wow i hate NASCAR for this reason...amoung others

Yeah… I think Speed Channel shows way too much NASCAR racing. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is... I turn to the Speed Channel, and what do you know…. more “NASCAR” crap! What’s up with that??? Thank GOD the 2006 F1 season begun this weekend… now I have something to look forward too watch now.

 

Indy and F1 races are so entertaining, they originally air at 3:00 A.M. on Tuesdays after the Don Lapre infomercial and right before the Beauty Secret Exposed infomercial. I think the cable companies air Indy and F1 to put you to sleep. If that don't put you to sleep, listeneing to some South Amercian racer who does not speak any english break out into a filibuster will at least make you turn off the TV.

F1 and Indy are America's "soccer". It's just not an American sport, never will be. It's viewed as a South American and European sport.

 

Well F1 teams can't really bash around multi-million dollar cars like the NASCAR teams do. Besides, why would a driver want to learn how to crash into a wall going 200+mph?

 

4gs? Wow.. I had no idea they were under that much force. That's pretty impressive.

 

If this is true, that people watch NASCAR only for wrecks and crashes, isn't it a bit sick? I hope after every crash that no one is injured or dead. Cant imagine being attracted by wrecks.( BTW I'm not implying anything against you Krafty)

 

The main reason that NASCAR is so "competititive" is the constant full course yellow flags every few laps that allows the field to close up nice and tight. Some of the races seem to have 20% of their laps run under yellow.

NASCAR also has the top 25% who are competitive and actually have a chance of winning a race regularly. It is more drivers because they field twice as many cars as F1. The major variable in how one of the top drivers places each week is who was lucky enough to avoid the wrecks and sometimes who was unlucky enough to have to pit under the green.

NASCAR does a far better job of marketing its drivers to be fan friendly. They seem approachable and their personalities are on display. Can you imagine 4 or 5 Formula 1 drivers all in the same studio doing a weekly show on TV talking about the last race? I can't. Today's F1 drivers all are remote from their fans 99% of the time and grudgingly will appear at corporate sponsor events for the exact number and time as required, all heavily negotiated in their contracts.

John

 

Takuma Sato throws your theory right out the window.

It really makes me laugh when some of you guys make ignorant statements about NASCAR, especically since the majority doing so have never even sat in a race car, let alone actually raced anything besides Xbox.

If you don't like NASCAR that's fine but making stupid statements about skill is about as dumb as me questioning the skill involoved in bowling (I don't bowl).

 

And we have a winner!

Seriously, Jon, I really should stay out of this section because I can't relate to the 'rabid fans' here--for precisely the same reason you mention.

 

This is exactly what shocked and disappointed me when Mansell (who was a racing God for me) joined CART. Here is a F1 Champion and one of the coolest guys around dominating CART as a rookie, yet all he can say at each interview is rattle down the names of the sponsors. Disgusting.

So I wouldn't blame NASCAR for this, but the commercialization of the sport. F1 drivers do it to a lesser degree, but their interviews aren't that enlighting either.

And as far as NASCAR on TV goes: Well it is the dominating racing in this country. I can't hate it for that, but only be jealous that F1 doesn't have the following it has in Europe. And that's just a fact of life. If I don't like it, well I'm free to leave the country.

 

I agree with that. I too like all forms of racing, but here in the USA, NASCAR has figured out how to market and F1 has not... F1 needs to hire the France family to market F1 in the USA because Bernie and all his cronies have not been able to figure it out...most people in the USA have not even heard of F1 racing, much less know anything about it, its history and crop of drivers...

 

First, let me state that I prefer watching/attending F1 races over NASCAR races. With that said, let me respond to some of your comments.

The biggest mistake that most NASCAR bashers are making is trying to compare NASCAR to F1.

Why?

Except for the four wheels, not even close. Even the steering wheels are way different. Why can't you appreciate different forms of racing? Is your life just full of rock music, or do you expose yourselves to country, classic, hip hop, whatever (please no comments about exposing yourselves). If you are stuck in a rut in music, you are probably stuck in a rut everywhere else.

I attended this years Daytona 500, and did not want to get up even during the middle of the race, too much going on virtually every lap. In years past, I found many F1 races to be boring after the first 10 laps. Only a leader's mechanical problems added some interest. The fact that I just enjoy listening to a red F1 car screaming by explains why the lack of action does not bother me.

NASCAR drivers know where their paycheck comes from. They respect their sponsors for without them, they would not be racing. Most of all, they respect their fans and are approachable. They demonstrate personality to the world during interviews, fans feel like they know them.

F1 drivers are likely pompous and overpaid, sort of like the NBA on wheels. As long as they get their millions, most of them find doing work for their sponsors to be a pain. I like Michael Schumacher, not only because he drives a Ferrari, but because he dares wear a bunny suit, or a cowboy outfit. He can laugh at himself. But the rest of them seem so distant. Do any of you really know what Kimi or Fernando are really like? Maybe Montoya isn't the arrogant jerk that he appears to be, but most of us will never really know. Unless we have connections, we will never meet most of these F1 drivers. Americans want to know their drivers, NASCAR succeeds at this, with the exception of one or two dirviers, F1 does not. NASCAR drivers are out there with their public, a lesson F1 drivers should learn.

