Motor Racing Fans

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

whie surfing the channels on tv, on the foreign sports channel, they regularly have north american motorsport where the track consists of an oval. i was just wondering, what appeal is there in watching this? surely it gets *very* repetitive and monotonous very quickly. i say this because i usually only watch F1 and domestic motorsport and the courses used are european style racetracks with a variety of corners, etc or street circuits.

 

i was just wondering if you guys watch these races, and if so why? because it certainly seems that the skill level needed to drive an oval track race as opposed to a more traditional circuit is much lower.

[Guest MrRant]

It CAN be repetitive... depends on the race, like hockey for me... it gets real good during the last period or the last say 100 laps because before that is boring to me.

[Guest starvenger]

A few thoughts on this:

 

1) The speed. Car go really fast

2) Big crashes, due to the fast cars

3) More opportunities for passes. F1 doesn't have that many opportunities on it's permanent road courses, but then there are only 2 competitive teams, so I guess it doesn't really matter there.

 

For me, I don't really like the small (mile) ovals, but the super speedways (2+ mile ovals) like at Indy are quite fun to watch since there is a lot of speed and it takes quite a bit to handle cars going that fast - even if you only have to turn left.

 

btw, I still think that Paul Tracy was screwed.

[Guest the pinjockey]

I try watching F1 but if there is one on track pass for the lead without the leader dropping out they don't do anything. Most of the time it is a two hour parade.

 

I think it is just different types of skill not necessarily less skill that F1 when racing on ovals. F1 drivers have to drive smooth all race long and keep their line while oval racers have to deal with traffic and put the cars in the right position at the right time. Also NASCAR races are much longer than anywhere else other than the endurance races in europe where they have teams so NASCAR guys need more endurance than other drivers.

 

I agree that Paul Tracy got screwed.

[Guest redbaron51]

A few thoughts on this:

 

1) The speed. Car go really fast

2) Big crashes, due to the fast cars

3) More opportunities for passes. F1 doesn't have that many opportunities on it's permanent road courses, but then there are only 2 competitive teams, so I guess it doesn't really matter there.

 

1.) F1 Cars are the fastest of all racing cars except for Drag, at Monza or at Hockenheim they can reach speeds up to 225 mph.

2.) Aren't many crashes in F1 because of the money they have to spend to repair on that particular part, and unlike NASCAR, F1 can't use duct tape and put the car back out.

3.) Only reason why there are so much passing in NASCAR, because on oval tracks you can catch a draft (meaning going faster) and pass the people, any time you want. In F1 you have to pick away at the car infront of you, and have to choose when and where to pass. And all the teams are competitive (in their own area of course) but mainly you guys see Ferrari up in front ahead of everyone.

[Guest redbaron51]

I think it is just different types of skill not necessarily less skill that F1 when racing on ovals. F1 drivers have to drive smooth all race long and keep their line while oval racers have to deal with traffic and put the cars in the right position at the right time. Also NASCAR races are much longer than anywhere else other than the endurance races in europe where they have teams so NASCAR guys need more endurance than other drivers.

Basic strategy in NASCAR:

 

1.) Go out for 30 laps or less if there is a caution.

2.) Repeat step one.

 

Thats why you have cars bundle up in such a short area. Between, Pontiac, Dodge, Ford, and Chevy there is no big difference in horse power (what 5-10hp?) and every chassis is pratically the same.

 

In F1, each team has their own chassis for each race in the season, that alone can be the difference in 50 hp. Then they have their own engine, Williams with almost 950 hp, while Ferrari has only 895hp (round there), and some teams barely even reach 800 hp. There are two tyre companies, and possibly Goodyear coming in next year.

 

Thats why you see Ferrari. Williams, McLaren ahead of Minardi, Jaguar, Arrows...etc. all the time.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

i also find that formula one has a mystique which just cannot be matched. like when you compare the indiannapolis 500 to the Monaco GP, its like a total new level. And before somebody said that there was less passing, etc in F1, and that sorta places more emphasis on when it does happen, rather than if somebody passes every 4 or 5 laps, it becomes a bit vanilla. horses for courses though (although i daresay 500 miles (?) around an oval is probably similarly draining to 72 odd laps around the monaco street course, as the track complexities are on another plane altogether).

