Can Nascar find any more ways for dragging a race out...?
I am almost ready to turn the silly thing off with less than 10 to go....

*sigh*

What do you do-If theres wrecks theres cautions.I am a Nascar fan and it cracks me up when people bash it for one reason or another.Simple fix-dont watch it!:thumbsup:

Love to see it come down like that with all the cautions. Makes you realize these guys are giving everything they got to win it.

Bumper cars :) It's going to happen.

The annoying part is NASCAR red flagging the race, running a dozen commercials, then the green/white/checkerd sprint to the finish. I really got tired of that last season. If the fans want a green flag finish, then it's up to the drivers to make sure it happens.

Slightly off the topic but did you see the amout of penalties issued?

Great 500 mile endurance race. Not going to be a whole lot of action in the middle of the race for the novice watchers unless you know what to look for. Lots of cat an mouse and saving your stuff for the end. If you didn't like that race, I wouldn't recommend watching the Lemans or Daytona 24 hour races either.

The thing with NASCAR is the endurance factor is pretty much a non-factor these days. With the 200-500 person crews, state of the art engineering and material science, and factory support backing the big teams you aren't going to see too many parts other than tires breaking down from stress or wear out. Even the drivers are sitting in air conditioned suits and have power steering. What? No popcorn and soda?

Almost all of the real action in NASCAR is compressed into the restarts and the last 30 laps. They could easily reduce every single race to 100 miles with no loss of racing action. However, the 300-500 mile races (Sunday afternoon nap time for me) keep fans in the stands and at the track for hours buying beer and stuff, green stuff this year, and create huge blocks of sellable TV ad time which keeps the broadcast networks happy. The fact that TV coverage basically consists of little more than the same view of the same 4 or 5 cars that are at the head of the pack doesn't help either. If there are some duels and dicing happening back in the pack TV viewers will never see it. I'm amazed that NASCAR is able to get so many sponsors when so few actually get anything for their investment. Once the Chase starts the other 31 cars may as well be painted white, or better yet, bright orange like traffic cones, which is all they really are at that point in the season.

The most exciting NASCAR races are the non points events like the Clash/Shootout and the All Star Race. If every Sunday were more like the All Star Race at Charlotte I'd be glued to the TV every weekend, even after the tundra thaw.

The ones to watch are the ones where they run the road courses and try to shoe-horn their roundie-round cars into the more technical circuts. The oval scene is not my cup. nd

When it comes down to a white green ending any car after tenth place should be kept back half a track. Or just simply removed them from the track, these are the drivers that most likely have nothing to lose so they will try whatever to grab a position.
Just like last year if safety is a real concern these white green finishes are only proving that destruction is going to occur and eventualy someone is going to get hurt.



What do the SCCA drivers call a Nascar going around the track at about 180 mph?


A cool down lap.

The ones to watch are the ones where they run the road courses and try to shoe-horn their roundie-round cars into the more technical circuts. The oval scene is not my cup. nd


ND,
Have to agree with you. Love the road courses, wish they'd do more of them. :) OFD

The thing with NASCAR is the endurance factor is pretty much a non-factor these days. With the 200-500 person crews, state of the art engineering and material science, and factory support backing the big teams you aren't going to see too many parts other than tires breaking down from stress or wear out.

I agree, tires are definitely the weakest link. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that endurance is a non-factor. Last time I was at Dover, Matt Kenseth's car was clearly the class of the field. That is, until his motor blew and ended his day. :woohoo:

PS his car turning into a huge puff of smoke was such a wonderful sight and smell. He cost me $50 when he ran down Jamie McMurray in June 2006.

* Rant *

I used to be a bigger NASCAR fan than today. Been to numerous races all over the country years ago but now it just doesn't have the same appeal to me. I still like some of the personalities but that's about it.

I really could have done without the 3 hour hooplah at the beginning of the Daytona race. WTF? My buddies were all over at 1:00 but had family plans later. They ended up leaving after the first 20 laps as they were already over for 3 hours watching the hooplah.

