Nascar

tifosi 1

I used to believe that Nascar Cup Series was a rubbish division of motorsport. Driving in circles seemed pointless to an avid F1 fan. However of late I must admit that Nascar has become so much more entertaining than F1. Don't get me wrong a geat race in Monaco,Spa or Monza will never be topped by anything Nascar can offer but when was the last time we had a spectacular race at the above tracks(SPA and Monaco 08 were good but only because of the rain).

Each Nascar race is at least 3 hours long. At any one time there can be 10-12 drivers who can win a race(from a field of 43). The last 25 laps is usually the most exciting. There are 30+ races a season in Nascar.

So now your wondering where the hell is he going with this? Well if there are any other like minded souls out there looking to discuss Nascar please do so you are not alone.

amacachi

Heh, you'll come across a lot of the attitude you described in the first paragraph. Simple way to dispell that is to look at how those who convert to NASCAR do.

I absolutely love NASCAR, I'm trying to get cash together at the moment to go to Alabama for the Truck race on the 29th of October and the Sprint Cup race on the 1st of November in Talladega.

aidan_dunne

I used to watch NASCAR now and again a few years ago when Eurosport used to show it. I've kind of got back into watching it again the past couple of years or so when I finally got broadband and managed to find a few places online where I was able to watch the races live. I wouldn't call myself an avid fan of NASCAR now but I do enjoy watching it of a Saturday or Sunday evening if there's nothing else on and I do try to make a point of catching the big races of the year (Daytona 500, Talladega, Coca-Cola 600, Brickyard 400, etc.). Not a big fan of the CoT, though. I think it's made the racing less exciting than the older cars for some reason (less drafting and the like) and the cars look so loose as to look scary and a real handful for the drivers to even keep on the road at times which seems to mean they have less confidence in the car and therefore take less risks in overtaking at times. If you look at the Nationwide races, where they use the older cars, the racing seems a lot better than the main Sprint Cup races a lot of the time and I think that's down to the cars a lot.

I agree with what you said tifosi about the last 25 laps being the most exciting. That's one aspect I don't like about NASCAR, the fact that the middle part of the races can be so boring at times. The start and the finish is usually great but the middle parts of the races just feel like "filler", for want of a better word, a lot of the time. I also hate the numourous yellows they throw during a race, sometimes for the most dubious of reasons ("debris on the track", i.e. someone just spotted an empty crisp bag on the track! ) just so they can bunch the pack up again. And don't get me started on this f**king 'Digger' character that Fox have introduced this year! :mad: Not to mention the numourous ad breaks they take and sponsor namedrops that have to be mentioned by the commentators during the race itself.

But, at the end of the day despite all those criticisms, it's motor racing which means I'll watch it anyway if I have the chance!

amacachi

I agree about the advertising, but when watching online I just enjoy it, it's hilarious how even calling out the grid line-up is sponsored :P And ya can't beat those ads for Viagra and for swollen-prostate treatment :P

The yellows can be annoying at times too.

The CoT is poor alright, tho I like how loose it looks. The onboards look fantastic the times I do get to watch it on the telly rather than online.

Wish there was TV coverage of the Nationwide Series over here. Never think of watchin it online.

tifosi 1

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I agree with a lot of the negative comments you guys mentioned however I still love what Nascar has become. I haven't been watching Nascar that long to appreciate the difference from the COT to the COY. The Yellow flag situation is a pain in the arse but having seen some the more horriffc crashes I can understand the neccessity of it plus the rebunching of the field is great unless your in the lead.

With regards to the middle part of a race being boring. Yes this is true but after seeing this and last years Bud Shootout at Daytona the short races are a waste of time. With a 500 lap/mile race a good driver can improve his car at each pitstop. Some of Kyle Bush's best results come from continually fixing the car throughout the race. You just don't get this from any other motorsport out side of long distance racing.


