Why is it that everyone loves Dale Earnhart Sr now that he's dead?? When he was alive you either hated him because he was a cheater and made his way to the front by bumping other drivers and making them crash, or you liked him for the same reason but somehow you thought it was cool. I, for one, quit watching Nascar just because I got tired of seeing him do this and rarely get penalized for it.
I couldn't stand him and when I initially saw the crash my first thought was "Man! That's good for him to get some of his own medicine!" I would never wish death on someone over a sport but my second thought was that he couldn't handle what he dished out. I'm sick of all the #3 stickers on people's windows and I just wish he would not have been made such a martyr just because he died....



I'm done......

 

I think you are wrong. People started to like Sr when Jeff Gordon came along and starting kicking everyones butt.

 

I liked how he bumped people, and I like Tony Stewert for the same thing. Go for the outlaws.

We also liked him because he was opposite Jeff Gordon.

 

I liked watching Dale Sr. drive. He may have seemed to be a dirty racer to the other drivers, but if they didn't have the nards to dish the same stuff back at Sr. then they shouldn't have whined.

Over-coverage of Dale Jr is the reason I quit watching NASCAR races..the networks have the cameras on him 90% of the time it seems...and the announcers would be on their knees in an instant if Jr. walked in the room..I know he's a helluva driver, and very popular, but there are other drivers too. Just my 2 cents

 

I was a Rusty fan, but now he's retiring. So, after Daytona, it's all Stewert for me. Too bad he's not in a Dodge... Still, I wouldn't root for any of the "Gillette Young Guns" if somebody had a gun to my head.

 

I was a NASCAR fan up until Dale Sr. Died. He was the last of the drivers who had any gnads. It's way too California and commercial for me now. Many of the races are leaving their roots and it's just not the same. The newer drivers are too soft. Sorry, just the way I see it.

 

I want to see NASCAR go back to it's original roots.

 

I'm with you BigBlue. I can't even tell what kind of car is what anymore. They all look exactly the same. They've made it so you basically are just rooting for a driver, not an automaker..

 

I'm with Jack, Earnhardt was one of the last real race car drivers. Now you have Jeff, Jimmy, and the rest of these guys that are a sponsors dream. The only person in the history of nascar that is even close to the driver that Earnhardt was is Gordon. I'm not wild about him but he is a natural born race car driver. Now I just pull for Sterling, he's a good ole Tenn. boy.

 

Jack Thorpe
Gee whats is wrong with California?/ I live in this stupid state with a moviestar Governor, high taxes, high fuel prices, lousy bumpy super freeways that make my truck beat itself to death, gun laws. Did you know that the SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) encourges out friendly fellow motorist to give them a call and report our license # if they see any smoke coming from our tailpipes? Sounds Big Brother to me. I have gotten 2 friendly reminders in the mail both on my 6.2 GM.
Thet set up little trailers at the top of an onramp and shoot a laser device at the back of you to measure opacity. I was caught both times pulling a hill.

 

Amen to that. My NASCAR roots go back to Foyt, Petty, Allison, Yarborough(sp?), and the other good ol' boys.

I've pretty much quit following it in the last 10+ years but I'd love to see someone take a few cars off the showroom floor, knock out the glass and weld in a cage and show what they'd do. Let's go back to STOCKcar racing.

That's why anymore I just go to the local roundy-rounds. $5 bucks for an evening of street stock, factory stock, mini stock, IMCA modified, and others is hard to beat.

 

Gee Jim, dont remind how screwed up it was down there It seems as soon as anything get massive TV /press coverage suddenly most everybody is all over it. Where was everyone way back? they didnt know nascar existed or what? its all become to politically correct racing. glad im not the only one who feels this way.

