Discussion
I've just been watching Nascar on 'Channel No. 5'
What a load of rubbish it is too!
They are doing aprox. 100mph on an oval track wider than the M6???
I could do that in my sister's fiesta 1.3.
Why don't they just nail their foot to the floor a bit, and lop off that huge boot (sorry, I meant trunk).
200 laps round an oval track at 100mph is hardly action packed is it?
What a load of rubbish it is too!
They are doing aprox. 100mph on an oval track wider than the M6???
I could do that in my sister's fiesta 1.3.
Why don't they just nail their foot to the floor a bit, and lop off that huge boot (sorry, I meant trunk).
200 laps round an oval track at 100mph is hardly action packed is it?
nmlowe said:
I've just been watching Nascar on 'Channel No. 5'
What a load of rubbish it is too!
They are doing aprox. 100mph on an oval track wider than the M6???
I could do that in my sister's fiesta 1.3.
Why don't they just nail their foot to the floor a bit, and lop off that huge boot (sorry, I meant trunk).
200 laps round an oval track at 100mph is hardly action packed is it?
I am sorry; but it is an absolute art! You should try a Rebel at Northampton International Stadium; then you can see how easy it is!
They are faster than 100. It just doesn't look it.
For the most part, I agree about NASCAR being a motorsport - it's not in the same class as, say, LeMans. However, before you deride ALL NASCAR drivers, review this:
www.usgpindy.com/press/story.php?story_id=1459
Gordon could have qualified with his run. It certainly changed my mind. I saw it on TV and it was very impressive...
ErnestM
Edited to add:
I will let you know, soon, how hard it is because I plan on doing this shortly:
www.1800bepetty.com/experiences/daytona_exp.html
Birthday present from the Wife, just have to make arrangements...
>> Edited by ErnestM (moderator) on Tuesday 5th August 03:09
For the most part, I agree about NASCAR being a motorsport - it's not in the same class as, say, LeMans. However, before you deride ALL NASCAR drivers, review this:
www.usgpindy.com/press/story.php?story_id=1459
Gordon could have qualified with his run. It certainly changed my mind. I saw it on TV and it was very impressive...
ErnestM
Edited to add:
I will let you know, soon, how hard it is because I plan on doing this shortly:
www.1800bepetty.com/experiences/daytona_exp.html
Birthday present from the Wife, just have to make arrangements...
>> Edited by ErnestM (moderator) on Tuesday 5th August 03:09
Touring Car ace John Cleland had a test run on an American NASCAR track about five years ago and was might impressed with the skills required to keep the whole thing together. It is not just a matter of turning left. Like all sports, it can only be appreciated if you know all the factors involved in executing it properly.
Still don't see how it is a good motor sport. At least cart, and Indy now run on curcuits, as well as Ovals, so run 2 disiplines! maybe they should get nascar to do the same? Finest moment in American motorsport history??? mansell winning Indy in his debut year, after that twit Al unser Jnr saying in an interview just before the season, "he won't do it... completely different... takes years..."
Magnificent!
Magnificent!
NASCAR do run some races on road tracks.
The skills involved in running at speed on ovals (140 mph to 180 mph in NASCAR - they used to exceed 200 mph in the late 60s) are very different from those needed on a road course.The car is literally on the limit of adhesion ALL the time. The car is usually running in a pack - sometimes of twenty or more cars. Slipstreaming skills are vital ( a real lost art in "winged" formulae). Judging the right line is crucial. An inch or two off line and you will be making an appointment with the wall (or another car).
From a spectator point of view, all the action is visible all the time. The drivers, cars and teams are accessable to the fans - the drivers in particular are very accomodating. I wish F1 took some lessons from this element of NASCAR.
The rise of NASCAR in America over the past ten to fifteen years should be examined. Why did it happeen - and why did open wheel racing decline? Accessability and good publicity are major factors. The internicine war between CART and IRL didn't help the open wheel cause either. The absence of a decent American F1 driver since Mario Andretti also is a major contributiona and finally, the fact that there was no F1 presence in the USA for almost ten years made fans turn their attention elsewhere.
