Nascar

[Big Daddy]

Anyone following the Daytona 500 week? I watched the shootout races and was very displeased with Ward Burton's poor sportsmanship. When he was taken out of the race due to a crash in the paddock he pounded his fist into the roof of the car causing a huge dent. I know how disappointing things can get, and here he is out of the 500 due to the accident, but poor sportsmanship should never occur.

I see Jeff gordon is staring at the back of the pack due to a shock part failure that caused his car to be lower than allowed. It is interesting to watch and see some of the old F-1 and rally racers who are now racing NASCAR.

 

[Kirby]

Yeah, I've been following what's going on. Strange Days indeed...jet fuel supplement in Waltrip's intake...Toyota's NASCAR premier tarnished...a 72 year old driver trying to qualify... Dale Earnhart Jr. fighting to take ownership of his family team from his step mother...I wonder what is yet to come!

 

[E30m42cab]

...It is interesting to watch and see some of the old F-1 and rally racers who are now racing NASCAR.

Why in the world of racing would you leave WRC or F1 for taxi racing?

 

[Big Daddy]

I too have made the "turn left" jokes, but NASCAR, having worked on a crew in the past, is very technical and there is a lot of work, planning, preperation and study involved in tuning a car for a specific track. F-1 on the other hand is getting so technical and computerized that the driver is hardly challenged anymore. Juan Pablo, Boris Said and others are now racing NASCAR over their premier sport. I guess some of it is just wanting a new challenge.

 

[Kirby]

Dan, I think we are in a minority here! You're right, despite the "redneck good ol' boy stereotype" there is amazing work that takes place in NASCAR. I was at a conference last year, Rick Hendrick of Hendrick Motorsports was the keynote speaker. He is a sharp business man and motivator.

I'm looking forward to the newer "outside" drivers putting up a good challenge to the established names, particularly Boris Said. Boris has been running the road courses at the Glen and Sonoma for a few years now, and is moving his way up.

 

[frolf]

the problem i have with it is the setup to pass. in f1 its complex, one turn or many turns, and if you can hold it.... not just a high or low sort of deal.

 

[E30m42cab]

I'm not saying that there isn't alot of work going on, but all the cars are cookie cutters!! Remember when it was "Stock Car Racing" ? Like "stock"... the car was actually a car! Now its just build a tube chassis, and throw on some plastic body parts on, and make the cars different by putting different headlight stickers on them. Who does that??? Let's not just make fun of the left turn, what about the lack of down shifting... heel toeing... braking itnto the corner, and excellerating out ....it's mostly pit strategy to make passes. Remember "win on sunday, sell on monday"? Who watches a NASCAR event and goes and buys an Intrepid thinking "well I saw the car go 'round and 'round for 2 hours, so it must be good". Supertouring, and WRC, you see the car, you recognize it, and then you want to buy one when you see it kickin' some @$$ on the track. Who wants a Subaru Impreza WRX TSi, who wants an M3, who wants a Porsche 911? NASCAR isn't even racing, it should be in the "Entertainment" industry, along with the WWE.

 

[Big Daddy]

Who goes out and buys an F1 for street use, that is not the point of NASCAR. The bodies on Nextel Cup Cars are metal, not plastic or fiberglass. Depending on teh track they do downshift, use the heel toe method and NASCAR cars actually race some road course tracks, where there is lots of driver input. Supertouring and WRC cars are far from stock, modified suspensions, modified engines, chassis changes, etc. Nothing professionally raced is "out of the box" anymore. I enjoy all race venues, NASCAR included!

 

[Kirby]

I'm not saying that there isn't alot of work going on, but all the cars are cookie cutters!!

While I understand your opinion, all your statements regarding the car design and build do apply just as well to F1. In any racing series, the goal is to equalize the cars as much as possible so that the skills of the driver determine the winner, whether it is F1, NASCAR, WRC, Rolex Series, DTM, etc.

I'm with Dan, I like all racing series.

 

[MMLJTIGER]

Re: NASCAR

Hi there,

I feel that NASCAR is every bit as much racing as F1, or supertouring.
They might be all left turns (except road courses{like the Busch race going to MTL in August}), but it must be thrilling as hell to be doing it @ 300km/h, with only two inches, or even less in between you and the car in front of you.
As far as pit strategy goes, a race can be won or lost there, not only in the performance of the crew, but in decisions like; 2 or 4 tires?, Wedge?, Track bar adjusments?, etc...

The only dissapointing thing for me in NASCAR, is that Matt Kenseth doesn't always win, and its' increased commercialization.

Tiger

 

[E30m42cab]

Who goes out and buys an F1 for street use, that is not the point of NASCAR.

Granted. F1 more reflects who already went out and bought the cars, and are a means to learn and push limits of their engineering, and it's not really fair to compare open wheel racing with other forms of racing.
WRC and Supertouring cars are still actual cars. They have doors (welded shut), lights, and of course are modified. A Subaru is a Subaru, and Audi is an Audi. They are real cars, not cookie cutters. Why can't NASCAR race in real intrepids, or Taurus' or whatever kinds or cars they call them. Would anyone watch? Look at NASCAR's website... you'd be hard pressed to figure out what kinds of cars they drive, because its not about that! It's all about the fans favourite drivers! Who cares about the driver in any form of racing? A factory company who enters a car (say BMW) wants the best driver because they want their BMW to win. The factory teams want their cars to win the manufacturers title, and if the driver wins the drivers point race, then that's gravy, and hopefully people will like the driver enough that people will automatically like the car he drives.
In NASCAR, its all about "will Matt Kenseth beat Jeff Burton today?!!" Who cares. Racing is about the cars, not the drivers. There's no MFG's points race in NASCAR is there?
What I'm saying is that NACAR is not racing. It's a soap opera.