Daytona 500

[NDak 0]

Well, today is the Great American Race and I was wondering how many of you watch it. I do. :(

[Grom 0]

Nope! :(

[Seiben 0]

NASCAR? No offense, but is that even a sport? Bunch of cars going round and round in a circle. :( Sure the crashes are kinda cool to see, but it gets kinda boring for me. Nahh.. races like the Baja or Dakar Rallys are cool. In the Dakar Rally, hundreds of cars travel 7000 miles from France to Dakar, Senegal racing right through African villages and the mighty Sahara Desert. It was fun watching that.. as that was a REAL race! Just my 2 cents. :)

[Nemesis 0]

NASCAR? No offense, but is that even a sport? Bunch of cars going round and round in a circle. :( Sure the crashes are kinda cool to see, but it gets kinda boring for me. Nahh.. races like the Baja or Dakar Rallys are cool. In the Dakar Rally, hundreds of cars travel 7000 miles from France to Dakar, Senegal racing right through African villages and the mighty Sahara Desert. It was fun watching that.. as that was a REAL race! Just my 2 cents. :)

::thwap:: shush!

 

Go Bobby! The Green miracle on wheels!

[Jenna James 0]

 

Go Bobby! The Green miracle on wheels!

 

Hey I'm a Nascar fan too! I say Go Michael!

Except he got wiped out :(

Okay, Go anyone but Jeff Gordon!!!

How bout Jr.

[Nemesis 0]

Hey I'm a Nascar fan too! I say Go Michael!

Except he got wiped out :(

Okay, Go anyone but Jeff Gordon!!!

How bout Jr.

Blech Jr, I wanted Tony Stewart to win :) though that rookie placed 3rd go Scott Wimmer. I hate how most of my favorite drivers got out so early: Marlin, Martin, and Waltrip.

 

I like Kurt Busch's racing, he had a fast car too bad about that being a lap down.

Edited February 15, 2004 by NEMESIS

[Dumbass 0]

I drive a beat-up '90 Plymouth Sundance with a coolant reservoir with a hole in it. I can't watch NASCAR. It depresses me.

[John_Anderson 0]

Yea I have A.D.D, so watching any of the Nascar races is just a good waste of my time. No offense to any fans, but it is just soooo boring for me. I'd rather read a book. :(

[Jenna James 0]

Blech Jr, I wanted Tony Stewart to win :( though that rookie placed 3rd go Scott Wimmer. I hate how most of my favorite drivers got out so early: Marlin, Martin, and Waltrip.

 

I like Kurt Busch's racing, he had a fast car too bad about that being a lap down.

I called it before it was over, and I didn't even see the last half hour.

Sterlin Marlin is my driver. Martin is good too, well he used to be before

he started taking Viagra :)

[Daniel Kroells 0]

Race kick major but man! Lots of action in the begining. And for those of you who dont say its a sport, maybe you should sit in Dale Jrs. seat, as he fingers the cool million. (even more, I'm not sure of the exact purse)

 

Also, the Busch race was finished today, since being rained out on Sat. Jr. won that one too! Yay!

 

The only thing Im mad about was the huge Micheal crash. All my favorite guys were taken out of contetion.

 

Waltrip, Wallace, R. Gordon, Marlin...Man, talk about losing money at 180 mph...I owe my buddies aboot (canada fun) 80$

[Vex Xiang 0]

No offense, but is that even a sport? Bunch of cars going round and round in a circle

 

And running around on grass throwing a ball from one end or the other is a sport?

 

Any competition with physical exercise is a sport, IMO. And driving those cars is a real physical drain on the drivers. And I'm sure at the end they don't shower together and smack each other on the butt :)

 

I drive a beat-up '90 Plymouth Sundance

 

Hey Dumbass I used to drive a 91 Sundance!! Mine was a 4-door strawberry colored one.

 

Does it clunk when you go into reverse real quick? :( mine did.

[Travis Kroells 0]

::Smiles at every ones crappy cars::

[Dumbass 0]

Does it clunk when you go into reverse real quick? :( mine did.

My car doesn't do ANYTHING real quick, and yes it still clunks.

[Vex Xiang 0]

Maybe our definition of 'fast' is different Dumbass. I found my 4-cylinder Sundance perfectly fast for merging into highway traffic, getting up and going from stop lights, etc. I used to drive a lot faster than I do now but it was still sufficient for me.

