They sucked me back in

[Benevolent One]

For the first time in a few years NASCAR has pulled me back in. I am actually pretty excited to watch the races this year. I probably watched 50 laps or so the entire season last year. I still can't muster up the excitement to watch a plate "race" to start the season, but I am looking forward to the following week.

They've said they are going to put the racing back in the drivers' hands where it should have been all along. I also just miss it. I may be disappointed because what I really miss is the racing from a few years ago. But, I am willing to give it a shot. I miss a lot of the older tracks and I've never really liked a lot of the newer tracks. But, I've accepted that NASCAR has left much of it's history and it's long time fans behind. I'm not going to let them take the sport that I've enjoyed since Richard Petty was still the man to beat from me.

 

[buckaroo]

Hang in there man. I know what you mean as I've been one of those from the past as well. But even though I've had my gripes about the sport, I've learned to grow with it, even though I don't like where it is going. Call me a die hard, but I just have never been able to pull myself away from the big time racing, even when it is as boring as watching grass grow. I don't think the sport will ever be what it was the drew me in, and the many who came into the sport, even in the 90's. I really believe that the heyday of the sport, not that it was the best, was the 80's and I give all the credit to ESPN for bringing it to the public. Until then, the biggest racing series in the US was USAC and later CART, and that was where all the emphasis was put. The Indy 500 was the catalyst for the popularity of racing. However, after 1985, and especially when Bill Elliott took the sport by storm, more and more people graduated to NASCAR and the rest is history. I know more old time fans who "came" to the sport in the 80's than any other decade. But those days in the 70's with the Kind Petty, DW and the beginning of Ironhead were the basis of the huge fan base of those three.

 

[TexasRaceLady]

It's not the NASCAR that I knew "back when", but I can't do without my cars going fast.

Since it's the only game in town, I may moan and groan, but I watch.

 

[GREAT AMERICAN RACE FAN]

Good post, as I have said the same thing. I am still suffering from a NASCAR hangover from last year. I always get excited about Daytona, but as of late since we left the "Sandhills of N.C. for the boring desert of Cali after Daytona, I loose interest really quick. It still draws me back, but not like the addiction I had over NASCAR in the late eighties and nineties.