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I was literally yelling at the screen that they’re not small taps when you’re going that fast. Especially when you get hit in the quarter panel you’re going to get spun there’s no small tap
@@DeathsKirch they have a ton of downforce, the issue is that if the front is lifted even a little bit, the undercarriage provides a crap ton of lift. The car turns into a wing at that point.
These cars arent light it's just the physics. They're going so fast that it doesnt take much to spin them. Some of the contact is light or none at all but bc they're going so fast the force is multiplied. Then when they turn sideways the air gets underneath the car bc these cars arent designed to slide sideways. Theyre meant to go straight.
@@MOBOBBA2166 that's real, but not by much, and in case of the 747 it depends on a lot of factors, since it's not land speed that matters, but air speed: if it's rolling with a strong front wind, the takeoff speed will be lower, but a typical 747 will take off at 160 knots, or 184 mph
They don’t have back seats, they don’t have headlights or tail lights so the mechanics for much of the electrics is removed, the cars are made of steel tubing, flat sheet metal and fiberglass specifically to keep them as light as possible.
@@Hey_Jamie They are limited to a minimum weight. They could be sub 2200lb if the rules allowed for that. GT1's and Super GT's were/are 1100kg/2422lb, LMP1's are typically 850kg's / 1870lb with added weights. Notice all these have headlights, wipers etc.
NASCAR is bigger in some parts in the US more than others, if you were in California you would find less nascar fans than southeastern states like the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida
"How is everyone surviving?" You notice all the clips in the video are newer clips lol, wrecks this bad that happened 25+ years ago didn't turn out as well
True. By my understanding, every fatal crash has brought about major safety upgrades, and the last was Dale Earnhardt Sr. Picture Ronaldo or Messi getting killed on the pitch playing football and that's close to the reaction when Earnhardt died. If you watch, all the cabins are perfectly intact and all fire is contained to the engine bay.
The added drag flaps that deploy when the cars are backwards greatly cut down the chance the car can get airborne in a wreck...20 plus years ago you had cars being launched in every direction before the flaps were installed.
@@WayneFielder Man. Fuck Matt Kenseth for that. To this day I hate him. There's racing for a win and wrecking people, then there's being laps down and wrecking the leader. Matt Kenseth was a bitch that day.
David Little yeah the fact that there’s so much downforce on the car and the fact that they are going so fast, if the car lifts up just a little bit then it’s gonna go flying
@@givepaddytheemmy4535 Incorrect. There isn't much downforce on the car at all when they are going forwards but there is a net downward push that keeps them on the ground. When they turn around backwards, the spoiler being at the drastic angle to the wind that it is combined with the much higher rear bumper allowing air to pack underneath the car provides lift like an airplane wing. This is why the cars have roof flaps to try and keep them on the ground incase they get turned around. Even with this innovation, they still find a way to go airborne on occasion.
When a crash happens, a safety car comes out to slow the field down until the wreck is cleaned up. Very rarely fans have been injured. the first video where a car went flying, one person who was tagging along with family and wasn’t even a fan got hit in chin and received surgery a lot for the next (forgot the years) Yes, people have crash themselves and others on purpose before, but always lead to penalties Safety within cars and the drivers is better than ever nowadays, so deaths have not happened since 2001 when Dale Earnhardt was killed from a last lap crash. There is definitely lots more to Nascar than crashes. you could watch more crash videos, best finishes, saves, biggest flips, rare moments, or even he venue sizes edit:luka if u read this look at replies as well
That, and the crash technology in place. Crunch points, which take up the most of the kinetic energy that comes from crashes, as well as safety straps, and roll cages, of course. The big ones are the roll cages, so nobody gets crushed. The reason why there is so much damage to the body of the car is *because* it's designed to take and absorb that damage and lessen it on the driver.
@David Pielord Because the HANS device wasn't mandatory at the time. Fractured Skull killed Dale Sr. His son; Dale Jr. and teammate Michael Waltrip pulling away to a 1-2 finish was the last thing he saw before being turned into the wall on the back straight away. The HANS device was made mandatory in NASCAR...8 months after Dale Sr's death
As far as the history, stock car racing comes from moonshine runners. They needed cars that looked stock but that could outrun the cops. When prohibition ended, they became race car drivers.
That's not exactly how it went but close...... the moonshine runners started souping their own cars up so they could be faster and handle better than the police cars chasing them. The runners were most likely your average farmer or store worker during the day and drove an average, every day GM, Ford, or Chrysler that you bought at your local dealer that was not purpose built as a police car. So to make them faster than police cars they took out unneeded and unnecessary equipment to reduce weight like seats, interior trim, radios, and other non-essentials. Then they'd spend time drilling out the carburetors and cylinders and valves in their own garages to make the engine faster. Then they took their springs off and cut their springs down to make the car lower and turn faster. After a few years of doing this all the moonshiners started racing EACH OTHER on the back roads, claiming "my car is faster than yours". Trying to see who had the faster cars. This started out as an underground illegal and shady activity but before long word of mouth spread and it became a hobby for people who weren't even involved in moonshining. The hot rod was born and people needed a place to race off the city roads, so they started racing first on the beaches along the southeast coast of the country, then they built race tracks. The race tracks were a hodge-podge of different levels of racing and car building until Bill France Sr. realized there needed to be a governing body and an organized business to what everyone was doing and thus, in 1948, the National Association of Stock Car Racing was born. Until the early 1970s, the cars that raced on the tracks were what you could buy at the dealer. Then they started building dedicated racing chassis and by the early 1980s the race cars only looked similar to the stock cars you could buy at your local dealer.
