| Author | Message | ||
| Steve (Steve)
Junior Member Username: Steve Post Number: 123 Registered: 2-2001 |
I just finished watching the flying bricks today and it was a great crash and burn event.I try to watch the 1st 15 laps and the last 30 for the most fun. Each race is about 1 to 2 sixpacks long . I only wish they would let them there guys have more HP in the cars so they don't need to worry about the draft and just stomp on the peddle.Ok race is over and I got to get rid of the beer. Gota love it. | ||
| Edward Gault (Irfgt)
Member Username: Irfgt Post Number: 894 Registered: 2-2001 |
FYI, Ferrari of Los Gattos sponsored Phil Parsons in a Nascar Race a few years ago. Evidently they wanted to sell some cars to the "Double Wide" crowd. | ||
| '75 308 GT4 (Peter)
Intermediate Member Username: Peter Post Number: 1682 Registered: 12-2000 |
I hear you Dave L., rally racing rocks! To me, that's the ultimate form of auto racing... | ||
| Steve Will (V10_nut)
New member Username: V10_nut Post Number: 7 Registered: 3-2002 |
Hey guys, I wasn't making up the Formula 1 TV viewing numbers. Check out the link www.formula1.com/news/headlines02/02/s8546.html | ||
| Frank Parker (Parkerfe)
Member Username: Parkerfe Post Number: 695 Registered: 9-2001 |
Hubert, as far as exposure is concerned , Nascar is the largest spectator sport in the U.S.A. by a large margin. And, since the U.S.A. is Ferrari's largest customer base who pays more for its cars and parts than anywhere else in the world, I'm sure it would help their bottom line. Martin, Nascar fans are for the most part a high income group. While not as high as F1, it is higher than baseball and NFL. A lot of the nascar drivers and team members own Ferraris as well. B Orth, while I'm sure some Nascar fans live in double wides, more baseball, football and basketball fans live there as well. The fact is Nascar is the richest sport in the U.S.A. period . And Ferraris are generally way behind the technology curve in their cars. The Germans were using F1 type SMG shifters in their euro spec cars way before Ferrari was offering it in their cars. Look how long it took Ferrari to go to four valve heads and hydrolic lifters ! While I love all the Ferraris I have owned, I acknowledge that not a single one of them were ahead of the Japenese and German cars in technical innovation. As far as the oval verses road course tracks are concerned , there is a reason for that. In the early days of the automobile, horse race tracks were used to race cars. So when money came in to the sport, oval tracks were build to mimic the horse race tracks. At the same time in europe racing was developing on public roads which later developed in to road courses to mimic the public road races. I love all kinds of racing including Nascar and F1. I would like to see some of these people who put down Nascar get in one of its cars at 200 mph and run a few feet from 25 other cars for 500 miles. I suspect they would change their tune. I would never put down a form of racing just because I didn't like it. | ||
| Dave L (Davel)
Junior Member Username: Davel Post Number: 91 Registered: 7-2001 |
Willis you are right. Speed Channel is not so bad. I do miss the aviation stuff as I fly for a living. Overall the change hasnt been that much of a deal. Im growing to like the Rally coverage in a big way myself. Looks like lots of fun  | ||
| Willis Huang (Willis360)
Member Username: Willis360 Post Number: 565 Registered: 8-2001 |
Senna and Prost hated each other. Now, rubbing fenders is fine in racing. It's just that NASCAR seems like a giant demolition derby all the time. That's what the fans want to see,I guess. Compared to F1, I think CART has more interesting racing with many lead changes. Cars get into close-quarter knife fights too. | ||
| Willis Huang (Willis360)
Member Username: Willis360 Post Number: 564 Registered: 8-2001 |
Actually, the changes to Speed Channel are not as bad as I thought. Sure, the emphasis is NASCAR but a lot of other racing series are still on. I particularly enjoy the WRC rallies, which seems to be televised more often now. F1 coverage isn't as horrible as I thought, so far. | ||
| Bill Sawyer (Wsawyer)
New member Username: Wsawyer Post Number: 18 Registered: 2-2002 |
I like racing--period. Call it redneck if you want, but I really enjoy watching sprint cars on dirt. That said, I consider myself a road racer first. But I enjoy it all. When it comes to bumping and shoving, what do you think Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were doing? Read Nigel Roebuck's answer to a question about blocking on autosport.com this week. | ||
| Willis Huang (Willis360)
Member Username: Willis360 Post Number: 563 Registered: 8-2001 |
Bumping your competition out of the way and purposely causing wrecks, like in NASCAR, is hardly called racing IMHO. | ||
| Ken (Allyn)
Junior Member Username: Allyn Post Number: 234 Registered: 10-2001 |
Bill is on the right track. The problem is of course that the expense has gotten out of control. There is plenty of innovation that can be done but who can afford it? Therefore, if the cars can't be much improved on, F1 needs to trash most of the current circuits and redesign them for the 21st century. How about wider turns for more passing and longer straights for more speed? How about a compromise between a boring oval and a boring 30 turn course? I like F1 too but the racing is like watching a 3 man marathon. NASCAR does have the best racing because there are the most lead changes and at least half the field can win every race so the fans have many more drivers to choose from as favorites, and they might actually win. | ||
