I don't really know anything about the rules of NASCAR, but if I understood the ending right, he came out of the pits and lapped the pace car to catch up to the lead lap. I didn't think you could do that! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a pace car? If I'm way off base, I'm sorry, and I know it was just a movie and he had to win.
shareI don't think he lapped the pace car --- he pitted and had to be sure he was out of this pits in FRONT of the pace car before it passed HIM. Then, he went around the track at top speed in order to pick up the pack at the drop of the green flag ... been awhile since I've seen the movie, but I believe that's what happened. He never passed the pace car, though.
---------------------------
How's my life? Each day is better than the next...
Thanks, been awhile since I've seen it, too. Honestly, I heard the song from the movie and I thought I'd post what I'd always wondered. Anyway, I didn't think, once they'd gone to caution, you could come out of the pits in front of the pace car (I assumed you'd have to wait and drop in behind once everyone else had passed), after all doesn't that defeat the purpose of slowing everyone down so an accident scene can be cleared?
shareIt's absolutely impossible and it's yet another example of "movie magic".
Basically, he goes to the end of the longest line, and NASCAR waits until everyone is lined up before dropping the green flag.
If he goes too fast before the green flag is dropped, he is assessed a penalty and sent to the end of the longest line.
no u can speed around the track to catch up to the pack but ususally they will wait for the driver to catch up before they drop the green flag in his case the pace car was coming of the track to resume racing anyways...
now the only way that im familiar with for getting a penalty when taking the green on a restart is if u pass someone before the leader has crossed the start finish line. once the leader has taken the green flag, even if u are in like 40 place u can begin passing before u cross the stripe...
But isn't it unrealistic to think a driver could speed past everyone to catch up to the lead lap? Won't everyone be going pretty much full speed all the time (on green)? How could he go fast enough to pass everyone? I kinda thought once you got down a number of laps, you never really caught up till the end when those who've finished had left the track, or they end the race and you have to accept that you didn't complete the required number of laps. That's why a fast and efficient pit crew is essential.
shareIt was perfectly legal what he did coming out of the pits...the unrealistic part was passing the entire field like they were standing still in about 3 laps.
shareThen, has it been tried or done successfully in an actual race?
shareNOT unrealistic. The last race of the movie was run at Daytona International Speedway. That race is a restrictor plate race. A restrictor plate is something they put on the cars to reduce the flow of air taken in, and therefore reducing the horse power of the car. It takes a while to accelerate when you have a restrictor plate engine, so, Cole was going at about 190, and it took them about a full lap to get up to speed, they started at about 70mph when the green flag flew, and easily passed everyone on the track. Glad I could help ^_^
shareI think the best quote I've heard about Days of Thunder was from Kyle Petty when asked how accurate DOT was to real Nascar. His reply, "well, we both drive cars around tarcks. and thats about it".
To pass 30+ cars at Daytona, even w/out a restrictor plate, would take many laps. Hollywood just loves the old "came back from last to 1st" themes.
[deleted]
With the big wreck that occured, and the restrictor plates, It is....somewhat possible that he could have passed the whole field at the end.....it takes a couple laps for everyone to get up to speed. If he's already at full speed and has incredible luck with timing, it could be possible.
shareA little background on restrictor plates for the ppl who dont understand the reasoning in purposely crippling a race cars proformance. Restrictor plates were implemented in 1988 following Bobby Allison's crash into a retaining fence at 210 mph (338 kph), which endangered hundreds of fans. Also in 1987, Bill Elliott set the track record by running a lap around the track at 213 mph (343 kph). Some believe that if restrictor plates weren't used, NASCAR cars could race on super-speedways at speeds in excess of 225 mph (362 kph) due to the improved aerodynamics of the cars over the past decade.
While NASCAR officials contend that restrictor plates are needed to prevent high-speed crashes like Allison's, many drivers complain that restrictor plates are the cause of multi-car accidents. Restrictor plates reduce speed by about 10 mph, leaving the field of more than 40 cars bunched tightly as they race around the track at 190 mph. If one of these cars crashes, it usually causes several other cars to crash along with it.
Yep, it's called being the "lucky dog" The last person on the lead lap gets to get catch up to the back of the field.
___________
The Desert Rat Strikes Again
"You Non-Conformists are all alike"
The problem with the scene is that so many cars would have been in front of him(even if it was 20 and not the full 40) that he would have been blocked. If he went zooming around like that he would have crashed because someone would either block him from passing, a common on restartes is 3 wide and 4 cars can't fit, or he would have come into a turn and all the low spots taken making him slow down to take the high spot which is a steeper angle. Also you can't pass 20 cars no matter how fast you go in 1 lap and after one lap at Daytona they are up to speed.
shareHey its a movie. We wouldn`t have been so happy if he finished a well respectable 5th. Well unless you were British. Cool film that can be watched so many times. Ps why does everything Yank sound louder and oh so much better. :-) ps Go Jenson lets see if you can end 2006, well, 4th, You`ll be knighted!
shareWell the whole point of what he did was to get out on the caution laps before the pace car passed him. If the pace car passed him than he would be a lap down. As for the "lucky dog" award, it is given out as soon as the caution comes out, and thus Cole wouldn't have gotten it. If Cole beat the pace car out, than he would remain ont he lead lap. The thing is that he must be in single file order or two wide order, directly behind a car and cant go any faster than the other cars do when they drop the green flag, and to pass even 6 or 7 cars on three laps is really crusing, much less the WHOLE field. This is especially true considering they were in restrictor plate racing (or were they?). When restricter plates are used they really lessen the barrier between the cars speed, thus to win at a superspeedway such as Daytona or Talladega, you have to have draft partners who will draft with you through the race. Also, to make a pass on a superspeedway, you usually need a car to directly follow behind you in your draft to give your car the nesessary ability (due tot he downdraft) to pass. There is no way that Cole could have gone thru the whole field of cars in three laps, no way. But hey it is the movies!
shareJust my two cents.
