NASCAR Auto Club Speedway 2014 Friday

NASCAR Auto Club Speedway 2014 Friday Photos and Stories.

2014-03-21 - 2014-03-23
Fontana, California, USA

Photos and story provided by George McClure Contact Photographer for Information.

NASCAR Auto Club Speedway 2014 Friday

Race Results - PDF file
Race Results Nationwide- PDF file
Time Trials - PDF file
Goodyear Tire Notes - PDF file

NASCAR or what once stood for the National Stock Car Racing.

Back in the beginning when guys took a Chevy, Ford or what ever was setting around their garage and did some modifying on it for use on the track and then drove it to a track on Sunday to get a thrill out of going fast and beating the guy in the next town.

Then the manufactures saw an opportunity to brag that 'their car' won the 'big race' on Sunday and that was the one everyone should buy. At that point the manufactures started to slip money over the fence to the car owners, who were more than pleased to take it, as up to that time the owners worked all day to make money to live so they could work all night fixing the car for the 'big race' on Sunday.

The trouble with people handing out big money for 'bragging rights' and signage about and on cars, is now everyone wants a say on what is going on.

Fast-forward many years to today to what NASCAR has become. NASCAR is now a show-of-shows, larger than anything in Hollywood or Las Vegas. No one guy can fix up a car and go racing on Sunday. It takes a bunch of corporations and an army of people to field a NASCAR vehicle and claim control of it. Not to mention an unbelievable amount of money being spent way-before the first green flag drop.

What is shown in the photo above; is the guys in the gray shirts are the representatives of the "Real Owners" of the race car, which is in fact NASCAR its self. They own/oversee the design and maintenance of it. The gray-shirt guys are checking to make certain beyond any doubt that no one has made any change-fix-adjustment to the car except paint and decals.

What about manufactures that saw an opportunity to brag that 'their car' won the 'big race' on Sunday and that was the one everyone should buy? They are left to standing in line to spend money on supplying decals instead of providing special engineered racecar parts.

So what once stood for the National Stock Car Racing has become a show of speed and daring. But to keep the 'daring' bit under control so no people are damage, the speed maximum is managed and the 'Daring' part is limited to back office management and on-track strategy. Money = prep=winning.

But the wild card is always "LUCK" and that is still the draw for the fans. Lets see if my guy or gal will pull-off a win today!

NASCAR Auto Club Speedway 2014
Fontana, California, 2012