Thread Topics Subject to Change

[scottcarlye]

Forget football, only 40 days, 5 hrs, 27 min and 15 secs til DAYTONA

The true race season begins March 18 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

F1
2.4 litre V8
19,000rpm
750HP
18-22 turns/lap
1320lbs
up to 5G's
6.5sec pit stop

NASCAR
5.87 litre V8
9,000rpm
750HP
2 left turns/lap
3400lbs
1.8G's
13sec pit stop

I live in the heart of NASCARland...North Carolina. I get in a lot of trouble when I tell my friends that NASCAR is for rednecks that are not capable of understanding true racing; Formula 1.

[chpthril]

I'm not ganna "dis" F1, but NASCAR is the fastest growing spectator sport right now. Us dumb a$$ rednescks are filling tracks all over like Cali, Chicago Land, Kansas, Texas, Vegas.

[chpthril]

Are the Superbowl and Dayton the same day this year?

Superbowl is Feb 4, so I guess there will be some fans to watch it

[Tequilasun]

All I can say is:

[scottcarlye]

I would never hijack a thread by trying to pick a fight with NASCAR fans......

NASCAR has been a brilliant ad campaign. The most successful commercial Juggernaut in history. They are better than even the NFL and the WWF at self promotion and hype. But...they graduated from true racing to 'spectator sport' years ago. The cars are billboards with space sold based upon the number of seconds of airtime each car gets. People actually watch the races with stop watches and measure the time each car is visible on TV. Sponsors then pay accordingly.

What is the single greatest reason for watching NASCAR?? The wrecks. The racing is kept incredibly close with 'competitive rules' thereby setting up the most impressive crashes in motorsports. Why else do people watch Talladega other than to wait for "The Big One". NASCAR never lets the teams actually race. It is bad for business. If a team or a brand was able to engineer an actual performance advantage and win more than couple races, the rules would change. Heaven forbid if Ford found a way to outperform Chevy on a regular basis. NASCAR would loose advertising money directed at brand loyalists on the loosing side. The Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge battle must be kept very closely balanced at all times.

I have to admit, I watch NASCAR and enjoy it. We are about 30 minutes from Rockingham. Unfortunately the Rock lost its races in the name of commercialization. Us 'dumba$$ rednecks' cant afford the ticket prices or the Luxury Sky Suites that sell so well in 'Kansas, Chicago-land and Vegas' But I consider it more of a 'spectator sport' than a true race. Much the same as Monster Truck 'racing' or a boxing match. Its a lot of fun to watch and see how much equipment gets torn up. The motorsports equivalent of Survivor. Equally matched machines slugging it out to the end. Credit must be given to the successful raceteams. Their ability to coax the slightest advantage out of such equally matched machines is commendable. What NASCAR lacks in true engineering and open competitive performance, it makes up somewhat with subtlety measured in hundredths of a second.

We should just call them a show instead of a race. Just like a circus, they come with a side show, carnival atmosphere and all the vendor booths and souvenirs you could possibly buy.

I will now go and prepare for the verbal abuse this is sure to generate.

[chpthril]

For the most part I agree the sport has changed alot over the years. It is about the marketing $. Just look at some of the "Pretty Boys" that you see behind the wheel now a days, they can actualy articulate a complete sentance for an TV interview.

I still love the sport but think they are going down the wrong path right now, especialy with the "car of tomarrow" POS. Nascar does have the "rule of the day" so they can keep a tight grip and not let anybody get too far ahead.

[scottcarlye]

Formula 1 also has the 'rule of the day'. It most often applies to aerodynamics. The rules of F1 are quite open to 'interpretation'.

NASCAR will loose what little heritage it has left when the 'universal car' is rolled out. The only ford vs. chevy argument will be over the hood ornament. I can't believe the big three would go along with the idea. I guess the 'brand loyalty' that NASCAR has honed over the years will be to the sponsors... not the racing hardware or any sort of tradition.

