Originally posted by Rara:
Originally posted by Kremithefrog:
So the road courses prove to people that don't understand cars that stock cars can handle.... yet they still hate on the other tracks.



You do realize that every Nextel Cup team has seperate, specific, complete cars built for only the road courses? Except for the road course cars, everything on the oval cars is asymmetric. They even have several different cars for different types of ovals.

This is the kind of stuff that bothers me about Nascar and Nextel Cup specifically. These are supposed to be STOCK cars, and they couldn't be any further from what you buy off the showroom floor. I mean, when was the last time you saw a tube frame, carbed V8, RWD, 2-door fusion? Heck, I understand the need for prepping a race car for safety etc probably better than anyone here, but come on, this is ridiculous. I mean, our Grand Am Cup Mustangs still look like mustangs!!! And we actually retain a number of stock components, including the unibody . . .

Anyway, for anyone that actually likes road racing with cars that aren't too far removed from what most of us drive, Check out Grand Am Cup (and Rolex) www.grandamerican.com and while you're at it you can cheer for your favorite CEG admin's team, Rehagen Racing w/ the #59 2005 Mustang GT (we also run two 04 Cobras from time to time, #52 and #58)



Good points, Rara...and on some similar notes --

Originally posted by ilive4sports:
But for all of you who hate NASCAR and say its boring, go to a race. You will have a different opinion afterwards.



I think what many are meaning when they say it's boring is that there are other forms of racing that provide a more pleasing and complete 'spectating experience'.

I can think of few things less interesting than 40 or 50 virtually identical cars (same goes for IRL) running around in a circle, regardless of how much skill the drivers need to get it done. Those same 40 or 50 on a road course...then I'll watch.

Even then, it's not as interesting as, say, a sportscar or open-wheel event on the same course. And by interesting, I don't mean the NASCAR version of interesting -- all the bumpin' & rubbin' and being on the edge of your seat the whole time. Much of what makes sportscars & open-wheelers more interesting for some is a) the fact that most in the production sportscar classes (Grand Scam Prep II notwithstanding) are actually production based, or at least bear vastly more than a passing resemblance to their street brethren than does your typical 'stock car', and/or b) the depth of technology and speed demonstrated by a sports-prototype or open-wheeler. Sure, they're fragile. That's the territory of efficiency and slim design margins. There's only so many ways you can break an anvil. And to many, the variety of soundtrack offered by a sportscar or open-wheel event is simply unmatched by a gaggle of screaming carbureted V8's...at any given time in the race, your ears can be assaulted by any combination of force-fed 4-bangers & V8's, screaming atmo- I6/V8/V10/V12's, ground-pounding big-block V8's, ear-bleeding flat-6's, or psychotic Wankels (well, V12 turbodiesels too...but you'll hear the gearbox and tires over the engine).

Toss in sometimes widely disparate speeds and different braking/handling characteristics between the sportscar classes, and it suddenly becomes *very* interesting...to the point where it make 'stock' cars (why do they still call them that?) seem boring, relatively speaking.

Originally posted by Kremitthefrog:
So the road courses prove to people that don't understand cars that stock cars can handle.... yet they still hate on the other tracks.



Actually, the road courses prove to people who follow top-level professional motorsports that the 'stock cars' are among the poorest handling of purpose-built race cars, and hardly any better than some production-based race cars.

An objective comparison of fast qualifiers at shared venues between Nextel Cup and NASCAR's Grand Am road racing series bears this out. The ~550hp Daytona Prototypes (which we all know are by no means near the pinnacle of speed and handling for a sports prototype) outqualify the 800hp 'stock cars' by 5 seconds on average over the Watkins Glen short course. But even though both are purpose-built tube-frame racers I suppose that's an unfair comparison to many since it's a 'stock car' against a prototype. So, moving on to the production class, where the average sub-400hp Rolex GT production (!) qualifier is about 5 seconds back of the average Nextel Cup qualifier, and the fastest GT qualifier is within 1 second of the slowest 'stocker'. For cars that rolled off a factory assembly line and having to make do with design constraints and performance limitations you'd never force into a purpose-built racecar, they do an awful lot with their 400hp and light weight to get that close to an 800hp 'stock car'.

But in the end, it's whatever floats your boat (or rolling billboard...). It's all good...

B. Riley Melbourne, FL '01 Camry LE V6/5-spd Was: '00 Black/Tan SVT Contour #560 - Sold 3/26/03 Before that: '95 Champ/Blue Contour GL V6 ATX