[Shotimes] (OT) Re: NASCAR numbnuts

[Noah South III]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Mark Nunnally
> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 3:04 PM
> To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] (OT) Re: NASCAR numbnuts
> Left turns are easy.  Left turns hanging it on the ragged edge lap after
> lap
> aren't.  Please, show of hands here from those who comment "it's not hard"
> who have been on an oval, while on a lap timer, headed off into a corner
> at
> well over triple digits with a concrete wall in your face.  Trust me, it's
> hard.
>
> I'd much rather be on a road course but I've been on enough ovals to know
> it's tough to go really quick lap after lap, taking care of your stuff and
> not burning the RF tire off it, hitting your marks, etc.

Sure it's hard, but it doesn't compare to WRC, not even in the slightest.  I
would pay money to watch a NASCAR boy try flying around a cliff edge in the
snow at 65mph in a power drift.
 
> Don't forget a lot of the NASCAR guys come from (winning) 800 hp 1100
> sprint
> cars on dirt.  If you can drive one of those fast, you can drive anything
> fast.  Jimmie Johnson and R. Gordon both raced (or raced) off road trucks
> on
> dirt, most of those guys come from all different series, they are plenty
> skilled.  The NASCAR ranks are littered with driver's of similar
> backgrounds, plenty of skill, regardless of if you like the series or not.

I disagree, a sprint car in dirt isn't even close to rally driving, you're
still flying around a track that only turns one direction.  It's like one
long power drift in ONE direction with NO reversals.  When I was younger my
father and my friends father were both into racing big time.  In fact my
friends dad was one of the top cart drivers in Venezuela many years ago.  I
got drug to outlaw and sprint racing all the time, and I hated it.  The only
thing exciting was when people crashed, otherwise it was REALLY boring.  I
never said these guys lacked skill, they have plenty of skill in racing the
same track over and over again.  Remember, I said it doesn't take driving
skill for a varied environment to drive NASCAR, because you're on the same
track ALL the time, no change.

Trust me, take an oval track driver that thinks he's hot shit and toss him
into any stage in the WRC and he'll most likely kill himself and his
navigator due to lack of driving skill in a varied environment.  There is no
consistency in WRC, you go from point A to point B and that's it.  You don't
sit there and drive the exact same course with the exact same lines over and
over again.

Putting the shoe on the other foot, I would bet money that a WRC driver
could hop into NASCAR and with less than 10 laps would be able to hang with
the best of them.  Sounds like a great idea for a new Reality TV series
actually.


> You've obviously never been on a track in any car related race event, as
> you'll soon learn it's more than just jumping in a seat and putting in a
> fast lap.  It's consistency, and including being able to do all the above.
> There is a lot involved in racing than driver skill, and it's the good
> teams
> and driver's who do ALL of the things well, that are champions and
> winners.

Well I WAS talking about the videogame, and the reason it sucked is because
there wasn't much to do IN the game as far as driving other than turn left a
lot.  All racing videogames that involve laps (NOT WRC GAMES) are about
consistency, pulling the consistent low lap times.  I must have put nearly
100hrs into GT3, so trust me, I understand the need for consistency in
racing games.

I was trying to make an allegory to the fact that all NASCAR racing games
suck because the real skill in driving NASCAR is not the ability to follow
your line, but being able to handle a extremely powerful vehicle at high
speed, inches away from other vehicles.  That's just not something that's
possible to simulate with a videogame.  Like I said, they're skilled in what
they do, but not at driving in varied driving environments.  I'm not trying
to lessen the job they do as much as I am trying to make the point that you
can NOT compare NASCAR to WRC.  Maybe I was wrong to say that NASCAR isn't
"Real Racing," but if NASCAR is "Real Racing" then what the HELL is Rally
driving?

-Noah South II