Sports 2023 - All Things Racing Thread (Official)

[Jesus X]

That poster is dogshit.
Are the cars supposed to be roller skates?

Seems like it. The problem with it is also how childish it is compared to posters for other indy races like the long beach GP, Indianapolis,nashville, laguna seca etc. those posters are more professional like F1 posters. in my opinion this has been the worst race to watch on tv in the indy schedule.

 

[NotBanjaxo]

Good F1 race in Canada. Not a huge number of overtakes, but the decision by the FIA to only give the teams the choice of the three softest tyre compounds for the weekend kept everyone guessing over strategy.

The Mercedes seemed to suit this track really well, Russell got pole and won, Antonelli got his first podium with a 3rd. Verstappen fought hard to finish 2nd. Norris went for a gap that wasn't there and crashed into the back of his team mate a few laps from the end, that puts him 22 points behind Piastri.

If Mercedes keep developing the car well, there's still plenty of fun to be had throughout the rest of the season. This time last year, Verstappen was so far ahead it was a foregone conclusion with less than half the season gone.

 

[Hauler]

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1936585698091598128

 

[Wiggy]

Saw a trailer for this - haven't watched, so no idea if it's good.

On a related note - I do know I've seen a *lot* of people talking about how much they don't like the direction NASCAR has been going in, though.

On another related note - it would be interesting to see what happens if Tony Stewart comes back to NASCAR to field a truck team with Ram.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x3DkOXUEfQ

 

[Wiggy]

That poster is dogshit.
Are the cars supposed to be roller skates?

I like how the poster specifically caters to the urban black girl market.

Because we all know what a huge demographic that is within the Indycar fanbase. lmao

 

[Jesus X]

I like how the poster specifically caters to the urban black girl market.

Because we all know what a huge demographic that is within the Indycar fanbase. lmao

I dont even think indycar even has a single black driver. F1 just has lewis Hamilton. Actually would have made sense to pander to latinos are they have a history with all motorsports.

 

[rmenergy]

Saw a trailer for this - haven't watched, so no idea if it's good.

On a related note - I do know I've seen a *lot* of people talking about how much they don't like the direction NASCAR has been going in, though.

On another related note - it would be interesting to see what happens if Tony Stewart comes back to NASCAR to field a truck team with Ram.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x3DkOXUEfQ

Watched this the other day. Overall good show. Not sure how they still call it a "Cup" car as they pulled about 1400lbs out of it 🤣

 

[Hauler]

On a related note - I do know I've seen a *lot* of people talking about how much they don't like the direction NASCAR has been going in, though.

100%
NASCAR has a lot of problems.

They've made a lot of changes recently to try to increase fan interest throughout the year, but I don't know how successful it's been.

• Stages - they divide each race into 3 phases and award some points based on track position at that point.
• They finally added the FASTEST LAP point like F1 uses. Although the broadcasts do a shit job of bringing attention to it.
• The Playoffs - Top 16 in points and all race winners qualify. 4 rounds of racers with drivers getting eliminated along the way. It's sort of interesting - but it's also pretty dumb as it doesn't necessarily reward the best season.

None of these really address the real issues though.
It's too friendly. Too many teams. All the cars look the same.
The SC in NASCAR is "stock car". There's nothing stock about them. Cars were so much cooler back in the 70s and 80s when you could actually see the difference in the body styles. Nowadays, the only difference is the emblem.

I will say the HBO broadcast is pretty cool. You can select any driver you want and view their in-car camera and listen to the interactions between the driver and spotter. Some of those get pretty spicy.

 

[Hauler]

Watched this the other day. Overall good show. Not sure how they still call it a "Cup" car as they pulled about 1400lbs out of it 🤣

I still refer to the leagues as Winston and Busch. Haha.
Trucks are just the trucks. I pay that league zero attention.

 

[rmenergy]

I still refer to the leagues as Winston and Busch. Haha.
Trucks are just the trucks. I pay that league zero attention.

I was referring more to the fact that the car that ran the 24hr race was only a “cup” car by mistake of the body (that was changed heavily as well). 1400lbs dropped, aero changes, paddle shift transmission (that failed during the race lol), engine mods, etc…

nascar sucks on road courses. My old friends at Griggs Racing lap Infineon faster in a street legal mustang than the cup cars that race there. The track also has to open up the “baby” corners because they can’t turn well enough otherwise.

