Why NASCAR and not GT or Le Mans?

[Taverner]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not into any of it - but I don't look down or make fun of anyone who does.

BUT...why NASCAR and not another kind? Say, with more turns (and turns other than left)?

[DJ13]

1. Marketing Marketing Marketing

The Fortune 500 puts most of their resources into sponsoring NASCAR, so they have a vested interest in seeing it stay in the forefront of motor sports here in the US.

I watch it, but I prefer American LeMans or NHRA drag racing myself.

[Taverner]

16. But wouldn't this deflate your argument a little

Grid Girls

[wuushew]

2. Easier to sell more alcohol to large crowds gathered around circles or ovals

n/t

[unhappycamper]

3. I thought you were talking about the occupations.

NASCAR = raw red meat. I like it, I go to it, but . . . :shrug:

[RichardRay]

4. NASCAR is home-grown and used to be totally accessible

to anyone who wanted to race. Today's 'stock cars' aren't anything like stock cars, but in the past they were just that - it was the 'production frame' days. Guys would take a car and do stuff to it to make it go faster and take it out to the track and see who won on a Saturday night. If they were fast locally they might make the jump to Grand National racing, or at least give it a shot. At the time NASCAR was becoming popular F1 and sports car racing were already well established as elite and expensive sports, not open to folks from the farms of the rural U.S.

Modern NASCAR is at least as expensive as modern F1 or any of the other bi-directional auto racing formats, so it really makes no sense anymore, but it used to.

[backwoodsbob]

8. f1 is crazy expensive

you can't field a competitive team for less than 100m

[aikoaiko]

22. This is the answer and there are lots of "little NASCAR" all over the country.

where its a lot more like the original NASCAR races.

Its fun to sit around a dirt oval drinking beer and eating boiled peanuts while watching your friends race their beater 4 cylinders for nothing more than the thrill of racing.

[Edweird]

29. Yup. It started with moonshine runners in the Appalachians that got competitive ....

There are still classes of racing that any regular guy can enter and there is still a path to the 'big time'. Granted, most professional drivers get started at an early racing carts and all, but it is still possible.

FWIW, I find NASCAR racing incredibly dull. I'd rather be out freeriding.

[Taverner]

31. That's really interesting

It makes sense...

I was also thinking here in the US we have highways. Long stretches of road with no stop lights. In Europe they have a lot of hairpin turns around town.

[Edweird]

34. Speaking of hairpin turns...

These guys were *hauling ass* through rural Appalachia (twisty mountain rollercoaster) on poorly maintained unlit back roads. At night. Without headlights. They were badasses for sure.

[Taverner]

35. West Virginia?

I drove from Charleston to Dulles once...definitely twisted

[plaintiff]

5. I enjoy most all motor sports...Formula One is my favorite. Nascar I can take or leave

at least they don't make right turns. :D


;-)

[Liberal In Texas]

6. Just a guess, but it may have to do with racing stock cars which

(at one time) were more like the kind you might drive, but souped up. A person could, say, identify more with a team racing Chevy's if they drove one and tinkered with it.

[ben_meyers]

7. You could ask the same about why football

and not soccer (futbol)? Or NBA vs NHL(damned Canuks), or baseball vs cricket?

Most likely has something to do with their origins.

[alfredo]

12. No breaks for commercials in Soccer.

[parasim]

9. Baja for me, man.

What's all this driving on asphalt? and no jumps?

[CRF450]

17. YEEEESSS!!! Rally racing is where its at!

So much more fun to watch. I'm more into motocross/trail riding dirtbikes than anything else. Something that I would love to go to would be the Red Bull Air Races!

Heres my toy.

[parasim]

18. Now, we're talking. Sweet bike!

I haven't been dirtbiking for, like, ever, but there's nothing like a little motocross!

[CRF450]

23. Its an awsome sport! Goes against the usual environmental beliefs of a dem but...

I try to do my part of not fuckin shit up, and just tread lightly but still have fun. Unlike the rednecks I'm surrounded by who likes to literally sink their quads into a huge water hole/mud pit and do all kinds of other dumb stuff.

[TWiley]

10. Its Political .... Nascar dads love moose hunting mom's

They tend to listen to county music also. I would imagine a pretty high percent of conservative fans.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

11. Gimme Drag Racing.

Smells great and I can watch the whole race.

[October]

13. F-1, baby!

That's my motor sport of choice.

[RollWithIt]

14. The explanation is simple... Nascar is American... GT & Le Mans is foreign...

For over half a century Nascar has defined itself as a purely political brand. May I add, the State of North Carolina, the birthplace of Nascar, went for Obama. There aren't exit polls to identify Nascar voters, but I'd be willing to bet you that close to 35% of Nascar voted for Obama. I like Nascar, I voted for Obama!

[alfredo]

15. It's easier to show a NASCAR race. You can see the whole track.

Formula 1 and Le Mans has something that NASCAR doesn't: Grid Girls.

[Kalyke]

19. More sexism?

I guess the racing world really doesn't want women to watch.

I hate that women are relegated to eye candy in most sports. How 'bout more women actually participating IN the sport?

[Taverner]

20. To quote Spinal Tap "That's sexy, not sexist"

But NASCAR does have Danica Patrick who I am told kicks ass on the track.

[CRF450]

25. Exactly, like the woman in the FOX bakini in a dirtbike magazine is "sexy".

Nothing sexist about us guys, basically being guys.

[Taverner]

26. Wrong. Humans being humans.

That's us humans - one part sexually obsessed, one part sexually confused

:silly:

[XOKCowboy]

21. You've obviously never been to a Nascar or any other kind of race

I saw 10s of thousands of female race fans when I went to the race in KC. Women are an integral part of the sport and I'm not talking about just the flag girls in F1. If you haven't been to a race is it right to criticize the sport?

[CRF450]

24. What does guys staring at attractive women in skimpy outfits have to do with sexism??

As a guy, I enjoy the sights too:evilgrin:

[alfredo]

30. It's happening, see the link below. There's been a lot of women

in the Rally world, and drag racing is a natural for women because of their reaction times. Let's face it, a 110lb driver puts less strain on the machine than a 180 lb driver.


http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/womenracerslist.html

Sara Christian was the first woman in NASCAR

http://ca.geocities.com/womeninnascar/sarachristian.html
http://ca.geocities.com/womeninnascar/index.html

http://www.muldowney.com/





Jodie York down on the pegs.

[FarCenter]

27. There are hardly any stock parts in a NASCAR racer

The engine block and the VIN plate are about it.

A tour of team garages and engine building shops in Mooresville, NC is quite interesting.

[Recursion]

33. Well, nowadays, sure

But it's still a lot more like the car you have than, say, a formula one car.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Why not bike racing?

Moto GP is excellent to watch (it never becomes the procession that F1 can become) - and it has American riders among the top ones, so there's people for Americans to cheer for. And it's far from "go fast, and turn left". The riders' skill is amazing - and obvious when you watch, even if you don't ride a bike, like me. Or you can have Superbikes, which are modified versions of publicly sold bikes (though there aren't currently any Americans at the top of the international series in that at the moment).

[Recursion]

32. NASCAR is basically your car with a better engine

I mean, it originally was, though it's almost impossible to break into it without a lot of money nowadays, but even a couple of decades ago it was still possible, and the sport still has some cachet because of that.

It's more accessible to viewers; stock car racing has always been popular for that reason.