NASCAR Fights: Good or Bad?

[Borbor]

When your sponsor calls and says how come they're not getting any airtime in the past few races, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep the coin rolling in

 

[Yapci]

Boring racing + false fights to win audience. What a shame.

At least F1 is classy, and motoGP got clean "verbal fights" and race "fights".

That's what it should be about, talking in the field. Pushing the limits in the racetrack not out of it.

 

[Sky]

i think the odd fight is better than having an entire field full of bland, corporate robots.

 

[Dan Allen]

Mixture of testosterone and adrenaline is not easily controlled when the red mist makes an appearance.
It shouldn't happen from a professional in any sport but unfortunately we're now seeing more and more of it from all walks of life and in many situations.

Agreed, although this doesn't necessarily make it right. As people have said before, these guys are role models and the fact that these guys are fighting sends a bad message to most people watching.

 

[John Addison]

Ty and Regan...lol thats like 2 girls fighting. Now give me a Jimmy Spencer and one of the Burton boys and we gotta a donny brook....

 

[Nelson Ullinskey]

Hell no. This is racing, and if you want to express yourself or make a point, wonderful, you don't need to strike a fellow competitor though. I race karts nearly every weekend, and I've had my fair share of intense emotion, but I never punched let alone yelled at anyone. Physical combat fixes absolutely nothing.

But enough about me, this is about NASCAR. This and quite a few other things are why I don't care for it any more. When I turn on the TV to watch a race or go to the track, I go to see on track action, not this stupid fighting.

 

[Birddogg66]

Not good the fight like a bunch of little girls I WANT BLOOD!!!!

Anyway if drivers choose to fight and end up getting their I's dotted and end up with blurry vision for the next race that's on them now ain't it?

 

[Andy_J]

Physical combat fixes absolutely nothing.

Gotta disagree with that totally.

(but then I would, I was in the Military for 23 years)

 

[Michael Watts]

I can tell you guys didn't even see the "Tussle". You're commenting on someone else's opinion of what happened. There wasn't even a punch thrown. It's not bad-sportsmanship to let a guy know that ruining your race and possibly Championship because of a "Bonehead" move is Not Cool. I think Reagan Smith got his point across. Ty Dillon is the Nico Rosberg of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, if I can relate to terms you European guys can understand, he is the son of a Wealthy Car-owner and had landed one of the better racing seats in Xfinity series. He's not as good as his older brother, Austin Dillon (in terms of finishes or overall stats) yet he makes moves on the track like he's Dale Earnhardt, or at the very least his older brother and can't back them up. Once you understand what's at stake here I think you would have found yourself in a very similar situation. Its very easy to sit back and comment on something you know nothing about and cast judgment on a "Redneck" sport.

I wasn't going to go here but.......F1 is not near as exciting to me, aside from Qualifying (which in most cases how the race finishes). You have what...3-4 guys that can win a race . In NASCAR you have 10-15 guys a race that could win, and every now and then you have a small team (like Manor Racing) actually score a win. Maybe F1 guys don't care enough about their racing to see red when wronged. Their sponsors are attached to them, and their marketability. Plus it seems F1 guys know their place and are content to finish at the back half of the field unless they're in a top tier team. That's sad really.. I've only been watching F1 for 6 years now so maybe I'm missing something. I like to see the passion Hamilton possesses when he's racing or having a bad race that is the true grittiness of the sport!

 

[Birddogg66]

I can tell you guys didn't even see the "Tussle". You're commenting on someone else's opinion of what happened. There wasn't even a punch thrown. It's not bad-sportsmanship to let a guy know that ruining your race and possibly Championship because of a "Bonehead" move is Not Cool. I think Reagan Smith got his point across. Ty Dillon is the Nico Rosberg of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, if I can relate to terms you European guys can understand, he is the son of a Wealthy Car-owner and had landed one of the better racing seats in Xfinity series. He's not as good as his older brother, Austin Dillon (in terms of finishes or overall stats) yet he makes moves on the track like he's Dale Earnhardt, or at the very least his older brother and can't back them up. Once you understand what's at stake here I think you would have found yourself in a very similar situation. Its very easy to sit back and comment on something you know nothing about and cast judgment on a "Redneck" sport.

I wasn't going to go here but.......F1 is not near as exciting to me, aside from Qualifying (which in most cases how the race finishes). You have what...3-4 guys that can win a race . In NASCAR you have 10-15 guys a race that could win, and every now and then you have a small team (like Manor Racing) actually score a win. Maybe F1 guys don't care enough about their racing to see red when wronged. Their sponsors are attached to them, and their marketability. Plus it seems F1 guys know their place and are content to finish at the back half of the field unless they're in a top tier team. That's sad really.. I've only been watching F1 for 6 years now so maybe I'm missing something. I like to see the passion Hamilton possesses when he's racing or having a bad race that is the true grittiness of the sport!

He's the Grandson of a Race Team Owner and feels entitled.

 

[JokkerHD]

I would fight too if someone got in the way of my paycheck

 

[Chris]

I'm not entirely opposed to the fighting, I just don't like the way NASCAR actively promotes it as something great about the sport. You see whenever there's a fight, there's always several TV crew and photographers trying to get in on it.

 

[Kurei]

Good or Bad ?
... Both
Good Entertainment
Bad camera-work though

 

[Will Mazeo]

If it's natural is kinda "ok"... not in a sense that should be permited at all, but we are humans...
However after watching 2 full seasons of NASCAR I gave up of it because they clearly do what is possible to have this stuff happening. Their rules are all focused to make this, they really manipulate everything there.
The sad part is that they did a huge damage to racing in the US, most people there can't watch a pure race anymore, if you just let the race happens they'll complain. It's ridiculous that NASCAR fans will complain on a race ending under yellow or if a driver defends...

