If automakers get a bailout, should NASCAR die?

[MadCat360]

and tbh I'd love to see it replaced with some american touring cars.

We need an FIA ATCC or USTCC (NASA runs an amateur USTCC). Or a professional-level Trans Am. The problem I see with an A/USTCC is the lack of performance saloons made by American companies. It would have less domestic involvement.

But a modern Trans Am would be swell. We got the new Camaro, the new Challenger, the new Mustang, the Viper, the GT, the Corvette... there could be 2 classes, and it would be great racing I bet.

 

[ViperVX]

I quite like Nascar, started watching it a year ago. It's a bit like baseball, good when there's action, boring when there's no action. Overall it's nice to see drivers compete on almost identical cars and so on.

Also it's quite cheap. I've read a few articles about Nascar, also there's a sorta nascar car review on Jay Leno's website, basically, ready to race it costs 250.000$ for a car, plus a trailer for tools (also a tower for crewcheif) and 20-40 mechanics.

Only thing that bugs me is commercials, but you can tune in to ITV and ABR (german one), and there's almost no commercials at all, with original english commentary, with only commercial gaps filled by channel's own commentators.

Provlem with conventional non-oval racetracks, there's much less action, therefore much less attendance from fans and worse TV ratings, as it's much harder to overtake with their almost basic cars. If you look and Indy or Daytona, or even smaller one like Darlington, there's sitting room for 100k+ fans, which is good even for most F1 races, and it get's good TV ratings. The first qarter of the season on Fox gets about 13-17/21, 7-9 in the demo, depending on race start time, which is increadably good for 3hour mid-day (3-4-5-6pm) slot, and it still will be good for any primetime slot.

Basically it's cheap, entertaining and very profitable sport, with 36 (or 40 if you count all-star, and shows) races, 2-4 hrs each.

 

[NooDle]

weeeeelll... i'll say no.

Aside from the fact if it's hard to do or not, I think it's a cool sport.
America needs this sort of racing.
If they kill it, they need another series like touring car racing

 

[Donington]

Should Nascar die?

Is that a rhetorical question?

 

[Karoug]

It can be on road courses. But they only do what, 3 roads every year?

Perhaps they should make it more like this:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6QvcxEEe1E&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

I quite like the Speedcar series.

Pay special attention at roughly 0:50 into that clip... You don't see THAT in F1! :lol:
It's a shame that it was Stefan Johansson that was flipped..

 

[Dogbert]

I think Baseball is fun to play, but watching it? As a spectator sport? Fuck no. Boring as shit.

Careful now.


I would be curious how much money NASCAR brings in to the Big Three. I mean seriously, have you seen NASCAR fans and how much shit they buy? Also, while we civilized people think it's a completely retarded notion, I'm sure it does help car sales; I've seen quite a few "good ol' boy" trucks sporting stickers clearly supporting that make in NASCAR.

I'm sure being in NASCAR leaves some red ink, but I'm curious as to how much of a loss it really is.

 

[smib]

Careful now.


I would be curious how much money NASCAR brings in to the Big Three. I mean seriously, have you seen NASCAR fans and how much shit they buy? Also, while we civilized people think it's a completely retarded notion, I'm sure it does help car sales; I've seen quite a few "good ol' boy" trucks sporting stickers clearly supporting that make in NASCAR.

I'm sure being in NASCAR leaves some red ink, but I'm curious as to how much of a loss it really is.

There is or was a Dale Earnhardt(holy shit, 'Earnhardt' is part of my spellcheck dictionary by default) Jr Monte Carlo, and I know at least one person bought it. I laughed at him.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

Guys, I was kidding with my "how hard can it be" comment. Nevertheless, I do believe that Formula 1 or WRC are much more diffuclut sports than Nascar.

I can't even count how many articles I've read and interviews with open-wheel drivers who descripe how difficult NASCAR-type racing is. "Imagine the car you're driving doubles in weight, looses half it's grip, and had the same power."

Quoting "Days of Thunder", are we?

 

[Dogbert]

There's actually one for both Earnhardt's; the "Intimidator" Monte Carlo SS for Sr, and the "Signature Series" Monte Carlo SS for Jr. I've seen more than one of the Intimidator trim on the road.

Also, I could care less if NASCAR stays or goes. Even living in the midwest, it's not pervasive enough in my life for me to give two fucks either way. I do love rednecks that get their shit ruined, but NASCAR is what keeps them glued to a TV instead of breeding.

 

[Lupin_IV]

The majority of funding the manufacturers put toward NASCAR counts as advertisement, and, since the introduction of the new car, the only development is in the engine department, which carries over to products made available to the public through their performance parts divisions.

There is or was a Dale Earnhardt(holy shit, 'Earnhardt' is part of my spellcheck dictionary by default) Jr Monte Carlo, and I know at least one person bought it. I laughed at him.

There's actually one for both Earnhardt's; the "Intimidator" Monte Carlo SS for Sr, and the "Signature Series" Monte Carlo SS for Jr. I've seen more than one of the Intimidator trim on the road.

