Comments on: What F1 can learn (and forget) about NASCAR | Comment

By: Jess

Jess — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:04:34 +0000

They do run a a couple of road races. Just thought I would throw that in. And there are quite a few drivers who have turned right in there racing career.

By: mike s.

mike s. — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:22:03 +0000

It’s not so much of the “you guys suck!” mantra, it’s the generational high-brow, elitist ways that is indicative of much of Europe (as it relates to F1), that makes F1 appear stagnant and aloof in many ways.

When F1 doesn’t have the intimacy and interaction with most of its fans–while NASCAR does–then the solution is obvious. However, given the European attitude and those in charge of F1, I wouldn’t count on much change. (By the way, I’m of European descent, so I’m not looking to disparage Europe, but rather point out the microcosm that is FI vs. NASCAR/Europe vs. America.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:11:04 +0000

Whats exactly wrong with Darrel Waltrip’s “Boogity, boogity, boogity, Let’s go Racing Boys”?

By: theRoswellite

theRoswellite — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:54:50 +0000

OK,Ok,ok……here’s a knuckleball.

Open wheel racing unifies in the US (todays news), they regain their lost American audience, plus the abandoned US/F1 fan, and use the NASCAR model to reach their audience….5 years out…they are as big as they ever were pre-split. Then…..10 years out…..they use that successful financial/fan/racing model to move off shore….filling a need for excellent open wheel racing in locations which F1 has abandoned, or doesn’t see as financially viable.

And if you think that is scary, or ludicrous……….throw in building truly dynamic, fan friendly, racing venues that capture…the imagination of the fan, along with cars that can do more than turn left…..and 25 years out you have….the end to the dominance of Formula One.

By: Pink Peril

Pink Peril — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:24:00 +0000

Seb Carter – for the last 3 years ALL the teams have done autograph sessions at the Melbourne GP. Also, if you are lucky – and persistant – you can catch the drivers as they leave the track.

But as far as I am aware, Melbourne is the only GP where the drivers are accessible like this.

By: openwheel

openwheel — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:52:18 +0000

As an American F1 fan I watched the coverage for Daytona. First off Daytona is said to be NASCAR’s greatest race of the year. It is also the first of the year. So the coverage was like it is for the American Football’s Super Bowl. The commentators even said that this is the super bowl of racing. This is why the coverage was this big. No other race is covered this big. But even when NASCAR covers a race in the middle of the season the coverage is more comfortable then ITV’s. The coverage is for the viewer they try to make you part of the show. ITV just shows the race. This difference is the way that NASCAR is percieved vs F1. NASCAR is the sport for the common man. F1 is elitist. I always felt the sparten ITV coverage was because of this elitist attitude of the sport. And the sport is elitist. The drivers are treated like rock stars. The owners like Gods and if you do not have an appointment you can not get within 500 feet of them or the pits. NASCAR is exactly the opposite. Like I said in a post on another blog. As an American I take what I can get from F1 because to me it is the best racing. I also can not see in the forseable future that we will hear any radio chatter in F1. To the powers that be we can not handle it. I feel that F1 looks down on the true fan. This sport is not for us it is for the corperations according to who runs it today. This is evident in the lack of marketing just go to the NASCAR website and travel to a team website. Look at all the gear they want to sell you. Now go to the McLaren website they will sell you last years FA hat for $20.00 I think they have a total of 10 items for sale. One NASCAR team will sell you every thing from a toothbrush to a beachtowel with your drivers logo as well as the NASCAR logo. F1 missed the marketing seminar!!! I feel that they need to get it together as this world market becomes saturated with racing deciplines.

By: Scootin159

Scootin159 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:33:38 +0000

Marc – “Unless you chose to qualify that statement (i.e. note only 2 of 36 events are held on road courses) I would suggest even you wouldn’t much care to be part of a safety crew or a driver of a disabled car would be in favor of 180mph cars conducting a “race” in three corners and have to slow for an “area caution” for one single corner. And that corner being in many cases less than a mile and 10-25 seconds away.”

I guess I should expand on that statement a bit more. I don’t mean to imply that we should have cars going 180mph past workers on track. I’ve worked as a course worker before, and understand the dangers involved there.

That said… I’ve worked as a course worker before… and I’ve seen 8 lap cautions for a plastic bag on the track. Ok, 1 lap to slow the cars down… get the bag… and you should be green by lap 3 at the latest.

Or for that matter…. it’s a plastic bag! Throw the debris flag, and be done with it.

By: John

John — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:42:58 +0000

@marc – I never said I was a fan of Ethanol, I was merely holding it up as a mirror to NASCAR’s absurdity in the area of fuel and eco-friendliness. I think Ethanol is a marketing sham also. That said, I live in the middle of a state full of corn fields, ethanol refineries, and toyota and honda plants. So who am I to judge?

By: John

John — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:38:23 +0000

It seems no one likes F1 TV coverage. I wonder if that is just fundamentally flawed by the nature of the single director/video feed for the world? This is an open ended question, but perhaps there are differences in the type of broadcasts that different countries and cultures want that require this no-frills, lowest-common-denominator video coverage that we get? It seems that the Brits here generally think the NASCAR broadcast is better, but perhaps flashier than they would want. All things considered, America and GB culture are not terribly far removed from each other when considered against the backdrop of world history. Perhaps Asian, African, South American, even continental European cultures are far enough removed that, although spicing up the broadcast would appeal to some cultures, it would have a more negative impact on total viewer appeal across the entire viewer base?

That said, I’m probably giving the FOM far too much credit, but it’s an interesting anthropological question. Regardless of whether the FOM is lazy or calculated, I think it’s safe to say no one will ever be totally happy, and the only way to get better is if FOM sells video feeds to all cameras at the race and allow local broadcasters to produce it however they want.

By: Ogami

Ogami — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:36:45 +0000

I agree with what you said keith but on the radio side, i’m kind of new to nascar but i think that nascar if first and foremost a strategic series.

I listened to radio comms on some onboard videos and the radio guy is always required to tell the pilot who is around him, if the line is “clear” etc..

In F1 i think we would need a better selection of team radio because radio comms seem more scarce.

However that would be great, i recall last year at one race a radio comm to hamilton telling him the pace needed to exit the pitlane ahead of his rival.

That would be really interesting.

On the cameras i just don’t understand why we can’t get premiere live everywhere! damn onboard cameras are so cool!

Also more telemetry is needed, last year the G-forces telemetry was shown on only two cars (heidfeld and trulli i think) and for not even one full lap.