Any NASCAR fans out there??

[jasserv]

Been enjoying the festivities here in Daytona this week and looking forward to the week and this weekend. Took my wife to the ARCA and Sprint Cup race last nights and then my son's to qualifying today.....

Anyone else into NASCAR?

 

[Coldshooter]

Coworker went to Daytona last year and had a great time. I was a huge fan through the early 70s then moved to where we had no TV reception or cable. We finally have cable and my interest is returning. I have thought about Phoenix or Las Vegas races. Good choice?

 

[battlegraduate09]

Nascar died 12 years ago

(Death of Dale Earnhardt)

 

[Mickey D]

Congratulations to Danica winning the pole position.

 

[WuzzFuzz]

Has anyone heard what the bookies have the odds at for next Sunday

That ought to be quite a start...Danica and Jeff leading off....


WuzzFuzz

 

[J Rich]

Nascar died 12 years ago

(Death of Dale Earnhardt)

I think it died before then. Like when it became more of a business than remembering it's grassroots and where it came from.

 

[Ruger Nut]

I was at Daytona the night they lit the track up for the first time.

 

[max]

I started reading about NASCAR about 50 years ago. I went to Talladega for the first time in 86 and have been back every year and twice in most. I am loosing some interest, but maybe the new car will help. My main problem is that most of the drivers I started with are now gone. As stated, they tried to make it a business proposition. NASCAR is fried chicken and cold beer on a Sunday afternoon.

 

[ladder13]

boogity boogity boogity, lets go racin'

 

[ginzo]

Like NASCAR, Love NHRA! Going to gator nationals in March. Went to Talladega alooooonnngg time ago. Late 70's. When the cars were cars. Headlights were removed and chrome plates put in place. etc. Way before stickers were used as lights and such. Seen all the legends, Petty, Allison, Pearson, to many to name.

 

[jasserv]

One of the pics I took today....

 

[Straightshooter2]

Well, let's see. I hitchhiked home (about 15-20 miles) from Atlanta International Raceway at age 13 after watching qualifying (back then it was called time trials) and after watching Fireball Roberts do the twist on the start finish line. I think he was dancing with Linda Vaughn, who was Pure Oil's Miss Pure Firebird at the time (she later became Miss Hurst Shifter). I remember crying July 2, 1964 when it was announced that Fireball had died. I was at the last race on the old Atlanta layout and at the first race on the new layout. I was at the 1979 Daytona 500 and told a friend 3 laps from the end that Richard Petty would win the race and of course he did after Cale and Donnie wrecked on the last lap. I pointed out a driver in that race to my brother and told him, "This rookie is going to be good!" The rookie's name was Dale Earnhardt. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm a NASCAR fan.

CW

 

[Slidemuzik]

Count me in.

Nascar is a case study in how to run a motorsports series. Anybody that won't admit that is just not being objective in my mind. Is Nascar perfect? Certainly not. They make plenty of blunders. Their human. More importantly, do they learn from those mistakes. Most certainly.

Every other series in the world wishes they could be even close to having the success Nascar has... and continues to enjoy.

They have more teams participating. More teams capable of winning. More lead changes. More fan friendly. The longest season with more races. etc. etc.

Along with that, Nascar probably has more naysayers. Guess it goes with the territory.

Great Job S-H racing and the Go Daddy team on the pole. Guess the announcers are going to have to be more aware of the difference gender makes to their commentary. "Danica's on the pole" can have too many interpretations. For that matter, "it's her first pole" doesn't sound good either. None the less, job well done.

Here's to a safe season with plenty of memories.

 

[puckforbrains]

I still watch but enjoyed it more when the cars were the stock bodies.I can't tell one breed from the other now.

 

[frbeall]

Nope! IRL fan here. I think they're racing taxi cabs, it takes two to go fast.

 

[CajunBass]

I don't reach quite back to Fireball Roberts, but I do to 1969, when I became aware that a distant cousin (Bill Dennis) was running in the then, Grand National division. Been a fan ever since.

Like a lot of people now, (but not so many back then) I was a Dale Earnhardt fan. Man, that was a bummer when he got killed, but it didn't end the sport for me. I suppose I'm as much a Dale Jr. fan as anybody, but I don't really have a favorite driver anymore. I just enjoy a good race.

No, the cars don't look like street cars anymore. Big deal. Things change. The sport is just different now. I remember walking up to the ticket booth at Richmond and buying a ticket five minutes before race time. You might be able to do that now since the economy has attendance down but for a long time you had to reserve them now to get into next years race.

I don't go to cup races anymore. I don't care for the crowds. My wife needs a wheelchair if she has to stand for long, and it's not easy to get around with a wheelchair. I don't watch them a lot on TV even, but I listen to Sirrius NASCAR radio all day. I listen to the races on the radio and still enjoy them just as much as I did when I was a barefoot kid sitting on a creek bank with a cane pole and a transistor radio.

Last fall, my wife and I went down to Rockingham N.C. for the late model/street stock race at the resurected Rockingham Motor Speedway. The crowd was kinda small I'm sorry to say but the racing was great. The track treated us like kings, meeting us in the parking lot with a golf cart, and picked up my wife and I with her wheel-chair and carrying us right to our seats.