Indy uses only honda/dallaras and IROC are identical cars as well. Both of these race series are going down the tubes. Nothing interesting watching carbon copies racing in a circle. NASCAR is heading down the same path. All they need now is to homogenize the engine. One engine/chassis package for anyone wanting to go racing. Maybe the spectators will get excited of the spring/shock/tire package. Its about all that will separate the cars.... oh yeah and the paint job. That makes em go faster

[NICKYPOO]

I would never hijack a thread by trying to pick a fight with NASCAR fans......

NASCAR has been a brilliant ad campaign. The most successful commercial Juggernaut in history. They are better than even the NFL and the WWF at self promotion and hype. But...they graduated from true racing to 'spectator sport' years ago. The cars are billboards with space sold based upon the number of seconds of airtime each car gets. People actually watch the races with stop watches and measure the time each car is visible on TV. Sponsors then pay accordingly.

What is the single greatest reason for watching NASCAR?? The wrecks. The racing is kept incredibly close with 'competitive rules' thereby setting up the most impressive crashes in motorsports. Why else do people watch Talladega other than to wait for "The Big One". NASCAR never lets the teams actually race. It is bad for business. If a team or a brand was able to engineer an actual performance advantage and win more than couple races, the rules would change. Heaven forbid if Ford found a way to outperform Chevy on a regular basis. NASCAR would loose advertising money directed at brand loyalists on the loosing side. The Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge battle must be kept very closely balanced at all times.

I have to admit, I watch NASCAR and enjoy it. We are about 30 minutes from Rockingham. Unfortunately the Rock lost its races in the name of commercialization. Us 'dumba$$ rednecks' cant afford the ticket prices or the Luxury Sky Suites that sell so well in 'Kansas, Chicago-land and Vegas' But I consider it more of a 'spectator sport' than a true race. Much the same as Monster Truck 'racing' or a boxing match. Its a lot of fun to watch and see how much equipment gets torn up. The motorsports equivalent of Survivor. Equally matched machines slugging it out to the end. Credit must be given to the successful raceteams. Their ability to coax the slightest advantage out of such equally matched machines is commendable. What NASCAR lacks in true engineering and open competitive performance, it makes up somewhat with subtlety measured in hundredths of a second.

We should just call them a show instead of a race. Just like a circus, they come with a side show, carnival atmosphere and all the vendor booths and souvenirs you could possibly buy.

I will now go and prepare for the verbal abuse this is sure to generate.

Well put. Sorry 'bout The Rock. I like the historical tracks, but money talks.
While it is a commercial road show, I love the compitition. The fact that the elite teams can string it all together for the entire season is an incredible feat in itself. The close racing does make it exciting, and contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of fans who appreciate the actuall driving skill it takes to control these monsters. The fans who are there to see crashes are far outnumbered by the true racing fans. NASCAR, while maybe not as good as it can be, is pretty damn good overall. I give it a B+. The thing for me is that with all the glitz and glam, it has generated the most comprehensive coverage of any racing series of all that goes into a race team, from building and testing cars to inside the lives of the competitors. Quite frankly there's more info out there than I care to absorb, but when I want to know something, it aint too hard to find. It's pretty nice from a race fan's point of view.

Moving right along, F1. I love it. Well, I love the cars and the tracks. The cars are are the pinnacle of technology in auto racing. 19,000 rpm? Fagetaboutit. The G's the pull under braking alone just doesn't even seem possible. Last season was one of the most enjoyable I've seen. Why? There was actually a few passes throughout the year. But seriously, whith the drama of Shumi in his final season, gunning for the championship going into the last race, it was intense. I loved every minute of it. I give it a B+ as well.

As for me, the real race season has already started. Practice for the the Rolex 24 at Daytona has already begun. Arguably the most talented field in all of motorsports. Drivers from all walks of racing in all lands, showing up to to run 24hrs with the best of the best. All kinds of cars in various configurations battleing all day, all night. Talk about a show. Check here.http://www.daytona24hr.com/A++

Of coarse, all of this this becomes trivial when we get to September and the NCAR flies into town. AA+++++++++++++

NASCAR-#20-Stewart
Rolex 24-#20 Stewart, Andy Wallace, Butch Leitzinger
F1-#?
NCAR-#4 Dago Red, #77 Rare Bear, #7 Strega, ect., ect..................

