12 replies to this topic

[cristiano84]

NASCAR racing is finally opening to international drivers and manufacturers and I suppose the situation is just at the beginning.
Juan Montoya, A.J.Allmendinger, Sam Hornish and Jacques Villeneuve are already there, Dario Franchitti and Scott Speed could soon join the pack, and from a manufacturers point of view Toyota is the first non american carmaker on the grid and maybe others are thinking to join them...

I really can't see NASCAR challenging F.1 right now...but what if, 10-15 years from now NASCAR (with maybe an international calendar with races in Europe, Asia and Oceania, less ovals and more european/asian drivers and manufacturers) will be able to do so?

[frostbite]

The real issue is not the drivers but with non-american manufacturers like Toyota being added to the mix it opens up a number of possibilities.  However, they are fundamentally different types of racing.  In Indianapolis and Montreal you had a fan base that for the most part follows both open wheel and 'stock' car racing.  IRL and Champ Car are the series that could have competed but they are both either irrelevant or on life support.

[DOF_power]

10-15 years ?!


It took F1 `4 decades to transform itself from a niche second-hand series spread in Western-Europe to a global phenomenon it is todays. And it still didn't penetrated the USA.

10-15 years with just 2 drivers know outside the USA (Franchitti is irrelevant just as the IRL and Indy 500) won't be enough.

[goferrarigo]

Agree with DOF...

hey since you know so much of the technical data...

What material is the c#ckpit of an F1 car made of, so taht drivers survi even the huge crashes...

Is it Carbon eposy by any chance?

[YHR]

DOF_Renault_BMW, on Sep 10 2007, 11:02 AM, said:

10-15 years ?!
It took F1 `4 decades to transform itself from a niche second-hand series spread in Western-Europe to a global phenomenon it is todays. And it still didn't penetrated the USA.

10-15 years with just 2 drivers know outside the USA (Franchitti is irrelevant just as the IRL and Indy 500) won't be enough.

And in one year it seems to be imploding

Even the new kid, Hamilton, is saying he dislikes the politics that are in F1.  Some things  I guess never change.  I remember a certain Nigel Mansell who left F1 for the same reasons over a decade ago.

Just image if Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard could be convinced Nascar is worth exploring.  We could see a tidal wave of European fan support in a very short time.  Stranger things have happened.  BMW and Mercedes both build Sedan cars large enough to fit over a Nascar Chassis.  With the failure of F1 to make any inroads into US auto racing perhaps they would look at this as a way to get their name in front on the North American car fan.

Edited by YHR, 11 September 2007 - 06:08 AM.

[cristiano84]

Ignoring the US market, going on with FIArrari biased behaviour and political scandals is certainly doing no good to F.1.

[DriftingGuy]

Nascar??? What is that???

[cristiano84]

goferrarigo, on Sep 10 2007, 05:19 PM, said:

Agree with DOF...

hey since you know so much of the technical data...

What material is the c#ckpit of an F1 car made of, so taht drivers survi even the huge crashes...

Is it Carbon eposy by any chance?

Carbon fibre

[danktrees]

i dont think nascar can challenge f1. they are not world wide and they are a different brand of racing. people that watch f1 might not like nascar at all (i.e. me, michael schumacher and others). also, i find that most of the drivers arent that great. they're fine on ovals but u will notice that all but a few of them suck at any course that has more than 6 banked left turns. this is proven by the fact that montoya cant touch them on ovals (except at the indy) but easily dominates them on the road courses.

[Eric]

danktrees, on Sep 11 2007, 02:19 PM, said:

i dont think nascar can challenge f1. they are not world wide and they are a different brand of racing. people that watch f1 might not like nascar at all (i.e. me, michael schumacher and others). also, i find that most of the drivers arent that great. they're fine on ovals but u will notice that all but a few of them suck at any course that has more than 6 banked left turns. this is proven by the fact that montoya cant touch them on ovals (except at the indy) but easily dominates them on the road courses.

If (some) NASCAR drivers suck because (some) can't drive on road courses, then can't the same be said for F1 drivers?  JPM isn't a great oval racer, so I guess those all road course drivers suck, too.

Nope, wrong, bad.  Both are equally talented, totally different discipline of racing, and they all have talent.  If you grew up racing at the 1/2-mile oval with hairpin turns your whole life, the road course is a tough beast to tame.  And if you grew up racing road courses your whole life, the oval is a tough beast to tame.  Important statement of the day: Ovals are harder to drive than they look.  I'd tell you to go try it yourself to see, but you don't have the talent to go try it.

And also, JPM doesn't dominate them so easily on the road courses.  He qualified 32nd or 33rd at Sonoma.  Real impressive.  And it was basically a fuel mileage win...I mean, yeah, he did a great job battling with McMurray, but still, it wasn't all JPM skill getting to the front.  And Watkins Glen he was riding around 7th-12th, not really dominant.  Yeah, Mexico in Busch he dominated, can't take that away.

---------
Back to the OP, I don't know.  Maybe, maybe not.  I'm gunna wait and see how that new Middle Eastern stock car series does.  If it does well, it might be worth it.  Also, NASCAR on road courses is great racing, as is NASCAR on short tracks, but if NASCAR ran more road courses in Europe and Asia and Australia, I could really see them gaining popularity as the road races are the best of the year.  Lot's of action.

[Eric]

DOF_Renault_BMW, on Sep 10 2007, 01:02 PM, said:

10-15 years ?!


It took F1 `4 decades to transform itself from a niche second-hand series spread in Western-Europe to a global phenomenon it is todays. And it still didn't penetrated the USA.

10-15 years with just 2 drivers know outside the USA (Franchitti is irrelevant just as the IRL and Indy 500) won't be enough.

Ouch on the last statement, but it does have truth.

Yes, it took F1 4 decades, but NASCAR isn't only just born.  NASCAR the sanction has been around since 1948, and it has transformed from southern moonshine runners on dirt to real racing machines on pavement with pro race drivers racing all over the US...and now it's about to expand even further, and I think 10-15 years is more than enough time.

NASCAR's looking at a Bahrain race in the future, and China too.  They also have Busch race in Canada and Mexico, and there's a new Middle Eastern Stock Car series that could generate interest.

[Quiet One]

Ok, as I don't give a tupenny intercourse (for SK's sake) about NASCAR, let me put it into perspective from these latitudes:

1) NASCAR does not exist. Zip. Zero. Nada. Yes they transmit every race on Fox Sports. Yet nobody watches them, and if they do, nobody admits so.

2) I bet USA with all its economic and marketing power will go a long way in imposing NASCAR abroad. They managed to bring some interest here into basketball, after all.

3) However, we also have OUR own series here (TC, TC2000, V6, etc.) which are hugely popular. In fact, more popular than F1 at present. Same goes for most countries, I guess. Is not only F1 they have to contend with. There are many national and regional series.

4) TC (Turismo Carretera) has been around for ages here. TC2000 not for so long but it's even better. Of course, we can't even start comparing it with NASCAR. But it is raced in local tracks, with well known local drivers. Just as no NASCAR fan would switch to TC or TC2000, our fans would not switch to NASCAR so easily. It'll gonna take years of flooding marketing and millions of dollars (and some argentinian drivers) to make us watch it.

Yes, there are many more options than NASCAR vs F1. As a final word: F1 is international, feels international, thinks international. NASCAR is local, feels local, tries to fool itself it's international.

Still a long way to go.

[Eric]

I don't watch NASCAR anymore, but I still view them as legitimate.

NASCAR's image is now more corporate, and Brian France is really becoming a Bernie Ecclestone, just with less money.  I can see it happening.