After trying to watch today's Daytona 500 I have to say I think I'm done with NASCAR. In their attempt to equalize the field and make racing more interesting I think the opposite is true. 40 cars racing door to door and nose to tail at 190-200 mph is a recipe for a demolition derby not a stock car race.

Today's race had more crashes back to back than I could count. They even stopped the race around halfway to clean up the debris from one of the many "big ones". They actually had to finish the race under the lights it ran so long.

As someone who was a big fan, I can't hardly watch these crash fests. The last 20 laps of a race used to be exciting under the old rules. But now they are just frustrating with the end of the races these days being interrupted by multiple crashes.

Frustrating

Gotta agree, somewhat. About the worst 500 I've watched. When all the big names get wiped out, it's a poor situation for a biz on the decline.

Cars going in circles, with the left turn blinker on all day . Rivetting

More Maverick taking chances because they wanted to win sooo badly. More drivers taking chances, more accident.
I stopped watch the NASCAR more than a decade ago, they need to "lengthen the course and put in more hazards and taller rough, faster greens "

Funny thing, today I said to myself, " did I miss the Daytona 500?". Used to be a big event...tons of commercials leading up to it.

Now it's a non event. Amazing how it has fallen off the face of the earth.

I tried looking for it later in the and couldn't find it on tv. Even when the 6 pm news came on if was never mentioned in sports.

Between Nascar and watching grass grow, I'll take grass.

    When the big names are out of contention the audience loses interest. We see it in hoops, tennis, golf, etc.

    Daytona is to NASCAR as the US Open is to golf. Not many people who don't follow it in diehard fashion are gonna waste a Sunday afternoon watching to see if Kevin Streelman or Ricky Barnes can get over the finishline.

    And even the diehards would be struggling to stay interested in that situation.

    pellmell Between Nascar and watching grass grow, I'll take grass.

    The Nascar fans say the same thing about golf.

    Restrictor plate racing has always been the same. Most all the cars are capable of the same speed and the only thing that matters is if you can get hooked up with someone else to help with the aero drag. The plates were instituted a long time ago primarily too keep the cars out of the stands during wrecks.

    All forms of auto racing have rules for the same purpose along with an attempt to cut development costs and promote dead heat finishes. NASCAR has been the most successful in this.

    Ultimately what determines how fast a car can go is not cubic inches but cubic dollar bills. That's just the nature of professional racing. It's been the same forever in all forms of racing. The idea with the rules is to try and limit both.

    Look at what happened the last few years in Formula 1. The only uncertainty in the outcome was which Mercedes would finish first and second followed by which Ferrari or Red Bull car. The only thing that changed this was an occasional wreck or parts failure.

      ronsc1985
      All good points to which I agree. However, under those rules the end product has suffered. The last 10 laps of a NASCAR race used to be exciting as hell. Now they are frustrating as hell as they have become crash fests with multiple restarts which lead to more crashes.

      I think the issue is probably the drivers. They seem to act more like WWF wrestlers than race car drivers with the worst case being Tony Stewart. I'm sure NASCAR won't miss me but looking at their ratings and attendance numbers, I'm not alone.

        inconsistent The only places at which they use restrictor plates are Daytona, Taladega and maybe one other track. As to attendance NASCAR is down but compared do other US race series they are miles ahead. At IMSA, Indy Car etc. most of the spectators show up looking like empty seats. the only exception is the INDY 500.

        Internationally F1 does O.K. in some places but in others like Germany not so much.

        I think the overall problem is younger people spending all day every day playing with their cell phones or Ipads. How many people do you know who spend 5 minutes a year working on their cars? An even smaller group would be people who even know how to do basic maintenance or make a simple change to the factory provided hardware and/or software. The class of people who know/knew how to perform these tasks were the backbone of the continuing racing fan base. They are disappearing and replacing them is a continuing problem for all racing.

        The problem with the racing itself is way to much aero design. Once that becomes the overriding design criteria then all the cars tend to look/perform the same. It also is the primary cause of all the wrecks. When your cars ability to stick in the corners is primarily aero and not mechanical grip, close racing which disrupts the airflow, results in a lot of wrecks.

        Watch a Formula 1 race. It is almost impossible to pass anyone since getting close causes your down force to disappear. The only way they get any passing is to have a drag reduction element in the rear wings which you can open if you are within one second of the car in front of you in some straight sections of the track. In INDY car they have a limited amount of push to pass hits to the engine which adds a bit of horsepower for a short time.

        It's my opinion getting rid of the tacked on aero pieces would result in a lot better racing. The lap times would slow down but so what. The show would be a lot better with less wrecks, especially when no one is really doing anything but riding around.

        NASCAR was supposed to be stock car racing. Watch a hot Ford, Chevy or Chrysler win Sunday and go buy one Monday. Tech took over and you can't tell one car from the other. See it happening in golf with robots like Dechambeau trying to win with techno gear instead of ability.

        Let's not forget there are new rules. And a couple of these will cause wrecks where they should not happen during the race. 5 minute rule that says you have to be back on track and up to 160, within 5 minutes, or you are out. For good. No going to the pit for repairs, 5 minutes!! The other bad one is the "stages". You've got some drivers racing for the finish to those 1st two stages, and that's going to cause wrecks where they mostly never happen, which was the normal pitstop time. (the end of the "stages" are for commercials; they automatically go to yellow at those 2 points of the race)

        And, they got to get a new tire supplier.

        The USGA must have taken over NASCAR!!

        I thought one of the big attractions of US sports was the occasion of the whole thing? A whole day spent at the stadium/track/ballpark. It all sounds pretty good to me, rock up early afternoon, watch the preliminary entertainment, have a few beverages and a snack, then the main event, a few more drinks and snacks, good banter with other fans and head home.

        OK I'll grant you if its $12 a beer and $10 a hotdog it gets more expensive the longer it takes, but still, it always looks on TV like you guys really give it a go, with parking lot BBQs and so on.