Question for the NASCAR fans (re: Kuechly)

[RickyManningJr]

The new age of NASCAR drivers has always been whinny bitches.

I have never raced, but I am assuming it costs quite a bit to get into it.

Probably even more of a luxury sport then golf or tennis. Rich kids are often babies.

[KintnerBoy]

* have always

ps: my grammatical correction of yours had about as much validity to this conversation as your input. but hey, it's the internet and stuff.

Thanks "teach"

[Batman]

I'm not sure where you live, and I don't mean this to be snarky, but I don't think that is true. I could easily be wrong but I would think Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson, Dan Marino and maybe even some others would rank higher. With the exception of the south in the 90s, I don't think NASCAR was all that popular. Sure races would draw huge crowds. No doubt there. But so does College football. While the big races were certainly on tv, I'm not sure the big deals with Fox putting NASCAR on tv every week had been done yet.

I don't know. I could be wrong. But I can tell you, growing up in NY, I knew who Dale Earnhardt was but I certainly wouldn't have said he was near the top of the list of most popular sports figures in the US in the 90s. I would think Bird and Magic were higher so that's 3 in the NBA alone. Minus all the NFL stars and Tyson and Tiger (granted Tiger didn't win his 1st major until 97 so maybe an argument could be made against him - but by 2001 Tiger certainly surpassed Dale Sr).

ESPN Harris Interactive Poll

2014 Most Popular Athlete

1) LeBron James

2) Derek Jeter

3) Peyton Manning

4) Kobe Bryant

5) Dale Earnhardt Jr

Only guys ahead of Jr are 2 basketball icons some argue are the greatest ever, a QB most consider the greatest ever, & one of the 5 greatest NYY ever during his retirement season. That's it.

I think you're underestimating the popularity of both NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt.

NASCAR isn't close to what it was in the 80s & 90s, but it's still the 2nd most popular sport in the U.S. behind the NFL. And the late Dale Earnhardt is still the sports biggest icon.

Dale Jr has been driving the cup series for almost 20 years and he's still never won a championship. From 2008-2012 he went 143 races without a single win.

Yet he's won the most popular driver award 13 consecutive years running and is more popular among NASCAR fans than all the other drivers combined. And all of his popularity is simply because he's the son of Dale Earnhardt.

Go to a NASCAR event today and the two most common apparel/clothing you'll see worn by fans is #88 Dale Jr & #3 Earnhardt. It's like a fuging cult.

Given Dale Jr's popularity I don't think it's far fetched to say Earnhardt might've been the 2nd biggest sports icon behind Jordan in the 90s.

[Batman]

I have never raced, but I am assuming it costs quite a bit to get into it.

Probably even more of a luxury sport then golf or tennis. Rich kids are often babies.

Yes, the majority of current drivers grew up in extremely wealthy families and were bought into racing at a very young age. Even Jeff Gordon had wealthy parents.

Back in the 70/80s guys racing were dirt poor and raced to put food on the table. There were a few wealthy drivers but the majority were poor.

In the 70s Dale Earnhardt would borrow money on Friday so he could buy tires and pay entry fees, then if he didn't place in the top 5 on Sunday, come Monday he wouldn't have enough money to pay his bills or eat.

Two totally different eras.

[Moorgan]

ESPN Harris Interactive Poll

2014 Most Popular Athlete

1) LeBron James

2) Derek Jeter

3) Peyton Manning

4) Kobe Bryant

5) Dale Earnhardt Jr

Only guys ahead of Jr are 2 basketball icons some argue are the greatest ever, a QB most consider the greatest ever, & one of the 5 greatest NYY ever during his retirement season. That's it.

I think you're underestimating the popularity of both NASCAR and Dale Earnhardt.

NASCAR isn't close to what it was in the 80s & 90s, but it's still the 2nd most popular sport in the U.S. behind the NFL. And the late Dale Earnhardt is still the sports biggest icon.

Dale Jr has been driving the cup series for almost 20 years and he's still never won a championship. From 2008-2012 he went 143 races without a single win.