“These guys have balls” Thank you for noticing. Too many Americans think they’re wimps. Hoping you do another video on this. Maybe a NASCAR’s greatest finishes reaction?
Not that their wimps. You obviously have to have strength, stamina, and intellect to race at that level. It's just not a very exciting sport for people to watch, car culture in general is dying.
yeah and this may be putting it morbidly but what i think killed the sport is just how safe it became. after the stockcar safety improvement that happened after Dale's death, the viewership has been on a steady decrease. hell some tracks are going bankrupt cause there's just not enough money flowing towards them.
@@amps. yes about as boring as Formula 1, Formula E, Formula Drift, IMSA, Indy car, TORC, WRC, Motocross, Monster Jam, and any other sport I forgot to mention. in other words, you could call any sport boring so what's your point.
You're both wrong, Jimmie Johnson is the Tom Brady of NASCAR. He even had the Belichick of NASCAR as his crew chief and the Robert Kraft of NASCAR as his owner. Earnhardt was the Terry Bradshaw. Richard Petty was the Joe Montana based on their attitudes and brashness. Petty was a gentleman like Montana, Earnhardt was the rough neck like Bradshaw.
@Dylan Rehm You're over thinking. B4 I wrote TB, I was going to say MJ but I went with TB. Since LL is new to NASCAR, I'm assuming he doesn't know who DE is, so I used TB as a reference point of the stature of DE in NASCAR.....nothing more nothing less.
@Dylan Rehm in that case Gordon and Evernham were that Pats before the Pats ever became them. If you weren't a Gordon fan, you wanted Gordon dead. He'll, Reno 911 even said "an execution is like going to a NASCAR race and you know Jeff Gordon's gonna die.
@Holy shit, it's a talking muffin I have seen photos and they look nothing alike. And Brady is anything but humble. The guy's a douchebag. I can't stand the fucker. I hope he retires or comes back for one more season and loses every game. That would be a fitting end to make up for all those wins he had when he was young.
DanishGhostRider all Motorsports series are scary and fascinating have you ever seen the LeMans racing? Or indycar ? Isle of Man TT is insane those super bikes are something else but all these motorsports are similar yet different Idk I’m fucking high S
They don't keep driving after a crash, they put out a caution where everybody basically lines back up and restarts the race like they do at the beginning, but with their positions from the wreck
Not for a Caution flag, all they do is bring a pace car onto the track and slow down the traffic until they clear the debris off the track, they don't stop and restart. The only time they stop the race is for a red flag.
Yeah, it's a red flag that makes everyone stop. Caution/yellow flags are when everyone maintains position, has a good chance to get in a pit stop, lets the pace car take the lead, and drives around the track until either a red flag is issued or the race resumes with a green. A good example of a red flag you'll be able to find easily is when Juan Pablo Montoya ran into a track dryer at Daytona and started a jet fuel fire (yup, the track dryers use jet fuel); they had to halt the race with a red at that point because the fire was dripping down over a significant section of track.
These cars are driving nearly 200 MPH and sometimes more. They are normally going right at the very edge of the capabilities of car to maintain traction and control. So that is why just the very slightest touch of another car can cause one to lose control. Sometimes they don't even have to actually touch, just the cushion of air or bubble of air around one car being forced into the cushion of the other car can upset it enough to cause it to lose control. They are all literally driving on the razors edge of control. As for how many times does it happen during a race? That varies from maybe just one or two, to upwards or ten or more. Most aren't to the degree of those in the video. Some may only involve one or a few cars. They usually go to a yellow flag condition when wrecks occur depending on the severity to the accident. Yellow means they have to slow way way down and then they follow a pace car at very low speed until it is all cleaned up. No passing is allowed during that time either. Many teams will take time to get fuel and tires during these yellow flags because you don't lose as much track position as when the cars are going full speed. If the accident is really bad, they go to a red flag condition and all cars are stopped on the track until things are cleaned up. Once the yellow or red condition is clear, the pace car pulls off and the cars line up 2 x 2 in the positioned they were when the accident happened and they move at a lower speed towards the start/finish line until the green flag is waved and then the racing starts back up again. It really can be a lot of fun to watch. There is a lot more involved than just a bunch or cars going around in a circle.
Saw an interview with Chase Elliott one time and he was asked if he thought he could handle his dad's infamous superspeedway car and he said no. Don't remember the quote exactly, but I think Bill said something along the lines it was starting to scare him and the car was always on the edge of losing it.
Tears Vicroy the first nascars to ever break 200 was the Dodge Charger daytona ( I believe went 205) and the Plymouth superbird ( I believe went 203) they eventually won so many races that they were banned for having to big of an advantage, in other words nascar being nascar constantly making new rules , hell its not even stock car racing anymore at least you could by the Daytona and superbird. Anyway sorry for the rant I just really hate nascar especially since they added that new stage system.
@@jgfarley23 Same. The crash before Dale's in that same race was way scarier. I remember everybody was in total shock when his was a confirmed fatality. Honestly, that's when I stopped watching NASCAR. I just couldn't anymore.
liked! Finally someone who isn’t a fan of nascar that doesn’t trash talk it immediately😂 I really appreciate you being open minded off the bat unlike other people.
As for surviving these wrecks, these cars have a huge number of safety features built-in specifically to save the driver's life, and when a wreck does claim a life, you can almost guarantee there will be a new mandatory safety feature enacted the next season that would have prevented that death. NASCAR takes safety pretty seriously. The biggest safety feature is, the entire cab of the car is one giant safety cage, and the driver is so heavily strapped to that cage they basically can't move. Pretty much every other part of the car is designed to be ripped free, taking energy with it, energy that would otherwise go into the cage and driver. The same way you see an F1 car explode when wrecked, the more energy that can be shed by parts being ripped off the less there is for the driver to absorb.
I attended the Daytona 500 this past year which is their “biggest race” and there was over 150,000 people there between the stands and infield campers. Back in the 90’s-00’s NASCAR was the largest spectator sport in the world. In the late 00’s - early 10’s the sport kind of got away from there core audience and declined in viewership and attendance pretty severely. In the past couple years, those numbers have started to make their way back up as NASCAR realized their wrong doings. The last death was in 2001 at the Daytona 500 and it’s was sadly the biggest star the sport has ever seen and a name known everywhere in the US and largely the world, Dale Earnhardt. Believe it or not flipping isn’t the worst type of crash, straight hard hits are because the force has no where to dissipate. Check this video out, it’ll give you a better understanding. Check out a video on RU-vid called 5 things you need to know before watching a NASCAR race to educate yourself, and 2019 Daytona 500 highlights after that. Seems so simple but it is SO complex. Inches separate these guys at 200+ MPH and millimeters on car setups separates winning cars from losing cars. Cheers!
NASCAR was at it's highest popularity in 2004-2006. Not the 1990s. The recession and high ticket prices played a pretty big role in it's decline as well along with some of the changes made at the time. It's still one of the biggest sports in the US. And contrary to popular belief NASCAR is making more money than ever thanks to broadcasting and sponsorship contracts
William Stilton while those were the height of the sport, the 90’s into the 2000’s was a straight upward increase in everything from merch, viewership, and attendance. The changes as I stated as well as you is what really hurt the sport. Especially the COT, that absolutely didn’t help things. While they still are making and bringing in an absolute ton of money, everything in the sport also is costing an all time high. So margins aren’t what they used to be. Hopefully the new car in 2021 will help some of those issues. Glad to talk with another big NASCAR fan though man!
“How are these guys surviving this?” Well inside of those cars is a very overbuilt roll cage and specially designed seats that that the drivers are strapped into. The seats themselves are overbuilt to the point that drivers are barely able to turn their heads. Also to your comments about the sparks, F1 uses a mostly carbon fiber body, NASCAR uses sheet metal that is shaped to be a 1:1 match in width, length and body height of the production cars they are built to resemble. So if you park a production Ford Mustang next to a NASCAR Ford Mustang cosmetically they will be the same vehicle on the exterior.
NASCAR basically started back when these ole county boys were running illegal moonshine through the mountains and back roads. They got caught they got prison. Pretty amazing what comes out of being able to outrun the law man.
The drivers are strapped into a custom made chair that has a harness system close to what a fighter pilot has. Also the cars have a steel frame that is re-enforced in the driver's area. There is so much aerodynamic engineering and technology involved with building these cars it's crazy.
NASCAR is like a chariot race with internal combustion engines. I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but watching Formula 1 is like watching grass grow.
Yeah F1 is boring sometimes, even as an f1 fan I know that, I think i'm more of a fan of the cars and engineering behind them than the races themselves, but that'll change though, in 2022 there'll be new regulations to make the races more interesting, but still I do think F1 is overrated, but just to make things clear, racing is not crashing, there's a big difference in what americans and the rest of the world consider racing.
