rec.autos.simulators

The racing is pretty exciting too.  We always used to joke around
about F1 and say if you knew the starting grid, you didn't need to
watch the race because that is pretty much the way they would finish.
Really, we were just joking.

The cars used to be a lot closer to what you could buy from the
dealership, but I dont think that is what really holds peoples
interest.  The Ford/Chevy duel is old and bitter, and I see it as more
a matter of brand allegiance, than folks thinking that they can buy on
Monday what won on Sunday.  Some of our family are die hard "Ford men"
and some are for Chevy.  For some it is Mopar or No car... even if
they are now just a Mercedes; they used to be the real deal.  Just
about every week, you'd need hip waders and a shovel to make it
through all the BS about whose driver was gonna tear up the track that
week.  It was fun, and it made for some good family memories when you
could give the Uncle a good natured ribbing about "what the hell
happened to the 9 car this week?"

I really don't get the truck racing thing.  Tractor pulls make more
sense to me...  maybe if they drove around with the beds of their
trucks filled with some of that manure...

Gerald Moore

The thing with NASCAR is that its fans identify with the DRIVER, not the
TEAM. I think that CART is headed the way of sports car racing, where
instead of rooting for Gil de Ferran or Helio Castro-Neves (I like that
spelling better), you're rooting for Marlboro Team Penske (or Team Penske
once this tobacco bullshit goes into effect). Just as in the ALMS, I'm
probably one of a few fans that actually root for a driver (Jan Magnussen),
but I'm a Panoz fan. I don't give a damn who's driving it!

The focus in sports cars is more on the fan identifying with the CAR than
who's driving the car, which is justifiable seeing that the driver lineup
changes more than in other series...

Someone mentioned that they though better racing came with technological
marvels instead of spec-series-type rules. Well that technological
marvelness led to the demise of IMSA GTP/Group C racing in Europe and here
in America. It has led to several notable CART car owners (i.e. John Della
Penna, Dan Gurney) being pinched out of the series. It's getting that way in
NASCAR with the advent of the multi-car operation, but it still gives the
"little" guys (such as Elliott Sadler, Johnny Benson, and Ron Fellows in
Busch) a decent shot at a top-ten finish, let alone a win.

That low-tech approach has NASCAR number one in TV ratings and fan
popularity, as well as merchandising and brand loyalty. I can identify with
the NASCAR drivers, in particular Rusty Wallace. He's a pilot; so am I. I
drink Miller Lite (though I HEAVILY prefer Miller Genuine Draft), write on
Mead paper when I can buy it, look for Bosch spark plugs, fill up with Mobil
gasoline, and I put that Mobil gasoline in a 2000 Ford Taurus. If only I
could afford a Lennox air conditioner, though... : )

However, with the sponsorships of NASCAR edging near $15 million, and with
the downturn of the U.S. economy, increased ticket prices, the proliferation
of tracks (and cookie-cutter tracks at that), and the ever-increasing
political nature of the series, NASCAR is going to have to evaluate itself
before it ends up in the way of CART.

There's talk (and it's just that right now, TALK) of a rival stock car
series, grumblings among team owners and track constructors, and the whole
deal involving Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin, Tony Roper, and the driver who was
killed at Daytona in February (I will not help disrespect the other three
drivers by mentioning his name as if he were the only one to die, like
NASCAR does). If they're not careful, there's gonna be a mass defection to
other series, and if you think it can't happen, ask ANY CART team owner who
was around in 1994.

Just my long $0.02...
Sundown

Eldred
--
Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001
Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett
F1 hcp. +16.36...Monster +366.59...

Never argue with an idiot.  He brings you down to his level, then beats you
with experience...
Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

There already is a rival series in the works.  It's called TRAC.  Team Racing
Auto Club I think.  It works on the "team" principal where different parts of
the country will have their own race team.  So it's like football, baseball,
basketball, etc.

It's founded by Cale Yarbh...well, you NASCAR fans know who I'm talking about.
Racer X
Veteran Sim Racer
#4 Corvette C5-R in the GTIC
#24 Monte Carlo in the DORL
Victory Lane-
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

Aye cracking stuff.
The main problem was which channel to watch it on- live on both C5 and
Eurosport :o)

John

And there are also a lot of restrictions on CART.  What if Honda was
allowed to run with 55 inches of boost?

Gary

Now you're getting into NA vs. power adder.
Racer X
Veteran Sim Racer
#4 Corvette C5-R in the GTIC
#24 Monte Carlo in the DORL
Victory Lane-
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/

THe FISA were trying to get the sports car manufacturers (at the time,
Peugeot, Toyota, Mercedes and Jaguar) interested in going into F1, so they
introduced a 3.5 litre atmo engine formula for the series. Such a formula
proved almost as expensive as F1, but with far less return for the
manufacturers on their investment in terms of advertising and publicity.
Not surprisingly, the series collapsed within two years of the rule
change. Until then, the sports car series had been going strong under a
mixed engine spec formula which allowed big atmo engines from Jaguar,
Aston Martin et cetera, to compete with turbos from among others,
Mercedes, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan and the legendary Porsche 962s.

I don't think it is fair to say that a series which concentrates on the
cars at the expense of the drivers is necessarily going to prove unpopular
with the public. NASCAR may be big in the States, but outside the US, with
the exception of UK F1 writer Nigel Roebuck, it has little media coverage
and few watch it. Another series which concentrates on the drivers at the
expense of the techonological side of the spot, International F3000, is
likewise more or less ignored by the public, despite the fact it generally
produces much better racing than F1 ever does.

Whatever, can't wait for World Sports Cars to be released....I'l finally
be able to set up virtual Group C racing.

Patrick

http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/index.html
Tel-0131-661-3189

"Going to war over religion is essentially killing each other to see who
has the better imaginary friend" -Unknown