Toyota dominating NASCAR.. Who would have thought..

[Papagayo]

With the experience and history with Ford and Chevy, I would thought American Engine would dominate..


I was wrong..



Common guys lets put automotive threads in the garage...?

AT Moderator
Bartman39

 

[SSSnail]

I thought all the engines are pretty much the same and it's the drivers?

 

[lupi]

Since all the engines are hand built and mostly controlled by non-digital systems, engine building is still one of the largest deciding factors, particularly since a large majority of all other car adjustments have been ruled out over the last decade.

 

[Brian Stirling]

You basically have one car design and the various teams put paint or decals to make them look like a Ford or Chevy but are the same beneath the paint.

Engine building is likely an area where someone can gain an advantage though it isn't by way of electronics.


Brian

 

[FerrelGeek]

Engine building and suspension packages. There's nothing stock in stock car racing. Not at the level being discussed here.

 

[cbrunny]

With the experience and history with Ford and Chevy, I would thought American Engine would dominate..


I was wrong..

why?

 

[gorcorps]

With the experience and history with Ford and Chevy, I would thought American Engine would dominate..


I was wrong..

With the history of Ford and Chevy I'd expect them to spin out, then ask for government assistance to get back on the track

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Its car racing, who cares.

 

[Ns1]

Its car racing, who carea

More people than you'd expect....

The sport has become the No. 1 spectator sport, and 17 of the top 20 most attended sporting events in the United States are NASCAR events. The sport is broadcast in 150 countries, and it is the second-most-watched sport on TV (after the NFL).Feb 27, 2012

 

[gorcorps]

More people than you'd expect....

The sport has become the No. 1 spectator sport, and 17 of the top 20 most attended sporting events in the United States are NASCAR events. The sport is broadcast in 150 countries, and it is the second-most-watched sport on TV (after the NFL).Feb 27, 2012

I'm offended that you used the word "sport" so many times when referring to watching Dale, Ricky and Bobby drive in loops for half a day

 

[cbrunny]

NASCAR is great. I really enjoyed watching it when I was younger. I haven't watched in a long time, but I used to plan my weekends to watch it. If you're into it, there's nothing better. Very strategic, coordinated, planned efforts.

Really easy to just say "turn left 500 times and win!" but that's actually a completely ridiculous statement.

Would love to go to one in person some day.

 

[ControlD]

With the history of Ford and Chevy I'd expect them to spin out, then ask for government assistance to get back on the track

When did Ford ask for government assistance? They sold off a ton of assets to avoid getting a government bailout and it paid off for them.

 

[Loop2kil]

NASCAR is great. I really enjoyed watching it when I was younger. I haven't watched in a long time, but I used to plan my weekends to watch it. If you're into it, there's nothing better. Very strategic, coordinated, planned efforts.

Really easy to just say "turn left 500 times and win!" but that's actually a completely ridiculous statement.

Would love to go to one in person some day.

In person is very cool...I'm not a huge racing fan but seeing it live is 'special' if you have not had the opportunity yet. Feeling the concrete shake under your feet like an earthquake as the collective racers zoom by is awe inspiring for at least a few minutes anyway. After a while it gets boring and I'm ready to go back to the parking lot to tailgate some more but it's definitely something to do at least once in your life.

 

[boomerang]

I watch the Legendary Motorcar series on Velocity. The last episode dealt with buying former NASCAR cars. The father and son on the series bought two in that episode. They were pointing out that cars with racing history are going for big bucks these days but for whatever reason the NASCAR cars have been completely ignored.

Some of the historied race cars that are selling are going for multi-millions but these two cars were picked up for under $200K each IIRC. One was around $145K and I can't recall the purchase price on the other. This is a fraction of what it cost to build these cars initially and in this case one had been completely restored by the original build shop and the other was just as it was when it came off the track from the last race it was in.

 

[gorcorps]

When did Ford ask for government assistance? They sold off a ton of assets to avoid getting a government bailout and it paid off for them.

First, it was just a joke.

