NASCAR.com has an article on the acceptance, or lack of acceptance, of victory donuts. Personally, I don’t mind them if they’re done properly (Jeff Gordon’s first attempt at a donut in 2001 was just pitiful). I agree with the contention that Kyle Busch’s donut was out of line, considering he finished second in that race. Other than that, they are pretty cool. I’m a Harvick fan, but I did laugh my ass off when he blew his tire doing one after the Brickyard 400.
How do other race fan Dopers feel about them? NASCAR, IRL, CART, and F-1 opinions welcome.
Hijacking my own thread, and please don’t think I’m being a smartass, but what would have been a better title, after reading the OP and it’s link? Just trying to learn…
Casey1505, of course Kyle Busch’s donut was out of line. He’s a Busch! Brothers always act alike.
I think the burnout, if done properly (i.e. Harvick-style) is better than the average donut. Except at tracks with infield grass like Daytona where you can really tear some stuff up.
I just didn’t buy his reasoning that “We’re teammates, we’re teenagers, and we finished 1-2.” It’s just bullshit. Everyone knows that second place is #1 loser, why celebrate? Take your car back to the garage, thank all your sponsors on TV, and thank god you have as much talent at your profession as you do at your age. Don’t coattail on someone else’s glory. Hell, you didn’t see Mike Skinner doing victory laps or burnouts back in '98 when his teammate finally won the Daytona 500. He got in line to shake Earnhardt’s hand, and went about his business.
Getting back on topic, the first burnout I remember was Harvick’s at Atlanta in '01. Every week, the burnouts got better and better, like they were trying to outdo each other. Someone, I forget who, even did one facing the wall, not more than 2 feet away! If his tires caught grip, he was in the wall. Then there was Gordon’s unfortunate attempt that only left skidmarks…
Anyone know who did the first NASCAR donut? My first recollection of one was Dale Earnhardt at the '98 Daytona 500 (still the best donuts I’ve seen) and I’d been watching Nascar for years before that. Nowadays, I think it’s a bit hackneyed for someone to bust out the donut after winning at Phoneix or Kansas or any other normal oval with no history or surprisingly unique challenges.
If you’re going to do them, do them after big races: Daytona, Bristol, Talladega, Darlington. That kind of celebration just seems out of place at Chicagoland.
Donuts are damn fun. I don’t mind when they do them, but always wondered if the car builder was wincing over the thought of all that stress on the drive shaft and rear.
Manduck is correct - Zanardi in CART was the originator of the donut. And I’m a little tired of them too. However, they’re not performed much anymore in CART races - partially due to the mostly road courses that CART runs (not sure there’s enough space).
