2017 NASCAR Discussion threadNASCAR 

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Northstar
I'm not so sure about that.

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The thing with NASCAR fans is a very large percentage of them fall into one of 3 categories, GM, Ford or Mopar. Sure a few may be swayed by a different manufacturer, but I could certainly see it not being enough to persuade a manufacturer to join, especially when they have an already small motorsport budget.

I also think racing is becoming less effectual at marketing "normal" cars, which is why you see premium brands Acura, Bentley, Cadillac, and Lexus starting racing programs along with the usual sports cars.
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All those numbers reflect is that a buttload of Camrys are sold annually and in years of bad economy sales drop. Compare those numbers to the Fusion. Camry wins. Compare to Chevy SS. Camry wins. Compare to any Dodge. Camry wins. I agree the audience tends to gravitate to 3 manufacturers being Ford, Chevy and Dodge. But lets face it, Dodge put themselves out of business and are now owned by a Europeans company. I've been getting inundated lately with manufacturer surveys for the Fan Council. Not sure who's interested but there is some sort of interest otherwise they wouldn't ask. I'd be willing to bet most of the Fan Council however voted for Dodge.
 
Blood Eagle
All those numbers reflect is that a buttload of Camrys are sold annually and in years of bad economy sales drop. Compare those numbers to the Fusion. Camry wins. Compare to Chevy SS. Camry wins. Compare to any Dodge. Camry wins.
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The point I was trying to make was the NASCAR program seemingly has little effect on Camry sales if any at all.

People in the market for a Camry, Fusion, Malibu or Impala likely couldn't care less how it performs on a racetrack, especially when the car that's racing looks nothing like the street version past the front bumper. What they do care about are things like reliability, MPG, crash ratings and what creature comforts are there, you can't really advertise those things with a race program.

I've been getting inundated lately with manufacturer surveys for the Fan Council. Not sure who's interested but there is some sort of interest otherwise they wouldn't ask. I'd be willing to bet most of the Fan Council however voted for Dodge.
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Anyone that's followed racing for any considerable time should know a manufacturer showing interest in something is pretty much meaningless until they start testing.
 
Northstar
The point I was trying to make was the NASCAR program seemingly has little effect on Camry sales if any at all.

People in the market for a Camry, Fusion, Malibu or Impala likely couldn't care less how it performs on a racetrack, especially when the car that's racing looks nothing like the street version past the front bumper. What they do care about are things like reliability, MPG, crash ratings and what creature comforts are there, you can't really advertise those things with a race program.



Anyone that's followed racing for any considerable time should know a manufacturer showing interest in something is pretty much meaningless until they start testing.
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It's not just a Camry, Fusion, Malibu, SS thing. It's a Chevy, Ford, Toyota all models thing. Otherwise you wouldn't see Chevy or Toyota commercials during races and you wouldn't see Chevy claiming to be the "Official Vehicle of NASCAR". It's all marketing. Now, when KFC comes out with their own line of vehicles, you can bet NASCAR watchers will get blasted with sales commercials every commercial break. The intent? To sell.
 
Blood Eagle
Dodge says a comeback to NASCAR is a no go. But look for Honda or Nissan to make an announcement soon (My personal thoughts)

http://www.thedrive.com/accelerator/12471/dodge-wont-return-to-nascar
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Chickens. Broke-a:censored:🤬 chickens. Bailed on everything they did good in, sports cars, rallycross, NHRA pro stock, heck when it became time to pony up for a contract with a top tier team that just won them a title, they bailed because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Good riddance to Dodge, biggest bunch of quitters in the auto industry. Not gonna miss them and their ilk when their parent company crashes and burns.

Blood Eagle
That's your opinion. Change isn't necessarily bad. Most you guys hate anything new or different. It's not the 1970s anymore. New manufacturer is coming soon. Belee dat!
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Or, you know, people come from watching other motorsports, including "classic" NASCAR, think "Hmm, NASCAR is on, I think I'll check it out." And after turning a race on, go "WTF is this crap?! This isn't the great NASCAR I've heard about! This is crap!" Because they can't understand the points system, nor can they understand why everybody's bunching up like it's the last lap when it's only the middle of the race instead of trying to plan for the end like in sports cars/off road racing/F1/whatever. Is the only way you can defend the cheapening of the ontrack product saying it's not the seventies or the eighties anymore? that's about the weakest argument I've ever heard. Especially when it goes against how motorsports is supposed to work.

PS, IMSA's doing better simply by sticking to what works. Is it really that hard for NASCAR to understand??
 
