....how much cooler than NASCAR, I think this is.

http://www.wieck.com/public/*2PV_057106

 

Any type of racing that uses a true stock bodied car is better then the wanna be N.A._.C.A.R.

 

Here's a question, since I don't follow NASCRAP at all. What year did they stop using production-based bodies and switch to tube-framed race cars with fake bodies?

 

I think that they stopped using real cars sometime in the early '80s.

I have been so completely uninterested for so long , I can't really remember.

 

Im putting my vote in for Rally racing to be by far the coolest....

 

For being so interested in cars for so long... I have never really had an interest in racing... not sure why, really.

I can say though, that on my honeymoon last month, I did the "NASCAR Experience" at the Pocono International Raceway... I got to drive a stock car for 25 miles (10 laps)... I reached a tach speed of 8100 RPM's on my best lap, which calculated into 174-177 MPH... an incredible experience!!

 

Its all about the drivers guys...if you don't follow a driver then of course NASCAR is boring..it would be like watching NFL without a favorite team.

Put the NASCAR drivers in any kind of car and I'd watch 'em.

 

NASCAR stopped using production-based cars sometime in the early 70s.

Interestingly enough, in other parts of the world, production-car racing is alive and well. Both Europe and Asia have strong touring-car championships, and of course rally cars start with bodies-in-white. This type of racing seems to have been very effective in pushing the technology of street-going cars, where as NASCAR has been sliding off the cost-benefit curve at a rapidly increasing pace. Sorry, but unless I'm watching dirt-track roundy-round racing, I'd prefer to watch race cars that are somewhat higher-tech than the vehicles in the parking lot.

Seems to me that rally racing does a lot better job of displaying driver talent than stock-car racing. Get rid of the restrictor plates on big tracks and hold a lot more races on road courses, and it'd be a whole 'nother story.

 

NAScar was still using production bodies (save inner cages) right through the late 80s. The Aeroback Monte Carlo & Grand Prix of the mid/late 80s was a direct result of the "Aero" Ford Thunderbird's phenomenal successes.

That's the big difference in comparing how phony "Stock Car" racing has become in the past decade. Back then, manufactures designed their cars to compete, and it showed on the cars you & I could buy. Thunderbird swept the races, GM designed a glassback for it's "G" Bodies that HAD to be available to us regular customers. Chevrolet's Lumina (also featured in the NASCAR based movie, "Days Of Thunder") started cleaning up, and was challenged by the MN12 Ford Thunderbird. Today, NASCAR's cars bodies & shapes are all but standardized "approved" fiberglass and nearly identical without tape, decals & stickers.

The race may be about the drivers, but calling it Stock Car Racing is a obvious lie. Australian's Stock Car Supercar series is about the drivers too. But when Ford or Holden use their Stock Car racers in advertisements, it's alot closer to what they are selling than say the Monte Carlo in Chevy ads.

 

The cars in the mid/late 80s used bodywork that was much closer to production shapes than today's cars, but it was still virtually all handmade. They stopped used actual production bodywork sometime in the late 70s (in the mid 70s, the cars still had production bodywork but it was fastened to a custom tube frame). After all, ever try disassembling most unibody cars? It's like peeling an onion, only the onion is spot-welded together and requires hundreds of drilling operations to peel.

 

I stand corrected.

At least the bodywork was identifiable and had to follow production models.

Perhaps NASCAR should drop the label "Stock Car" racing completely.

 

Thats the other part of NACAR that sux!!Their drivers.There is no way that their drivers are "the best drivers in the world" ALL THEY DO IS TURN LEFT!!!

Chris.Im not calling you out or dissing you or anything negative.Im venting on their drivers.I bet you and your T/A would give a winston cup car/driver a run for their money on a road course.

 

F1 is where it is at... that's real racing right there. Then Rally Racing, those are the main forms of racing where you will find REAL drivers.

 

They just had the sandown 500 on the weekend and if you get a chance to see the highlights, this race you shouldn't miss

The TV coverage had some gems too. A far bit of swearing made it through to air, but that would probably be cut out for a highlight package.

K-Mart Team Radio: the rear wings xxxxed!!!
Commentator: I think they said the rear wing is damaged...

*cue shot of FPR car sliding into wall*
Glenn Seton (in commentry box): hey, thats my car!

and of course the sight during the snow, and rain...of Ambrose eating an icecream.


And some pics:



Ermm......... I only have 1 pic so far of the race so the girls have to make up for it

 

There are some great drivers in NASCAR. Yes they only run 2 road courses a year, but the Trans Am series "ringers" that come in for those races can't beat the Cup regulars. Fellows and Said both had their shots this year...but if NASCAR drivers were really so poor in talent then those two and Scott Pruett would have blown them away. Not to mention Boris wants to drive Cup full time. Hell, Robby Gordon has won races in every kind of car/series there is, but he has only been lukewarm in NASCAR at best...and its not because he's not with a good team.

Same could be said for the fact that road racing experts have a hard time competing in NASCAR at a high level. Seems there is more to turning left than "just turning left" You won't see me making an argument that NASCAR are THE best, but they are not just a bunch of hilljack pushovers. You've seen the talent that used to go to CART years ago now come to NASCAR....Almost all of the hottest American drivers want to drive NASCAR...so there is talent and skill there. These guys can drive..you may not care for oval track racing but there is no road course out there than can compare on an entertainment level to a classic Nascar short track race like Richmond or Bristol.