I think I figured it out

[RGM Fan]

On a previous thread I had mentioned losing interest in NASCAR and I think I figured out a reason why. I had an All Star recap on after the truck race tonight and I looked at the 2000 field for The Winston. They had 15 different teams represented in the All Star Race, this year there are 11, and of those 11 teams five didn't win a race last year, meaning six teams won every race.

The variety has gone out of the sport. That combined with improved relability the continual R&D had provided has turned the races into 400 sprints where the best car at the beginning is typically the best car at the end. It didn't use to be that way.

I'm sure this in an improvement but I'm tired of seeing the same 10 guys up front every weekend. I'm tired of stagant races where the guys up front run away from the rest of the field.

I guess I'm an old timer now, at 30, and the sport will never be what it once was and I'm some guy standing in a corner talking about how great it used to be. But at least now I understand why my attention and affection for this sport has dropped off as quickly as it has this season.

[Lee Roy]

On a previous thread I had mentioned losing interest in NASCAR and I think I figured out a reason why. I had an All Star recap on after the truck race tonight and I looked at the 2000 field for The Winston. They had 15 different teams represented in the All Star Race, this year there are 11, and of those 11 teams five didn't win a race last year, meaning six teams won every race.

The variety has gone out of the sport. That combined with improved relability the continual R&D had provided has turned the races into 400 sprints where the best car at the beginning is typically the best car at the end. It didn't use to be that way.

I'm sure this in an improvement but I'm tired of seeing the same 10 guys up front every weekend. I'm tired of stagant races where the guys up front run away from the rest of the field.

I guess I'm an old timer now, at 30, and the sport will never be what it once was and I'm some guy standing in a corner talking about how great it used to be. But at least now I understand why my attention and affection for this sport has dropped off as quickly as it has this season.

I attended my first NASCAR race in 1968. I've seen many, many changes over the 39 years I've been a fan NASCAR. But one thing has been consistent, there has always been dominant teams. In the mid 1970's, you could count on about 4 different drivers that had any decent shot a winning a race. There was the time when you thought that no one but Dale Earnhardt would win a race.

Right now, I've never seen a total field so strong. The Hendrick cars may be dominant, but there is the opportunity for other teams to work harder to catch them.

[blakebeatty]

absolutely. How do you think that Petty got 200 wins. By thoroughly dominating the sport. Something like that could never ever happen now. Parity is at an all time high.

[RGM Fan]

Right now, I've never seen a total field so strong. The Hendrick cars may be dominant, but there is the opportunity for other teams to work harder to catch them.

I some ways the field is strong but in some ways its weaker than ever. I checked, five teams make up the top 14 postions, those same four teams account for 10 positions of the top 14 in the Bush Series and two of those teams, DEI and Penske, aren't running a full Bush program. The allegedy parity hasn't done squat to build diversity, the series is thinner at the top than its ever been. If you're not with Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs or Childress you're not going to be in contention or at best be considered a longshot for the championship. You have to go back all the way to 1999 to find someone who won the championship who didn't drive for one of those four teams, and Alan Kulwicki and Dale Jarrett are the only drivers in the last 26 years not driving for one of those teams to win a championship.

If your a Jeff Gordon or a Jimmy Johnson fan no doubt NASCAR is at its peak, but if say your favorite driver is Robby Gordon, a top 20 finish is a good day for him, but its just not worth me watching.

[Lee Roy]

I some ways the field is strong but in some ways its weaker than ever. I checked, five teams make up the top 14 postions, those same four teams account for 10 positions of the top 14 in the Bush Series and two of those teams, DEI and Penske, aren't running a full Bush program. The allegedy parity hasn't done squat to build diversity, the series is thinner at the top than its ever been. If you're not with Hendrick, Roush, Gibbs or Childress you're not going to be in contention or at best be considered a longshot for the championship. You have to go back all the way to 1999 to find someone who won the championship who didn't drive for one of those four teams, and Alan Kulwicki and Dale Jarrett are the only drivers in the last 26 years not driving for one of those teams to win a championship.

If your a Jeff Gordon or a Jimmy Johnson fan no doubt NASCAR is at its peak, but if say your favorite driver is Robby Gordon, a top 20 finish is a good day for him, but its just not worth me watching.

You claim to have followed NASCAR. I find that hard to believe with the statements you just wrote.

Sorry.

BTW, who said anything about pairty??? In NASCAR you get to build your own car and engine. In other words, it's a contest to see who can do the best on the track and in the shop. If you want parity, go watch Champ Car and the IRL, where you have to buy the car they tell you and you are supplied the same engine that everyone else gets without a chance to improve it.

Parity like that is not racing, it's socialism.

[RaceFanStan]

Mike Helton said, "It is what it is ....."
That phrase is very true in describing NASCAR.
I agree the racing isn't as good as it was in the 70's & 80's but I am still a NASCAR fan.
Change comes with time but I will stay with the evolution of NASCAR.
Even with the changes it is still the best racing available ! :D

[RGM Fan]

You claim to have followed NASCAR. I find that hard to believe with the statements you just wrote.

Sorry.

BTW, who said anything about pairty??? In NASCAR you get to build your own car and engine. In other words, it's a contest to see who can do the best on the track and in the shop. If you want parity, go watch Champ Car and the IRL, where you have to buy the car they tell you and you are supplied the same engine that everyone else gets without a chance to improve it.

Parity like that is not racing, it's socialism.

How many times have we heard the word parity bantered about? And the COT is suppsoed "Narrow the gap between the big and small teams," parity by any another name is still parity. So far in every COT race only one "Small Team" has made into the top 20 and all of them have been one by one team.

I love how so many diehards can't take any critism. For the record I've been to Daytona for 18 straight years now, attended every track south from Virigina except Homestead. Was at the last races at North Wilkesboro, Rockingham (where I had season tickets), the last Bush races at Hickory, Myrtle Beach and South Boston, was standing about 1000 feet away from Dale Sr when he died, saw the first, and so far only, minority owned Bush team record a top 10. So yeah, I've been around the sport a long time, and it ain't what it used to be.

The truck series is the best NASCAR series at the moment.