Schumacher on NASCAR (OUCH!)

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While some high profile F1 drivers are defecting from F1 racing to Nascar, Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher isn't hearing any of it. "What do you see in Nascar? What is exciting about it? I can't see that, running around in ovals," he said. "I just don't see the challenge in it for me. Personally, I wouldn't do it." He went on to criticize the Nascar vehicles themselves. "I don't know heavy these cars are — but a heavy and very low-developed car to drive compared to a Formula One car."
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Ouch, my NASCAR pride...

I do respect the man as one of the better drivers who has ever lived, but I think he is wrong in his assment of NASCAR. Untill you try it, or see a race first-hand, most people will never understand it. It is quite unfortunate that so many people are biased against it, but I guess thats the same way people feel about F1 in America.

Schuey may complain that NASCAR isn't technological enough, but there are plenty of American fans who complain that F1 is packed with too-much technology.

...Someone get Dale Jr. on the phone, lets turn this into a real fight...

(lol)
 
well, i'm with good old schumy on this one.....sorry, but, NASCAR isn't in league with F1....
 
Michael Schumacher may be a talented driver, but he is also known for his questionable behavior such as punting Damon Hill in 1994, trying to punt Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, and parking his car at this year's Monaco GP qualifying round to try to prevent other drivers from beating his time.

I'd like to see Juan Pablo Montoya slap Schumacher on the back of the head before he leaves for NASCAR. :lol:
 
VNAF Ace
I'd like to see Juan Pablo Montoya slap Schumacher on the back of the head before he leaves for NASCAR. :lol:
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Too late (assuming it didn't already happen): JPM was let go by McLaren earlier this week. Oh well, sooner we get to see him run his first NASCAR race! :D
 
Well, he's entitled to his opinion. I'd wager there are a very large number of people who agree with Schumacher on this one. I don't like NASCAR and I don't watch it, but I don't see how someone saying they don't like your favourite motorsport should dent your pride. Motorsport is so varied that there should be something for everyone. NASCAR is obviously very popular, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. For the last 15 years Schumacher has been used to F1 cars, the most technologically advanced racing cars in the world. Obviously he appreciates that kind of technology or he wouldn't still be in F1.
 
Law93
well, i'm with good old schumy on this one.....sorry, but, NASCAR isn't in league with F1....
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Well, I'm a NASCAR fan and even I would agree with that. But I would generally condemn Schuey for really not knowing what he is talking about. It may be a backwards sport as compared to his standards, but I'd say the numbers speak for themselves. NASCAR is undoubtedly one of the most-popular sports in North America, and from what I understand it has a quasi-following in countries like Australia and Japan as well. Europe might not like it, and quite frankly I don't care, but untill they expirience it (and this goes for anyone), you simply cannot write it off as a "lesser" sport completely.
 
HAHAHA, this coming from the same man who told 60 Minutes he didn't like the Indianapolis Speedway because the track scared him.

:lol:
 
@ Amp88... The whole "pride" thing is kinda a joke, but it really doesn't matter.

@ *McLaren*: I completely forgot about his "fear" of Indy. Thats pretty funny now that you bring it up, as even a girl seems to be tougher about it than him...

BTW: Did Schuey ever shed some light on females in racing? (lol)
 
YSSMAN
@ Amp88... The whole "pride" thing is kinda a joke, but it really doesn't matter.
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Obviously, but the fact you made a joke about it means you thought about it in the first place...

YSSMAN
@ *McLaren*: I completely forgot about his "fear" of Indy. Thats pretty funny now that you bring it up, as even a girl seems to be tougher about it than him...
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I've never read or heard about this, but it might have something to do with the concrete wall on turn 13 which broke his brother's back. F1 cars aren't designed to hit concrete walls, everywhere in F1 has armco barriers or tyre walls. I don't see any other reason to say Indy is dangerous when he used to race at Hockenheim when it had three 200+mph straights with a very narrow track.
 
I believe his reasons where that the track was too dangerous.

This is also a little funny to me.
"but a heavy and very low-developed car to drive compared to a Formula One car"

So, how does he explain Jeff Gordan's lap times in a Formula 1 car compared to the actual driver?
 
Heavy and undeveloped as the NASCAR stock-cars are, they are quite fast and quite easy to drive quickly. Can't say the same for the F1 cars other than they are fast...

So is this guy going to tell me that driving my VW Jetta is silly because it is heavy and undeveloped by comparison to his F430?

(BTW: I'm not looking to pick a fight with F1 fans here, but I just think that his comments are quite funny about NASCAR in general.)
 
Isn't it the other way around?

With all the technology in F1s, I've heard they can be driven in an hour or so.

Nascars aren't as easy due that they don't have traction control, or anything to aid the drivers from losing control, correct?
 
