Auto Racing: Passionate NASCAR enthusiasts are divided!

Should the NASCAR circuit return to the past glory of stock cars, or continue with race cars? The thrill of today’s NASCAR events really take one’s breath away, but you could be forgiven for wondering, after the dust settles down, whether the wins are more of driving skills or just fancy engineering!

It was not always like this. Stock cars were the in thing when NASCAR was born less than 60 years ago. The Daytona Beach surface was part of the thrill when the NASCAR circuit began to develop. Car buyers could see the stuff of which their favorite models were made!

Blame World War II, not NASCAR for the ascent of race cars! It was not like today when you can walk in to a show room, and drive out with wheels which take your fancy. New automobiles were kind of scarce in the early 1950s, so NASCAR figured that it did not make much sense bashing the few new cars around on racing tracks. Much of the NASCAR circuit had to rely on old models which no one wanted anymore. The idea of doing up cars to make them fit for racing was born.

NASCAR has gone off the track somewhere along the line! Engineering and technology have taken over, though not everyone can drive these fancy machines. But we lose out because NASCAR has become far removed from the real world of driving in which we live. Hudson, Kaiser, and Mercury were amongst the popular entrants in the early days of the NASCAR circuit, and they have rightly faded away from our minds because stock racing showed them in true light.

What if U.S. consumers were to see their new favorite models from Japan and wherever race with the best that our country can make? That is why stock car racing deserves our support. Look at the treatment the Winston Cup Series has got! We had to change the name to suit a new sponsor because the Winston product is bad for health, and now Nextel the new sponsor has gone and got acquired!

Are you in to race cars or stock car racing? Tell NASCAR and us what you think!