Stage Racing

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
02/24/2019 at 15:10 • Filed to: None

Why does NASCAR race in stages? To make drivers race for the front three times a race instead of once? To inflate points totals even more? To give fans a chance to go to the bathroom and buy more beer?

DISCUSSION (28)

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 15:13

To keep the racing closer and more action packed. It’s bull shit

ttyymmnn > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
02/24/2019 at 15:15

That’s what I figured.

LongbowMkII > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
02/24/2019 at 15:20

I love the action of... 20 minutes of cautions and commercials!!

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 15:22

To give fans a chance to go to the bathroom and buy more beer?

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Merfthemadmauler > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 15:53

I just turned off the tv and am going for a nap.

LongbowMkII > LongbowMkII
02/24/2019 at 16:01

Ok the 4 wide restart into 1-2 was cool

Dusty Ventures > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 16:26

They heard the greatest form of racing in the world uses “stages” but weren’t explained the details of what that actually meant.

E92M3 > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 16:37

I can't keep up with all these changes.

ttyymmnn > E92M3
02/24/2019 at 17:06

Well, if they’re doing it to encourage casual fans like myself, it’s not working.

Stef Schrader > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 17:26

I hate it so much.

RacinBob > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 17:27

Yep, I hate the stages thing too. It makes the races too predictable.

ttyymmnn > Stef Schrader
02/24/2019 at 17:28

It’s like the two-minute warning in football. It’s a holdover from the old days of football, but they realized that it was another chance to show commercials, so it stays.

ttyymmnn > RacinBob
02/24/2019 at 17:31

How does it make the race predictable?

RacinBob > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 17:38

Not a lot of benefit in building a meaningful lead. Instead e verybody rides around knowing that the stage is coming. As such, the only pri ority is to stay and wait till the restart where the field is re-stacked.

As a result the only drama is at the end. So why watch.

shop-teacher > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 17:44

A desperate grasp at straws by a floundering giant who has no idea how to right their ship. NASCAR has lost me permanen tly.

ttyymmnn > RacinBob
02/24/2019 at 17:58

Well, the only drama in F1 these days is at the start, so there’s that.

ttyymmnn > shop-teacher
02/24/2019 at 17:59

I’ve never even gotten interested in the first place.

shop-teacher > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 18:48

I used to be a big fan. They lost me about a decade ago. Now I just laugh from afar as they make desperate change after desperate change.

ttyymmnn > shop-teacher
02/24/2019 at 19:18

Wait, are you describing NASCAR or F1?

RacinBob > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 19:21

True but F1 has so few cars that can win so they have their own problem and aren’t a great example. NASCAR actually has races that aren’t foregone conclusions , or at least they did.

shop-teacher > ttyymmnn
02/24/2019 at 22:50

Lol, NASCAR . I never got big into F1. I’ve c ome and gone to watching it over the years, but ha ven’t watched one in probably 2 -3 years now. I’m a huge IndyCar fan. I’ve been to every Indy 500 since ‘97, and have gone to Road America every year since they came back to it a few years ago. If I lived in your neck of the woods, I’d dang sure go check them out at COTA next month.

ttyymmnn > shop-teacher
02/24/2019 at 23:23

I got hooked on F1 about 15 years ago, but I’ve always been a fan of European sports. I never used to be a big IndyCar fan (I went to the race in 1974), but it’s starting to look more interesting these days. Definitely some of the most exiting oval racing going on these days.

RacinBob > ttyymmnn
02/25/2019 at 00:48

Why is NASCAR dead ?

ttyymmnn > RacinBob
02/25/2019 at 01:11

That was interesting. As a “casual fan” I can assure you that they haven’t caught my attention. But the same thing is happening in F1. High costs are pushing the smaller teams out, and only two teams can compete for the championship. F1 is tackling that through draconian penalties for changing components on the car and limiting teams to an absurdly small number of engines for a season. Trouble is, creating an F1 engine that will last 7 or 8 races costs an absurd amount of money. Which is what they are trying to stop. And p ay drivers are a scourge in F1 as well. I don’t have an answer, but it’s a shame that the fast cars and drivers have been lost in a war of cash and pursuit of sponsors.

shop-teacher > ttyymmnn
02/25/2019 at 07:01

Give them a shot this year. The competition has never been better. On any given weekend there are at least 10 drivers with a legit shot at winning.

RacinBob > ttyymmnn
02/25/2019 at 08:09

The irony is that in this now connected age, TV no longer is the prime go to place for advertisers. That’s the reason for declining sponsors. Also, there are so many alternatives for entertainment that fans are not compelled to see races or be enamored with drivers like they once were.

What little that I watched before switching to Michigan/Michigan State basketball, I noted that there was about 25% of the stands filled in Atlanta for the NASCAR race.

Certainly an oversaturation of dates doesn’t help but t he brutal truth is that virtually all professional racing is based on a budgets that can no longer be sustained by sponsorship or ticket revenue.

Wasn’t there an article here that more than half of Indy car drivers are essentially unpaid?

Stef Schrader > ttyymmnn
02/26/2019 at 04:46

Yep, the commercials get priority. This is why I hate everything about the American television industry.

ttyymmnn > Stef Schrader
02/26/2019 at 07:45

The commercial-free F1 broadcasts have been outstanding. I don’t know how long they can keep that going, but that’s something that I might actually pay for.