If you could watch only one race............

#51
#51
"Talladega is a spectacle."

Ditto!! No matter how many times I go--it's just my favorite. Those high banks!!
 
#53
#53
doozer said:
Schumacher has 7 world titles. he also has 91 wins in 250 career starts. he has 154 podium finishes (1-3). he has a winning percentage of 36 percent. he was on the podium 61 perecent of the races he started. of his podium finishes, 91 were wins therefore, when he was on the podium, 60 percent of the time it was because he won. compare that to 200 wins in 1184 (16%) for Richard Petty. Dale Sr. only had what, 76 wins.

impressive when you consider the average F1 season in about half that of a NACSAR season.

Mario Andretti is the only race car driver to win the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and an F1 World Championship. he has also won 4 CART championships. he also had many more Indy 500s on lockdown before some sort of mechanical failure put him out.

while the accomplishments of Petty and Dale Sr. are certainly amirable within their sport, saticstically, Schumacher was the greatest race car driver ever. Andretti was probably the most diversified race car driver, followed closely by Emerson Fittapaldi and AJ Foyt.

one could also not make an arguement for best race car driver without also considering Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr., Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart. the only thing missing from the latter two's resume would be a Borg Warner Trophy to add to their collection. unfortunantley, when Smoke drove in the IRL, he drove for the most snake bitten team in all of motorsports or else he would have one right now. Smoke did manage to win an IRL title.
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Exactly the case I was going to make for Mario. While Schumacher dominated his series and was the best ever in his particular form of racing, Mario (as well as Foyt) excelled at various forms of motorsports. Foyt is in my estimation the best American-born racecar driver up to this point. Stewart could challenge that by the time his career is over.

I wouldn't even bring up Petty or Earnhardt in a discussion of best drivers in the world. In their time, they were the best in their national series. Can't compare that in any way to dominating a world wide series like Schumacher did. Gordon, Jeff and Stewart make far better cases for best overall driver when you consider all forms of motorsports.
 
#54
#54
tidwell said:
Exactly the case I was going to make for Mario. While Schumacher dominated his series and was the best ever in his particular form of racing, Mario (as well as Foyt) excelled at various forms of motorsports. Foyt is in my estimation the best American-born racecar driver up to this point. Stewart could challenge that by the time his career is over.

I wouldn't even bring up Petty or Earnhardt in a discussion of best drivers in the world. In their time, they were the best in their national series. Can't compare that in any way to dominating a world wide series like Schumacher did. Gordon, Jeff and Stewart make far better cases for best overall driver when you consider all forms of motorsports.
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i hate AJ Foyt. i'm biased in the fact that i was and have always been a Penske Racing fan, so in my eyes, Rick Mears is the greatest American race driver. i hate AJ Foyt so much that i won't admit to him being the best, even though he probably is. that's all you get from me.

it's interesting how closely Stewart resembles Foyt. both are good ole boys who aren't afraid to say what they think, and quite frankly, don't care if you like what they have to say. all the things i love about Stewart are all the things i hate about AJ Foyt. i contribute that mostly to the different generations. Stewart is my generation and Foyt was my dads.

there was a time when a drivers career was defined by the Indy 500. while some of the luster has been lost in recent years, the Indy 500 will always remain the most coveted prize in American motorsports and to a certain extent, all of motorsports. Eddie Cheever said in victory lane that his dad once told him that if he was only going to win one race, make it the Indy 500. i think Stewart realizes this, being from only about an hour from Indy. i just hope he has the chance to race for the 500 crown again.

tid, since you made me look up Mario's accomplishments, i will give you the fact that he and Schumi are in a league of their own, and valid arguements could be made for each guy..

this thread is great. it's so nice to talk other racing, even if i am or am not just rambling to hear myself talk. don't get me wrong, i love going to NASCAR and following it week in and week out, but my real passion is in open wheel racing. heck, i've been going to Indy since before i can remember.
 