>> Edited by eric mc on Tuesday 5th August 07:58
The skills involved in running at speed on ovals (140 mph to 180 mph in NASCAR - they used to exceed 200 mph in the late 60s) are very different from those needed on a road course.The car is literally on the limit of adhesion ALL the time. The car is usually running in a pack - sometimes of twenty or more cars. Slipstreaming skills are vital ( a real lost art in "winged" formulae). Judging the right line is crucial. An inch or two off line and you will be making an appointment with the wall (or another car).
From a spectator point of view, all the action is visible all the time. The drivers, cars and teams are accessable to the fans - the drivers in particular are very accomodating. I wish F1 took some lessons from this element of NASCAR.
The rise of NASCAR in America over the past ten to fifteen years should be examined. Why did it happeen - and why did open wheel racing decline? Accessability and good publicity are major factors. The internicine war between CART and IRL didn't help the open wheel cause either. The absence of a decent American F1 driver since Mario Andretti also is a major contributiona and finally, the fact that there was no F1 presence in the USA for almost ten years made fans turn their attention elsewhere.
>> Edited by eric mc on Tuesday 5th August 07:58
I know a speed merchant who did this - by the second lap he was a gibbering wreck . . apparently the first time you hit the high banking - you're convinced you're gonna take off! Not bad for $99!!!
ErnestM said:
ErnestM
Edited to add:
I will let you know, soon, how hard it is because I plan on doing this shortly:
www.1800bepetty.com/experiences/daytona_exp.html
Birthday present from the Wife, just have to make arrangements...
>> Edited by ErnestM (moderator) on Tuesday 5th August 03:09
I think that, like ChampCar and IRL, it takes a while for us to grasp NASCAR, and what's actually happening on-track. I still meet people who trash ChampCars, and those of us who made the effort to understand realise what superb racing it offers.
But the simple fact is NASCAR is massively successful. Even allowing for our Colonist friends' ability to get excited by the most stupid stuff:
- NASCAR is the biggest sport franchise in the States - bigger than NFL, MLB or NBA.
- Despite competing on a national level, in his last season Dale Earnhardt made more money than Michael Schumacher. After Elvis and Lennon, he is the third most valuable dead person (I don't think Jesus would mind not being included on this list)
- The spectator range is very wide (it's no longer just a redneck sport)
- The marketing is streets ahead of F1, with midweek magazine shows and a chain of NASCAR stores across the country (and with amongst the highest sales per square foot level of any stores in the US). I heard of people queuing for more than two hours to meet a no-hope driver doing a PA outside a supermarket.
- Entry and sponsorship is relatively cheap. Look at the sponsors. Many of them wouldn't touch any other form of motorsport with a barge pole (even if the Chairman's son was the driver).
The simple fact is, the people love it and live it. If British GT was bigger than Premiership Football, perhaps we could mock. That's how big the gap is.
But the simple fact is NASCAR is massively successful. Even allowing for our Colonist friends' ability to get excited by the most stupid stuff:
- NASCAR is the biggest sport franchise in the States - bigger than NFL, MLB or NBA.
- Despite competing on a national level, in his last season Dale Earnhardt made more money than Michael Schumacher. After Elvis and Lennon, he is the third most valuable dead person (I don't think Jesus would mind not being included on this list)
- The spectator range is very wide (it's no longer just a redneck sport)
- The marketing is streets ahead of F1, with midweek magazine shows and a chain of NASCAR stores across the country (and with amongst the highest sales per square foot level of any stores in the US). I heard of people queuing for more than two hours to meet a no-hope driver doing a PA outside a supermarket.
- Entry and sponsorship is relatively cheap. Look at the sponsors. Many of them wouldn't touch any other form of motorsport with a barge pole (even if the Chairman's son was the driver).
The simple fact is, the people love it and live it. If British GT was bigger than Premiership Football, perhaps we could mock. That's how big the gap is.
mmmm just going round in circles 
that sort of comment comes from those who know nothing about the sport 
The cars regularly see over 190MPH on the super speedways obviously on the short tracks (1 mile oval) you’ll be looking at 150-160 MPH.
