Do you find Nascar boring, too?

[tricky lugnuts]

Saw this article on the Wall Street Journal. With the number of new Challenger owners here, figured some people might find this interesting:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703862704575099903272438596.html?mod=WSJ_hp_editorsPicks#articleTabs%3Dcomments

Hope the link works!

[tricky lugnuts]

Oops - it appears I linked to the comment section of the article. All you have to do is click on the "article" tab.

Sweet purple Challenger with tan leather interior - hadn't seen one of those before.

[Mike DC]

 
The question has been posed lots of times in the last 20 years.  Nobody is racing stock-looking bodies anymore. 


Personally I can't watch NASCAR very long anymore just because the intrusion of corporate sponsorship has gotten so wretched.  I can't tell what color the cars are supposed to be under the decals.  You ask a driver what the name of his newborn child is, and he'll plug 3 of his sponsors before the sentence is finished.  The whole thing is disgusting.  It's like watching 2 hours of TV commercials without any show in between them. 

 

[Brock Samson]

 i last watched, cared or paid attention, the first yr. the intrepid was brought on,.. 

[ACUDANUT]

 I would watch it if they played "Bumper Cars".  I fall asleep watching it. It is so BORING.

[rt green]

same 5 rednecks win every week anyway

[JT01]

It sucks since Earnhardt died. Jr sucks. I cant stand to watch the Jimmie Johnson show anymore.

[Dans 68]

Yes I do.

Dan

[maxwellwedge]

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ALL THE TIME!

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[TruckDriver]

I agree, Nascar isn't what it was years ago. But to me, it is the only sport that excists. I find all other sports boring as hell. Seriously. Auto racing is the only sport I ever liked and cared about.

[Charger RT]

I stopped watching when toyota was let in.
Tim

[Cooter]

Oh my goodness.....Could it be?? A hillbilly from podunk Appomattox Va. doesn't Watch NASCAR, or "WRASLING"?..Nope, never did watch Roundy round racing....Don't do Fooseball, Basketball, Baseball, Golf, Hockey, Soccer, Olympic games, Boxing, Wrestling, or INDY racing either...

I Sometimes DO watch Drag Racing, or PINKS, till they both kinda got to be like that "Despreate housewives" Show...

[aussiemuscle]

Ha we have the same arguments about V8 supercars australia. they've slowly moved away from the factory cars to something completely different. they are the two makes share the same chassis underneath a few carbon fibre body panels. even the wheelbase no longer matches.

That said, it's still more popular than the 'showroom stock' categories.

[ACUDANUT]

 Here's a idea, They all get drunk, have mismatched tires and a stuck throttle.

[Mike DC]

 

Here's a idea, They all get drunk, have mismatched tires and a stuck throttle

They already did that. 

In fact the stock car racing world didn't do much else before the 1950s. 


 

[69*F5*SE]

I can tolerate the Richard Petty era from the 60,s into the early 70's but that's about it. Speed channel use to show the classic races but I haven't seen them shown in several years.

[moparstuart]

I stopped watching when toyota was let in.
Tim

and all that has done is kill dodge off to one owner now 

[Lennard]

Yes, Nascar is boring.

[200MPH]

i would watch it if the cars looked more in line of what they are actually selling or vice versa

[HITMAN 149]

ehhh i was always more into drag racing than going around in a circle for 50000000 miles!!!! lol
i watch PINKS & PASS TIME on speed channel!! lol

[66FBCharger]

Yes! It is boring. I have to look really hard to figure out what kind of car it is supposed to be. I have better things to do with my time on a Sunday.

[FlatbackFanatic]

NASCAR has forgotten where it came from. Its all BIG money BIG companies now, and BIG money teams. The small guy is out. Have you looked at the crowds during the race, when they'll scan alittle in the stands? They're half empty, and I don't think its just the economy. People just don't care anymore. Its not as fun to watch,just seeing the Hendrick cars win every week IS BORING. I've been watching NASCAR since the early 80's, now I've only watched 1 race this year. I think I'll probably watch just a few more this season.

[maxwellwedge]

Ha we have the same arguments about V8 supercars australia. they've slowly moved away from the factory cars to something completely different. they are the two makes share the same chassis underneath a few carbon fibre body panels. even the wheelbase no longer matches.

That said, it's still more popular than the 'showroom stock' categories.

Those were some great crazy races 5-10 years ago when Speed had them on all winter. I watched the one last week and it didn't come close to the reckless abandon racing of a few years ago....too bad

[jeryst]

Havent watched it in years. Never could understand why people get so hyped up about any one particular driver.

I have a friend that spends thousands of $$$ ever year to fly to races, rent a condo, etc. He says the ticket prices are
getting out of sight. To each his own I guess.

Our local dirt track races on summer Saturday nights are a lot more interesting.

[69_500]

I refuse to watch any NASCAR race now that they went to every brand driving the same car. Granted these cars had been far from STOCK appearing for years, but at least they still looked like what cars you buy from each brand. I have yet to see a COT sitting on any dealership lot.

I think that NASCAR should only allow a company to race a V8 RWD car in NASCAR, and only if that car is available on the street as a V8 RWD car as well.

[rt green]

yes, back in the day you had to be a really good driver. those guys were going just as fast as they are now with far less fancy suspension.

[restoman]

NASCAR has forgotten where it came from. Its all BIG money BIG companies now, and BIG money teams. The small guy is out. Have you looked at the crowds during the race, when they'll scan alittle in the stands? They're half empty, and I don't think its just the economy. People just don't care anymore. Its not as fun to watch,just seeing the Hendrick cars win every week IS BORING. I've been watching NASCAR since the early 80's, now I've only watched 1 race this year. I think I'll probably watch just a few more this season.

