Top 10 Reasons why NASCAR Racing is Stupid
81Ever been to a NASCAR race? I thought not. Here are my top 10 reasons why NASCAR racing doesn't rock.
10. How many ways can you go in a circle? It's loud, but it's boring. How do you know who's ahead?
9. Technology is 90% of the race. An average driver in the best car has a better shot at winning than the best driver in an average car.
8. The Biggest Race comes first. They call their Daytona 500 the Super Bowl of NASCAR. It's in February. It's the first race of the season.
7. The drivers are high paid pitchmen. How long until they tattoo sponsors' names on their foreheads?
6. It's too easy to get killed. Boxing is dangerous, but driving at 150 mph 6 inches from a bumper is deadly. The list of fatalities is long and depressing. NASCAR racers carry 17 gallons of liquid that is designed to explode. Most of the time it explodes properly in the engine; all too often it explodes in a fireball that endangers participants and spectators.
5. All the cars look the same. Actually, all the cars are the same. NASCAR designed and legislated the COT (Car of Tomorrow), then inflicted it on all racing teams. You can only tell a Toyota from a Ford by the decals.
4. The engines are carburetor-ed. You can buy a Fuel-Injected Anything from every new car dealer in the United Sates. NASCAR requires mechanical fuel delivery systems.
3. You can't play unless you're a millionaire. Despite efforts to dumb down the technology (carburetors, solid rear axles, etc.) teams spend millions in wind tunnels trying to wring out the last tiny iota of speed. Hopefully no irony gets lost; wildly expensive state-of-the-art development programs producing diminishing returns applied to cave-man cars.
2. They actually reward teams for not racing. In a strategy that would impress the US Department of Agriculture, NASCAR pays racing teams when they qualify for a race, then run one lap and intentionally drop out. Referred to as Start and Park, this strategy allows teams to avoid carrying a pit crew and avoid paying for the expensive sets of tires that wear out during a full race.
1. It's not a sport. Sure, the drivers sweat a lot and get tired during a race, but no one pays to watch me mow the lawn. NASCAR legends Tony Stewart, John Andretti, and Robby Gordon have all driven the Indy 500 race and the Coke 600 NASCAR race in the same day. Even the great Jim Brown never played two NFL games in a single day. A movement among team owners is pushing to shift the start of the Indy 500 to 11AM so more drivers can attempt this tedious double-dip.
0. The drivers are selected based on their draw. Danica Patrick couldn't win in Formula 1 and won't win in NASCAR. She's a girl and was given a car for that reason. She didn't earn her ride.
-1. A number is not an adjective. Saying something such as "The 47 car spun out and mowed the lawn." is a grossly improper use of The Queen's English. Normal people say "Car number 47 spun out and mowed the lawn."
-2. People still take this list seriously. Good grief, it's people driving in circles with other people pretending to watch.
-3. NASCAR rules clearly state that the car qualifies for the starting position, not the driver. Dale Jr. qualified on the pole for the 2011 Daytona 500, then wrecked his car and was bumped to the rear of the pack because he would be driving a different car.
-4. You can't play in the rain. All outdoor sports play in the rain. Football, baseball, cricket, Australian Rules Football, Canadian Football and even soccer all play in the rain. A sprinkle sends the NASCAR drivers scurrying for their designer golf carts to take them to their designer mobile homes.
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The folks from the south are gonna cry...... Me, I love watching million dollar cars getting destroyed so just make a crash reel for me... cuts my wasted time down to 10 or 15 minutes.
I always thought so too. All the same points. I do like the sexy chicks though. The only plus. LOL I love a good demolition derby.
Nicomp, what would southerners do without Nascar?
