Are you a fan of auto racing?

Ralphy1

Ralphy1

Well-known Member
The recent death of a driver makes me wonder why people get a thrill out of watching beefed up cars race around with crashes seeming to be the big excitement. I'm sure that they would never be banned but I would never go see these races or watch them on TV...
 

I find it boring to watch and never understood how it became so popular. Then again, my wife says the same thing about American football.......
 

I just talked to one the other day and he said it was the crashes that made them so exciting...
 
Oh YES!!!! Especially since it's so interesting.... Oh look!! And they're making a left turn.. and a left turn, and a left turn, and a left turn, and a left turn.. It's riveting!
 
Our family have been fans of Nascar for several years and rarely miss the weekend Sprint
Cup race on TV. We do not follow any other races.

Nascar have made many safety improvements in the cars since the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr.
in 2001.
There can still be wrecks if drivers make unwise decisions and take risky chances.

I respect others decisions to watch or participate in whatever sport they choose.
It's certainly not important enough to put others down and there are many sports I disagree
with like boxing. Bashing opponents on the head does not appeal to me.
 
In my earlier years, I drag raced, so yes, I still enjoy watching the professionals on TV. I also follow NASCAR to some extent, but I have a problem watching a full race. I follow the #24 car, Jeff Gordon, who is retiring at the end of the year. I have met him a few times and he is a very nice and cordial man.
 
As a teen, loved to go to the midget auto races on the dirt track. Like sprint car races and the Indy 500.

Don't care for NASCAR though. Drove a Corvette in a couple of drag races.

I don't like to see the crashes.
 
When I was about 14, Pop took me to see the midget auto races indoors at the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx. Some of the happiest memories of my life. Because it was indoors, by the end of the night the fumes were intense and the cars disappeared into a fog at the other end of the track. Sounds horrible, and it was, but great fun. Go figure. That gave me the bug and I listened to the 1946 Indianapolis on the radio and was hooked. I have always loved board games, and making my own has been a life long hobby. I made myself a board and scratch built some cars and we began running a game of the Indy on the day of the race for about five years. A whole lot of dice rolling! Took almost as long as the real thing. I went on to develop an interest in the early road races from 1903-15. Have made a couple of games about those.
Getting back to the thread; I followed the Indianapolis for many years on TV. I payed to watch it once live in the movies. That was the year Pat O'Connor was killed in a huge accident. A horrible experience. I gradually lost interest as the cars changed over the years. I enjoyed it when they were still playing with the technology and the cars were all different. Diesels, front wheel vs rear wheel drive, etc. You could also see the drivers in action in the old cars. More fun to watch, but highly dangerous for sure. That had to go. I lost interest over the years as the Foyts and Andretti's phased out. I actually saw nothing about the race this year.
I never got into stock cars. Just didn't have the aesthetic appeal of the open wheeled racer. My son was a big Richard Petty fan, so I painted him up a set of stock cars matching the drivers of the period. He still treasures those.
Responding to the original intent of the thread, there is no doubt that accidents are the big draw for many, possibly most.
I always hated them. Even the small ones put a big drag on enjoying the race. There is little argument that auto racing is not in tune with the generally accepted values of today. Not exactly a "green" activity. They do serve as an enjoyable outlet for people from the sometimes overwhelming problems of their daily lives so let them be.
For myself, I have just lost interest. I recently finished a "Kingsbridge Armory" game though. The midgets roll again, no one gets killed and there are no fumes! Hope I haven't bored everyone. I kind of enjoyed the reminiscing.
 
Lon said:
No I am not a fan. Watching cars go round and round and round and round is boring. European Road Racing on the other hand.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The Grand Prix is a more interesting concept. There is a great "History of Motor Racing" available on You Tube.
I love the early stuff.
 
Our son does the one where you only go 1/4 mile. Right now I can't think so I'm not describing this very well. Since his daughter was born 8 years ago he hasn't done it so much but said he's going back in next summer. His car is a Chevy 2 from the 60s and he does part of it on the back 2 wheels. He didn't tell us much about it till I went to visit his shop and he had several trophies there and showed me a book on the history of drag racing (or whatever it's called) in Europe and he's in that. He had sent us magazines he and his car were in though and one was a center fold so I liked that. No one in our family watches the NASCAR type races or any sports on TV. (My husband watches the fishing channel :) The guys go to local drag or destruction derbys but I've never went.
 

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