What is the thrill about NASCAR?

Question

I don't mean to sound mean, but what is so exciting about watching a bunch of cars driving in an oval for 3 hours? I would enjoy the crashes, but that's it. Maybe if the track was a figure 8 instead of an oval, that might draw my interest. If someone can convince me why it is so good, I'll give you the 10 points.

Answer 1

Honestly its not that exciting,in fact its down right boring to me except maybe sonoma.the only races i watch are the daytona 500 sonoma and the brickyard.and thats just because i watch most major events in sports and most racing including indy 500 is boring with the exception of f1(only exciting form of racing and karting wich i do).

Answer 2

For me it's everything about it I love the excitement and the thrill of it! The never knowing how it's going to end until the final lap, the roar of the engines, and the crowd! Watching your favorite driver lead, or come up through the pack to take the lead! It's the loyalty of the fans for their drivers wether they are winning or losing, the ups and downs! Watching the reactions of all the drivers on and off the track wether you like them or not! and for me, in my opinion you'll never find better people than Nascar fans! sure you have some bad seeds but for the most part Nascar fans rock and I love to be a part of Nascar Nation and I love Nascar period!! so kick back watch a couple of races and form your own opinion see how ya like it!!

Answer 3

I get a thrill watching Mr. OVER88TED lose named Dale JR. He never lets me down and that makes it fun to watch as he brings up the middle of the pack and lets his fans down.

Answer 4

Do you think you could handle driving those cars in 120 heat, wearing a firesuit with cars surrounding you going 190 MPH?

Answer 5

The bottom line is not every sport is for everyone.  I like NASCAR but drag racing puts me to sleep...

But to answer your question I think people get a thrill of watching rivals race each other.  Ford, Chevy, Dodge and now Toyota!!!!  It makes you feel like your apart of something when Jr takes his Chevy "the same one you have in the driveway"  to victory lane!

Answer 6

You not sounding mean..you just do not understand the thrill or excitement, smell of Nascar!! Have you ever been to a race??? The drivers, pit crew, strategies all are in play..no one likes to see crashes but it happens and thank goodness Nascar has improved the safety of the cars..they walk away after horrific crashes...but regretfully some do not.

Have you ever been through the pits and gotten the smell of rubber, grease, gas fumes and then there is the food...lol

You get to meet great peeps from all over the USA and other countries..Nascar is not just a sport, it is a way of life for some of us FANS!!!

Answer 7

I'm sorry, but I do not know too much about NASCAR, but I do know that in open-wheel racing, you have to be EXTREMELY fit to race.  Imagine driving in a convertible without a windshield driving down the road at 220 mph.  That is what it is like to drive an open-wheel car.  I think it is actually very exciting to watch racing because there is so much strategy involved with when to pit, when to pass, etc.  If you don't like watching oval racing, then try watching a series that does road courses like IndyCar, Formula 1, or the American Le Mans Series.  It's like asking somebody "Why do you like watching Football?" or "Why do you like watching Basketball?"  Racing is just as much as a sport as football or basketball.  Try this page.  It tells you all of the physical extremes that IndyCar drivers go through.

http://www.indycar.com/tech/physical.php

Answer 8

Why is NASCAR a sport? Because your average person can't drive in 120+ degree heat for over 3 hours while concentrating on battling 42 other cars for the lead position

and dealing with the G-forces of driving a racecar with 800lbs of torque at almost 200mph. Seven average joes can't even change one tire in 14 seconds, much less four tires in 14 seconds while refueling the gas tank and making car adjustments!

Are you picturing how you drive on the interstate and thinking that's all NASCAR drivers are doing? The way NASCAR racers drive and the way normal people drive are polar opposites, that's why it's so hard for people who aren't fans to understand why this is a sport.

Also, NASCAR isn't all about the physical part of it, much of it is math. Pit stops have to come at certain intervals so the driver won't run out of gas or wear their tires too thin. Fuel milage has to be calculated for each track, tire wear is measured and pit stops are scheduled according to that as well. But when a caution comes out that changes b/c it's a lot better to pit under the yellow flag than the green flag. Then the calculations start all over again to reschedule the next stop, unless another caution comes out, then they do it again, you get the idea.  

NASCAR has a lot of rules that you have to work with also. Here's a few of them to give you an idea:

1. You can only have 7 people over the wall during a pit stop.

2. Pit road has a speed limit. If you go over it you have to go to the back of the pack.

3. Each car is made to fit a series of templates. If your car doesn't fit the specs to a tee, you are fined some serious cash and points.

The strategies used for winning also make it worth watching, for instance, if a driver takes 2 tires instead of 4, he will have a quicker pit stop and can get out ahead of the other drivers. But the drivers that took 4 tires have an advantage so if you only take 2 tires, you better have a good car to stay out front! Usually gambles like that are made towards the end of the race and drivers can almost taste the checkered flag.

