[arbys]

Sirrotica, looking a the car in your signature makes me wish that the cars racing at local tracks all the way to NASCAR were still "stock cars", not fabricated cars that only share a couple of panels from production cars. I can identify with the cars that they were racing 35-60 years ago, the prime being in the early 70's.

[Sirrotica]

You know I really don't care what sheetmetal is on a racecar, the engine and the guy holding the wheel are more what the race is about in my eyes.

My favorite form of racecar is a winged outlaw sprintcar and nothing other than 4 wheels has anything in common with what is, was, or is, going to be on the road or in dealerships.

I've been here before and simply put there have been very few cars come from Detroit since 1987 (the wholesale adaption of FWD) that would have made a basis for an oval track race car. If Detroit isn't building anything suitable then the sanctioning bodies have to step in and allow another type of car. Detroit isn't going to send a bunch of advertising money into NASCAR if it's not what they have in their showrooms or at least a facsimile of what their selling. Safety has also been a huge influence since 2001 when one of NASCAR's most famous drivers was killed, Dale Sr. The reasons are valid like them or not.

Add to that that NASCAR has these 2 superspeedways (white elephants) that they have painted themselves into a corner with for safety concerns and governing top speeds to keep cars from ending up in the stands. If Bill France Sr had a crystal ball he might have done things differently, however without the ability to see into the future he built NASCAR and the tracks as he saw fit at the time. The tracks are built, Detroit quit building suitable cars and performance has more than doubled. That is what they're faced with and there aren't a lot of alternatives to keep the sport around except change some things. Like it or not they have changed with the times, and it's not a grass roots sport any longer, it's a large entertainment venue that competes with many other pastimes to get the consumer and sponsor dollars, not much is going to change though from the way things are.

One thing is very true and that is the short tracks always have great attendance in NASCAR and the superspeedways seem to stay the same or dwindle. NASCAR has talked about bulldozing them and re-configuring them but no one wants to foot the bill, so they're stuck with what they have and try their best to keep them viable. Simple dollars and cents (sense).

With the performance as it stands now I don't believe that Detroit ever made a production car that would be suitable for the performance speeds and safety concerns today. Things change, and I'd bet money your not still watching a tube black and white TV with an antenna on the roof, or a pair of rabbit ears sitting on top of the TV the either, are you that's what they had in the 60s and 70s isn't it?

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

You know I really don't care what sheetmetal is on a racecar...

I'm on the same page.

Football uniforms and safety equipment are different today than they were were "back in the day".



Ever use one of these baseball gloves? I did - they suck.



When is the last time anyone used a 3 "wood" - and I mean "WOOD"?



How about Labron James wearing a pair of these in the playoffs???



I don't understand the fascination with a race car "appearing" stock. They haven't been remotely stock going all the way back to the 50's.

For those that want their race cars to look "stock", go to most any local dirt track and check out what locally we call the "Street Stock" division - my buddy Danny Hanson drives the "5" car: