Nascar

[90Xjay]

Well, my dwindling enthusiasm for NASCAR just took a nosedive similar to a Jap Zero headed for the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

The wise ones now running the series announce that Toyota will now be running in the Nextel cup series beginning in 07.
This really wasn't a surprise, since they have been in the truck series for a couple of years now.

I used to be a big fan, went to races, collected crap.
Over the years, I slowed down and just followed from TV land.
Since Brian France took over, I've seen much that turns me off.
They have left the smaller tracks that help build the sport for the cookie-cutter speedways to get better markets and more money. I know it all business, but you should try and dance with who brung ya.

The $3000 dollar Gucci suit and french cuff wearing guys who run the sport now have lost touch with the fans like me who liked the old Nascar.

With Toyota being in the sport now for 07, I think I'll just give it up all together, I only watched about 1/2 the races last year anyway.
Only the multi-car teams with billions of dollars can win now anyway.
The sport has grown, but it has left me along the road somewhere in a town called Disgusted.

NASCAR was built off of guys like Jr Johson running shine in the Carolinas.
After prohibition, they still had fast cars and liked to race them.
It was born in America by Americans. Like Baseball, it is one of our pastimes and traditions. We Americans have few things left from our culture that we can hold onto. We are forced to take on the cultures of everone who migrates here and embrace their customs, but we need to preserve ours as well.

I think Toyota has no place in the sport, but the people who run it do.
They made a choice, now I'm making one.
Good bye NASCAR

N issan
A udi
S aab
C amry
A valon
R idgeline


God Bless the USA

 

[mud4feet]

I'm with ya', 90xj!! Toyota joining doesn't really bother me......they might as well - the cars they're running today are about as much of a "Ford, Chevy, Dodge" as my kayak is. They're racecars, plain and simple, just big, heavy race cars. Maybe they should call them "Carolina cars" (just like the "Indy cars").

They've most definitely lost touch with their roots. I'd much rather watch a short track race than watch a 43 car pack with restrictor plates biding their time 'til the "big one" - pretty boring to me. Restrictor plates always puzzled me......isn't the point of a race to see who is the fastest????? If you're going to flip at 230 mph, the BACK OFF!!! That's racing - take your chances and live with the result.

It basically all comes down to money. Money ruins everything. NASCAR was cool when it was just the motorheads watching it, but then the Gucci's came along and now it sucks.

I think I'll start watching lacrosse.

 

[TwistedCU]

Well you could always just get one of those helicopters on a string and watch it go around in a circle instead :lol:

Seriously though, I haven't watched in several years. Now that Toyota is in it they'll never get me back.

They sold out.

 

[90Xjay]

.....They sold out.

So true.

 

[90Xjay]

 

[bchcky]

I think I'll start watching lacrosse.

the NCAA men's tournament for lacrosse is awesome. i played in high school, and if you can catch it on ESPN, its well played and very entertaining.

 

[Sparky-Watts]

Yup, I hear ya. I'm a diehard Nascar fan from the days of Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and Benny Parsons. I hate restrictor plates. I hate the fact that they've sold out the names of the old standby tracks like Charlotte is now Lowes, Sears Point is now Infineon, etc. And they've done away with some of the most exciting tracks that make a driver use his skills over horsepower to win. The Jeffy Gordon's are the one's that started the downfall, with their pretty-boy companies, yuppy groupies, and big money backed teams.

One other thing that's been bothering me for years now is the "ringers" that teams use at the road courses. I say if your driver can't drive a road course and you have to bring in Boris Said to run for you, you should not only lose driver points, but also team points and manufacturer points. The only reason a driver shouldn't drive his own car is if he's injured in a wicked flying roll-over at 230 mph because he didn't back off when they took away the restrictor plates!!! I doubt I'll be watching much any more. Most of the "good ol' boys" are leaving or will soon be leaving...Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Ricky Rudd......it just ain't the same race it was even 15-20 years ago.

