Is it bad to actually like NASCAR?

[LexusFman]

???? Discuss.

[thermobox]

No. It's a USA only form of motorsports that is part of our history. It takes an amazing amount of skill to do what they do and not kill everyone on track.

Does it bug the begeez outta me that they only turn in one direction? Yes. Does it bug the begeez outta me that when they have a road course they call in the F1/ Endurance drivers? Yes.

[ZetaVI]

I don't think it's bad. My problem is that every car is the same. You can't tell if it's Toyota, GM, or Ford plus there is too much marketing thrown in my face. I watched when Dale Earnhardt Sr. was racing. R.I.P. I think the Ford Fusion nascar got me intrigued again.

[7thgear]

[u2b]86lQaRq5N4U[/u2b]

[LSxJunkie]

Nope. I'm a huge Smoke fan. And honestly, the competition is very good. Most people who angrily dislike NASCAR are generally ignorant of the sport.

The major critiques of NASCAR are

1. It's a sport for rednecks.

It's a sport. Rednecks happen to like it. Judge the sport on its merits.

2. It's ancient technology.

Yup. Ancient technology that runs a sustained 9500 rpm, making 850hp, and pushes a car 190+ mph 30 mile runs, if not longer. Pushrods and a solid rear axle get the job done.

3. They only turn left.

Yup. And go faster for longer than any other motorsport. You don't hear NASCAR fans bitching about ALMS cars having to slow down for turns. Additionally, this "road course ringer" concept has been essentially eliminated by increased by the Chase points setup (drivers don't get the points they need for the Chase) and increased road course talent in Sprint Cup itself. Quite a few drivers have come from other series which feature road courses. There were only 4 last year, and none of them drove for drivers that anyone cares about.

4. It's so easy to just drive in a circle. I can drive on a highway.

I hear this argument from people who have never driven over 100mph. Have never driven a RWD car. Have never driven a car that makes over 400hp. In NASCAR, you're doing 190mph with cars that are closer to you than most people park. You take 95% of people who use this argument and make them do 120 down a straight highway with 8 other cars around them close enough to touch mirrors, I guarantee they'll stain themselves. And you can't do 190mph through the turns on an intermediate (1.5mi) tracks. You have to slow down. You have to choose a good line through the corner. You have to find where the track is grippy.

Additionally, at the short tracks, you're HARD on the gas and HARD on the brakes at every 10 seconds. Have you ever tried to put 850hp to the ground? It's not easy. Watch next week's race at Bristol. It's a very tight .5 mile oval. Additionally, you know how Smoke won the race yesterday? Restarts. You spin tires, you lose position like crazy.

At 190mph, the air does does weird things. A car gets right up on your bumper in a corner and you lose all downforce on the back of your car. NASCAR commentators call it "sucking the air off" the back of the car. That gets your car crazy loose. Also, a car can come along side you and your car will get pulled towards it. The same idea as when you blow in between two pieces of paper and they get sucked together. That's a lot of fun at 190.


People who HATE stock car racing need to get over themselves. NASCAR doesn't intrude into your life. It's SO easy to avoid. A majority of Americans don't even care about motorsports. None of them know anything about NASCAR save for a 20 second mention on Sportscenter. Why bother wasting the energy?

[thermobox]

Amen LsX.

[ahausheer]

Yes it is. If I were president gays could marry and NASCAR fans couldn't vote.

[LSxJunkie]

Originally Posted by ahausheer

Yes it is. If I were president gays could marry and NASCAR fans couldn't vote.

Really? Because I guarantee that I have more knowledge of basic American Civics, political process, and public policy making than you do. If I were president, I'd ensure that all the people who choose to participate in political process do so in an educated manner to prevent single issue voting. Well, at least educate them enough to know that the Executive Branch doesn't have the power to decide if a class of people gets to vote.

[Dadhawk]

[QUOTE=ZetaVI;154203...My problem is that every car is the same. You can't tell if it's Toyota, GM, or Ford plus there is too much marketing thrown in my face... [/QUOTE]

The marketing doesn't bother me, but calling it a Toyota or a Ford because of a fiberglass shell does. I realize NASCAR is not the same as stock car racing, but I would have renewed interest in it if they really did still run modified stock, or at least the powertrain was provided by the manufacturer/sponsor and was modified from stock.

As far as just turning left, well, that doesn't bother me either. What I would like to see though is in every type of racing, after every pit, you had to change directions around the track! Two lane racing, yea, that's the ticket.

[Spaceywilly]

NASCAR is a hell of a lot more fun to watch than F1 these days, IMHO

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by LSxJunkie

Really? Because I guarantee that I have more knowledge of basic American Civics, political process, and public policy making than you do. If I were president, I'd ensure that all the people who choose to participate in political process do so in an educated manner to prevent single issue voting.

see, nobody cares about the gays.

[Longhorn248]

Personally I have nothing against NASCAR. I'm just glad that my Snuggie, Oxyclean sponsored posts could bring you this message today. It was pretty hard out there, and we had to fight pretty tough, but Snuggie and Oxyclean really helped us out.

[Snoopyalien24]

Its not bad, in fact I actually like it too when I don't have anything to watch lol. Its not easy being in that extreme heat temperature for such a long time. And the constant gforce at 190 mph and massively banked tracks and being inches away from each other

[LSxJunkie]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

The marketing doesn't bother me, but calling it a Toyota or a Ford because of a fiberglass shell does. I realize NASCAR is not the same as stock car racing, but I would have renewed interest in it if they really did still run modified stock, or at least the powertrain was provided by the manufacturer/sponsor and was modified from stock.

NASCAR has essentially turned into a spec series, in which different shops with factory sponsors build a car to the sanctioning body's rules. The corporations, however, do design the motors and there are fundamental differences between Chevy's R07, Ford's FR9, Dodge's R6P8, and TRD's small block, which I have no idea the name of. These differences include oil and cooling journals (block casting) and head design, which is very important in both making power and keeping these engines cool and lubricated at 9500rpm for miles upon miles. However, the chassis designs are more a reflection of the individual race shop and the bodies are all designed to present similar aero profiles.

However, I view this idea no different than Daytona Prototypes.



Apparently that's a Corvette. It's got Corvette tails and badges, but the motor is in the middle.