Nicomp, you nailed it man. I just don't get it. If I don't get to actually drive one of the cars, I'm not interested. Nascar and soccer. Two of the most boring sports to watch.
try to get in a narrow cockpit running at almost 200 miles per hour with the wall dangerously by your side for 3 to 4 hours, pit stoping, changing gears, fighting for positions, and racing avoiding dying, they fought a long way carreer since little boys to get there, they deserve that millions they win after races.
why do so many people dislike nascar? nascar is so much more extreme of a sport than any other - i mean, its so hard to drive for 4 hours. le mans and daytona 24 pales in comparison against nascar. cause, driving 4 hours in a straight line is very, very tough.
oh wait, they have turns! left curves. wow, in a race car DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY to handle high speeds, you need an insurmountable amount of skills to handle such a tough car, like that dodge charger pictured below. (boy, i should go to the dodge dealer and buy a charger, looks like it can do 200mph). good thing downforce and racing slicks are allowed, otherwise it will be so very hard for PROFESSIONAL RACE CAR DRIVERS to drive in a straight line with the occasional left curve and not hit the wall. because, its very easy to hit a stationary wall while driving in a straight line or curving slightly left - those smooth left curves can easily surprise one not ready for it. that is why you can add more weight to the left side - i just cannot stress enough how hard those smooth left curves can get!
good thing at some strai- i mean oval tracks, the turns are banked over 30 degrees (you spill a cup of coffee at 20), just in case the drivers can't turn like they were supposed to. this is due to the extreme amount of g forces drivers get introduced to - usually half that of f1. nascar therefore welcomes many drivers retiring from f1, and drivers who are not fit enough for f1, to participate in nascar.
the most exciting part i like about nascar is the pit stops. wow. can you just imagine what the driver has to do? he has to stop (O__O)!! like, they made changing tires so awesome, the pit crews even have their own pit crew challenge tv show, where you can watch them change more tires! clearly the guys at f1 and especially rally racing can learn a thing or two about these nascar pit guys - like using 5 lug nuts instead of 1. and those idiots doing rally racing... who needs to rebuild a whole car in 30 mins - that isn't what a pit crew is about - its about changing tires, sticking something into a hole (fuel), and maybe tweaking some aero fins. that's hardcore right there.
and changing gears! like, damm so hard man. cruising at maximum speeds requires so much more shifting than almost any other automobile sport on earth.
and don't forget about the passing! so much strategy involved! (should you pass? or not pass?)
and those engines, mmm mmm. 2.4L, 19,000rpm fuel injected? try 5.7L, 9000rpm carb. no technology is better than the one named: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
and last but not least, don't forget how exciting it is TO WATCH AS A SPORT - its just so damm exciting to watch! where else can you watch a train of cars tailgating each other in a circle for 4 hours... that's just pure entertainment right there, hands down. its almost like watching a train set do its thing, or watching the water when you flush the toilet for 4 hours (*__*)....
I agree completely with the article. Its not a real sport. Even if it was, you could never see the best athletes in it. The limitation of access created by the money needed to participate on any level of car racing rules out most anyone with athletic aspirations. If running required high-end access to money, nobody would know the name Usain Bolt and the world record for the 100 meters would be a couple seconds slower. We have know idea who the best drivers are, we only know who the best drivers with access to loads of cash are, and I just don't happen to care.
i love NASCAR
Alot of those arguments could be used against Formula 1...
Flush a bag of skittles down the toilet. It's only takes a few seconds an you get the same effect.
I do agree that it is not a sport. I don't like sports. I just like auto racing(including NASCAR, Indycar, F1 and just about any others).
"How do you know who's ahead?"
It's pretty easy to tell whos ahead if you are paying any attention, even if you are not paying attention you can look at the scoreboard....
"The Biggest Race comes first"
Who cares?
"It's too easy to get killed"
When was the last time someone died in a NASCAR race? It's been a while...
"Danica Patrick couldn't win in Formula 1"
She never drove in F1, She did win in Indycar.
Niko. NASCAR is stupid.
Nascar is like those race tracks you had as a kid. Pretend you put tiny mice in the metal cars and glued their little mouse paws to the steering wheel. Then, you would put a bunch of drunken mice around the track.
The person with the remote control (not a mouse) is in control of the car and can win if he can spin his tiny car off the track and put some of the drunken mice into a coma.
Never been to Nascar. I would like to see LeMans or whatever the European ones are called, but I don't want to sit with thousands of drunken American mice.
And, I sure as heck don't want to watch mice racing in circles on a flat-screen TV.
you know Danica Patrick races Indy car not F1?
