NASCAR.......Love it or hate it.

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 9:04 am

Derek gave us hell for talking about NASCAR. He said........................"Ok this post is started to go way off topic. It was suppose to be about vibes with NOS. Lets get back on topic. If you all want to talk about NASCAR ( GO 24!!!! ) please start up a new topic in the forum Off Topic."So..........who likes Nascar, who hates NASCAR, and who is your driver.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 9:58 am

Hey OMW, I don't care to watch NASCAR. I just can't get into it, I have tried many times. I do like Grand Prix and the NHRA. Maybe next year I can get down to Michigan International Speedway to watch one.
[Modified by rasermon, 9:36 PM 9/22/2002]

cohocarl · Post by **cohocarl** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 10:10 am

I remember doing everything possible to find out what dates and times a NASCAR race would be televised way back in high school so I could watch it. Television coverage even 10 years ago wasn't anything like it is now. I'm 41 now, so I'd say I've followed it for quite a while.Anyhow, I've been a fan of Mark Martin for quite a few years. Last year was the first time in over 10 years he hasn't finished in the top 10 Winston Cup standings. It's going to be a tight points battle the rest of the year, but I hope he comes out on top. In all the years I've watched, I can't remember a questionable move, or unsportsman like conduct from Martin. I can't say that about all the top 5 drivers right now.

LocDog · Post by **LocDog** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 11:07 am

NASCAR sucks... All it is is a bunch of chumps driving around a circular track in the same exact car, over and over again.I find the only thing exciting about that is when the driver falls asleep at the wheel and crashes into something.European rally's are the way to go.

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 11:44 am

Ha..........l would pay to see Jimmy Spencer fit into a Peugeot 206 WRC. There is no doubt the skill involved to drive and keep a rally car on the road would make most NASCAR drivers pee thier pants. I just like to see "the good 'ol boys" trade paint. Bumping is racing.I also wake up at 06:00 to watch the F1 feed from Europe on Sunday. Some Sunday mornings I have to go talk to Cletus ( an saying with the boys on the need for a beer and clam to make the mind sharp first thing) before I fry up the eggs. Then I watch Michael Schumacher win, and sometimes I have a few convesations with cletus.

cohocarl · Post by **cohocarl** » Sun Sep 22, 2002 6:00 pm

quote:I do like Grand Prix and the NHRA.NHRA is my 2nd choice. Gotta love Force's burnouts!! Garlits doesn't run any more due to the retinas in his eyes are damaged due to the acceleration forces over the years. That has got to be a rush going 300 mph in a 1/4.

d_m_kolb · Post by **d_m_kolb** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:17 am

quote:Derek gave us hell for talking about NASCAR. He said........................"Ok this post is started to go way off topic. It was suppose to be about vibes with NOS. Lets get back on topic. If you all want to talk about NASCAR ( GO 24!!!! ) please start up a new topic in the forum Off Topic."So..........who likes Nascar, who hates NASCAR, and who is your driver.LOL If you read the post again I don't think I gave you hell. No where close actually. The reason I said anything was because you had gone off topic and were no longer talking about what the first member asked.As for this topic you all can talk about NASCAR or any other racing type events here.I personally never liked NASCAR up until Jeff Gordon started racing. Reason I like Jeff is because he used to dirt track race locally where I grew up which was Evansville IN. So once he started in NASCAR I had a driver I liked and that really got me hooked. Then as a bonus he started whopping everyone butts! LOLNo offense to anyone who likes someone else.

NovaResource · Post by **NovaResource** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:25 am

Funny because I've almost given up on NASCAR since Dale Earnhardts death. I tried for a year to root for Harvick and Dale Jr but it's just not the same. The young guys just aren't the same as the older guys. Too "Hollywood" for me. Jeff Gordon was the start of all the "glamor boy" image and I guess that why I don't like him. They are good drivers but they just impress me. I hope Mark Martin wins it all this year.Bring on NHRA Drag Racing.

Dragoneyed · Post by **Dragoneyed** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 2:09 am

I find nascar is a good way to take a nap. About 15 minutes into it, I'm asleep. So I guess it's a good thing.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 7:08 am

Hate it! Its so boring! Its like bumper cars for grown ups... And I think you have to have some strange name to be a racer in that series anyway. Now CART racing... that I love. Although after this year I'm not sure how much I'll love it with Andretti and Franchitti (Mr Ashley Judd) moving to the IRL.

d_m_kolb · Post by **d_m_kolb** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 8:45 am

If you don't have some one you like driver wise your probably not going to enjoy it. It is one of the fastest growing sports fan wise though. More people watch the Daytona 500 than watch the super bowl.

