NASCAR

AKBill

AKBill

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AKBill
So who out there enjoys NASCAR? The 2020 season is about to start. Daytona kicks it off. Who is going to win the first race?

I would like to see Chase Elliot win. Use to follow his dad Bill in the 80's. He was a good driver, and most of the fans liked him.

I'll be RV camping at LVMS for the second race of the year. Any POA members going to the race are welcome at our campsite.
 
Leslie and I went to the Bass Pro Shop this morning. We forgot that Speed Weeks has already kicked off right across the street at Daytona International Speedway. As the crescendo builds we will be hearing more and more of it from our house, about 3 miles away. I love having it in town here, but I never really got into it.
 
Haven't followed NASCAR since all my money started going into airplanes instead of fast cars.

But one of my staff and his wife are at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona right now. :thumbsup:
 
GRG55 said:
Haven't followed NASCAR since all my money started going into airplanes instead of fast cars.

But one of my staff and his wife are at the NHRA Winternationals at Pomona right now. :thumbsup:
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I raced clay track 1/4 and 1/2 mile tracks years ago.

My plane took over instead of the racing, but I still enjoy watching the sport.
 
AKBill said:
I raced clay track 1/4 and 1/2 mile tracks years ago.

My plane took over instead of the racing, but I still enjoy watching the sport.
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I work with a bunch of petrolheads. My partner in Tulsa was heavily involved in sprint car racing. Currently he has a nephew driving midget cars, and by coincidence I happened to be in Tulsa last month during Chili Bowl for the second year in a row. What a great time!

All I could afford to do was some gymkhana racing when I was an engineering student. I built up a heavily modified, very competitive 1972 Datsun Z with parts from Pete Brock's BRE and Dolf van Kesteren's F.A.R. Performance shop in Mountain View plus some "secret sauce" suspension bits my oldest brother and I machined on his lathe. It was my daily driver - break it campaigning on Saturday, fix it on Sunday, drive it to engineering school classes during the week, rinse and repeat the next weekend. This was back in the day when Walter Mass, John Morton, Bob Sharp, Paul Newman (yes, that Paul Newman) and other drivers in their Datsuns were cleaning up in SCCA. Car was originally moss green before I did the paint and pin stripe work on it.

Then I earned my PPL in 1974 and gradually planes took over from cars for me too...


GRG's 1972 240Z .JPG
 
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I watched NASCAR as a kid, but unfortunately it has changed so much that it's not the same. You had to be there to understand from whence they came. Back then the cars they raced were cars you could actually buy (want a Hemi Plymouth? Just give us the money...) and not just a canvas for sponsor decals. Now it's just clone cars that have to measured with a body template to make sure they're all the same. It really sucks today compared to yesterday. Now would you kindly GET OFF MY LAWN!!!
 
have very little interest in nascar (meaning none). but I stopped by the hangar today at NASCAR International airport and saw all the parking lots were full so I kind of assumed the season started again.
 
GRG55 said:
I work with a bunch of petrolheads. My partner in Tulsa was heavily involved in sprint car racing. Currently he has a nephew driving midget cars, and by coincidence I happened to be in Tulsa last month during Chili Bowl for the second year in a row. What a great time!

All I could afford to do was some gymkhana racing when I was an engineering student. I built up a heavily modified, very competitive 1972 Datsun Z with parts from Pete Brock's BRE and Dolf van Kesteren's F.A.R. Performance shop in Mountain View plus some "secret sauce" suspension bits my oldest brother and I machined on his lathe. It was my daily driver - break it campaigning on Saturday, fix it on Sunday, drive it to engineering school classes during the week, rinse and repeat the next weekend. This was back in the day when Walter Mass, John Morton, Bob Sharp, Paul Newman (yes, that Paul Newman) and other drivers in their Datsuns were cleaning up in SCCA. Car was originally moss green before I did the paint and pin stripe work on it.

Then I earned my PPL in 1974 and gradually planes took over from cars for me too...


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Chili Bowl is a blast. We didn’t attend this year but have been in previous years. We usually catch a few sprint races in the area each year. Watching the Outlaws run at the Salina High Banks Speedway is always fun, but even the midgets can be a good time.

Gotta love the Z cars. I’d love to rebuild a 240 some day, but maybe put an RB26 in it. I’ve had an ‘88 300ZX and a ‘95 300ZX, but were fun sport tourers.
 
I'm a Hendricks fan. My man was Jeff Gordon when he raced, so go figure Jimmy Johnson, Chase Elliott.
 