 

[Diehl]

I know you can become angry during a race, but I just can't agree that you go and hit (sorry, I did not found other better word in my little vocabulary) another driver.

I think when you go to a racetrack everyone is there for racing, not for fighting.

If you are angry, go to your motorhome and break some stuff, do not fight with one of your coworkers (really don't know if this expression have the same meaning that it has in portuguese).

 

[Sk3ptik0n]

I remember racing my own kart and the atmosphere was kind of horrible. The parents more than the drivers with bad sportsmanship. I got dragged into one of the teams tent after I was taken out on the straight and me and that kid were at the receiving end of a ten minute long rant about it, even though I didn't belong to that team and I wasn't at fault

I've also had a case where we believe that someone had put dirt into our carburettor so It wouldn't work properly.

These fights are setting bad examples to parents and kids karting. If it acceptable in NASCAR, then people will think bad sportsmanship is fine

Reminds me when I was playing under 16 tennis tournaments at the national level and at least in the first few matches we had to self umpire our games. Except that I usually went to play without an entourage, but many of my opponents showed up with parents, grandparents, other family members.

I'll never forget arguing with somebody's grandmother about a serve that was clearly out (we played on red clay so it was easy to see) and yet she decided to umpire her grandson match. I was effectively playing a single match against a double's team.
We spent more time arguing line calls that playing. All my shots had to be at least a foot in not to be called out and his shots had to be out by a mile or grandma would call them in. Finally I had to go to one of the officials and request a real umpire.
I don't even remember if I won or lost, but I remember the venom and the unfairness.

 

[Rob]

Then again...if you look to the u.s. Audience......might be getting eaten up, they likely love it

Well I always thought that Nascar was a bit Neanderthal

Of course you do Mikaela. All good intelligent elitists do. After all, Americans are just a bunch of knuckle dragging morons compared to the enlightened classes of old Europe. We owe everything good and creative to you anyway, right? We are the dogs on the chains that you call when you can't get your own selves out of an imperialist threat that's REALLY serious. Otherwise, it's back in the cage, beast!

How many of you anti-fighting PC people watch hockey? It's pretty big in the U.K. right now. For shame. Fighting should be banned. Still can't figure out why they fight in hockey though, because it's English and French Canadian in origin. And we all know those are highly civilized cultures. Hmmm. Head scratcher for sure.

As for my American opinion of NASCAR, having actually been involved in the sport from 1990 and met many of the drivers when they tested at Road Atlanta (who were much more likely to fight back then too), the sport has become a shell of its former self. While I don't mind the fighting, this whole story is a red herring. What has relegated NASCAR to the ranks of being on par with the WWE (not the UFC, since that's real), are the exact opposite of what you are thinking. I respectfully disagree with my American friend Michael, in that NASCAR is as "big corporate", big money, and big sponsorship as F1. All you need to do is look at the balance sheets and salaries, which are mostly hidden, unlike F1. All this equals big fail. Instead of trying to do the right thing by the fans (like IndyCar and F1) even when mistakes are made (since these are team driven series' to some extent) NASCAR is run by those who care about one thing -- fleecing the public and abandoning their base ro make as much money as possible.
1. The "Race For The Chase" WTF?
2. "Competition Caution" Orwellian as it gets. Leads don't matter...restarts do. More crashes, more beer breaks, and less reward for hard racing. Makes saving fuel in F1 look like amatuer hour in meddling 101.
3. Abandonment of traditional Southern tracks with character to corporate snooze-fests because those in control get kickbacks. Just ask the owners of the Kentucky Speedway.
4. Historic exclusion of minorities and women (more culture than money, but still a weakness).
5. 50 car teams (a little exaggeration but you get my point).
6. Media "yes" men that make an F1 press conference look like the ultimate in investigative journalism.
7. The France Family Monopoly.
8. Lucky Dog; Green-White Checkered; Waive-Around. The list is endless for artificial intrusion into the pure racing.
9. Wealthy track owners since about 1990 (essentially 3-4) controlling the sport with the other monopoly (see #7). Daytona had a road course at one time, North Wilkesboro is gone, Rockingham is gone, the unique roval of Riverside, CA is gone, and many others were consolidated in favor of 1.5 mile oval jokes. Ask any old timer what he thinks of this.

This is not to say there is not a lot of good in NASCAR. It's racing, so it cant' be all bad. It still takes twice as much fearlessness to race Daytona than any F1 race. But they just zigged when they should have zagged. Control over NASCAR is quintessentially un-American and artificial. It's been ruined since about the mid to late 1990s.

 

[Tal]

Why can't we have a discussion about American motorsports without it devolving into "F1 vs NASCAR" every freaking time... We all love our respective favourite motorsport, good for us. Let's move on now.

To the point - I don't think violence in sports is a good thing to see. Verbal disputes and heated arguments are fine (hell, it adds to the soap opera that is motorsport often), but it really shouldn't get physical.

 

[Ho3n3r]

It's very primitive, and one of the main reasons I don't watch Nascar at all, although there are other bigger factors that play a role.

I don't mind watching DTM at all, for example. It just comes across as more "professional".

 

[Alex Franchini]

Nay. Motorsports doesn't need even more testosterone. Let's make this a clean sport for everybody.