NASCAR

Who is a fan and whom do you favour in the drivers seat?

Non-fan, and Ms. Patrick. SOON!

She done good EH?

I lost interest when the cars stopped being anything at all
like what was sold at your local dealership.From what I under-
stand,the all run the same bodies now.You have to look at the
name (or emblem) on the front to tell what kind of car it's
supposed to be.

- Doug

I used to be a big fan, but not so much now. Still watch the occasional race.
I have grown tired of the big money, NASCAR butting in, the cookie cutter drivers, cookie cutter cars, cookie cutter sponsors, cookie cutter wives and girlfriends, cookie cutter tracks,, ect,....
Things started going away for me when Dave Marcis retired, Dale died, Terry Labonte retired, Lake Speed, Dick Trickle, Robert Pressley, Ward Burton, Johnny Benson and a host of real drivers lost their rides or left because of money, injuries ect...........
There are only about a half a dozen real NASCAR drivers left out there. Guys like Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Joe Nemechek (sometimes), Ken Schrader (rarely now). Most of the rest (with a few exceptions) are just snotty nosed, spoiled celebrities who drive big money round in circles.....

Not a fan of the racing, but I'm a fan of the technology (laugh all you want, but you will NOT find a more refined race car in the world (yes, including F1).

I really like the NASCAR road course races like Watkins Glen. That's where the real driving occurs, and where you'll find the most skilled drivers, IMO.

The round-and-round circle racing is not my cuppa tea, at all.

Give me the road courses, that's what racing's all about!

The Canadian race is fun to watch.

vagt6 said:

I really like the NASCAR road course races like Watkins Glen. That's where the real driving occurs, and where you'll find the most skilled drivers, IMO.

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There are some very skilled open wheeled racers that would disagree with you. There are more and more F1 drivers trying out NASCAR to see if they want to make the jump like Juan Pablo Montoya. NASCAR racing is beginning to pull talent from around the world and like Monkeywrench stated, the cars are not the low tech ox carts that some think they are.

To quote Marcos Ambrose, a Tasmanian veteran of Australian V8 Super Touring, who has made the move to NASCAR. "In my opinion, NASCAR is the best, bigger than Formula 1. The competition is fierce and the depth of talent is very high, with F1, Champ Car and NASCAR veterans all in the mix. I’ve driven a lot of different race cars around the world, high downforce, low downforce, in the rain, on the dirt… you name it. But high-speed-stock-car racing is one of the toughest things you could do.” He goes on to say: “These Cup cars have nowhere near enough downforce, way too much power and not enough tire grip. Everything is maxed out. You need a lot of aggression to really get one around the race track. There is no easy weekend and there's nowhere to hide out on a big speedway. Every weekend you’ve got to run on the edge. If you’re too comfortable, you’re too slow. It’s possibly the only motorsport left in the world where drivers make a big difference, because the cars just don’t handle. And these guys are unbelievable drivers, willing to run on the edge with a rear end wagging around at 210 mph and still be aggressive. There’s so much going on. The wind knocks you around in the draft, people bumping you and cars slipping around. You want to lift at every corner, but you have to commit to yourself, to the car and to what you’re doing. You’ve really got to believe because any doubt in your mind and another driver is going to pounce. There is no room out there for the weak of mind or the timid.”

As far as the cars looking all the same… How is that different than any spec class? If all the Formula One cars were painted black, would you be able to tell the manufacturers apart at a glance? Like every race series, NASCAR has evolved. My favorite era of F1 is from the mid 60’s before aero, but I don’t despise what came after it. I’m not a NASCAR fan myself, but it’s not because it’s not real racing. Like many things American, it’s big, bold, in your face and unapologetic for doing so.

While I understand the "in your face unapologetic" bit and that the things are 10 10ths ALL the time, it just seems cultlike.

Monkeywrench said:

Not a fan of the racing, but I'm a fan of the technology (laugh all you want, but you will NOT find a more refined race car in the world (yes, including F1).