Post by **NSimkins** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 8:54 am

I get bored too quickly watching NASCAR. If I had to, I would probably only watch the last 15-20 laps.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 10:25 am

Yeah I know and I don't understand. Well their car wrecks are quite spectacular, but still!? Give me open wheel racing any day. I've been to the Toronto CART race about 5 times and I love it.

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 10:41 am

Ya,If you don't know what is involved in the details of the car set ups, the race within the race, and a driver to follow you will not understand what is going on..............just like curling. If you do not now what is going on you will doze off and make a drool puddle. Not that curling is like NASCAR..........hurry hard. [Modified by old man winter, 9:43 PM 9/23/2002]
[Modified by old man winter, 9:43 PM 9/23/2002]

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 10:49 am

Sput,I went to Michigan to watch a Winston Cup Race. Watched qualifying, the Bush race, Happy hour, and the race on Sunday. When we first fell out of the truck, after the 10 hour drive, I almost wet myself when I heard the engines and the cars going around the track. All this from the parking lot.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:06 am

Thats how I felt the first time I went to an Indy race. God I love it. Haven't been since '99... I should have went to Montreal this year. I usually go with my dad and everyone usually thinks I'm his wife... like a daughter can't go with her father anywhere!

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:07 am

Curling is a blast! I've only curled twice but I had so much fun. Unbelievable!!

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:12 am

Montreal.............that would be way too cool. I have a buddy who has gone a few times. It is not cheap as he spent $2000 to $3000 a trip from North Bay. He says once you hear the turbo's you will never go back to any other race. F1 at INDY would be something I would like to do.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:18 am

Well I would prefer the Montreal CART to F1... F1 is way too boring even for open wheel. I mean its Michael Schumacher every week it seems. If Jacques was winning then I'd watch. I drool over Jacques. I saw him in Toronto once... I was 2 feet from him. What a day. F1 is definitely not cheap. The CART races are cheaper than F1 and way more entertaining!

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:30 am

Ok this post is started to go way off topic again.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 11:42 am

Oh well! This is the "Off Topic" forum. *hehe*

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:12 pm

Okay!!!!!!!!!!!! Derek , I just got the Nascar dish package. This lets me watch the network feed live(this can be a problem in CANADUH) along with 8 in car views on different channels. I never have to watch the same commercial 97 times. Another Canadian thing with TSN. When the network goes to commercial I change to one of the in car views and never miss a thing........so there.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 12:22 pm

Hey old man winter, (removed).

LadyHwk750 · Post by **LadyHwk750** » Tue Sep 24, 2002 10:26 am

quote:who likes Nascar, who hates NASCAR, and who is your driver.Sorry I'm so late to the party. School has kept me busy. Personally, my favorite racing is the NHRA drags and my favorite drag racer is Angelle Savoie for Pro Stock Bike and John Force for funny car. As far as NASCAR is concerned, I enjoy watching those races when the drags aren't on. My favorite driver is Michael Waltrip with Mark Martin running a close second (Go Viagra!) and Dale Jarrett (Drive the truck Dale!) running third. I also have to root for Ward Burton since the company I work for is one of his sponsors. Had a great time at Watkins Glen a few weeks ago watching the Zippo Vintage Races. Pretty neat watching some of those antiques zipping around the course. There was a Benetton B191 F1 formula one racer which literally tore that course up. Noone could stay near him in his cl***.