I pretty much gave up on nascar when Ford & GM petitioned to let them run modified versions of their street engines (Ford modular & GM LS). They were countered with everyone running the same engine. Fucking stupid. I’ll just watch Formula Ford with sealed crate engines if I want to watch that shit

 

[NotBanjaxo]

They finally added the FASTEST LAP point like F1 uses

You mean "used".

F1 ditched the point for fastest lap prior to the 2025 season, too many times it was just used by whoever was in the top 10 who had a good gap to the car behind in the closing stages to pit for soft tyres and grab a cheap point (only drivers in the top 10 were eligible for the extra point per the rules).

The rest of the time it was used by a team mate to a top 10 driver, to pit for fresh soft tyres late in the race, in order to deny a rival team's top 10 driver from taking the point by getting the fastest lap themselves.

It was basically a shitshow from start to finish, good riddance to the fastest lap point.

 

[NotBanjaxo]

The Playoffs - Top 16 in points and all race winners qualify

So, it doesn't matter if you absolutely dominated all season long, the guy who finished 15 places below you in the standings has an equal chance of winning the title. What bullshit.

 

[NotBanjaxo]

The SC in NASCAR is "stock car". There's nothing stock about them. Cars were so much cooler back in the 70s and 80s when you could actually see the difference in the body styles. Nowadays, the only difference is the emblem.

This is a key factor.

Once upon a time, whilst F1 and Indycar (or CART, or whatever else it has been called down the years) were race series for scratch built pure race cars, NASCAR was always some guys racing around in suped up versions of the cars Mr. Average could hope to buy from his local dealer. Moving away from that was a mistake IMO.

 

[Hauler]

I was referring more to the fact that the car that ran the 24hr race was only a “cup” car by mistake of the body (that was changed heavily as well). 1400lbs dropped, aero changes, paddle shift transmission (that failed during the race lol), engine mods, etc…

nascar sucks on road courses. My old friends at Griggs Racing lap Infineon faster in a street legal mustang than the cup cars that race there. The track also has to open up the “baby” corners because they can’t turn well enough otherwise.

I pretty much gave up on nascar when Ford & GM petitioned to let them run modified versions of their street engines (Ford modular & GM LS). They were countered with everyone running the same engine. Fucking stupid. I’ll just watch Formula Ford with sealed crate engines if I want to watch that shit

Nascar has no business on road courses. They aren't built for that - it's dumb as shit. I never watch those races.

The dirt race was even dumber. Like - laughably dumb. Next thing they'll try is Nascar on ice.

 

[Hauler]

You mean "used".

F1 ditched the point for fastest lap prior to the 2025 season, too many times it was just used by whoever was in the top 10 who had a good gap to the car behind in the closing stages to pit for soft tyres and grab a cheap point (only drivers in the top 10 were eligible for the extra point per the rules).

The rest of the time it was used by a team mate to a top 10 driver, to pit for fresh soft tyres late in the race, in order to deny a rival team's top 10 driver from taking the point by getting the fastest lap themselves.

It was basically a shitshow from start to finish, good riddance to the fastest lap point.

didn't know F1 got rid of it.

 

[Hauler]

So, it doesn't matter if you absolutely dominated all season long, the guy who finished 15 places below you in the standings has an equal chance of winning the title. What bullshit.

Logano won last year.
Kyle Larson had the best season.

Logano had 4 wins. 7 Top 5s. 14 Top 10s.
414 laps lead all year. Avg finish 17.1

Laraon had 6 wins. 15 Top 5s. 18 Top 10s.
1699 laps lead all year. Avg finish 12.9

 

[Wiggy]

I dont even think indycar even has a single black driver. F1 just has lewis Hamilton. Actually would have made sense to pander to latinos are they have a history with all motorsports.

I haven't been watching too closely the last couple-few years (used to be an IndyCar die-hard) since they stopped putting races on youtube a few years back, though I guess they're back to it this year?

I've seen some quote by I guess some black driver paraded by IndyCar social media lately about how he's driving for everybody before him and blah blah blah. Who gives a shit. The only black IndyCar driver (in any era) off the top of my head is Willie T. Ribbs.

