Sayonara, Good Ol' Nascar?

The Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, June 11, 2003 | HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.

[presidio9]

Red states have their media preoccupations too, and last week it wasn't Martha Stewart or the ousting of the New York Times editorial management. It was Dodge's lawsuit against Bill Davis Racing.

The casus belli seems to have been the following: Mr. Davis, a journeyman team owner, had detailed a few of his people to help Toyota, the first Japanese entrant ever, prepare for its coming debut in Nascar's Craftsman racing series, in which race cars pretending to be pickup trucks run in circles at high speeds.

[Rodney King]

Funny. It's an interesting article about the only sport that I watch, and yet I'm realy not sure what point the author is trying to make.

[darkwing104]

and yet I'm realy not sure what point the author is trying to make

Ditto

[MJY1288]

The author doesn't know jack about NASCAR

[presidio9]

Personally, I was confused by its appearance on the Wall Street Journal's editorial page. But, since it's about NASCAR, I had no choice but to post it.

[Lysander]

...what point the author is trying to make.

Hillbillies racing around in circles want American cars for now, and Dodge wants to keep it that way?

[Zavien Doombringer]

[JohnnyZ]

Ditto

Ditto.

Though I suspect it was an excuse to use the word "jingo". Apparently there's nothing worse than someone who buys American.

[wita]

What we want, are reasons, conclusions, and answers to questions. I got none of the above.

[freedomcrusader]

The pursuit of marginal advantage through aerodynamics has already made racing not only more expensive but also more boring. Usually submissive racers like Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace have become loud in their complaints that cars can only pass each other in the pits because the increasing reliance on downforce (which is disrupted when a car pulls up close behind another) makes it impossible to pass on the track.

If it's of only marginal advantage, then why are Gordon and Wallace complaining so loudly about not being able to pass?

[JohnnyZ]

Usually submissive racers like Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace have become loud in their complaints that cars can only pass each other in the pits because the increasing reliance on downforce (which is disrupted when a car pulls up close behind another) makes it impossible to pass on the track.

This "impossible" feat happens hundreds, thousands of times every race. Seems pretty possible to me.

[thatsnotnice]

…"the UPS Ford Taurus was the best car on the track today."

Nobody has been able to say that for a while.

I’ve been a little confused about Toyota though. I saw a book once that listed a bunch of NASCAR specifications. It might have been specific to Winston Cup cars… Anyway, they literally specified Ford and Chevrolet casting numbers that were required to be stamped on the heads you used. Same for blocks. They specified everything you can imagine.

I’m wondering how they’re going to go about including Toyota. For one thing I don’t think Toyota makes a V8 that can be used. I seem to remember that at one time there was talk of a 4.7L V8 for the Land Cruiser, but I also seem to remember that it was going to be one of those 32 valve multi-overhead cam deals. I didn’t think NASCAR allowed that – just pushrod-type engines. Not that it matters. I suppose Toyota racing can make whatever they need to meet specifications.

[freedomcrusader]

This "impossible" feat happens hundreds, thousands of times every race. Seems pretty possible to me.

LOL! I agree with you, but according to the article, Gordon and Wallace do not.

[day10]

For me NASCAR went bye-bye when they gave the first check to Jesse Jackson. Haven't watched it since.

[dead]

People pay money to watch other people drive cars?

[kevkrom]

Apparently there's nothing worse than someone who buys American.

My Toyota is almost certainly more American-made than your Ford or Chevy, which have significant parts of their manufacture done in Canada and Mexico...

[JohnnyZ]

My Toyota is almost certainly more American-made than your Ford or Chevy

Mazda.

[dis.kevin]

Dodge isn't even and American company now.

[crazykatz]

I know for a fact that Toyota did a survey, nationwide, about how NASCAR fans would react to their entering AUTO races...not just the Craftsmen series.