lordyogi · Post by **lordyogi** » Tue Sep 24, 2002 9:56 pm

as i have gone through this post i have seen some comments like there is no driver talent and they just go around in circles and blah blah blah about NASCAR, sure its stands for NonAthleticSportCenteredAroundRednecks, but that is beside the point.I live in Florida while I finish up my post college education, and I have been to a few races both at Michigan International, and I did go to this years Daytona 500. There is no sound on earth like the roar of 43 V-8's with 800hp when they rev up for the start of the race. Also, when I was moving down here last summer my dad and I stopped off by Daytona to see if they were running the Richard Petty experience. They were. What it is is you pay about $100 to hop in a rev-limited nascar. They limit it to go only about 160mph, and they take you around for 3 laps. Let me tell you that if you think that the car just goes nice and smoothly around those ovals at 160mph you are sadly mistaken. They bounce around and shake a lot. This is all at 160 and limited with just one car on the track. Now add 25mph in the turns, and 40mph in the straights, and also add 42 others out there who are trying to steal the air that keeps your car steady and you have yourself some excitement. i know a lot of you like F1, and IRL and rally racing, dont get me wrong they are great, and different strokes for different folks and all that, but i cant get into races where there are maybe 3 americans in the whole field. or if i know that one man who gets paid 50 million a year is going to win, all the time. i do like rally racing because in Michigan i live on a dirt road and i rally down it everyday, but thats besides the point.anyway just try to look into something before you make snap desicions.yogi

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 5:09 am

quote:... but i cant get into races where there are maybe 3 americans in the whole field. This is exactly why I prefer to watch CART and a little F1... I don't want to see a whole bunch of Americans racing with no "foreigners." Being from Canada I prefer to see those who are Canadian racing. I like seeing different drivers from around the world competing against each other. quote:or if i know that one man who gets paid 50 million a year is going to win, all the timeI agree with you on this one... one of the reason's I hardly watch F1. I'd really like it a lot more if Schumacher wasn't racing. If I know Schumacher has already crashed out of a F1 race, then I'll watch the rest of it. quote:anyway just try to look into something before you make snap desicions.Its not a snap decision on my part. I know what I like and what I don't... simple as that. I've spent many hours watching NASCAR when there are no CART races on, but still it doesn't "do" it for me like CART racing does.
[Modified by Sputnik, 4:10 PM 9/25/2002]

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 6:37 am

I've got to go with the european touring car championships. While I don't really like nascar... F1 and Indy kind of bore me too. I really like seeing (semi) real world cars racing together where you get to see the strengths and weaknesses of each type of car... Vettes and Camaros out accellerating M3s while getting smoked during braking as that M3 they just passed dives underneath! It's not nascar... it's just races where all the cars are exactly the same that I find boring.Just my opinion

d_m_kolb · Post by **d_m_kolb** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 8:17 am

Did you all watch Gordon whoop some (removed) yesterday 9/29/02. Pullin back into the points race.As for NASCAR drivers having no skill, who ever said that needs to go and try to drive your car only 150 MPH around daytona and not smash the wall and your all buy youself. I have personally never been in a NASCAR racecar but my old mechanics shop teacher had at a racing school. He drag raced alot (at a track) and he wanted to try something different. He though going around a track wouldn't be anything.He went to a school that was a week long. The 3rd day they finally were able to get out there and get the cars moving at around 160mph since the 2 days before were all slow speed training. He said he would have never known how much driving skill it took to drive the car around the track if he never did it himself. He told us that getting the car up to speed was easy but once your up to 150 or higher try changing lanes or shifting up or down the track to pass or avoid a accident was something totally different. Learning how to control the throttle in and out of turns, shifting just right, and also braking as were not to lose traction or hit the wall. Brakes at 160mph don't work very good or slow you down very fast.Learning how to take the conner so that the wall doesn't suck you in but still keeping your speed up as high as possable with out the front or rear tires breaking lose.On the 6 and 7th day they had other cars out on the track and it was all most impossable to pass someone going only 160 mph. Another thing was if you were by yourself the car handled ok but if someone pulled close to your bumper going around the conners was terrifing at times and you have to know how to hand the car when the air was taken away from your rear spolier.As was said earlier there isn't anything smooth about the race track and any small bumb going that fast makes the car feel like it's going air born and you have to adjust for this.He said he many times thought he was going to crash but luckly some how pulled through and there cars were topped out at 160.Now imagine doing all of this at 200 to 210 at Daytona with 43 other cars 6" or rubing on your car as you enter and exit a conner. How much talent it takes just to drive a car 200mph by yourself around a track. Your adverage street racing Joe couldn't handle these speeds. NASCAR in my opinion has some of the greatest drivers in the world. People seem to forget that NASCAR does have 2 road courses a year. This is just my 2 cents worth. NASCAR to me is very exciting especially when you have a favorite driver and watch that driver every Sunday. You get to the point you feel there happiness when they win. You feel disappointed or upset when they lose, and you feel angry when you see another driver do something dirty to them. It's little things that got me hooked. Like watching a restart after a crash and watch how they shuffle and block each other for position. Watching the rubing and contact the drivers make trying to take anouther position away and of course the crashs. As long as it's not the driver your hoping will win. Just the little things like hearing those 348 CI 800HP engines start up for the first time or seeing them burn out of there stalls after a pit stop. Sounds crazy but that's what NASCAR to me is all about.I do remember the momnt I got hooked on NASCAR. I'm not sure about the race track or the time but it was the end of a race and it was the last lap. Rusty Wallace was in the lead and had Jeff Gordon right on his (removed). I didn't think Gordon was going to win but on the last turn of the race Gordon got all the way up under Rusty's bumper and took all the down force off of it making his rear in slide out and his rear tires smoke as he tried to accerate causing him to slow down just enough. Gordon saw this knowing what he was doing and gassed it to pull up next to Rusty. Rusty rubbed him a little with the front wheel of his car but didn't have enough momentium to keep his lead and Gordon beat him by a nose. I was hooked from that moment on. I all ways liked Gordon from his dirt track days but that hooked me on NASCAR for good.

