NASCAR racing....
 

Why all the engine restrictions and rules governing the car???

Isn't it a race????

Think about the word "formula."

Formula 1, top fuel, etc.

I think that ,like F1 ( the ultimate and true type of motorcar racing) the governing bodies are continually trying to even the field ( better for spectators) and prevent the damn things from becoming airborne- for real. Less fatalities is also a factor. Things tend to get really hairy at a certain point, witness Can Am in the '70's, F1 turbo's and Group B rally cars in the 80's/90's etc..

"Stock Car" race. It's about the driver, not the car ;)

Side note: Turn left!

ooooph. I have to disagree there woodsman...
F1 has become the ultimate expenditure in motorsports, the way they're spending hundreds of millions on wind tunnels and computers. But the racing? Far from the best. There's better racing to be seen in the lower formulas and in sports cars. And there's better driving to be seen in Rally for sure -- those are the best drivers in the world.
Too many pay drivers now fill the ranks of F1. DRS is cheap gimmick to cover up the fact that without more mechanical grip, you'll never have a return to real grand prix style overtaking. And Gilles Villenueve said it himself "the fans come to F1 races to see the overtaking."

As for NASCAR, I watch it but when drivers are allowed to deliberately dump other drivers, often with premeditation, while race officials do nothing but issue wrist slapping it starts to smell like professional wrestling. And for "stock" car racing nearly all the money spent goes into just a few of the cars. There's a huge disparity in competitive machinery.

p.s.
Timco, there's a lot of rules because they want predictable racing to satisfy sponsors and to keep them from looking silly. The more money generally speaking is spent in racing, the more likely you'll see 4, 5, 7x's champions. See Jimmy Johnson, Schumacher and now Vettel.

F1 is the 'ultimate' of everything except the number of passes per race:(
If you could do anything you wanted in life, wouldn't you be an F1 driver?

and except driver talent. See Alguersari. British F3 champion. Excellent results with TR. Now he's working as a DJ because Russian billionaires can buy a seat in F1.

It's the same everywhere- no?

Long ago in a land far far away, the general public could buy a Nascar stock car of the showroom floor. In fact in was the rule that (I forget the exact number) but some where around 300-500 cars had to be produced and available to the general public.
In that time some car manufactures were so dominate that the lead car some times lapped the field

Flash forward. They are running neck and neck to the finish and it's been that way for a number of years

Also if they did not restrict those engines, they would be going 250 mph

The best head to head racing out there is all done on two wheels. If you haven't really watched World Superbike or Moto GP you should check them out. Best timed racing ever? Isle of Man TT - nothing comes close.

NASCAR has decided to limit the cars in many ways (body, engine, suspension, tires, etc) to ensure full fields (cost-wise), create a more even playing field (competition-wise), encourage as much passing as possible, and generate ten's of leader changes per race. NASCAR believes that these constraints create the type of racing that their audience likes best.

NASCAR readily admits that motorsports in the modern era are no longer pure pursuits of speed or technical prowness. Even F1 has rules and limits on many aspects of performance and technology. The idea that any professional racing series offers true "open-rules" racing is a fantasy.

Its very easy to criticize the NASCAR formula - but the results speak for themselves: depending on the metric, NASCAR is definitely in the Top 4 (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NASCAR) of all professional sports in the US in terms of popuarity, size of fanbase, number of people who attend races, and value of mechandise sold. Many reliable sources typically place NASCAR as #2 of the Top 4 behind only the NFL.

I never though I would be a fan (wife too) but last year we got hooked. Now we watch every nationwide and sprint cup race and I'm adding F1 and IMSA this year. It also inspires me to go work on my 944 so I can get it on the track. :)

By the way Sprint series does two road courses, one in CA and Watkins Glen.

Chris

WRC and only WRC is about real driving. Nothing else comes even close