 

[southtj]

You guys sound like a bunch of old men sitting around the checker table in the park whining about the good old days. Changes have been made to increase safety and increase popularity. The've done both very well. Do I like all the changes? Not everyone of them, but it's still a fun sport to watch. I've been a fan since the early '80s and will continue to be a fan.

Go Bobby Labonte!

 

[90Xjay]

You guys sound like a bunch of old men sitting around the checker table in the park whining about the good old days.....

Well for alot of us the changes that have happened over the last 10 years or so, have really caused us to lose interest.
The people who run the sport now are so far from the original Bill France vision.
The point system, big multi-billion-dollar, multi-sponsor, multi-car teams.
The independent driver can not afford to buy the parts to make enough speed to even qualify for a race, let alone be competitive.

Watching the team-mates let each other lead a lap just for bonus points:redface:

Now with Toyota, and I'm sure Nissan and Mazda not far behind...:???:

I just don't care about it like I used to, I'm thinking like Mudd.

Lacrosse it is

 

[happy024]

Well I agree that Toyota has me business in NASCAR, but it was inevitable. I've been watching since I can remember, and will continue to watch. The drivers that are there now have made there way up through the rankings just like the good old boys of yesteryears. They probubly raced cars that didn't have the money of the other guys and still won. And thats why they are at this level now and making the big bucks. Its a new generation of drivers AND fans I think that NASCAR has done a pretty good job of making it still fun to watch cars for hours go in circles!

Go Dale Jr.

 

[redrooster]

I am still a fan, but losing interest more every year. Since the passing of Earnhardt, it just hasn't been the same. It seems like he was the only one that had the balls to stand up to Nascar and call BS.
It's now become cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks. The new cars all fit the same templates, leaving Mfg's only to design the front grill and engines. Even those are highly regulated. All races now might as well be IROC races.

 

[southtj]

...It's now become cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks. The new cars all fit the same templates, leaving Mfg's only to design the front grill and engines. Even those are highly regulated. All races now might as well be IROC races.

That's why I could care less if Toyota or Nissan or Hyundai or BMW or Schwinn decides to enter a car in the series. They are still going to be the same car as all the others and the owners will get alot of money from the car manufacturer to say that they are driving their brand. This is one of those things I mentioned earlier that I don't like. But it does force the competitors to look for other ways to be competitive.

Sort of off topic. Pet Peeve of mine - On the radio they had a promotion of some sort where they said over and over, "come and win a chance to drive a real NASCAR." A Nascar what??! Now, we all know that NASCAR is an acronym for National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (yeah, yeah they're not stock any more) so how are you supposed to drive an association?

 

[mingez]

Okay, I don't get Nascar. It makes no sense to me how making several left turns in one day is interesting to anyone. So I'm by no means a fan.

But why again is it bad that Toyota is in the sport? Because they are foreign? Help me here.

To me, the more international a sport gets, the more credibility it has. The US has 2 major sports, (football, baseball) that for the most part are only played in the US. So, in my opinion, using the term: "World Champion" is kind of an embellishment since no other countries participate. (of course I understand that the assumption is that no other countries' team can compete - probably true)

Of course, the word "Sport" probably shouldn't apply to Nascar, but it's a competition. If I found out that a team based in Europe was going to play the winner of our Superbowl, I'd be stoked to watch the Steelers or Seahawks trample those Euro slouches. Just like I relished in the fact that the "Real" dream team Basketball teams used to beat Croatia by 30 pts. It's great fun! ( that last team wasn't even close to the "Best" the NBA had to offer.

So why is it "Selling out"? I'm not being critical, so much as I don't understand. I'm sure you guys have reasons other than patriotism or buying american as your reasons.

 

[southtj]

...So why is it "Selling out"? I'm not being critical, so much as I don't understand. I'm sure you guys have reasons other than patriotism or buying american as your reasons.