A real dumb move by NASCAR is selling sponsorship to cellular phone companies and banks. We will never be able to keep up with all the corporate buyouts and name changes that go in those markets. The race classes will be called something different every year. During Saturdays Busch Race, (oops wait....."Nationwide" race :rolleyes: ) I heard an announcer say; "this could be his first win in 26 Nationwide races!" I was like...."huh? -WTF is he talking about? It's been called Busch for the past 25 years..."

Speed Channel is another irritation: Last year they had this "Rock Out" theme that was a joke. They had Ricky Rackman (aging MTV video jock from the Head Banger era) as a spokeman and most of the time he didn't even know what he was talking about while on camera.

It's the pits.



The action, it's actually now in the pit stops and if you're @ the track most aren't going to see it. Went to Dover 4 years ago had seats 20 rows up @ start/ finish line, great view of the pits!

Last time I was at MIS the action was defintely in the pits.

One of Casey Kane's pit crew was at least looking for some... :p

http://www.planetofspeed.net/PhotoPost/data/3026/1PICT2004-med.JPG

Went to Dover 4 years ago had seats 20 rows up @ start/ finish line, great view of the pits!

Yeah, the front straight is definitely the place to be at the Monster Mile. Already got my tickets for both races this summer :woohoo::woohoo:

By the way, me and the Mrs. (that's us, right above) are two of those "new" NASCAR fans. As city people raised in the shadow of the Vet, the local Philly religion has always encompassed the Phils, Birds, Sixers and Flyers. To us, NASCAR was for the country and western crowd out in the sticks.

That was, until 4 years ago.

In many ways, I do feel the pain of the "core" fan because I understand what it means when the sport you love just isn’t the same any more. For me, I know I will never, ever be able to forgive Selig, Bonds, McGwire, Clemens and others for what they have done to what was my most beloved pastime. The supposed “best” team in football now has “Spygate” as part of their rep. Hockey’s most recent labor dispute turned me off of them. And the NBA has evolved into a bunch of wannabe gangstas and gangsta rappers, which, when added to basketball now makes 3 things they can’t do well. I mean, what ever happened to the days of dribbling and jump shooting? Now, it’s all running and dunking. Is traveling even an official foul in the rule book any more?

Sadly, everything in life changes over time, and we all wish things were liked they used to be. Being one of the noobs to racing, maybe this is too easy for me to say. But I really do think NASCAR has a lot going for it. The sport is drug free. There haven’t been any silly labor disagreements between people already making money hand over fist on both sides. No strikes. No lockouts. No posers trying to be all the rage just by acting ridiculously outrageous. I could go on, but the point is……….maybe the sport isn’t what it used to be, but so far it has managed to avoid becoming the sickening display some of these other sports have. I think that’s a good thing.

Didn’t mean for this to go so long. It’s just my two cents. I’ll get off the soap box now.

PS Scott, ROFL. Now that's some good old, red-blooded American sport!!! I hope he scored.

Rudy, her garage pass said "HOT". Yes she was.... :devil:

Best NASCAR Race I ever saw was from the Talladega infield in '92. The year Rusty Wallace crossed the finish line in the air and up-side-down. Earnhardt nudged him in his usual fashion in the final turn for the win. After the crash, Earnhardt came around to the crash, got out and made sure Rusty was OK before doing his burnout and heading to the winners circle.

I wasn't following NASCAR then, but I hear that Rusty really appreciated Dale stopping by to show concern :rolleyes:

Rudy,
I agree w/ what u said about alot of other sports, you won't see substance abuse tolerated in Nascar. In fact I remember a couple of years ago an up and coming driver in the Busch series put Jarret in to the wall. Jarret was so pissed he actually leaned in to the punk kid's car to express his displeasure. After the race he was calling Jarret old and washed up, said he was part of the future of Nascar. He pissed dirty twice and he is banned for life. What was his name.....?

I watch two sports regularly, Nascar and football. Hey, I like that Wachovia Center! A micro-brewery, a cigar lounge, and the roast beef was good too.

