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

[quote]Flagpole wrote:

Columbus, OH isn't even the most redneck area of the country, so there's no way people are just more enlightened elsewhere.

[quote]

LOL...now I see. You Ohio boys are just sore that Danica beat your boy Gordon last night so now you're coming out with this "women don't belong" mumbo jumbo.

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.

The "three neighbors" anecdote was funny, but once you go down the path of "well I also heard some guys on a message board say that..." I think the jig is up. LOL!!!

Just as with any other sport a ton of enjoying watching it is knowing who the guys are and having a favorite. I used to hate NASCAR. I don't love it now but about 4 years ago I made myself watch the majority of a full season.

It went from being super boring to being fun to watch.

Pretty interesting thread. Could totally see a thread like this on a basketball website about why the hell the Olympic marathon was boring as shit.

F1 is where it's at for auto racing. It's coming to Austin in November and I can't wait to be there. First F1 race int he states in many years.

I agree. I think that distance running, multi-stage bike races, triathlons, and NASCAR/ auto racing have a lot in common.

If you don't know much about any of the above, they look incredibly boring. But the more you know the strategy, the strengths and weaknesses of the athletes/drivers/cars, the nuances of the course, the effects of the conditions, it becomes really interesting.

I personally prefer watching NASCAR and cycling because the drafting makes it close at the end. More often in distance running, there's just one guy out there by himself for a long time at the end. Also, in my opinion (and I ran professionally for the better part of a decade) there is far less strategy and nuance to running than there is to NASCAR or cycling.

One reason the cars race in such a big pack at Daytona (and Talladega) is the restrictor plates on the cars that minimize the airflow into the motor and drop horsepower. The result is the drivers are going flat-out the entire way around and combined with the draft can't get any separation. At that speed and with the aero packages on the cars a group of 2-3 cars or more are always faster than one car driving alone.

Last year the cars worked in 2-car groups, taking turns pushing each other. That proved unpopular with the fans so NASCAR made some changes to get the cars to pack back up again. Another change they made was to make the radiators smaller, meaning that in the past the cars could run nose to tail longer and build up more momentum. This year the motors heated up faster so you had to jump out of line more often to get air through the front grill.

Another problem last night was that the outside lines just weren't working. Guys got up there in a nice draft and just couldn't move forward like they have been able to in the past, which led to drivers less willing to jump out of line and gamble because if you jump out of line at the wrong time you just go backwards. Usually in a plate race there is a lot of jockeying around and position (not to mention lead) changes.

I am an IndyCar fan first but do enjoy NASCAR. Racing is something that you have to see in person. TV doesn't even come close to giving it justice in terms of the speed, power and noise these cars exhibit. When that pack of 42 cars wind up and come to the green flag it's really, really cool to see in person. The first lap of the Indy 500 is incredible. And like others have said, understanding the nuances of racing and the strategies make it a lot more interesting.

I think stock car racing appeals to a wide audience. We've seen the argument here that motorsports are for dumb beer swilling rednecks. That's idiotic. Do you really think college football (or pick your sport here) fans somehow more refined than race fans? LOL.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

So can somebody explain how you hit a fuel truck during a caution?

Maybe he was replying to Letsrun threads while he was driving.

sounds like mr. flagpole is fairly bigoted against nascar fans. why do you even care so much? If you don't like the sport, fine, but it seems to get your rocks off when a nascar fan might be angry about danica patrick or something. you enjoy seeing others mad for just for the sake of seeing others mad? you must have a lot of free time.

I am surprised by this. You usually are more thoughtful and reasoned.I am not a NASCAR fan, but I respect the competition as fierce and substantial and the successful racers as determined and capable. It cannot be easy or simple.

Flagpole wrote:

Rojo,

NASCAR isn't REALLY about racing. It's about macho-ism first and foremost. Loud engines, beer, fast cars, smell of gas and oil and burning rubber, beer, ladies in bikini tops with tramp stamps...oh, and beer.

Throw in the hatred the fans have for Ford or Chevy and then the hatred some have for people who can speak in complete sentences (Jeff Gordon) and you have just one big testosterone pissing contest.

I used to love hearing fans talk about how tough these racers were..."A normal man can't handle the Gs!!!!!" "Do you know how many Gs they pull when the go around a corner that fast!?"