Yet he's won the most popular driver award 13 consecutive years running and is more popular among NASCAR fans than all the other drivers combined. And all of his popularity is simply because he's the son of Dale Earnhardt.

Go to a NASCAR event today and the two most common apparel/clothing you'll see worn by fans is #88 Dale Jr & #3 Earnhardt. It's like a fuging cult.

Given Dale Jr's popularity I don't think it's far fetched to say Earnhardt might've been the 2nd biggest sports icon behind Jordan in the 90s.

I'm not doubting the popularity of JR today. I'm saying that SR wasn't as popular as you say in the 90s. In fact, the most popular driver award went to Bill Elliot 16 times from 1984-2002 (with the exception of Waltrip in 1989 and 1990 and SR in 2001). Even more to the point, it seems like Earnhardt didn't become the most popular name until after or even BECAUSE he dies. Making it even more of a cult as you say.

 

Additionally, do you have any sources that say NASCAR or even motorsports are number 2 in the US? The highest I can find is 4 and others have it at 9. Finally, I'd say NASCAR is more popular now than it was in the 80s and 90s. I would point to the sports huge growth numbers for the last 15 years as proof that it hasn't diminished from it's time in the 80s and 90s.

[Batman]

I'm not doubting the popularity of JR today. I'm saying that SR wasn't as popular as you say in the 90s. In fact, the most popular driver award went to Bill Elliot 16 times from 1984-2002 (with the exception of Waltrip in 1989 and 1990 and SR in 2001). Even more to the point, it seems like Earnhardt didn't become the most popular name until after or even BECAUSE he dies. Making it even more of a cult as you say.

Additionally, do you have any sources that say NASCAR or even motorsports are number 2 in the US? The highest I can find is 4 and others have it at 9. Finally, I'd say NASCAR is more popular now than it was in the 80s and 90s. I would point to the sports huge growth numbers for the last 15 years as proof that it hasn't diminished from it's time in the 80s and 90s.

That's because Dale Earnhardt was like LeBron James. You either liked him or absolutely loathed and hated him.

Earnhardt was much more popular than Elliot ever was. Waltrip, Gordon, & a few others were more popular than Elliot during the 90s when he won all those awards. Everyone just voted for Elliot because they despised Earnhardt and his fans. Elliot was the nice, likable guy amongst the popular drivers & that's why they chose him. Earnhardt fans were upset about it & people kept doing it just to spite them & keep Dale from winning it. They couldn't stop him from winning all those races & titles, that was the one thing they could keep him from winning.

Earnhardt completely owned the sport in the late 80s, early 90s and those that weren't his fans grew to despise him because of his dominance. They got tired of watching him win race after race, title after title.

You've stated you never followed NASCAR. I was a Jeff Gordon fan growing up and followed the sport very, very closely in the 90s. I didn't like Dale Earnhardt at all, he was my least favorite driver. But Dale Earnhardt was by far the most popular driver overall. Go watch the '98 Daytona 500 or any other race Dale won & watch the crowds reaction. It was the same as it is today with Jr.

[Moorgan]

That's because Dale Earnhardt was like LeBron James. You either liked him or absolutely loathed and hated him.

Earnhardt was much more popular than Elliot ever was. Waltrip, Gordon, & a few others were more popular than Elliot during the 90s when he won all those awards. Everyone just voted for Elliot because they despised Earnhardt and his fans. Elliot was the nice, likable guy amongst the popular drivers & that's why they chose him. Earnhardt fans were upset about it & people kept doing it just to spite them & keep Dale from winning it. They couldn't stop him from winning all those races & titles, that was the one thing they could keep him from winning.

Earnhardt completely owned the sport in the late 80s, early 90s and those that weren't his fans grew to despise him because of his dominance. They got tired of watching him win race after race, title after title.