190MPH while you have another driver 5 inches to your left another 2 feet in front of you and someone trying to nudge you from behind. All that while trying to keep the car in the groove – no that’s not US Bollox there is generally only 1 fast line round an oval get out of it and you’ll drop back and lose a heap of places - on a track that is so banked you’d struggle to stand up it you walked the track.
Lift off mid-corner and you’ll be in the wall, hit the gas too hard and you’ll be in the wall etc. etc. Drafting with other cars to make up places is an art form in itself. Please it might look like driving in circles but try it yourself either at Rockingham or better yet in the US. It is much much harder than you think !!
that sort of comment comes from those who know nothing about the sport The cars regularly see over 190MPH on the super speedways obviously on the short tracks (1 mile oval) you’ll be looking at 150-160 MPH. 190MPH while you have another driver 5 inches to your left another 2 feet in front of you and someone trying to nudge you from behind. All that while trying to keep the car in the groove – no that’s not US Bollox there is generally only 1 fast line round an oval get out of it and you’ll drop back and lose a heap of places - on a track that is so banked you’d struggle to stand up it you walked the track.
Lift off mid-corner and you’ll be in the wall, hit the gas too hard and you’ll be in the wall etc. etc. Drafting with other cars to make up places is an art form in itself. Please it might look like driving in circles but try it yourself either at Rockingham or better yet in the US. It is much much harder than you think !!
eric mc said:
Am I correct in saying that the (so so) movie "Days of Thunder" helped catapult NASCAR to a much wider audience?
No, the Winston Cup (sorry, due the the Stalin-like rewriting of history, apparently it was the Nextel Cup all along) was well into it's mega-growth phase before the film was mooted.
I've spoken to some of the NASCAR car owners at Goodwood and they are lovely people. They are so chuffed that folk over here take any interest in their version of motor sport and are only too eager to chat about all aspects of what they do. The cars sound great too.
Try striking a casual conversation with Ron Dennis at the McLaren motor home and notice the difference. THAT is why NASCAR is growing in popularity and F1 is declining. Did anyone notice all those empty seats at Hockenheim last weekend?
Try striking a casual conversation with Ron Dennis at the McLaren motor home and notice the difference. THAT is why NASCAR is growing in popularity and F1 is declining. Did anyone notice all those empty seats at Hockenheim last weekend?
I really wish that NASCAR, (Cup, or the quaintly named "Bush series": Is that one of the prizes?!), would run at Rockingham, Northants.
I think one can learn quite a lot about interactive driving by watching a 34 car traffic jam at 170 Mph..with a couple of million US$ at stake..much more so than watching loads of would-be F1 drivers with 1960's brake technology in Champ-Indy-whatever they're called this year-cars. And following F1 is about as exciting as indexing pork bellies was on LIFFE.
Plus NASCAR is one of the last forms of motorsport where personality is allowed: Like British Touring Cars in the mid-Nineties, nobody would tell a Steve Soper, Will Hoy, or in Nascar, Earnhardt (sp?) Junior that it's "time to preserve your tyres"..with two cars to take out..
I think one can learn quite a lot about interactive driving by watching a 34 car traffic jam at 170 Mph..with a couple of million US$ at stake..much more so than watching loads of would-be F1 drivers with 1960's brake technology in Champ-Indy-whatever they're called this year-cars. And following F1 is about as exciting as indexing pork bellies was on LIFFE.
Plus NASCAR is one of the last forms of motorsport where personality is allowed: Like British Touring Cars in the mid-Nineties, nobody would tell a Steve Soper, Will Hoy, or in Nascar, Earnhardt (sp?) Junior that it's "time to preserve your tyres"..with two cars to take out..
Tam Lin said:
I really wish that NASCAR, (Cup, or the quaintly named "Bush series": Is that one of the prizes?!), would run at Rockingham, Northants. ..
So do I, I'd pay to see the Cup and Busch series on a weekend. The problem is that NASCar runs almost every week in the summer, and it could effectively be a three week gap in their schedule to visit here mis summer. The only other option is to put on a race at the end of the year, but as we saw when CART came over, you can't guarentee the weather.
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