Brad Smith said:
I watched NASCAR as a kid, but unfortunately it has changed so much that it's not the same. You had to be there to understand from whence they came. Back then the cars they raced were cars you could actually buy (want a Hemi Plymouth? Just give us the money...) and not just a canvas for sponsor decals. Now it's just clone cars that have to measured with a body template to make sure they're all the same. It really sucks today compared to yesterday. Now would you kindly GET OFF MY LAWN!!!
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Back in the day, there were real personalities in the sport, guys who actually owned, worked on, and drove their own cars. Now, the drivers drive, the sponsors dictate everything, and the big shops build a lot of customer engines. The sport has moved on from the days of when a couple of smart guys could buy a car, convert it to a race car, and have a shot to do something at a race. I won't say it is a faceless sport today, but it is a way different sport than it was 30 years ago, and the core NASCAR fan has lost interest. I'm not sure NASCAR can survive without the "little guy" and all of the hardcore fans who dreamed of being that guy...
 
kyleb said:
I won't say it is a faceless sport today, but it is a way different sport than it was 30 years ago, and the core NASCAR fan has lost interest
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I can see your point and agree it's not the same sport as it was 30 years ago. Going to the race, RV camping with friends for a few days, is something my wife and I enjoy together. It's a nice social event for us.
 
Was a big fan, loosing interest since they went to cookie cutter cars. It's strange that a team can change car brands and then say the car they are running is the same car that won a race the previous year. All they did was change the stickers. I still check occasionally to see how that college kid Ryan Newman is doing.
 
There is a Netflix thingy on Willie T. Ribbs and how he "almost" got into NASCAR but the rednecks forced him out.
 
kyleb said:
Back in the day, there were real personalities in the sport, guys who actually owned, worked on, and drove their own cars. Now, the drivers drive, the sponsors dictate everything, and the big shops build a lot of customer engines. The sport has moved on from the days of when a couple of smart guys could buy a car, convert it to a race car, and have a shot to do something at a race. I won't say it is a faceless sport today, but it is a way different sport than it was 30 years ago, and the core NASCAR fan has lost interest. I'm not sure NASCAR can survive without the "little guy" and all of the hardcore fans who dreamed of being that guy...
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Actually, the drivers are employees of the sponsors and get paid a lot of money for their primary job of endorsing products. And it didn't start recently. Who knows how much money Andy Granatelli paid Richard Petty over the years. Driving is now the secondary job of racers. Can't risk them getting dirty nails by working on the car.

I used to spend a month in Florida during speedweeks. I have been in every race at Daytona (as pit crew) except the 500. The couple times we had a entry in the 500 we didn't qualify.

What is hurting NASCAR these days is not the fault of NASCAR. One of the biggest expenses for the fan is hotels. Try getting a hotel room within a days drive of any track on a NASCAR weekend. If one can be found for less that $500/night then something is very wrong with that room. The redneck crowd can't afford that so they don't go to the races anymore.

Infield camping sounds better all the time.
 
Here is a form of racing that the fans actually enjoy (and can afford to watch.) It's quite the opposite of today's NASCAR.
 
Zeldman said:
Actually, the drivers are employees of the sponsors and get paid a lot of money for their primary job of endorsing products. And it didn't start recently. Who knows how much money Andy Granatelli paid Richard Petty over the years. Driving is now the secondary job of racers. Can't risk them getting dirty nails by working on the car.

<snip>

Infield camping sounds better all the time.
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Your first paragraph is exactly the problem with NASCAR. The drivers are more invested in marketing and "their brand" than when the drivers were an integral part of the team as owners, wrenchers, and drivers.

Infield camping can be a hoot. One year it was extremely cold and we were infield camping at the Daytona 24. We walked over to the Wal-mart near the track and cleaned out the last of their winter gear. I found a "tweety bird" toboggan and mittens (Children's size) plus a pair burgundy colored sweats, and was very happy to find (and wear) that stuff over what I'd brought. Not a good look, but it was cold. Anyway, the guys camping beside us had a roaring fire.

Which was why I could see the sky when I woke up in the morning. Embers from their fire burned holes through my tent overnight...
 
Not a big NASCAR fan; I'd much rather watch the SCCA Run Offs. I'm a road racer/autocrosser at heart... competed in an ITA first-gen RX-7 in SCCA for a couple seasons, and raced against the clock in parking-lot cone course in Miatas, MR2 Spyder, Porsche 914 & 944S2, C6 Vette, etc. Track days at Big & Small Willows, Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca, Auto Club Speedway, etc. Did the inaugural 25-hour enduro at ThunderHill in an NB Miata.

But...

I saw one NASCAR race in person, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontucky, CA. :) Brought the girlfriend and her son. And the sheer percussive **thunder** of the pack taking the green flag was something I won't soon forget.

I can see why people dig it.

Here's the MR2 at a Camarillo autocross a decade ago, held on the extended threshold of the runway. That's pre-grid; I was pitting under the wing of the Connie in the background. Gotta love Enkei RPF1s!