While I'm loving everything about Nascar at the moment can anybody shed light on the reason qualifying still remains in Nascar. It just seems pointless and why do they have 2 practice sessions after qualifying, again i don't see the point of this. Also why on earth is Dale Jr still the most popular driver in Nascar. Apart from having a famous dad what has he accomplished. I might not like Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon but I can respect them as former champs whereas Dale Jr just seems like Nascars version of Ralf Schumacher.

Running Bing

NASCAR is pretty tremendous when you consider the speed they go so close together sometimes three cars wide and it makes for some tremendous racing.

I find it difficult to get into though because I know nobody in the sport. If all the f1 and rally drivers suddenly changed to NASCAR I'd be hooked.


Ill always favour F1 because I think it has a certain finesse that NASCAR lacks (even though I know those cars are on an absolute knife edge all the time)...I suppose I love the heritage of F1, but NASCAR is very misunderstood and I really would like to get more into it.

Iridium

I used to watch some of the Sprint Cup races when Setanta used to show them. Don't have Sky Sports though. Meh, I probably watch enough races between F1, GP2 and touring cars anyway!

It was interesting so see some of the NASCAR races though - especially the two road course events. Does anyone know if there's any internet based coverage? Either live races or highlights?

As others have mentioned, some things are very annoying about the series. The insane amount of commercial breaks for one thing. And the dubious number of caution periods. I also fail to see the thrill of the green, white, checker finish. It's effectively like discounting the entire afternoon's racing for a two lap sprint race.

Overall though it's not such a bad race series - there can be a lot of drama sometimes. I'm disappointed Montoya is not doing a bit better though.

Like tifosi1, I'm also baffled with the Dale Jr thing!

amacachi

The Dale Jr. thing is just about celebrity. He's liked for who he is, not for being a great driver.

Not to say he isn't a brilliant driver.

Dcully

Glad to say ive managed to race Dale Jr a few times here www.iracing.com he is super quick on road courses aswell as ovals.

Nascar is awesome,running inches apart at over 200mph with cars all round you, what more could you want?

Iridium there are plenty of nascar streams on the net that stream races live.

tifosi 1

Who's your favourite to win todays race and who would you like to see win the race.

Desired Top 5
Kyle Bush
Jeff Gordon
Denny Hamlin
Kevin Harvick
Greg Biffle


Possilbe Top 5
Carl Edwards
Kyle Bush
Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson
Jeff Gordon

Dcully

Kyle Busch is just so damn good.

SouperComputer

Long, boring post warning....

Ive always been partial to NASCAR myself, moreso since I've moved to the US and have a chance to work with the teams and learn about ovals (complete head***k for someone whos raced and worked on cars on circuits). I think the internet is helping (a little) to get it more international acclaim, as more people have (informed, intelligent) discussions, they are starting to realise that its nothing like keeping the hammer down and turning left, theres a lot more to it than that.

Still, you get idiots on both sides ones over here that see F1 as pansy boys driving remote control cars and F1 fanbois that think that driving an oval is easy. Well, actually it is, so is "driving" an F1 car, but driving it competively amongst a field of other drivers is hard. Suffice to say, everyone who has raced in circuit racing and then driven on an oval has commented on how surprisingly difficult it is.

Of course some things suck about it, digger is a PITA, the races are pretty long but theres usually some decent crashes and dicy moments. Usually ill watch a race while working, grilling or something. Also part of what I like about NASCAR is the humility of the drivers, behind the scenes is much less pretentious and more friendly than F1 and many forms of "european" racing. It reminded me of my Karting days, everybody knows everybody, much more of a community feel.

As for the race today, its anyones guess, thats what I like about NASCAR the most its difficult to accurately guess who is going to win a race.

/Rant over....boogety boogey boogety!

amacachi

I'd agree with SouperComputer about the drivers, they come across as a lot more approachable than their F1 etc. counterparts. It could be said that it's just part of their image, but who knows? We'll see this season if Kimi does a flip from his car after winning a race. :P

amacachi

LIGHTNING wrote: »

A mate of mine has done some oval racing and he did state its pretty tricky but he found it easier than track racing but that could be just him. The one thing I do think is that I doubt the majority of the nascar drivers wouldnt be able handle F1, the fitness level of a nascar doesnt exactly look to high but I could be wrong.

