Ferrari Goes NASCAR

It sure is comforting to know that I am not the only working class Ferrari loving, NASCAR watching, displaced redneck(Nor Cal here) on this forum. Seen 16 of last 20 Daytona 500's, been to Charlotte World 600, been to Indy 500, been Phoenix(2nd favorite track), been to Sears Point...won't go back (unless by helicopter), been to Fontana...won't go back at all until policies change, been to Laguna Seca(horrible drive...easy flight into Monterey Airport), been to Portland Int'l Raceway, and someday will go to Bristol night race.
N Dennis

 

I was just having a dig at your US centric comment

During one visit to the US I went to an oval race in North Carolina ( I just checked my photos, Lowe Motor Speedway).. the speed and closeness of the cars both on the track and to us was quite an assault on the senses. This was during the time when Subaru was on top of their game in the World Rally Championship and my Subaru WRC cap wasn't quite understood/appreciated.
I appreciate the offer of a seat though!

I also agree F1 needs more passing and a good battle for the championship.. if it would be anything like when the British Touring Car Championship was great to watch, however that didn't last either... perhaps it became a victim of it's success?

cheers,
Greg

 

Probably because they want their brand to be affiliated with cutting-edge technological advances not stone-age technology. The oval-racing-demolition-derbies are probably not the best place for them to showcase their product.

 

Here's a better photo of the Ferrari-sponsored Cup car. The color looks like a pretty good match to Rosso Corsa. But did it race with the number error?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Source please.

My guess is F1 is more popular and monetarily successful because it is a worldwide audience.

 

The point of NASCAR isn't product development like F1 used to be back in the day. It's to provide entertainment, which it does better than any other racing in the world. If Ferrari sticks to the philosophy of racing as a platform for technological development, it would be unlikely they have any interest in NASCAR at all.

Ken

 

You're right it does provide a form of entertainment, as does the WWF which also thirves on the same good guys vs bad boys formula. Take away the crashes in NASCAR and the chair to the head in wrestling and what do you have left to keep people interested. I watched the last half of the Daytona 500 I admit it was exciting until the last laps were full of crashes and cautions taking a potentially exciting finish and turning it into a battle royal. Who won the race, oh yeah, Ryan Newman wooo whooo. Can't remember did he do the ubiquitious back flip and donuts or was it the pile driver and full suplex.

 

Agreed this is the most ridiculous question ever. They all run spec bodies with templates to make sure they are legal. Which of course LOOK JUST LIKE A 430.

 

robert_c:"Source please.

My guess is F1 is more popular and monetarily successful because it is a worldwide audience."

Shear numbers and head counts and the number of races held in the cup series(36) and dollars spent in advertising, concessions, souveniers, sponsorships and by the paying public amounts to untold Billions and Billions of dollars....... of course now that the dollar has crashed into the abyss, maybe there is more $$$ in F1. I feel Brian has now oversold and pimped out the series to Corporate Freaking America and they are now whining about the flattening in viewership ratings. NASCAR does not have the worldwide venues, so those outside the US have no concept of what it's really all about. F1 has not had success here and the general public here has no concept of what F1 is about, yet somehow much of the world outside the US does. NASCAR is a "working man's" racing series, whereas F1 is the "wine and cheese" series. I have seen the NASCAR series transformed from a "Stock Car" series to what amounts to a "Spec" series and as a "core fan", I am not happy about it at all.
N Dennis

 

Soccer is by far and away the most popular sport globally.

Profitable?

According to Forbes.com, the most profitable sport in the world is American Football (College and Professional) respectively. The Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable franchise in the NFL with a net worth of about $1.4 Billion.

 

There's some truth to your statements. Nascar will sell out over 95% of their available seats at all 35 venues, Yet F1 can't sell out at one venue (Indy) here in the U.S.