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I ain't yet heard one of th' NASCAR lumps do THIS!

Speaking of letting it hang out in the corners.....I became a Kyle Busch fan a couple years ago. I like a driver who is there to WIN!

...No not a fan, road courses are kind of fun, but cars are not interesting....these were the days...jeez, sound like an old coot, but these WERE stock cars!

Riverside '64

When men were men,& cars were tanks.

- Doug

Luv me some NASCAR. HUGE Daytona and Talladega fan. Hate the mile and a halfers. I like Bobby Labonte even though his best days are behind him. My son like "Smoke" Why, I don't know. Been to several races and would like to go to more, but dinero is kinda low.

Thats true enough on the go to the race funding. We go to the New Hampshire track, and the best deal is for Saturday, open seating. The Cup boys start practicing around 6AM, and then there is an ARCA race. More Cup practice. Then there is the truck race, then you fight the crowds, go home and watch the Cup race from the comfort of your living room on Sunday.

I say that we go back to when they ran Fords with
427's,& bodys that came from the factory.
You HAD to be a Man to drive them!Sorry,I'll go
back to the time when my heros were Richard,LeeRoy,
Cale,Bobby,etc.

- Doug

I'll watch the road races...
I think just Infineon & Watkins Glen ???
(IRL only does those 2 + Mid-O)
Ovals really don't do enough to keep me interested

So far as NASCAR cars go....
Kinda sounds like polishing a Pinto.
But if they are all the same....Then it becomes a driver's race more than a manufacturer's race.
And I've always respected that.

The average fans confuse me a bit though.
Many don't seem to care much about the technical stuff.

Cool link... https://www.susprog.com/susptype.htm

Certainly, NASCAR drivers are the best on the planet at what they do: driving very large cars around in circles, all year long. Do that professionally, day in day out for years, and you have a cadre of folks who are highly skilled at doing just that. This is why NASCAR racing is so "hard" (as mentioned above) for the uninitiated. Obviously, no one is better at driving NASCAR cars than a seasoned NASCAR driver.

However, if you put a top NASCAR driver in an F1 car, they'd probably kill themselves and most other drivers near them on the first lap. It's clearly not even in the same universe. It's like comparing Roger Federer to your local high school tennis champ!

A 40+ year old, slightly overweight, successful NASCAR driver can <span style="text-decoration: underline">not</span> find success in an F1 car, unless it's in a parking lot. He'd have the same chance at winning in F1 as a 40 year old tennis player would have winning Wimbledon (e.g., zero)! When's the last time there was a successful 40+ year old F1 driver?

ANY F1 driver could segue relatively well into NASCAR, or practically any other race car. Sure, it would take awhile to acclimatize, but the F1 driver would do it well. F1 drivers are younger, in better physical condition, have exceptional reflexes and hand-eye coordination, and did I mention <span style="font-style: italic">younger</span>?

No comparison.

At all.

But darn, there's a good reason why NASCAR is so successful: it's FUN!

Peter Windsor of USF1 said he would love to have Kyle Bush (not a 40+ but still a NASCAR driver) in the cockpit of his newly formed team (unfortunately he also commented that he can't afford him plus he's currently under contract). Personally, I'd think he'd perform well in F1 even if he is a brat with an attitude (hmmm - that description could have been used to describe quite a few skilled F1 drivers).

I've lost what interest I had in NASCAR when they went to the run off format and the boring Jimmie Johnson has won 4 championships in a row - which is extemely boring to me. I know, I know others rave it's a great accomplishment etc. but it shows a lack of competition to me.
I have no interest in Danica Patrick entering nascar either. She has won one race in the Indy Car series and if it weren't for her sex and her looks she would not have near the attention she gets. It will be interesting to see if she can maintain her cool as time goes on in nascar as she seems easily rattled in Indy Car when someone crosses her path. In no event do I see her achieving anything beyond middling success in nascar but look what it's gotten her so far in Indy Cars!
Roy