Will Bush have a enough courage to ask Nascar to do their part and

[cantstandbush]

stop racing for a couple of years?

[laruemtt]

1. excellent point. but

i wouldn't hold my breath... :mad:

[Elwood P Dowd]

30. Self delete

<nm>

[mdmc]

2. nah.

nascar is a vehicle to help the auto industry. At best, they could make their race engines more efficient.

[KansDem]

18. Make the solar-powered engines!

Really, NASCAR could get big-time P.R. and solve the world's thirst for oil by switching over to solar-powered cars. Most of the NASCAR tracks are in sunny parts of the US. And by doing so, NASCAR could assist in the R&D venture of solar power.

We could have a whole new generation of eco-friendly role models!

[Jack from Charlotte]

20. Toyota is coming to NASCAR next year. Maybe they'lll have a 42 mpg car....

that will run Billy-Bob in his Chevy, off the track by taking fewer gas stops.

[ellenfl]

3. will shrub do his part and stay off af1 and leave his black

suv posse in the garage? not likely.

ellen fl

[meegbear]

7. Will Shrub do his part and not have af1 fly over NASCAR like he did in 04?

[enid602]

4. NASCAR

Why not just give each racer a couple of gallons of gas, and the one that goes the farthest wins?

[IowaGuy]

9. in concept anyway....that is exactly what happens....

each race car is allotted so much gas for a particular race....many races do in fact become economy runs...the one that sets their car up to balance speed and gas mileage is often in amongst the top leaders and in a position to win at the end of a race.

Now that's not to say these cars get great gas mileage...(depending on the track and other variables - 2.5-4.5 mpg) but the ones that get better than the next guy are generally in pretty good shape at the end of a race...

[SanJoseGamecock]

5. How About Some Reality Here!!

You want to bring those in to help. Testing of new terchnologies, etc. You sure as hell don''t want to turn a huge portion of America against you, do you? Geez!!!

[ComerPerro]

13. Care to clarify?

[Norquist Nemesis]

15. I don't think NASCAR uses the average gas anyway

We sure could use them for the technology expertise though!

[bee]

31. youre right. They dont use regular gas.

I have a friend who drives in the busch north series. He explained it all to me one day... but I just blocked it all out (as usual). ;)

[JesterCS]

33. It used to be

Methanol, now i think its ethanol.

I could be wrong, but they dont use regular gas like we use.

I do know Indy uses Ethanol though.

[lectrobyte]

6. The gas used at NASCAR is probably a drop in the bucket,

relatively speaking. You might as well consider banning movies, NFL etc. In other words, not too likely to happen, and probably not that useful even if they did it. On the other hand, I'd rather see a race like this. Maybe call it GASCAR. Take completely stock cars (kind of like NASCAR when it first started out -- seen a 2 door rear-wheel-drive V8 Taurus on the street?) and give them x number of gallons to complete a race.

[ComerPerro]

11. LOL. GASCAR

[Drifter]

8. Don't make them stop racing ...

Make them lead the way in developing better fuel alternatives.

Car Racing does help develop technologies that are eventually deployed to the masses.

I would starting watching car racing if part of the contest involves fuel efficiency.
For example, imagine the Indy 500 where each car is allowed only 10 gallons of fuel.
Finishing first is no longer top priority. Finishing at all is.

Cheers
Dirfter

[IowaGuy]

12. see reply #9...same idea w/ Indy Cars (IRL or CART)...

they only get so much fuel per race, however Indy cars generally get only about 1.9-2.5 mpg - (varies year to year, depending on rule changes and from track to track...)

[Old and In the Way]

16. I agree....this should be the priority.

It's not as sexy and you won't have those spectacular crashes, but it would and should make the competition about better overall efficency and the technology focus on accomplishing that.

[IowaGuy]

26. Actually these races that get turned into economy runs...

are more dangerous...the cars get bunched up more, you have more multi-car crashes.

At the superspeedways, like Talladegs, Daytona, etc... they are actually required to put restrictor plates between the carburetors and the intake manifolds that restrict the amount of gas\air mixture that can be sucked into the cylinders.

If you look at race engines within the context of HP\BTU energy input (fuel) - these engines are extremely efficient, much more so than your average street car.

[Old and In the Way]

27. So how do you take that technology and make that equation work

to value distance traveled rather than time to get there? It's a cultural mindset that's tuned to the excitement of hi-speed racing...but the social value ought to be to reward the team that can minimize consuption and maximize distance.

Regarding "dangerousness", I think that is a function of how the race is structured. In the present racing context, everyone starts at the same time and the finish line is constant for everyone. So you get drafting and cutting corners to gain tenths of seconds. It's really a different form of racing, I guess....the fastest is not necessarily the winner when the goal is fuel conservation.

