NASCAR Question

[TB Roye]

Back in the day when I was involve in Midget, Sprint and Super Modified (dirt) racing we were paid tow money and the driver, very good driver was paid appearance money to show up at different track to help boost attendance. In the 60'and70's many drivers from our track were paid to take their car to OZ and race and then sell the car there. Many big name open wheel drivers went Rutherford, Foyt, Kinser, Unser, and others were paid to go down under for the summer racing season. OZ has on of the bigest collection vintage American Dirt car around. so it did pay to go.

As Far as NASCAR, I would like to see the Cup guys limited to how many races the can be in and no points or championships. It sould be a class for the younger up and comers. The Cup guys can own the teams but stay out of the cars.

Tom

[mpc]

It's a two-edged sword:
* The Cup drivers should be better, and if they are driving cars fielded by Cup teams too, they probably have a huge advantage over the less experienced drivers or teams in the Nationwide series. So yeah, it's like a pro baseball pitcher showing up at the neighborhood playground and striking out all the kids on the other team.

* The "learning" drivers in the Nationwide series though now have (in theory) better drivers to follow and learn from. And it does give the series more TV coverage/exposure which benefits all the sponsors - and thus all the teams. Except those that couldn't qualify for the race because too many Cup drivers/teams qualified instead.

I wonder how many "bushwhackers" we'd have if the Nationwide races were run AFTER the Cup race - instead of running on the same track the day before the "big" Cup race. Then the Cup teams wouldn't use Nationwide races as extended practice sessions.

mpc

[Wood_workur]

Maybe 1 of you should try driving 500 miles with an average speed of 175+ mph and then tell us theres nothing sporty about it, You people make me laugh, I suppose motocross isn,t a sport either or speedboat racing or drag racing. Get your heads realigned. Just because there is no physical contact does not mean its not a sport. And less we forget billiards and apparently now poker is on espn as well, Haaaaa

Just because its hard doesn't mean its a sport. By saying its not a sport we aren't discounting the difficulty of it at all.

[alpha]

Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play.

Wikipedia

[sweensdv]

[QUOTE Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play.

Wikipedia[/QUOTE]

Well there ya go. Auto racing must be a sport cause it's just overflowing with fair play. Nobody ever takes the other guy out.

[Richard in Smithville]

Considering that most drivers have to work out four or five times a week to stay competative( a driver can "sweat off up to ten pounds during a race), considering the pit crews practice their skill to where they can change four tires and add two cans of gas in under 13 seconds, and considering it's easier to get Superbowl tickets then the night race at Bristol, I think the population( if not the forum) has spoken as to the question of auto racing being a sport.

BTW: Drivers may get into scuffle's with each other, but ball players charge the mound; Hockey players get charged for the "cheap" shots they take on the ice; and you never hear about drivers beating up on cabbies for 20 cents.