I doubt they could handle an F1 car straight off the bat, but stick them and F1 drivers into some GT-type cars and I imagine the difference in lap times wouldn't be too huge. Them NASCAR lads can fairly handle their cars.

Oblomov

For anyone in the UK.. http://www.northamptonshire.co.uk/events/rockingham0502.htm

Rockingham speedway.. nothing like Daytona but ...

Right, Question, what is the points structure within NASCAR.... wins, fastest lap, laps by leading car, ? how does it work?

Dcully

Couple of streams from Bristol for anyone interested

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/motor-sports
http://www.justin.tv/warpig5

EvilMonkey

I found out about NASCAR when i bought a NASCAR game/sim for the PC years ago. I had great craic knocking cars off and eventually took it more seriously. I watched a few races on motors TV but stopped when i got rid of sky. I haven't really followed it recently but have a passing interest in it. Its hard when you already follow F1, gp2, motogp, wsbk, touring cars, rally not to mention the local stuff.

tifosi 1

That was a great race. Kyle Bush is in top form. Great result for JGR.

Grim.

EvilMonkey wrote: »

Its hard when you already follow F1, gp2, motogp, wsbk, touring cars, rally not to mention the local stuff.

same here especially the bikes bsb wsbk wss motogp odd bit of ama to much motor sport to watch as it is

Dcully

Nice win for Kyle Busch as i predicted

Anyone watch the Aussie V8 series?
Superb close racing in absolute beasts of cars.

Dcully

Im guessing your playing this http://www.rfactorcentral.com/detail.cfm?ID=V8Factor

Deffo one of the best rfactor mods.

Dcully

I must admit to loving the F1 79 mod and the historic gt and touring car mod from HistorX

Dcully

Yeah i tried it , its pretty good but i find with rfactor that theres so many mods [thousands now] that the community is totally fragmented.

Cookie_Monster

I have to say I don't like it too much. I've watched a few races but just never gotten the attraction. It's too long for a start, cars going round in circles for three hours is just too much for me, be it an oval of f1 cars in Monaco, it is just too long.

Yes it can produce some good racing but I feel it takes so long for cars to react, a passing move seems to usually last half a lap and the yellows etc are over exagurated. Crappy american commentary with sponsorship every 2 secs really takes away from it too.

And one final gripe I have is, that a long with a lot of american racing, they don't race if it's raining, wusses:pac:

amacachi

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Ah you see your looking at it like an F1 race, try to look at it like as very long chess match. Try watching one while doing something else maybe having a BBQ or a few beers. Its great background stuff just leave it on the TV and have a glance every so often. As for the rain issue their was a race a while ago on a road circuit and it rained, it was one of the funnest races I have ever seen. The only rain tyres the had were like 5 years old and were practically plastic at this stage. Most of the grid didnt even have wipers so it was carnage!

To be fair, Formula 1 was getting to that leave-it-on-in-the-background stage not that long ago.

I would pay to see that rain-affected race :P

Cookie_Monster

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Ah you see your looking at it like an F1 race, try to look at it like as very long chess match. Try watching one while doing something else maybe having a BBQ or a few beers. Its great background stuff just leave it on the TV and have a glance every so often. As for the rain issue their was a race a while ago on a road circuit and it rained, it was one of the funnest races I have ever seen. The only rain tyres the had were like 5 years old and were practically plastic at this stage. Most of the grid didnt even have wipers so it was carnage!

I wouldn't watch a chess match either. zzzzzzz stuff that:D

As for having it in the background, why bother then. If I'm going to watch a race I want to watch it not just have it in the background

tifosi 1

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I have to say I don't like it too much. I've watched a few races but just never gotten the attraction. It's too long for a start, cars going round in circles for three hours is just too much for me, be it an oval of f1 cars in Monaco, it is just too long.