I very much like your point about how all the cars are the same. The fiberglass bodies always bugged me, didn't people used to race real Challengers and Cougars? In any case, NASCAR has one redeeming factor: it bores me less than baseball and football.
awesome hub. NASCAR is dumb.
You got it right - what is the point of driving in circles and how is it a sport?
your entitled to your opinion, we all acknowledge that, but the simple fact is.....if you dont like it, dont watch it.
Your an idiot
I'm doing a persuasive essay/speech on why we should get rid of nascar...i need a bibliography though and I don't know why I'm having a hard time with that
Agree with most of your list. But just for the sake of precision: Danica has never raced -and will never race- a F1. She'd be ridiculously off the pace.
All auto racing is stupid, not just nascar. Yes, it does take skill, but does that make it entertaining? No, it does not. It takes a lot of skill for me to write a paper on judicial decision making, but are you going to see that on ESPN, I think not.
I would love NASCAR if they made right hand turns instead of left.....NOT! NASCAR is a joke! Great HUB!
People are so ignorant, who cares if it's all left turns? Ovals are harder than Road Courses because you are driving at a constant high speed, NASCARs also are in a pack the whole race, making it close racing, Indy cars and F1 split apart.
It IS a sport, a sport does not have to be a stick and ball sport. Saying NASCAR is all Rednecks, drunken idiots, and left turns, is the same as saying Football is Steroid taking Black men handling balls up and down a field. I see more people drunk at football games and at house parties rather than at NASCAR races.
F1 is not boring compared to NASCAR. How? You do more than go in circles and the probability of severe injuries are equally the same. Tyres and the design of each F1 car is especially important; from wings, to diffusers, KURS, DRS, to tyres. Now mix that with turning both left and right, braking from 200mph to 50mph, not just 200mph to 150mph in NASCAR. Think about when each driver has to pit in the right moment, how the most little mistake in qualifying could mean the difference between 1st and 2nd. Each millisecond is vital. And most importantly, the drivers make the difference. The most talented driver can make a really bad team come through the ranks. Examples? Brawn. They won the first season they entered simply because of the experience drivers and an experience ex-F1 driver leading the team. Juan Pablo Montoya could not cut F1 and that's why he is now doing NASCAR. He couldn't handle the cars, he was to unreliable. In NASCAR, anyone with a basic IQ of 70 can drive a NASCAR. It's just pedal down, pedal off and keep the steering wheel to the left.
Well, lets look here. I am a fan of nascar, F1, and
Le Mans series, so i am not biased against any series.
All the cars look the same in F1 too.
Nascar is much different than the other two forms. Yes, the tracks are oval, but they are not all the same. In fact, Each corner on one track can be completely different from the next.
How do you know who is in first? look at the tower. duh!
So what if "the biggest" race comes first?
Its easy to get killed? How many people have died in F1? ALOT more than in nascar.
If technology is 90 percent in nascar, then F1 must be 300%
Lets look at my take on nascar.
I enjoy nascar because unlike in F1 or Le Mans you get to know your favorite driver much better.Nascar races are held regularly, every sunday, around noon, with the exception of about 8 night races which are held on saturday nights. The schedule is much easier to keep track of than in the other series. The racing in nascar is much closer than in any other form of racing. the average margin of victory in nascar racing is about .8 seconds. Not to mention that there are twice the amount of cars on a smaller track than in F1. Another reason is that its OK to put someone in the wall in nsacar. If a driver is pissed at another driver, that will happen. This also adds to "knowing" different drivers. And let me tell you, some dont like each other, and that keeps things interesting.
Whats not to like? Sounds interesting to me.
NASCAR (properly capitlazed) is a great sport and don't watch it if you don't care.
capitalized...you got me on the spelling.
It's funny that you say you don't care. You obviously care enough to take the time to criicize something that you know nothing about. Why would you write an entire article on something that doesn't matter to you? There are plenty of sports and hobbies that I could care less about, but I don't criticize others for what interests them. To each his own!
Many of the men that make up NASCAR pit crews are former college athletes. They are on 3-4 day workout schedules and are expected to perform under pressure. Get yourself a pit pass at a race and you will realize that these guys are big dudes. I also agree with Wikiolo on his/her comments. I would like to see those that criticize racing jump behind the wheel of a car that goes 200mph on race slicks. The g force takes the wind out of you and the car feels like it is may spin on you at any given time.