They recently came out with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson editions of the Monte Carlo SS Signature Series as well.

 

[Nabster]

It would be great if NASCAR would go back to using modified road cars like they did until the 70's (Chargers, Camaros, Roadrunners, etc.)

It's funny whan you watch NASCAR do a technical circuit with left and right shock2 turns. Everyone spinning out and such. Half of the teams use different drivers cause the regular guys can't do it.

Usually it was the other way around back then. You built the race car first, if it was good you then toned it down some and made the required 500 or so road versions. So essentially the street versions were modified racing cars, not the other way round.

 

[klutch]

NASCAR is pretty lame to watch on TV...but trust me, once you've been to a race in person, with 300,000 other people in the stands and unmuffled big-block engines ripping around at 190 mph 'rubbing' each other...you'll be pretty impressed.

 

[freeferrarisdonotexist]

Yes. Doesn't promote the cars. Wastes tons of petrol. Requires little skill (Turn left...left...left...) and is held in fandom by a bunch of rednecks who probably think turning left is difficult.

 

[NecroJoe]

Quoting "Days of Thunder", are we?

*laughs* I can honestly say I've never seen that movie. It was in...I think Road and track a couple of months ago, a paraphrased quote from an F1 driver.

 

[BlaRo]

NASCAR shouldn't die; it's one of the purest forms of racing there is. Say what you will but nothing equalizes a driver's skill better than everybody driving the same spec car in a circle at up to 200mph. The challenge lies not in mastering the advantages of a car or the repetition of the track, but trying to use those limitations in getting to first place. People who think "DERRR IT'S FUR REDNECKZ" clearly don't give it enough credit.

That said, I think the millions of dollars the Big 2.5 are pouring into the sport are asinine. I'd like to envision something more along the lines of V8 Supercars or the BTCC, or even America's long-standing tradition of Trans-Am: actually stock cars. Now that we have the Mustang, the Challenger, and the Camaro, the exposure that the cars will get when they're actually close to what you can buy in a showroom would be immense. You'd still get the beer sponsorships, the merchandising, the hokey-assed Earnhardt Jr. edition Camaros (that man whore will sell anything ), but with the added bonus of cars that are actually slightly relevant. Hyundai and Nissan could even get in the act with the Genesis Coupe and the 370Z (if they don't get BUY AMERICAN scrawled on them by pissed-off UAW workers first).

Then again, this sort of thing would make too much sense for the France family to implement.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

*laughs* I can honestly say I've never seen that movie. It was in...I think Road and track a couple of months ago, a paraphrased quote from an F1 driver.

Wow! I swear it's straight from Days of Thunder!

 

[GRtak]

Just ask the CART guys that have competed in the IROC series how "easy" it is.

NASCAR is not directly sponsered by any of the big 3, although they do sponser specific races and tracks, cars and various events. The void that is left by the big 3 will be filled by other sponsers, but I believe they get a lot of bang for their buck by advertising there.

by Nabster

Usually it was the other way around back then. You built the race car first, if it was good you then toned it down some and made the required 500 or so road versions. So essentially the street versions were modified racing cars, not the other way round.

Umm,.... no. The Superbird is a Roadrunner with some add-ons. They were all street cars that were heavily modified to improve aredynamics and handling. And according to Wikipedia, the rule was changes from 500 cars sold to the public, to 1 for every 2 dealers that the manufacturer had in the U.S. for 1970. Also, the Camaro was only used for the IROC races.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Superbird

 

[Nabster]

Umm,.... no. The Superbird is a Roadrunner with some add-ons. They were all street cars that were heavily modified to improve aredynamics and handling. And according to Wikipedia, the rule was changes from 500 cars sold to the public, to 1 for every 2 dealers that the manufacturer had in the U.S. for 1970. Also, the Camaro was only used for the IROC races.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Superbird

The Superbird yes, but before 1970 though (like I said about your original post) they were typically racing cars first, later detuned for street cars. The rule was changed in part because the manufacturers were doing as few street cars as they could.

 

[Arctor]

It would be great if NASCAR would go back to using modified road cars like they did until the 70's (Chargers, Camaros, Roadrunners, etc.)

It's funny whan you watch NASCAR do a technical circuit with left and right shock2 turns. Everyone spinning out and such. Half of the teams use different drivers cause the regular guys can't do it.

On the first part, the road cars were all homologation specials designed specifically for use in NASCAR. It became less and less viable as US legislation regarding emissions and safety came about so they decoupled it from requiring a road car. Mostly because it was very difficult to make an everyday roadgoing sedan safe at 180-220mph.

Actually a fair amount of the drivers who are in NASCAR now have backgrounds in series other than oval racing. Generally most of the accidents stem from 43 identically spec'd cars running around the track at the same time. Also only a handful of teams use road course specialists these days, what you are saying hasn't been true for some time.

 

[Steve Levin]

Why would anyone want to end one of the most effective channels for brand loyalty for US advertising?

We want GM, et al, to succeed. That requires ongoing marketing.

Steve