NASCAR vs. Formula One – which race is better?
NASCAR and Formula One are two very different shades of the same spectrum. Besides the similarity that both races fall under the auto race category, there is hardly anything similar that one can think of between NASCAR racing and Formula One. Most probably, the other common thing they share is the enormous popularity that they both enjoy; otherwise they sit at the opposite poles of the motor sport spectrum.
When talking about Formula One racing, technological advancements become the centre of attention. The best machines, the latest equipments and electronics to monitor everything are key to better performances on the track. F1 has endorsed the light weight chassis, the super high-revving engines, the sophisticated aerodynamics and electronic driver aids and much more to it so that no other motorsport can match its brilliance, innovation and most importantly, speed.
With NASCAR, the race is less scientific and requires more driving skills. Moreover, electronics are not allowed during the race which is an evident test of a driver to talk to no one for four to five hours. NASCAR’s closed-wheel vehicles are built in much of an identical way so that none of the constructors has any advantage over the other. The enormously heavy cars with far simpler mechanics are used. The manual gearboxes and leaded petrol is what the big race still deals with.
On the other hand, the super speed cars in F1 races are made out of carbon fibre and that is the secret behind their extra-light weight. A Formula One car could weigh even as less as 1320 lbs and that’s the weight when the driver is sitting inside it.
A NASCAR is made out of steel, much similar to the cars that we see on the roads and even the lightest of them weighs up to 3400 lbs, 2.5 times more than that of the F1.
That is strange but of course true that the F1 and NASCAR have more or less the same horsepower that is 800+ and to add to the surprise, there are times when both could actually go very close to each other if top speeds are compared. A Dodge NASCAR stock car and an F1 car rode against each other at the Bonneville Salt Flats with 243 miles per hour and 247 miles per hour respectively.
F1 has more of a global appeal to its races and offers more variety of tracks and conditions to its drivers. The cars chase each other on the road courses as well as the street courses and races could be held in places varying from Canada to Turkey and Japan to UAE. However, NASCAR race is primarily held on ovals ranging from half a mile to 2.5 miles long with two road courses with U.S. as its fixed homeland.
The F1 cars are delicate and fragile and of course they carry this “touch me not” tag with them as well. While the NASCAR cars are rough and tough, they are driven accordingly. Both the drivers need different set of skills to display their track performances. It is not very often that an F1 driver switches to NASCAR and embraces equal success. However, Juan Pablo Montoya is a lucky one. He explains the two races saying that, “NASCAR is the hardest racing series I have ever competed in - also the funniest”.
To much surprise, no NASCAR driver has ever gone to F1 so far. Although many have gone on to partake in Indy Car racing which include the likes of Robby Gordon, John Andretti and Tony Stewart.
NASCAR is considered as ones of the biggest auto racing events in the U.S. as it magnetises huge audiences from all around country. Due to its immense popularity, NASCAR is at times even considered to draw fans that are more than an Indy Car race can gather.
F1 has a kind of universal appeal. Besides the fact that many people even criticise it as being less of a competition between the drivers or their driving skills and more of a race between the constructors and their technical advancements. Whatsoever, it has been able to glue audiences in almost all the continents, having claimed tracks and race schedules all around the globe, all around the year.
And last but not the least, one of the major differences is Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley, the Presidents of Formula One and NASCAR respectively - that both personalities are so different from each other.
It is hard to say which of these is better but of course there is one thing that F1 can learn from NASCAR and that is the way the fans are treated in NASCAR racing. The opportunities to get closer to the drivers and the cars are far more in NASCAR than one can even think of in Formula One racing. And at the end of the day, the bigger and the better race is the one, which pulls in more people and revenues.
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