NASCAR: Why are they called 'Stock' cars?

[indianablue]

Having decals that resemble the cars they are supposed to be doe snot make them stock.

So can we stop with the B.S.

I like NASCAR if I wan to a nap and can not fall asleep I just watch and before I know it I am out.

[ohio_liberal]

1. Because 20 years ago they

were stock cars. They literally used a cutout from cars off showroom floors.

[indianablue]

3. well that day has long passed. NT

[ohio_liberal]

4. But the name stays the same

It's been around too long to change it

"doe snot" :)

[Joe the Revelator]

5. Is this really that important to you?

I'm not trying to be a smartass, i'm honesty curious.

[Tux]

2. Stupid

Real auto racing (http://www.scaa.org) doesn't have near endless laps, points, or cars with more stickers than paint. If they could drop those and the inbreds, it's be respectable.

[frylock]

7. take it from someone who watches many different racing series..

NASCAR is real and legitimate racing.

[ohio_liberal]

8. I love it

Minus the rednecks who make it all look bad.

But then, I love all racing. :)

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. LMAO!! NASCAR is the Professional Wrestling of Motorsport

And i am IN THE BUSINESS!

Seen on a T-Shirt;

"Real race cars dont have
roofs,
fenders,
doors,
trunks,
headlights,
gunracks
or mechanics named "Bubba"

With all due respect, most Americans wouldnt know proper motorsport if it ran over their foot.

And again, I make my living involved with NASCAR and have worked in Motor Racing in this country for over 20 years, professionally since 1988

[ohio_liberal]

11. never mind

delete

[Bombero1956]

14. why do you work at something

that you apparently don't like. Why involve yourself in a sport for which you have such a low opinion.

[A HERETIC I AM]

17. I am involved in Mobile Marketing and Promotions.

The company i work for has many clients, some of which are either team sponsors or otherwise involved in NASCAR racing. The program i have been assigned to is NASCAR related. I rarely go to races these days because i do peripheral promotions but i have been to hundreds in the past, working in Pit Lane, the garage area, as a corner worker/safety Marshall (I was a nationally licensed flagging and communications official) and in the infield. I spent 7 years working in Indy Car Racing which i loved, but has been turned into a SHELL of it's former self by the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I wear an Indy 500 winning team ring and am very proud of it.

I do what i do because i am damned good at it and i love it. I deal with people every day and promote a product. The product is, in part, NASCAR but just because i have the opinion i have of the genre, it doesn't mean i cant do my job well.

My opinion has more to do with the rules and the rule making than anything else. Not that you asked, but in the old days, NASCAR really was STOCK CAR RACING. The teams used to buy a production car, modify the body for safety, modify the engine for horsepower and speed and then hit the track. THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE ITEM on a modern NEXTEL Cup car that is actually stock. The ONLY provision in the rules that makes a Chevy and a Ford what it is in that series is the engine block and the heads. THATS IT. They have to be at the very least blank castings (Rough, not yet milled) which the larger teams mill, port, polish, etc themselves. Lower budget teams buy "Crate" engines from the manufacturer that are sold for racing purposes only

When was the last time you could go into a Chevrolet dealer and buy a 700 HP, 4-barrel carbureted, rear-wheel-drive, 4 speed manual Lumina?

Stock cars my ass.

[frylock]

19. real race cars dont have roofs, fenders, doors, blahblahblah..

well, so much for:

SCCA
ALMS
Trans-Am
Carrera Supercup
Aussie V8 Supercars
etc.

Let me venture a guess that you're a fan of the ever compelling F1. I'll lay out the boat race that is the F1 season for you. Schumacher wins the pole. Schumacher wins the race. Schumacher wins the season. I enjoy drivers racing each other, and not drivers racing the circuit. To each his own.

[ohio_liberal]

24. You forgot

Schumacher's teammate pulls over so he can win the race. :)

[ohio_liberal]

20. OK, now I'm ready this morning to get into it

most Americans wouldnt know proper motorsport if it ran over their foot

Who decides what is "proper motorsport"? You?

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. By no means. I just know a parochial contrivance when i see one

and as is evidenced by our current president, the prevalence of fundamentalism and the popularity of NASCAR, most Americans dont. Oh the hell with it NASCAR IS THE GREATEST RACING SERIES IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There I drank the koolaid

[Ilsa]

16. Except when they cheated and let Dale Earnhart win

that race the year after his daddy died.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. I think you must have meant "SCCA" not the

Specialty Coffee Association of America

www.SCCA.org

[Tux]

18. Thanks.

I got confused again. In the South, no one can hear the bored scream.

[auburngrad82]

21. what does specialty coffee have to do with racing? eom

[rzemanfl]

6. The same reason wrestlers are called wrestlers instead of "male

apache dancers."

[Bombero1956]

12. A state by state

breakdown of where drivers were born shows that the state with the most drivers is California with 6. The others are:

North Carolina-5 *
Missouri-4
Virginia-4 *
Indiana-4
Wisconsin-3
Washington-2
Nevada-2
Kentucky-2 *
Texas-2 *
Arkansas-1 *
Connecticut-1
Florida-1 *
Georgia-1 *
Ohio-1
Oregon-1
Tennessee-1 *

By my count only 8 out of 17 states are truly southern states and 24 out of 41 drivers hail from outside the south so therefore the term "redneck" no longer applies. Nascar has spread well beyond it's original southern roots and now is a nationwide sport.

[Lex]

15. Good lord--do you think "redneck" only applies to the South?

Ever been to Oklahoma? Kansas? rural Ohio? etc. etc.

Believe me, "redneck" is not a term that applies only to the South.

I've travelled all over this great country, and there are rednecks in each and every state.

[ohio_liberal]

22. You're right

You can find a redneck anywhere. But, in terms of the drivers, not very many qualify as the "good ol' boys" that were in the series 15 years ago.

[Blue-Jay]

23. heh heh heh!

"male apache dancers".

Funny!

[LastDemocratInSC]

13. I can't stand NASCAR but I do know that ...

The cars are no longer "stock" because there has been, for many years, an attempt to make the skill of the driver the greater determinant in winning races. The cars must meet standards that make them almost identical in form and function. It's the real-time issues of driver, track condition, tires, and who-hits-whom that determines who wins. That's their intention, anyway.

Also, stock car racing grew out of the souped-up cars used during the Prohibition era to transport homebrew liquor from manufacturer to dealer. The area in which I live (Upstate SC) was a center of that activity and is remains one of the most loyal communities to the sport.

I still can't stand it, though. Now ... the Chimney Rock Hill Climb ... that's my style.