Alright, mate, you're asking for info, so I'm going to try to dump a bunch on you. I used to watch NASCAR a lot with my dad, drifted away from it so I don't really watch it these days (much more of a Formula 1 fan), but I know a lot about it from that time. With regards to the popularity, it was huge for a while but the crowds have died down quite a bit. Some recent races have shockingly empty stands. But the sport doesn't have the same personality it used to, and is kind of monotonous (can take 3-4 hours or more for a race, and almost every race is an oval), so it's lost interest with a lot of people. The guys in charge have made a lot of changes to help, but it's an uphill battle at this point. The cars aren't that light, they're just going really fast and carrying a lot of momentum. In the 1980s they started getting up over 200mph, especially with the heavy banking at "superspeedways" like Daytona and Talladega. One car got airborne and went into the fence and tore it up, so they decided to try to reduce speeds at those tracks with restrictor plates in the engines. The net result is the cars can't really break away from each other, and you need to have more cars behind you so combined they cut the air better and can go faster than another line on the track, and you end up with multiple lines alongside each other jockeying for position. They're so close that disrupting one car will get it out of position and there's no way for the others to avoid it, leading to "the big one," a pretty much guaranteed large crash at each race at those tracks. To combat the cars getting airborne, they also added flaps on top of the roofs that are meant to deploy and help keep the cars down, but they don't always work (as you can see here) because of the momentum they're carrying. People have died in the sport, but not many in the last couple decades. Dale Earnhardt died when his car took a sudden turn and went head-first into the wall at Daytona at around 200mph, and that prompted even more safety precautions. Many of the walls have "SAFER barriers" that absorb a lot of the momentum of an impact. Drivers wear head and neck restraints to keep their heads from whipping around. The core of the cars is built incredibly well, with a protective cage around the drivers. Even then, there's injuries, and one of the wrecks showed here did have an injury, IIRC. In one of those large wrecks you see the #3 black car, Dale Earnhardt, which got ran into in the roof by another car while on its side, and it resulted in a broken collarbone. Sometimes drivers hit an area without a SAFER barrier, and it can be enough of an impact to break a bone. Concussions also still occur. One of the more impressive accidents that showed how overall safe the vehicles are built was in the Crafstmen Truck Series, at Daytona, where Geoff Bodine's truck (basically like the cars but shaped like a truck) got all kinds of pounded and torn apart, so bad the engine was bouncing down the track and barely anything was left. He had several broken bones, but survived. You can see it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-k55h0XCF1t8.html As to the fans, sometimes some debris gets through the fence, and yes, there have been some fan injuries, but usually minor stuff. Those fences are very sturdy, which is why a car hitting the fence will end up pretty well shredded. Hitting the fence isn't great for the driver, because it pretty much stops momentum in that direction quickly, though it then tends to toss the car back out onto the track with renewed momentum. The aforementioned HANS device is very helpful for preventing head and neck injuries in those situations (or when they hit a wall head-on). And yes, some people watch for the wrecks. But it seems many of them have moved on. People are more conscious of the safety of athletes, so aren't as enthused to see crashes. (The drivers are less enthused, and have made a lot of noise about it. Before his fatal accident, Earnhardt was very vocal about how unsafe the restrictor plate races are, even though he tended to do very well at them.) It's like how the NFL is doing a lot of rule changes to protect players, and isn't receiving too much flak from fans as a lot of info's gotten out on the dangers of concussions. (Also, the many rules protecting quarterbacks are to ensure that fans don't have to watch a serious talent level drop at the most important position if a backup player has to step in.) Like I said, major info dump, but you asked a lot of questions, and hopefully I helped with some answers!
Nascar monster engry is much safer now, plus I am here to correct you, they race on oval, tri-oval, road course, and they a new road course called the Charlotte roval.
That's not really a correction... I said "almost every race is an oval" because tri-ovals are just ovals with one side elongated into a semi-triangular shape, and there's still not many road courses. I didn't want to go listing all the different types of tracks because it wasn't really pertinent to the comment I was making. Even tri-ovals are close enough to "racing in circles" (still only turning left) that a lot of people are losing interest, especially as those tracks are mostly either the restrictor plate tracks (and people aren't as interested in "The Big One" as they used to be, so aren't enthused about the way those tracks mess up the racing) or the 1.5 mile cookie cutter tracks that started springing up (which feels like you're watching the same race with different scenery). Contrast the actual variety of tracks in NASCAR with something like Formula 1, or even Indy Car, and you can see how it can get a bit too "same" for some people. As for the safety... Yep, noted that. That's why I highlighted Bodine's crash. He survived it. The fatalities in motor sports tend to be super freak accidents, including Earnhardt's. Some things can be done to try to prevent them, sure... but usually it's just something that probably couldn't be helped. You're going around 200mph (or faster, depending on the sport) surrounded by other people doing the same, there's always going to be some risk. But hell, there's risk driving on an interstate at lower speeds. Guys still get some broken bones (rare) or concussions (not as rare as preferred, but that's just how our brains are made), but they get compensated well to help cover that.
@madpolitico great job, but just one correction, 1970 Dodge Charger Daytona/Plymouth Superbird, in the 1969-1970 seasons were the first cars to top 200mph.