| Dave328GTB (Hardtop)
New member Username: Hardtop Post Number: 37 Registered: 1-2002 |
At the risk of being blasphemous, I want to say for the record "I like NASCAR!". F1 has exciting technology and exciting tracks, but the races are usually boring. Most of the action is the drag race to the 1st turn. After that you might see a couple of really nice moves, but that's it. And only 3 or 4 car/drivers have a real chance to win. NASCAR is low tech and except for the few road races, boring tracks. But the racing is great. I think the drivers are better than many people think. The best thing about NASCAR? It is the only professional sport where some competitiors are still older than me! Dave | ||
| Bill Sawyer (Wsawyer)
New member Username: Wsawyer Post Number: 17 Registered: 2-2002 |
I agree with Ken. The lack of innovation in racing makes it boring. The problem is that they've done too good of a job. The current formulas have been tweaked by engineers to the point where they are spending tens of millions to gain a hundredth-of-a-second advantage on the track. Look at F-1. How many people could tell the difference between a Ferrari or a Mc Laren if they weren't painted in their livery? Very few, maybe no one. Why? Because 300 days per year in the wind tunnel for a number of years have refined the aerodynamics to the point where there aren't many new ideas left. And the cars are faster than the drivers and the race tracks. CART proved that in Texas when their drivers nearly passed out from the G-forces. When there are no more speed or technology hurdles to jump racing becomes a marketing exercise. That's why the manufacturers are trying to take over F-1 right now. If you wnat to see good racing, change the formula and make everyone start over again. | ||
| Nika (Racernika)
Member Username: Racernika Post Number: 323 Registered: 12-2001 |
LMAO - Thank you gentlemen - I needed the humour. Just the thought of Ferrari & NASCAR is enough to make me giggle. I wrote an article once about the business of NASCAR and you'd be surprised by 2 things - the female fan base of NASCAR is the highest of any motorsports series and the average fan is more middle management than redneck as previously thought. A great book to read is The NASCAR Way - by Robert Hagstrom - the author of the Warren Buffet Way. He goes into details of the business of NASCAR -- http://www.racerchicks.com/motor/bookrevNascarWay.html As much as I am not a NASCAR fan - (Formula One all the way!!!!) it's a fabulous read - they are doing something right because you just have to look at all the Fortune 500 companies that are lined up as car sponsors. | ||
| TomD (Tifosi)
Member Username: Tifosi Post Number: 364 Registered: 9-2001 |
Martin makes a good point here. While R&D is important it all comes down to selling vehicals and promoting products. Nascar has this down pat. Their races are one big commercial. look a last week at the Home Depot sponsored race in Atlanta - tony stewart wins! They get all those great close ups of the home depot sign on his car etc - its pure genius | ||
| Martin (Miami348ts)
Intermediate Member Username: Miami348ts Post Number: 1586 Registered: 5-2001 |
Why would Ferrari want to be in NASCAR. Is it their market? Do NASCAR Fans buy Ferraris? Is that the typical Ferrari crowd? The good part is, if you get one customer, you usually get the whole family. His cousin, that he is married to, the aunt that is involved with the gramdfather... I guess the NASCAR Truck series was created to show how well Peterbuilt, Volvo and Scania can built utility vehicles. I wonder why they have not yet entered the race? | ||
| Ken (Allyn)
Junior Member Username: Allyn Post Number: 232 Registered: 10-2001 |
Okay, enough! Ferrari will not race NASCAR any more than Lotus will race the Tour De France. There is no more real racing innovation since Tony George turned the Indy 500 in to a glorified go-cart race; which is an insult to go-cart racers so I apologise. And F1 is no better. They have outlawed so much cool technology just so a certain Italian company won't get their ass kicked by those with deeper pockets. I miss the good old days when you could actually invent new technology and race it. Remember Marc Donahue's wings? Lotus's Ford twin cam mid engine car and active suspension? Bold moves that were done because there were no rules against it and they changed the face of racing at Indy and F1. Today there are so many rules and political BS that innovation is nearly impossible, and that's what racing is SUPPOSED to be about. And F1 is as guilty as IRL so they should be ashamed. | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 528 Registered: 6-2001 |
Thats what im saying bret, there is no way in hell ferrari would consider racing in nascar and even if they wanted to, they couldnt anyway. | ||
| Scott Anderson (Srandrsn)
Junior Member Username: Srandrsn Post Number: 89 Registered: 4-2001 |
Hey Harlan, math & accounting classes are what made me switch from a business to philosophy major back in college, lots of us understand =) | ||
| Harlan Mott (Hmott3)
Junior Member Username: Hmott3 Post Number: 71 Registered: 12-2001 |
Well I was going to edit my post as to not show the fact I can't tell the difference between billion and trillion, but I'm leaving it. I guess I'll just have to live with my foot in my mouth. Maybe next time I'll not be so fast to post huh? So I guess it really is not possible for 54 Billion people to watch f1 after all. | ||
