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Misha · Feb 18, 2001, 11:00 PM

http://www.nascar.com/video/nascar/2...ascar.jpg.html

You know, whose idea was it to create an acticity where lots of cars drive around in circles really fast lots of times?

Nascar lost three of its youngest talents last year, and now its legend is dead too.

vega24 · Feb 18, 2001, 11:26 PM

My thoughts and prayers are with the Earnhardt family.

He was one of the great ones and watching him race a car in a way that only he could is something that NASCAR fans will never forget. I know I'll miss seeing that black #3 monte carlo every sunday afternoon.

NASCAR
Go Fast, Turn Left!!!

[This message has been edited by vega24 (edited 02-18-2001).]

gorefan68 · Feb 18, 2001, 11:39 PM

I guess I feel bad, but I hate nascar. They drive 800 hp tube framed RWD tauruses... what a bunch of ******** ... and they go in CIRCLES no less. Here's an idea Nascar:

Drive modified STOCK cars
Drive them on road courses

This is why the japanese GT class is so damn fun to watch. And its why Japanese cars are much BETTER than camaros and stuff... (300Z, 3000GT Vr-4, Supra, RX-7)

Man I hate nascar.

PLUS!!!! If one team does too well, like Dodge, they try to kill you with tons of regulations... (superbird and daytona)

- Ca$h

gumby5647 · Feb 18, 2001, 11:57 PM

nascar ranks up there with baseball in terms of being boring.....
i honestly don't see how people can sit for hours on end watching cars go 'round and 'round and 'round a track........utterly boring...id rather watch billards.

It is a sad and tragic loss none the less....
i don't like nascar, and i don't watch it.....but even i knew who he was...

Fyre4ce · Feb 19, 2001, 12:21 AM

NASCAR is sort of boring. My favorite kind of racing is Formula 1 - fast, cutting-edge technology, and it's on road courses!

Nonetheless, Earnhardt was a legend; he will be deeply missed.

------------------
Fyre4ce

"I need a vacation." - Terminator robot

Scott_H · Feb 19, 2001, 02:30 AM

I can't get worked up over celebrity deaths. Sorry.

Cipher13 · Feb 19, 2001, 05:19 AM

Same here, I'm afraid.
Its no more tragic than anyone else dieing.
Like Princess Di... man that pissed me off.
3 years on and they went on and on about it.
For Gods sakes...

Cipher13

Fyre4ce · Feb 19, 2001, 06:35 AM

How many sakes does God have?

------------------
Fyre4ce

"I need a vacation." - Terminator robot

Cipher13 · Feb 19, 2001, 06:38 AM

You know what I mean

Cipher13

WDL · Feb 19, 2001, 09:08 AM

Ordinarily, anyone dying is just a natural progression.

However, many in the world truly mourned the loss of JFK and the
loss of the vision he represented.

Even Nikita Kruschev shed tears when he went to the
US embassy in Moscow to sign the book of remembrance.

And the imperious Chas. DeGaulle (who ranked himself second only
to God) attended the funeral.

WDL

typoon · Feb 19, 2001, 09:22 AM

I'm not a big Nascar fan But Dale Earnhardt was a legend in his sport. This would be like Losing a Michael Jordon or Tiger Woods. My condolenses to the Family

macvillage.net · Feb 19, 2001, 10:12 AM

Dale Earnhardt will be missed as he was truely a great.

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Don Pickett · Feb 19, 2001, 11:29 AM

That truly sucks.

machappy · Feb 19, 2001, 12:36 PM

pick up the new Wired magazine to find out why F1 is the only car race worth watching.

Don Pickett · Feb 19, 2001, 12:46 PM

pick up the new Wired magazine to find out why F1 is the only car race worth watching.

Can you give specifics? I think F1s been deathly dull since about 1988.

BMWDrum · Feb 19, 2001, 12:58 PM

I hate to see an American icon such as Dale Earnhardt pass away. He was one of the best in his sport.

Also, Eddie Mathews, also one of the greats, in baseball.

tragic it is...

drum

mitchell_pgh · Feb 19, 2001, 01:16 PM

Dale Earnhardt wasn't A legend, he was THE legend in NASCAR (a white ghost). It just isn't going to be the same without him.

