Someone Explain Nascar To Me - I Just Watched Final 40 Laps And No One Was Passed

NIght Runner wrote:

Jeff Gordon has a very pretty wife to come home to, why would he want to even hang out with a bunch of smelly guys?

All NASCAR drivers have pretty wives to go home to.

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

I have though heard people say they don't like Jeff Gordon because he "don't talk like we talk", so I know that's a factor.

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

Jeff Gordon has a southern accent. He doesn't talk better or worse than other drivers like Edwards (Mo), Biffle(Wa), Kenseth (Wi), Kahne (Puyallup, Wa).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAb-y7mXffc

Mr. Red,

You just have to go to a Nascar race then you would really know the true experience. I live in Mooresville, NC and I attend every Nascar race that comes to the area. Its very different between watching on tv, and being there. Just trust me, go to a nascar race and you will see why.

random a hole wrote:

db88 wrote:

I also race gokarts and I guarantee most the people reading this could not handle driving them.

Maybe, maybe not. Like the overwhelming majoriy of the population it is something I never tried. I certainly have not been racing them since I was 14.

I may also have been a natural at yachting and polo, but alas I will never know.

I've driven karts and holy hell is it harder than driving cars. After about 20 laps in a kart your arms are just jello. A lot of average joes hear oh you race go-karts? and snicker a bit but anyone with a clue about the different levels of racing knows it's physically exhausting. This coming from a 15:45 32:19 runner.

Flagpole wrote:

Smell of gas, hate or love of Chevy, beer, macho-ism, keeping women in the kitchen = NASCAR

I've been following NASCAR for over 10 years & I love the sport. I don't love the smell of gas & I don't know any fans that do.

Chevy - I like & dislike individuals. I like Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, & Earnhardt. I dislike Gordon, Johnson, Stewart & they all drive for Chevy.

beer - every sport & entertainment event is based on beer.

macho-ism - no. Have you heard Jamie McMurray talk? It's a sport of risks, patience, and engineering & science.

keeping women in the kitchen - huh? women love NASCAR. Look at Kahne, Edwards fans.

Once again, Flagpole shows his sorry ass.

Flagpole wrote:

Not all of you do, but many do.

Big John wrote:

What people unfamiliar with stock car racing don't realize is that women have raced in the sports top series plenty of times before. We don't have the problem with this that you seem to think we do.

And by many, you mean the 3 guys in your neighborhood?

The issue with Danica is not solely based on her sex. She has a job driving in NASCAR, not based on her driving abilities, but based on her marketing abilities. She is the Dean Karnazes of auto racing. She was not that great in IRL and she will never be good in NASCAR. BUT, she can sell ads. People will pay to put her on TV and wear their brands. That is why she has a car and that is why a lot of fans don't like her.

As someone else said before, she ain't the first woman to drive in NASCAR. I will also add that she isn't even the best woman that has ever driven in NASCAR.

pendinghealthy/readytocompete wrote:

random a hole wrote:

Maybe, maybe not. Like the overwhelming majoriy of the population it is something I never tried. I certainly have not been racing them since I was 14.

I may also have been a natural at yachting and polo, but alas I will never know.

I've driven karts and holy hell is it harder than driving cars. After about 20 laps in a kart your arms are just jello. A lot of average joes hear oh you race go-karts? and snicker a bit but anyone with a clue about the different levels of racing knows it's physically exhausting. This coming from a 15:45 32:19 runner.

+1

I went to karting school and was wasted after a few hours. neck, arms, calves, back. I may have bruised a rib - those things have no suspension.

You drive a real racing kart for 20 minutes, you will have much respect for f1 drivers. NASCAR, not as much.

@running_comment wrote:

I hate to say it, rojo, but you could say the same about a lot of great marathons. Think of Wanjiru in soloing in Beijing, or Emmanuel Mutai running away with it in London.

When I was watching Mutai solo to victory that year, my roommate (non-runner) came into the room, stared at the screen for a while, and said "seriously, you're just watching one guy run?"

The thing with running, and with NASCAR, is that if you know the backstory and what it means to see someone break at a certain time, it is pretty interesting. If you don't have that knowledge, zzzzz.

Which is why I'm always saying I wish runners dealt with the media better...but that's another thread.

This is a very good point.

Wow. This thread freaked me out a bit.

A total twin thing.

Last night I was watching the local news. The guy said the Daytona 500 was still going. I never watch Nascar. He talked about some wreck and a controversy. So I turned it on.

40 laps to go. Just like rojo.

I watched the rest of it. The 1st two guys stayed in the exact same position until the very end when 3rd place passed 2nd.

I was entertained by it but afterwards I thought "Wait nothing happened. I thought guys passed each other a bunch."

I thought about posting on here and then forgot about it. I then just now saw this thread.

So do the pit stops cause a lot of the turmoil? If everyone is just going with no pit stops is it rare for the guy in 1st to get passed?

I thought the announcers could have done a better job of informing people what to expect. I definitely didn't feel they were talking over me, but then if they are not going to do that, they might as well tell you what to expect.

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

Not imaginary fans brother. There are 3 NASCAR guy fans in my neighborhood that I know pretty well and they all hate Danica Patrick (and REALLY hate that she didn't stay driving Indy cars), solely because she's a woman in a man's sport. I've heard them say "she needs to make me a sandwich" "they should start a series for women only" "she should take her top off". No WAY are they the only guys who think that about her. No driver or media person in their right mind would say such things, but believe me, the dudes in my neighborhood who like NASCAR definitely DO say those things.

....

[quote]

This is just dumb. First of all, you are generalizing based on 3 people in your neighborhood. Second, they are saying those things just to get a chuckle, most likely. I say those types of things all the time amongst my buddies just to get a good laugh when the timing is right. It's not even what I believe. You probably don't get the context.