@@Kingdakota97 Well, let me expand what I was saying... I wasn't suggesting that's the first time they hit that speed. It's more that the car designs were more boxy and that was problematic, as opposed to cars like you mentioned which were designed to be aerodynamic and looked more like a modern GT car than most NASCAR entries over the years. Those boxy cars that they ended up with in the '80s were where you got into more trouble with them doing loopy things if they got out of shape, such as flying up into the catchfence. It's the Bobby Allison crash in the late '80s that caused NASCAR to start complaining about the speeds, when realistically it was a combination of the track design and the car design. Bloody restrictor plates didn't slow things down that much, and you still have cars getting up into the fences, especially in the Daytona and Talladega races, where it's even more likely that a car going at high speed is going to get punted in a way that'll allow air to get up under it (and without proper design to make it cling to the track better... and seriously, those flaps are laughable these days because it seems like they don't even prevent half of the times a car goes airborne). But yeah, that's getting into a lot more of the history of the sport and all, and I didn't want to overwhelm the guy *too* much. (Like talking about the awesome way cars in the '70s were still very similar on-track and off-track, so you could buy the car you saw on track - sort of - in a dealership, leading to the slogan, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.")
You should react to the closest NASCAR finishes. Also, the story of Dale Earnheart Sr. If you would like to learn about one of its greatest drivers, the sport's culture, and one of its most tragic stories.
“How has this not caused any casualties?” This question is a god send that I’m glad we get to ask. Racing suffered death after death in it’s early years and they still happen just less often. This sport has a way of making people look invincible these days, but sometimes we still lose people too early.
It is something racing fans have to accept, no matter the safety, people can still die racing. Latest big example is Anthoine Hubert at Spa 2018 in F2. NASCAR also needs to accept this, because some people find the sport boring these days. EmpLemon argues that part of the lost of interest is due to the sport being too safe nowadays. And of course every shit regarding Brian France (thank god he's gone from NASCAR...)
@@bouteilledeau1463 Well, yes, there can always be freak accidents and issues that no safety measure could ever stop (look at Austin Dillon at Daytona in 2015), but the sheer fact that the new safety features have reduced it to mere freak accidents tells a lot about how much safer the sport is and that it shouldn't be taken away. Don't forget that the sport had four deaths in a row from mid 2000 to early 2001. Without those safety features, we easily could have had more fatalities in recent years. Jimmie Johnson, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, and Aric Almirola, among many others, could have been killed in certain wrecks without those added safety features.
If people called "fans" are only watching it because of the crashes and cost of life as good entertainment they are not fans they are just spectators. Fans watch for hard racing and everything racing means, down to the bone of being a car enthusiasts and how it all works. thats a true fan! Same applies for those who in the car world bag out other cars because of looks. They like cars but they arnt a true enthusiasts who loves everything a car is.
Ashley Dodgson You’re right, they’re not not fans, because fans care about the lives of the people in the sport. People who only watch because someone could get killed are spectators, in the same sick sense that people spectated at the coliseum. Mentally disturbed is another name.
@@bouteilledeau1463 the last death on one of the top 3 of Nascar's series was mid-2000 in the Trucks series. The last death in Nascar happened a couple years ago in the Nascar's Mexico series. Last death in the Top/Cup series was 2001 with the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona
Top Gear has an episode where they talk to an F1 driver who came to America and learned to race NASCAR. He points out that in F1 racing the car is designed for absolute speed, with computer controlled traction and engine management systems that help the driver at every level. The F1 driver told the truth, the NASCAR drivers are drivers, the cars are set up exactly the same, no one has a real car advantage, it’s all about the drivers. Yes we know it’s 4 left turns and two straight aways,,,, but the turns are banked at 45 degrees and at 200 mph that equals a lot of G force on the drivers, cars and skill of the drivers, for 500 miles.
@@thetruth5232 I agree that F1 drivers withstand higher G forces. But... Those forces are short, very short compared to the sustained forces that the NASCAR drivers deal with, remember the NASCAR track turns are over 3rd of the track. NASCAR has restrictor plates on their intakes not to restrict the car but to make sure the cars can’t push the driver past the human ability to stay conscious during the banked turns due to the sustained G forces.
@@ianstradian I'm more nascar fan than F1, I don't like F1 even. But F1 G-forces are MUCH higher in acceleration, deceleration and turning. It's not even close. Nascar G-forces are sustained yes, but also not very high and soft onsetting. F1 drivers experience Fighter Pilot level (5-6G+) lateral accelerations changing directions in fractions of seconds for an hour and a half. No contest there.
