I Hate NASCAR

Yes I said it. I know some people may accuse me of being un-American after such a statement but, am I the only one who thinks that NASCAR is now the Professional Wrestling of motorsports? I used to be a fan, but I haven't watched a full race since Dale Earnhardt Sr. died. Even back then, I had already lost most of my interest in NASCAR.

Part of it had to do with the fact that there is only so much time you can spend watching cars go around in circles. Toward the end, I just watched to see if there were any good wrecks. Once I discovered road racing and rally racing, it was all over. Then there are the cars. I'm pretty sure the word "stock" is still in the NASCAR title somewhere but those cars are anything but. Up until about the mid 90's they were based on production cars. They looked like and basically were modified street cars. I liked that, I related to that. Now they are all purpose built from scratch with some plastic body made to loosely resemble a street car on top. I guess that's why I like other forms of racing now like Touring Car, GT, LeMans, and World Rally. That and the fact that they also turn right. They all feature cars that look just like modified street cars. Cars that I can see everyday. Cars that I can actually buy. You know the phrase "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday". Now, I'm sure it was a combination of reasons that NASCAR changed from "stock" cars to purpose built. I'm sure there were safety concerns, but also the fact that Detroit was transitioning pretty much everything to Front Wheel Drive, made the decision necessary, I guess. Sad because I really dig the old NASCAR cars.

NASCAR today is such a huge business and so popular it's like a three ring circus. It's way over exposed, over hyped, over televised, and over commercialized. Most sports are. More and more, I find myself watching amateur or semi-pro racing when I can find it, between all the NASCAR broadcasts.