Danica and "the Call?"

[LORENSWIFE]

Really the only NASCAR related threads here are bashing Danica and now Christmas. In my opinion (which of course means nothing) NASCAR is about the most boring thing on TV. The last time I saw a NASCAR race it was bajillion laps of people tailgating each other and then the last two or three laps everybody made a play for the gate, why does it need to go 500 miles to get to the exicting part. Danica and her pole position thing caused a lot of stir, and now lets bash this female strong woman, not even driving but in the pits? Get some guys up there that can grab the headlines and then we'll talk.
Stop knockin' the ladies they are the only thing keeping this alive.

(ok I have my armor and aluminum hat on so attack me, I can take it (whimpering and tears)

[Brian Lohnes]

Gail, fear not there are a couple of us that think she has the chops to compete. (Pass the foil!)

[LORENSWIFE]

Gail, fear not there are a couple of us that think she has the chops to compete. (Pass the foil!)

Lovin you!

[Deaf Bob]

Gail, fear not there are a couple of us that think she has the chops to compete. (Pass the foil!)

I for one stand and wave the Danica flag... I got a poster of her in my trailer wearing a bikini...
Plus I think she can drive!
In my dreams, I can keep up with her... Reality, which bites, she will have 500 miles under her belt to my one

[Chassisman]

Gail, fear not there are a couple of us that think she has the chops to compete. (Pass the foil!)

Believe me......the car next to her on the front row has a bigger woman behind the wheel.....shes the only thing keeping NASCAR alive....

[pdub]

(ok I have my armor and aluminum hat on so attack me, I can take it (whimpering and tears)

For a while I was devoted NASCAR fan. My daddy took me to a race at Charlotte and Charlie Glotzbach (sp?) won in a Superbird.

I've sat my cold hard butt on the stands at a very few tracks to see it in person. Charlotte, Rockingham (now extinct), Daytona, and Bristol. Lemme tellya, Bristol is an amazing facility, I don't care who you are or what you like to watch. Just an amazing piece of work standing there.

But NASCAR is over. Danica or not, it's a decade away from being done. It's dying. Without an avid fan base, it can't survive. They've priced themselves out of existence. There's not even enough Rednecks left to support them, surely not enough to be able to buy all of the tickets. RE the Blues Brothers: "Its a barn. We can't fill it." So that makes the TV sales (the bigger thing) dry up.

[Bob Holmes]

I think it's an illness, the racing thing. Even if you're not racing anybody else. Just racing around.

Makes a crack habit look like amateur hour.

[LORENSWIFE]

In my limited historical knowledge of what birthed NASCAR...It was the moonshine runners who hopped up their cars and made a run for "the border", to feed their families and make some dosh. My grandfather was apperntly one of these people, he got caught and put in prison. I have a gun that belonged to him. My Grandmother shared that he was the love of her life. But she was in a family way and was sent away. This was all of course back in the day. She met someone else and was pressured to marry and did. I guess some of older people have some stories or somethings to search out.

[Bob Holmes]

Look, I don't watch NASCAR very often, not really my cup of tea. But I have the highest degree of respect for both the drivers and the teams. You could damn near throw a blanket on the field when it comes to qualifying, and they race for hours at end at extremely high speeds within inches of each other.

Motorsports, in general, are facing difficult times. It doesn't matter what professional motorsport you spend your time watching, sponsorships are down, car counts are down and viewers are down. Could it be something like the overall global economic hard times behind these issues, yep, I think so.

There are a lot of reasons that folks crap on NASCAR, and I'm as guilty as anyone. But the sport takes a relatively blunt instrument and hones it to a fine edge. The basic architecture is archaic, but the engineering brought to bear is cutting edge. And the finest American drivers run in NASCAR, as much as I hate to admit it. That's where the money is. There are a number of them that I'd like to see in international racing, hell our own Corvette team at LeMans runs with international drivers.

NASCAR is a business and you can see that even they know that the growth curve for sedan oval track racing is about topped out. They recently purchased the ALMS and are in the process of merging it with their technologically inferior, but racing superior Grand Am series. I'd love to see them buy out the Indy Car series and have it run professionally. I'm tired of the buffons in Indianapolis ruining that branch of the motorsports tree in America.

And finally, women are perfectly suited to competently drive racecars. Its an intellectual game, not one that is ruled by brute force. Its only because of the inherently biased, discriminatory, and cultural barriers to entry that women aren't better represented.

And P-dub, Paul Newman won his last race at 81 years old, John Fitch raced at Bonneville at 87. Its not the age on the Drivers License that determines what you do in life, its the age in your mind. Money will always be an issue, someone always has more, someone always has less. Enjoy what you can do, and the fact that you found this passion, regardless of the fact that you didn't do it in your youth. Above all, have fun.

[Deaf Bob]

Another is Herschel McGriff. He just stopped driving a couple years ago.. Drove Nascar nationally and locally.. It was always a thrill when he drove in Salem, i could tell his car had "something" the others did not..

McGriff's most recent start in the West Series came on June 23, 2012 at Sonoma Raceway, at the age of 84.



McGriff had two options to choose from for the 1955 season. He was offered a ride in NASCAR to race for millionarie Carl Kiekhaefer's newly formed team. McGriff decided to return home to the West Coast to be closer to his family, and to tend to his growing timber and mill business. Tim Flock drove Kiekhaefer's Chrysler 300 to 18 victories that season and the season championship.[1]
McGriff returned to racing after not racing for around 10 years.[1] He started 41st at Riverside in 1967, and had moved up to second place by the sixth lap. He beat Ron Grable in a photo finish that day.[1]
He became the oldest driver to win a NASCAR feature race when he won an AutoZone West Series race in 1989 at the age of 61. His 14 wins at the defunct Riverside International Raceway is the most at NASCAR-sanctioned events,[2] and he was chosen as the grand marshal for the final race at the track in 1988.[5]

[pdub]

Fabulous piece of writing Bob H. Very well done. Superb.

Not a lot of folks put a whole lot of thought into a post on a forum, but there it is.

Bravo.

[pdub]

TC, when you hit the lottery, let's not race NASCAR. I don't want to afford the sunglasses those guys (and gals) wear.

Just for the thrill of it, let's go road course racing. There's no money in it, and no TV coverage but it's more honest competition. And maybe more skill involved. And we'll tear up some expensive shit along the way, but we'll always have the grocery money to buy spare parts.

What-say?

[Bob Holmes]

Hey, I want in on some of that action!!!

[pdub]

Hey, I want in on some of that action!!!

What shall we run? That's where it immediately becomes real complicated. From my only experience riding along, I know for sure that the Nissan GTR is a fire breathing, braking, cornering, accelerating, thrilling ride straight out of the box in the hands of anybody who knows how to drive it. A factory car with a paddle shifter. I'dda never imagined.

But at the same time, you've got Mini Coopers passing muscle cars. And Mazda Miatas lapping the field. It's a quandry.

[studemax]

14 page thread on Danica?

Find something better to do.