What's with the Nascar craze?

[zanana]

Maybe it's me, but I just don't get it. We have a Nascar track near here, and every year the traffic just gets worse. People bring their sleeping bags and arrive three days in advance. I guess they just can't wait. Do people really go to these races to see the fastest drivers or to see the crashes?

[jokerman93]

1. Sign of the Times?

Some things just make sense to real 'Murikans. White trash cultural values

Yeah, I'm making fun, but WWW wrestling and Nascar both have a kind of weird fascist aspect to them somehow.

I guess it's the ancient ideas of vulgar entertainment and statist religion that have always served as fine opiates of the people under totalitarian conditions.

[jayfish]

4. Alright I’ve Had Enough

I’ve kept quiet on several of the NASCAR fan bashing threads but it’s starting to get ridiculous. I’m tired of being equated with white trash, slack jaw, backwater fascists for enjoying NASCAR. Can you point out any aspect of NASCAR that has it’s roots in fascism? If you don’t like NASCAR that’s great. Say what you don’t like about it. If you do that’s great too. Don’t go around denigrating people because they enjoy one particular sport or another!! (AND AUTO RACING IS A SPORT). As for Zanana’s questions: the people who get to the track that early are probably staying on the infield and to get a good spot you need to get there early. It’s also one hell of a party. Staying on the infield at Michigan International Speedway during a NASCAR weekend is one of the best party weekends in the world. And there are all types of people there who come from all economic and social strata.

Jay

[YNGW]

12. Don't Do That

>Yeah, I'm making fun, but WWW wrestling and Nascar both have a kind of weird fascist aspect to them somehow.

Something tells me that spitting in the face of working class people and calling what they enjoy for entertainment "fascist" isn't going to win friends and influence people to our side.

[jokerman93]

32. Didn't intend to offend

I'm just being a cultural gadfly here.

I have allot to say about Britney Spears and Disneyland too, but it isn't personal.

[Le Taz Hot]

35. A clarification

White by birth, trash by choice.

Taz<---Nascar fan

[Bertha Venation]

2. can't answer your question, but I can tell you that

in Southern MD where I live (work in DC) and there are TONS of cars with decals of racers' numbers. Just from seeing them constantly I can tell you: 24 = Jeff Gordon, 8 = Dale Earnhardt, Jr. And of course the ubiquitous "in loving memory" and "forever in our hearts" and huge rear-SUV-window stencils of Dale Earnhardt, Sr.

The race thing baffles me, too, zanana.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

3. if you see a "3" on a car

consider it a Confederate flag.

[jayfish]

5. Gimme A Break.

I'm trying really hard not to get a time-out but the haters are making it difficult. Need everything be equated with political ideology?

Jay

On Edit: Replaced to with with.

[JVS]

7. If someone bats right-handed they are a fascist!

;-)

[jayfish]

9. Damn 2 for 2

Well, I don't have a #3 bumper sticker but I have a lot of other #3 stuff.

Jay

[MrSandman]

36. If they turn right,

they are in the wall

[jedicord]

8. POOP

x( See my earlier post.

You are steretyping Nascar fans just like a good Republican.

Can you say "hypocrit"?

[jedicord]

6. It's Like Baseball, You Need to Know the Strategy

Way back when I was in advertising and one my clients was Exxon (yuk!). I had to watch the race every Sunday to see who won, if an Exxon sponsored car won I had to go make an ad about it.

Took a while, but once you start seeing pit stops (the pit crews are awesome), what happens with different tire set ups, ballsy racers ticking each other off, all that jazz, it does get exciting. Especially when you've picked a racer you like best. I've been watching so long mine is Rusty Wallace (2).

Football is great to a lot of you, but I don't have a team I favor any more since the Broncos grand days of yore, when their quarterback was one of the best. So I don't watch any more, or at least don't pay much attention.