[IowaGuy]

34. It wouldn't really be a race then...would it?

Racing is about extremes..the technology developed in it eventually does lead to safer more efficient cars, as the market demands it. Everything from rear view mirrors, seat belts, roll protection, tire and suspension advancements, fuel injection, etc, etc...were first developed in racing...putting it down as being somehow unproductive as some seem to be doing in this thread seems a little short-sighted. These same types of people also put NASA down as being a colossal waste of money, yet everyday, use Teflon products, velcro, etc. etc....without ever knowing or thinking about where they came from.

There are competitions around that do stress distance covered...these are not very conducive to being a spectator sport, unless watching paint dry really gets you juiced up. Most of the vehicles in it are even further away from having any practical technology inherently designed in them that can be used in the real world than actual race cars do.

The very nature of the physical demands of speed require greater attention to good engineering and design than what is happening in these competitions that focus only on gas mileage.

[ComerPerro]

10. Thats exactly it. Bush lacks any kind of courage

He won't ask wealthy Americans to make sacrifices either.

[Arkansas Granny]

14. How about if Bush did his part and left Air Force 1 in the hangar

a little more often? I can't imagine how much fuel that thing burns per minute of operation.

[RB TexLa]

17. silly idea

I guess after NASCAR

We should ask

Baseball to not play, much more fuel used there.

Then of course football.

People taking vacations.

And of course retirees should "do their part" and park their RVs.

Pro fishing, unless they paddle their boats.

Also, I guess they should suspend all repairs to houses, infrastructure and the levees in South Louisiana for a couple of years as well.

[Nebraska_Liberal]

19. Exactly.

People on here do not understand much about cars or car culture...

1. Nascars do not run on pump gas. They have extremely high compression ratios, like 13 or 14:1, as compared to commuter cars that have between 9 and 10:1, thus they require race fuel usually either leaded fuel or a mix of gas and alcohol.

2. Nascar like other motorsports is a RACE. No one would watch it if the point was not to go fast and win.

3. There are competitions to find the best fuel efficient vehicles, they are held in Detriot by the big three and it is mostly engineering students that compete.

Finally I am not defending NASCAR, im not a fan of stock car racing, I am into drag racing myself. I just think people need to stop pretending like they understand stuff when they obviously don't. Most of you have never been a gear head, and never will be. I don't bash what other people like to do. If it gets to the point where it gets to expensive for people to enjoy a hobby, they will stop doing it. That goes for cars and everything else.

[PsN2Wind]

23. Consider me properly chastised

as I look out my window at my 340 six-pack Duster and my '72 Vette.
You're a bit arrogant about your vast knowledge,so far beyond the comprehension of us poor unenlightened souls.

[cantstandbush]

25. Hey, your ideas sound pretty good. n/t

[MsTryska]

21. i thought Nascar used 100% Ethanol?

or is that Formula One?

[MsTryska]

22. Doh - Not Nascar - but IndyCar

http://www.ethanol.org/autoracing.html


I'm sure nascar uses more ethanol than us regular drivers do tho.

[Bake]

24. Lot of stereotyping going on.

Like "Billy-Bob."

I'm not a big fan of NASCAR, but I do know it's not just rednecks anymore. I know there are a lot of people who would be out of jobs if NASCAR were to "shut down" as has been suggested, people who either are, or ought to be, Democratic voters.

The cavalier attitude exhibited by a lot of people here is insulting.

Bake

[Old and In the Way]

28. It can come accross that way, I guess.....

But I have no issues with racing, per se, and I do appreciate the technology driver that racing delivers to the car manufacturers. But we aren't living in the 1950's when gas supply wasn't an issue and better engine technology was needed. I guess I'm just saying that the priorities of racing should shift to valuing fuel consumption/distance rather than speed/distance. That priority will deliver a lot more value to the consumer in the terms of redefining transportation in a post peak oil world.

10 years ago, I could watch a race and never think about this issue. Today, I watch racing and think, "what a waste of fuel." I'd be more interested in watching a race where the winner is judged on fuel consumed over distance, but I'm sure that I'm in a minority on this.

[rinsd]

36. Hey this is an improvement

Most stop NASCAR to save gas threads end up very nasty. I don't even like NASCAR but the zeal with which some people hate it makes my skin crawl.

In this thread, most folks realize how futile such an effort would be in terms of actual fuel savings and that one's personal preference for one sport over another is not a sound basis for its banning.

[Spider Jerusalem]

29. Do what part?

The amount of gasoline used by all of the NASCAR teams in all of the races for an entire season pales in comparison to the amount used by the residents of ONE major US metropolis over the course of one DAY. You do realise that, right?

[Elwood P Dowd]

32. NASCAR uses less fuel in a full season

than is consumed by Los Angeles metro traffic in one afternoon. George Bush uses more fuel flying around in Air Force One each year than NASCAR uses in a full season.

[rinsd]

35. NASCAR is a drop in the bucket. I'd like to see better CAFE standards (nt)