IndyCar is honestly one of the most diverse races out there considering all the nationalities of different drivers consistently in the field.

 

[Jesus X]

I haven't been watching too closely the last couple-few years (used to be an IndyCar die-hard) since they stopped putting races on youtube a few years back, though I guess they're back to it this year?

I've seen some quote by I guess some black driver paraded by IndyCar social media lately about how he's driving for everybody before him and blah blah blah. Who gives a shit. The only black IndyCar driver (in any era) off the top of my head is Willie T. Ribbs.

IndyCar is honestly one of the most diverse races out there considering all the nationalities of different drivers consistently in the field.

Yeah youtube has the full race almost immediately I rather watch it on youtube as the live network airing is inconvenient if I have to pause the race or rewind.

 

[Wiggy]

NASCAR is a trainwreck, now. The stages & "playoff" system is dumb AF, IMO.

And as far as "stock cars" go, remember when it was all sedans? You had to have a sedan in your lineup to race. "Mustangs", "Camaros", etc were never a part of the series for decades for a reason.

If you're a non-racing car guy, you'll remember the Dodge Daytona & Plymouth Superbird from 1970. The whole reason that car exists because OEMs had to sell at least 500 units of a model for it to be allowed to be raced. This is because they were actually racing (versions of) what you were buying off the showroom floor.

If everyone is (more or less) gonna have the same chassis, engine, etc, why even have OEMs in the first place? It's basically just IROC at that point.

I'd much rather watch something like Australian V8 Supercars or something like that - at least then there's a distinction.

 

[Wiggy]

And as long as we're talking about black drivers & NASCAR - can Bubba Wallace please just go the fuck away?

Dude sucks as a driver, is always whinging about some kinda bullshit, and is now making waves about wanting the white flag to be changed because it somehow represents racism?

Fucking seriously?

In other social dipshittery - I saw that Tim Cook from Apple apparently offered Chase Elliot $200 million to drive a faggot sponsored car with some rainbow livery. He turned it down with just one sentence, saying something like "I drive cars, not causes". Good for him (don't know much about him, but was a fan of Wild Bill for years). Of course, the usual suspects are all up in arms about it.

I'm trying to picture ANY of this bullshit in the 80s NASCAR I grew up watching.

Fucking mind-bottling.

 

[rmenergy]

I'd much rather watch something like Australian V8 Supercars or something like that - at least then there's a distinction.

Took my son to the inaugural (and now defunct) American V8 Supercars event at Laguna Seca several years ago. Had a great time.

 

[Wiggy]

Took my son to the inaugural (and now defunct) American V8 Supercars event at Laguna Seca several years ago. Had a great time.

It sucks they went under.

Totally different type of racing, but my favorite event for a *long* time was Global RallyCross. I hated they didn't last.

Pastrana tried to keep something similar going with Nitro RallyCross, but coverage was wonky. Since then, it's turned into NitroCross and gone all EV...just doesn't have the same feel at all.

On that note, LEGIT lol at NASCAR if they think going EV is gonna help their viewership or popularity. You gotta be a colossal retard to jump on that train.

 

[rmenergy]

It sucks they went under.

Totally different type of racing, but my favorite event for a *long* time was Global RallyCross. I hated they didn't last.

Pastrana tried to keep something similar going with Nitro RallyCross, but coverage was wonky. Since then, it's turned into NitroCross and gone all EV...just doesn't have the same feel at all.

On that note, LEGIT lol at NASCAR if they think going EV is gonna help their viewership or popularity. You gotta be a colossal retard to jump on that train.

I don't get much of a chance to watch racing anymore. That said, I've always been a fan of AMLS, American Iron & American Iron Extreme, TransAm, Porsche Cup, Optima Street Car Challenge, Virginia City Hillclimb (Ferrari Club sponsored) & several other sports car racing series. Anything that still has an actual "trickle down" into street cars that's also, even loosely, based on production cars.

 

[rmenergy]

On that note, LEGIT lol at NASCAR if they think going EV is gonna help their viewership or popularity. You gotta be a colossal retard to jump on that train.

100% agreement here as well & needs its own separate quote for the exclamation point of agreement

 

[MacG]

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/ThhDyjvywKU?si=7-1qwgBGPHgp2aKW