#55
#55
Probably the Daytona 500. An alternate would be Talladega, which we're going to in late April.:thumbsup:
 
#56
#56
doozer said:
i hate AJ Foyt. i'm biased in the fact that i was and have always been a Penske Racing fan, so in my eyes, Rick Mears is the greatest American race driver. i hate AJ Foyt so much that i won't admit to him being the best, even though he probably is. that's all you get from me.
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Fair enough. :)

I'm the same way towards Tony Stewart (and Jeff Gordon to a lesser extent). Can't stand him most of the time, but he's the class of the field in NASCAR. Gordon was so dominant for such a short amount of time, but for whatever reason it wore off (departure of Evernham?). He's still one of the best every week of course, but nowhere near as dominant as he was from 1995-1998. Not to ramble, but the point being; I don't like them, but they're the two best going right now in NASCAR, and I don't think it's close. Jimmie Johnson is unfortunately making me look like an idiot with that last sentence, but I heard them say that during his title run last year that he had never won a championship in any form of racing. I have a difficult time equating greatness with someone who never won a championship until he started driving for a team that had previously 5 championships.
tid, since you made me look up Mario's accomplishments, i will give you the fact that he and Schumi are in a league of their own, and valid arguements could be made for each guy..
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Yep. What Schumacher did in F1, a worldwide series, is ridiculous and completely unmatched by any other driver in any other series. When you consider the skill and level of competition (the world's best, not just one country's best) that he faced and to still pull off what he did, just ridiculous.

I just like to look at what a driver does in multiple forms of racing. That's no slight on Schumacher of course, because someone like him doesn't need to prove their worth elsewhere. That's not to say Andretti needed too as well, but he sure did it.

this thread is great. it's so nice to talk other racing, even if i am or am not just rambling to hear myself talk. don't get me wrong, i love going to NASCAR and following it week in and week out, but my real passion is in open wheel racing. heck, i've been going to Indy since before i can remember.
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I'm the opposite there. NASCAR was my first thing, obviously, but I'm slowly losing interest in it for some reason. I can't figure out why, but I just don't care as much about it anymore. Because of this, I'm wanting to try and become more than just a casual viewer of the IRL and F1. I kept up with USAC a few years ago when JJ Yeley was on his way to winning the Triple Crown, but it sucks when the only way you can connect to it is through the internet. The Speed Channel showed a few USAC races the year that Yeley was on his way to the Triple Crown, but nothing since.
 
#57
#57
the USAC guys are where it's at. it's easily the best racing you'll see. i too wish it were on TV more. i was watching USAC in the days of Newman, Kahne, Smoke and many others before anybody knew who they were. the things Tony did in one of those cars was amazing. i've seen them on miles, 1/2 miles, 1/4 miles and dirt and pavement. such great racing.

where do you live? the IRL race in Nashville is definately worth the ticket. i think we pay about $50 for ours, a piece. it's so easy to get in and out of the track and parking is free. really, it's a can't miss race.
 
#58
#58
I'm pretty much right between Nashville and Knoxville on I40. We've talked about going to see the IRL race there before, just to see those cars in person. Gonna have to do that someday.
 
#59
#59
take your earplugs. i think they're louder than NASCAR. and the F1 cars are the loudest.
 
#61
#61
tidwell said:
I'm pretty much right between Nashville and Knoxville on I40. We've talked about going to see the IRL race there before, just to see those cars in person. Gonna have to do that someday.
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Tidwell, where at between Nash. and Knox., if you dont mind me asking
 
#62
#62
tidwell said:
I take it you've been to the US Grand Prix a few times?
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if it happens at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, i'm there. i don't miss the 500, ever, and get to the Grand Prix and 400 as the work schedule permits.
 
#63
#63
VOL-IN-BIG-ORANGE-COUNTRY said:
Tidwell, where at between Nash. and Knox., if you dont mind me asking
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Just north of Cookeville.
doozer said:
if it happens at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, i'm there. i don't miss the 500, ever, and get to the Grand Prix and 400 as the work schedule permits.
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Nice. The 500 has been the only Indy race I've ever watched religiously, for obvious reasons I suppose. That's a good day.

It's hard to catch F1 races with them being all over the world and airing in the middle of the night or early in the morning.
 
#64
#64
yeah, it's kind of a bummer because they used to show a replay of the F1 race on Sunday nights on Speed. if they still do, i can't ever find it.
 
#66
#66
I actually think Speed re-airs them sometime around noon if they are held at like 2 or 3 AM in American time. Not totally sure on that. I totally blanked and never caught any of the Australia weekend.
 
