why is there so much coverage of NASCAR but so little of road racing?

Question

SCCA, NASA, CHAMP CAR, FORMULA BMW, ALMS, even grand am

Answer 1

MARKETING - NASCAR has done a really good job at it since Winston came aboard in 1971. As Darrell Waltrip put it, "we have to put on a show, ....bump into each other & rub fenders". Prior to 1971 NASCAR had a following but not as strong as you see today. The IRL /CART-ChampCar split certainly hasn't helped the premier open-wheel series these past 10 years. In the 1950's & 1960's all of the attention was paid to Indy Cars, ( more properly name Championship Trail), since the Indy 500 was the GRAND DADDY of all U.S. racing attracting the BEST drivers of the day. The Indy 500 would bring in such drivers from Formula One, Sports Car, NASCAR, and even Drag Racers, Boat Racers, and Air Racers. With Today's Corporate "downsizing", many of the different name products out there are actually owned by a single Corporate 'mogul' not allowing as much money to go around. Thus they want to get the 'biggest bang for the buck', and right now NASCAR has it, leaving the other classes 'out to dry'. Plus TV broadcasting has not helped the other classes of Racing either. In order to see these other classes of racing on TV, you need at least Cable, and Time Warner does not broadcast SPEED on their basic Cable line up. At the same time, NASCAR 'swamps' their TV broadcasts on National Broadcast stations keeping them on the forefront of other classes on Auto Racing events. As for me, I love ALL types of Motor Sports, each have their own personality, afterall, there IS other forms of Auto Racing besides NASCAR. Go out and enjoy it Folks!

Answer 2

There are many factors. In it's present format, NASCAR is very close to being a spec series. When you have that on an oval you wind up with a format that will result in large packs travelling at high speeds where passing normally requires manuerving up higher up towards the wall and creates a good chance each time for either a bump, or a spectacular replay worthy crash. Most road racing - be it ALMS or F1 or whatever, tends to have increasing seperation of cars as the race unfolds, with passing being the result of setup that carries out turn after turn in a move/counter-move exchange that may never actually result in a pass.

Now, while there is a simple way of saying that the former appeals to some baser instincts than the later. I think the end result may be a little more complicated. NASCAR does great marketing. But the real payoff is the combination - what you see in the ads is a good chance of what you'll see in any given race. There will be bumping and lots of passing and probably a couple lead changes in the closing laps!

The marketing for Le Mans could look very much the same... but even if you watched all 24 hours of the race, you would probably sit for hours at a time while cars merely paced each other waiting for a chance to sprint it out at the right moment... or ads for F1 can look positively stunning. But unless you happen to catch that ONE race in a year that is easily accessible to the non-hardcore fan, you will leave feeling a little at a loss.

Stock car racing also is very much an American sport, while road racing has much more of a European soul... add that feeling to the format and the marketing and you wind up with one having great success in the US on major networks. The other, not so much.

Answer 3

I'm afraid NASCAR's immense size of their organization over shadows any other type of racing these days. Consider all the sponsors, high roller, owners, drivers and all the diversified venues they operate in. Personally, I live only a few miles from Watkins Glen NY.. Through the years have seen some very interesting racing there. Only for the fans it was too bad that formula 1 left. Their greedy demands were too much for the county, investors, attorneys to begin to see over the fence as far as dollars and cents go. Then Formula 1 came to town their fans spent money like it was going out of style. Recently The Indy Racing League started racing at The Glen. The past two years they were here they had miserable weather and the crowd was disappointing. To answer your question directly: The interest and following just is not there as it once was. Nnowadays Watkins has some kind of racing every week. No large amount of people attend, only family's involved and a few fans. Who in their right mind would sponsor racing of that type? It takes cubic dollars to even sponsor the payoff let alone the insurance for the facility, electricity sewage, cleanup, maintenance, upkeep of the facility. The associations you have listed above are required to round enough spensor money to PAY major networks to broadcast the race itself. It takes years and years of hard work and planning to pull the rabbit out of the hat.

Answer 4

Because yanks are jingoists. They would rather watch a bunch of second-rate yank drivers race each other in tin cans than see first-rate drivers in the best cars. Any series in which duct tape is a factor in winning is not worth watching.

