Here's a few things to consider
Every race there are 43 cars that get to race but many more try to qualify.
That means you have 43 cars / 43 drivers / 43 race teams / several automotive brands all competing
at the same time against each other in every race.
If you are a football fan you watch your favorite team play ONE other team in a game. NASCAR fans get to see their favorites compete
against ALL the others each week. While the average football game has about 70,000 spectators, the upcoming Daytona 500 will have well over
200,000. You could go to a race with six friends and each one could have someone different to cheer for and that makes it fun too.
Some people have a favorite driver they root for. Some people root for a team or owner and some want a chevy or ford etc. to win.
NASCAR fans are fanatic and hate the others as much as they love their favorites. They are also some of the coolest people of any sporting event around. A race is usually sunday afternoon but they will tailgate ALL weekend and are always willing to share a beer and a burger. What's better than going to an event where EVERYONE around you is having as much fun as you.
As for the actual racing, the competition is incredible. Going into the turn at 190 mph 4 cars wide and bumper to bumper is hard to imagine.
There are strict rules they must follow but because the competition is so close any minute alteration may mean the difference between winning and placing 20 th.
Because of that the race shops now have state of the art machinery to help innovate and build better and faster race cars. It's really cool to see what people come up with and how NASCAR handles it. Some call it cheating. Some say there is a gray area in the rules and some teams push the limit in an effort to gain an edge.
For example several years ago there was no rule in the book as to how long the gas line in the car had to be. The gas tank however was a certain size. Someone got the idea to have a lot longer gas line which would hold more gas making them have to come in less to pit stop which would be a big advantage. NASCAR found out and made a new rule that the gas line could only be a certain length. Then somebody thought nothing was said about the diameter of the line so they put in a big fat hose that was the right length but held more gas giving them an advantage.
The windshields are made of lexan which is required by NASCAR but the thickness wasn't stated. All the teams used the same product but one team discovered that using a thinner windshield allowed it to flex taking a different shape under speed and creating more down force giving that car a huge advantage especially at certain tracks. This was finally discovered by NASCAR and another rule was made.
Again with the competition so close it's really interesting to see how creative and innovative the teams are. You don't find that in football. I think their last big breakthrough was that band aid on the nose thingy.
The TV coverage is awesome ( except for the commercials every five minutes ) They do a great pre race show, the cameras are everywhere and catch everything. You really get to know the drivers and their teams through the coverage as opposed to what the NFL does with their players.
If you watch the race on TV you won't miss a thing. They have it covered. If you attend a race live it's a huge event with always something to do or see in and outside the track. If you can understand what they are really doing you can't help but appreciate it.
I've been to a lot of different sporting events over the years and NOTHING come close to what NASCAR does. Here's a few pics I took at Daytona.