[scottcarlye]

Not much bump drafting in NCAR I would bet. Cant even begin to compare any road racing with air racing. P-51s at 500mph. yeah. Talk about no room for error.

Amen to the Rolex. Any flavor of GT cars are a site to behold. Nothing like production based GTs getting it on. Watched the GT race at Tampa/St.Pete while there on business last year. Phenomenal. 911, Aston Martin, Corvette, Cadillac V, Viper. It was truly amazing. Made your heart pump. This kind of racing goes back to the heart and soul of NASCAR. It was once a stock car series. I would also have to add WRC to the list. Some truly talented drivers.

The '06 F1 season was exciting. Shumi and Fernando to the end. I think Alanso would have been far more dominating if F1 had not taken away his mass dampeners mid season. The chassis was designed specifically to use them. Ferrari made up ground after that. I am looking forward to Kimi in the Ferrari. An entire new team this year.

Americans just don't do well with any kind of road racing. If it isn't a circle track, it isn't popular. Maybe it is our attention span. If you cant watch the entire lap, you loose interest. Interesting that you chose one of the three regular NASCAR drivers that can actually drive on a road course. Jeff Gordon was able to turn a lap at Indy a little over a second slower than Montoya in his F1 car. Truly a talented drive.

[mtnsmith]

I am lucky that I work for University of South Florida and the Grand Prix uses some of our campus space to coordinate media and volunteers. One of the Verizon workers hooked me up with some great passes to the paddocks and a really nice seating section. The GT cars were awesome to see racing down the streets right next to our campus. I went and rode part of the course on my motorcycle before they got all the barrier walls put away through downtown and along the waterfront, pretty fun.

[NICKYPOO]

Yeah, that Tradin' Paint deal was really cool. Funny that JP is going to run Cup now. I would love to see Tony run an F1 car. I've got sneaking suspision he would be pretty good. I think the thing I like best about him is that he is a natural behind the wheel of just about anything. Road Racing is starting to gain some respect in the states with more attention being paid to the 24 and a few of the cup guys running it. alomg the same lines, I'm also a fan of ALMS, although watching Audi win every race needs to be addressed. That deisel they run is absolutly increadible. I miss the Panoz.

The WRC is also stellar. What those guys do has got to be one of the most amazing motorsports on the planet. Sabi Loeb is just another one of those guys that would be good in any kind of car. What happened to the coverage? Speed used to have great coverage untill they became the NASCAR channel. That one still pisses me off.

.....and yeah, not a whole lot of bump drafting in air racing. I've seen it happen and it aint pretty.

[chpthril]

Stewert wouldn't last in any open-wheel cars like F1/Irl. Not because of Talent, but because he is like a "Bull in a China Shop" on the track. Cup cars are alot more forgiving w/the bump and grind.

[NICKYPOO]

Speaking of ralley racing, how 'bout the Dakar? Now thats a race. They are showing daily coverage on vs..

[NICKYPOO]

Stewert wouldn't last in any open-wheel cars like F1/Irl. Not because of Talent, but because he is like a "Bull in a China Shop" on the track. Cup cars are alot more forgiving w/the bump and grind.

I'm going to have to go ahead a dissagree with you on that. Don't forget he is an IRL Champion and started his career in open wheel. In fact, he has been a champion in every series that he has ever competed a full season in. Have you ever seen him run a Silver Crown car? Sprint car? Midget? Indy?

[chpthril]

I'm going to have to go ahead a dissagree with you on that. Don't forget he is an IRL Champion and started his career in open wheel. In fact, he has been a champion in every series that he has ever competed a full season in. Have you ever seen him run a Silver Crown car? Sprint car? Midget? Indy?

He has adapted his driving style to fit the Cup series. I don't think he has career time left to be where he is now, in another series. I'd hate to see him leave cup and try it