What Is Wrong With Racing? I’ll Tell You.
I despise F1, hate NASCAR, and loathe Indy Car. Why you might ask? Well settle beside the fireside and let me tell you.
Money.
While that is a grossly oversimplified answer, it is true. Too much money has led to the detriment of good racing as we knew it. For example, Group B rally racing had 600 horsepower back in the early eighties. The Audi’s and Fords were spitting flame and gravel whilst the FIA was basking in the ratings and cash. Then all of a sudden in 1986 a string of deadly accidents shut the group down after 4 short years. During these years companies lost money on cars and were forced to sell homologation cars to the public at a loss. Now the manufacturers have all adopted a similar platform for rallying and have cut costs and cut back on factory teams. NASCAR hit the bottom soon after the RJ Reynolds Company became a major sponsor in the early 80’s. Cars now are so detached from reality that Toyota has a car running. Honestly, when has Toyota EVER had a rear drive, V8 sedan. (Besides the Lexus LS400/ Toyota Crown/ Toyota Century? -Ed) Never. On top of that, every race is sponsored and driver interviews sound like commercials. “Well, the Penske, Alamo, K&N, Hamburger Helper, APC, Ford Taurus ran great today in the Fruit of the Loom 500″ Ya’ see what I mean?
F1 gets it own paragraph here. It is the penultimate slap in the face to race fans. With only a handful of manufacturers and fewer viewers, F1 has become a victim of its financial success. Again, the 80’s proved to be the failure point. With an all time high in power and speed in the late 70’s F1 was in a power struggle over sanctions and (you guessed it) money. With the cut in power and fuel tank size, F1 sank during the eighties and is slowly gaining popularity with almost identical engines with subtle aero changes favored over power, technical cleverness, and skill.
In summation, racing sucks. What really needs to happen is simplification of racing. “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” should be a new rule in NASCAR. Stock car racing should involve -wait for it- stock cars. Showroom stock models with safety gear, suspension, brakes, a little aero kit, and tires. Stock body, stock engine, and must offer 15,000 cars for sale. F1 should adopt a single chassis and let teams mess with engines and technical specs rather than worry about the weight of the driver’s hydration pack and its aerodynamic effect. Also, manufacturers need an outlet for normal drivers who like, turning right (for instance) and like slowing for corners. All I know is turning left for 3 hours sucks the soul out of human like few other spectacles.
~Turn right, make a right turn for motorsports.