NASCAR Racer Says Esports Race Team Deals Make "Real Race Car Drivers Want To Puke"

Does he realize how fraught of a situation NASCAR is in, in pretty much all feeder series they own and control, in terms of fan interest, especially with the disaster of a rules package that has sapped power from all vehicles?

Does he realize that eSports as a whole is an important way to diversify the stock of drivers considering how lily white racing as a whole is, and how NASCAR's own minority success problem has been an abject failure that has only really birthed Daniel Suarez in top flight action?

The fact of the matter is that this plucking of high quality eSports drivers is the future of motorsport. How much cheaper is it to assemble a sim racing rig and a subscription to iRacing and take the chance then buying a midget sprint car and having to make payments and gamble out your fortune just to make it to some of these events?
 
Coby’s issue with it is that in his opinion the guys who’ve spent decades pouring their blood sweat and tears into their race cars and careers are being forgotten and overlooked in favour of kids who’ve never had to work for anything and are just playing games on the computer. This is more about NASCAR’s marketing focus than it is about “esports” as a whole. They’re choosing to flood social media and spend marketing dollars on their virtual series instead of their grass roots events and short tracks. You can watch the iRacing series live on TV every week (on a weeknight to be fair) but lower tier touring series races (like the Modifieds) are shown tape delayed weeks afterwards (though they are streamed live, free last year but behind a paywall starting this year). Just saying this as to where he’s coming from. He’s not completely ignorant, he feels like he and the thousands of racers like him are being overlooked for the newest fad. It’s also arguable that this is just salt over never getting a chance in the major leagues of NASCAR despite winning multiple championships in the minor leagues.

I’ve made my feelings on esports clear, but my problems are with the spectators and the people funding it, not the participants. They’re just taking advantage of this broken society we live in. But it’s not even debatable that it’ll be around far longer than grassroots oval racing (especially on asphalt). It’s rapidly dying (and unwilling to adapt to the times) and guys like Coby should enjoy being able to make a living off of it while they can.
 
Last edited:
bloodyboyblue
overlooked in favour of kids who’ve never had to work for anything and are just playing games on the computer.
Click to expand...

And that's about as ignorant of a statement than if I were to say "Oval racing isn't real racing because all you're doing is going around in an oblong circle."

Many of these "games on the computer" have actually allowed for people, otherwise incapable, to enter actual motorsports and discover they have talent. Hell, as much as I otherwise don't care to pay attention to it, look at GT Academy. Instead of embracing it and exploiting it for all its worth, he's throwing a childish hissy fit.
 
Terronium-12
And that's about as ignorant of a statement than if I were to say "Oval racing isn't real racing because all you're doing is going around in an oblong circle."

Many of these "games on the computer" have actually allowed for people, otherwise incapable, to enter actual motorsports and discover they have talent. Hell, as much as I otherwise don't care to pay attention to it, look at GT Academy. Instead of embracing it and exploiting it for all its worth, he's throwing a childish hissy fit.
Click to expand...

I should’ve put quotes around it, it’s not how I feel.

NASCAR likes to superficially cling to fads more than most racing series (mostly because of their struggle to attract young viewers) hence how the entire industry surrounding it almost overnight and many years late embraced Twitter in about 2011 or 2012. Now last year they decided to jump on the esports bandwagon, but because this is NASCAR, it’s almost being treated as a sideshow act and literally zero of the people participating in these events have a chance of a real racing opportunity. Its not like other series where there’s actually teams willing to take risks on some of the players, in NASCAR it’s just there to keep up appearances.

Ty Majeski got a chance through his iRacing exploits, but that was years ago, and William Byron is often pointed to as a “sim racer” but he has millions of dollars from a religious university funding him, he would’ve gotten there either way.
 
Not all of us live in Alabama (thank god) and have access to a "local short track". I guess we should just not participate in racing of any kind? NASCAR, aside from a brief moment in the 90s, has always been a regional thing here in the U.S. It has little popularity outside of the South and a couple other spots that have tracks. Sadly, closed minded fools like this guy aren't helping matters. They should be doing everything they can to bring people in, including NASCAR eSports anything.
 