In my opinion, this is what is killing Nascar. I've been a fan since the early 70s, way back when I was still just a kid.
But now. Yeah, it's getting boring.
Now, it's all about which millionaire can beat which millionaire, and how much money they spent doing it. There are no more true, made-it-to-the-big-league-the-hard-way drivers, and there never will be again. Nascar lost big time when guys like Earnhardt died, or when hard core drivers like Ricky Rudd, or Sterling Marlin couldn't be competive in the way-underfunded cars and thus had to step aside. Big $$$ sponsors dictated who the drivers were gonna be, and the crusty veterans weren't what they were looking for.
There was no-one to replace them, just a bunch of whiny snot-nosed kids who moan and bitch when someone roughs them up, or when their cool suits don't work well or when their car doesn't handle.
Nascar experienced a tremendous boom and then weren't ready for the bust when it came. They lost a lot of their core fans and seemed more intersted in going after the young and brain-dead fans with lots of money to blow.
Nascar is trying to better themselves, but until they can get themselves back to the product that made them famous, all the little tweaks that they try won't be working.
I'd be willing to bet that if you could place an older guy like Rudd, Pearson or Bill Elliot in one of those millionaire's cars, that he could still kick some serious hiney. It's working for Mark Martin, and as much as I like him, I don't think he was ever up to Rudd's or Elliot's standards.

[troy.70R/T]

I agree it is boring and nothing more than a two to three hour comercial.  I would only watch it if they actually had to still race factory cars that I could buy. Didn't it used to be called stock car racing?? Just seems like all the good things are gone. In an era where REALITY T.V. is so big why have fake races with fake cars?

[TylerCharger69]

Here's a idea, They all get drunk, have mismatched tires and a stuck throttle.

Or here's one..."Extreme Nascar Challenge"

Put these guys on the Talladega raceway.  An accident happens?.....Leave the wreckage on the track...oil and all.  Pit lane?....no speed limits....Take the restrictor plates off.  Every time an accident occurs?....Drive in the other direction....You can set the car up however you want.....no rules on that....Now!!   you got a serious race!!!....lol

[Mike DC]

              
IMHO the huge cornering grip on the cars has killed the fun of the sport.  As with most auto racing. 

The problem is the consequences of losing traction are too high.  Pretty soon the whole game operates on such tiny twitches & movements from the cars . . . nothing visible to watch anymore.   

 

 

     

[69DodgeCharger]

 


A once  or twice a year 200-250 mile Nostalgia race with the teams allowed to use an old body under the old rules from whatever time frame they decide. Now I'd watch that.
 

 

     

[Black Charger]

The Car Of Tomorrow definitely killed NASCAR for me. The old 'win on Sunday sell on Monday" adage no longer applies since the race cars have absolutely nothing in common with stock ones you see on the street.

I also think NASCAR messed up badly when they didn't retire #43 with Richard Petty. That number hasn't been done justice since Richard ran it. It is now a mid to rear pack car at best.

[Mike DC]

 
NASCAR is going to keep homogenizing the cars more and more as long as the fans keep showing up.  Honestly I'm surprised they're still allowing different engines or anything these days.  They clearly wanna turn it into an IROC deal. 

 
 

[THE STIG]

I've never liked NASCAR, I'm more into road racing. I also can't understand how those rednecks can drive for 495 miles with parts falling off their cars but as soon as there is a hot dog wrapper on the track in the final 10 laps we get yellow flags for debris on the track. But if you look at NASCAR's recent slip in popularity, think about when it first jumped, back in the early 90's. NASCAR's rise in popularity coincides directly with open-wheel's decline and the CART/IRL split. Now that CART and IRL have merged back into the IRL you would think that there would someone in that ircus act that they call a racing series that could find a way to capitilize, but no they're continuing to run that operation into the ground too.

[Mike DC]

I also can't understand how those rednecks can drive for 495 miles with parts falling off their cars but as soon as there is a hot dog wrapper on the track in the final 10 laps we get yellow flags for debris on the track

Well, SOMETHING has to bunch the field back up again right at the end.  Otherwise the finishes might be boring, and the first 495 miles might be relevant for something other than whittling down the number of cars on the field at the end. 

[stripedelete]

I also can't understand how those rednecks can drive for 495 miles with parts falling off their cars but as soon as there is a hot dog wrapper on the track in the final 10 laps we get yellow flags for debris on the track

Well, SOMETHING has to bunch the field back up again right at the end.  Otherwise the finishes might be boring, and the first 495 miles might be relevant for something other than whittling down the number of cars on the field at the end. 

Kind of like the 1 o'clock NFL game ALWAYS ending at 4 pm now a days.

[hemigeno]

Here's a idea, They all get drunk, have mismatched tires and a stuck throttle.

Or here's one..."Extreme Nascar Challenge"

Put these guys on the Talladega raceway.  An accident happens?.....Leave the wreckage on the track...oil and all.  Pit lane?....no speed limits....Take the restrictor plates off.  Every time an accident occurs?....Drive in the other direction....You can set the car up however you want.....no rules on that....Now!!   you got a serious race!!!....lol

I thought it was funny during this year's Daytona500 coverage when one of the drivers suggested that NASCAR just put an orange cone in front of the pothole which developed late in the race.  "We all know it's there" he said, or something to that effect...