Along with the series you mentioned, don't forget the excellent developmental series like Champ Car Atlantics and Star-Mazda.

The amazing thing about NASCRASH is that when they _do_ race on the only two road courses in their series, Watkins' Glen and Sears Point, they produce great races, year after year. If they had any brains, they would put more races on the great US road courses:
- Road America
- Road Atlanta
- Mid Ohio
- Daytona's Rolex 24 road course (why race the oval twice?)
- Homestead Florida (the 2.1mile track on the oval's infield)
- Lime Rock
Among many others.

The "race" at Montreal will be a disaster; it's four straights, four chicanes and two hairpins. It will take NASCRASH cars almost two minutes to do a lap versus 1:13 and 1:19 for F1 and Champ Cars. They should have put the race as Mosport with its sweeping mid-speed corners.


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Answer 5

You have to watch out for it, NASCAR is big so it gets broadcasted all the time. This year on SPEED there will be some MX-5 Cup, The 24 Hour races go all night, and they are begining to show more ALMS and LMS. SCCA is big around the 12 Hours of Sebring time and the Runoffs, which are around the end of the year, but they have re-runs too. Just look out for everything.

Answer 6

Apparently its where all the money currently is..sponsors spending big bucks....NASCAR is everywhere...too many shows....getting to be like WWF.....pretty soon the France Family will say who is going to win and vice versa...The car of tomorrow makes me think IROC gone big time...
Champ and IRL will need to merge in order for them to stay alive. Where is their program to bring up American drivers?

SCCA is lacking manufacturers support. I got tired of the sport when Gentilozzi and Kendall were doing all the winning.

Depending on whether you have cable or satelite....there are road races shown but at odd hours of the day due to time change..same for formula 1

Answer 7

Honestly..if you think about it...how many FANS can you gather up that WILL beat the NASCAR"S FANS???...exactly.
Still...the Formula 1, LeMans Racing, and the rest that you have mentioned here..are Highly Up-Scaled races (*In other words..CARS!!!lol) that MOST of NASCAR drivers can't possibly handle!...Honestly, as "Ferrari Girl" (Truly, FERRARI GIRL) I will say that "Drivers" have to OFFER so much to these leagues, that NASCAR drivers can't possibly offer, THESE drivers are TOO good, to even talk about, TOO great, to even dream of....I know-I know I am like so over-exaggerating right now!!! BUT it's the truth, little man!....RACERS who dream of these leagues (*As you put them "Road Races"*) CAN ONLY FEEL CLOSER to them by "Selecting" the "closest" League: NASCAR
Are you with me yet?....Like for example: I Dream of one day becoming the FIRST "LeMans" GIRL driver...so if I am behind "NASCAR" wheels..I WILL IMAGINE myself racing for "Le Mans"....get it now?...so which is why you see MORE drivers for NASCAR...who really are GOOD....get MORE coverage than the high up-scalerz...lol...sad...cool...true...awesome *wink*
Anyways...some DO dream of being part of NASCAR...oh and EUROPEAN DRIVERS DONT LIKE TO COME OUT ON "TV FOR THE U.S"...seriously...unless their "assistants" have made a "Deal" with some "americans'....lol

Honestly
*FERRARI GIRL*

Answer 8

Because you live in the U.S., son! Soccer and F1 are the worlds biggest sports, but the US Market wants almost nothing to do with it. It's one of the reasons why we are laughed at by so many other countries. We are not a global country, we only look internally. Hence Football and NASCAR. We are the only country that really gets these sports. Your just gonna have to live with it, or go live somewhere else. It sucks, I know, but that's just the way it is!

Answer 9

Wow!!!! you must not watch your TV much. I think there is plenty of Coverage for road racing. Maybe it's just because NASCAR has more money in it than any other. It probably has the most media hype to it which is probably what your seeing.

Answer 10

NASCAR is a huge money making sport. More Fortune 500 companies sponsor Nascar than anyother professional sport. Millions love it and you can find it all over - on tv, radio - both satellite and traditional, magazines. People who say its white trash and redneck show their ignorance because if it were than no Fortune 500 companies would be involved.