Thoughts of LoWriter

I don't really like nascar but TStew is kind of a jackass. His comments after the race were particularly lame.

Personally, I'm more of a fan of racing series that are more focused on car innovation rather than drivers. There are so many restrictions in nascar that the manufacturers can't innovate anything new. European racing leagues are much different. Less restrictions and way cool tech.

I'm pretty new to racing, but I'm pretty much the only person in my circle who's interested in nascar. I'm sure I'd like a league with innovation in it, too, but I enjoy the tradition of nascar quite a bit as well. I like the fact that the races (and many of the racers) have a history within the sport. I don't know. Plus, I have a thing for the American cars.

I like some of the restrictions because it makes for a safer race. I have ceased to worry that anybody will be seriously hurt very often. That makes it a little more fun for me. I know that if they get in a wreck, the odds are high that they are going to be OK. I watched the Indie 500, but that's about all the Formula 1 racing I can watch because everytime those cars crash and break into tiny pieces, somebody gets taken to the hospital, usally with serious injuries.

So all that to say that I will have to check out European racing at some point.

Sorry to hijack your TStew bashing thread (he really does deserve it) but I'll comment a little more on other racing leagues. I don't really watch much racing unless I'm flipping through the channels and come across it. Like you, I'm a big safety advocate as well but the innovations I'm talking about are the ones like engine design, suspension architecture, and other things that will actually make it into production cars. All of those indy type cars scare the bejebus out of me because they are pretty much missles with wheels and they can't take any sort of contact with out being torn apart. As any days-of-thunder-watching child of the 80's knows, rubbin' is racin' so it is no wonder indy always has like 8 ambulences on site. So to make this short I like the leagues that are racing versions of actual cars like rally racing (4-wheel drive sedans) and the le man's series. There are safety regulations like HP limit, fuel cells, and roll cages but everything else is wide open. In fact in the le man's series currently, Audi is smoking up the competition by running two diesel-powered cars. There are plenty of american cars in those series too. Ford and Chevy have quite the history. Even some nascar drivers have a history in those series. "The Dales" raced a corvette together in the 24 hours of Daytona road race back in 2001. http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/roadracing/21988/

Anybody who'll talk racing with me is free to hijack the thread to talk about more racing.

That article is really interesting, and I think the type of racing you're describing sounds really cool, too. Do they broadcast it on network at all? Is it on cable? That sounds like a good way to test out new ideas, which I think would add another dynamic to a race. That would be kinda cool.

You're not kidding about the indy cars. They are pretty much missiles. I really can't watch those races because I hate to think of somebody being seriously (and in some cases permanently) injured or killed just for the sake of my entertainment (or their own glory). I realize this is possible in other sports, too, but I've never seen so many people get hauled off in an ambulance before. It's a little nuts.

Plus, I mean Terry Stewart pretty much bashes himself. It doesn't take a whole lot of effort on my part. Ha!

TV & radio-show sports guy Jim Rome the other day had one of the NASCAR drivers on and made a big point, as always, about how awesome they are to interview and etc. Then he said that he'd been able to get everybody from NASCAR he wanted on the program "Except Dave Stewart, and I don't want him any more, so forget about that."

And off-topic, I believe Ms. West spelled her first name M-a-e.

Dave Stewart? Who's that?

The NASCAR guys are fun to listen to when they're interviewed, too. They're just nice guys. They don't stand around and say things like, "Well, we just have to go out there and kill the competition." They talk about safety and records and about how they just have to hope things go their way. "We just have to go out there and race smart." That's the fun part about racing. So much depends on luck. You really can't brag because you could get in a pile up at any minute.

Rome has been well known to call people by the wrong name just to piss them off. This YouTube clip is an example. http://youtube.com/watch?v=_cqcLdz5llo&search=jim%20everett

Fricken TStew. He is in 10th again. You need to write again about his antics this weekend and about how much he sucks at life.

I didn't see the race this weekend, either! I suck as a NASCAR fan this year. I'm really bad in the summer. I'm much better when it gets going in the early spring. I will go to NASCAR.com and check it out. Then I will report back to you, dear readers. Ha!