Daytona 500

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Well the NASCAR season is about to start in a few minutes with the 47th running of the Daytona 500. This is one of the great races in the world today along with the Monaco GP F-1 and the Indy 500. I love NASCAR as you really have no idea who will win and it ususally comes down to the last lap. Its seems to really have taken hold since going to FOX. My only regret is Dales not here to see it. Any other NASCAR fans here?

[Kongamato]

The absence of hockey means I'm going to pay more attention to NASCAR this year. I hope nobody found out how to exploit the new points system. The drama last year was interesting.

For the rest of this thread, I predict Tachi and 2 other NASCAR watchers to reply, 5 replies on how NASCAR is "boring" compared to F-1 and other forms of racing, 1 thread hijack about what that Schumacher guy is doing, and possibly one reply criticizing the amount of patriotism involved pre-race with a 15% chance of getting moved to the backroom.

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

Man, NASCAR is so god damn boring compared to F1...

[Ronin]

and we are off...the drivers gun their engines and turn into the first left turn...followed by the next left turn....and the next left turn.....*loud snorring*

[Shottie]

I love NASCAR. Im a big red-neck when it comes to NASCAR. Lets go JR!!!!

[Sasaki Kojiro]

and we are off...the drivers gun their engines and turn into the first left turn...followed by the next left turn....and the next left turn.....*loud snorring*

ROFL my thoughts exactly

[Gregoshi]

I love NASCAR, but don't care for the new points system or all these spoiled baby faced drivers they are yanking out of day care to race the cars. Now that I've got that out of my system, I'm pulling for Mark Martin or Rusty Wallace this year.

[Gregoshi]

and we are off...the drivers gun their engines and turn into the first left turn...followed by the next left turn....and the next left turn.....*loud snorring*

In ONE lap early in the Daytona 500, 39 of 43 cars changed positions on the track. In ONE lap. That is a lot of passing. Passing = excitement. I was personally at a NASCAR race back in the 80's where 3 cars were side-by-side crossing the finish line. Such a finish is fairly common in NASCAR. That is why I like NASCAR over other types of racing - it is competitive.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Look Im a F-1 fan. Ive been to the Canadian GP a few times back in the 70s and I went to Watkins Glen for the US GP many times. F-1 is exciting for the technology and the sheer sights and sounds of the cars. Most of them are pretty boring in compayison to a NASCAR race as far as action goes. There are more passes in 1 lap at Daytona than at an entire GP race.

[Ronin]

In ONE lap early in the Daytona 500, 39 of 43 cars changed positions on the track. In ONE lap. That is a lot of passing. Passing = excitement. I was personally at a NASCAR race back in the 80's where 3 cars were side-by-side crossing the finish line. Such a finish is fairly common in NASCAR. That is why I like NASCAR over other types of racing - it is competitive.

don´t know about you...but i watch motorsports for the skill demonstration that you can see.....i believe you that there is a lot of passing.....but there´s no way you´ll convince me that it takes that much skill.......running a car in an oval track.....i´ll stick to the world rally championship and F1...

[Gawain of Orkeny]

....but there´s no way you´ll convince me that it takes that much skill.......running a car in an oval track.....i´ll stick to the world rally championship and F1...

Then you should watch when they take these big american sedans to the road courses. They dont stick like a F-1 car. If is so easy. Personally I really love endurance racing . Le Mans and Daytona and Nubergring to name a few. It was really good back in the 60s with the Ferrari - Ford rivalry. The Ferrari 330 P-4 is one of the most beautiful racing cars ever . If it races and its got a motor I ll watch it. I used to own a commercial slotcar track. There was a track here on long island

Bridgehampton Race Circuit

Bridgehampton Race Circuit was a 2.85 mile, 13 turn road course located near Sag Harbor, on Long Island in New York State. The historic track has now largely been converted to golf course. There is still an effort underway to try and restore the track, but success seems unlikely.

"All who have raced there know that the earth is flat and ends in the sand at turn two. The emotional rewards of driving this turn 'flat out' are just as intense as the physical consequences of blowing it". - Bruce MacInnes, Chief Instructor, Skip Barber Racing School

I had a Lotus Elan I used to race out there. I dont know if any of you remember the Can-Am series or the Trans -Am. Bit I met and talked to people like Bruce Mc Claren, Jim Hall, Dan Gurney AJ Foyt, Jackie Stewart




Chaparral

These cars and drivers were the best and fasttest in the world, Even faster than F-1. Many F-1 drivers came to the US to race in this series,



Denny Hulme at the Bridge as the track was known he boys from down under really dominated this series. Bruce Mc Claren, Denny , Hulme, Chris Amon and last but not last Sir Jack Brahbam

LINK



That Blue and yellow car is the master of bridgehampton Mark Donahue in a 1200 hp Porsche..