Yes it can produce some good racing but I feel it takes so long for cars to react, a passing move seems to usually last half a lap and the yellows etc are over exagurated. Crappy american commentary with sponsorship every 2 secs really takes away from it too.

And one final gripe I have is, that a long with a lot of american racing, they don't race if it's raining, wusses:pac:

I used to view Nascar in the same light as yourself. I just couldn't see the appeal. But after watching a few back to back races it all seemed to just click with me. It does bear a few similarities with F1.

All F1 tracks are in effect a race around a circle. If there were 43 cars on an F1 grid the yellow flag situation would double or treble. The only reason we get American commentary is because it's not big enough over here yet. If Sky did their own running commentary you wouldn't have so many ad breaks.

The rain situation is a safety element. Do you remember the F1 race in Brazil 2003 where half the field was wiped out due to a stream of water running accross the track and the cars aquaplaned into the graveltrap. The whole track in Nascar would act like that if they drove in the rain.

For me the great things about Nascar are the things it does differently from F1.

30+ races a year
43 car field
10-15 top drivers all capable of winning a race
Close racing for the entire race
Feeder series that actually works and is relevant to the premier divison

gs39t

tifosi 1 wrote: »

Feeder series that actually works and is relevant to the premier divison

Thats one thing i dont agree with. The Nationwide series has become nothing but a playground for the Cup drivers, and the Truck series is dominated by former Cup series drivers, not to mention Kyle Busch, who's almost guaranteed to win every time he's in a truck.

It's great to see a rational NASCAR thread on boards, i gave up long ago as every thread here was ruined by morons. Sky are doing their best with the awful, awful FOX coverage. Cant wait for ESPN to take over later in the year.

Dcully wrote:

Anyone watch the Aussie V8 series?

Adelaide was ok, but the series isnt as competitive as it once was. Whincup walked away with both races. It's still an awesome series, though.

amacachi

LIGHTNING wrote: »

The setanta coverage I must admit is excellent, it has the best of both worlds. They use the American commentary but when they go to ads they keep the feed going usually onboard so you get to hear the glorious V8 for two laps or so. They also have their own pundits one of which is a ex UK driver cant remember his name though. Id agree with you in regard to the nationwide series, F1 has a very successful feeder series GP2 with a few drivers having graduated to F1.

What does Setanta cover? I've not noticed any race coverage on their listings this year.

amacachi

Yeah I know they were showing last season, I haven't seen anything this year other than NASCAR Now or whatever it's called.

tifosi 1

I don't know about you guys but when i watch an F1 race I love to goto F1.com and watch the live timings (I know it's sad but I do it anyway). However I noticed that the Nascar live timings are about 3-4 laps behind the TV coverage. Does anybody know why this is the case? If it was the other way around I could understand it as there is a time delay in all Live TV broadcasts.

amacachi

tifosi 1 wrote: »

I don't know about you guys but when i watch an F1 race I love to goto F1.com and watch the live timings (I know it's sad but I do it anyway). However I noticed that the Nascar live timings are about 3-4 laps behind the TV coverage. Does anybody know why this is the case? If it was the other way around I could understand it as there is a time delay in all Live TV broadcasts.

Can't say I do know, wouldn't have thought the site would get all that much traffic. That is strange

You're not alone in using the live timing though, the F1 commentators usually notice someone is on a charge about 2 laps after the charge has stopped :P

Min

tifosi 1 wrote: »

I don't know about you guys but when i watch an F1 race I love to goto F1.com and watch the live timings (I know it's sad but I do it anyway). However I noticed that the Nascar live timings are about 3-4 laps behind the TV coverage. Does anybody know why this is the case? If it was the other way around I could understand it as there is a time delay in all Live TV broadcasts.

I'm a big fan of NASCAR, took a few races to get into it, back when NASN use to show it.....

