NASCAR.
The word alone is one of the most divisive terms in the automotive world. Some folks can't get enough of it, while others hate everything about it.
Few, if any of us on the Speedhunters staff consider ourselves to be hard core NASCAR fans, yet we all agreed that visiting a NASCAR race in person was a must-have addition to our Things to Do Before You Die list.
Such is the power that this sport holds.
We know that a lot of you guys might not be too keen on NASCAR, but hear us out. After all, Speedhunters has always been about expanding your automotive horizons, right?
A lot of people write off NASCAR as nothing but a bunch of cars turning left for a few hours, but there's much more to the sport than that.
The appeal of NASCAR comes from many things. The people, the race tracks, the on-track competition, and the sound of 43 screaming V8's coming to the green flag.
The sport also has an extremely rich history, going back to the days when stock car literally meant a hot rodded street car running on dirt.
Then on through the glory days of the 1960's and '70s, which in my opinion produced some of the coolest race cars ever to lay tire on a track. The men who drove them were equally awesome.
A lot has changed since then, but NASCAR considers its history very important. One just needs to look at the new NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte to see this.
On the track, today's NASCAR races offer a lot of excitement. The racing is fast and close, and there's no shortage of traded paint each weekend.
The sound of NASCAR alone is worth the price of admission. Televisiion doesn't even come close to conveying what a full NASCAR field sounds like at wide open throttle. It's unlike anything else in the world.
One of the common complaints that people have about NASCAR is the "old technolgy" used in the race cars.
A stock car may be antiquated compared to a F1 machine or other modern race cars, but does that make the racing any less fun to watch? I'd say it doesn't.
Then you have the elements of strategy that are extremely important in NASCAR. Many races have been won or lost by gambles on fuel. Also, a competitive driver or car is only as good as the guys that jump over the wall during the pit stops. This is true for many forms of motorsport, but it somehow seems even more crucial in NASCAR.
With so many cars racing in close quarters, you are bound to see some massive crashes as well. Just as amazing is that so many cars can get back on track after these huge pile-ups.
One of my favorite parts of the sport is seeing those battered cars with hasty repairs and missing body panels still out there running laps. Stock cars can take a beating!
If you were to make plans to attend a NASCAR race, there are tracks all over the US where the series runs, and any of them should deliver a great time. For the purest NASCAR experience, legendary places like Daytona, Talladega, Darlington, and Indianapolis would be high on the list.
Each type of track that the series visits offers its own unique style of racing.
Whether its the draft-based high speed ballet at superspeedways like Talladega and Daytona.
Or the confined madness of a short track racing at Bristol or Martinsville.
Then you have the pair of road course stops the series makes every year, Watkins Glen in New York…
..and Infineon Raceway in California. Watching dozens of these heavy machines fight it out through the corners and hills is incredible.
Aside from what happens on the track, the infield of a NASCAR race is one of the coolest things about attending an event.
Imagine spending a weekend camping out with a group of friends and huge stash of food and drink – with race cars circling you at nearly 200mph. It's a party as much as it's an automobile race.
You'll also meet some very interesting people as you make your way around a NASCAR infield.
NASCAR fans might be some of the most loyal in the world, but they are also some of the most fun-loving and down to earth.
This isn't the United States, it's JR. NATION.
Another thing that fans love about NASCAR races is the accessibility of the teams and drivers. This openness is something you might not find so much in other top level motorsports.
All in all, there's a "loose" feel to the sport that goes back to the days of rowdy guys running moonshine from the authorities. Whether its post race scuffles between drivers, giant celebratory burnouts, or Carl Edwards doing his signature backflip after each victory.
It's for all these reasons and more that we've added the NASCAR experience to our list of Things to Do Before You Die.
Even if you don't walk away from the race as full-fledged NASCAR fan, you are almost guaranteed to come away with a new-found appreciation for the sport and the lively world that surrounds it.
-Mike Garrett
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool, Getty Images, Jason Smith, Kevin C. Cox, Hendrick Motorsports Media, Ford Racing Media.
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Say what you like, NASCAR is just plain fun to watch
Great article, this has been on my list for a while,would love to see nascar at watkins glen.
I've been to several Nascar events. They were the most boring motorsport events I have ever gone too.