I have no dog in this fight brother. I'm just telling you what OTHER people have said to me.

pothole wrote:

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

I have though heard people say they don't like Jeff Gordon because he "don't talk like we talk", so I know that's a factor.

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

Jeff Gordon has a southern accent. He doesn't talk better or worse than other drivers like Edwards (Mo), Biffle(Wa), Kenseth (Wi), Kahne (Puyallup, Wa).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAb-y7mXffc

Again, these aren't MY opinions...they are the opinions of many NASCAR fans. Yes, according to them women are allowed to be FANS of NASCAR...of course the men want women to be FANS. They aren't allowed though to be PARTICIPANTS (not really...Danica Patrick is diminished at just about every turn, including in this thread). The best way to see NASCAR lose popularity is to suddenly have half of the drivers be women.Someone said she wasn't that good at Indy, well, she did win one race and she finished 3rd at the Indianapolis 500 one year...seems enough to prove she's not just there for show.

pothole wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

Smell of gas, hate or love of Chevy, beer, macho-ism, keeping women in the kitchen = NASCAR

I've been following NASCAR for over 10 years & I love the sport. I don't love the smell of gas & I don't know any fans that do.

Chevy - I like & dislike individuals. I like Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, & Earnhardt. I dislike Gordon, Johnson, Stewart & they all drive for Chevy.

beer - every sport & entertainment event is based on beer.

macho-ism - no. Have you heard Jamie McMurray talk? It's a sport of risks, patience, and engineering & science.

keeping women in the kitchen - huh? women love NASCAR. Look at Kahne, Edwards fans.

No, these guys are dead serious. Sure it's a joke to say "she needs to make me a sandwich", but the sentiment is real and heartfelt. They don't believe NASCAR is a place for women. You can go search on NASCAR message boards and find that kind of stuff said too (I did a quick Google search), so I know there's no way that attitude is limited to the 3 guys in my neighborhood.

Ok. Now I've read the rest of the thread.

1) What was different about the setup at Daytona this year? People have alluded to that.

2) Why does Daytona have more drafting than other tracks. Seems like it would apply everywhere.

My gradnmother grew up in Indianapolis so as I kid I always watched the Indy 500. I've watched snippets of a few Nascar races before but I see why people watch it. Although the lead did not change at all on 40 laps there were a ton of wrecks and the cars run so much closer together than in Indy racing.

NASCAR has some WWF elements, unless you know the backstory, the races are harder to follow. Perfect example was last year's Homestead - the series finale. With 30 laps to go, Edwards had to pass Stewart to win the title - and was right behind him by 10 inches. Stayed that way throughout. If you knew the backstory, you knew Smoke had NEVER lost a championship race, and Edwards had never wrecked anyone to win. So, it was a matter of watching it play out, but still knowing Stewart had to be perfect, which he was. Drama, more than sport.

Last night, it was late, drivers were tired, and I would not doubt per the others here who have raced cars that the track was definitely affected where the jet fuel had blazed. That takes out a big part of the runup out of turn 4 - and really affected the ability to pass. It was a much different race the first 160 laps in terms of passing than after the fire.

Incidentally, my vote for the coolest 5K you can do is at Daytona in January. You get to the track at 5:30, take the shuttle from Turn 3 to the start finish line, warmup on the infield course while the track is lit, then race 1 mile on the infield and then miles 2 & 3 from turn 1 to pit lane as the sun rises. It's up there with Falmouth, Bix and Carlsbad in terms of the most awesome settings and races I've ever run. Then a round of golf and watch as much as you want of the Rolex 24 - we call it the old men triathlon!

Flagpole wrote:

No, these guys are dead serious. Sure it's a joke to say "she needs to make me a sandwich", but the sentiment is real and heartfelt. They don't believe NASCAR is a place for women. You can go search on NASCAR message boards and find that kind of stuff said too (I did a quick Google search), so I know there's no way that attitude is limited to the 3 guys in my neighborhood.

Flagpole, seriously man. Have you ever read these message boards?

Obviously all runners think that women are nothing but sex objects who have no business in Track & Field other than wearing bun huggers and looking cute.

You need to stop talking about things of which you know nothing. You do it a lot. I think you are probably a good person and I hope you don't act like this offline.

Take this as an attempt to help.

wejo wrote:

Ok. Now I've read the rest of the thread.

1) What was different about the setup at Daytona this year? People have alluded to that.

2) Why does Daytona have more drafting than other tracks. Seems like it would apply everywhere.

My gradnmother grew up in Indianapolis so as I kid I always watched the Indy 500. I've watched snippets of a few Nascar races before but I see why people watch it. Although the lead did not change at all on 40 laps there were a ton of wrecks and the cars run so much closer together than in Indy racing.

It wasn't so much the track as the car. The car has been changed, and the 2 car draft that was so influential the last 2 years has been basically eliminated due to the changes in setup. Others who are more knowledgeable about cars could explain better.

Daytona has more drafting than other tracks due to the track, the speed and the restrictor plates. So basically, all cars are more evenly set up here than at other tracks due to the limitations (costing about 20 mph). Finding a good drafting partner is critical, and last night, the high line did not work as well as it usually does (probably would have been different before the rains). That's why Earnhardt Jr. had trouble, as Kenseth/Biffle worked well together, and Junior couldn't take too many risks due to the risk of falling far back. Biffle's block at the end was just enough to win for Kenseth - say what you will about Junior, but he is a beast on the restrictor tracks.

There was still more passing than the average F1 race, but that's a whole 'nother topic...

I learned all I need to know about nascar from watching the movie Cars with my kids.