MetaFilter posts tagged with nascar

Yesterday a Car Went Airborne

zzazazz — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:47:08 -0800

During the last lap of the NASCAR race at Talladega Super Speedway the car in the lead got tapped by the second place car and went airborne and smashed into the catch fence. The frightening wreck resulted in injuries to seven fans. NASCAR has been using the dreaded restrictor plate (a plate that fits over the carburetor and restricts the flow of gasoline and slows the cars down) since 1987 after Bobby Allison had a similar wreck at the same track. NASCAR officials still give lip service to their commitment to safety but it's well known that NASCAR doesn't really do anything until someone dies in a wreck. David Poole, who writes for the Charlotte Observer is one of the few members of the media calling NASCAR out on this .

Oops! The magnet was an accident.

Eekacat — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:22:04 -0800

NASCAR as little as they like it, has it's roots in Moonshine. Junior Johnson, one of the early heroes who is considered the greatest to never win a championship, has even gone legal with it after getting his start running Moonshine for his father. He was even the subject of a 1965 Tom Wolfe Essay as the Last American Hero. The latest cheating scandal to hit NASCAR? Junior just says they were doing their job, being creative, and just got caught.

Open wheel racing: IRL and CART unification

jaimev — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:48:41 -0800

Over the past decade, as NASCAR's popularity has grown, and Formula 1 has expanded into new international markets, open wheel racing in the US has floundered along with 2 rival series: IRL and CART. With little sponsorship money, the loss of big-name drivers to retirement, F1 and NASCAR, this year's unification of IRL and CART was a long time coming, and may lead to a series that race fans may start caring about again.

Celebrity Daytona 500 Ticket Designs

sdrawkcab — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:01:42 -0800

"To celebrate the 50th running of the Daytona 500, some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment have created original artwork inspired by the Great American Race." The results look OK for a seven year old, but terrible for everyone else.

Real Confessions From Iraq

MapGuy — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 02:15:50 -0800

A Good Morning Coffee Read (or Tea or Grass Juice or Gammel Dansk ; ). The warden of Fallouja.

Political NASCAR - Sponsor a Senator

riley370 — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 22:17:20 -0800

Here are the NASCAR-style uniforms they would wear if companies were proud of their political donations, and if running for senate required a flame-retardant suit.

E-meter racing

caddis — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 12:41:53 -0800

Xenu's chariot. Gentlemen, ~~ignite your potential~~ start your Thetans.

Taste the excitement!

mr_crash_davis — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 13:39:02 -0800

You might be a redneck if ... you enjoy Jeff Foxworthy Jerky. Or maybe you'd prefer some NASCAR brand meat. Remember when sports food tie-ins were simpler? Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? via spofi

Aero Warriors: Putting rubber to pavement at 200mph.

Mitheral — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:18:11 -0800

Aero Warriors: Battling at super speedways on Sunday to sell cars on Monday. In 1969 only showroom stock cars were permitted in NASCAR sanctioned events. This meant in order to compete a car had to be produced and available through dealers in minimum quantities. Only minor changes for racing were allowed. And in 1969 Ford and Chrysler were locked in a Battle Royale to win races. To this end both produced cars designed to dominate on the 1+ mile speedways. For Chrysler: the Dodge Charger 500, Dodge Charger Daytona, and Plymouth Road Runner Superbird. For Ford: the Ford Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II. Aero Warriors is the story and history of these street legal, 200mph (320kph) capable, wildly winged cars from the Chrysler side of the line.

Chautauquas & Nascar

gilgamix — Sun, 22 May 2005 16:55:40 -0800

Chautauquas, and (as early as the 1830's) Lyceums, were perhaps America's first experiments in a truly Mass Culture. Everyone from this guy to this guy took the stage.
These days? Budweiser and Home Depot continue this fine American tradition.
Hey, at least its not a Medicine Show.

Together at last...

rusty — Fri, 09 Apr 2004 14:10:51 -0800

NASCAR Ballet See also: Jerry Springer, the Opera. It's like we can hardly even count on high culture and low culture being separate anymore. If only there had been some way to see this coming.