Rudy,
I agree w/ what u said about alot of other sports, you won't see substance abuse tolerated in Nascar. In fact I remember a couple of years ago an up and coming driver in the Busch series put Jarret in to the wall. Jarret was so pissed he actually leaned in to the punk kid's car to express his displeasure. After the race he was calling Jarret old and washed up, said he was part of the future of Nascar. He pissed dirty twice and he is banned for life. What was his name.....?

I watch two sports regularly, Nascar and football. Hey, I like that Wachovia Center! A micro-brewery, a cigar lounge, and the roast beef was good too.

That's Shane Hmiel you are referring to. I remember the incident being in 2005, which was the first season I started following NASCAR.

Yeah, the Wacko Center is a nice venue. There's actually several places though where you can get really good roast beef that I would say is a lot better than there. If you ever plan to be in town again, let me know. I can recommend a few places.

Hey, I've always liked NASCAR, since the days when the cars actually looked like the cars they were supposed to be, but if they are going to play into the needs of the present day TV audience they need to find a way to shorten up the races. Americans like things quick, and if possible in drive through format. A 3 or 4 hour block of precious weekend time makes NASCAR very expensive from my perspective. If the sun is shining and it's not winter, spending a Sunday afternoon on the couch in front of the tube is not high on my list of things to do. But no doubt, going to a race is a whole different story, as long as you aren't the designated driver.

Most fun I've ever had at 1:1 races were Friday and Saturday night dirt tracks. Being serenaded with the sweet sound of outlaw modified and late model stockers, while sipping on an ice cold brew that set you back maybe a buck and a half at most, cheap chili dogs and BBQ chips, with the track dust wafting over the fence... now that's racing!

AFX, your right about the local tracks and once the weather breaks I will probably tivo alot of races.

Rudy, that's him! I meant for stadium fare, better than a dirty water dog at da garden! I have to ask, which cheesesteak? I prefer Gino's

I have to ask, which cheesesteak? I prefer Gino's

Yep. I've tried them all and Geno's it is. :thumbsup:

This year I passed on watching the Daytona 500. First time in 28 years.

Reason: A bunch of miilionaires riding around out there who have no reason to race.

Why?: Because they are not willing to jeopordize their wealthy lifestyle.

What I would like to see is NASCAR take 42 unknowns from across the nation and put them behind the wheel of these cars. Then, we would get back to the true essence of what made stock car racing so appealing.

What reason does Jeff Gordon have to get out there and put it on the line when he "is told" he has made around $84 million racing stock cars?

Jim Norton
Huntsville, Alabama

I've only been watching NASCAR for a couple years, but I do enjoy it very much. The only thing that really irks me is the length of caution flags for debris. If they throw a caution because there's a piece of debris on the track (not from an accident), how long does it take to get a truck out there and pick it up? It should be 2 laps at most - one to get the cars slowed down and another to line them up. Why it takes so long is beyond me - seems they have to squeeze a pit stop in there at every caution.
They should also award the same amount of points for cars finishing, say, 30th and below. That way cars which are wrecked and repaired, then just driving around for extra points will have no incentive to be out there clogging up the track.

The complaint about basketball (which is a sport I lost interest in long, long ago) is that all you need to do is watch the last 2 minutes. I aways thought that what should be done in basketball is award points rather than wins and losses. 1 point for leading after the first quarter, 2 points at the half, 1 point after the third and 3 points for leading at the end of the game. The max would be 7 points. This would make each quarter valuable and give a reason for playing hard all through the game.
If you don't like the length of a 500 miler, maybe they do the same thing for racing. Break up the race into 5 100 mile contests. You get points based on your finish in each leg. At the beginning of each leg, the cars are realigned as they were after qualifying and start fresh.

Joe

Glad too see so far in this thread no anti-japanese refrences.

Glad too see so far in this thread no anti-japanese refrences.

Now that you brought it up...:lol:

I have many complaints about Nascar nowadays but I'm only going to rant here regarding one.