@@thetruth5232 my family has NASCAR history, I however don’t really follow it, or any racing for that matter. I am however Aviation qualified, and hold an Engineering license. The fighter pilots you are referring to hold those G forces way way longer than any F1 driver ever will. A sustained turn in a fighter jet at 5 G’s for 2 minutes is exhausting. A 6 G turn that last 4 seconds is tough but your body gets a break before the next turn of 2 G’s for 2 seconds. Yes the F1 driver does experience 5-6 G’s cornering, but the turns are not as long and deep and banked as NASCAR. NASCAR the four ( 45 degree!) banked turns last for 12 to 16 seconds and the G forces are 3-5 G’s. I’m going to stand by my statement that NASCAR drivers have it tougher.
sneakapikachu I used to go to the Michigan 500, which was Indy car & there’d be 100-120,000 people there. They said when they did the NASCAR race later in the year they’d get upwards of 150,000 spectators.
To answer your question on how popular NASCAR is as a sport, currently it’s the fourth most popular spectator sport in the US. Behind only the Tackle Football , Major League Baseball and the NBA, with Hockey being #5. Recently it’s been waning in popularity due to high cost to attend and over exposure on TV but 10-15 years ago it was the third most popular sport in the US just ahead of the NBA. The main difference between NASCAR and F1 and the Indy Series is the pack racing. If they tried that in F1 or Indy Car there would be dead drivers all over the track. So yeah NASCAR gets knocked for only turning left but pack racing at these speeds requires incredible talent if you don’t want to end up dead and, as you can see, is pretty darned exciting to see live. They have come a long way in safety too. 20+ years ago when they didn’t have the safety technology they currently do it wasn’t uncommon for one or two drivers to get killed a year. In the 60’s and 70’s the fatality rate was even higher.
I would recommend watching the wrecks from this past season. You can definitely see the precautions that have come along even in the past 5 years. The tech is just incredible.
Hannah Ritger They used to say people only go to these races to see the crashes. I live in Buffalo, NY the closest track is Watkins Glen. Im a little upset Nascar hasn't come to Niagara Falls CANADA, NF built a track 6 years ago. Yes that Buffalo called SNOW CAPITAL OF USA. I don't blame people we still average 10-12 feet every winter. Its crazy Buffalo winters are 5 months long November - March. At least we got Lake Erie for summer fun. Always WHITE CHRISTMAS IN BUFFALO. Why of all CITYS near 5 Great Lakes does Buffalo get the most snow
Dale Earnhardt Sr the greatest driver ever BULLSHIT not even close. He was a go cart driver, when you compared him to the legends like Lee, and Richard Petty, Dave Pearson, and Fireball Roberts just to name a few. Greatest driver my ass
@@michaelschober5676 Sounds like someone is a lil butthurt. Im guessing your favorite driver spent most of his time staring at the backside of a particular black GM Goodwrench Chevy. I guess millions of people around the world are all wrong and you and a small handful of haters are the only ones who's opinions are the right ones. 😆 Feel free to rage on in the comments. If you can wipe Dale's dust out of your eyes that is. Have a great day! 🤣😆👍 #RaiseHellPraiseDale!
The reason people don’t get hurt that often is because the cars aren’t like the ones you would drive on the highway, they have extra padding and scary precautions, the drivers wear helmets and are trained on what to do if they crash!
NASCAR's popularity is a bit mixed, it was the second most popular sport in America, now it's in the middle. But every year it is gaining back fans, so it looks like it's gonna get better and better.
Dutters 28 I like the stage racing. It makes for some more excitement as well as added pressure for the drivers to have good position throughout the race instead of hanging back and making a run towards the end. I don’t like the “playoffs” so much tho. Just calling it the playoffs automatically makes you think of football/basketball/soccer, etc. “The Chase for the Cup” was a perfect name and represented what it was a whole lot more.
"These cars must be so light." The COT car with the huge GT style spoilers weighed close to 4000 pounds, 1 3/4 tons is more like it...they were anything BUT light cars.
14:30 It is a great country for sports. Outside of covid-times, there are actually only 2 days in July out of the entire year there are no sporting events being played in America (the day before and the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game).
The cars are built with roll cages. The cages are 2 inch welded steel tubing, about 2.2 mm thick. The cage protects the driver from being crushed but the g forces involved from hitting a wall at 300 kph are enough to snap your neck. So the drivers have to wear gear to restrain that whiplash effect as well. These drivers are relying on having maximum traction at all four corners. A small tap on the bumper means going into a slide at 300 kph with cars all around you. Very difficult to recover. Computer controlled stability control could react fast enough to prevent some of this. But NASCAR is kind of old school. They just adopted fuel injection in 2012. Stability control is a ways away. But it's controversial. Some tracks mandate restrictor plates on the intake to limit the top speeds. Restricting airflow to the engine limits the rate at which fuel can be burned and thereby limits top speed. Some tracks are just not safe enough for the top speeds these cars can reach unrestricted.
Pretty much at 9:41 was that he tried to straighten it and as you've seen it doesnt take much to make these cars spin out so as he corrected the car, the car spun around bc he overcorrected. You don't see many saves in nascar bc of how little it takes to wreck.
To answer your question: the cars go in the air so easily due to the high speeds. Most of these flips happen at Daytona and Talladega, two of the biggest and fastest tracks (speeds often reach 200 mph/320 kph), and the physics make the car similar to the wing of an airplane. The cars are actually pretty heavy, but it doesn’t stop them from flying when turned around.