You've stated you never followed NASCAR. I was a Jeff Gordon fan growing up and followed the sport very, very closely in the 90s. I didn't like Dale Earnhardt at all, he was my least favorite driver. But Dale Earnhardt was by far the most popular driver overall. Go watch the '98 Daytona 500 or any other race Dale won & watch the crowds reaction. It was the same as it is today with Jr.

 

That makes sense. I could see how that's true and it would also explain the continued popularity of JR without winning. But you can't use, well I mean you CAN do whatever you want, but logic dictates that you can't use JR winning all those most popular awards as proof that he's popular and then say when the other guy wins that same award that it wasn't because he's popular. Does that make sense or did I not explain that well?

 

Additionally, the whole point was about SR being the second most popular athlete in the US in the 90s. I still don't see how that's remotely true. Part of why that can't be true is the popularity of the sport in the 90s. It simply wasn't as popular as several other sports back then. As indicated by it's rapid and continual growth and still only being considered either barely top 10 or barely top 5 from various sources.

 

I just simply can't but Earnhardt Sr behind only Jordan in popularity during the 90s. And that was the point of contention that I brought up. It just doesn't make sense to my admittedly Yankee brain who did not and does not follow NASCAR very closely. I still want to go to a race sometime though.

 

Also not doubting him owning the sport in his success. That can't be argued.

 

[RickyManningJr]

Yes, the majority of current drivers grew up in extremely wealthy families and were bought into racing at a very young age. Even Jeff Gordon had wealthy parents.

Back in the 70/80s guys racing were dirt poor and raced to put food on the table. There were a few wealthy drivers but the majority were poor.

In the 70s Dale Earnhardt would borrow money on Friday so he could buy tires and pay entry fees, then if he didn't place in the top 5 on Sunday, come Monday he wouldn't have enough money to pay his bills or eat.

Two totally different eras.

Thank you. That is what I was getting at, but failed.

[Batman]

Thank you. That is what I was getting at, but failed.

Yeah... it was a totally different sport...

There's a massive difference between a bunch of rich dudes riding around circles in a safety-oriented race & a bunch of poor men fighting each other and racing their wheels off just so they can feed their families.

[thefuzz]

Don't enjoy the sport any longer, but I loved it late 80's through the late 90's.

 

 

I think it's a little sad what it's come to now.

[Cam's New Arm]

I mean, it's still fun to watch but yeah.. It's more about strategy, now.

[SCP]

I'm taking the wife and some customers on Sunday.  Tailgating for 4 hours.  Will watch the pre-race hoopla.  Will get fired up for the start of the race.  Then after about 7 laps I will lose interest and will be bored silly for 5 hours because the cars will be spread out all around the track.  Like watching I-485 traffic.

[Gin and Juice]

Yeah... it was a totally different sport...

There's a massive difference between a bunch of rich dudes riding around circles in a safety-oriented race & a bunch of poor men fighting each other and racing their wheels off just so they can feed their families.

False! Those poor guys could/can be found every Sat night at a short track near you! They are closing by the second. Racing runs in cycles. 2010-2014 seemed to be the bottom. Hopefully we are on an upswing. Coincidently, racing fandom also seems to correlate with the economy, but not like you think....fans were devoted to the products on their favorite car. Corporations pumped millions into making NASCAR visible, to the point it became a fad.....and here lies the mistake:

Brian Francis catered to and built around the "fad" dollar by placing races in "high profile" areas, southern Cali, LV, Dallas, etc.. While doing so, he robbed the ones that got his dad into the lime light-blue collared workers that mostly hailed from the southeast. The "fad" passed and the empire lost its new foundation and crumbled. Plus since the loss of Sr., that fan base does not have a suitable replacement.....jr doesn't fit the blue collar mentality. The moment more people liked Jeff Gordon than hated him, I knew the core of the sport was gone

[SCP]

Does anybody know of a good place to poop at the speedway? My tickets give me access to the Speedway Club so I assume those facilities are nice? I'm going to be at that sumbitch for almost 12 hours and will be eating and drinking. Any crapper advice is appreciated.