I've only been to one race (Las Vegas), and just went to the track for the race (blackjack is more fun). The 3 day campers go so early because it's one big party party weekend. And trust me, from the race I did go to, there's a lot more than just rednecks at those races.

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was a legend. John Lennon of Nascar, if you will.

Bottom line, don't judge what you don't understand.

[HuckleB]

22. No, it's not like baseball at all.

I'm not bashing racing, but there is no comparison to baseball. I grew up with both, going to games and races, playing baseball and competing in go carts and dirt track in the midwest. My father was a fireman at the Milwaukee track, so we had incredible access. Still, I have no interest in racing, while baseball maintains its place as the number one sport in my life. I see no comparison between the two whatsoever.

Still, enjoy yourself at the races!

[mr_hat]

37. Baseball doesn't have "the call."

[Race4Peace]

10. I do watch the races...

but not just NASCAR, and I don't like the polution that happens in one raceweekend. And acually, NASCAR, known as the redneck sport(racing trucks is true redneckacy, not cars) has become a science. I do have a virtual simulation of NASCAR and do like to race in the game.

[jayfish]

11. I Got Hooked On NASCAR When I Bought...

the 1st "NASCAR Racing" for the PC many moons ago. You really get a feel for the strategery and science of the sport. I also love racing elitists who think that NASCAR is at the bottom of the, driving skill, pecking order. Then they get blown out in IROC and all of the NASCAR road races they try to steal. I think WRC drivers are the most skillful but NASCAR comes in a close second.

Jay

[Kamika]

13. just what is the strategy ?

Im curious just why nascar is so big, to me its just a bunch of cars going in circles

[YNGW]

14. What sport do you like?

I guarantee you that someone looks at it through the eyes of "I don't get it, it's just......."

[Kamika]

18. I don't really like any sport

If I HAVE to, I like football, basket and soccer.


Anyway I wasn't racking down on Nascar I seriously wondered what the tactics was :)

[jayfish]

15. There's Pit Stop,...

fuel mileage(as of late), car setup, drafting partner and just plain driving to name a few. The reason it just looks like cars going around in circles to you is because the car speeds are all relative and NASCAR goes to great pains to try and make the cars as evenly matched as possible. I think a good way to get a better understanding of it all is to pick a driver and watch him race. That way you can get a better idea of what the individual driver goes through rather than a pack of 40 cars.

Jay

[Kamika]

19. What's a drafting partner then

curious

[jayfish]

23. When You Drive Your Car...

it cuts a hole in the air as it moves. The faster you go the larger the hole and the longer it takes to close behind you. Also when you drive, your car is pushing the air in front of it. The object of drafting is to find someone whose car is performing similar to yours and use the hole behind his car to drive at a higher speed than normally possible due to the decreased air pressure. Conversely you use the air that your car is pushing to push the other car forward at a higher rate of speed than is normally possible. When you see cars that are nose to tail, on the larger tracks, that's what they are doing. Pit strategy also plays an important part in this because if you have a particularly good drafting partner you want to make sure that you can pit at the same time. It's also a good opportunity for a double cross. It's a rather simple explanation, but I hope it make sense.

Jay

[Kamika]

24. so like they drive in teams?

one guy geting rid of air for the star driver?

[jayfish]

25. More Like Informal Partnerships.

There is not a lot of real teamwork that goes on. And most drivers are out to win, not cater to the star drivers. NASCAR as an organization maybe but not individual drivers. One of the fun things is to watch a partnership crumble. You use a guy to get to the front and then hang him out to dry.

Jay

[7th_Sephiroth]

33. once again Kamika

we see eye to eye :swoon: :loveya:

[Race4Peace]

20. I got hooked at first

after Dale's wreck at Daytona. I watched the races for the fun of it. At one point in the 2001 season, I thought that Dale Jr. drove the 29. :dunce: I've got NASCAR Racing 4. and NASCAR is science. NASCAR truck racing is true redneckacy.