You remind me of the kids in high school who talked trash about the guys on the football team but never had the balls to show up when practice started in August.
Nascar is the only sport that makes golf look exciting. Are you kidding me? Open wheel racing is somewhat exciting but nascar is retarded. Who are their fans? Rednecks.
if you are a lap down .you are a lap down.that is all that their is to it.
You do know that the cars have the same performance. They do have setups, but doesn't make the car faster. It just sets the car to the driver's liking.
Tell you one thing. You want to talk about stupid?...Grown men on a grass field with shoulder pads and helments running in to each other!..ha!.. Now thats boring and stupid!
Why is it there is hardly any mention of the car makes. Its all about the driver and the sponsors. This just pisses me off
You can't tell me that you could drive 200 miles per hour in a circle you probably couldn't even drive that fast in a straight line. All you are is jealous and you wish you were one of those drivers. I don't understand how you like watching football or soccer or any other sport like that because all it is is a ball going back and forth back and forth, now THAT"S boring.
NASCAR is awesome and if you don't like it don't watch it.
This is funny. Nascar IS stupid. It has actually been scientifically proven.
A F1 driver you has to be an Athlete for all the G-force in every curve.
A Nascar driver can be FAT MAN!
Lighting McQueen does not agree with this list :p
the funny words made me to laugh thanks you
If its so easy why aren't you doing it?
I like the way you make thi8nkgs upand assert them as fact while claiming anyone else is wrong.
F1 is not a sport. :lol:
You might want to look up the definition of the word "sport".
To the author, to say NASCAR or car racing isn't a sport clearly just shows how ignorant you are. You said that all the cars are the same, yet it is 90% technology that wins it? That's a contradictory statement right there. Sure, it can get boring, but you obviously know little to nothing about how those athletes in the cars are feeling. Constantly pushing the machine to the limit, and that's the sport in it. Knowing the limitations of man and machine and then pushing them. Go do some research. Maybe go to a race.
nicomp, thanks for the laughs, I 100% agree. You're my hero
Funny comments about NASCAR. There, I capitalized it all. And most sports are just stupid. We watch them for some reason. Its hard to justify anyone making millions when all they are doing is a game. Yes, they can do it better than me but that doesn't make it right. And I do walk away from watching when it all gets too stupid.
I thought one of your points would be that the races are all pretty much the same...going round and round. There doesnt appear to be much difference between the various circuits. Of course, I've never really bothered to watch NASCAR (how could a person do that if he/she loves F1) so perhaps there's something about those circuits that I'm not aware of due to my proud ignorance of NASCAR. I'd appreciate it if someone explained that to me.
Ok sure NASCAR did some dumb thing from when sr. Was at his best but does that mean we must say Its dumb no sO we should let it be and stop posting crap I hv a NASCAR collection that I am proud of!!!!!