IMG_0140.JPG
 
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Dave Theisen said:
Is it really a sport? (Ducking and walking away). :)
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"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."
- Ernest Hemingway

Timbeck2 said:
There is a Netflix thingy on Willie T. Ribbs and how he "almost" got into NASCAR but the rednecks forced him out.
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Willy always had a rather high opinion of himself. I saw him race in the Trans-Am series, where he won 17 times, he and Scott Pruett used to get after each other and it was a lot of fun to watch. Willy could get a Trans-Am car around the track quite well. The skills needed to win in a road racing car does not necessarily translate into NASCAR success, and those few starts he made in NASCAR series didn't show any signs that he was going to be a quick study there. That, plus being an outspoken black man from a road racing background conspired against him getting a good look from NASCAR teams. If he'd come up thorough the short ovals he'd have had a better chance in NASCAR. As it was he had a very successful career as a sports car racer, and I hear he can handle a shotgun quite well, shooting sporting clays.
 
FormerHangie said:
Willy always had a rather high opinion of himself. I saw him race in the Trans-Am series, where he won 17 times, he and Scott Pruett used to get after each other and it was a lot of fun to watch. Willy could get a Trans-Am car around the track quite well. The skills needed to win in a road racing car does not necessarily translate into NASCAR success, and those few starts he made in NASCAR series didn't show any signs that he was going to be a quick study there. That, plus being an outspoken black man from a road racing background conspired against him getting a good look from NASCAR teams. If he'd come up thorough the short ovals he'd have had a better chance in NASCAR. As it was he had a very successful career as a sports car racer, and I hear he can handle a shotgun quite well, shooting sporting clays.
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It was said that Willie T. Ribbs worst enemy in NASCAR was Willie T. Ribbs.
 
FormerHangie said:
There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."
- Ernest Hemingway
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Strange quote from Hemingway since he was very passionate about boxing and didn’t include it as a sport.
 
kyleb said:
Back in the day, there were real personalities in the sport, guys who actually owned, worked on, and drove their own cars. Now, the drivers drive, the sponsors dictate everything, and the big shops build a lot of customer engines. The sport has moved on from the days of when a couple of smart guys could buy a car, convert it to a race car, and have a shot to do something at a race. I won't say it is a faceless sport today, but it is a way different sport than it was 30 years ago, and the core NASCAR fan has lost interest. I'm not sure NASCAR can survive without the "little guy" and all of the hardcore fans who dreamed of being that guy...
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NASCAR turned itself into the IROC-series. Every car is essentially the same, just different drivers. While it's interesting from a "who is the better driver" standpoint, it all but eliminates any differences in crew competency, chassis choice, and engine builds (especially with restrictor plate racing). I liked it better when you could tell if it was a Taurus or Monte Carlo at a quick glance.
 
Zeldman said:
It was said that Willie T. Ribbs worst enemy in NASCAR was Willie T. Ribbs.
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There isn't any real compelling reason for NASCAR teams to look at drivers from a road racing background, the history shows that they don't generally do that well. The gold standard here is Juan Pablo Montoya. He won in Indycar, he won in Formula 1, but when he got to NASCAR, he did win two races but both were road courses. The skills just don't seem to transfer.

It's not that road racers can't drive ovals, the first Indy 50 that JPM raced in he won, and going back further Nigel Mansell did very well in Indycar, he won on four ovals his first year. For some reason the skills don't transfer to NASCAR.
 
AKBill said:
So who out there enjoys NASCAR? The 2020 season is about to start. Daytona kicks it off. Who is going to win the first race?

I would like to see Chase Elliot win. Use to follow his dad Bill in the 80's. He was a good driver, and most of the fans liked him.

I'll be RV camping at LVMS for the second race of the year. Any POA members going to the race are welcome at our campsite.
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I watch it for the carnage; the more recent contrivances to make racing 'fair' annoy me. Otherwise, I like F1 and NHRA as regular items.
I did watch the Busch CrashClash yesterday.
 
Some of my family and quite a few of the people I grew up with all got into NASCAR. I just never did. I met Bill Elliott once at a Ford dealership, and just a few months later went to a race in Charlotte (All Pro Parts 400, I think it was called) with a friend of mine. I was pulling for Bill, but he was having mechanical problems that day and did not do very well. And while I enjoyed that race, it wasn't exciting enough for me to really get into it.

My dad and his brother were pretty big David Pearson fans when I was a little kid. But I think they kind of lost interest after Pearson retired.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
I watch it for the carnage; the more recent contrivances to make racing 'fair' annoy me. Otherwise, I like F1 and NHRA as regular items.
I did watch the Busch CrashClash yesterday.
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If you like crashing, that was a good one. I hate yellow flags and anything else that interrupts the racing. The Busch Crashfest had 18 cars, was supposed to go 75 laps, and had five cautions. What was that, like one ever eight or nine minutes? Two weeks ago, the Rolex 24 had 38 cars and six yellows spread over 833 laps. The longest stretch of green flag racing was around seven hours.
 
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