AMPMROCKETFANN
Chickens. Broke-a:censored:🤬 chickens. Bailed on everything they did good in, sports cars, rallycross, NHRA pro stock, heck when it became time to pony up for a contract with a top tier team that just won them a title, they bailed because they wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Good riddance to Dodge, biggest bunch of quitters in the auto industry. Not gonna miss them and their ilk when their parent company crashes and burns.
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The ALMS Vipers were abandoning the program. The NASCAR effort was sold to keep the company afloat, to re-establish everything as it was, what they want to do, would be incredibly expensive. Considering they barely seen to be able to make any profit it just doesn't make sense.
 
People seem to keep forgetting that the Abandonment of Motorsports was purely down to rescructuring (Wasn't helped by the fact that they took part in a series that had both of Americas big endurance classics one after the other, which is a massive expense in itself ontop of a full season campaign). It wasn't the wisest idea either for SRT to be a completely separate brand and then sell one of the most reconized names under said name instead of the original brand everyone remembers. They aren't in motorsports not because they are "Anti-Motorsports", they (and their multiple owners) have made multiple mistakes that have not helped financially. Something had to give and guess what did?
 
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RACECAR
People seem to keep forgetting that the Abandonment of Motorsports was purely down to rescructuring (Wasn't helped by the fact that they took part in a series that had both of Americas big endurance classics one after the other, which is a massive expense in itself ontop of a full season campaign). It wasn't the wisest idea either for SRT to be a completely separate brand and then sell one of the most reconized names under said name instead of the original brand everyone remembers. They aren't in motorsports not because they are "Anti-Motorsports", they (and their multiple owners) have made multiple mistakes that have not helped financially. Something had to give and guess what did?
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So in other words Dodge/FCA has sketchy management. Doesn't help the fact that they are quitters with bad planning skills. I applaud them for propping up NHRA Funny car and Top Fuel teams and giving the world the first factory Pro Street car in the form of the Demon, but even then, I think they have only succeeded in building a reputation as basically a bunch of weak quitters who have bad management and bad products. Honestly, I think this is an FCA problem in general.
 
Larson is making a statement. From the back to 10th in 30 laps. Truex also making a statement by putting 6 seconds on Kenseth in the same 30 laps.
 
Watching this round of pit stops made me realize just how far they've come with the pit stops. Even 5 years ago, 12 second stops were rare and 11 second stops with almost unheard of.
 
AnthonyD1993
Watching this round of pit stops made me realize just how far they've come with the pit stops. Even 5 years ago, 12 second stops were rare and 11 second stops with almost unheard of.
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I seem to remember in the last year of the old fuel can at Martinsville Jeff Gordon had a 10.9 second stop? The teams really knew how to take advantage of those catch cans back then.
 
Mother wanted to go on a whale watch so I listened to the race on my phone on the boat for about the first 30 laps, then my phone died. Decided I'd wait till it got uploaded to the internet to finish it. We went to an Applebee's after the boat ride and one of the TV's was tuned to the race, so I got to see the last 67 laps.
If it had been 3-4 laps longer Larson would have gotten it.
 
Loaded up the NASCAR page to see if anyone was talking about Kyle Busch, because I heard someone was crying.

Turns out it was all the Ford and Chevy fanboys...

I just don't understand, how in 2917, other motorsport sanctioning bodies can have multiple makes, and even mutiple classes, and yet all the drunken 'Murica!' type of NASCAR fans can't get over what sticker is on somebody's car. The only thing different with these cars for the most part is the templet and the powerplants, and those come from Rousch-Yates, Hendrick, TRD, etc. It's literally one of the...no...it is the dumbest argument in all of motorsports!

I'm starting to believe it's not NASCAR that's killing the sport (mostly); it very well could be the toxic fanbase as well. I could ramble on and on all night about this, but I'll just end it here.

I'll sleep a little better knowing Gibbs finally has a win this year. Surely the #18 won't have to wait long now.
 
Leadfoot530
Loaded up the NASCAR page to see if anyone was talking about Kyle Busch, because I heard someone was crying.

Turns out it was all the Ford and Chevy fanboys...

I just don't understand, how in 2917, other motorsport sanctioning bodies can have multiple makes, and even mutiple classes, and yet all the drunken 'Murica!' type of NASCAR fans can't get over what sticker is on somebody's car. The only thing different with these cars for the most part is the templet and the powerplants, and those come from Rousch-Yates, Hendrick, TRD, etc. It's literally one of the...no...it is the dumbest argument in all of motorsports!

I'm starting to believe it's not NASCAR that's killing the sport (mostly); it very well could be the toxic fanbase as well. I could ramble on and on all night about this, but I'll just end it here.

