NASCAR considering European races
- Thread starter dpkimmel2001
- Start date
FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
Until France gets involved and demands overhead cam engines be mandated.
They tried Japan and that worked out eh.
Charlie Spencer
Road courses and short tracks.
Yeah, and the NFL insists on wasting a game in England every season. Nobody shows up but servicemen and expatriate Yanks, and this will be the same.
Matthew2470
It's not that serious
It might be good for the manufacturers. But it might be tricky to get all of the top drivers to show up.
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
Worked out fine until they went to Motegi, which is out in the middle of nowhere. That didn't work out for open wheel racing either.
Working out quite well with over 80,000 in attendance. And now, the same team (my beloved Jacksonville Jaguars) will essentially be a home team for London playing as the home team at Wembley every year. And since Jacksonville plays traditional football, by kicking field goals and punting instead of scoring touchdowns, it'll work out quite well.
wilson89
Team Owner
Why don't they make a European series. They have Cascar for Canada and the Nascar Toyota Series for Mexico, so why not Europe as well?
HoneyBadger
I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
They have a European series. Doesn't mean NASCAR can't run a race there. The Nationwide Series has two weeks off in October -- on top of the fact that most of their schedule is filled with companion events they can't actually sell 100 tickets to. The Truck Series also doesn't have a problem taking three weeks and two months off at a time. And their schedule is also nothing more than support races they don't actually sell tickets to.
M
MOEJOE
Guest
NASCAR gona pay to send the trucks or cars to europe?
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
A great many of the sponsors like Shell and MacDonalds , as well as the manufacturers, are international. I'm sure they would be happy to pay for the exposure . An exhibition race like this could be optional and could replace one of the other needless exhibition races in the US.
Thegroundpounder99
Bull in a China Shop
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"Needless"
We get two races a year that are no points. The Sprint Unlimited at Daytona and the All Star race. I say they can have all the dates they want in December and January as year round racing would be okay with me.
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
Exhibition races are exhibition races. What difference does it make where they are run? Unless you plan to attend , you can still watch them on TV.Not all the cars get in them anyway and there are no points involved so it's not like a real race."Needless"
FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
Who?People like to go to them or watch them live.
Tennessee Racing
Formerly Stewart Fan
I say go for it. What's the worst that could happen?
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
Montoya could hit a jet dryer ? Naw.
Tennessee Racing
Formerly Stewart Fan
Juan will have trouble topping that this year. He's gotta come up with something bigger. Maybe he could rear end the pace car this year?
Matthew2470
It's not that serious
The manufacturers may foot some of the bill. I'm sure Chevy would enjoy a big marketing extravaganza featuring their photogenic Chevy drivers.
FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
Todays challenge word is 'extravaganza'. Good luck to everyone.
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
Chevy has photogenic drivers?I haven't seen any in Playboy.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
This."Needless"
They're not moving the current non-points races anywhere. The first of those will always be held in Daytona as part of Speedweeks. The second will never be moved from Charlotte as long as the HOF and race shops are there. Too much money to be lost to move that out of that area. The off season is the only likely scenario as that makes the most sense.
FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
Here's another golden idea from the brain of FenderBumper. Change to 30 point races per season and 6 big money exhibition races at tracks that aren't on the point schedule. NASCAR could test new car and format ideas while actually growing the sport to new regions.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
Keep them in this country and throw out the dang Chase and I'm on board.
Tennessee Racing
Formerly Stewart Fan
Why do they have to stay in this country only?
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
As a fan that likes to attend races..... If you take 6 of our races away, which was what I was responding to, and send them out of the country you are in turn taking them away from the fans that frequent those venues. One of them could be a race that I attend and personally I wouldn't like that. If they had to be moved to different venues, move them somewhere within the confines of our soil to allow for other fans that may not otherwise get a chance to see a race an opportunity. Save the non-point, overseas, exhibition races for the off season. No loss to the US fan but perhaps a gain for the overseas fan.
Zerkfitting
Team Owner
I don't think Europeans like oval racing, road racing is the norm. From a spectator point of view seeing one corner in a road race is a much different experience than seeing the whole race at an oval. If they try it they might like but it will probably be hard to get them in the stands. Do they have many ovals in Europe?
I had a conversation with a European about pace cars when F1 first started using them. The F1 pace car wasn't picking up the leader and some cars got an advantage because of it (don't know if they fixed that). I explained how the pace car worked here and he saw the light - my public service to racing.
I had a conversation with a European about pace cars when F1 first started using them. The F1 pace car wasn't picking up the leader and some cars got an advantage because of it (don't know if they fixed that). I explained how the pace car worked here and he saw the light - my public service to racing.
B
BiffleRules
Guest
This idea will probably die as fast as racing in Japan did and for the same reasons. It's too expensive for some of these teams to get all their stuff out of the country.
MRM
Team Owner
Apparently they have forgotten how well exhibition races worked in Japan and NNS races worked in Mexico.
With 36 races on the schedule, 2 weekends of exhibition races in the U.S., and a few off weeks, when would they find time to run these races so teams could have time to prep cars, ship them over there, etc.? The European weather in December and January is worse than most of the U.S.