@James Shore right? I was a big time fan of Jamie McMurray, so I tried for awhile when he first became his teammate to at least be neutral. But when he wrecked McMurray out, that was my absolute final straw and I found the one driver I love to hate. I've only disliked one other driver even half as much. Lol.
The current (Gen 6) NASCAR cup car specs read as follows; 110" wheelbase (2794mm) 3400lb minimum with driver and fuel (1542kg) 358ci/ 5.8L naturally aspirated V8 with restriction plates to keep the power down at some tracks (still 550 to 750HP, redline ~9500 RPM) 4 speed manual transmission rear wheel drive, live rear axle And you'll enjoy this; McLaren port fuel injection. Yes, NASCAR cup V8s are fueled with parts from Surrey. Fastest qualifying lap record is 212.8mph (1984), fastest tested average lap 219mph (2009), and the cars that get taken to Bonneville salt flats on occasion are capable of 240-270mph depending on what tweaks are given. www.thedrive.com/accelerator/23641/retired-nascar-cup-racer-makes-271-8-mph-pass-smashes-class-record-at-bonneville
@@2ValveMiri eeuuuaaahhh yeah, technically it is but you're gonna find NASCAR and other docs all over the place saying 5.8L because.... I don't know why, the math doesn't hold :) It probably has roots WAY back in engine standardization when they dropped to the mid sized (for American engines) V8 but the stock offerings from the participants were GM's 350ci (5.7L), Ford's 351ci (5.8L) and Chrysler's 360ci (5.9L). It's like in the 80's when Ford started calling it's 302ci windsor engine a 5.0L when it's 4942cc and hence 4.9 liters, but there was already the 4.9L engine that was the big 300ci straight six for the trucks.... rounding got fudged for some reason but everyone (except some pedants) calls the later 302 engine the 5.0L.
@@2ValveMiri They came along far after the engines were standardized and pulled from IIRC the grand national series pool which were the same engines with different carburetors and cams...
There are cautious. Whether it's for a wreck, spinout, or just a piece of debris, or oil. Problem is that these wrecks last a few seconds. You're not able to stop in a few seconds going at that speed. So bc of that you're gonna have a pileup. It's just what happens. You just gotta hope your spotter can react and help. Btw the spotters sit on top of the gradstans with binoculars and radios and help their driver see what they cant. Whether they can switch lanes or if there is a wreck try to guide them through it the best they can
I'd look up some of the documentaries on the history of the sport to start. It has a pretty fun background. The story of Richard Petty or the Earnhardts would also be a great introduction as well.
Watching NASCAR you tend to forget how fast they're actually going until they wreck and they just keep going for hundreds and hundreds of feet, sideways, in the grass, off the guardrails, in the air...
The cars are actually quite heavy. They're 3,400 lbs (1,542 kg). The issue is, when the air turbulence gets underneath at weird angles at high speeds, the cars act as a sail. There have been attempts to stop this. For one, roof flaps were added to the cars to slow the cars down and keep them from flipping. That was done in 1994. Obviously, these clips are post 1994 so you see how that "worked". Second, on the highest speed tracks, horsepower is reduced. The problem that presents is close pack racing. In order to gain more speed, drivers have to slipstream (draft) the car in front of them to become faster. That results in a lot of wrecks. Drivers hate those tracks because of the risks of tight pack racing. Every time there's a race at those track, you can expect "the big one". A single race can have wrecks into the double digits.
There's not any in this video but there have been deaths in NASCAR example Dale Earnhardt Sr. but that was in 2001 and I don't think there has been one since so I'd say 19 years with 0 deaths is pretty damn good considering the sport for what it is.... 200 MPH rush hour traffic
The first clip is just good old pack racing. What happens at the superspeedways where they're basically holding the throttle 100% of each lap. With the constant high speed, the drafts become even more important as being in the draft can get you another 10-15 MPH. What it results in are these massive three wide packs where the cars are bumper to bumper and door to door. One slight hit can quickly turn you sideways and result in what we call "big ones" that take out 10+ cars. The pack racing and big ones are a big draw to the superspeedways in Daytona and Talladega. Pack racing results in the tightest races of the season with more lead changes in a single lap than in a whole F1 race. Results in tons of photo finishes with 3 or 4 cars all at the line. With the second clip at 3:22, this was a major problem with the Car of Tomorrow (or COT) generation NASCARs. This was the big downforce package that NASCAR tried with a front splitter and a massive rear spoiler. While it helped with downforce and cornering, the aero did the exact opposite when the cars were turned around. Instead of the rear spoiler generating downforce, it would generate upforce resulting in tons of scary flips like you saw here with Carl Edwards. After a few years, they got rid of the big spoiler and brought back the classic NASCAR spoiler. 5:10 Yes, whenever there is a crash, they throw out the yellow caution flag. Under caution, the pace car retakes the track, and all the cars line up behind it in the order they were running at the time of the yellow. During the caution, drivers will have the opportunity pit. Sometimes "debris cautions" will be thrown even if a crash hasn't taken place such as if a piece of a car falls off allowing the track crew to grab it. In cases like this crash, usually a red flag will be flown and the cars will stop either on the track of on pit road to give the track crew time to pick up debris and clean oil spills. Safety has come a long way in NASCAR. Crashes that use to kill drivers in the early days are now minor impacts. Safer barriers have been a huge part of that like with what you see at 7:30. These barriers are basically two barriers that will collapse in on each other and absorb most of the impact. McDowell here walked away without a scratch with just some minor bruising. Other additions such as the crunch zones, which makes up most of the destruction of the cars, also dramatically help absorb impacts. Then other additions such as extra safety bars inside the cockpit help further to protect the driver. The catch fences such as the one that caught Carl Edwards at 3:22 help ensure the safety of the fans as well although crashes that big that go into the stands still results in some fans having minor injuries and rarely a death.