So, I LOVE it that now there's Danica Patrick. A real shot to the manhood of many NASCAR fans for sure.

First of all, I appreciate the compliment and your reason for surprise.Secondly though, this is just my experience with NASCAR fans. Could very well be that my experience doesn't line up with the majority of NASCAR fans.Finally, I didn't say it was simple...not in the slightest. It is for sure a SKILL sport though, not a strength sport, and that is evidenced by the fact that women can do it and do it well.I've heard NASCAR races described frequently (by individual people that I know and people on television) as an "event". When a game, match, race, whatever is described as an "event" then that means that more than just the thing itself is part of the allure...it's not just about the racing.I don't hate NASCAR or its fans. I do recognize though that if I were at a NASCAR event and suddenly stood up and started chanting "Chevy, Chevy, Chevy" that some would join in and other would boo and start chanting "Ford, Ford, Ford". Is that good or bad? I say neither. It just IS.

Another thing I would like to add to this. At most tracks a stronger car is able to pull away from the other drivers, similar to a stronger runner pulling away from others. Atownrunning does a good job here explaining the restrictor plates. Restrictor plate races usually are run in packs. Some years it is easy to pass the leader and you will get 80+lead changes at a track like Talledega... other times it's hard to pass the leader and you don't get as much lead changing... such as this year. It all depends on the rules in place at the time, and the condition of the track. The two-car tandem racing became popular last year because they repaved Daytona, meaning the smooth surface of the pavement made it so you could run in 2 car tandems without wrecking.

Newsflash: all professional sports are "events". This is why we have big fancy stadiums, pregame hooplah, and call them "sporting events".

Heck yeah NASCAR races are events. What popular sport isn't? This is why T&F needs to look at NASCAR, just another form of racing, to build an audience beyond hardcore runners.

What really got me into NASCAR was getting to know the drivers. The personalities of NASCAR are big. You pick your favorite driver or team and a few drivers to hate(or simply to root against) and there you have it. The Earnhardt Sr and Gordon rivalry was friggin HUGE. Along with driver, make of car is very big. I think this is getting less important though with the foreign car makers now in it. Also, drivers change teams and manufacturer a lot more than they used to.

I can't believe anyone is taking Flagpole seriously. I mean, he's clearly trolling.

Right? He's gotta be. No one could say something so ignorant and stupid and clearly false.

I don't watch NASCAR despite living in the deep South. I know a lot of people that do though. Several of my friends were involved in NASCAR fantasy league (yes, they exist). One is a lawyer, one is an accountant, one is an IT professional and the other is a healthcare administrator. All smart guys. Since that's 4 guys, I suppose my anecdote wins.

Clearly. But that's half the fun of this place!

Everyone knows Nascar isn't a sport, and the drivers aren't athletes.

The typical way to tell if something is a sport is as such: if you can smoke a cigarette while doing it at a high level (without impeding "performance"), then it isn't a sport.

Auto racing: not a sport

Golf: not a sport (game -- see John Daly)

Baseball: not a sport (see John Kruk)

Bowling: absolutely not a sport

Basketball: sport

Football: sport

Triathlon: unsure

That's not a run-on sentence. If he'd written "Throw in the hatred the fans have for Ford or Chevy and then the hatred some have for people who can speak in complete sentences (Jeff Gordon) and you have just one big testosterone pissing contest it's just my opinion," it would satisfy the requirement.

agip wrote:

...that said, track fans might like formula one better - the technology is way better, the teams are international, and there is a more track-like culture of brains than NASCAR beer.

I was at an IRL event last summer and my favorite t-shirt from that event was:

"Indy Racing League - too dumb for the Opera, too smart for NASCAR"

It's a "motorsport". Winning depends on skill, specialized strength (e.g. neck strength to keep your head up - extremely difficult in F1 due to high breaking G-force), enough fitness to endure the 2 hr race in hot cramped conditions, sustained mental concentration, and, very importantly, the quality of the car, car setup for the track, and pit crew. There's a lot for the race fan to think about. That said, I think NASCAR is a total bore and the personality angle doesn't help at all for me. I'd rather watch F1. Or even better MotoGP - those guys are true athletes and completely nuts.