NASCAR’s Better Safety Standards

Safety is a cornerstone of NASCAR racing. Though auto racing has not been free of its share of tragedies, the authorities spare no effort in setting standards and by providing amenities, which protect drivers and spectators as far as possible. Safety scores over performance measures and viewing excitement, as far as NASCAR is concerned.

Safety at NASCAR starts with race track design and selection. Presently, the emphasis is on controlling degrees of banking, especially on turns. While banking helps race cars go faster, they also make them unstable, and prone to turn turtle. NASCAR tracks are limited to 36-degrees banking, and many popular tracks have only half that incline. NASCAR also sponsors research in to new materials for outer walls, which will eventually replace concrete, and thus make life safer for drivers. Race car design incorporates a number of safety features. The body itself is a powerful sheet of metal with additional layers for added protection. Metal clips at either end are designed to crush on impact, taking energy away from the driver’s compartment during a head-on collision, and pushing the engine block downwards rather towards the driver. The seat is designed to protect the driver’s vital organs under the rib cage, and the seat belt ensures a much higher degree of restraint than in normal cars. The head and neck are restrained as well. Nets on windows protect the driver’s arms, and flaps prevent cars from getting airborne. Windshields are made of soft materials which do not shatter on impact. Fuel tanks have special safety features as well. NASCAR requires that race cars have restrictor plates which keep top speeds within limits, but some argue that this increases the risks of collisions when cars race close to each other and in groups. Driver helmets are especially designed for high speed impact, and suits are made of flame retardant material. You can be sure that no stone is knowingly left unturned to ensure the safety of your favorite NASCAR drivers and their auto racing adversaries as well! Safety is not a static thing, and NASCAR is a pioneer in bringing the best protective technology to the race track.

Buying a Used Race Car

You cannot spend all your life as a spectator in auto racing. There has to be a time when you get behind the wheel and try your own hand at auto racing. There are many events where you can make a start and tracks where you can enjoy practicing, or perhaps even just driving alone at high speeds. You will be in the market for a second hand car which you can race, sooner or later, if you stay with car racing as a pastime. Here are 3 top things to read every morning before you set off for an auction or a show to pick up a used race car to start your own career in auto racing:

• The seller matters more than the merchandise! A second hand car may not look like you can show it off on a first date, but you should be more concerned about the antecedents of the team or an individual selling it. A reputed team will not harm its image by selling you a lemon. A trusted friend, or someone who has the patience to answer your questions, can make up for many doubts which you may have about a purchase. Engage the seller in discussion, and prefer someone who will be available on the telephone, or even for a quick face-to-face meeting for all kinds of things which will crop up after you have driven a used car home.

• Look for all parts except the main one! The number of new or recently installed parts in a used car matter a great deal. The engine block and its key components are not likely to be amongst them! Used cars buyers commonly get nasty surprises when the engines of their recent purchases fail miserably. Perhaps the previous owners did not even know, for engines are notorious for hiding budding problems, until they literally blow up in your face. You may feel encouraged as a seller sings praises of the engine of a car up for sale, but you should discount such talk in your best interests. Try to value a used car in your mind more for the new and recent parts which it has, because that translates in to real savings for you over the term of your ownership.

• Cut your deck by a third. Keep enough of your budget for keeping your used car track ready, and for actual racing as well. Avoid stretching your funds so much over an irresistible purchase that you have to just keep it in the garage to admire! Be prepared for unforeseen expenses in maintaining your used car.

A good way of ensuring that you take care of all 3 of the buying points is to attend auctions and fairs and to network with auto racing professionals. Love at first sight does not work in car racing, and you need to look around and shop hard before you buy a used race car.

NASCAR Memorabilia

Add NASCAR to your wardrobe! Do you envy fellow spectators at track side for their NASCAR caps? Would you love to carry a NASCAR wallet? How about a tool belt like real pit crew members wear? Top quality leather jackets and stylish cowboy boots really stand out in a crowd, and make distinctive statements even outside the NASCAR racing arena. Clothes and personal accessories are reat ways of adding to your NASCAR enjoyment, and letting the world know of your auto racing passion!

Framed pictures of the tracks at which you have witnessed top races are great for your office and home. Relive the excitement and thunder of NASCAR to brighten up each day! Drapes, floor mats, and wall clocks, are other ways to keep NASCAR within sight and in mind, as you go about the chores of daily life, and when you are away from the NASCAR circuit. They also make for perfect gifts for other NASCAR fanatics who are your friends!

