Does Anyone Actually Still Watch NASCAR?

[Bikeman315]

NASCAR Hopes Fans, Gamblers Will Embrace 32-Driver In-Season Bracket Tournament

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[SnowFox]

I tried to get into watching NASCAR. But it just didn't stick.

On the other hand, like other sports going to a NASCAR event is incredible. But watching it just has no appeal.

I will watch F1 racing though. The tracks are typically wildly different. And the scenery is also wildly different. Zipping through city streets in Monaco or Vegas, or ripping through a track in Dubai.

NASCAR tracks are different. But they always sorta feel the same too.

Imho

 

[Snakebyte]

I've backed off over the years. NASCAR it seems is trying to be all things to too many people. I've learned that you cannot sustain success if you abandon your core, and choosing to chase markets. That's the reality of many businesses. My first understanding of how those dynamics worked was when AMF took over Harley-Davidson. They lost their way and it took a bit of soul searching, and years, to get back their focus and rebuild their reputation.

 

[RTR077]

Yes. New fan since 2021 and love it. Attend many races and watch it every week.

 

[sk47]

Hello; Went to my first NASCAR race at Bristol somewhere around the late 1950's or early 1960's. A school friends grandfather took us. I think the tickets were around $6. Was the old configuration with less banking and concrete bleachers. We could walk into the pits and talk to the crews. Met some drivers.
Over the decades went when time and funds allowed. mostly to Bristol with only two times to Atlanta. Sometime in the 1980's to early 90's NASCAR changed. Bristol grew into what it now is. I have only been a few times in the current arrangement. Guess the last time to Bristol was in the early 2000's so i do not really know of today's setup other than from TV.

NASCAR got too big for it's base n some ways. I cannot say I missed picking seats at least 20 rows up to avoid most of the beer cans being tossed overhead. Tickets got too expensive. Had to buy tickets every year for the whole weekend in order to get tickets the next year. My brother got the spring race tickets and i got the late summer set. Parking was awful. A few times had to walk a mile or more to the track.
Over time the traffic congestion got very much better with new roads. So no being stuck in traffic for hours.

For me I lost interest pretty much when Earnhart died. Now i do not keep up with the drivers. Only know a few of them. I record a race and usually FF the recording to the last 50 laps of bristol and the last 20 of Daytona or Talladega. Some weekends i do not watch.

The race cars are not stock cars and have not been for decades. A chassis can be a Ford one season and a Toyota the next or even a truck. Cars do not remotely favor what we can buy. Ford is the only make offering a V8 I could buy.

Guess in the end i barely watch any longer.

 

[CrazyHippie]

I'd like to, but the insanity that they've cooked into their television broadcast schedule has prevented watching for me this year. And the way that internet AI can't seem to answer a simple question of which network will broadcast the race each wekend is frustrating. I catch the ones that I can, but refuse to subscribe to multiple streaming platforms in order to chase the broadcasts each week. What a circus!

 

[sk47]

I catch the ones that I can, but refuse to subscribe to multiple streaming platforms in order to chase the broadcasts each week. What a circus!

Hello; I actually get this. The trick seems to be moving the shows around to different places in order to get us to subscribe for that one thing. Some weeks i get the F1 sprint races they have but other weeks I do not. But I can find an offering if willing to pay extra.
Missed the 24 hours of Le Mans one year and tour De France last year because i would not subscribe.
What they do not get is I can find something else to do or watch and can live without the stuff if needed.

 

[Balr14]

I used to watch it back in the 50s and early 60s. I also raced 1/4 mile dirt back in the 60s. There was a lot more variety to the races when you had Oldsmobile, Pontiac, and Hudson in the mix. These were real cars, too.... fairly close to what you could buy for the street. Now they are all the same rolling billboards and races are mostly pit stops, fuel management and drafting strategy. No thanks.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

I do, but generally its recorded to skip the commercials. Fox is horrible. I’m a bigtime WEC and F1 fan, and Nascar gets a fair amount of grief from the others. But there’s a very real reason drivers from other disciplines don’t try Nascar or don’t make it very long. Whole different ball of wax 30 plus cars bumper to bumper, door to door, at 200 mph. Let alone the banging at speed. There’s nothing in any racing I’ve been to that compares to the freight train of a field of those cars going by at 200 mph. The visceral from the sound is unreal. Very cool.

 

[BigBearCarolina]

I used to go to 4-5 races a year. Always Charlotte always Bristol often N Wilkesboro. Now I might watch Daytona, the 600, Sonoma from the comfort of my La-Z-Boy. I do watch a little F1, lots of Indy, IMSA, SVRA, and Historic Trans Am.

 

[_zOmbIE_]

I'd rather watch paint dry.

I watch WSBK and MotoGP religiously. Car racing just doesn't do it for me because F1 is a circus (and since liberty is taking over MotoGP, it's likely not far behind), and Nascar has never been my thing.

 

[Bikeman315]

I'd rather watch paint dry.

I watch WSBK and MotoGP religiously. Car racing just doesn't do it for me because F1 is a circus (and since liberty is taking over MotoGP, it's likely not far behind), and Nascar has never been my thing.

I watched Monaco. Honestly talk about paint drying!! Indy was pretty good. The result wasn't too surprising considering the season Alex Palou is having. Was there a Nascar race on Sunday? I do not even know who won.

 

[VictorH]

Why I hardly watch
1) Stages to races. The dumbest idea ever. If the race is 250 or 500 miles run the race! What if marathons or LeMans or 24 hrs of Daytona was run in ‘stages” no one would watch.
2) Consequence of stages is demolition derby at the end of the races. Too much blocking, too many crashes, don’t care for teams who block other makes either.
3) I like aero, but it’s made NASCAR much more boring. Remember days of HP and Daytona or Talledega where Parsons or Earnhardt could pull out and around a competitor and get to the finish first without a draft of 3-4 cars.
4) Road races. I’m a bit ambivalent about these with NASCAR, the orgin’s (darn spell check won’t let me fix) are ovals and super speedway, find those more interesting.

 

[Inthehighdesert]

Doing the Track Attack a few times at Charlotte gave me a different perspective on Nascar. The speeds they’re getting on these tracks and the proximity to each other is no joke. Went to the Rolex 24 at Daytona this year as well. Broadcast coverage for racing is pretty decent for the most part, but it gives zero clue just how fast these cars are moving. F1 is amazing in person as well. The cost has gotten out of hand. Still think Motogp and WEC are the best venues if you’re a true fan and like access.

I used to go to 4-5 races a year. Always Charlotte always Bristol often N Wilkesboro. Now I might watch Daytona, the 600, Sonoma from the comfort of my La-Z-Boy. I do watch a little F1, lots of Indy, IMSA, SVRA, and Historic Trans Am.

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