Why is auto racing so unpopular here?

Yesterday's Indy 500 had a thrilling finish as rookie driver J.R. Hildebrand crashed on the last turn blowing a 4 second lead and slid down the wall on 3 wheels to finish second. Something like that rarely happens especially in such a popular race. I thought it was strange that no one mentioned it. I have watched the Indy 500 since I was a small child and am now 50, maybe most race fans are older guys like me?

too many other options / thread

I usually watch the Indy 500, but I didn't this year. I think the unpopularity stems from there being too many other sports, not having enough interesting tracks, and there not being enough popular American drivers.

I watch nothing but formula 1 racing.

indy/formula 1 is ok but nascar is just a series of left turns. Not interesting imo.

i used to like NASCAR but they have ruined the sport and I am tired of Jimmy Johnson winning

It used to have some personality but it is all so cookie cutter now... Same cars Same tracks everywhere

The car of Tomorrow has essentially made restricter plate racing into a Bump draft contest.....

The road courses have always been bad for live and on television

and every other track is the same mile mile and a half drudgery.......

Because its boring.

Originally posted by susweel:
Because its boring.

The majority of the time you're just watching the same cars go around the track in the same positions they were in the last time they went around the track.

In other words, yeah, it's boring. As hell.

I enjoy driving sports cars, but I don't enjoy watching auto racing on tv. Sounds weird, I know.

OTOH, I enjoyed watching the Niners since I was 8 yrs old as well as enjoyed playing football while growing up. So, it depends.

Originally posted by 49erRider:

Originally posted by susweel:
Because its boring.

The majority of the time you're just watching the same cars go around the track in the same positions they were in the last time they went around the track.

In other words, yeah, it's boring. As hell.

Brilliant assessment there.

You can over generalize any sport if you're not paying attention. Some tracks are boring as hell, and so are some football games. Depends on what tracks you're racing at, or what strategies football teams use.

Draft, teammates, pitting, pit strategy, cautions, etc, all add intriguing elements to NASCAR.

There has been some excellent action this year, and a great variety of winners. Talledega was one of the best finishes I've seen in years, and plenty of interesting drivers are doing good.

I honestly believe some people don't give NASCAR a chance because of racism or poor stereotypes. Some of the most successful current drivers are all West Coast drivers; it's not just a southern sport anymore.

its not popular along the coasts its more popular in mid california

[img=]
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Auto racing is one of the sports where going to an actual event is way more interesting than TV. Some of the television angles on the straight aways don't capture the fact the Nascars are hitting close to 200 mph. I find it amazing Nascars are getting that kind of speed out of cars with old technology (they still use carburetors). At the larger tracks the infields allow overnight camping, complete with keggers, women exposing themselves, and live music. I figure that would attract the frat party crowd.

Originally posted by BobS:
Auto racing is one of the sports where going to an actual event is way more interesting than TV. Some of the television angles on the straight aways don't capture the fact the Nascars are hitting close to 200 mph. I find it amazing Nascars are getting that kind of speed out of cars with old technology (they still use carburetors). At the larger tracks the infields allow overnight camping, complete with keggers, women exposing themselves, and live music. I figure that would attract the frat party crowd.

Excellent point. My only firsthand experience with the Cup series was Infineon raceway (Sears Point back then), but even that offered a true glimpse into the power of those things. The engineering and driving that goes into getting those ~800hp 3500 lbs cars around a track 43 at a time is a sight.

maybe if it were the "Indy 10", more people would watch.