so light... 3,500 pounds mate! And that's all at 180-200+MPH YES, you read that right, 180-200 MILES PER HOUR indeed ;) (I need to learn how to italicize on RU-vid >.>)
13:23 Yes, there can be fan injuries, in fact, in the crash you paused to asked this question, a tire came off of the car that hit the catch fence and went into the stands and injured some people
@@owenisaacson724 I agree rally is the true pinnacle of Motorsport, but oval racing ain’t as easy as it may seem, I encourage you to buy iRacing and see how you do in an oval race, see if it’s as easy as you say it is. Oval racing is incredibly fun to drive, on par if not better than road racing for enjoyment, and I’m an f1 fan, granted an American f1 fan, but one nonetheless
@@tinzalix8624 I’ve done plenty of oval racing in sims and had a chance to do it irl as well it’s not easy but it’s also not difficult like I said it’s tedious
NASCAR is considered to be a country hick sport by many. However Basketball, Baseball and Football are literally known and watched by everyone from all parts of the U.S. To put this in perspective, the most watched NASCAR race in history boasted a viewership of 27,300 while the AVERAGE regular season NFL football game (not including the Super bowl) viewership is 16.5 million. The top Super bowl viewership clocked in at 114.4 million!
This video was posted a year ago now so I don't know if you'll see this, but to answer some of your questions. - Yes, lots of people go to see the crashes BUT it's also a strategy sport. There is a whole points system and playoffs. I used to race Semi-Professionally in dirt track racing (same difference, just on dirt) But yes crashes are an entertaining part of it. - NASCAR is most popular in the south, as most of the tracks are there. NASCAR also originated in Daytona, Florida. Very popular here. - Yes, lots of people attend these races. The average track capacity for the stands are 120,000+. Not to mention at some tracks have camp grounds, people bring RVs, tents, camper etc, and camp in the middle or on the outside of the tracks. So you can have an attendance of close to a quarter-million at some tracks. - Depending on what track they are racing at there could be 1-2 crashes or 10+. Your Superspeedways (ex. Daytona and Talladega) that are 2.5 miles long are the ones with the highest speeds and the most crashes. - Daytona 500: This event is the 1st race of the season and is considered the Super Bowl of NASCAR. I have had the privilege of living 20 min from Daytona Speedway all my life and have been to every Daytona 500 from 2003-2019, and have witnessed a lot of these Daytona crashes in this video, in person. Some of the best races will be seen there. - They have become very safe in the last 2 decades BUT lots of people have passed or become seriously injured in the 90s and earlier. Dale Eardart Sr. Was the last death in 2001. After his death, they implemented LOTS of safety precautions - Yes, there have been drivers that take out other drivers on purpose. It usually happens because of a dispute that happened before the race, something that happened on the track ect. - The cars are extremely light, that is why they easily crash. Shockingly there are not as many penalties to drivers as you would think, like a bad hit in American football or what we call soccer. It's very rare a car gets penalized. Some big ones are if you speed on pit road or go to pit before your supposed to, or don't make your pit box, they mostly have to do with pitting rather than actual stuff happening on the track. - The cars only stop if there is a red flag. Red flags only come out if there is such a bad crash that it blocks the speedway. ONE EXCEPTION. If the wreck happens and it was the last lap they usually don't stop because the race has ended anyway. That's what most of these crashes here were, last lap crashes. If a car crashes and they go off the track, the yellow flag (Caution Flag) usually comes out and the cars left on the track pit or drive the track slowly until the crashed car(s) have been taking off the track. Hope that answered a lot of your questions. LOVING THE VIDEOS!!
A little history about NASCAR. In the days of bootlegging (during and after the prohibition , 1920-1933) the bootleggers souped up their cars in order to out run the police. And like everything else there began competitions to see which bootleggers had the fastest car. NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Racing) is now a major player in auto racing in the US. NASCAR is not only dangerous for the drivers, but also for the spectators.
