Comments on: Ingram: NASCAR and F1 Joined At Hip?

By: sayak

sayak — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:58:31 +0000

I am an avid fan of formula 1. i believe the problem with F1 is the lack of overtaking and the point scoring systems. Also the tracks are no longer challenging. Tracks like Monaco add only glamour, there literally is no overtaking. May be oval tracks could help. Also something should be done with the fact that only two or three teams dominate a particular season for example adding weights..One way to add excitement is to have more close races..

By: CC Gonzalez

CC Gonzalez — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:23:07 +0000

F1 has increased its TV viewers every year since the dip in 2000.
In Spain 2006 for example, 8 of the top ten programmes shown on TV were F1 races, beating soaps and blockbuster movies. Also every F1 session is live on BBC TV in the UK, with even Friday morning practice gaining more viewers than the BBC’s regular output.

Admittedly things can turn around just as quick, but while F.A cup soccer and athletics (Beijing Olympics) shed viewers, F1 is the only sport to have an increase year on year … So far ;)

As for overtaking, it seems people would rather see great overtaking, difficult overtaking, daring overtaking, rather than lots of overtaking, because if viewers really wanted lots of overtaking then why isn’t GP2, F2 etc the most popular form of motorsport?

By: Steven Schaefer

Steven Schaefer — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 06:42:56 +0000

You say that nascar now has the COT to even the playing field and add to that, the Chase, to give everyone a better chance at winning the championship and yet they have a driver/owner dominating and winning not only 4 consecutive championships (for the first time in the history of nascar) but said owner finished 1-2-3 in the standings for a first! As a nascar fan for 40 years I am through. During that 40 years I have also been a crew member up to driver and owner of local race teams and I have been part of many championship teams so I understand what it takes to win and even at the lower levels nascar has their hands in it taking money for the prestige of running under their name but they put very little back. I have given up my tickets to cup tracks as I have better use for my hard earned money than give it to the Frances.

The Frances (under the ISC brand) and DEI & (I believe) RCR have sued GM for failure to meet their contracts following bankruptcy protection while we the tax payers bailed out GM, so they are sueing us! But somehow, Hendrick didn’t sue which I will give them credit for unless that means they still got what GM had promised while the others did not.

just my 2 cents.

Steve

Good luck nascar

By: glenn

glenn — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:59:30 +0000

FIA and NASCAR lost a number of very popular stars over the years while continuing to build their fan base so it is not clear that the too dangerous argument holds up. As you say later, “Fans used to be able to witness drivers literally cheat death, which gave these sports a macabre glamor. As much as one would like to hope otherwise, the increase in safety may also have had its effect on ticket sales.”

This is more of a factor than most people want to deal with. Auto racing is an inherently dangerous activity, as is mountain climbing, bullfighting, skydiving, etc. I am personally grateful that cars can withstand brutal impacts without death or serious injury to drivers in most cases, in both forms of racing. But the devil-may-care, hard charging drivers of the past had an allure that is just not there any more. As a society, we have become afraid of everything. How many people rode bicycles without helmets in the past? Everyone, until a couple of decades ago.

For both series, cut the horsepower and cut the downforce abilities of the cars. Let the drivers be the dominant force in racing, not the engineers.

By: mcgrady

mcgrady — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:00:26 +0000

See custom written papers. NASCAR is not a model for the future of F1. But each has plenty it can learn from the other. I am an unashamed Formula One fan and while I criticise its flaws I can still enjoy it for what it is.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:54:46 +0000

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