Try MotoGP.Its motor cycle racing but IMO nowadays its the best racing sport out there by far.

That and the advent of Team Racing.

It was unthinkable 25 years ago of having two or four cars on the track working together to have one of their guys win; it would be considered cheating.

We still have a couple local dirt tracks that are great fun to watch - local guys turning wrenches on cars and hammering down with them.

There hasn't been anything stock about stock cars in probably 30 years. But the point made earlier about the cars being too aero dependent is spot on I think. I had a brief love affair with the sport in the 90s and early 2000s. Back when guys like Swervin' Earvin, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville and High Groove Harry Gant were banging in the corners. This was mostly fueled by racing Papyrus' NASCAR sims, but I enjoyed it all the same. It was cool, the tracks were too. It didn't have the sanitized corporate feel to it like it does today. The drivers seemed to have personality, rivalries. You loved some and hated others, which makes for good entertainment. I became a Bobby Labonte fan for some reason, probably the green car:)

But it was just as much fun to see Rusty Wallace crash out as it was to see Labonte win or grab a top-five. The whole thing with Gordon and Earnhardt, young lion versus the old guard was interesting and made for a good narrative.

But then they started replacing some of the tracks, like Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. I understand why it was done, but when you are replacing them with tracks like Texas and Vegas and California you lose some of the appeal, at least for someone like me. Short tracks are where the action is. This is why Bristol remains the best NASCAR event of the season, in my view. And don't even get me started on restrictor plate racing.

As these old characters faded from the sport they were replaced by kids. Not anything wrong with that necessarily. But they were groomed for it. They were groomed to be non-controversial, respectful, all the sounds bites were rehearsed and the sport began to lose appeal because I no longer cared about the people behind the wheel. These days I pull for Truex, and that's only because he comes from Jersey. But really I no longer care.

When they went to the chase format that was it for me. I understand why they want the last few races of the season to be relevant. In the old system, events like Atlanta and Homestead were at risk because the title may have been wrapped up before these races came up. So no one cares and they sell fewer tickets Boo hoo..But you had a true champion, the car that did it the best for the entire season. Now it just means you have a chance of winning the title. Hate it.

The only positive I can think of about current NASCAR is that it is far safer than it was even 15 years ago. In every other way though, the product is far less appealing to me.

I'm an open wheel guy. Yeah. Monaco wasn't much of a race was it? But I still watched the entire thing, as I do every year. Same with the Indy 500. NASCAR? Who cares?

To be fair concerning Monaco, how much passing can you do there anyway? Very little and especially with those super-delicate F1 cars which seem to shatter if you even just bump it with another car.

Boggitty Boggity Boogitty,,,,uh...is anyone watching me on TV?

I hate that. I cringe every time.

And playing guitar is just moving your fingers on the strings.

I'd rep you WT for both of those posts. If I could. Which I can't.

not sure what you mean.

Well, what I mean is many forums have the ability to add reputation to another member when you approve of their posts. SimHQ doesn't have this feature. Hence I cannot rep you.

I'm so glad SimHQ doesn't have reps and likes and all that other silly stuff that makes you long for the days of Usenet.

I watched NASCAR once on TV, thought maybe it would appeal to my Southern redneck white trash genes. Nope...nothing. I must be suppressing it.

However, watching it live in the stands over several cheap beers, I'd probably have a great time! I'm going to do it one day.

I went to the Homestead race back in 2001 and I had a great time. I was sitting right on the edge of turn 3 so the view was great. The only part that sucked was the traffic getting out of there. Ugh.

We used to go to Spartan Speedway while in college and a little place called Flat Rock Speedway near here, Plenty of cheap beer and good times. My friends family lived down around Sparta and Nelsonville Ohio, and they used to take us to some good old fashioned local dirt track racing. These were the kind of racing were you were partially deaf and covered in track dust when you came home. I wonder if those kind of places still fill the stands. The grand finally was always the figure eight race. Everybody was hoping for the big collision.

In '79 stopped in Daytona on the way to Miami to race to watch some testing for the 500. These were the 427 engines. Parked in the middle between turn 3-4. Had to put the van in gear to know if the engine was running when it was over.

Well thank you then.

Truth. The first big boy stock car race I ever went to was at the old Atlanta Speedway. Bill Elliot won by 2 laps and we thought it was a great race because he put a real a$$ whoopin' on the field. I started out on dirt and other than my three year foray into FBMW, I remain a big fan of the dirt and I attend several races a year in the local area.

Quit watching after Feb 2001 then again briefly for Tony Stewart in the Home Depot car. Haven't seen it since.

Tired of Kurt Busch and Jimmy Johnson winning all the time.

Kurt Busch has only won 21 times since 2004.

His brother Kyle, The Jerk, has won 47 times.