 

Now I only drive SUVs...the people you see driving SUVs fast are the same ones you see rolled over crashed on the side of the road, so I'd be hard pressed to find an underpowered vehicle for me these days.

[Grom 0]

Heh, we had two sundances at one point in our family. One ran for a good 200,000 miles before it died! The other was retired by a deer. Those sundances were fun to drive and they did have a certain pep to them.

[Seiben 0]

Hey, you know even though I have a Toyota, my good friend drives a '94 Sundance.. it's beginning to fall appart on him at 120,000 kms. Since he's a mechanic, it doesn't clunk on him yet and mostly the car has cosmetic damage. He does spend quite a bit of his time and money maintaining the thing though. Sundances are pretty good economical cars, and why Chrysler replaced it with the Neon, is just beyond me. :(

[Vex Xiang 0]

I wouldnt mind owning a 2000+ Volvo or VW Passat.

 

The old Mercedes (mid-90s) E and S class models are nice...and you can pick one of those up for under 16K if you look hard enough.

 

I dont really like BMW but the new big wide ones are neat.

 

Dont know why I'm saying this just thought I'd spark another part of the conversation :(

[Seiben 0]

Ooh yeah. Those are nice cars, reliable, bullet proof and quite stylish if you ask me. :( I'm kinda partial to the Volvo XC-90 and S-60s, and the mid 90's Mercedes S-Classes.

[STSF_BluRox 0]

NASCAR? No offense, but is that even a sport? Bunch of cars going round and round in a circle. :( Sure the crashes are kinda cool to see, but it gets kinda boring for me.

This is in no way a personal attack on anyone, but statements of this type, are typically seen by those that have never attended a Cup race, BGN (Busch Grand National) or NTS (Nextel Truck Series) race. It may appear to be boring if you are just scanning through the channels and don't have much of an idea of what is going on in the series points battles, or who blew an engine during Happy Hour and is rushing to get a new one in, or even who is having trouble with communications, and is trying to get through traffic that is 2 inches in front and back of them, and maybe 6 inches to the side, going 150-200 mph, depending upon what track you are at..without the help of his spotter. The difference in tire pressure, camber and toe in can have huge impacts on how the car is running.

 

Also, it's those that are not truly fans, who also make comments that the "crashes are kinda cool to see." This is not how millions of fans felt three years ago today, February 18th, 2001, when Dale Earnhart was killed in a freak crash into the outside retaining wall, only 300 yards from the finish of the Daytona 500. I'm a Gordon fan myself, but that hit our family enough, that we had to go to the memorial service that was held for him the next day at Dover Downs, along with approximately 10,000 other people that felt they had to be there. And this occured at tracks across the country that day.

 

The one good thing that does come from crashes that should develop, is that the manufactures take that information, and incorporate improvements to the everyday street versions that we all drive.

 

This then begets the people that say they shouldn't be racing because of the deaths of Earnhart, Kenny Irwin or Adam Petty as well. It was a freak accident, that is all. Michael Waltrip's accident this past weekend, as well as the one by Hermie Sadler the year before, show just how well the safety features of the cars work. The entire roll cage feature of the car was intact.

 

I'll make a comment about those that question if it is a sport, and are they truly athletes. You will see maybe one or two of the fellows that are a little bit larger (Jimmy Spencer for one), but for the most part, the drivers have to be able to be in shape to crawl in through the driver's window, wear a hot firesuit, strapped into a 5 point restraint system, while having thier shoulders and heads strapped into a Han's device, while having to have the hand and eye coordination to maintain their car at high speed, in a pack of traffic, and during the summer in heat inside the cars of over 140 degrees. They have to maintain this hand/eye coordination for 2-5 hours, depending upon the race distance and conditons. You don't see your typical football player moving for more than 10 seconds before they take a break. You may say they get hit...well, so do the drivers...and that car is a lot heavier than the middle linebacker that just blitzed and took you down.

 

Then there are the pit crews. Personally, this is one of my favorite parts of the race, and why most of my seats are right on the front stretches, so that I can observe this poetry in motion. You are taking 6 men, and having them jump a wall, carrying tires, jacks, 11 gallon fuel cans, catch cans, and airguns. And in the span of 14 seconds, they move in a coordinated effort, no less difficult than a play sent in to get a first down, or telling a batter to hit and run. The pit crews have to not only get their tires changed, clean the grill, clear the airgun hose from the tires to prevent a penalty, but they also have to watch for cars in front and back of their own car so they don't get hit either. All while getting their driver back out before the pace car comes around and puts them a lap down.