I'll sleep a little better knowing Gibbs finally has a win this year. Surely the #18 won't have to wait long now.
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This. That's why NASCAR is trying to distance themselves from that type of crowd. NASCAR fans are horrible.
 
With the SS going away, my gut says GM will use either the Impala or some other midsized car in the lineup. Though I personally think they should use a Camaro like they do in Xfinity.
 
Leadfoot530
Loaded up the NASCAR page to see if anyone was talking about Kyle Busch, because I heard someone was crying.

Turns out it was all the Ford and Chevy fanboys...

I just don't understand, how in 2917, other motorsport sanctioning bodies can have multiple makes, and even mutiple classes, and yet all the drunken 'Murica!' type of NASCAR fans can't get over what sticker is on somebody's car. The only thing different with these cars for the most part is the templet and the powerplants, and those come from Rousch-Yates, Hendrick, TRD, etc. It's literally one of the...no...it is the dumbest argument in all of motorsports!

I'm starting to believe it's not NASCAR that's killing the sport (mostly); it very well could be the toxic fanbase as well. I could ramble on and on all night about this, but I'll just end it here.

I'll sleep a little better knowing Gibbs finally has a win this year. Surely the #18 won't have to wait long now.
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You're not wrong: stereotypical NASCAR fans are like porn fans; nobody wants them, and they just make everybody look bad.

EDIT: It'll likely be the Malibu since it fits the mold of the Camry and Fusion. I would've preferred the Impala return though.

EDIT 2: I'm sorry can we just christen Toyota as honorary Americans now? I mean they have plants here, the Camry primarily exists for Americans, and they're embedded in American motorsport down to the grassroots level. They're Americans now. Full Stop. An American company that just happens to have a presence worldwide. Like um, IDK, FORD. I'm sick to death now of people calling them non American. I mean, Dodge is Italian now, and most people still keep calling them American.

End Rant
 
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So which company would actually want to come into NASCAR to sell their cars? Like, the only company I can see doing anything is Hyundai and/or Kia since they're beginning to establish themselves as more than just a cheaper alternative (from my perspective at least), and Hyundai at least has something of a racing program.

I doubt Honda or Nissan wanna join in, especially with the buckets of cash Toyota pumps into the sport (Honda can't count to 8 anyways lmao). And I doubt that any European company would better NASCAR probably doesn't fit their luxury mood too well.
 
AMPMROCKETFANN
EDIT 2: I'm sorry can we just christen Toyota as honorary Americans now? I mean they have plants here, the Camry primarily exists for Americans, and they're embedded in American motorsport down to the grassroots level. They're Americans now. Full Stop. An American company that just happens to have a presence worldwide. Like um, IDK, FORD. I'm sick to death now of people calling them non American. I mean, Dodge is Italian now, and most people still keep calling them American.

End Rant
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Hell, if we're just going along the lines of cars that could feasibly be in NASCAR, the Honda Accord has been rolling out of Marysville, Ohio since 1981, and Nissan Altimas are currently built in both Tennessee and Mississippi (Nissan really likes states with double consonants, I guess). There's more car plants for Japanese and European marques in NASCAR country then there are "American" ones these days.
 
Having been to Nascar races both in the north and south since Toyota entered the sport, nobody really seems to care much that they are in it now. A few may have at first, but I haven't noticed that much if at all in the last decade of going to races.

And just curious because I see this all over this site, how does being built here change their country of origin?

Plus, how does Chrysler's merger with Fiat make Dodge an Italian company now?
 
Adamgp
Having been to Nascar races both in the north and south since Toyota entered the sport, nobody really seems to care much that they are in it now. A few may have at first, but I haven't noticed that much if at all in the last decade of going to races.

And just curious because I see this all over this site, how does being built here change their country of origin?

Plus, how does Chrysler's merger with Fiat make Dodge an Italian company now?
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The place of manufacture is just a way of countering the trolls who continuously scream "BUT THEM TOYODOS ARENT MERICAN?!". :lol: :p Poking fun of how the only actual "American" or "American made" car in the field, is from a Japanese manufacturer.

And the Italian ownership of Chrysler is only where they get their pensions and orders. :p It's odd to think when Chrysler/Dodge wasn't owned by the Europeans, like when they were owned by Mercedes-Benz and were Daimler-Chrysler for so long.

It really is just a minority of NASCAR fans that are obsessive over Toyota. I mean, their are plenty of Sprint Cars that use Toyota engines, and those guys seem to be perfectly happy with the whole thing.
 

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