BadFlounder
Not all of us live in Alabama (thank god) and have access to a "local short track". I guess we should just not participate in racing of any kind? NASCAR, aside from a brief moment in the 90s, has always been a regional thing here in the U.S. It has little popularity outside of the South and a couple other spots that have tracks. Sadly, closed minded fools like this guy aren't helping matters. They should be doing everything they can to bring people in, including NASCAR eSports anything.
Click to expand...

Unless you live in Antarctica, there’s a race track (oval, road course, drag strip, disused airport, whatever) somewhere around you and grassroots events happening. There’s still local racing to support wherever you are.
 
"Old man yells at cloud"

It sounds like he's just mad that he's been in NASCAR some 18 years and is still meddling around in one of its "minor leagues". Maybe if he picked up iRacing he could improve his racing by turning some laps at home.
 
Joey D
It sounds like he's just mad that he's been in NASCAR some 18 years and is still meddling around in one of its "minor leagues". Maybe if he picked up iRacing he could improve his racing by turning some laps at home.
Click to expand...


You do understand that talent is not how you get to the big leagues right? Anybody who understands how auto racing works would know that its money is the only way to make it to the upper levels. While talent is helpful at retaining your ride in the upper level, you still have to have money first.
 
eran0004
It’s funny because going around an oval track in a real race car would probably make me want to puke.
Click to expand...

mk1xr2
I would rather watch fake cars racing round a made up track then watch real cars race in circles
Click to expand...

Castrol96
Says a "race driver" which goes around in a oval.
Click to expand...

Even in a forum where people should know better, these sorts of ignorant comments are made. Grow up, all of you. Truly embarrassing.

BadFlounder
Not all of us live in Alabama (thank god) and have access to a "local short track".
Click to expand...

Not even that. Short tracks as a whole are closing all across the US, as the families and small organizations that run them can't keep up with the upkeep, the costs needed to keep them operational. If you're somebody who wants to run quarter midgets or short track or whatever, these places are closing, and factor in the costs of keeping the vehicles maintained, fuel and lodgings, etc, you're sinking money into a pit for no real gain unless you have the talent. How much cheaper would it be to run an iRacing subscription with the cars you need, and a decent sim racing set up? Certainly a lot more, especially if you don't live near a short track.
 
Screenshot_20200112-234708_Twitter.jpg


Brian Keselowski went overboard.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gotta be honest, I don't disagree with him, especially about getting down to your local track to actually support motorsport.

Also, lol at the anti-NASCAR snobbery, predictable. At this point in time, I've still got a lot more respect for people that climb into 4 speed race cars and race around in circles, putting their health and wealth on the line, than I do sim-racers that complain about steering wheel animations breaking the immersion.
 
MatskiMonk
Gotta be honest, I don't disagree with him, especially about getting down to your local track to actually support motorsport.

Also, lol at the anti-NASCAR snobbery, predictable. At this point in time, I've still got a lot more respect for people that climb into 4 speed race cars and race around in circles, putting their health and wealth on the line, than I do sim-racers that complain about steering wheel animations breaking the immersion.
Click to expand...
Well now your comment isen't less snobby or ignorant.
 
Moby45
You do understand that talent is not how you get to the big leagues right? Anybody who understands how auto racing works would know that its money is the only way to make it to the upper levels. While talent is helpful at retaining your ride in the upper level, you still have to have money first.
Click to expand...

Unless you're a billionaire team owner or investor, you're going to need the talent the move up. No one is going to fork over the money for someone who's mediocre.
 
MaxBoost27
View attachment 881395

Brian Keselowski went overboard.
Click to expand...

Did he seriously liken school shootings happening because people think they're fit to do so after playing an FPS? That is so above and beyond a rational rebuttal, it's full on pathetic. And, to him, they're the ones that need help? Sweet Jesus, I don't care for Twitter or any kind of social media to be honest, but after saying that? I hope everyone worth a damn rips him a new one. Endlessly. To the point where he either makes his account private, or outright deletes it.

That's just profoundly insensitive, all because someone obviously hit a little too close to home with a Twitter comment.
 
Joey D
Unless you're a billionaire team owner or investor, you're going to need the talent the move up. No one is going to fork over the money for someone who's mediocre.
Click to expand...

“Mediocre” is charitable to describe most of the field of young drivers in NASCAR. All you have to do to reach the top there is pay the bills and not wreck the car. Your actual performance beyond that doesn’t matter much. It’s not in a good place.
 

Latest Posts

Back