Model cars make for the best NASCAR memorabilia as far as many fans are concerned. You can buy replicas of your favorite cars fused in elegant display units, which add a touch of class to any décor. Personal work space is the best spot for these models in cases, because it keeps you close to NASCAR on the job, and it tells your clients and colleagues about your favorite sport!

NASCAR has an amazing range of objects of everyday use with their endearing symbol to keep you close to the track at all times. You can add to your collection in affordable bits, and build a superb collection over time. It will add to your car racing enjoyments, and blend well with your sportive personality. You can buy any of the huge range of items on the Internet, and have them delivered right to your doorstep. Remember to visit web sites and to check out stores at tracks often, for there are always some great deals going! Many items do not remain in stock for a long time, so you have to make sure that you get your ‘must-haves’ before others lay hand son them! NASCAR collectibles can be as exciting as being a driver!

The Best NASCAR Sites

Some NASCAR fans choose top events to attend in person. There are some races which are best known, such as the Daytona 500. Many legends surround these races which have been run for decades. Drivers and owners know that they cannot keep their standings without participating in such events. Public interest in the NASCAR circuit grows each year, and it can be quite a chore to choose race tracks at which to book tickets.

How about choosing NASCAR events to attend based on the attractions of tracks and the cities in which they have been built? This is not to say that Daytona Beach is not worth visiting, but perhaps you would also like to look around some new places? How about combining your NASCAR time with some quality sight-seeing and recreation? There are many choices in the United States, given that NASCAR is now national, but here are two top favorites from the vacation-cum-auto racing stand point, with best locales and city attractions.

No one can tire of Las Vegas! You must die to go if you have never been there, and long to return to experience some more of the excitement, if you are a regular on the Strip! The Nevada Mountains make for some great outdoor activities, quite apart from the evening romance of Las Vegas, and it is also a favorite with corporations for business events. Now here is the bonus: Las Vegas is also a top NASCAR site!

The Las Vegas Motor Speedway is not far from the Strip, but no two locales could be as far removed. The track where NASCAR events take place has such a barren setting that you feel as though you have come for a contest between gladiators! Indeed, the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 is run as though the teams are at each other’s throats! The NASCAR excitement at Las Vegas is as breathtaking as the action in the casinos, and the Nevada countryside makes for an enthralling setting for auto racing.

It is almost the same at Phoenix, though hospitality in this part of the United States adds to the normal NASCAR pleasures. The Phoenix International Raceway has an unbeatable location in the foothills, and there is a summer weekend of auto racing which will meet your NASCAR desires in full! 9 turns on a 1-mile oval track with a paved surface brings out the best in drivers, and NASCAR professionals agree that Phoenix racing is unbeatable for spectator values.

So how about combining NASCAR and vacations? Las Vegas and Phoenix await your pleasure!

The NASCAR Phenomenon

Have NASCAR heroes become bigger than auto racing itself? Adulation for driving skills is one thing, but excessive interest in the personal lives of top drivers, team members and owners, may signal a need to pause and reflect. Perhaps worship has no limits! Some observers are astounded by the rapidly climbing NASCAR influence: it certainly sets the U.S. apart!

Since automobile ownership and driving are so common in the country, it would be appear that people find it easier to exploits in NASCAR racing than at other sports. Surveys show that even people who do not follow auto racing closely, know of and admire the best of NASCAR!

Some guys have it all! Top NASCAR drivers are good looking as well, and attract stunning models like wasps to a light! Weddings in the car racing fraternity can be mega events. Media will pay just about anything for even a single stolen photo of a private wedding ceremony. Some NASCAR heroes have latched on to this new money-making opportunity like top Hollywood actors, and go to great lengths to milk as much as they can from pictures of the most important days of their private lives! The luckiest ones do not even have to go to the lengths of a marriage-even a casual social event or a chance public encounter is enough to set off paparazzi frenzy!

The craze is not limited to drivers or to the media for that matter! Even hardened cops look the other way when a top NASCAR boss breaks the law, or let them off as lightly as possible! Does anyone deserve special treatment because they happen to work for NASCAR? However, this cuts both ways and perhaps we make too much out of even the simplest incident concerning anyone around NASCAR!

Public adoration is notoriously fickle, so the top NASCAR heroes of today should watch out! There could be rookie drivers and computer nerds planning for future events, even as our blue-eyed men party! It is tough to make a mark on the NASCAR circuit, but no one can afford to let guards slip when it comes to holding position against the competition. That is not too different from the reality of laps is it?