Back then you could buy a pit pass and actually walk up to the drivers and cars, This was true even in F-1 back in the 60s. Next to today the greatest period in the history of racing. Oh that we has the speed channel back then

[Ronin]

i´ll agree that nascar and indy can be interesting on the road courses....but those are the minority of the championship aren´t they?.....get rid of the ovals and you might get something worth watching....

agreed on the endurance races...

but for me the absolute top is world rally championship .....if you can drive a car all out in a dirt road in the middle of finland somewere with muddy conditions and with just a few centimeters of space separating you from the trees on either side of the road you have to be an amazing driver......the footage from the on board cameras alone are enough to make someone piss their shorts...

[Big_John]

if anyone ever catches me watching nascar, even if by accident, please draw and quarter me with shetland ponies and razorwire.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Yeah I watch them also but their nothing compatred to what they used to be,

When they had cars like this Lancia Stratos



Leading to this model





LINK

Heres a good site on rallying. These guys are nuts and so are their fans. The ines at the track I mean

LINK

[Gregoshi]

but there´s no way you´ll convince me that it takes that much skill.......running a car in an oval track.....i´ll stick to the world rally championship and F1...

Ronin, are you familiar with the International Race of Champions (IROC)? It is a 3-4 race series in which they put champion caliber drivers from several different types of racing (NASCAR, Indy, F1, road races, sprint cars, etc.) into identical cars on a "variety" of tracks. Note the following qualifiers:

1) "International" is the American definition*.
2) While the series started out with 2 oval and 2 road courses, it has in the last number of years been all ovals.

In the 30 years (about 120 races), only 3 foreign drivers have won an IROC race - 2 on road courses and one on ovals. If there is no skill involved in racing the ovals, you'd think by just dumb luck the F1 guys would have won at least a few more (5-10) oval races. They should be able to run "circles" around the oval boys, if you'll pardon the pun, but they haven't. IROC History Facts

To say F1 requires more skill isn't quite fair. Each type of racing requires a different set of skills. Perhaps it is that you just don't "appreciate" the skills required to run in NASCAR. And you are correct about the tracks, of 36 races, only 2 are run on road courses.

As for the rallys, I don't go out of my way to watch them, but when I do stumble upon one on TV, I'll stop and watch for a while...usually with my mouth open and muttering things like "they are nuts!" And Ronin, I haven't pissed my shorts yet - but it is within the realm of the possible with those guys.

Gawain, you used to own a commercial slotcar track? Eight lanes wide and all that stuff? Too bad they went the way of the dinosaur. My dad was into that when I was very young and there was a track in town. He had one car that was a rocket - until it went soaring off one of the high banked turns and met a wall. It never ran the same after that. Of course, now adays the home slot car track have all the magnet stuff to keep them on the track and even run upside down. Lame.

* Of course, the American definition of "international" is 10-11 American drivers and 1-2 foreign drivers. It is kind of like parties with "food and drinks" in my college days: 2 kegs of beer and a small bag of potato chips.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Gawain, you used to own a commercial slotcar track? Eight lanes wide and all that stuff? Too bad they went the way of the dinosaur.

Yeah I had 150 ft hill climb track. a scale replica of Bridgehampton, a 90ft oval and a drag strip. I opened in 92. Ive been racing them since 64. Theres still tracks open here. In early 92 me and my best friend went to the world slot car championships in Chicago. It was 1 4 race series for GTP cars. You sent away in the mail and they sent you a car to build. We took Am Track and wouldnt you know it right around Buffalo we had an accident. A passing freihgt had some lumber come loose and as the trains passed it went right the window of our train engine killing the engineer. We were hung up for hours and they ran out of food and drinks

So we got there arount 10 pm the day before the race and were not even done building the car yet .We paractised on the track for an hour with some of our regular cars then wnet back to the hotel to finish building the car. Well to make a long story short. We qualified on the pole. we one one race and came in third in the world. You have to understand we had no idea what we were getting into. There were teams from England , Germany and all sorts of countries. They had mechanics and drivers and engine men and boby men. We had us two and 1 car and 1 motoer. You should have seen the right ups we got in the slot mags. Who were those masked americans




In case you havent guessed racing is my real passion. I loved racing Karts.

[Gregoshi]

Congrats the the Masked Americans.

I didn't realize the hobby still had that much activity. The slotcar track I was talking about was around in the late '60s!

