Why the hell is Nascar so popular?

[Schadenfroh]

Admittedly I grew up in an area where Nascar is worshiped by all those around me. When did watching cars go around in circles for hours ever stop being repetitive?

I've asked a few of my cousins why they like it and the majority of the time the answer I hear is "because it is cool." Umm, ok I suppose. A couple of them have even told me they like other forms of racing, but that those aren't cool to watch.

 

[Medicine Bear]

The parody is strong in this one

 

[manohartvs]

Dude, they go in circles so many freaking times. What more do you want!!!!

 

[Atomicus]

wasting fuel and valuable land.... ahhh yes the joys of being an American

 

[Al Neri]

hillbillies get entertained by things going in circles?

fixed for grammer[sic]

 

[hypn0tik]

1) Don't know what to say about the parody.

2) Nascar is single handedly the most boring thing I've had the displeasure of watching. I guess the only worse thing to watch on TV is Curling.

 

[Acanthus]

WRC > Nascar.

 

[manohartvs]

Yeah, I think there has been 1 U.S driver so far in Formula 1. Rest of them go for Nascar and sh!t like that I guess.

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
1) Don't know what to say about the parody.

2) Nascar is single handedly the most boring thing I've had the displeasure of watching. I guess the only worse thing to watch on TV is Curling.

curling is actually entertaining

 

[Mucho]

The one sport where there are no black stars.

<flame suit on>

 

[dullard]

I agree. Nascar is so boring. I've tried to watch it throughout the years and I just can't stomach it. Now the racing where there are both left AND right turns is much better - but I still think even that is boring.

 

[Atomicus]

Originally posted by: Mucho
The one sport where there are no black stars.

<flame suit on>

The same can be said about Olympic swimming

 

[BlueWeasel]

Being from the same state as the OP, I don't know why it's so appealing to rednecks. I'm bored after about 3 laps, but I've got plenty of friends, family, and coworkers who just eat this crap up.

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: matstars

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
1) Don't know what to say about the parody.

2) Nascar is single handedly the most boring thing I've had the displeasure of watching. I guess the only worse thing to watch on TV is Curling.

curling is actually entertaining

No.

 

[leftyman]

whatcha ya'll mean? yee- haa! nascar rules...belch

 

[Leper Messiah]

I watch it for the crashes!
/hillbilly.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

In F1 you get to watch cars do thier thing.
In WRC you get to watch drivers do thier thing.
In NASCAR you get to watch racers race.

I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO! That'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Sitting around waiting to see if anyone will ever pass anyone else. Now watch the race this weekend at Bristol. 43 guys, 1/2 mile. I don't care if you're 12 laps in the lead, you still don't have it in the bag until you see the checkered flag. Noone is ever alone for more than 5 laps. WRC drivers had mad skill, and it's fun to watch, but there's less side by side action than the line at the DMV. It's driving to me, not racing.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah
I watch it for the crashes!
/hillbilly.

The only time I ever watch it is when I get to watch only the clip of the crash.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
In F1 you get to watch cars do thier thing.
In WRC you get to watch drivers do thier thing.
In NASCAR you get to watch racers race.

I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO! That'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Sitting around waiting to see if anyone will ever pass anyone else. Now watch the race this weekend at Bristol. 43 guys, 1/2 mile. I don't care if you're 12 laps in the lead, you still don't have it in the bag until you see the checkered flag. Noone is ever alone for more than 5 laps. WRC drivers had mad skill, and it's fun to watch, but there's less side by side action than the line at the DMV. It's driving to me, not racing.

I agree. I do not like NASCAR but I see the appeal. There is more action in one lap at talledega than an entire F1 race.

 

[Kalvin00]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
In F1 you get to watch cars do thier thing.
In WRC you get to watch drivers do thier thing.
In NASCAR you get to watch racers race.

I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO! That'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Sitting around waiting to see if anyone will ever pass anyone else. Now watch the race this weekend at Bristol. 43 guys, 1/2 mile. I don't care if you're 12 laps in the lead, you still don't have it in the bag until you see the checkered flag. Noone is ever alone for more than 5 laps. WRC drivers had mad skill, and it's fun to watch, but there's less side by side action than the line at the DMV. It's driving to me, not racing.

:thumbsup: Excellent post.

I would try to argue with some people who have posted but I have learned that arguing with them is about as useful as yelling at a wall.

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
In F1 you get to watch cars do thier thing.
In WRC you get to watch drivers do thier thing.
In NASCAR you get to watch racers race.

I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO! That'll keep you on the edge of your seat. Sitting around waiting to see if anyone will ever pass anyone else. Now watch the race this weekend at Bristol. 43 guys, 1/2 mile. I don't care if you're 12 laps in the lead, you still don't have it in the bag until you see the checkered flag. Noone is ever alone for more than 5 laps. WRC drivers had mad skill, and it's fun to watch, but there's less side by side action than the line at the DMV. It's driving to me, not racing.

true. There is a bit more parity in NASCAR than in anything else. I do watch it occasionally (I like the restrictor plate races the best)...I don't know. Admiting that I've watched nascar now makes me an absolute idiot in everyone's eyes. Oh well.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO!

That is the problem. You watch for so many hours to see a total of 3 exciting events. Many races probably have fewer than that. The excitement to time ratio is pitiful for most races.

Take football as a comparison. A football game may last as long as Nascar, but there are likely to be ~10 different scores during that same time. That is more than tripple the number of exciting moments per time spent watching.

 

[acemcmac]

Nascar would be 11ty,000,000x better if they raced stock cars.

Not those fvcking plastic POS'es, but vehicles I can go down the street and buy copies of like the did in the 70's. I'm not saying make Nascar slower- make my car FASTER :evil:

 

[clarkey01]

F1>NASCAR

 

[Leper Messiah]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
I seem to remember hearing about the Grand Prix of Long Beach having a whopping 3 lead changes among 2 drivers. WOO!

That is the problem. You watch for so many hours to see a total of 3 exciting events. Many races probably have fewer than that. The excitement to time ratio is pitiful for NASCAR.

Take football as a comparison. A football game may last as long as Nascar, but there are likely to be ~10 different scores during that same time. That is more than tripple the number of exciting moments per time spent watching.

??? The average ammount of lead changes in a NASCAR race is something like 20. Granted, some of those come during cautions and crap like that, but NASCAR is about eleventy billion times more exciting than F1, IMHO.