NASCAR is a waste of gasoline in 2006.

Races are more than 45 laps, lol. Races are 90-500 laps, or 350-500 miles, depending on the track size.

Detri, Jeff Burton is awesome, along with the entire RCR camp. Dale Sr. was my favorite driver before, yaknow, but I went with Dale Junior. If Junior can't get the title, then I'd liek to see Jeff, Mark or Kevin get it this year.

 

I think the arguments that people come up with for why NASCAR "isn't a sport" or why they don't like it in general are really lame and immature.

"All they do is drive in circles."
"It's not a sport because all they do is drive a car."

There are countless others I can't think of at the moment. But those are the two main arguments, and they're not even good ones.

They drive in circles most of the time, but you also have to factor all the forces in: drag, push, G-forces, fuel consumption, etc. There's a lot of science behind "going fast and turning left." Look it up some time.

As for it not being a sport, that's like saying golf isn't a sport because they stand there and whack a ball, or that pool isn't a sport because they don't tackle the other players.

 

If you want a real sport involving cars, check out drifting.

There's a whole lot of technique that goes into that. Knowing at what point your tires lose traction, controlling the slide, finding the best line to go into a turn, it's not as 'intense' as NASCAR but it's fun.

 

I think I'd have to disagree with you and say that it is as intense as NASCAR, and maybe even more so. Drifters are amazing. Formula D drifters are pretty good, but the guys in the D1 GP, who grew up in Japan, are complete bad asses. They take their turns at 80 mph sideways, and they dont let up at all. And when they do their Tandem runs, that takes skill.

I used to really not like NASCAR at all, I didnt see the point of it. But more recently I have actually sat down and watched the qualifying rounds, and watched the races all the way through, and I must say. I found it to be a bit more interesting than I first thought. It does take some intense training to be able to endure a race that long. Not to mention the risk of getting tunnel, or blurred vision from going on a basic oval course for 300 miles.

But for me, Formula 1 racing still takes the cake. Second to that is any sort of Grand Touring racing.

 

But the drivers have to be able to tell their crews what's going on in the car at all times. They have to develop a feel for things going wrong in their car, when it sounds funny (like when the cars drop a cylinder), they have to know how to use the draft, they have to get a feel for WHERE to drive on the track (because certain areas on tracks are harder to drive than others). It's pretty rough.

 

I dont know enough about NASCAR to really get to technical about it, but I do know that in F1 racing the area outside the normal path of tavel through a Chicane becomes a resting area for pieces of tire that come off during the turn. Dirt and debris gather up, along with small chunks of rubber, and they call it the "marbles." when a driver over shoots the turn, or takes the wrong line, and they hit the marbles, they're as good as done. So I imagine in NASCAR there are probably areas that have debris like that, or areas that just dont get driven on enough, so that the surface is way different.

Pretty much bottom line, the drivers arent idiots. They have to be intune with their car, and the other racers around them. They have to think on their feet to, making that decision in a split second could mean the checkered flag, or retirement.

 

Well, I meant opinion-wise intense. I think drifting is intense, but I've played Initial D all my life.

i've been starting to drift around parking lots, it's pretty fun.

 

Actually he hit the wall at about 160 and he died from a basular skull fracture...

But yeah, Nascar's cool. This might be the last year I watch it because Toyota's entering the series next year, and I'm a bit opposed to the idea of having foreign cars in a sport that's been all-American for almost 60 years. And I think the new points system is kinda stupid.

But hey, Mark Martin's 3rd in the standings like 10 points out of first, so I'm not complaining.

And to those who say it's not a sport...a typical race during the summer, drivers lose at least 5 pounds from sweating.

 

Ah, I never looked that much into it, but the initial reports had his brain stem being severed.

As far as the Toyota issue goes, I believe the cars manufactured for the series will be done in Toyota's Nashville (?) plant. I don't really have anything against it, honestly... and all the on-track telemetry devices were made in Japan. Not only that, so is most of the electronic equipment currently used by race teams. Doesn't make much of a difference to me, honestly.

The point system? Well, it is flawed. I liked Tony Stewart's idea of having a separate point system for the Chase drivers, so we don't have a 43rd place finish be a title killer because of some retard (JJ Yeley, Tony himself even [see Kahne incident])

 

Sounds great. Around here there arent any cars that are able to drift on tar. So we wait till the winter rolls around, and then we drift. And then, its pretty much rallying. Which isnt so bad though, I've seen times when we had 4 cars tearing hell on the back roads as fast as we can and drifting every turn in sight. But i really want to take a stab at drifting on a circuit.

 

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yeah, i must say NASCAR is pretty much a waste of gasoline, actaully i think most car racing is a waste of petrol...

 

I can't say I'm a real fan of Nascar... it dosen't really excite me.

If they threw some Speed Racer stuff in there though like: lava pits, jumps, sharp turns, ect and then I think I'd love it. ;D