toad490

Guys I don't mean to be an a____le but what's up with this forum? One thread from Finland???? Nothing against Finland and that's about as cool a car as you'll find but I don't get it, isn't NASCAR the most popular form of racing in America? I HATE the "chase" and am not a fan of the COT but it's racin' there has to be something to talk about.
Jimmy Johnson, 4 in a row
J.P. the first forgien born champ?
Mark Martin 50 years old (gotta love it)
JR. what's wrong?
What's Dodge going to do?
Hall of Fame choices (Bill France Jr.??? GIVE ME A BREAK!!!)
I know I'm on a bit of a rant but seriously is NASCAR in this much trouble? I know attendance and ratings are down but I'm surprised there seems to be so little intrest.

78D200

I think that watching kids go around in circles is more fun to watch. Don't get me wrong, NASCAR can be fun to watch (road courses) but it only takes one or two people with attitude problems that makes me not want to watch it.

I'd rather watch the Craftsman Truck Series, NHRA and The road course racing they do over in Europe with the Audis and BMWs and those car (because those are some crazy drivers.

toad490

Your right about the drivers over in Europe, those boys get right down to it. How about WRC racing those guys are nuts!!! No safer barriers there, if your lucky you hit a tree!

NASCAR has made both the cars and drivers fit a template and it's hurting the sport big time. I also believe the chase is a joke, can you believe NASCAR telling Brad Keselowski to stop racing the chase drivers so hard. They've been controling the drivers off the track for years now, look at Tony Stewart when he spoke out against the tires Goodyear was bringing, he retreated faster than the French, now they're telling them who they can race. It's sad to see, Dale we miss you.

78D200

I heard about that too. I'm sorry, then why are they allowing the people in the "chase" race with those that are not? Its getting to become lame to watch.

67 GTX

something is up with earnhardt
he has been way off his game the last couple of years

78D200

I think that people expect too much from him.

67 GTX

that is true, but he has the talent, and hendrick's definetly gives him the resources

scotts74birds

Driving skill is not genetic, Kyle Petty proved that!

Polaradude

You got that right Scotty. There will only be one King..ever!

67 GTX

very true
but he had success early in his career

old tired rebel

When they went from Stock car to Nascar they ruined racing. Everything has to be hand built and fit a template. The days of going to a Dealer and picking up a car from the lot ended on the late 70's early 80's. Back then you could work the body to fit better than the factory and make small changes. Until Smokey Yunick 66 Chevelle that he built in mods or smoothed out the body to make it more aerodynamic. Then the Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird came in to dominate Stock car racing along with the 426 Hemi and 440 that GM and Ford screamed Foul. Humpy Wheeler is who you have to Thank.

Polaradude

No ****. The birds dominated in 70-71 till they were banned by the sore losers.
Stock Car...nuff said. I am on the same page with ya.

toad490

I agree, that was great racing, when brands actually ment something. I've always been a fan of the cars more than drivers.
I might be out to lunch on this but I really think that the radial tire has done more to hurt the racing in the '' modern'' era than anything. When 1/4 lb of air can make so much difference it takes the driver out of the piture.

johnthegoalie

the 7/8 scale chevelle...

toad490

If there was any doubt that NASCAR is in trouble here's a quote from Forbes.com before the 09 Daytona 500 and ratings have fallen 8-10% over 08 since then.

"NASCAR's regular-season television ratings have fallen 21% since their peak in 2005, a reversal from the prior five years, when they vastly outgrew all other professional sports in viewership. While ad spending on National Football League broadcasts was up 4% from 2005 to $2 billion, spending fell 16% on NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup circuit last year to $351 million, according to Nielsen estimates.
Attendance at the track fell for a third straight year from an average of 130,000 per race to 118,000, according to NASCAR estimates. To fight the decline, International Speedway the biggest track owner in the U.S., has slashed prices on some 15% of its seats by more than 40% in advance of the upcoming Dayton 500."

What was very interesting is that there was very little on ratings since the middle of the season when numbers were way down. I searched google and ask.com, I suspect a conspiracy! Have you noticed that TV is very careful not to show the grandstands in alot of the races? I understand that attendance is down some because of the economy but it don't cost anything to turn the TV on, you would think TV ratings would be up. Is this a result of the Chase? 04 was the first year of it and there has been a steady decline since 05.

old tired rebel

It didn't take long for his car to get banned. Just one of the many articles about Smokey's Chevelle.


http://www.superchevy.com/features/c.../photo_01.html

scotts74birds

Toad, you have some great points there!! The part about not showing empty stands is true, I thought I was the only one who noticed. Of course they figure that the average NASCAR is Joe Sixpak. But guess what, its Joe Sixpak that has been taking it in the *** during this downturn/depression, depending on where you live! IMHO **** started to go downhill with the later start times so the left-coast folks could feel more involved. Saturday night races!!!! Buddy, I got **** to do on saturday nights! I aint that old!!! God forbid the schedule conflicts with "hockey night in Canada"!!! I love Don Cherry! The creation of boring cookie-cutter tracks like Vegas, Chicago, Kansas and the demise of classic tracks has also hurt the sport. Not enough room on the server for my opinion on the COTS and the "Chase for the cup"! I think I might find better racing on the lower classes of the sport if I can find it on the satty.

toad490

Scott, I agree with you on the cookie cutter tracks, Darllington was one of the best races of the season. I also liked the old start times and I'm on the left side, it was over by one o'clock and we had the rest of the day to do something.

Jimmy Johnson must be NASCARs worst nightmare, looks like four in a row. It was good to see JPM have a good race after last weekend, I was hoping he'd win it all. A real long shot now.

thirteendog

Personally I want to see more involvement from the car makers/teams. Seriously, give then a box that's so high, so wide, and so wide. Tell them it's got to weigh X amount and lets see what they come up with. You've got to get away from the spec series, It's ruining NASCRAP and IRL for that matter.

Buffalojoe426

I'm not much of a fan of the sport, mainly because it seems that the organization is taking all of the freedom out of it. Many of others have made the point that they are all driving the same car. Their is nothing stock about that. Also they are going around in a circle, It tends to get boring after 100 laps of nothing changing. I do belive that people expect too much out of Dale Jr., hope I'm not stepping on anybody's opinion there. I know there are all different series, but how about one for modern real stock cars! Lets see the viper unleash a little havoc on the Corvette and the Ford gt. Make the teams required to carry "moon shine" or something. How about a right turn? Ill just stick to drag racing at least their is a class that anybody can run in, right at the local strip.

Tiretrack

I want to see them bring back real cars. Who wouldent love to see a super srt8 challenger raceing a mustang, vs a camero vs a viper, etc.

Hell, if they let you run what you bring as long as its the right size. I bet recreations of the old superbirds and daytona's would stomp all the modern cars. IIrc, the birds could hit 205, the modern cars are limeted to what, 160?

MReeves

Hey Buffalojoe I agree with you 100%.... Very little difference in any of the cars except for the decals that tell you what they are.... At least in drag racing you have a difference in makes and models.... More like the cars we drive on the street every day... Heck, the Challenger I'm building could run on the street if it just had mufflers and a different rear gear... But with only a 5 gal fuel cell don't want to get too far from home!!!

Buffalojoe426

Somebody should start a round track class with one rule. Street legal! Drive it there, race, and drive home. That would be worth seeing.