F1 drivers go to NASCAR for the Money and its the holy grail of racing? AHAHAHA yeah right...?

Question

I was reading some replys to the question about villeneuve going to NASCAR and i saw some ridiculous statements like "NASCAR has a bigger fanbase", "he knows he can make more money in NASCAR" and "NASCAR is the holy grail of racing"...

No its not and is in fact very far away from it. NASCAR may currently be the holy grail of American race series but it ranks well below F1 around the rest of the world.

The indy 500 still ranks far above the Daytona 500 in terms of history and prestige and if you asked most people which they would prefer win they would say indy despite its dramatic decline. Monaco GP is without doubt the crown jewel of racing.

F1 drivers earn a lot more money than your average NASCAR driver(not that that is a 100% measure of talent). The sponsership deals are far more lucrative.

the only F1 drivers that are going to NASCAR are ones that have no other option and yes it is bigger and richer than most other motorsports but not F1, not even close.

Why do you think vodafone give McLaren $70 million A YEAR just to get there name on the car? And why do you think Mercedes, BMW, Renault, Toyota ($700million a year), Honda etc spend so much money on it?

And yes i know most people here will say F1 sucks anyway but get your facts right. It doesnt even come close to F1 in popularity. F1 only ranks below the world cup(soccer) in terms of viewership around the world.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=nascar%2C+F1

Ah yes my old problem of just going on a rant and forgetting the question...

What i meant to ask was:

What on earth beyond ignorence to the outside world makes people here think NASCAR is the biggest/richest motorsport in the world?

Big Rick: Since when am i a troll? I often make very valid points here and answer questions on NASCAR all the time in an unbiased fashion. Ive a number of best answers here as a matter of fact. And i like NASCAR.

You must be a retard. Sorry about that.

Dont get me wrong im not saying you should prefer F1, thats completely your choice but im just pointing out how some people here think NASCAR is a bigger sport when clearly its not.

Answer 1

You may be right about the bigger and richer, but the history and prestige is merely your opinion. Fact is, in America (were the majority of the people on this forum are) NASCAR outranks F1. Same with American football compared to soccer or european football! These are our sports and to us they are rich in history and prestige and we could care less about what you or the rest of the world thinks!

Answer 2

Why are you comparing "open wheel" racing to "stock car" racing? Its like comparing an apple to an orange. As I recall in regards to the Daytona and Indianapolis 500's, the Daytona 500 has caught up to the Indy 500. Also the Indy 500 is not on the F1 schedule and has not been since 1996. So you cannot really bring up that argument in your rant about which race is the most popular.

In F1 they only have 12 teams that compete for the year whereas Nascar has at least 43 teams that compete.

Nascar really did not start to become "super" popular until the late 90's/early 2000's.

Besides if F1 and all open wheeled racing is so popular then why is it that those some racers are wanting to jump over to Nascar? Take the money factor out if it and your argument is moot.

Answer 3

Everything you say here may or may not be true. The trouble I have is: what exactly is the question?

Edit: Ah. There's the question now. :)

Your answer: Most people don't know about more than NASCAR, especially here in the U.S. The main reason for that is coverage. NASCAR is on multiple channels (Fox, ESPN, TNT, ABC, Speed) throughout the year and F1 coverage is very hard to find. Also, with no races here (because the race at Indy is going away if I remember right), there's less reason for people here to follow it or get attached to it. As a result, people here don't relate to it as much.

Answer 4

I'll give you this mac, you research your arguments very well and back them up. You are well spoken and I do find many things you say to be intelligent and interesting. Out of curiosity I am just wondering what your agenda is. Are you trying to "convert" us, demean us or are you just trying to make yourself out to be the supreme knower of all things racing? Anyway, your cause would be better recieved in the F1 or general auto racing forums of Y/A. Your like a pesky Jehovah's Witness that just won't take no for an answer and leave us alone. Whatever you're peddling, can you please take it somewhere else? F1 is awesome if you really like rampant cheating, huge discrepencies in the quality of teams and lack of overall competitiveness in an already small field. It's also great if you like qualifying, because that is the most exciting part of a race weekend's events. I actually DO try to watch F1 qualifying and I have tried to warm up to it but somehow the lack of passes and smug supporters like you sort of wreck it for me. You all want to be THE exclusive motorsport club (F1 fans) where we (NASCAR fans) just want to watch people we can relate to drive something that somewhat resembles what we ourselves drive. The things you are arguing about is someone else's opinion. They might not have the same view as you but why do you feel the need to ALWAYS be right, as if YOUR opinion is the only one that counts?

Answer 5

Yeah, so Michael Schumacher made $60 mil a year and teams spend $300 mil a year. What's your point? Don't come to NASCAR boards and try to put down the series or the fans. I love F1 and I like NASCAR, but people like you make F1 and its fans look like snobs. Go away.

Answer 6

F1 is big money and has lots of fans outside the U.S., but let's face it, the racing sucks (no passing) and here its not big at all. The cars are marvels of technology, but that alone doesn't make it a great series. Besides that, Ecclestine has tried his best to keep it screwed up and rape money out of it so it continues to decline not improve.

Answer 7

the answer to your question is best stated by the guy above me there are race fans like my self, we watch f1, cart, irl, alms, nhra, wrc, dtm, we stay up till our eyes cant stay open to watch the 24 hours of le mans, and daytona, we love racing and we watch nascar too, there is a difference between fans like us and a nascar fan, a nascar fan only watches nascar, they dont care about technology and performance, they like crumpled fenders and 13 car Pile ups, which is fine, no one said they cant, but it looks bad on the rest of nascar fans when they make statement like "he needs to learn to drive on an oval" or "just cause you won a road race in a nascar doesn't mean hes any good"

but you are wrong, jpm and jaques have many opprotunaties to race, juan pablo could race just about anywhere he likes, but if your not in f1 nascar does offer the next biggest paycheck, and as far as competition goes nascar does offer the better tallent level series wide than anything else in america

Answer 8

I would be surprised if F1 makes it another 10 years. F1 is just follow the leader. NASCAR is a far more exiting racing series.

Answer 9

Nascar has become the place to go when you get kicked out of or can't be competitive in the other top racing series. Anyone with a heart beat can go out in a Busch car or truck and ride around for a few dollars each week. Villeneuve should stick to sportscar racing. He could still have a good career doing that and appears to be pretty good at it.

Answer 10

Who really cares, I live in the US. F1 has what maybe 1-2 races on this continent? Why would a pay attention to races that take place in Europe or Asia.