[elfin]

16. My relatives are into it in a big way

It will be a beautiful day and they sit in a stupor with occasional bursts of excitement ALL DAY LONG. I have tried, but I still do not "get it." By the way - they are also big Dumbya fans.

Other than that, these are not stupid people - I think they like being a part of something totally unrelated to their everyday lives. Also, before retirement were in the car biz, which may count for some of it.

[Aidoneus]

17. It must be very gratifying

to think about how many people were butchered so that so many gallons of gas could be put to no productive use whatsoever.

[jayfish]

31. Not Nearly As Much Gas As Is Used...

sitting at red lights during most peoples two mile long commute. When we get serious about real conservation, give me a ring.

Jay

[Robb]

21. Allow me to illustrate

...using the only programming language I ever learned, BASIC:

10 VROOOOOOOOM
20 WOO HOO!!
30 GOTO 10


:)

This could, of course, be said of most sports. Actually, I could skip the race, and just watch a pit crew competition. That's the most impressive part for me.

[MaineDem]

26. Real race cars turn right AND left!

Give me a sports car course anyday! Or a Formula One course.

I don't get the NASCAR stuff although I've worked at many of their races.

[jayfish]

27. How Come None Of Those Guys Do Any Good...

in IROC or at the NASCAR road course races? BTW, I like all kinds of racing. I don't get F1 though. Every race seems to be a blowout.

Jay

[MaineDem]

29. Because the best ones don't run IROC or NASCAR road courses

:D

Hey, I love racing. I just like to get the roundy-round guys going with sports car talk. I'm just teasing - not arguing.

And it all pales in comparison to rallying!

[jayfish]

30. Same Here. And The WRC Is The Best There Is.

I wish Speedvision would go back to sameday coverage next year. It was great.

Jay

[Race4Peace]

28. all racecars CAN turn right AND left

exept for some rc cars

[BlackVelvetElvis]

34. I live in the heart of NASCAR country and...

still I don't get it. My dad was such a fan (and certainly no white trash redneck) that he prefered to listen to the races on headphones. Eventually, he'd fall asleep! I have two uncles who used to race on short tracks in the 50's and were pretty popular.
I have many friends into NASCAR and when I asked them what the appeal was, most answered "the crashes", others just loved the speed. One of these friends told me about a time he attended a race and sat next to this guy who got so drunk (you can bring your cooler to the race) off beer that he fell asleep, puked on himself and woke up in time to cheer the winner. That alone would keep me away.

[KFC]

38. Tittie Flashing in the Infield

People will go to great lenghts to see tits.

[absyntheNsugar]

39. People camp out for

...rock concerts, movies, new housing developments in the "Right" neighborhood...

why is camping out for NASCAR any different?

My only beef with NASCAR is that the one time I went I got sunburned all over and it hurt!

ON EDIT: The time I did watch a race, I wanted to be behind the wheel pretty bad...

[alwynsw]

40. Good ol' boys turning left,really fast, for a couple of hours

doesn't do it for me. I wouldn't mind if they were still runnin' shine as their predecessors were (some still do - run shine, that is - No. Not the HASCAR drivers.)

[ThoughtCriminal]

41. This sophisticated liberal

prefers a purer forms of automotive competition - Figure-8 racing and demolition derbys. Driving in circles is boring.

[TheMightyFavog]

42. American LeMans is where it's at!

It's like watching four races at once with all the different classes going! Besides, I'd rather be behind the wheel of a Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette, or Jaguar than behind the wheel of a Chevy Monte Carlo.

[toddzilla]

43. i race r/c cars on the weekends..

and i have to tell you that oval racing is the most boring, ridiculously stupid type of racing i have tried. i entered oval once when a bunch of us did a road trip to another track, i was bored shitless after the first heat race. there's just nothing frigging going on. I'm not saying it doesn't take skill, i'm just saying it's incredibly repetitive and just doesn't do it for me. give me a good on-road course or a wicked off-road course with massive jumps anyday. Driving in circles for 8 minutes...? i'll pass thanks.