Races used to start around noon or one o'clock EST (unless they were out west). Who had the bright idea of starting races in the middle of the afternoon after 2 hours of pre-race garbage? The 500 started at 3:30 my time and ended during dinnertime!!!! What in the *blank* is that?!

Some people have said that helps benefit the left coasters who enjoy the racing. I'm here to tell you that I have seen message boards filled with west coast fans who aren't as thrilled as the bigwigs think they might be. They complain that it now cuts into their afternoon to sit down for a race whereas before they had the entire afternoon free because the race was over by lunch!

I'd like to thank Hankster for setting up a smooth running forum. We had some good posting out there today and was able to keep the comments flowing. I'd also like to thank all the members for posting and doing their job so well. Everyone works so hard. We wouldn't have the forum we do if it wasn't for everyone giving their all. Now where do I stand for pictures?

rant over

That's Shane Hmiel you are referring to. I remember the incident being in 2005, which was the first season I started following NASCAR. I remember posting this on my BBS back then and the article is still on NASCAR's website. It says he was supposed to suspended until 2007 but he never returned. I wonder what happened to him. ?

http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/06/22/shmiel.suspension/index.html

I remember posting this on my BBS back then and the article is still on NASCAR's website. It says he was supposed to suspended until 2007 but he never returned. I wonder what happened to him. ?

http://www.nascar.com/2005/news/headlines/cup/06/22/shmiel.suspension/index.html

He failed a subsequent test while still suspended. He was then banned for life from any involvement with NASCAR.

Didn't watch Daytona either, but I'm with nuther. The road course are the most entertaining, although the cautions and red flags dragged out to fill time and make it to the top of the broadcast hour just about ruined Watkins Glen for me last year.

Several years ago a lot of races were lenghtened from 400's to 500's. Didn't add much except time. At least with endurance racing proper the clock started and stops regardless of what happens on the track - 6, 12, 24 hours later. You get new entrants trying to see if their equipment holds up, some playing rabbit in the early hours while veteran chassis (Porsches) try to play to one of my favorite lines "To Finish First, First You Have to Finish!"

Lost interest in Nascar. It always did play to the fans, more and more to the media coverage and sponsors. So, is Richard Petty now a multi time Sprint Cup champion?
They lost a lot with me when they refused to allow drivers to speak on safety issues with overly stiff chassis, but the last race I attended was Talladega in 92 as well. Tracks and races all looking more and more similar, a season that can only get longer if they lengthen the calendar year (can the France clan do that?), and a chase where the number 11 guy could win the last 10 races in a row and not have a chance to win a championship - just trying to sustain interest in a series that now starts before baseball spring training and ends when college football is winding down toward bowl bids.

Grand national/secondary series spec car format I would watch: two 50 lap qualifiers for each series followed by 100 lap points races. Car preservation in first race, all out for position in the second, no boring parade laps, and it would still last all fricken day on TV for the sponsors.

On a very positive note, I read that Indy car and Champ Car will finally reunite - finally. After squandering 100 years' worth of good will and high reputation, it will be great to see American open wheel racing on the rise again. Remember when they didn't have to try to recruit a full field for the Indy 500? And bump day meant something? Hope this will become another meaningful option for American drivers.

On a very positive note, I read that Indy car and Champ Car will finally reunite - finally. After squandering 100 years' worth of good will and high reputation, it will be great to see American open wheel racing on the rise again. Remember when they didn't have to try to recruit a full field for the Indy 500? And bump day meant something? Hope this will become another meaningful option for American drivers.

This is wonderful, wonderful news. Let the healing begin and let's see American open wheel racing return to the elite status that it held before the ugly split. The month of May used to be such a special time of the year, it was time for the Indy 500.

Longer cautions (debris and otherwise) = more time to run commercials.

I'm irritated by the wacky start times too. I want to turn on the TV at 1:00 PM on Sunday and see the green flag by 1:10 or 1:15. West coast races by 4:00 - 4:15.

Annoying as some of it is. I'll likely keep watching as long as NASCAR can stay free of the freaks, druggies, and wife-beaters that peremate other "professional" sports.