NASCAR was an uniquely American form of motorsport back when it was relevent and factories were involved. They just got too greedy and now they treat the fans like open wallets. The race has become secondary to the propaganda machine. They have turned their backs on the people that brought them off the dirt tracks and now they just pander to the "boogity-boogity" crowd.

If they would stop calling themselves "The Greatest Racing Drivers In The World" or whatever they say, I would have more respect for the organization. Hell their champion (who would be the best driver in the world, right?) couldn't drive in the dark in the Rolex 24!

The fans for the most part aren't car people. They pick "their driver" because he's cute or they drink his sponsors product or they like his T-shirts. All this is contrived and manipulated by the promoters and sanctioning body. They are seriously racing for results out there, but the whole things just smells more like pro wrestling than motorsport.

 

Because F1 fans in the US have 90% of one shoved down our throats while trying to glean the smidgen of F1 coverage out there.

True perhaps. Then for the other races it's just watching the skittles go round, and round, and round ad nauseum until something happens in the pits or a crash to shake up the order. And people complain about F1?

Most exciting F1 race? Here's where most F1 fans and skittle watchers differ in what they think is exciting. F1 fans watch all the little racing going on during the event, not just the one for first. Some of the mid-pack battles are amazing. So far, I would say all three races have been exciting.

That's called the 5pm commute.

 

Speaking of announcers, am I alone in wishing these guys would STFU once in a while?

 

Man... I love Kasey Kahne.

Really... I watch and enjoy both - for different reasons. NASCAR is racing as much as F1 is. Jimmy Johnson can't drive in the dark and Scott Speed can't drive a truck. Doesn't make them less of a driver.

 

What is wrong with mixing it up?!?! That's what makes for good racing. It's what separates a good car from a crap car. Or a good driver from a bad driver. Or good strategy from bad strategy. A single caution flag throws the previous strategy out the window and you have to start over again. That's awesome. The strongest most dominate car is not always going to win. Strategy plays a huge part and there's a lot of it in NASCAR.

There's obviously strategy in F1 as well. Hard vs. Soft Compound tires, fuel weight, ummmm......

Mid-pack battles are awesome to watch, I agree. But NASCAR does NOT focus on who is leading the race. NASCAR coverage continuously pans the camera to the group that's getting ready to go a lap down or the group 18th to 21st. Hell, it's exciting to watch the battle between the two cars that are fighting to stay on the lead lap.

Most exciting race thus far in F1....I'll answer that for you. It was the FIRST race. Every single Ferrari out of the race?!? Come on, when was the last time that happened? How many cars finished the race? That was FUN to watch because you had no clue what was going to happen. One second Bourdais is doing AWESOME in his first race...next second his engine blows. That F1 race was the anomaly because the finishing order is usually deteremined by lap 10 on average (or so it seems) I have yet to see a last lap pass in an F1 race.

 

That is the first time I have ever heard those words!!! WELL DONE!!!!!

Now if the diehard F1 fans could muster up enough courage to agree this thread will end!

 

Well you know I'm generalizing about the fans. I know diehard gearheads who have been around tracks a long time and they are big NASCAR enthusiasts. My point is the way NASCAR has swung to the ones who just jumped on the bandwagon; never had an interest in cars or racing, they're just dazzled by the spectacle and stripped of their dollars.

I remember reading message boards when Dale Sr. died, and these people were SO ANGRY that this happened. I think it was the first time they realized that this stuff they watch on Sundays is actually dangerous!

 

Oops! Duh, must've been that NASCAR Winston Cup... brain fart.

 

Just..... can't..... force..... myself.

NASCRAP.

Racing.

Same..... sentence.

CAN'T DO IT!

 

Simply put, there are some forms of racing that I prefer watching over others... WRC is probably my favorite, but since it's not wheel to wheel, I can see how some don't enjoy it as much as other series.If Nascar were more like the various Touring Car series with a variety of road courses, and featuring vehicles that more look and are based on what you can buy off the showroom floor, then I'd probably enjoy it. Seeing actual BMW's, Mercedes, Porsches, Corvettes, Vipers, etc... is way more exciting to me than the Nascar shells that bear little resemblance to their real world counterparts.

 

+1 and a big 1 at that. I love DTM races on Speed.

 

I'm not a racing series snob (the usual label attached to F1 fans), but we all like different things for different reasons. In a way, it's kind of like an argument that one flavor of ice cream is better than another. However, MY OPINION of NASCAR falls in line with the quote above - to me, that's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Rubbin' is NOT racin', it's what you do when either you don't have the skill or your car doesn't have what it takes. Or maybe you're just having a tantrum like a 3-year old and taking it out on the track. Either way, if you act like that you should be penalized, in life and in racing, no matter what series.