I personally would think it to be the other way around. To me, the controls in the NASCAR are pretty intuitive. You combine the action of your left foot, right hand, and right foot along with your arms to make the car move. You are right in that it doesn't have ANY of the specialty features of an F1 car, but if you are a good driver, you shouldn't need them to be fast around a racetrack.

Maybe I'm overassuming when it comes to the complications of an F1 car, but I would place it in a category of "advanced" techniques compared to what I would consider "normal" like a NASCAR, Spec-Miata, etc.
 
I think NASCAR would have to be one of the most challanging motorsports, just not very fun to watch.
Putting up with endless side-on and front on G-Forces for well over an hour would be hard enough, but battling upto and over 30 other drivers at those speeds would be damn hard!
 
pretty crappy commit coming from someone who had his championship winning streak broken. I also find it ironic how he seems to be the only one saying this.
 
There is a lot of respect and a lot of dissrespect for the sport, and unfortunately NASCAR fans have to live with dissrespect more than anything.

Funny enough, Schuey appeared in "Cars," which was obviously a NASCAR-themed movie, HA HA!

BTW: For the UK folks out there, how was my man Clarkson in "Cars"? I herd he did the voice of Lightning's agent in the British version, but never had a car version of himself in the movie. Too bad...
 
*McLaren*
With all the technology in F1s, I've heard they can be driven in an hour or so.
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There’s a difference between ‘driven’ and ‘driven competitively.’

The fact that Rossi, a very quick guy, was no where near competitive after all the test sessions he’d had should be an indication that that statement is BS. ;)
 
nascar isnt easier than f1. its just different. Its probably more fun for drivers when it comes to racing... races are more frequent. you dont have to wait 3 weeks after crashing out to redeem yourself like in f1.

its mostly only people that are ignorant that say things like nascar sux and nascar drivers arent as skilled as f1 drivers.
 
YSSMAN
Europe might not like it, and quite frankly I don't care, but untill they expirience it (and this goes for anyone), you simply cannot write it off as a "lesser" sport completely.
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Trouble is, in order to experience it, we (Europeans) have to travel at least 4,000 miles to see a NASCAR event. I've seen NASCAR cars before at Goodwood - not quite the same as, say, Talladega, I know - but I saw Richard Petty go up in his '72 No. 43 Dodge Charger, and an '05 Charger went up too (both going a fair old speed) and I wondered "What do Americans see in this?". Then the F1 cars came up and completely blew everyone away, shreiking and screaming. (Bring back the V10s!)

If NASCAR came over here - to Rockingham, or the Lausitzring (the only European ovals I know of) - I'd make every effort to go and see them. And, one day, I intend to go to America and I'll see at least one whilst I'm there. But until then, I'll still be an F1 man.
 
Rockingham? Hey we've allready been there!

(J/K, but we do have a track at Rockingham here in the US that NASCAR visits every year).

I suppose most Americans are in the same boat with F1. We only have one stop for the F1 circuit here in America, and for most people, Indy isn't the place to go see them. The tickets are outrageously expensive, you can't see jack-squat when you are there, and given the events from the past, it usually consists of Schuey winning.

...yeah...

But hey, if you ever come to the US and want to see a good NASCAR race, the good ones were you can usually see a good part of what is going on would be a place like Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Chicagoland, and of course any of the short tracks. They are a lot of fun, and you have to go to several different races to get the whole "feel" for what goes on. Sitting in the infield is a blast, but you can only see so much. Honestly, the best seats are usually mid-way up the grandstands usually in turn 4 or on the tri-oval/front (depends on what you like).

I almost went to the US Grand Prix this year, but with the cheapest tickets at $75 USD, the nearly four-hour drive to Indy, and the possibility of no-one racing, I didn't go. Granted of course that the nearest NASCAR circuit stop is atleast three hours away and the cheapest tickets are usually about $60, atleast I know there will be 43 cars on the starting grid, and I can usually be assured of a good race at either MIS or Chicagoland.
 
you know, I see that the only race fans that seem to have any problem is F1 and NASCAR fans. F1 fans think NASCAR is for rednecks and its stupid. NASCAR fans think F1 is too technological and is for them rich folks. bottom line for both:
stop this useless argument. as a Person who loves racing of all forms, I say it would not hurt to at least experience whichever sport once rather then talk negative about what you never even seen but you only heard of. very shallow viewing proves and does nothing.
 
I see Nascar like I do Australian V8 Supercars...... Way too technologically restricted (and in V8 supercars way to model restricted, Commodore vs Falcon....:rolleyes:).
 
An F1 car and a Stock car of any sort are 2 dogs of totally different breeds. Schumacer just doesn't seem to get that any racing series that the same 5 guys win all the races is to his liking (Which is why he likes F1 so much) If he were to ever get into a Stock Car, he would definetly change his mind about it.
 
This is why I tend to hate F1 drivers in general. They have no clue what they are talknin about when they say Nascar drivers suck and Nascar cars suck. I don't here any Nascar guys goin around sayin F1 cars suck because the slightest little contact could possibly take them out of the race and that they don't race every week.