[English assassin]

In ONE lap early in the Daytona 500, 39 of 43 cars changed positions on the track. In ONE lap. That is a lot of passing. Passing = excitement. I was personally at a NASCAR race back in the 80's where 3 cars were side-by-side crossing the finish line. Such a finish is fairly common in NASCAR. That is why I like NASCAR over other types of racing - it is competitive

Good call. That's why I like MotoGP and World Superbikes rather than F1.

That and being a car hating biker of course. Oh, and the grid girls.

Not too sure what sort of bike racing you have in the States, I heard it was all fixed so you more or less have to ride a harley?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Not too sure what sort of bike racing you have in the States, I heard it was all fixed so you more or less have to ride a harley?

I hope you are joking, Maybe you should check the list of motorcycle F-! champs to see what kind of racing we do here.
Maybe youve heard of this guy

Kenny Roberts

Bio:
Kenny Roberts has been a major figure in Grand Prix racing since he arrived as an aggressive 27-year-old in 1978.

The kid from Modesto had already conquered US racing, taking the AMA Grand National championship twice, battling the Harley-Davidsons on the oval dirt tracks on a maverick new Yamaha. And he had risen to the top of US road racing, showing the same devastating combination of intelligent analysis and fearsome aggression on tarmac.

In his first Grand Prix year, he captured the attention of the fans by deposing reigning champion Barry Sheene at the first attempt in 1978, and defended the title successfully for the next two years straight.

His last season, in 1983, was an epic battle with new young American Freddie Spencer. Roberts lost by just two points.

After retirement, he returned as a new kind of team owner, and after taking over the factory Yamaha team he built up a formidable force. Team Roberts captured the premier 500cc title three times straight with Kenny’s protégé Wayne Rainey from 1990 to 1992, and the 250 title with John Kocinski in 1990.

There was one major frustration. Kenny had a team of engineers capable of taking a racing machine and developing it still further, but their hands were tied by having to rely on the Yamaha factory race department for all design and development work.

This was the spur to Kenny’s boldest move in a career of high adventure. He established his own independent research and development facility and manufacturing base … and tackled the Japanese factories head on with a bike designed and built independently from his base in England.

The seven years of the Proton KR3 lightweight two-stroke were hard but valuable – both from the lessons learned, and the strength gained by Kenny’s unique motorcycle racing design, engineering and manufacturing base.

The four-stroke is the next bold step – a greater financial and engineering commitment, and a brave promise to the future.

Kenny Roberts and the new Proton KR V5 are still taking the fight to the factories.

We race the same kind of bikes and classes you do.

[Devastatin Dave]

Ah yes, NASCAR, a motor "sport". I promised I'd watch it with Tachi if we ever met up, I just hope he can still enjoy it with some very loud snoring next to him!!! Being from Georgia originally and living about 20 minutes from the Atlanta 500, or whatever they are calling it these days, most people are shocked that I dislike this "sport". The only thing I use to like was the crashes, and now I don't because, as a kid, I never realised that sort of injuries or death the drivers suffer.

[Tachikaze]

Well, Kongamato was wrong: I won't reply to this thread.


Doh!


Anyway, I hate everything about NASCAR (extreme patriotism, environmental impact, hypoctrical values, military jet flyovers, missplaced hero-worship) except for two things. The racing can be very competive and close. And the drivers tend (at least until recently) very earthy, honest, and accessible.

Now, I do not consider the Daytona 500 to be racing. A spectacle, yes; exciting, yes; but not racing. Racing is short tracks. If you want to see real excitement, watch a race at Bristol, Tennessee, or Martinsville, Virginia.

Dave, I'm disappointed you will be asleep. I was hoping to hear a couple of YEEHAWS out of you.

[Devastatin Dave]

Dave, I'm disappointed you will be asleep. I was hoping to hear a couple of YEEHAWS out of you.

I'll give you a couple of "gaaauuuuooollllyyy!!!" and maybe a "yuntoo getta beer", but no "YEEHAWS". There is a line you know...

[English assassin]

I hope you are joking, Maybe you should check the list of motorcycle F-! champs to see what kind of racing we do here.
Maybe youve heard of this guy

Kenny Roberts

Uhhuh, and Colin Edwards, and, whats his name, Ben Bostrom. Didn't know you had real sportsbikes series in the states is all. Glad to hear it.

[Tachikaze]

I'll give you a couple of "gaaauuuuooollllyyy!!!" and maybe a "yuntoo getta beer", but no "YEEHAWS". There is a line you know...

Aw, shucks.

I see you've chosen an avatar. So, I guess our old one is unused and up for auction. Which of us gets the sale?

[Devastatin Dave]

you can have the sale, and I'll have the glory!!!

[Tachikaze]

you can have the sale, and I'll have the glory!!!

Actually, first I think you need to find some pupils and irises.

[Devastatin Dave]

Lol!!!

~d