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NASCAR is about the racing, not about developing or validating new forms of propulsion. The same is true of the NHRA.
Here is a case of where everyone can learn from Tony George's IRL folly: if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
NASCAR ain't broke. There's no reason to try to fix it. As Lee Roy pointed out, such things are best left to Le Mans and sports car racing.
But racing is about validating new forms of propulsion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior
Yes, racing can be used for validation. But not so much so in NASCAR. NASCAR has built a large and growing audience by focusing on the drivers and the racing... not the technology.
Manufacturers are still somewhat free to use Le Mans for product and process validation. At Le Mans and in the ALMS, the "cars are the stars" (right? :) ). In NASCAR, the drivers are the stars. Each form of racing is meeting with success right now. I enjoy both, though for different reasons. I'd prefer that neither changes, just for the sake of change.
I'd be more interested in them using hydrogen or something like that, but I don't think NASCAR will make the switch for a while. The fact is, NASCAR has bigger problems on their plate to fix, and despite being too liberal for my own good, I don't think fuel is one of them.
On the topic of innovation, ditch the COT, ditch common templates, and go to a more 90s-ish format. Or Late Models.
Go stop the sky from falling somewhere else Chicken Little . Some of us just want to watch a good race .
Which is why I don't watch NASCAR anymore.Quote:
Originally Posted by wbcobrar
It’s not practical at all in the short term. Every team that has engine development would have to retool, costing millions. New testing from the dyno to the track...basically you’re starting over. I could see a lot of the smaller teams folding, not being able to support the added costs of trying to implement a new engine package.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saabaru
It’s typical liberal thinking...spend millions to save hundreds!
Plus, biodiesel and other bio fuels don’t burn very well in colder weather. It still get’s cold in Florida in February...Tennessee and Georgia in March.
On the plus side though, I could see food concessions go up at the tracks if they switch to biodiesel! :D
NASCAR would be better off with out some of the small teams in Sprint Cup. There are more cars than talented drivers. It used to be a Nationwide driver would go to a small team like Wood Brothers, Junie Donlavey, or Morgan McClure. After proving themselves with a small team, they'd go to a larger one like Roush, Hendrick, or Childress. Now that the Nationwide Series is incorectly treated as a new driver proving ground, the small teams are nothing more than filler. They get drivers like Terry Labonte, Ken Shrader, and Joe Nemecheck who should have gotten out of racing years ago.
Millions, why? You could take GM’s 6.8 Duramax diesel engine and have it up to a NASCAR’s HP/Torque level for less than $5000. I know they wouldn’t want to use this engine, but the technology has already been developed. All that would need doing is adapting the technology to a NASCAR platform with bio fuel. There is no reason it would cost millions of dollars unless the teams just wanted to spend it. The same thing is happening in the WRC with the conversion to a forced induction S2000 spec car. The FIA wants the cars cost to be reduced from the 1.2 million price tag that they are hovering around right now, down to around the $300000 mark. But the president of the WRC made the remark at a press conference that even if they required the cars to be in the $300000 price range. There is no way to keep the top teams from tearing down the engines and investing another $100000 in them even though it wouldn’t make any difference in the performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by tstran17_88
They would spend it. The cost of a competing for a championship is directly related to the level of desire and prestige to win it. There's no reason for it to cost around half a billion a year to compete in Formula One, but some of the teams want to win the championship bad enough to spend it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saabaru