We got to see a number of future superstars race that day. Remember the name Kyle Larson, and Darrel Wallace Jr. Those kids can drive. Larson won the K&N Pro Series championship that day with a win at Rockingham, and we watched Wallace restart in dead last at the halfway point and race his way back to third when the checkered dropped. He just ran out of time, or he'd have won that race. He was coming.

You can add Corey Lajoie, and Chase Elliott to that list too.

 

[PA Reb]

I love NASCAR and racing as a whole. I went to Daytona twice. The first time I enjoyed seeing Dale Sr. win. I had the unfortunate opportunity to see him die the second time. Never went back to Daytona after that but since then I got to enjoy races at Talladega, Richmond, Dover and the Poconos. Want a real thrill? Take a ride with a professional driver at Talladega!

 

[Alnamvet68]

Kinda' sorta', which reminds me that on this day, 2/18/2001, Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash during the Daytona 500. R.I.P.

 

[Bill_inBouse]

Not a real fan. Will watch if not doing anything else. IMHO NASCAR would be a lot better off without the France family. Teams should be able to do more R&D without the approval of NASCAR. As the old saying goes..."Run what ya brung". NASCAR today is the old IROC series with more drivers.

 

[Comrad]

On the fence, turn 2 Pocono infield as often as I can up there.

 

[luangtom]

Yessir, a fan here. Talladega, Atlanta MS and Bristol. Hope to see Daytona some day. Congrats to Danica Patrick....happy the new season is about to begin.

 

[LazyKB]

NASCAR fan?

Not so much, but am a huge fan of my son who is the team engineer for Roush/Fenway's #6 in the Nationwide Series, so I am paying more attention year after year. This will be an interesting year now that two time Champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has moved on to Sprint Cup. Trevor Bayne will be turning the #6s wheel full time this year in an effort to bring home the third straight championship. Also Danica and Ricky have hooked up off the track which will add to the drama. Looking forward to seeing who puts who into the wall first.

 

[PatAz]

Sorry, no it puts me to sleep.

 

[BuckeyeChuck]

Every other series in the world wishes they could be even close to having the success Nascar has... and continues to enjoy.

I had this very conversation with somebody on Saturday. Here's what I said: "NASCAR only wishes it were Formula 1." In terms of fans, global popularity, and money, NASCAR would like to achieve the NFL's status. They've got a long, LONG way to go before they are comparable to F1.

The on-track products are completely different.

If there is a series where there may be tighter control and more capricious interpretation of the rules, F1 is it. If I mock NASCAR for its controlling clutches, be assured I do the same for F1. Thankfully, F1 is going to reduce some of this, with engine homologation going away very soon.

Because there are fewer races, and no "chase", teams fight tooth and nail every race to qualify and finish near the top. Very seldom will any team ever try to have "a good finish" because one or DNF's can destroy a driver's and constructor's championship hopes. Also, teams receive massive cash rewards for scoring championship points. For the most part, the driving to win is nearly 100% of the time in F1 and I'm convinced that isn't the case in NASCAR. This is sensible given the way the series are structured.

The cars are as different as they appear. Driving both well is difficult, but driving an F1 car is just plain violent. They decelerate at 1g or more just by lifting off the throttle; applying the brakes raises that to 5g. They develop so much downforce that they could be driven upside down, and even turn right and left, were it possible to get them into that position.

There is no doubt that NASCAR dominates racing fans in the U.S.A. Get beyond those boundaries, though, and you'll see it for what it is: a successful regional series dwarfed by F1. I'm not criticizing NASCAR; they seem good at what they do. I'm disputing the notion that NASCAR is the most successful motorsports series in the world. It's not even close.

Disclaimer: I'm not a NASCAR fan. I don't like the racing -- especially ovals and "competition cautions" -- so I choose to watch very little. But there are two races per year that I love to watch: the two where they turn right. If they ran more road courses, I'd watch a lot more NASCAR.

 

[JJEH]

NASCAR live is awesome. Watching it on TV is upsetting.

 

[Rule3]

I am waiting for a right turn.

I only like the few road courses. The big ovals are boring especially Daytona. I turn on Pro Wrestling as I can understand that

 

[Rule3]

boogity boogity boogity, lets go racin'

He is a good commentator.

Go Daddy, Go Daddy Go!

 

[Sftail04]

Nascar died 12 years ago

(Death of Dale Earnhardt)

I agree with that. I used to go to a lot of races. When he died, my interested faded quite a bit. I still watch Daytona, Charlotte, Talledega and Bristol, but it will never be the same.

He was the best to ever drive a stock car. HANDS DOWN

Today is the 12th anniversary of his death. R.I.P. Dale.

 

[frbeall]

Something interesting happened today. I have a customer who came in today and mentioned his brother-in-law, who owned a bush team before it was known as the nationwide series, said NASCAR probably had something to do with Danica sitting on the pole. Just saying, ratings are everything. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[s1mp13m4n]

I like Motorsport. I live on Speed. NHRA drag racing is my favorite. I like NASCAR and have followed it for 25 years or so. I am a little old school and do not feel Toyota has a place in NASCAR.