[Guest starvenger]

>1.) F1 Cars are the fastest of all racing cars except for Drag, at Monza or at Hockenheim they can reach speeds up to 225 mph.

 

Clarification - on a super speedway, cars CONSISTENTLY go really fast. Well, except for when they crash. Go figure.

 

>2.) Aren't many crashes in F1 because of the money they have to spend to repair on that particular part, and unlike NASCAR, F1 can't use duct tape and put the car back out.

 

True. I was thinking CART though, since I like open wheel racing better.

 

>3.) Only reason why there are so much passing in NASCAR, because on oval tracks you can catch a draft (meaning going faster) and pass the people, any time you want. In F1 you have to pick away at the car infront of you, and have to choose when and where to pass. And all the teams are competitive (in their own area of course) but mainly you guys see Ferrari up in front ahead of everyone.

 

And that's actually why I like CART - there's a mix of everything, so you have to be able to handle both the technical of road courses and the speed of the ovals. You get the best of both worlds... in theory, anyways. Damn you, IRL...

 

And I'm not knocking F1 in terms of what they do, because I do love watching those guys tackle the course, but I DO dislike the fact that there's Ferarri, there's Williams, and a bunch of other teams who can only win if Schumacher, Schumacher, Barrichello and Montoya all somehow end up on the sidelines. And that's unlikely to happen, since those two teams are willing to put up money that the others likely don't have into developing the technology to improve the cars.

[Guest redbaron51]

I like Cart too, and I find that Cart has more skill. F1 now as traction control, and that one gadget that you can not stall on the start line. Yes it is safe, but it cuts down the skill.

[Guest Choken One]

As someone whom has driven both Nascar and Indy...I can testify that Indy is the lesser of the two. As for F1? Never done it but it's really not much different.

 

I've raced at the holy grail's of both worlds. Daytona and Indy. The intensity of Daytona out does Indy 500. No, I never raced the 500's.

 

I don't enjoy F1 mainly because there are only two competive teams. In In/cart and Nascar, they is equality.

 

Nascar without the restricer plates go 220 as well...so it's not a matter of which cars are faster it's the restrictions.

 

Another key componet is Personality. Alot of F1 and Cart and Indy drivers save for a handful can be marketable but Nascar almost requires a personality for the sponsers.

 

There isn't any scandal going on in Nascar, Cart and Indy are too similar for people to tell apart, F1 has been known to fix races. Nascar hasn't really been rocked by scandels, other then Saftey issues shortly after Earnhardt's death.

 

There's another reason for Nascar popularity...Dale Earnhardt's Death. He was a great compoonet to bringing Nascar to the fore front awhile he was alive but his death showed how even the greatest driver of all time could easily lose his life.

 

No other deaths in Auto Racing of any kind impacted an entire nation like Earnhardt's did last year. People started to respect the sport because they saw the tragedy. They also saw how Nascar is one huge family.

 

I've been around Indy drivers before but you never see a closeness between them, like you do with Nascar drivers.

 

I understand some people's anti-sentiments towards Nascar because of Corporation ties and it's roots.

 

Do I like Oval tracks like New Hampshire (This week's race location)? No. The fans don't either. New Hampshire and the road courses are the lowest rated races of the season each year.

 

What the fans love most are the Superspeedways like Daytona and Talledega (Speed and Crashes are king) and the Half mile short tracks like Bristol (Which draws the biggest sports crowd in the world with 200,000) and is the highest grossing nascar event.

 

Another thing people love about Nascar is the Crews. I've worked the crews before and it's rough. Those gas cans don't weight 0.5 like they do at the local Bp, but weighs 80 pounds and add in you must jump over a wall as well. The Jackman has 0.5 seconds to lift a car up with one pump. People love the toughness of the crews as well.