When Cole came out of the pits, he was JUST in front of the pace car, thereby leaving him on the lead lap (rules have since changed in NASCAR regarding positions during a yellow). He was also aware he'd have to run full speed to catch them, and was able to do so, catching the field at his full 190 while the rest of the pack was BARELY running 70. At a 120 mph difference, and with him leading the speeds like that for a full lap at the 2.5 mile Daytona, I'd think that even with traffic, as it thinned out, he could make it through to the lead. A stretch of the imagination, by any means, but at the time, entirely possible. However, no longer possible.
I don't know much about hockey so I won't belittle the people here who don't know much about racing but as far as realism is concerned, DOT rates right up there with Fireball 500 starring Fabian and Annette. A 'supposedly' natural driver with so much skill and experience that Duval takes him to the big league has happened but the fact that the driver knows nothing about 'loose' and 'tight' car conditions is idiotic. Similar examples of a director using artistic license to make a more entertaining movie are too numerous to mention. In keeping with this thread, Cole may have been able to stay ahead of the pace car and catch the end of the pack but anyone who has seen a restrictor plate race at Daytona or Talledaga knows that due to 3 and 4 wide racing, no car is going to pass the number he had to before the rest of the field came up to full song (1 lap) and after that no individual car is going to pass the rest of the field without a drafting partner. This was probably a pretty good movie for anyone who knows nothing about NASCAR racing. I watched it once just out of curiosity and was very disappointed with the fact that the director could have made the movie accurate down to the last detail and had a box office hit since just about every real race contains all the elements for an exciting, dramatic, suspenseful movie. Days of Thunder was a waste of film.
share[deleted]
"Lucky Dog rule (which states that the lead car off that's down a lap is put back on the lead lap"
The lucky dog is given out as soon as the caution comes out, thus he wouldnt have gotten it, becuase he would have been a lap down after the award had been previously given out. Plus i dont htink they used that until the 90's, so i guess you can just race the lead car to the finish line to stay on the lead lap.
The "Lucky Dog" rule came out at Dover in 2003 following a wreck with Dale Jarrett sitting on the frontstretch at NHIS with cars swerving every which way to try to avoid him and race back to the line. So, no it was not instated at the time of Days of Thunder.
shareas far as restrictor plates go---nobody likes them except the bloodthirsty fans that want to see the "big one". two seasons ago during a test at Talladega, Rusty Wallace had his crew remove the plate. He ran quite a few laps unrestricted. He later stated that he was lapping at 229 and still had quite a bit of car left. lapping at 235 and higher with the draft doesn't seem that out of reach IF they were unrestricted. As much of a Wallace fan that i am....NASCAR died for me Feb. 18, 2001.
shareI agree with the end of that post wholeheartedly...I mean, I still watch NASCAR, but it just doesn't have the excitement that it did before Earnhardt died...if there's any real driver that could do what Cole did, it's Earnhardt.
333333
33333333
33
33
3333333
3333333
33
33
33333333
333333
Dale Earnhardt's last victory at Talladega in 2000 he came from 15th or 17th in 3 or 5laps to win.
I think that should enough on this subject....
:)
I don't think that NASCAR would allow any driver to have a 120 mile per hour speed advantage over the rest of the field at the drop of the green flag. It'd be far too dangerous. Unless I'm mistaken, don't they wait for all of the cars to be in their proper positions in line, going the proper speed, before they wave the green? I've been watching since I was two (I'm 18 now, except I haven't been as avid a watcher since 2003), and I remember that being how the NASCAR officials dealt with cars that had to catch up to the rest of the field during a yellow. Then again, I might definitely be wrong.
shareThe only REAL flaw with that is that:
A.) I'm pretty sure it would of been impossible to accelerate the fast because Harry or someone said just give him high gear. If so, his car would of NEVER been able to catch up to the pace car or for that matter probably even get going again.
B.) There is an official at the end of pit road who holds up a sign signifying whether they can go or have to stop leaving pit road. The official should of been holding up the stop sign because the pace car was well past the point of where he should of been holding up the stop sign.
Back in 89 it would have been BARELY possible for him to do that. the rules worked just like they used in the movie for him beating the pace car out and racing around the track to take the green flag at speed while the rest of the field was still doing close to 70. and the guy with the stop sign thing was not something they did in NASCAR at that time that came somewhat later.
Cole would have been allowed to drive full speed around the track to reach the back of the field and would have been at full speed while the field was just getting up to speed when the green flag flew. If you guys watch a race, you will see that some guys purposely stay in the back of the pack until the end of the race precisely because you can drive all the way up through the field in a few laps. Also, he didn't pass the pace car, he just got out in front of it. It's very confusing if you don't follow NASCAR, but this movie isn't a huge stretch from what actually goes on during the season. Most of the big race events were based on actual events. The only big difference is the banging that goes on at Daytona. Daytona is a very aero dependent track and that last thing you would want to do is bash in the front of your car just to mess with the person in front of you.
share