 

Love him or hate him, Dale Sr. was good for Nascar, perhaps too good. Nascar added rules designed to rein him in and Dale Sr. defied them. The fans loved him for it and were very vocal in his defense each time Nascar tried to levy penalties against him, especially if driver points were involved. Earnhardt and Petty have 7 Cup championships each and Earnhardt (and Chevrolet) fans wanted in the worst way to see Dale Sr. win number 8 just to unseat Petty and Plymouth.
That was before Nascar implemented “common templates”. Don’t forget Dale Sr. was the most outspoken driver against common templates... I suppose because he thought Nascar fans pulled for their favorite car-make almost as much as their favorite driver. We Nascar fans remember race cars being “randomly impounded” periodically during the season and taken for wind tunnel testing and subsequent rule changes to spoilers and airdams. But now cars have to fit the common template so no more claims that Dodges are more aerodynamic than Ford and no more middle of the season rule changes. Did Nascar lose any of their fan base? Apparently not, so Dale Sr. most have been wrong. With the exception of 10 year olds, most everyone realizes stockcars doesn’t really mean “stock”. My problem with Nascar is that they mandate carbureted two-door rear-wheel-drive Taurus’s, Intrepids, Grand Prix’s and Monte Carlos in competition each week when in fact neither can be bought with rear-wheel-drive, or a carburetor, nor can you buy a two-door Taurus or Intrepid.
But we U.S. citizens are sports lovers and Nascar needed a contemporary hero I guess. Never considered myself a Dale Sr. fan I watched the races more just in hope to see someone spin him out before he spun someone else. But man how I miss pulling against him.

 

Yikes, my gripes with NASCAR could go on and on:

1) car templates mean that there's no room to be creative. They've turned it into a IROC racing. If one make runs a more aerodynamic car, THEN LET THEM HAVE IT. Make the MANUFACTURERS DESIGN a more aerodynamic car. If anything, they should use templates to ensure the cars conform to STOCK lines. As it is now, the templates are completely arbitrary and the make that whines the most will get an aerodynamic break without earning it.

2) Restrictor plates need to go. What is the logic behind letting them run 116 Octane full race leaded fuel, THEN telling them they have too much power??? If they wanted to see REAL creativity, limit all the teams to the same 92 octane pump premium most of us can get. This will lower compression ratios and timing, and reduce power. It will force them to be more creative and resourceful.

3) Too many rules stifle creativity. NASCAR mandates anything and everything related to the car. About all a crew can adjust is tire pressure and suspension settings. PUH-LEEZ.

4) Contrast NASCAR with NHRA Top Fuel. The rules in Top Fuel are short and sweet. They govern: max wing size, max tire diameter and tread width, max wheelbase, max engine displacement. THAT'S IT!

Nascar has suffered under the current leadership. Back when Junior Johnson was racing, his Chevy was a STOCK car with homemade mods to the heads and cam and such. Safety equipment was sparse.

Now, a NASCAR car has NOTHING in common with the "stock" car that it is supposedly based upon. They are completely custom fabricated race cars. Why is this bad?

Because it drives up the cost of campaigning a race team. Look at the difference between Pro Stock drag racing and funny car/top fuel. A Fueler car costs MUCH MUCH less than a Pro
"Stock" car does. Why? Because when you have more rules, you have to look for every little avenue to get HP. Thus, the beryllium valvesprings, the "stock" heads that none of us could every hope to buy, and the cost of a naturally aspirated 500CID big block turning 10K rpm in an effort to make 1300hp on gasoline only.

All NASCAR is now, is a big IROC race with pretty decals and fabricated drama in an effort to make it appear competitive. Heck, it may be totally rigged.

Justin

 

Perhaps the competition has suffered, but NASCAR certainly hasn't suffered under the current leadership.

NASCAR used to be a "redneck, southern" sport. Now you see number stickers pretty much everywhere you look.

NASCAR has become about NASCAR, not the racing. Much like the NFL is about the NFL moreso than any particular team. Or any major league organization.

It's about parting you from your money to buy "official" little numbers, model cars, trading cards, NASCAR wear etc. And in that, I'd say that NASCAR hasn't suffered one iota.