NASCAR White House

stupidsexyFlanders — Wed, 25 Feb 2004 13:01:48 -0800

Welcome to "Ask the White House" -- an online interactive forum where you can submit questions to Bush administration officials. Currently taking questions: NASCAR's Michael Waltrip. Pandering doesn't get any more naked than this, does it? (Via TPM)

Behold my Dale Earnhardt Geraniums!

machaus — Sat, 13 Sep 2003 09:05:38 -0800

Reverend Victoria's NASCAR Garden...

Pay FOX so you can write for them!

sassone — Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:38:17 -0800

Got $100? Then you can pay FOX Sports Net to let you be their NASCAR columnist!

Superspeedway... Thanks for asking!

machaus — Sun, 13 Jul 2003 13:49:05 -0800

Gaytona.com... A site for gay NASCAR fans.

Oops.

mark13 — Sun, 11 May 2003 15:02:52 -0800

North Carolina governer crashes into speedway wall in NASCAR stunt, also promises to name bridge after American Idol idiot. I never thought I'd be forced to vote Republican this soon. . .

NASCAR, Nee-Ha!

owillis — Sun, 09 Mar 2003 09:32:14 -0800

Are you ready for some... NASCAR? "Consider, 4 out of 5 NBA players are African American, 67 percent of NFL players are minorities, and last season, 23 percent of major league baseball players were born in Spanish-speaking countries (an increase of 40 percent from 1989). All of those sports, except football, are experiencing a dip in popularity. Meanwhile, the conspicuously white NASCAR is on an unprecedented run up the profit chart."

Where exactly does he get all that urine anyway?

Stan Chin — Fri, 17 Jan 2003 00:03:11 -0800

Angry at something? Have Calvin pee on it. (gallery here) Perhaps the most popular form of American expression in the last decade (Aside from Jesus Fish Vs. Darwin Fish), I've personally seen Calvin pee on at least 5 NASCAR drivers, prayed to 2 religions, and given me the finger twice. What does Bill Watterson think about this? Wait... no, I'm sorry, this is what he really thinks about licensing. I think if you've proliferated the rape of my favorite comic strip you should spend an eternity with Jeff Gordon peeing on your head.

mediareport — Wed, 08 May 2002 22:25:55 -0800

"NASCAR has sold its soul to the devil," says 45-year-old veteran driver Ricky Rudd, who's thinking about retirement. Maybe he's just pissed about losing to younger competitors. Or maybe he has a point when he says, "They are massaging this thing to target a certain crowd and before you know it, they'll have us up there flexing and in bathing suits like we're professional wrestlers." NASCAR's definitely been trying to broaden its appeal in other ways. And when is the increasingly popular racing world going to start requiring soft wall technology at all of its tracks, anyway? Last Sunday's wreck during Indy 500 practice seems to have convinced one driver, at least, that soft walls work.

machaus — Tue, 31 Jul 2001 17:44:23 -0800

Cheat! Win a new car! Ford's website tie-in to the NASCAR race series looks fairly normal on first glance. It's a contest that offers prizes (Grand Prize a new Taurus) based on picking the top Ford finishers in each week's race. However, the website is riddled with issues. Enough issues that no one should win a prize when all is said and done. More inside:

norm — Mon, 16 Apr 2001 16:49:09 -0800

Dale Earnhardt didn't die of seatbelt failure. An expert hired by the Orlando Sentinal to examine the autopsy photos we discussed earlier concluded that the restraint system didn't fail, and his injuries will just have to be blamed on something else. Hooray for freedom of the press!

aaron — Tue, 03 Apr 2001 11:46:31 -0800

Now they're putting URLs on our license plates. This Internet thing has finally gone too far. (Though the thought of Dale Earnhardt license plates is itself disturbing.)

headlemur — Mon, 05 Mar 2001 05:43:44 -0800

Teresa Earnhart Speaks about the attempts by some folks to acquire her husbands, (Dale Earnhart) autopsy photographs.

tregoweth — Sun, 25 Feb 2001 07:36:55 -0800

Sal Amander — Wed, 21 Feb 2001 08:07:35 -0800

Yes, I'll admit it, I'm a Nascar fan, and although I never rooted for Dale Earnhardt (just yelled at him), I respected him and will miss him. But it's just plain sick that the racer that bumped him, Sterling Marlin, is getting death threats against him and his family.