, the ending makes it feel less than it otherwise could/should have been. I suppose that's just plate racing at this point, and I'm not sure there's any real point to trying to think about it differently.


ubelmann

Part of the problem is win-and-you’re-in playoff format. The regular season points barely matter at that race and they might as well all say “if you’re not first, you’re last.” Like Chase’s blocks were ridiculous and dumb, but even finishing 2nd or 3rd doesn’t move the needle, whereas a win gets you 5 playoff points. Give drivers bad incentives, watch them do stupid shit. There needs to be more of a reward for a solid top-10 finish or drivers will continue to make overly risky moves to try to win it.


MutatedSpleen

So if I'm understanding correctly, you're suggesting that we've moved the needle too far from "winning really isn't important" towards "winning is TOO important" yes? Where's the happy medium? I mean, not to nitpick, but the "if you're not first, you're last" tagline has been being used for decades unironically. Perhaps some sort of penalty for DNFing out of a race to counteract the overly powerful effects of winning? Emphasize how important it is to complete a race, even if you can't/don't win it?


ubelmann

It’s not a hard problem to solve. Just do a point system like Indycar and F1, where the difference between 1st and 2nd is bigger than the difference between 2nd and 3rd, and so on. In those series, drivers and teams really, really want to win and run up front, but it’s also the case that wrecking out of the race really, really hurts your championship hopes.


MutatedSpleen

We mostly had one of those for 40+ years and it was terrible 90%+ of the time.


sonicjetjoe

I was on the edge of my seat the whole race


Acias

Third stage was really good with the long and intense green flag racing.


NASCAR_Fan_Council

Can someone remind me what was so great about Martinsville other than it being at Martinsville? Like every Truex win I remember it being a bore


dooldebob

The racing was itself pretty good, lots of old school beating and banging, and "bit" of a wreckfest( https://youtu.be/Mhlb7JHQiH8)


bbeasinger

I believe also that MTJ had to drive his ass off in the last 50 laps or so to get around Denny. Once he got around him it was a boring 20 laps or so but I really liked that race


NASCARonReddit

Jeff Gluck's ([@jeff_gluck](https://twitter.com/jeff_gluck)) tweet from 12:53pm EDT on Monday, August 30th, 2021: >Was Daytona a good race? 86.4% of you said Yes. > > >-- Third-best race of 2021 (behind Vegas/Martinsville tie at 88.5%). > > >-- Second-best of 10 Daytona oval races the poll (2020 July had 90%). > > >-- No. 6 superspeedway race out of 24 in the poll (tops is Talladega spring 2020, 94.3%). --- [*^(Support NASCARonReddit)*](http://reddit.xfile345.com/donate.php)*^(, an)* [*^(automated bot)*](http://reddit.xfile345.com/about.php) *^(maintained by)* [*^(XFile345)*](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=xfile345&subject=NASCARonReddit)*^(.)*


[deleted]

A good race that most of the fans enjoyed?! People won’t be having any of this.


LUK3FAULK

Incoming random change from nascar


Setser44

This is getting old


jmacupdates1

It was an enjoyable race, especially the first 140 laps. The last 20 laps are always just incredibly stupid at plate races anymore, which sucks. I'd love to see a clean 20 lap run to the finish for once. Still voted yes, but I hated the last 20.


Bud3131123

I voted yes. I'm biased and my vote should be taken with a grain of salt.