Who among us does not like Nascar?

The thing that I don't like the most about NASCAR is that it's so microgoverned. Dale Junior getting points knocked off his standings just because he accidentally said "shit" on network television. What the fuck does that have to do with how well he performs in the "sport"? It'd be like Tim Duncan getting ten points taken off his last game because he criticized NBA officials afterward.

Say what you will about Bud Selig, but at least you don't have some family sitting on top of baseball, making and changing all the rules at a moment's whim.

Well, golf is certainly far more wasteful.. especially resorts in the desert. I love the game itself, but -- practically speaking -- it's the most resource wasting sport on the planet.. as far as upkeep and water is concerned. (although the terms "waste" and "resource" are very flexible, so any sport could be argued to be the worst, depending on how you stretch the terms.)

Anyway, this is why I prefer mini-golf.

I went to the second Winston Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, with two or three hour-long delays because of wrecks and terrible track conditions. Then when they were actually running, I feel asleep. It's super-loud, but the way the engines rev in unison around the track is soothing and it was 100+ degrees and after two beers I was out like a light.

My thoughts/questions were always about the more obvious and icky bodily functions.

I grew up in the south.

I have no interest in NASCAR though. Watching corporate logos go in a circle for a couple hours is not my idea on entertainment.

I don't notice the sponsorship of basketball and baseball so much (though I hate selling the naming rights to city/state-financed stadiums), until the owners are dumb enough to plaster logos on uniforms. I'd probably be more turned off if I saw them live more often.

I don't think the gearhead factor is that big anymore - the 'cars' they race (Monte Carlos, Ford Tauruses or whatever the new equiv. is) aren't very cool. I'd say the chance of a wreck and the general bumpin-and-grindin is the major drive behind watching the sport.

You could say the same about bullfighting and rodeo.. although the degree of visual "wow"-ness associated with a crash can be seen as disturbingly obfuscating of the tragedy thereof... although this is something people *outside* the sport get more excited about when they see it in the news while those into the sport actually get sad about, I'd gather.

And I stress "I'd gather". Again, I've never even sat through a car race on TV once in my life... so I'll defer to the NASCAR people here instead to explain this.

I can see hardcore fans disliking wrecks (even while unconsciously liking the danger), but the casual fans who make up most of the audience are looking for excitement, which is served by crashes, and something that's often missing from F1.

I have no interest in NASCAR though. Watching corporate logos go in a circle for a couple hours is not my idea on entertainment.

Me too and me too.

I do get a kick out of some of the old footage circa Lee Petty. Some drivers would be in convertibles.

is there any cultural phenomenon that doesn't have naysayers like that? cf. the yakuza, black metal.

That said the best race last weekend was F1, especially the last lap. From a purist's perspective F1 is probably the most interesting class, but to anyone who doesn't follow auto racing it has to be the most boring. It's all strategy and technology, barely any passing. Speed here in the USA has some great announcers, even if they are Coulthard haters.

Does Depends have a NASCAR sponsorship program?

In the meantime, my brain balks at the idea of auto racing as a sport, because it doesn't seem to demand physical strength or endurance. However, I probably here am subscribing to a high-rockist concept of sports.

Welcome back to NASCAR!

This post powered by the new Dodge Hemi Tundra. Special financing available.

i bid a gimlet farewell to 'digger' and his marketing empire and eagerly anticipate the return of wally's world

I have won $240 on the Kyleeeeeeeeeeeee Dude 茄蕃 this season. I used my winnings to buy a new camera.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=ap-nascar-harassmentlawsuit&prov=ap&type=lgns

It's bad publicity and it's a shame but Poston's going to do the right thing.

Read any class action complaint and you'll see the same or worse happening at places from IBM to Merril Lynch.

JIMMY JOHNSON

this is what i say whenever nascar comes up

JIMMY JOHNSON

whenever i catch the tail end of a race on tv i always pull for him & he does not often disappoint

It's Jimmie Johnson, friend.

But yeah, he's a great one to root for.

pwned <3

but yeah whenever i watch a nascar race at the end its always like 'should jimmie go for it or not?' & im always like FUCK YES & he always does then he wins

He's such an awesome good sport, too.

i have been promised "nascar merchandise"!