The NASCAR live timing that is upto date is the Pitcommand/trackpass, which is a much better livetiming than the one F1 offers in that it is basically livetiming that is in real time, unlike waiting for a sector to be completed in F1 for the timing to be updated.

Then you have to pay for trackpass, but you get access to driver radios as well.....

The free livetiming is frustrating.

amacachi

Live stream of today's Goody's Fast Relief 500. It's taken from Sky so less ad breaks http://www.justin.tv/jonny3tv/popout

aidan_dunne

Yep, that's how I watch it too, amacachi. Some of the streams on justin.tv are very poor and pretty much unwatchable but that jonny3tv guy's stream is always pretty much rock solid for me. Plus, as you said, the fact that it's the Sky Sports programme instead of one of the US streams means there's no annoying ads cutting in every 2 minutes. They continue to show the feed from the track and Keith Huewen, John Mickel and the other fella (can never remember his name!) keep talking over the live pictures. The chatroom window running alongside the video window is good as well as you can have a discussion with the other fans watching during the boring parts of the race!

tifosi 1

Does anybody play the recently released Nascar game? I got it in Xtravision for €19.99(XB360). Huge improvement over last years game. Is anybody playing it online?

amacachi

If I could find it here in town and a cheap steering wheel I would get it. Can't see it being much good without the wheel :pac:

IlikePostcards

I have been a NASCAR fan for years and years. I'm an American transplant to Dublin about 8 months ago, and just recently I have been getting into F1. (1 race; Malaysia) So, I guess I'm coming from the opposite perspective as most of you guys.

1. NASCAR is a family thing, so the Jr. comments are mostly unfounded because he still is getting used to his new team, and new cars... which leads me to...

2. CoT sucks. Anyone else agree? They keep the car safer, which is great, but it just seems that NASCAR isn't NASCAR anymore, now that the car is so stable and predictable.

amacachi

IlikePostcards wrote: »

I have been a NASCAR fan for years and years. I'm an American transplant to Dublin about 8 months ago, and just recently I have been getting into F1. (1 race; Malaysia) So, I guess I'm coming from the opposite perspective as most of you guys.

1. NASCAR is a family thing, so the Jr. comments are mostly unfounded because he still is getting used to his new team, and new cars... which leads me to...

2. CoT sucks. Anyone else agree? They keep the car safer, which is great, but it just seems that NASCAR isn't NASCAR anymore, now that the car is so stable and predictable.

Having not seen any races with the old cars I can't say too much, but they certainly looked better.

amacachi

Just watching the Southern 500, unreal number of crashes and spins. Having said that, NASCAR seemed to be far less zealous with the cautions, hopefully it won't just be a one-off.

tifosi 1

IlikePostcards wrote: »

I have been a NASCAR fan for years and years. I'm an American transplant to Dublin about 8 months ago, and just recently I have been getting into F1. (1 race; Malaysia) So, I guess I'm coming from the opposite perspective as most of you guys.

1. NASCAR is a family thing, so the Jr. comments are mostly unfounded because he still is getting used to his new team, and new cars... which leads me to...

2. CoT sucks. Anyone else agree? They keep the car safer, which is great, but it just seems that NASCAR isn't NASCAR anymore, now that the car is so stable and predictable.

I have to disagree with you on your last post. While the COT is stable and predicatabe the racing this season so far is not. In the 10 races we had there has been 7 different winners.

Not too sure what you meant by your first point. All the Rick Hendrick drivers have won a race this season and been in the hunt for wins from the start. It's not his first season with this car or team.

tifosi 1

If anybody is playing the Xbox360 version of Nascar 09 my gamertag is Tifsoi no1.

amacachi

tifosi 1 wrote: »

If anybody is playing the Xbox360 version of Nascar 09 my gamertag is Tifsoi no1.

