Someone has to start it------

[Crippled Caddis]

I'm a 'motorhead'. There I've said it. The first step to conquering an addiction is to admit you have one. But I have no imtention of trying to kick the habit.

I'll watch anything that has wheels and an internal combustion motor race, from lawn mowers to Formula 1.

I started following Formula 1 shortly after the series began in 1950. It is the top rung, the epitome of motorsport with the highest technology, biggest budgets and the best drivers on the planet. But I admit that it also has the most vicious politics and Michiavellian rulebook in motorsport. I don't like a lot of things about it these days but it's still the top rung in the racing ladder.

For sheer poetry of motion ballet holds a dim candle to motorcycle roadracing at almost any level. But the top step is MotoGP for the world championship and at that level it verges on the unbelievable. If you've never seen it don't allow yourself to get a week older before treating your senses. Catch the Czech Grand Pric at 5 PM this coming Sunday on Speed channel.

Both my wife and I followed NASCAR for many years. Recently however we've both gotten bored with it. TV over-saturation was what burned us out and I think it will be the ultimate ruination of the series as others reach the same point as us. Too much of a good thing is still too much.

I admit to having a soft spot for the 'weekend' racers. The working stiff that holds down a job during the day and works on his racer until the wee hours every night so he can compete on the weekend. Whether he races 'jalopies' at his local dirttrack, MotoX, open wheel formula cars or roadraces motorcycles his sport is the purest form of competition because he darn sure doesn't do it for the money! Unlike professionals he needs no press agent to teach him how to put the best spin on every utterance. He has no car owner to keep happy. He, better than anyone, knows that "The way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one". He does it because he loves the visceral excitement of trying to beat his competition through the next corner----whether that corner is on a dirt bullring or a road course. He doesn't need stimulants to expand his conciousness---winning is the greatest high he can imagine. And the pursuit of it his greatest joy.

So----how do you like YOUR motorsport? CC

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

I admit I wasn't a great fan until this year. A buddy at work got me involved in a fantasy league of sorts for NASCAR and I haven't been able to miss a week yet! Love it! I also enjoy the Outlaws on dirt whenever I can catch them. Go Truex!

John

[hfdhoosier]

Im going to Michigan to watch the Nextel boys mix it up this weekend. I hope it is a good race. Never have been to a Cup race before. I was a fireman in the pits for 3 Busch races and 2 Craftsman truck races at Gateway. Last year I was in the stands for the Busch race. Its a 8 hour drive to Michigan, but a friend of mine got free tickets, so the price was right. rubbin is racin!

Go Hendrich 24,48,25 and soon Dale Jr

HFDHOOSIER

[brownieman]

>I'm a 'motorhead'. There I've said it. The first step to conquering an addiction is to admit you have one. But I have no imtention of trying to kick the habit.<

I'm a junkhead'. I'll admit it, few will admit their addictions and I have no intention of giving it up either.

I will collect and research most anything but antiques and ways of the past intrigue me...vintage fishing equipment being my main interest.

>Whether he races 'jalopies' at his local dirttrack, MotoX, open wheel formula cars or roadraces motorcycles his sport is the purest form of competition because he darn sure doesn't do it for the money! Unlike professionals he needs no press agent to teach him how to put the best spin on every utterance. He has no car owner to keep happy. He, better than anyone, knows that "The way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one". He does it because he loves the visceral excitemet of trying to beat his competition through the next corner----whether that corner is on a dirt bullring or a road course. He doesn't need stimulants to expand his conciousness---winning is the greatest high he can imagine. And the pursuit of it his greatest joy.<

When I was a child the small town I grew up in had a 1/4 mile dirt track...CC, these are the men you refer to and it's not for fame, fortune or glory...it's for the sheer enjoyment at it's simplest form. The hype and influx of publicity due to wealth leaves a bad taste in my mouth also concerning most all arenas of professional sports. The simple man who does this as his hobby demands my total respect above all other forms. Publicity, power, fame have no bearing on his passion of what he does and he answers to no-one but himself...no influence, no interuptions, just finishing the race is his motive and winning is just a bonus.

Many have told me over the years I should be a fishing guide. Have always been hesitant to do so because at that point it becomes a job instead of a hobby and the risk of not enjoying fishing has never been worth it.

I'm not much of a sport enthusiast but will agree about the formula racing feeling it's "tweaking at it's best for performance" and the cycles...well, the perfection this type of racing requires is amazing. The racing on the ice is simply amazing, very little room for error as with cycles period.