He had rough years, but always knew how to lead the pack...

He will be missed.

(Note to others in this thread: This isn't a debate over NASCAR vs. any other form of racing, please open your own thread if you want to discuss such topics)

machappy · Feb 19, 2001, 01:42 PM

DULL? How is a 1400 lb car with 800hp dull? especially when the driver has to steer it through THE most physically demanding courses on the planet?
F1 is the whole package, the convergence of cutting edge technology and split second human decision making.

why do you find it dull?

jholmes · Feb 19, 2001, 01:50 PM

I had the good fortune to work with Dale Earnhardt a few years ago. You would be hard pressed to find a man who was more generous with his time and gracious in his demeanor. It was not what I expected from a man whose competitive passion was legendary.

The sport loses a huge talent and it's brightest star. But his wife, sons and two small daughters lose a great Dad.

Tis a sad, sad thing to watch a hero die on live TV.

Don Pickett · Feb 19, 2001, 02:33 PM

DULL? How is a 1400 lb car with 800hp dull? especially when the driver has to steer it through THE most physically demanding courses on the planet? F1 is the whole package, the convergence of cutting edge technology and split second human decision making.

Basically because the championship has been going back and forth between Ferrari and McLaren with brief stops at Williams since about 1988. I'll quote myself from another forum on a similar topic:

F1 exists for one reason, and one reason alone - to make money. Everything in the sport is subjugated to this: the races have gotten shorter and shorter, to better fit neatly into a TV broadcast, the older, more challenging trackes have been replaced with smaller, more easily televised tracks (the new 'Ring sucks monkey ass) and the economics of the sport are such that the same three teams keep swapping the championship back and forth. F1 is rightly called a "circus:" it's a lot of entertainment meant to keep the money flowing and and keep the fans happy.

In addition, because of the rise of flat-bottom rule ground effects, passing has become so difficult (can't get too close or you'll catch bad air) that it doesn't happen that often.

The topic of the other thread was F1 versus NASCAR, and I'll post some of my reply here. Some stuff slightly OT:

As for F1 vs. NASCAR, put an F1 driver in a NASCAR race and they'd certainly be out of their league. The two types of racing are very different, and require very different techniques. Imagine drafting four inches behind someone's bumper, at 210 mph, with cars all around you. Having raced Formula Fords at Lime Rock Park, I can tell you that requires a set of balls big enough to need their own luggage.

The modern F1 course is a succession of boring, constant radius second and third degree corners connected by short straightaways, where the drivers have to be careful not to get too close so they don't lose grip. The long circuit at Spa, the old San Marino, Paul Ricard - those were great race courses. The 'Ring is a cure for insomnia, and Eau Rouge is still the best corner in F1.

If you think NASCAR is aimed at middle/lower income people, you haven't been paying attention. NASCAR's main audience are affluent yuppies with a lot of expendable income. That's why the powers that be in NASCAR keep the Good Ole Boy image alive for similat reasons that F1 is so tightly controlled - money. Check the roster of current NASCAR drivers and you will find that a lot of them aren't from the South anymore. The Good Ole Boy image merely serves to obfuscate the frighteningly professional marketing and business behind NASCAR's workings.

BTW: I am not defending NASCAR at the sake of F1 here, just going behind the marketing bulshit for the truth. Sport stopped being a driving motivation for either of the race series about twenty years ago. They are big businesses now, and precious little else.

[This message has been edited by Don Pickett (edited 02-19-2001).

[This message has been edited by Don Pickett (edited 02-19-2001).]

machappy · Feb 19, 2001, 03:11 PM

I agree with most of your points. Like everything in this consumer oriented society we live, the icing has become so thick you no longer can taste the cake...but I still think F1 is more fun to watch. GT class A is fun too.

gorefan68 · Feb 19, 2001, 03:39 PM

K, so I bust out "nascar racing", outta storage. Install it. Get all prepped up. Start racing.... and ... I saw the #3 car and just rammed it for some morbid reason. It was kinda cool though, he hit the wall like in real life, and then there was this HUGE pile up. Like every single car out there got completely railed, except me, my car was on invincible.

