Grey Ghost |
07-11-2021 9:38pm |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Giraffe
(Post 1896633)
I was never a fan but you can’t help but know about NASCAR. I can’t think of any motorsport that took a bigger -and faster- downward turn than NASCAR. It was seemingly everywhere, then suddenly nowhere and everyone hated it.
|
Before TV, it was a southern thing. Go outside to wash the car or work on it and turn on the radio to listen to the race. My dad started taking us to the July, race in Daytona Beach, FL. in the early '70s. Richard Petty, Cale Yarbrough, Allison Bros., David Pearson, etc...no cool suits, power steering, cookie cutter spec cars for everyone to parade around in like today. THEY RACED! Side by side, front to back, 3-4 wide. You built a car and brought it to race. Not just to parade around like today. The teams made money only racing and winning. No souvenirs, diecast deals, licensing deals, etc...I remember one of the first times they started selling t-shirts was for the Skoal Bandit. Dale Earnhardt was the first to start selling his name for endorsement deals - shirts, hats, and finally the mega-million diecast deals.
Drivers and crews would stay in the same hotels as the rest of us. I remember riding the elevator with several in the old days. You would go into a restaurant and one or more would be a the table beside of you.
I enjoyed it from the '70s-1980ish and lost interest. Then, started getting into it again from about 1998-2005. Lost all interest after that. They don't race anymore. Plenty are out there just to run around for several hrs., advertising their sponsors. They drive fast...they just don't race though. I also could no longer identify with their $30 million a yr., incomes.
I was also a huge fan of F1, NHRA, ALMS, and a couple others. They have ruined those series almost as badly, as NASCRAP. I don't follow any of it anymore and for almost the last decade.
|