 

 

I love all Auto Racing but I love Nascar the most.

[Guest redbaron51]

There isn't any scandal going on in Nascar, Cart and Indy are too similar for people to tell apart, F1 has been known to fix races. Nascar hasn't really been rocked by scandels, other then Saftey issues shortly after Earnhardt's death.

 

And what scandals are those...if its the Shumacher victory at Austria its not fixed.

 

There's another reason for Nascar popularity...Dale Earnhardt's Death. He was a great compoonet to bringing Nascar to the fore front awhile he was alive but his death showed how even the greatest driver of all time could easily lose his life.

 

Aryton Senna in 94 at San Marino.

 

No other deaths in Auto Racing of any kind impacted an entire nation like Earnhardt's did last year. People started to respect the sport because they saw the tragedy. They also saw how Nascar is one huge family.

 

Same thing as F1, but instead a world wide popularity instead.

 

What the fans love most are the Superspeedways like Daytona and Talledega (Speed and Crashes are king) and the Half mile short tracks like Bristol (Which draws the biggest sports crowd in the world with 200,000) and is the highest grossing nascar event.

 

maybe in the US, but there has been more people at F1 events like at Hockenheim, Monza, Silverstone.

 

Another thing people love about Nascar is the Crews. I've worked the crews before and it's rough. Those gas cans don't weight 0.5 like they do at the local Bp, but weighs 80 pounds and add in you must jump over a wall as well. The Jackman has 0.5 seconds to lift a car up with one pump. People love the toughness of the crews as well.

 

The Jackman is the same in F1, but F1 uses two guys to a tire. (one to hold, same as NASCAR) and the fuel hose is 30 kilo's, and has to be put on accuratly.

[Guest Choken One]

An F1 car certaintly does not weigh as much as a Nascar.

[Guest redbaron51]

or god no...F1 car was less than 2000 pounds, while you have a NASCAR nearly 3500

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

i agree with redbaron. what happened in austria was not really fixing. fixing is when teams collaborate, not when one team predetermines the result within the team.

[Guest starvenger]

>F1 has been known to fix races.

 

F1 doesn't fix races. Ferarri saw the 1-2 finish was in the bag and took advantage of that to pad Schumacher's lead in the standings (because his 300,000 point lead wasn't big enough or something). Don't blame F1 for that, blame Ferarri.

 

>No other deaths in Auto Racing of any kind impacted an entire nation like Earnhardt's did last year. People started to respect the sport because they saw the tragedy. They also saw how Nascar is one huge family.

 

I'm sure that Brazil mourned for Senna, just like Canada mourned for Greg Moore.

[Guest Choken One]

Did Senna and Moore getpage to page coverege in every newspaper for A week and have a hge surge in Merch sales and not to forget memorial decals every 3 cars east of the M. River?

 

Earnhardt's affected ALL motorsports awhile Moore's and Senna's affected just theirs.

[Guest redbaron51]

Senna did it was world wide.

 

Moore didn't really get much attention since it was a travesty to Canadian racing fans, but to the average person it didn't.

 

Its the samething with Earnhardt but he died on the biggest race of nascar, on the last lap, last turn and was battling for the lead, and most of it was controversy on what happened, it was never talked about in Britian, France, Germany, Italy because Europe couldn't care less about NASCAR, even if it was the greatest driver in Nascar. It was only popular in America and Canada.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

Did Senna and Moore getpage to page coverege in every newspaper for A week and have a hge surge in Merch sales and not to forget memorial decals every 3 cars east of the M. River?

 

Earnhardt's affected ALL motorsports awhile Moore's and Senna's affected just theirs.

thats pretty narrow minded. F1 is a global sport, while NASCAR is only north american. while im not taking anything away from earnhardt's legacy, i daresay senna's death in '94 had a greater impact, cos i can remember even here people crying about it, and im sure that in a country like brazil, where senna was possibly the nation's greatest sporting hero at the time, the public effect would have equalled if not exceeded earnhardt.