Nascar

[OwenM]

I don't think you qualify then, Cindy. Nothing wrong with traveling as fast as traffic allows. Fast driving isn't necessarily bad driving, and speed doesn't kill, inconsiderate and incompetent drivers do.
One of the big causes of accidents around here is slower drivers cutting into faster moving lanes, and traffic trying to get around them. Not only stupid, inconsiderate, and unsafe, but illegal-in my state, the slow driver moving into the left lane and blocking up traffic is eligible for three or four tickets, depending on the situation, though law enforcement rarely seems to enforce these particular laws.

oh, and to keep this from being totally off-topic:
I'm pretty sure most of those pokers have NASCAR stickers on their cars

 

[Bronco]

To no one's surprise, I just don't get NASCAR.

Round and round and round they go.

Fair enough. But I think much of the excitement of NASCAR lies in the fact that at the end of a race you typically have 25 or more cars still on the lead lap. I realize the circuits are somewhat longer in many other racing series, but c'mon; I can still remember seeing the leader in an F1 race come in for a pit stop, get serviced, and return to the track without losing his lead. That's just ridiculous.

 

[Cindy Denning]

People that have too much sense for one person don't have enough sense for two . Hey Uncle Alan, you have to realize the people that don't like Nascar are "girley men" like that California Govenor says. The whole point of the game is to watch the race with friends and buddies, grills got some vittles on it, ice cold beer is available and always another in wait. Boiled p-nuts too. Heck, it's a second religion in the south. That's why we stay down here even if hurricanes are coming...we caint leave our buddies or our races. What in the world can top a day like race days?

 

[uncle Alan]

People that have too much sense for one person don't have enough sense for two . Hey Uncle Alan, you have to realize the people that don't like Nascar are "girley men" like that California Govenor says. The whole point of the game is to watch the race with friends and buddies, grills got some vittles on it, ice cold beer is available and always another in wait. Boiled p-nuts too. Heck, it's a second religion in the south. That's why we stay down here even if hurricanes are coming...we caint leave our buddies or our races. What in the world can top a day like race days?

For starters,how about a repeat of last week's finish? Like the beer commercial," It doesn't get any better than this" ! I see Stewart [ Dale wannabe ] getting his act together & soon,I imagine,will get more wins. Like a lot of short-tempered folks,he is a slow learner. Love to hear pretty boy whine,don't you ?


Yeah,we Southerners are a different breed .



Scoff & sneer all you want but we are what we are & unflinchingly proud.


Uncle Alan

 

[MadDaddy]

Fair enough. But I think much of the excitement of NASCAR lies in the fact that at the end of a race you typically have 25 or more cars still on the lead lap. I realize the circuits are somewhat longer in many other racing series, but c'mon; I can still remember seeing the leader in an F1 race come in for a pit stop, get serviced, and return to the track without losing his lead. That's just ridiculous.

Well F1 races are considered a "sprint" type of race over what I would consider moe towards the "endurance" type of race that NASCAR falls under. A race in F1 is usually only 1 and a half to 2 hours tops, so they have very quick pits stops 8 seconds is the norm and if the leader has built up enough of a gap back to second place is pretty easy to keep the lead, this usually only happens on the second or third stop, depending on the track.

 

[mycroftt]

For starters,how about a repeat of last week's finish? Like the beer commercial," It doesn't get any better than this" ! I see Stewart [ Dale wannabe ] getting his act together & soon,I imagine,will get more wins. Like a lot of short-tempered folks,he is a slow learner. Love to hear pretty boy whine,don't you ? Uncle Alan

I haven't heard much whining from pretty boy at all - only statements that he is embarassed to be running in the back of the pack (where drivers like Petty, Earnhardt, Marlin, Schrader...can usually be found). Don't forget that he already has 3 wins this year (along with his numerous 30+ finishes and DNF's) and is very likely to collect at least another.

Great race by Earnhardt last week - constantly improving his track position, dialing in his set-up, great pit strategy at the end - a classic! I'm not an Earnhardt fan (Sr. or Jr.) but it was great to watch him win it.

 

[MadDaddy]

I do enjoy most all forms of auto racing, but personally I prefer F1, World Rally Championship and Le Mans type of racing, probably because I enjoy the technology of those cars and the limits they push them to almost as much as the racing itself.