#67
#67
i generally avoid Speed on Sundays until Wind Tunnel comes. mostly for fear of catching Jimmy Spencer saying something that will cause my brain to explode trying to comprehend the stupidity of his statement.

Dave Despain is always a breath of fresh air. the guy is great.
 
#68
#68
doozer said:
Schumacher has 7 world titles. he also has 91 wins in 250 career starts. he has 154 podium finishes (1-3). he has a winning percentage of 36 percent. he was on the podium 61 perecent of the races he started. of his podium finishes, 91 were wins therefore, when he was on the podium, 60 percent of the time it was because he won. compare that to 200 wins in 1184 (16%) for Richard Petty. Dale Sr. only had what, 76 wins.

impressive when you consider the average F1 season in about half that of a NACSAR season.

Mario Andretti is the only race car driver to win the Indy 500, the Daytona 500 and an F1 World Championship. he has also won 4 CART championships. he also had many more Indy 500s on lockdown before some sort of mechanical failure put him out.

while the accomplishments of Petty and Dale Sr. are certainly amirable within their sport, saticstically, Schumacher was the greatest race car driver ever. Andretti was probably the most diversified race car driver, followed closely by Emerson Fittapaldi and AJ Foyt.

one could also not make an arguement for best race car driver without also considering Rick Mears, Al Unser Sr., Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart. the only thing missing from the latter two's resume would be a Borg Warner Trophy to add to their collection. unfortunantley, when Smoke drove in the IRL, he drove for the most snake bitten team in all of motorsports or else he would have one right now. Smoke did manage to win an IRL title.
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Nice post - I could support Schumacher or Andretti and agree they both are in a different class.

Been to Indy about 18 times - chills every time.

That said, I vote for Monaco GP as race I'd most like to attend.
 
#69
#69
doozer said:
take your earplugs. i think they're louder than NASCAR. and the F1 cars are the loudest.
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I think the Top Fuel dragsters are the loudest. Any car that can blow blue-white flames 15 feet out of all 8 pipes has got to be loud.
 
#70
#70
doozer said:
i generally avoid Speed on Sundays until Wind Tunnel comes. mostly for fear of catching Jimmy Spencer saying something that will cause my brain to explode trying to comprehend the stupidity of his statement.

Dave Despain is always a breath of fresh air. the guy is great.
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Wind Tunnel is about the only show I'll watch on Speed, too. Robin Miller is a freakin' nut, but I enjoy him whenever he's on there.
 
#71
#71
volinbham said:
Nice post - I could support Schumacher or Andretti and agree they both are in a different class.

Been to Indy about 18 times - chills every time.

That said, I vote for Monaco GP as race I'd most like to attend.
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yes, the Monaco GP would be an amazing race to attend. perhaps one day i will get there.

my dad has missed 2 Indy 500s since 1958. we have essentially had the exact same seats since that time, give or take a few sections for various reconstructions through the years. i believe this year will be my 15th.

TuskALoosa said:
I think the Top Fuel dragsters are the loudest. Any car that can blow blue-white flames 15 feet out of all 8 pipes has got to be loud.
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oh yeah, how could i forget about those?

i used to do part time intern work for a guy who did several car and drag racing shows on ESPN and ESPN2. his home office was out of Bristol and he let me tag along several times for the NHRA and Super Chevy events running tapes, cameras and the like. he told me stand about half way down the quarter mile next to his camera guy. those cars are absolutely amazing. the more amazing cars were the jet cars, but the loudest were the nitro cars.

tidwell said:
Wind Tunnel is about the only show I'll watch on Speed, too. Robin Miller is a freakin' nut, but I enjoy him whenever he's on there.
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Miller is definately a nut, but very, very well informed. if he says it, i believe it.

occasionaly, i'll watch Unique Whips as well. i think that guy does some really cool work with cars.
 
#75
#75
i went to the Bristol night race this past Fall, i have to say it was incredible.......even though Kenseth won (which sucked) it was still an awesome race, i cant see it gettin any better than Bristol under the lights.....actually had tickets to the race 2 weeks ago and didnt get to go bc of tests :machgun: school
 
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