pattycakes® iCode

I'll never say it's not real racing. I just say it's not real interesting to me.

F1 is just as much of a bore-fest, but it doesn't take 3+ hours to complete and it's not 200 laps of centrifuging, and the tracks are more interesting to me. (I said to me..so stop getting all huffy...)

You ask why there are a lot more non-traditional NASCAR drivers of late?

Because it's where the money is. Open Wheel guys have nowhere else to go thanks to the IRL / CCWS debacle, and there aren't any viable racing series in the U.S. that pay nearly as much as NASCAR.

I watch the road courses, because to me that's the pinnacle of finding out how good these guys are. Toss a 3k lb car around Laguna Seca for 2 hours then come talk to me about how hard it is to run in a draft pack around Daytona.

It's skill for sure, but I will say it falls behind balancing a car for the Corkscrew or Skyline at Bathurst. And you see how tough it is for a lot of those guys when they get to the Glenn or Sears Point.

For the record, I watched the last 5 laps of the 500...

And I like Junior, but mostly because he's a Sim racer, a V8SC fan and loves road courses.

And I like Tony Stewart because he's an ***, just like me.

jbchinoca

get rid of some ovals and throw more roadcourses in. Road America would be great, and Road Altanta would likely be a good sub for one of the Ovals there, in particular, the chase Atlanta event. Now that they can use the same car everywhere, they don't have a legitimate argument against it.

CP

Why?

It's the most popular spectator sport in the country. If driving in circles is so easy, then why aren't you earning your living doing it?

I'd be interested to learn REAL statistics/figures comparing the number of spectators across the country that actually go to watch a road race versus a circle track race in any given week. How many spectators are there at a regional SCCA weekend versus people watching local weeknight and weekend sprint races at ovals all across America? Americans have been raised to value instant gratification, and that includes being able to see the entire race track and everything that happens on said racetrack.

I don't want to start another dumb argument about NASCAR vs F1. They're in two different leagues, with two completely different audiences.

A brief background on me: I play fantasy NASCAR and watch all 9 months of racing from the drop of the green to the waving checkers. I don't do any oval racing myself, but am hoping to be racing a Spec Miata wheel to wheel in the next few years.

jbchinoca

Because they're either elitists "Theirs is the only way",or jocksniffers that can't do it at all.

snoogins

Top tier sports car racing is a much better alternative at this point in his career than NASCRAP. Hell, he'd even be better off running in the Rolex series.

bioman

Looks to me like F1 will be a Ferrari romp, like 2004

Pat-SoCal

You've got Casey Mears, from my hometown of Bakersfield, who finished 3rd in the Indy Lights championship his rookie season. Went on to test with serious open wheel teams, but instead went to drive stock cars in a time when that wasn't considered "cool". He's a real talent.

Stewart can win in anything that has wheels on it. When they did the IROC race at Daytona last year it was almost embarassing how much better he was than even the open wheel guys. Hell, I think Scott Pruett was in that race, but I'd have to double check.

Jeff Gordon, for being NASCAR's biggest sellout, is another incredible talent. Teenage dirt track prodigy and another one of those guys who will win in anything.

So yes, while they make a lot of money turning the wheel left a whole bunch of times, there are a few standouts who can seriously drive.

Potomac-Greg

... just punching people in the head.

No doubt, it's incredibly difficult to run at speed, nose-to-tail, on a lumpy track. And it takes a great driver to run in front.

Like a lot of people, my bias is based on: (1) the cars -- primitive and uninteresting to me, (2) questions as to the true quality of ALL of the drivers since many of them seem to get their seats by having the right family connections (of course, you can question how ANY driver gets a $eat), and (3) tracks that involve no meaningful braking or throttle modulation.

Potomac-Greg

... that it is starting to hook me. I've got no southern redneck bias. I respect the drivers' skills. I love the drivers' personalities. I think the "product" could be polished up and made more sophisticated. I do NOT like F1 any more than NASCAR. I like street-car based racing (Koni, Rolex, ALMS and even DPs). I watch every NASCAR race held at a road course.

If you label everyone who has issues with NASCAR as elitist, how is that any better than people labeling NASCAR fans as rednecks? Seems like the same thing.

Potomac-Greg

With all the Daytona hype, it's been fun reading, watching and listening to people dance around the issue of the cars themselves. I'm amazed how few people really know about the cars.

A local (DC market) DJ was spouting off about how a Toyota can win in NASCAR because they just have those little Japanese engines. I expected a flood of callers to pounce and correct the DJ. There were plenty of callers, but they all had their own incredibly flawed impression of what a NASCAR racer was. They all held some belief that the cars are linked in some way to street cars.

Before the COT, the different "brands" had aero differences, all calculated to equalize (or not) top end or downforce. With the COT, the differences are nil; and the engine programs are not linked to any engine in production for street use.

It's all good, and it makes for good racing; but whether a Toyota or Chevy or Ford or Dodge wins really does not reflect on the manufacturer as much as the builder and the team.