Anyway.

- Ca$h

jholmes · Feb 19, 2001, 03:39 PM

Don - your comments are right on the money. F1 is about as exciting as surgery. It takes skill, precision and a high level of talent - but that doesn't make it something I want to watch. That's the problem with racing today, in trying to expand its fan base and appeal to a larger and more marketable audience, the sport's focus becomes fan entertainment rather than the on course competition.

The big Tony Stewart wreck in yesterday's 500 had more to do with legislating a "package" that would provide a good show for the fans rather than setting standard against which the teams build their race cars. They were very lucky someone didn't get seriously hurt there.

AS an exception to that, I don't think the rules changes affected the Earnhardt crash - that was two very experienced drivers each doing everything he could to win the race - Earnhardt blocking for his son and team car and Marlin trying to put his Dodge nameplate in the winners circle for the first time in a decade or two.

But NASCAR must find a means to deal with this safety issue. Safer retaining walls, safer driver restraints - something. I watched ESPN's Dr. Jerry Punch, who I respect greatly, state the party line that NASCAR is the safest form of racing. They have said this for so long they believe it. Obviously with four deaths in 9 months that just isn't true.

jholmes · Feb 19, 2001, 03:45 PM

Ca$h you are truly a jerk.

scaught · Feb 19, 2001, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by Misha:
http://www.nascar.com/video/nascar/2...ascar.jpg.html

You know, whose idea was it to create an acticity where lots of cars drive around in circles really fast lots of times?

Nascar lost three of its youngest talents last year, and now its legend is dead too.

im just surprised that a bunch of mac people care about nascar.

jholmes · Feb 19, 2001, 05:48 PM

Why? I also enjoy Cote du Rhone wines, impressionist paintings and Louis Armstrong's jazz recordings.

Owning a Mac means you can appreciate excellence in virtually any endeavor, Be that a superior operating system or guys who can drive in circles faster than anyone else..

vega24 · Feb 19, 2001, 08:30 PM

Some people are so closed minded that they miss out on alot of good things in life. IF anyone of the people that are whining about "Oh, NASCAR is so boring" would actually leave the confinds of their bubble and go to a NASCAR race they would have a awesome time. When you go to a race and see 100,000 people having the time of their life just partying their ass off, you'll see why NASCAR is the fastest growing sport in America. But then again who in the hell would want to party with a bunch of stuck up whiny babies. I don't think half the people in these forums even knows how to have fun.

[This message has been edited by vega24 (edited 02-19-2001).]

osiris · Feb 20, 2001, 04:31 PM

Dale we'll all miss you! Thank you for all the great racing.

Rest in peace.

nigeljedi · Feb 20, 2001, 05:41 PM

I don't watch much racing, but I think that Dale's death sucks. I know he was a legend.
It really doesn't look (on TV) like he would have hit hard enough to be killed. It's amazing how fast NASCARs really go. Best wishes.

wumeng · Feb 21, 2001, 07:40 AM

Originally posted by nigeljedi:
I don't watch much racing, but I think that Dale's death sucks. I know he was a legend.
It really doesn't look (on TV) like he would have hit hard enough to be killed. It's amazing how fast NASCARs really go. Best wishes.

It's quite a tragedy indeed -- however even if the impact (on TV) didn't look that severe, it can sometimes be the extremely rapid deceleration that kills you. There are well documented cases in the medical literature where (in a rapid deceleration) the kidneys swing forward and rip themselves off the big artery (the aorta) that supplies the body. Bad news.

Macfreak7 · Feb 21, 2001, 11:27 AM

Originally posted by typoon:
I'm not a big Nascar fan But Dale Earnhardt was a legend in his sport. This would be like Losing a Michael Jordon or Tiger Woods. My condolenses to the Family

Ditto.

I guess that is the way i would want to die, if i become a successful motorsport racer.

wumeng · Feb 21, 2001, 02:48 PM

Originally posted by Macfreak7:
I guess that is the way i would want to die, if i become a successful motorsport racer.

I guess he died doing something that he loved doing, and had dedicated his life to. Sad, though, that so many legends must die on their respective battlefields. But I guess that's part of what makes them legends.