This doesn't change the importance of the technical aspect of F1, the true reason for my interest. But, I appreciate NASCAR for its competition, and the skill it takes to drive a lead weight at 185 MPH while drafting front rear and side to side (drafting occurs all around the car in NASCAR). It is amazing and scary to watch.

The second mistake I believe NASCAR bashers make, is to never attend a superspeedway event. How can you crticize when all you have done is watch it on TV? Its not about the accidents, the fans in attendance get irritated when there is a yellow flag. Once you do attend with an open mind, you will understand my meager explanation. Its easy then to understand why NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in the USA.

Don't compare the two, and you might expand you entertainment factor.

 

You are joking, right ? The poorest F1 team has a budget larger than the best nascar team (think 2-car team, not 3,4,5 car team), and F1 drivers seem to get injured at 80 mph incidents, let alone 200 mph ones.

Folks, I have NO PROBLEM admitting nascar is america's favorite motorsport, that's just a simple honest fact, but it doesn't mean there is not a place for us. As long as F1 has ONE GUY calling all the shots, and seemingly calling them according to HIS ego, nothing will change. By the same token, nascar had one guy calling all the shots, Bill France, Sr. and Jr., the difference is, they did it with end Marketing in mind, a vision for the fans, and at the same time knowing he would line his own pocket. F1 forgot the fan part of it.

Ron: you absolutely nailed it.

 

And the reason NASCAR is America's favorite motorsport is because it is fun to watch and the driver's lives are like a sopa opera for us all to live vicariously. And, while I'm no math expert, I believe "...Bill France, Sr. and Jr...." would constitute two guys, not "...one..."

 

Agreed and I would like to know the average age of people here bashing NASCAR.
I bet it's under the legal drinking age possibly under driving age.

 

Why because they are thankful for there sponsors because without them they wouldnt be racing let alone winning. Plus how many times have you seen a F1 driver at the local store? In america nascar drivers will actually talk to there fans in public!

 

I think if you read most of the response to this thread, you will see that you are in the minority, and probably one of those that has never been to a real NASCAR race, let alone an F1 race.

I find NASCAR bashing to be the product of the uninformed, someone that really does not understand motorsports, especially the business aspect. Give it a try, it will expand your interests.

 

I watch some of the big races and it "can be exciting" but most of the time it leaves me a little bored. Things like "My crew has been working really hard on the car" and the old swap into three different baseball hats while their being interviewed and "I think we got a pretty good car today". Oh! well at least we get to watch cookie cutter cars that all look the same except for the gawdy paint sceems. Don't forget to have a sip of Gatoraid and some soft drink one after the other. All that aside I do enjoy most of the racing but any more they ought to rename Speed to Nascarvision. One day I was looking to see some racing and here was five guys talking about racing and a full one hour and a half later the same five guys still babbling adnauseum and I just wanted to see some racing, I just turned to the History channel.

 

I don't think F-1 has anything to learn from NASCAR. The fact is that F-1 is popular in every country in the world except for the US. NASCAR in only popular here. So I guess F-1 is doing far better job.
Let’s not be self-centered. The US is not the center of the universe, and if F-1 is not as popular here as in the rest of the world it does not mean that they are not doing a good marketing job. You can be sure that the F-1 drivers show up in TV shows and stores all over the world, just not here.
About passing, I guess it is an ADD thing. I can watch Le Mans races where the winner ends up 11 laps ahead of the 2nd place, and still be satisfied.
BTW.
Has anyone read Peter Windsor's article in this month's F-1 magazine?
He talks about NASCAR vs. F-1. I recommend it.

 

I suggested that the ages of the anti NASCAR side was on the low side as a way of suggesting your lack of life experience leads to the conclusions you make and might even suggest a lack of maturity, so yes in a way it does make it matter less.
With age that might all change.

The second paragraph I quoted to support my last statement.
Listen more, talk less.

 

NASCAR is not just popular over here. The Aussies have copied it and in Italy more than a few times while I was in a resturant eating the TV was on and they were glued to the race live.

 

I generally can't stand NASCAR but can stomach the super speedway races.
Now watching them on road courses....... comic relief at its best.

 

This may be true, but europe does not have ALL of the sports we have, from high-school, to amateur, to small college, to large college, to semi-pro, to several levels of minor league sports, to all the major league sports. Overall, we just have a lot more to do here, and that's that.

This does not explain why F1 is not popular here and nascar is, all I am saying is we have a LOT more options, whereas in europe they have F1, some lesser motorsports, soccer, some basketball clubs, european (minor league) 'american style' football, and that's about it. They have teams in all areas, but the numbers are nowhere near what we have.

We are just two different countries, that's all, we both do things differently.

 

NASCAR is nothing more than a low-tech conga line.....while F-1 is the high tech version. Both are boring race styles to watch. Even the crashes in NASCAR are predictable.

And I have stopped watching either of them actually.........years ago.