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 8:50 am

Oh I never said they didn't have skill... I just said I found NASCAR boring. Did anyone in this thread say they didn't have skill? I didn't see it, but maybe someone did. Hmm... that reminds me I must make my speedpicks for this weekend's race in Miami!

lordyogi · Post by **lordyogi** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 1:01 pm

quote:Hate it! Its so boring! Its like bumper cars for grown ups... by saying that you did imply that there is no talent in NASCAR racing, you didnt flat out say it but the thought was there.yogi

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 9:24 pm

No thats not what I was implying.... I meant its like bumper cars because they are always bumping each other in NASCAR. Thats all I meant by it. In most cases the bumping doesn't cause an accident and yes I know that takes skill to keep the car under control in those conditions at those speeds.

ShotInTheDark · Post by **ShotInTheDark** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 12:27 am

I took the 10 lap challenge at the Monster Mile in Dover. Talk about a lot tougher then it looks and hot and uncomfortable too. I got in about 8 of my laps behind what they call a pace car. He watches you and ups the speed each time till he feels you don't have any more. Problem was i was ready to go and let him know on the 8th lap by "rubbing" him. Needless to say the computer govenor kicked on and i was sent back to the pits.. But it was way worth the 300 bucks

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:00 am

Anyone see the news story about keeping pit crews cool with some special suit designed by a company in Ottawa? I can't remember the name, but it was on CTV news net on Sunday. I think the McLaren F1 team is going to start using it. Looked pretty "cool"

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 2:29 am

Whether or not you think it's boring doesn't mean it takes no skill. Nascar takes a lot of skill but not the same kind of skills as F1... or Bike racing for that matter. I know what it's like to have aerodynamics change at speed... yikes, I can only imagine what it's like in the 'dirty' air in traffic at 200mph! However, if you've ever seen Mick Doohan or Anthony Gobert slide both tires (when you've only got two) at 100mph coming out of a corner on a bike... that takes a different kind of skill. Different strokes for different folks! Long live diversity!

Sputnik · Post by **Sputnik** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 9:09 am

*sigh* I wonder how many times I will have to say that I did not say they did not have any skill? In fact I have posted that I do think they have skill... methinks its time for me to leave this thread.

Frosty · Post by **Frosty** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 11:31 pm

Finally I have something to contribute to this thread that hasn't been previously submitted.

d_m_kolb · Post by **d_m_kolb** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 11:58 pm

You forgot Gordon's car is the one Martin is chasing. LOL JK

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 9:12 am

Wha...........If Mark does not win I want to see Jimmy do it. I would pay to see the look on Jeff's face when a car he part owns beats him. Jeff is too young to make it five WC's, he has allot of years left to beat the 43 and 3 record.Mark needs to win this, I mean how many times has he finished second or third in the WC.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 11:20 am

Looks like Sterling Marlin's hopes of winning a Winston Cup championship are over. Out for the season with a fractured vertebra.

old man winter · Post by **old man winter** » Thu Oct 03, 2002 7:50 pm

Ya, tooooooooooo bad for Dodge, ha ha. I almost tought that Sterling was getting "The Call" during most of the year, but that is another issue. I feel bad for Marlin as he put together a strong year for Dodge and Chip. He had a shot at it, how many times have you seen this when it winds down to the last quater...............under pressure.