>So----how do you like YOUR motorsport? CC<

So, I like my mototsport just fine...I enjoy tweaking anything to achieve optimum results and try to innovate and improve any situation presented to me. I feel most things in the world today are over studied and anylized to the point of stupidity...it's a direction that to me is very undesirable.

bm

[Crippled Caddis]

brownieman wrote:

<I'm a junkhead'.----I will collect and research most anything but antiques and ways of the past intrigue me...vintage fishing equipment being my main interest.>

I greatly resemble that remark myself! Who else still has his first two rod & reel outfits as well as the reel his father bought in 1916? Along with the remaining plugs which include a 'Dowagiac Diver' with 5 sets of trebles. This past winter I reactivated a lot of my 'veteran' tackle and this winter I intend to fish it. Perhaps even from a 1956 Arkansas Traveller jon powered by a 5 horse 1950 Johnson TN-26 or a '53 Sea King.

<Many have told me over the years I should be a fishing guide. Have always been hesitant to do so because at that point it becomes a job instead of a hobby and the risk of not enjoying fishing has never been worth it.>

Same story here brownie. But I have resisted temptation because of seeing a cousin become a successful guide and coming to detest fishing as a reult. There is only a single letter of difference between a joy and a job but that small difference is truly all that counts. CC

[RiverRunner]

I've been a huge racing fan for many years. At last count, I've attended 18 cup races (17 at Talladega, 1 at Michigan) and numerous Busch and ARCA races as well. I've been fortunate enough to see some great races and victories by Mark Martin and the great Dale Earnhardt. I have to agree with CC that Nascar has just about been ruined. IMO, its just never been the same since Earnhardt got killed. Its nothing but young guys that no one in the stands can identify with behind the wheel these days. The glory days of Nascar are over, they ended on February 18, 2001 in turn 4 at Daytona. They have forsaken all of their traditonal fans in order to become " the next big thing". It was a major insult when Brian France killed the Southern 500 so that he could move the race to California. That was nothing more than a slap in the face to all of the fans that built Nascar into a major sport. I'll continue to go to my one race a year because its so much of a tradition for me, but its going down the tubes. Big corporate money has taken over and the days of guys like Earnhardt, Alan Kulwicki, and Richard Petty clawing their way to the top from the short tracks is over. Nascar is becoming just like all of the other "major league" sports with obnoxious drivers who get in trouble with drugs and the law and who want to be movie stars.

If you want to see good racing, watch open-wheel racing. If the two sides in the IndyCar debacle would ever get back together, Indy Car racing would return to its place as the premier motor sport in this country. I like F1, but I do think that big automakers owning their own teams will be a problem in the future, and I don't think anyone has filled the void that Michael Shumacher left when he retired.

Of course, I could just say the heck with it and just go fishing.

[skeeter]

Nascar is becoming just like all of the other "major league" sports with obnoxious drivers who get in trouble with drugs and the law and who want to be movie stars.

If you want to see good racing, watch open-wheel racing. If the two sides in the IndyCar debacle would ever get back together, Indy Car racing would return to its place as the premier motor sport in this country. I like F1, but I do think that big automakers owning their own teams will be a problem in the future, and I don't think anyone has filled the void that Michael Shumacher left when he retired.

Of course, I could just say the heck with it and just go fishing.

Yep, and one of the worst "obnoxious drivers" in NASCAR has the same last name as a beer my employer makes that comes in a blue can with mountains in the background ! We first encountered him at a truck race at Gateway before he had "ascended" to the Cup cars, what a stuck-up jerk he was then and apparently continues to be. These guys are marketed and pimped by their business agents and press agents and their sponsor's names roll off their tongues in every sentence of every rehearsed speech they make.

Have to agree that open wheel is where it's at. At the same truck race I mentioned in previous paragraph one of the support races was called the "Silver Bullet " cars ( I think ) and they were front engine roadsters ( remember them ? ) with rear mounted fuel tanks and the drivers sitting in an upright position sawing madly away at the steering wheel while trying to maintain their line through the turns. Great fun to watch and all were powered by stock blocks crowned with old-fashioned Hillborn injection and they flat put it on the NASCAR trucks with their much faster lap times.

NASCAR has become BORING and is over-hyped and over-marketed for what you get. Think race fans are starting to realize that as TV viewership is down 18% this year and the Corporate types are WORRIED.