I think you hit the nail on the head, Mingez. Nascar has traditionally been an American sport started by a bunch of southerners (of which I am one, hence the "south") that drove american cars. Some people don't like change. See above posters. I say bring it on. The sport will become more legitimized if there are other car makes than the big three and will become even more popular even outside of the good ole US of A.

As for the turning left thing, it's much more than that. Once you know the back stories of some of the drivers and the who's who and the strategies involved, it becomes much more fun to watch. It's like a chess match sometimes. The longer races can be boring but I still love it. Me, I don't like to watch a bunch of primadonnas running back and forth, back and forth and back and forth throwing a ball at a basket for a few hours. But that's just me.

 

[90Xjay]

Okay, I don't get

But why again is it bad that Toyota is in the sport? Because they are foreign? Help me here.........
So why is it "Selling out"? I'm not being critical, so much as I don't understand. I'm sure you guys have reasons other than patriotism or buying american as your reasons.

Mingez, I hope you know that I have all the respect for you in the world.
But, if I have to explain why having import automakers enter NASCAR bothers me, well... I just don't think you would ever understand why I think it's stinks.
Not that having to explain myself is beneath me, but it's one of those things that if you have to ask why, then you probably won't get it.

I will say this: it is the same reason that I was put off last fall at our city's Vetrans Day Parade when they had two of our WWII vets riding in the back of a Toyota Avalon and a vetran WWII POW of one of the Japanese POW Camps in the back of a Nissan in the Parade. All the while, the ROTC guys and gals ran along the curbs of the parade route handing out nice American flags to everyone that had "made in China" printed on them.

You either get it, or it will never bother you.

 

[southtj]

Comparing Nascar to a veterans parade is a bit of a stretch. One is just a sport and the other is honoring people that risked their lives for our great country. I agree they shouldn't have had them in cars built by Japanese companies but those cars were probably built in America by Americans. The veterans obviously didn't have a problem with it.

 

[90Xjay]

Comparing Nascar to a veterans parade is a bit of a stretch. One is just a sport and the other is honoring people that risked their lives for our great country.

I was not comparing the "sport" to the "parade" it was the ideals, tradtions, and heritage that were similar. (or..used to be)

I agree they shouldn't have had them in cars built by Japanese companies but those cars were probably built in America by Americans.

Ahh, you may have been sipping on too much Japanese Koolaid.
Alot of components are made here, but esp with Toyota, the engines, at least the ones I read on the new car stickers are built whole and shipped over. Also, no matter how many Americans stand around and assemble the cars......where does the corporate profits end up? Not here.

The veterans obviously didn't have a problem with it.

Give me a break. Please. These poor guys were very feeble looking and one had to have help setting up. I don't think they even payed attention. Someone just picked them up from the nursing home, shoved them in a car and off to the parade they go.

 

[raptor_pilot]

Well personally I think we could debate what makes a sport a sport til we are al blue in the face. I love racing. And while I do think restrictor plates are quite dumb, I still love the sport. Toyota entering doesnt bother me at all. Its nothing more than another car company. And most Toyota's ARE built here. And its true, the cars are pretty much all the same, although each company has a different template.It's all a matter of putting driver skill at the forefront(or so that is the idea).
As far as the sport changing for so much worse I have to disagree. I'm not a big fan of all the new young guys, most have bad attitudes. But many still come from racing backgrounds. They arent given rides by friends or who they know. I hate to say it but lok at Tony Stewart, he came from dirt track. Although I do agree that these teams are out of hand. But, thats just my opinion. I was a Earnhardt fan and now I'm a Jr fan.
Mke

 

[TerryMason]

I don't get nascar at all, and echo what mingez said. I can't understand why you guys wouldn't want Toyota in there. It's just a car, who cares where it's built. Would you guys mind if we had foreign drivers in nascar (do we allow that now?)

Reminds me of my music elitist friend that always liked that band "before they sold out".

 

[jps4jeep]

I am a big fan, I see no problem allowing toyota to run in NASCAR, it is just as american made as the other big three.