Pocono might not be the best racing, but it sure looks purty on the tv

Suspiciously smaller-than-a-breadbox NASCAR merchandise, perhaps?

OMG I am so excited about Sonoma. I got comped tickets from my friend at Turner.

I am as yet uncertain of the size or nature of said merch, but may find out this weekend.

This is a good commercial. Someone said it was DJ not Shadow, the other one.

You know, from the 90s but not as good. Oh yeah, Spooky.

i gave my parents a nascar-related item because it also involved something they like. i kept a picture or two tho.

AP says Tony to run his own team, possibly picking up Newman

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tom_bowles/07/11/obama/?eref=sircrc

awesome/finally

i actually sent them an email recommending Kvapil's car. I'm sure these things are related.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2008/7/8/jimmie-johnson-says-nascar-fans-arent-alike-but-will-choose-mccain.html

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Update_Obama_passes_on_NASCAR_sponsorship_0712.html

Samsung Instinct NASCAR application, as demonstrated at Mashable.

(video commentary by yours truly)

i got this guy for my parents' collection

http://web.mac.com/ben.gardner/iWeb/Site/Animals_files/P1000080.jpg

...

I was watching the driver view during practice and everything looked familiar and I realized I dropped many quarters into Indy racing at Coney last weekend and I was all I KNOW YOU, MANG

TS: Dover (or New Hampshire) + Mets-Phils vs. Richmond weekend + Mets-Braves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICi3kIzSIZg&feature=related

Got any questions for Casey Mears? I'm interviewing him tomorrow.

NOPE

yeah, who's his candidate?

I'll ask.

Got any questions for Casey Mears? I'm interviewing him tomorrow.

I suppose I'd ask him for his view on the cheating scandal with Joe Gibbs Racing. Also what he thought of Junior Johnson's reply at: http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=hinton_ed&id=3548448

Also, is he going to race the 24 Hours of Daytona again?

Yeah, I'm totally going to ask him about the cheating. It's so blatant. I want to know if their attitude is like "LOL U BUSTED" or U Jerk.

Hey, good question about the 24 hours of Daytona, too. Thanks!

so why is McDowell still in this series?

i may be going to dover next weekend. how do i go about getting one of those scanner thingies? is there a kind to get? and what do i do with it? does it serve the earplug function?

http://thepage.time.com/mccain-pool-report-3/

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AgFc04FXc_dVtMgcEScu94nov7YF?slug=bm-edwards091108&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

On the subject of politics, Edwards had very strong opinions. When the subject turned to the current presidential election, he offered no direct endorsement of one candidate over another.

“People are smart, and they know the difference between what’s best for them and what’s not,” Edwards said. “I think they know who turns things around and who is telling the truth.

I don't cuz it preempted The Simpsons!!! Why is it NEVER the other way around?????? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....................

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dCpO-e3yyp0/TqlSidQ5WcI/AAAAAAAAAe8/0Cpvfxb3qyU/s400/tony-stewart-GC.jpg

Tony Stewart in high school.

surely some mistake!

wtf

The NASCAR driver known as "The Outlaw" testified Tuesday he believes his ex-girlfriend is a trained assassin dispatched on covert missions around the world who once returned to him in a blood-splattered gown.

"Everybody on the outside can tell me I'm crazy, but I lived on the inside and saw it firsthand," Kurt Busch said when his attorney, Rusty Hardin, questioned why he still believed Patricia Driscoll is a hired killer.

amazing

Lol rain delay

i saw that Ryan Newman crash and was worried it was gonna be some Russell Phillips shit but the dude walked out of the hospital today. pre-Earnhardt he'd probably be dead.

https://i.imgur.com/dLzS5qL.jpg

I don't like how much I like and appreciate NASCAR now that they banned the traitor's flag and Dale Earnhardt Jr. basically said "Black Lives Matter". As someone else stated, "You know you're living in the wrong timeline when the right-wingers get Harry Potter and the left-wingers get NASCAR."

Not the thread starter one might have expected.