I give F1 drivers the repect they deserve as very good drivers but they seem to just be a bunch of stuck up people.


YSSMAN
(J/K, but we do have a track at Rockingham here in the US that NASCAR visits every year).
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Not anymore. Well atleast not in the Cup or Busch series. I don't know if the Trucks still go there.
 
My opinion, Schumacher should keep his mouth shut about NASCAR. I'm a European who enjoys watching NASCAR I think more so than F1, because for the most part, NASCAR is the more exciting. Here's my argument:

In NASCAR the cars that the teams use are VERY closely matched and pit/tyre/fuel strategy is a MAJOR part of the race. Whereas the latter might be the same in F1, there are cars such as Ferrari, Renault, McLaren that have considerably better performance.

Also, racing is alot closer in NASCAR, sure the majority of tracks are oval in design, but when you see cars going into a banking 3 wide, you're on the edge of your seat waiting to see if a wreck is gonna happen, and when wrecks happen in NASCAR they happen BIG! F1, the most likely times for a crash are during the first 3 laps... when someone exits the pits, or during a risky overtake manoveur. Not as much chance of bumping in F1 as there is in NASCAR.

NASCAR announcers sometimes refer to races as a timebomb, waiting until the mostly inevitable 'big one' happens.

I would like to see Schumacher try out NASCAR, just to prove that despite the ovals, its harder than he thinks!
 
I'd just like to congratulate YSSMAN for sticking up for NASCAR because it's what he likes but also seeing it from the other sides point of view. No Schuey isn't stupid, or an idiot or anything like that for not liking NASCAR, sure theres a lot more to it than foot on the floor adn turn left, but you can't begin to compare 400 laps of Daytona speedway to 70 laps at Monaco. Like NASCAR, F1 isn't everyones cup of tea, NACAR is realitivly low in terms of technology, Schuey obviousely is a fan of the technology involved in the sport. So from the standpoint of somone who's tastes and style of racing are like his, his opinion is valid. He didn't criticise people for liking NASCAR or say that it was crap, he said for him it's not enough of a challenge, probably meaning the challenge regarding the circuit layouts andtechnicalities of that nature, rather than the challenge of the sport overall which is as I said, more than just lapping an oval. You have 50 odd other cars to look out for as well amongst other things.

Me, I can't bear to watch more than couple of laps of NASCAR, I'm not a fan but I can understand when other people arn't a fan of F1 or touring car ect.
 
I have only one problem with this whole deal. And it just came up today. I'd like to clear something up for the fans out there who share a certain Jimmy Johnson's opinion. Today Jimmy Johnson, driver of the #48 Chevrolet in NASCAR said that one of the problems JPM will have coming to NASCAR is that the F1 cars are very forgiving and NASCARS aren't. F1 cars are by no means forgiving. This was made more than apparent to me when I had the opportunity to watch Tradin' Paint (JPM and Jeff Gordon) again Friday night (I think that was my fourth or fifth lifetime). If one gets off the throttle wrong in an F1 car it'll bite your head off. Now I'm certainly not saying that NASCARs are forgiving, they aren't, I'm just pointing out what I can only assume is a common misperseption now that I've heard a professional racecar driver say it.

m.piedgros
 
Law93
well, i'm with good old schumy on this one.....sorry, but, NASCAR isn't in league with F1....
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Agreed.

I think NASCAR is somewhat entertaining (I like nearly ALL motorsports, regardless), but Forumla 1 driving seems much more exciting and requires more skill than making left hand turns at the same speed an F1 car takes chicanes and hairpins. There's also nothing like that start of an F1 race.
 
Um, I find more skill in NASCAR than Formula 1.

As said, the cars are very equal. In F1, you're biggest competitor falls out, that's it. You'll win as long as you don't screw up.
In NASCAR, 1 driver falls out, guess what! There's 20 more guys right on your ass waiting for you to **** up.

Pit strategies are much more difficult in NASCAR. Do not even try to start a comparison. Everyone likes to pit at or near the same time. This becomes a big problem entering and exiting. As I'm positive YSSMAN has seen, there have been MANY accidents where drivers have pulled out of their pits and clipped other drivers.

I also give skill in trying to minimize damage to NASCAR drivers after an accident. Unlike everytime I've seen a F1 car crash, it's usually very quick, over fast, and safety 99% guaranteed.
In NASCAR, you don't stop after a hit. You keep going and even if you can get the car to stop safely, the biggest priority is to get your car off the track as much as you can while in a spin out or whatever. Unlike F1, where if someone crashes, its usually a fast action and over quickly again, in NASCAR, everyone can still plow into you and before you know it, you're travelling sideways on the ground, in the air, or in a rollever at 100Mph.

Please show me a F1 race where a racer has crashed, and begun a series of chain reactions that is seen in NASCAR.
 

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