 

Not a sport? Tell that to the 100,000 fans (smaller tracks) to 400,000 fans (at the Brickyard) that attend the race each week. That's 2 to 6 times the size of your average Super Bowl crowd. Tell that to the 33.5 million people that watched the race each week. Race fans show up at the track before sunrise to get to talk to the drivers at their trailers and are there until late in the evening before they go home. If this is questioned as a sport, do you not have to question golf, tennis, bowling. Heck, even baseball has slowed so much due to commercial breaks. Hockey and soccer are pretty much the only sports that keep the game to where there are few stoppages, and the play continues, but again...it's only for an hour. Let's see them keep it up for a few hours?

 

What's the one thing that keeps me away from Star Trek stuff. Nascar. Ask Huff, she'll tell you I'm a total gearhead. My truck is plastered with driver numbers, and track logos. My living room is decorated with autographed stand ups of Jeff Gordon, die-cast cars, and even my daughter owns a full sized autographed car hood she got at Dover Downs 2 years ago, and got 13 drivers to sign it for her. Why dont' I do many weekend sims? Cause I'm usually at the track, that's why. So yes, Star Trek fans can like Nascar. You can always find me at Dover, Pocono, Loudon, and I rotate between Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond. I've done Daytona once, and the ones I want to get to next, are the Brickyard and Lowe's Motor Speedway.

 

This is a family based sport, and a sport where the big names, always set aside time to meet and sign autographs with the fans and kids. You can go and visit many of the teams shops and garages, and take tours. Numerous drivers recently spent time visiting overseas with the troops as well, and do alot of charity work.

 

You can be a fan, and not have been to a race, but there is NOTHING like being in attendance to understand just what it is, to stand down by the pavement, and FEEL the roar, not just hear it, but FEEL the vibration of 43 cars running past you in a blur at 200mph, turning 8-9000 rpm. Until someone actually attends a race, or any sporting event for that matter, they shouldn't dismiss it until they've actually seen it in person, and can make an informed comment.

 

I could go on for hours here, but got most of it out in an IM to poor N'Dak this afternoon, when he got to hear my firsthand ranting.

 

Nascar yes. A sport yes. We've even had Star War's painted cars....now we need to get one painted for Trek.

 

Oh, and if anyone is wondering...yes, the AOL car does seem to crash (pun intended) alot.

 

Ok, I think I used up my rant time....I'm sure I'll have to respond more later after this.....

 

Blu

[Vex Xiang 0]

My truck is plastered with driver numbers, and track logos. My living room is decorated with autographed stand ups of Jeff Gordon, die-cast cars, and even my daughter owns a full sized autographed car hood

 

Hmm scary :( jk

 

Well said Blu.

[Seiben 0]

Yeah, I guess you're right about that. So, like Vex in the Cats and Dogs topic, I'll change my position.. I'll give NASCAR a chance, though I'll still like Rally Racing a whole lot better. :(

[Dumbass 0]

Well MY car is still a piece of (colorful metaphor).

[Nemesis 0]

Yeah, I guess you're right about that. So, like Vex in the Cats and Dogs topic, I'll change my position.. I'll give NASCAR a chance, though I'll still like Rally Racing a whole lot better. :)

Think of it this way, you're going around 240mph, your auto steering snaps, so now you're basically pulling an object that weighs a tonne travelling at high velocities, you have g-forces and inertia working against you. Mean while you have a driver right on your tail cutting into the air and with one slight wrong move you're going to fly into to the wall with great magitude. You are also listening to your spotter on the radio, trying to focus on what in front and behind you.

 

You're right its not a sport, its too difficult and requires far too much skill to be a sport :(

[Vex Xiang 0]

Well MY car is still a piece of (colorful metaphor).

 

Dont ask me how I know this but Dumbass you know you can rip out the center black portion of your console and a Classic Mac will actually fit in the space with some shoving and some duct tape.

[Nemesis 0]

Dont ask me how I know this but Dumbass you know you can rip out the center black portion of your console and a Classic Mac will actually fit in the space with some shoving and some duct tape.

Man Vex you're like the higher tech Red Green :(