As someone who has enjoyed reading Speedhunters for quite a while, reading between the lines this article should really be "NASCAR isn't a bunch of rednecks." I don't think you should have to apologize for covering what is one of the most fun, exciting, successful and thriving areas of racing out there.
I'll never get the huge prejudice gearheads have against NASCAR. Sure, it isn't Japanese, Italian, German or limited edition but for go fast good times it's hard to beat. My introduction to motorsports was seeing a NASCAR race at Watkins Glen when I was a kid. Despite being a jaded resident of NYC, I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon then watching stock cars trade paint.
nascar is cool with the speeds and drafting. even driving in an oval pattern is fine, and is a valid form of racing.
but tube frame cars with pushrod v8s covered in cheesy ass, very poorly reproduced plastic replica bodies, of the most boring midsize sedans on the market, is just 'wtf'. plastering them all with the same mass produced freebie bumper stickers is also a pretty pitiful excuse for livery. look at the pics every car has the same collection of dozens of bumperstickers.
to summarize: the racing itself can be pretty impressive and exciting, but the actual cars are lame as hell. nascar/america desperately needs to copy australia's v8 supercar rules.
also, should nascar bring in some figure-8 racing to the big leagues?
nascar is the worst form of racing and should b on payper view,im tierd of puting on speed and it being nascar all day long ok i get it u can go fast and turn left WOW! try going that fast around multiple right and left corners then will talk about it being a real race
im not a nascar fan at all, but i respect the sport. It's extremely competitive, and winning requires some serious skills and thinking ahead. My stateside home is a couple of miles from Talledega, and they aint lying about the sound level of those races.
As if any of you weekend warrior clowns are above the multi talented pro's in NASCAR.... I Interned at The Glen the opening season of the new media building...road course NASCAR will ALWAYS be better. Especially when you see Marcos Ambrose punk Busch not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES in the bus stop and get away with it in a sport where everything must be standardized and the driver is true king. What, you're going to say drifting is harder? More technical? And Ken Block is the best ever behind the wheel of a rally car. OOOH YEAH and lesson one in any marketing/ advertising class is despite all the techie BS going on REPETITION IS STILL THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF ADVERTISING REPETITION IS STILL THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF ADVERTISING REPETITION IS STILL THE MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF ADVERTISING horses asses...
I love the comments about how much easier it is- if so then why is juan pablo getting his ass handed to him by some backward ass circle track jockeys?
always a dream of mine to attend a NASCAR event. - doesn't have a massive following in the UK, but there are some fans - worthy of being on the list non-the-less!
I cant wait for november this year, im flying to the usa to see the race weekend at Texas Speedway.
I myself love nascar, the skills needed to slide the car through the turns, the throttle ballance, the fact that the drivers spend half the race turning right, along with left.. The power out of those carbureted machines is awesome. And the characters, from despising Rowdy, Kurt and Keslowski. To loving JJ, Martin and Edwards. Its a Brilliant sport.
Infact since ONE HD started showing it in Australia, a majority of my friends who said nascar sucked now refuse to miss a race they now love the sport and think its the most exciting racing shown on tv!!
I don't particularly like nascar but I will gladly admit the last ten laps of any nascar race is as good of racing as any other form in my opinion.
These are all far to easy, I love Nascar and have done this also.
Sorry Mike, but the Australian V8 Supercar series is much more fun to watch!
If NASCAR had more road racing events, then it would be cool I guess.
whats up with all the "before you die" stuff? Someone at the office departing soon? sorry to hear it if so.
cheers
Been there done that; not that much fun.
Aluminium bodyes...
LOVE this article glad to see SH throwing nascar some love. it is an incredible thing to see live... and for those of you hating on the redneck fans of nascar i can only assume you have never been to a WRC event... they have the redneck lifestyle on lock so much nascar fans cant even dream of it. The rules around the car need some fine tuning admittedly but the sport offers racing that you cant see anywhere else... id love to see some more road courses too.
The history of this sport is more interesting than it's current state. An "even playing field" isn't exactly pushing the sport forward. The stock bodied cars are what drew in fans because they could go out and buy a car identical to what their favorite driver drove to victory lane. When was the last time you saw a V8, RWD Toyota Camry, Ford Fusion, Chevy Impala??? NEVER!