They also need to stop fooling themselves about the use of stock cars. They were at least smart enough to stop calling it "stock car racing" a while back (because it isn't, not any more) but for some reason they still put headlight stickers, etc, on the cars. Come on folks, lose the fakery.

I regained a smidgen of respect for the series when they added road courses. Don't get me wrong, I realize it takes a lot of nerve and a certain kind of skill to drive a brick at high speed and both keep your foot in it and keep it on the track. But at least throwing in SOME road courses forces the teams to show they can set up a car to handle well and forces the drivers to show they deserve the title. Surprise, surprise, the fans want less road courses.

 

ALMS GT1 and GT2!

 

NASCAR really reached during that brief moment it was so "hot" and advertisers were so interested. Maybe there is a chance for changes, for the better, if ratings/audiences fall back to a more core group?

 

An unusual statistic I read about NASCAR is that at a race the fans actually outnumber teeth.

 

NICE!

 

ABSOLUTELY! I agree 100%. I love watching the touring classes, especially DTM!

 

Oh come on now, it's not THAT bad. Can't you say it just one time. You're a tough one to break.

 

double post...my bad!!

 

I like both--I've never understand why so many people are so passionate about one, and disparaging of the other. One thing I find amusing is the argument that virtually anyone can drive NASCAR, when in fact it usually takes several years for drivers coming over to do half way decent...

F1 is very technical, and the cars must be driven precisely lap after lap. That can be tedious to watch, given the lack of passing. Unfortunately too many F1 races are won in qualifying rather than in the race itself. F1 is more like a race against the clock rather than a race against other drivers too much of the time.

Stock cars are more physically demanding to drive, but mentally much less taxing. You don't have to be perfect every lap. Qualifying isn't as important; pole position isn't that important, the race is won on race day rather than qualifying day. NASCAR does suffer from oval overkill; it'd be better served by more road courses--it makes no sense to me to race the same track twice in a season, the only difference being length. Get rid of the doubled up tracks, and replace them with Road America.

Both are great forms of racing, no reason they can't coexist, and no need to bash one over the other.

 

I'd argue that point. 4-4.5 g's around a turn followed by 3-4.5 negative g's going into a turn? I don't see NASCAR getting anywhere that point or at least I don't think so. The average age of an F1 driver is what, 23, 25? Once they hit 30 and up, they can't take a beating as well. Look at old man Coulthard. He's the oldest and anymore he sucks. These guys are like marathon bicyclists. I heard once that rookie drivers, if unprepaired, can puke in the car from the vibration running through the cockpit.

 

That's exactly right. Let's see Juan Pablo Montoya, being that he raced in F1 and finished as high as 3rd in the championship (I think that's right??) should have NO problem racing in NASCAR. AFterall, it's just oval racing and doesn't require any real skill. He's won one race (3 if you count Busch series) since he moved to NASCAR and it was on a road course. Well that's not a surprise, but ovals are easier so surely winning should be easy. All I'm waiting to hear now is that Montoya was never a good driver and should have never raced in F1. It was a fluke that he raced in F1 because only the BEST drivers race in F1.

Extremely well put.

It's just that it seems like whenever there's a discussion about racing it's NASCAR vs. F1, and the discussion is typically two extreme ends of the spectrum: NASCAR is NOT racing and F1 is the EPITOME of racing. The bashing is completely one-sided: It is against NASCAR and how it's a pathetic excuse for racing. That's just ridiculous and it's really REALLY annoying to hear. I'm trying to figure out why F1 fans say this. Is it a status thing because you have Ferrari, McLaren, and BMW racing? Is it because there are gobs and gobs of money in F1 (McLaren fined $100 million last year, for example)??

I just don't understand

 

I'd agree...the G forces in an F1 car is just insanity. You have to be at peak physical shape to handle an F1 at it's fullest capacity. That said, I would really be curious to see how an F1 driver would handle the Coca Cola 600. As god awful boring that race is, it takes a hell of a toll on ANY driver.

 

In some ways I do think it comes down to a "Supercar" vs. "Stock car" sense. But I might narrow the reasoning even more: It's because of Ferrari. Like the cars or not, like the [hideous] red jackets or not, there's some mystique to Ferrari that extends to F1.

 

I suppose, if NASCRAP has just stayed in it's little regional corner of America, and a more equal coverage was given to any of the main motorsports series in the world, you wouldn't hear so much growsing about it.

But for those of us who have been following road racing (not even just F1) longer than the existing iteration of "stock car" racing has been around, turning on the TV and getting NASCRAP in our face, which is about 60% of total SPEED coverage, not to mention the local news and the papers.... just makes us want to puke.

I'm currently living in what is considered Scott Speed's home town. In the whole region, I might have found a few mentions of him when he was over in Europe. The media can't even break ranks to cover a local boy done good. Of course, Manteca is pretty much redneck hell anyway.