Well I hope that helps. I didn't touch on everything, simply because there's way too much info about it. Let me tell you this, if you have the opportunity to go to a NASCAR race, take it! You will never have to ask another question like this again.

Answer 9

i know rite??? its not like ur missing anything! "Look Jimmy, another left turn!!"

Answer 10

They don't always go in circles there are triangles, rectangles and two road courses. If you even know what that is. How about you go **** yourself while watching your g*y hockey and football. Woo-Hoo! Grown men in tights running after a ball!

If you ask this you will never get it unless you actually try it. I bet you if you actually watched it you'd be off of your seat the whole last 25 laps and love it.

Answer 11

It's the smell of fuel & burning rubber. The thundering sound of the cars as they barrel into turn 1 at over 180mph. It's the bumping, rubbing, & slaming into one another as they race around a track at nearly 200mph to move up just 1 more position. It's the making or missing a chance for a championship run by as little as 3 points. It's the leading 199 of 200 laps only to loose on lap 200 & end up finishing 2nd. It's leading for 120 laps & blowing an engine while leading & finishing 43rd. It the leading 1 lap of a 300 lap race, but it was the last lap so they won the race.

It's all of those things and more. And NASCAR fans are the most loyal fans of ANY sport. We are more passionate about our sport & driver than fans of anyother sport.

You don't get NASCAR & that's ok. For those of us who are fans we get it. We don't try to convience others that it's exciting or a sport. We just ask that those of you who don't get it leave us alone. We don't torment the golf fans or the vollyball fans or whomever & all we expect is the same respect in return.

As for drivers being Athletes. Here is post I made 2 months ago in regard to that very matter:

Mark Martin ~ On crutches. Was helped in & out of his race car. Never missed a race.

Dale Jarrett ~ Raced a few weeks with cracked ribs. Then cracked the same ribs again mear weeks after the 1st time. And never missed a race.

Bobby Hamilton Sr, ~ Had to have oxgen after WINNING Talladega.

Ricky Rudd ~ Raced with his EYES TAPED OPEN & WON. And never missed a race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr ~ Raced with 2nd degree burns on his legs & with a concusion. And never missed a race.

Earnie Irvan ~ Crashed at Michigan, given a 5% chance of living, came back 1 year later & won at that same track.

Now what's your defination of an athlete? Because it takes an athlete to make a sport. And honey all of those mentioned above are athletes. As are the 43 drivers whom risk their lives week in & week out for us, the fans, for our entertainment & out of their pure love of their sport.

Answer 12

For me its watching the side by side racing. And watching my favorite driver Dale Jr come up threw the pack and fight for the lead.

Answer 13

Fast cars, lots of drama, crashes, teamwork between driver and pit crew..beer and really good looking women.

Answer 14

It great to have 43 800hp cars all racing to get to the finish first. I enjoy following my favorite driver, watching teams that start off with a terrible car but then at the end of the race they are the class of the field, after wrenching on it during the pit stops. Nascar is Drama! Take a driver that seems to be cruising to an easy victory only to have a tire blow out or he/she has a bad/long pit stop, after leading almost the whole race. I enjoy following the points during the race seeing which drivers are makin some ground in the Championship race, and who is falling out.

And the final reason is that NASCAR has the HOTTEST chicks at the race. Much better than any sporting event that I have ever attended!!!!

Just go to a race and it will be all over from there!!

NASCAR 99- WHo has been the most consistent driver this season??? NOT 99, Driver #88, check the stats, ya clown!!

Answer 15

July 27th, August 3rd, and August 10th are the next three races. Sit and watch, pick yourself a driver, and see what happens.

Give it a try, I'm 95% sure that if you watch 3 races in a row, you'll be a nascar fan!!

It's the picking a favorite driver part that'll be hard, so here's a few suggestions on some drivers..

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (the most popular driver in the sport)

Kyle Busch (my fav. and the current points leader)

Jimmie Johnson (2006 and 2007 champion)

Jeff Gordon (most championships of any active driver)

Tony Stewart (by far one of the most charasmatic drivers)

or you can go to http://nascar.com for a complete list of drivers, just pick one, and watch, you'll see....pretty soon you'll be hooked!

Answer 16

Watching the brain dead Junior fans throw c**p on the track each time he loses. The baseball team scouts are gonna start recruiting these folks as pitchers LOL!

Answer 17

you're wrong about the drivers not being athletic. most of them stay in very good shape, they have to  to withstand 120 degree temperatures for 4 hours at a time. they also have to have great hand/eye coordination and lightning quick reflexes to do what they do, both signs of great athletes. not to mention the pit crews, who change 4 tires, manually add 22 gallons of fuel and make adjustments to the car in about 13 seconds. there are exceptions to the rule of course, just like there are in every other sport, but when a driver is not in good shape, his performance usually suffers as a consequence