I agree with one of the previous posters, the Australia supercars have a great following and would do great here. I could just see a Dodge Charger in race form running along side a Pontiac G8. . . that would be truly badass and would slowly start taking away fans from Nascar.
If I had the money and the power I would start such a race series and turn it into the successor of what was Nascar.
pstar said it all. The cars are the lamest of all motorsport. That's one of the things I still can't get over. Also, the races in the ovals are too long. Because of the lack of corners it becomes boring after a while.
I never been a Nascar fan, Im one of those that say all that stuff, is a redneck sport, its boring, just left turns... and all that, but I have to say this article open my eyes and my mind to cosider going to a Nascar race, that Watkins Glen road course in NY sounds cool. Plus Toyota is pretty big on nascar now.
personally i think that runing into a oval doesnt need to much hability like driving and F1 or another categories that are practiced in a ''real'' circuit..
anyway, very good article, go ahead with ''Things to Do Before You Die''
NASCAR was the first racing game I played before going to NFS, way back then. I remember steering the car was a little tough considering going left at absurd speeds.
Never been a fan of Nascar, generally becasue over in Ireland we dont get to see it on TV, and there is F1 and all the other classes of motorsport but I got to go to Daytona to see an event and it was absolutely brilliant. Racing aside, the place, the spectacle, atmosphere was like almost nothing else ive seen. The racing was great too though. "its an oval with some left handers yadda yadda" but go and watch a race and you'll see why the races are so good. Plus the radios the fans get to listen to every drivers pit radio conversations. Nascar needs to skool F1 on how to make the sport properly entertaining. And Montoya was there that day too, and was horrific. A Nascar race; and Bathurst. Two must attend events
Great article!
I think nascar is a tough motorsport, which requires skills and attributes to reach the top podium...but you have to admit that is boring as hell...
Thank you for this article. Although, it really is not all about the Sprint Cup Series, there is also the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series, K&N Pro Series (East and West), Whelen Modified Tour (national and Southern), and there is the absolute root of NASCAR racing, the NASCAR Home Tracks. The NASCAR home tracks are those local bullrings, either paved or dirt, that you more than likely have close to where you live. IMO, the short track racing is the best of them all, usually 20-30 cars on a fast 1/4 mile oval, I don't think you can get better than that.
Used to be a hater until I dealved into it a bit. The cars are built to take punishment that no F1 or Aussie Super V8 could take. I love road course racing but Nascar I realized has standardized the cars so that the race becomes the between the drivers and the battles they have. Makes even an oval track entertaining. Very seldom does the pole sitter win. Thundering cars and entertaining back and forth racing, not a procession like some other races end up being.
Add this too, Nationwide Series at Road America. Pure awesomeness. The race should be better this year, they made a few small improvements to makes the venue NASCAR-friendly.
Already been. If you go you have to get into the infield, and even then you will still run into a ton of drunk rednecks.
Also be prepared to come home with a good 10 points knocked off your IQ. Those guys can really get to you.
Meh, those "old shitty pushrod v8's" are cheap to build and cheap to work on. 600 horsepower 4 banger or V6 with all your fancy computers and fuel injection will cost you about twice as much to build as one of those "shitty pushrod V8's". Reliability of a pushrod engine is only as good as the reliability of the person building it. You don't have computers to hook up to to tell you what to do and how to tune the engine, you have to do it by listening, smelling, and feeling the throttle response.
Napcar on TV, eardrum destroying good time in real life.
I visited the Daytona 500 last february, first time Nascar for me as well, and it was FANTASTIC! And I have seen about everything in motorsport live here in Europe; F1, Le Mans, FIA GT, WRC,...
Speedhunters better not end up like Speedvision...
This is how it started. Feature one NASCAR event, and suddenly, its 95% NASCAR
out of all groups of people, I am so glad that Speedhunters can appreciate NASCAR and include this on your top things to do before dying. Although I love Jap like no other, V8s are close to my heart as that's what I grew up loving. NASCAR is one of them. So many people don't appreciate it because on first glance, because "all they do is go in circles", quite literally. Oval racing is neglected, but people should p ut all of their thoughts behind them and just watch it for once. And for the old technology, it makes the racing much more exciting than almost any other form of motorsport.
NASCAR road course racing is the best racing out there, I just love it! the short tracks are not bad either.
The month of May is drawing to a close, and that means that our "Things to Do Before You Die"