61–70 of 73 posts
The reality is that the Venn diagram of people who shop and Wal*Mart and people who watch NASCAR is probably closer to a circle than a lot of people are comfortable with.
The only sports that do well in America are the ones with a powerful league that can control all the TV rights and make the necessary deals with TV networks.
This isn't just a lack of interest in F1, it's an almost complete lack of modern motorsports in general. Oddly enough, for a country where cars are sacred, the US has barely any capability to develop racing cars of any kind (NASCAR is low tech, Indycar, like most other US racing series, buys its cars from Europe), and there is little to no serious competition. There are no modern racetracks (besides Austin), the faci…
>NASCAR is low tech Isn't that a common myth?
They do make extensive use of sensors and telemetry, but the cars themselves are pretty retro.
This isn't just a lack of interest in F1, it's an almost complete lack of modern motorsports in general. Oddly enough, for a country where cars are sacred, the US has barely any capability to develop racing cars of any kind (NASCAR is low tech, Indycar, like most other US racing series, buys its cars from Europe), and there is little to no serious competition. There are no modern racetracks (besides Austin), the faci…
>NASCAR is low tech Isn't that a common myth?
V8 Supercars, for example, debuts more tech in one race than NASCAR does in a season. Even WRC Rally cars are questionably more complicated.
edit: EFI was introduced 1 year ago.
This isn't just a lack of interest in F1, it's an almost complete lack of modern motorsports in general. Oddly enough, for a country where cars are sacred, the US has barely any capability to develop racing cars of any kind (NASCAR is low tech, Indycar, like most other US racing series, buys its cars from Europe), and there is little to no serious competition. There are no modern racetracks (besides Austin), the faci…
Motorsports in the US reflect this "run what you brung" democratic ethos. The high profile manufacturers in US motorsports are not Ferrari and Lotus. They are Ford and and Chevy and Dodge (and more recently Honda and Toyota). The manufacturer's badges in the parking lot correlate with those on the track.
NASCAR's racing culture is an organic extension of the cars and tracks that make up local races on Friday nights in rural areas. Compared to Formula 1, NASCAR's rules are designed to keep cost per race down and more participation (about three times as many teams in 2013). They are designed to allow frequent racing (about twice as many races, more than two every three weeks).
Instead, high tech motorsports in the U.S. has historically focused on straight line speed, but it always keeps the "run what you brung" ethos.
Got a nitro-methane mixture in the tank ? There's probably someone willing to go mano-a-mano down the track. Four G's and four seconds later, it's decided. And turbine heads with a surplus jet engine will always have Bonneville where the Art Alfonses of the world can take on the corporate Breedloves.
One of the NASCAR ovals mentioned in the article was Bristol. It's in the middle of nowhere, 290 miles from Atlanta, 340 miles from Nashville, and separated from both by the mountains. It holds 160,000 spectators. They don't generally stay in four star hotels, they camp. Good luck finding such rooms in the nearest metropolis. Johnson City Tennessee ain't Monaco.
This isn't just a lack of interest in F1, it's an almost complete lack of modern motorsports in general. Oddly enough, for a country where cars are sacred, the US has barely any capability to develop racing cars of any kind (NASCAR is low tech, Indycar, like most other US racing series, buys its cars from Europe), and there is little to no serious competition. There are no modern racetracks (besides Austin), the faci…
Race cars are not development, they are entertainment. This is like criticizing Europe for not having enough pro wrestling/luchador stuff going on.
The story of sports in America is the story of television interests. The reason the media doesn't promote F1 is that they cannot control the sport from that point of view. What TV (other than specialized channels) is interested in a sport in which half of the races happen before dawn (in Asia)? The only sports that do well in America are the ones with a powerful league that can control all the TV rights and make the…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a cheap shot on your behalf. Life isn't about bullying my friend.
Amusing that you didn't post this exact phrase to whomever posted this article on Hacker News. This article was nothing more than stereotypical Euro-bullying. I mean, "like soccer and the metric system" -- do Europeans really have to list every way they're superior every time the subject comes up? Come on.
Now, their attitude doesn't justify yours. We are all equals, or at least that's the theory.