 

[Cindy Denning]

A younger Jeff Gordon and The Intimidator himself. Pass the kleenex Uncle Alan

 

[Cougar Allen]

I am just a Red Sox fan and don't know anything about NASCAR. Today's Moderately Confused from www.comics.com asks an interesting question:

So, explain it to a poor ignorant Northerner, why should I pay good money to go to a race track instead of watching the traffic on Interstate 91 for free?

 

[DaveH]

The cars are purty colors.

The drivers wives are hot.

You can sit on the couch and drink beer for sevral hours and it 's a "legitimate" activity. (EG: wife doesn't tell you to get off your ass and mow the lawn)

 

[MadDaddy]

The drivers wives are hot.

want to see hot wifes and girlfriends...watch a F1 race... WOW.

Also on a side note...F1 driver are some of the highest paid "atheletes" in the world, some of the top drivers get close to 2 mil a race, and when the current 7 time World Champ Michael Schumacher finally retires it's estimated he will have made a Billion during his carrer with all the various endorsments and all that kind of stuff...I wish i could get paid gobs of money to do something I loved...

 

[FullerH]

Fair enough. But I think much of the excitement of NASCAR lies in the fact that at the end of a race you typically have 25 or more cars still on the lead lap. I realize the circuits are somewhat longer in many other racing series, but c'mon; I can still remember seeing the leader in an F1 race come in for a pit stop, get serviced, and return to the track without losing his lead. That's just ridiculous.

Bronco, it is by no means always that way. The domination of Michael Schumacher and of Ferrari up until this year has been quite rare in F-1 history. It has more often been a dogfight for the championship right up to the last couple of races in the season and any race could be won by any of 4 or 5 people.

 

[mycroftt]

So, explain it to a poor ignorant Northerner, why should I pay good money to go to a race track instead of watching the traffic on Interstate 91 for free?

Well, I-91 runs straight north-south. It doesn't go in a circle. Who wants to watch cars going straight?

 

[MadDaddy]

Bronco, it is by no means always that way. The domination of Michael Schumacher and of Ferrari up until this year has been quite rare in F-1 history. It has more often been a dogfight for the championship right up to the last couple of races in the season and any race could be won by any of 4 or 5 people.

Thank the race gods that Ferrari's dominance finally seems to have come to an end, the last 6 years have been a snore fest for the sport, now hopefully the next few seasons will be as exciting, unless the FIA does something stupid with the rules yet again...not sure I am going to like the tiny 2.5 liter V8's they are going to next year, I am going to miss the wailing 19,000 RPM of the 3.5 V10's...oh well thats progress

 

[MadDaddy]

Well, I-91 runs straight north-south. It doesn't go in a circle. Who wants to watch cars going straight?

Drags Race fans

 

[FullerH]

Thank the race gods that Ferrari's dominance finally seems to have come to an end, the last 6 years have been a snore fest for the sport, now hopefully the next few seasons will be as exciting, unless the FIA does something stupid with the rules yet again...not sure I am going to like the tiny 2.5 liter V8's they are going to next year, I am going to miss the wailing 19,000 RPM of the 3.5 V10's...oh well thats progress

Some of the closest racing in memory was in the early 1960s when the formula was 1.5 liters. The engines were the Coventry-Climax V-8 and the BRM V-8 versus Ferrari's various V-6s, V-8s, & V-12's. Then, in 1964, there was the Honda V-12 turning up the unheard of 12,000 rpm. I was at Watkins Glen and you could hear the car's high pitched shriek all around the course.

In 1961, the championship race was between Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, both drivers for Ferrari. It came down to the final race, the italian Grand Prix at Monza and they used the high banking. It was happened just as it was portrayed in the film, "Grand Prix". Von Trips went off the banking and was killed, leaving the Championship to Hill. The next year, 1962, the race was between Jim Clark in the Lotus 25-Climax and Graham Hill in the BRM. It went down to the final race at Kyalami in South Africa in December of 1962. Clark fell out of the race when a $0.50 bolt fell out of his engine, allowing all of the oil to run out, giving the Championship to Graham Hill.