I may well be getting this tomorrow and a gold membership within a couple of weeks. My gamertag is faloonzer.

tifosi 1

Does anybody know where I can learn about the History of Nascar. What I'm basically looking for is the season reviews. I've got 80-2008 in F1 and would love something similar for Nascar. I'm a pauper so it'll have to be either legal freebies from the net or other ways which i'm not sure if I can discuss here.

In your opinion(not win statics) who was better

Richard Petty
Dale Snr
Darrell Waltrip
Cale Yarbourough

lord lucan

tifosi 1 wrote: »

Does anybody know where I can learn about the History of Nascar. What I'm basically looking for is the season reviews. I've got 80-2008 in F1 and would love something similar for Nascar. I'm a pauper so it'll have to be either legal freebies from the net or other ways which i'm not sure if I can discuss here.

In your opinion(not win statics) who was better

Richard Petty
Dale Snr
Darrell Waltrip
Cale Yarbourough

From what i've seen of it(mainly old footage/videos) it's a toss up between petty and earnhardt. I prefer earnhardt personally,the "intimidator" in his black number 3 just looked menacing!:cool:

I got into it about 5 years ago while in the states on hols,watch it all the time now(i'm still a big F1 fan too.). I get the same reaction as some have mentioned re. boring/driving round in circles etc. but once you get into it it gets very interesting.

I was in florida in 2005 and done a ride-a-long(i can't drive a car) in a modified M&M's #38 car(elliot sadlers car at the time),great bit of craic,6 laps on 19 degree banking,certainly a lot faster than they look on the tv. You can drive one too if you're so inclined.

SouperComputer

Best driver? Always ends up in a arguement IMO. Favourite driver maybe?

History of NASCAR:- http://www.amazon.com/Wildest-Ride-Billion-Dollar-Industry-Wrecking/dp/0743226259/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242216403&sr=8-4

tifosi 1

Thanks for the info guys.

This weekend is the All-star race. I really don't see the point of this race at this point in the season. I think it should be held at the end of the season as a freebie for the fans who supported all year long.

Does anybody know how this race came about?

lord lucan

tifosi 1 wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys.

This weekend is the All-star race. I really don't see the point of this race at this point in the season. I think it should be held at the end of the season as a freebie for the fans who supported all year long.

Does anybody know how this race came about?

I think the All-Star race is almost like an exhibition race in mid-season,provides a break from competitive action for a weekend with the carrot of $1m to keep everyone interested. Tbh the format is all over the place now,all the 20/50 lap sections was confusing the hell outta me!

Good laugh at Gordon in his 24 take a big hit in the final session while looking strong:D

ReacherCreature

Most American sports have some sort of All-Star day.

The NBA has it's All-Star weekend having events like; East vs. West, Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Shootouts, Rookies vs. Sophmores.

NFL has the Pro Bowl, AFC vs. NFC

Hockey has the East vs. West.

So it's sorta standard to have an All-Star event in NASCAR.

I enjoyed it though. Good to see a break in the season even if it was a little early.

Kenseth must have been heartbroken to let that lead slip to Stewart! It was Stewart's first win as an owner-driver too.

gs39t

The last ten lap segment was amazing. I thought the event was all but over when Johnson led the first 50 laps. I was gutted to see Newman get put in the wall as a result of Gordon hitting Kyle and spinning himself out. Newman came back from almost two laps down to the lead by that point

tifosi 1

Did anyone catch the Nashville Victory Lane celebrations last weekend for Kyle Busch in the Nationwide. Well if you didn't let me catch you up to speed. He won the race and was presented with the trophy which was a hand made Gibson guitar. After accepting the guitar Busch attempted to smash the guitar. He didn't quite manage it like Pete Townend but it did smash. Where am i going with this you ask?

Well a large portion of Nascar fans (some already anti Busch) are in uproar citing that he's ungrateful and disrepectful. He reasoning (to give each member of the team a piece) was sound for doing it in my opinion but you know what southern Americans can be like (stubborn and set in their ways).

What does everybody think, is Kyle Busch a breath of fresh air for Nascar or a loose canon that needs reiging in?