5 Reasons why F1 Fans should try watching a NASCAR Race

25 Mar 2016

Alright, don’t get me wrong, I’m not an F1 hater, or anything of the sort, but I made the switch back in 2007 from F1 to NASCAR, and honestly, I couldn’t see myself watching another GP anytime soon… Or so I thought, but the Australian GP actually had me sitting there enjoying the race!

So that got me thinking, if I can give F1 another chance, and rightly so; surely F1 Fans can try watching a NASCAR race in full.
Who knows, some of you may enjoy it, some of you may become fans.

1. Bigger Grids

This year the grid has been reduced in size, with only 40 cars able to start a race, instead of the previous 43, but that’s still a fair few more than F1 these days. More cars on track tends to see more action (especially on the shorter tracks) and I’m not just talking about crashes either, which leads me on to point number 2.

2. More overtaking

Overtaking is a part of racing, so who wouldn’t want to see more passes on the track?! (Unless it’s your least favorite driver, passing your favorite driver). Superspeedways, like Daytona and Talladega, can see several lead changes in one lap, but even on shorter 1.5 mile tracks there are battles taking place all over the track.

3. The races are LOOOONGG

Some might say this is a bad point, because people can get restless. But as long as the racing is good, then the longer it goes on for, the better. Obviously, some races can be a bit dull, but that’s ok, because usually that means the field has spread out, and the laps are counting down faster, to the next inevitable caution, where they’ll be bunched back up

4. It's old fashioned, but in a good way!

When I say ‘old fashioned’ I don’t mean they’re still driving cars from the 1950’s each week.
They’re old fashioned compared to things like F1, DTM, V8SC etc. The cars are heavy machines, with no assists, minimal data tracking that the team have to use, there’s not even a fuel gauge in the cars.
All this, plus the new ‘low downforce’ package this year, means that the cars slide around the track, bounce off each other, and are always on the very limit of control.

5. The finishes are close

So far this year, two of the five races this year have given us amazing photo finishes! That trend looks set to continue next week too, as Martinsville, a 0.5 mile short track, always produces dashes to the checkered flag.

So, there we go. I hope that something on this list made you want to try watching a race.
For those that do, here’s the race from Phoenix a few weeks ago, that produced one of the photo finishes I talked of.

Comments

I thought that Nascar was boring but after reading your post I’ll give it a try! Nice article!

Thankyou :)

it was never boring, it was just too crazy

You’re right dude. I watched the daytona 500 this year and don’t get me wrong Nascar is far more exciting than F1 today. I think F1 already lost their crown on Motorsport world

It’s all preference. I can see why people like F1, because of the tech, and the locations, which are awesome

I like NASCAR

I never watched F1, but I’d sure watch NASCAR. The Sound is more appealing in my opinion.

I tried but the races were too long, the rest was cool. Any sprint race series I can watch?

They do shorter, truck series races too

I would love to watch NASCAR, but in Germany it’s not possible without spending much money every month

The races are put on YouTube a few days after the race, and can be watched for free :)

You can always stream them online…

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nascar49c

I’ll certainly give it a watch. One point I will make, though, is that while there is more overtaking, it is almost all done the same way. Slipstream the car in front to gain speed, move to the side, and past you go. There are no epic moves like Max Verstappen’s overtake around the outside of Felipe Nasr at Blanchimont. Still, I will look at it. I think F1 fans would be able to relate to Indycar more than they would NASCAR.

That may be a common overtake on the super-speedways, but on the normal ovals, drafting isn’t half the story. One pass can take several laps to set-up and complete and involves using different lines, getting a better run, out-braking, and/or a good, old-fashioned bump. If do give it a watch, as you said, when they race around a 1.5 mile track,(which won’t be too hard considering those tracks are the bread and butter of the sport) you’ll see what I mean.

I tried watching it once. Liked all the way to the point they used “competition caution”. Immediately stopped watching. That is lot more artificial than DRS imo.
As a sport itself oval racing could be great, but NASCAR is ruined by making it all about show. Shame really