 

[Cindy Denning]

We are just born with the Nascar gene, get to "know" these drivers and there is just a commraderee with it. You go in to a Chinese resturant to eat on a Sunday...they will have the race on their tv for you.

this is a batch of boiled p-nuts and they are good. This is a trick question but do you know how to eat them? You do have to unshell them and I have some Northern friends that well...just didn't know that but I was just kidding about the girley man thing Cougar, since it's you.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

Rat,
If you want to talk semantics, you are just as guilty as I. Your very first post was 'NASCAR is the least interesting of all the racing' followed by the puking smiley. You didn't qualify it by adding IMO or the like.
You then proceeded to follow up by stating every NASCAR stereo type there is...people go to see the wrecks etc. I'll give you credit for at least qualifying those w/ IMHO.
I don't want to get into a pissing match, but those were surely thinly veiled digs and you are a good 'bait and switcher'. Again, IMHO, of course.
The reason you see all the regulation is that they are trying keep the 'spirit' of the moniker 'stock car' racing. They don't allow every souped up, concept engine or new fangled idea to be placed in/on the cars in order to keep the series from becoming a Formua 1. The costs to field a Cup or Busch team are already astronomical as it is...an you imagine if they opened it up to be a technology race?
They even took away Pettys Superbird because he kept lapping the field.
The equal playing field allows the true determining factor to be the driver...at least in theory. Either that or whoever has the most ingenious...read: sneaky...mechanic or crew chief
Sure, there really isn't much stock about a NASCAR stock car, but the fans still can identify with Taurus, Monte Carlo, Charger etc. Not necessarily so with a tricked out fin covered F1 or Indy car macine. Also, there is no computer controlled driving i.e traction control etc..Each manufacturer still uses their own variation of engine. Yes there are parameters they must follow, but it's up to the engineers to tweak it to better than the next guys w/in those parameters. And shoot, they still run with carburators.
Heck, I like all types of racing and take each for what they are. If it goes fast, I like to watch it...cars, trucks, bikes, horses, dogs...I just happen to like NASCAR best. What those guys do with those cars under racing conditions is to me, absolutely incredible.

Of course it is "IMO"- anything anyone says is an opinion, be it their own or someone elses- especially concerning subjective analysis of a spectator sport.
Sorry if I started rambling around- I started with my knee-jerk reaction, and afterward I started thinking about it more. Nascar never will be a big deal to me, but that shouldnt cheapen your experience whatsoever. Just because I would prefer watching even bicycle racing or golf to nascar (wouldnt watch those either, though) That doesnt express anything but an opinion. See- now I am rambling again. I wasnt trying to have a pissing contest or anything, I was just expressing my opinion.

As to "nascar stereotypes"- I dont know what those might be- I mentioned people wanting to go to see the crashes- that isnt a stereotype, or if it is, it is one that the NASCAR promoters actively maintain and support.

 

[uncle Alan]

We are just born with the Nascar gene, get to "know" these drivers and there is just a commraderee with it. You go in to a Chinese resturant to eat on a Sunday...they will have the race on their tv for you.

this is a batch of boiled p-nuts and they are good. This is a trick question but do you know how to eat them? You do have to unshell them and I have some Northern friends that well...just didn't know that but I was just kidding about the girley man thing Cougar, since it's you.

Lady,I'm salivating after reading about your track festivities.I'm going to Wilmington,N.C. in late October for a class reunion. Didn't graduate with them 'cause I left at the first half of my senior year to join up for the Korean war. The class always jokes about me having the eqwuivalent---I was in grammar school for 12 years !
Good bar-b-que & collards & hush puppies.....YUM-YUM !


Uncle Alan

 

[Cougar Allen]

I think I'm starting to get the idea ...

I should go to the rotary off Rt. 91 in Greenfield so I can see the cars go around in circles.

I should only watch the drivers who have hot wives.

I should fill up balloons with paint and throw them at the cars so they'll be more colorful.

I should bring a cooler full of beer and set up my grill in the middle of the rotary and grill some vittles -- and boil peanuts?

I think I know how to do all that except Cavelady asked me if I know how to eat boiled peanuts so there must be some trick to it. All we have here are roasted peanuts. Do you boil them still in the shell? Then what do you do with them? Should I put a kettle on the grill so I can have fresh-boiled peanuts or should I boil them up in advance and bring them already cooked?