With 36 races on the schedule, 2 weekends of exhibition races in the U.S., and a few off weeks, when would they find time to run these races so teams could have time to prep cars, ship them over there, etc.? The European weather in December and January is worse than most of the U.S.
Matthew2470
It's not that serious
Jingoism?
G
GrizzlyBearBob
Guest
I agree!
Bucky Badger
Go Kyle Go
I'm in with KEEP THEM IN THE US, Keep AMERICAN jobs going.
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
Charlie Spencer
Road courses and short tracks.
Mostly because travelling outside North America would be prohibitively expensive. On the other hand, the 'Start and Park' teams probably wouldn't make the trip.
Speaking as a fan who has had three races taken away (two at Rockingham, one at Darlington), I can tell you that it doesn't make a damn bit of difference where those spots on the schedule wind up. Those dates went to Kansas, Texas, and California, if I recall correctly. The exact tracks don't matter, and it wouldn't have mattered if they'd gone to Canada, Europe, or Japan. All are equally inconvenient, equally unaffordable to a race fan in South Carolina. Why do I care where the fans who benefit from those relocated dates are located?
DP, you're in PA. Tell me, what if Pocono, Watkins Glen, or Michigan were moved to Iowa, Austin, or some pipe dream track in Washington? Those are in the US, but so what? Are you any more likely to go to those places than England or Germany?
For all you or I know, the economic impact generated from shipping the cars overseas may be larger than all those temporary jobs generated at a US track on a weekend. Many of the concession 'jobs' on a race weekend are charity gigs, raising money for non-profits. And who here hasn't bitched about how hotels near tracks jack the rates up? Those are American jobs we'd gladly see suffer some economic damage if it benefited us as race-attending fans.
Don't get me wrong; I think this is a silly idea simply because of the scheduling and logistics. No track is willing to give up a Cup event to any other track, even to one in the same parent company, even an exhibition event. The Truck and N'wide schedules change more frequently, but is traveling to Europe worth the trouble to these teams? At least they could drive the haulers to Mexico. Still, the IRL somehow affords to travel to Brazil these last few years, and traveled to Japan before that.
If NASCAR wants to raise its international profile, it should encourage teams to compete in the series that already exist outside the US, or start series more in line with what the local fans want to see. Otherwise, it's like those who've been trying unsuccessful for years to build a market for soccer in the US.
dpkimmel2001
Team Owner
I think that you missed my point entirely. My comments were based on Fender's idea of removing 6 races from the schedule and making them into exhibition race testing sessions.
As far as moving races out of the country, I would rather see them moved to Iowa, Austin or Washington as to give fans in the US an opportunity to see some Cup racing that might otherwise not have the chance. That was my point. There is nothing to gain for the sport by holding races overseas other than money in peoples pockets associated with the sport.
Even though I live in western PA and have been to all of those tracks you mentioned, I don't frequent them but my answer would be yes. I'd be much more likely to go to a race anywhere in the lower 48 before I'd ever jump on a plane to Europe.
Charlie Spencer
Road courses and short tracks.
More power to ya, brother.
And now we've reached the heart of the matter.
Matthew2470
It's not that serious
Selling more American cars and American products overseas could be a good thing for thousands and thousands of American workers.
Not wanting it to happen simply because you may not wish to or be able to travel to the race is taking an extremely narrow view
And how freakin awesome would it be to plan a European vacation and be able to see a race while there?
But none of this will happen. We'll race in the same tracks forever because NASCAR is too afraid to drop races from certain tracks.
Not wanting it to happen simply because you may not wish to or be able to travel to the race is taking an extremely narrow view
And how freakin awesome would it be to plan a European vacation and be able to see a race while there?
But none of this will happen. We'll race in the same tracks forever because NASCAR is too afraid to drop races from certain tracks.
ted@economy
in the interest of equal time
I also applaud any effort that might attract more sponsors to the series . These days teams need international companies to come to the table ,as the local southeastern USA brands are not able to come up with the big bucks .Look at the names on the F1 cars , Nascar needs some of those companies to get involved.
R
robbybee
Guest
True!
But again we venture into the question of, "What is an American product?" The new Chevy SS is built in Australia. The Dodge Charger (RIP) and the Chevy Impala (RIP) were built in Canada. And the FORD Fusion was built in Mexico.
The ONLY CUP Car to be "assembled" in America is/was the Camry. The 2013 FORD Fusion is currently being assembled in Michigan AND also in Mexico.
A better idea might be to develop an oval series in Europe and have various NASCAR drivers participate from time to time, as WILSON 89 said earlier. It does not seem to make financial sense to ship cars and equipment to Europe for an exhibition race.
And the Champ Car Series (RIP) raced every year at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast of Australia in adition to Japan and Brazil.
I remember NASCAR drivers going to Australia many moons ago and competing with the locals at a track referred to as Thunderdome as well as some other facilities. They ran in already-existing cars. That was actually pretty cool, too!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR_in_Australia