I love F-1 with a passion but please, somebody get rid of Bernie Ecclestone and his dictatorial ways. At least they put some driver input back into the cars with the grooved tires and reduction in electronic traction controls.

[Crippled Caddis]

skeeter wrote:

<At the same truck race I mentioned in previous paragraph one of the support races was called the "Silver Bullet " cars ( I think ) and they were front engine roadsters>

A 'Humpy' Wheeler brainstorm IIRC---intended to catch 'graduates' of the 'Legend' car series looking for a more adventurous challenge. A definitive 'spec' class, but capable of putting on a heckuva show as you noted. Which (Humpy being the P.T. Barnum of stockcars) was the root of the concept. A win/win deal for Humpy, he gets to sell or lease the cars, sponsor the races, sell the tickets and concessions and garner the income from all of it. All that said I've enjoyed the few times I've caught the racing on TV. It has much the same nostalgia kick as historics racing without the flinch factor of witnessing racing icons being hazarded. Frankly I'd love to see a national series as long as NAPCAR had nothing to do with it. Faint hope!(

<NASCAR has become BORING and is over-hyped and over-marketed for what you get. Think race fans are starting to realize that as TV viewership is down 18% this year and the Corporate types are WORRIED.>

As I noted in my opening post my wife and I, followers of 'stockcar' racing since long before it became bigime, have had the pleaasure of it stolen from us by the over-saturation and hype. If it has driven two such as ourselves away then it must surely have repelled less devoted fans. The only race I make it a point to watch of recent years are the roadraces. The ovals have became so boringly repetitive and predictable that I have adopted the NAPCAR name because they induce naps rather than interest.

<I love F-1 with a passion but please, somebody get rid of Bernie Ecclestone and his dictatorial ways.>

Surely Bernies' pact with the Devil that keeps him alive must soon expire! The fear is that his monopoly will be carried on by family members as greedy and short-sighted as the France heirs.

<At least they put some driver input back into the cars with the grooved tires and reduction in electronic traction controls.>

Hope looms in the proposal to reduce aero effects by a substantial margin and the soon to be implemented abolition of traction control entirely. F-1 could profit from Humpy's Silver Bullet concept by returning to a formula that puts more emphasis on the driver rather than the technology. Technology is great for the techno-freaks but the average ticket buyer or TV watcher would be better entertained (and retained) by racing that includes the close competition and more passing of the era that preceded the introduction of aero dependency. Nor can aero dependency be considered to be 'improving the breed' which has always been thought of as the reason for racing whether of horses or motor vehicles. While NAPCAR has erred by placing the greatest emphasis on the 'show' aspect F-1 has made the mistake of ignoring that facet virually altogether. Neither seem to understand that the paying customer just wants to see good racing and it is hurting both ends of the spectrum. Or such is my opinion FWIW. CC

[flyfshn]

My father-in-law got me started about 10 years ago and I watch it on Sunday after church if the kids don't have anything going on. A friend of mine rents a hospitality tent at the Kansas Speedway and I have attended the race there for the past 5 years....pretty cool in person. Since he has a hospitality tent, we are allowed to take tours of the pits. Was a DJ fan, but he no longer races that way he did in the past. I am a Jeff Burton fan since I work for Cingular/AT&T and they finally decided to sponsor someone that knows how to race. Sorry HFDHoosier....not a fan of the 24!

[hfdhoosier]

Flyfishn, No offense taken. Am used to that by now. By now Ive heard it all from "he's gay" to "Nascar is rigging races for him". IMO that could be the real reason for the decline of Nascar, Fans booing, throwing cans and bottles on the track, harassing certain drivers fans. I personally witnessed these this weekend except for throwing stuff on the track because the race was rained out. Probably will race tommorow since I had to come back for work. Back on topic, None of these booing, harassing fans were Hendrick fans. Its one thing to root hard for your driver, another thing to get nasty towards another driver. I know it is a select few fans that set a bad example. I am a fan of alot of drivers but have grown pretty intolerant of other drivers fans. Gordon and Hendrick nation will go on no matter what, they have for years. I will continue to root for Hendrick and Gordon despite the booing, harassment, etc. Im sure every other drivers fan will root for their driver. Thats what I think makes Nascar, very loyal fans. I agree that Nascar has lost something in the past years but they still fill the stands. Maybe I'll get lucky and the Tues race will rain out and get to go to the makeup race in Nov.. Weather.com looks like they will be able to get it in on Tues. tho. Oh well there is always next year.

HFDHOOSIER