| Harlan Mott (Hmott3)
Junior Member Username: Hmott3 Post Number: 70 Registered: 12-2001 |
I thought I would just toss this out. The world population is: 6,056,715,000 I believe thats 6.05 Trillion people, as calculated by the United Nations Population Devision (http://esa.un.org/unpp). If 54 Billion people watch F1 that would be roughly 9/10 of 1% percent of the world population. I think its reasonable that about 1% of the world watch f1 at some time during the season. | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 1993 Registered: 2-2001 |
Guys, I think a bit of humor may have been intended, don't get too worked up, Ferrari's not gonna be in NASCAR. | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 526 Registered: 6-2001 |
Ive seen a nascar race and i enjoy watching them. In case you cant tell, nascars arent supposed to be the most technologically advanced cars, they have carbs! If theres nothing else on i'll watch nascar. I think its much much better than IRL. Its supposed put racing on the drivers, car setups and the crews. The cars are equal (some more "equal" than others), the only difference is the cars setups. | ||
| B Orth (B_orth)
New member Username: B_orth Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2002 |
Ferrari in Nascar would be the saddest thing on earth. Why would Ferrari enter a series where the average fan considers a nice doublewide trailer all they need in life? Ferrari does not and will not ever drag themselves down to that lowest life form of racing...Ferrari builds the most technologically(is that to big of word for you?) advanced cars on earth. Why on gods earth would they want to go back to the stone age of racing? Nascar is great racing for what it is. Left then straight then Left then straight then Left then a crash then Left then straight....What kind of a Nascar fan are you to Quote Days of Thunder? That is like an F1 fan quoting from Driven. Have you ever actually seen a Nascar race? Rubbing is not Racing.. | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 525 Registered: 6-2001 |
54 BILLION PEOPLE?! Thats strange because the earth's populatoin is only 7 billion. Nascar would never certify ferrari. Hell has a better chance of freezing over. | ||
| Steve Will (V10_nut)
New member Username: V10_nut Post Number: 6 Registered: 3-2002 |
Couldn't agree with you more Hugh. I read a week ago that in the course of a F1 season 54 BILLION people will tune in. | ||
| Hubert Otlik (Hugh)
New member Username: Hugh Post Number: 23 Registered: 1-2002 |
NASCAR isn't even close to the type of exposure that Ferrari sees while participating in international motorsport, i.e. F1, Le Mans, Ferrari Challenge, ALMS, etc. NASCAR in relation to the financial scope of any of those operations is not at all fiscally attractive, and involvement for Ferrari in NASCAR would to many, I believe, diminish the marque. And, as far as lead changes in the course of a NASCAR race, from what I gather, it's nothing but drafting, not very exciting in my eyes. | ||
| Steve Will (V10_nut)
New member Username: V10_nut Post Number: 5 Registered: 3-2002 |
I guess if Toyota can run a 5000 HP Celica in NHRA Funny Cars, Ferrari could take a crack at NASCAR. Ha! Who do you think would be the sponsor? Butoni Pasta? | ||
| Tim N (Timn88)
Member Username: Timn88 Post Number: 524 Registered: 6-2001 |
All the bodies all have to be the same shape within 1/32nd of an inch. There would be no point for a ferrari to be there because it wouldnt even be a ferrari anymore. The only thing the manufactureres provide for a nascar team is the hood. The chances nascar would even certify one are zero. There is alot of money in nascar because like it or not its exciting. There were i think over 30 lead changes in the atlanta race. The last laps are almost always close too. | ||
| Bill Sawyer (Wsawyer)
New member Username: Wsawyer Post Number: 15 Registered: 2-2002 |
NASCAR is basically a spec series. All body shapes are relatively similar. In fact, the Dodge and Ford are identical. Only the headlight decals are different. So, you could run a 550 or 456 if you wish, but after they're through fooling with it, it won't look like a Ferrari any longer. Neat idea though. I guess we'll have to settle for the Ferrari's in the ALMS. Now there's some racing. | ||
| BretM (Bretm)
Intermediate Member Username: Bretm Post Number: 1978 Registered: 2-2001 |
They may sell all their cars, but there is a big money in sponsorship in NASCAR. I would almost say a 456 would fit best. They all run pretty much Judd Racing and other private engine manufacturers so Ferrari would have to do that. That would be funny to see. | ||
| Ken (Allyn)
Junior Member Username: Allyn Post Number: 231 Registered: 10-2001 |
Which Ferrari would qualify? None of the body styles would fit the rules. The 550 is closest but it has to be 8 cyl; carburated, a modified (bigger and taller) body...frankly I don't see any benifit to Ferrari. They sell all the cars they make anyway. | ||
| Frank Parker (Parkerfe)
Member Username: Parkerfe Post Number: 687 Registered: 9-2001 |
The official word is that the Atlanta 500 Nascar race last weekend had a greater economic impact to the Atlanta area than the entire season of Braves, Falcons, Hawks and Thrashers combined. That's unreal ! There's a lot of money in those races. Since Nascar is allowing a German company to enter a car , i.e. Dodge, I wonder if Ferrari could get in. I'd like to see a 550 rubbing fenders out there. Rubbings racing ! |