Nicomp,
As an individual who has watched NASCAR for over fifteen years (Give or take a couple of races), I have seen that it is indeed a "sport", the ignorance and vulgarity that is present on this page, shows the lack of knowledge and the assumption that what they see in front of them is not a "sport" Now, just imagine, these cars have 850 horsepower, 10,000 RPM, and weigh 3800 pounds. Indycars and F1 are lighter and tend to be more easier to handle, Stock cars are much heavier than Formula One cars, and as a result they are generally slower. Additionally, they cannot produce the g-forces of an open wheel car. A stock car's weak handling with high power output places more emphasis on car control. They are very hot, the insides of these cars tend to reach over 130 degrees ferenheit. Depending on what the tempreature is outside. NASCAR is more dangerous then open wheel because energy is absorbed by the body of the car, not breaking apart like an openwheel car. The whole "point" many of you are asking is a simple answer, its stratagy! The many pit stops the cars go through each race make it impossible to tell what the outcome will be (Though, the fastest car does win sometimes!) I'm not convincing any of you critics that you HAVE to watch it. But it is very improtant to jump to conclusions that its a "Redneck sport", so is Football and Baseball. Is hockey for toothless Canadians? Is Soccer for a bunch of wild tea drinking brits? No, but all of these have devoted fans that make up a vast majority. NASCAR is for rednecks is like saying that the Jews love money, or black people like to eat watermelons and anything grape flavored, or latinos eat nothing but Tacos and Burritos. Open your eyes peole! This is a diverse world! All of these steryotypes have been proven false. So instead of listening to what Jeff Dunham has said with his foam puppets, stop listening to the steryotypes and learn that everything is not what it seems. Auto racing is infact a sport, it may not require a great amount of athleticism as football, basketball, baseball, etc. But it (NASCAR, F1, Indy, Le Mans, touring car, moto GP, mini cooper touring, whatever) require skills that very few possess; and thats car control, hand-eye coordination, strenghth, and conditioning. This might not pursuade any of you bigots into devoutly following the series (like me) but, just remember what is in front of you isn't always obvious. The list that is shown above is purly opinion, but there are many falicies included in the compilation of this list. 10) People watch for (Believe it or not!) admiration, stratagy, and the progression. 9)Pit stratagy again, proves this wrong! Many races have been won after the race was dominated by one driver, but as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson proved, this is not true. Jeff lead 328 out of 500 laps at Martinsville a couple of weeks ago and Jimmie lead 78 laps, but thanks to Clint Bowyer diving into the turn and wrecking both of them, Ryan Newman won with only two laps lead. 8) The Daytona is called "The Super Bowl of Stock Car racing" because the opening race has a unique place in history, NASCAR was created in a hotel just down the road from the 2.5 mile oval, where races were held on the beach. The history is what makes it the biggest race. 7)The drivers are high paid from the team and contract with the sponsor, without the sponsor, the team does not exist, that is why you see such emphasis put into acknowledging the sponsors. 6)It is a dangerous sport, but isn't there a risk in any sport? NASCAR has not had a death since Dale Earnhardt sr. The new cars actually are the most dangerous (Due to an increase in the speeds) but carry foam, extra roll bars, and the driver's seat being situated more in the middle (3-4 inches more then the old car) Elliot Sadler can thank the safety very much after he pulled 82 g's in his wreck at Pocono in 2010. 5)Because of safety and leveling the playing field so nobody cheats, the COT makes all the cars look the same, but the car body being introduced next year, makes it look like the real thing. Do you really expect them to race actual street cars on high banked ovals? 4) They USED to be carborated, the switch over to the EFI fuel injected ingines took place at the begining of this season, 3)and 2) The expenses are true, no one said there is a cheap alternative (Only about 50-60 teams in the country try to make it) How do you think Hendrick motorsports got to where it is today? They had to start somewhere, and that is what you see with "Start and Parks" I hate this rule, but when the economy is as tough as it is, these rules have to apply. 1) A sport is any physical motion being used to compete against others. Thats enough to be defined as a sport in my book. 0) Umm.. Drawn? no no, it is a very tight market to get a driver, many are picked up from sprint car racing. Danica is an exception (Indy Car by the way)she generates so much buzz and money/attention, that it is hard to ignore that. For a woman, she has done a ton in motorsports.
Take in consideration of what I have listed, you may feel better about yourself! ;)
nascar has become a joke. Look at the empty seats even when ticketprices are dropping. best seat is at home. but then you have to listen to dumn ass comintaters like dw. why dosn' fox trade him for square pants sponge bob so we can listen to a sports reporter who is brighter than a door knob. And danica says her car chief says as long as she keeps driving that good no darlington strip but i think 6 laps down. when she finishes a race.The world is surposed to stop. How did jj pull this one off hendrick pay off everyone again.Leave these tracks alone.The races are boring now.Most of the cautions for debri on the track,but nobody ever sees anyor anyone picking any up. but most of these is when jj is falling behindrick has 25% of the cars on the track what took so long to get #200. 42 other cars on the track lets spend 50%of pre race nd post race on herand fox sports get rid of dw and hire sponge bob square pants i'm sure a better annocer and no stupid ass boogity,boogity,boogity













habee Level 7 Commenter 2 years ago
THANK YOU!! My sentiments exactly!