Second, Ford was part of the original request/proposal of the bailout from the big 3 but didn't end up taking anything from the same fund as Chrysler & GM. Instead they got a different government loan for a green initiative for electric cars that Nissan and Tesla has also taken advantage of.

http://www.automotive.com/news/ford-the-only-domestic-company-that-still-owes-the-government-109409/

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I am surprised Chevy hasn't had a recall on any of the NASCAR cars. :biggrin:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Engine building and suspension packages. There's nothing stock in stock car racing. Not at the level being discussed here.

Nor is there anything interesting about stock car racing.

 

[ControlD]

First, it was just a joke.

Second, Ford was part of the original request/proposal of the bailout from the big 3 but didn't end up taking anything from the same fund as Chrysler & GM. Instead they got a different government loan for a green initiative for electric cars that Nissan and Tesla has also taken advantage of.

http://www.automotive.com/news/ford-the-only-domestic-company-that-still-owes-the-government-109409/

Yep, I realize it was a joke.

Thanks for the link. I wasn't aware of that. I wonder what the status of that loan is now? That article was four years old. I'll have to see if there is any information out there (just for my curiosity).

 

[JulesMaximus]

More people than you'd expect....

The sport has become the No. 1 spectator sport, and 17 of the top 20 most attended sporting events in the United States are NASCAR events. The sport is broadcast in 150 countries, and it is the second-most-watched sport on TV (after the NFL).Feb 27, 2012

I'm not so sure about that.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-isc-seats-20140827-story.html

As popularity, and seating, wane, NASCAR explores capacity to change

The largest operator of NASCAR race tracks might not be done removing grandstand seats at its 13 speedways due to the decline in NASCAR's popularity, the company's chief executive said.

International Speedway Corp., whose tracks include Daytona International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, already has slashed the number of seats at its venues — in some cases by up to 46% — in the last 18 months.


ISC Chief Executive Lesa France Kennedy, in an interview with The Times, was asked whether ISC might not be done cutting back. "Maybe not," she replied. "We'll see how that goes.


"I think that over time that there will be" more seat reductions, France Kennedy said, "but that will be dependent on the market" of each track.


"Over time we'll take a look at it in specific markets," she said.


After reaching unprecedented highs in the mid-2000s, NASCAR's on-site attendance and television ratings dropped for various reasons, including the economy's collapse in 2008-09, unhappiness with the quality of NASCAR's racing and shifting consumer demand for sports entertainment.

 

[Ns1]

^^ even after the cuts holy shit these venues are huge.

Among ISC's cuts compared with 2009 levels: Auto Club Speedway's seating capacity was trimmed 26% to 68,000 from 92,000, Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama was reduced 45% to 78,000 seats from 143,000 and Michigan International Speedway's seating was slashed 46% to 71,000 from 131,000.

 

[ControlD]

Those venues grew so fast that it became a huge PITA to attend a race. My wife and I (back when we were dating) used to go to Michigan International for at least one of the NASCAR races every year. Back in 1992 or so, there probably weren't even 40,000 seats. The parking is pretty much in a grass field outside of the track. Even with those lower numbers it could take a good 3-4 hours to get out when the race was over. When the seating went up, they did almost nothing to take care of traffic problems. It just wasn't worth the headache to go anymore so we gave up our seats, and have never returned.

 

[Homerboy]

More people than you'd expect....

The sport has become the No. 1 spectator sport, and 17 of the top 20 most attended sporting events in the United States are NASCAR events. The sport is broadcast in 150 countries, and it is the second-most-watched sport on TV (after the NFL).Feb 27, 2012

Why do you think that is? It might just have something to do with the size of the venue, don't ya think?

 

[Ns1]

Why do you think that is? It might just have something to do with the size of the venue, don't ya think?

your point is?

 

[phreaqe]

your point is?

When a venue can physically seat more then the others its not saying much to say that more people were there. Its like saying that more people attend an nfl game vs an NBA game. well sure, because the NFL stadium seats 2-3 times as many people.

 

[Homerboy]

When a venue can physically seat more then the others its not saying much to say that more people were there. Its like saying that more people attend an nfl game vs an NBA game. well sure, because the NFL stadium seats 2-3 times as many people.

Thank you for doing my dirty work for me.