GM to quit NASCAR
 

This may be a reality seeing as how GM will kill the Camaro in 2023. NASCAR will need to get another foreign manufacture to fill the gap. It was reported Honda was looking at the feasibility of entering ... Just another nail in that coffin ... TAZ

So much for....."Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet" :(

This has been a bad week for bad news for the car enthusiast :(

Dan

Link please, the one that no gen 7 Camaro is coming( not that i doubt it's true)

Maybe GM can get NASCAR to start a SUV racing division..... :hmmm:

Electric SUVs at that...

As a long time NASCAR fan, in my opinion, it is unwatchable now. Bunch of teenage kids, with lots of $$ movinig in as the old names retire. Amazing how F1 stays completely relevant and popular (it seems) but NASCAR can't adapt. I get that it is a regional/US centric sport, but lot of history there

I completely quit watching NASCAR when they allowed Toyota to enter. It was an all American sport until then, and that's how it should have stayed. NASCAR can die as far as I'm concerned.

They need to go back to real cars. No, we build a car from a hood. Stupid.

I slowed watching after Earnhardt died and then really stopped altogether with the COT debacle. It wasn't really Earnhardt, but he kind of represented the old guard that called them as he saw them and wasn't so PC in his answers. Smoke was a bit like that, but you could see it fading fast. Totally boring now.

It is a complex back story:

In recent years the owners of NASCAR began to take positions in direct opposition to the belief structures of the people who supported the series all in an attempt to please the media and the socials.

The autopsy of NASCAR could read that the race was so safe since the loss of Dale that it was literally-boring to watch.

Ticket prices 25% higher then they were a decade ago.

Climate change people attacking the series for polluting the environment.

NASCAR beginning to support gun control.

Perhaps the epitaph was the media attack after staged questions were set to encourage NASCAR to protest the stars and stripes and national anthem a couple of years ago. This was a no win for NASCAR. If you are pro flag then you are polarized. If you decline the narrative then you loose again.

Media: Is NASCAR doing enough to battle: ?

Racism,

Global Warming,

Guns,

Display of the Confederate flag at the tracks -- and the list goes on and on...

If you are a potential new fan and you are likely to be worried about what people think of you than you are far less likely to participate in attending races or even watch.

Older fans took note and by changing the channel and finding other things to do rather than attend races.

The slow and painful death of NASCAR.

GM is bugging out simply because there are no detectable vehicle sale uptick or positive publicity as a result of participation in the series.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2vLFq6M/7254f7...adbcec90de.jpg

Chevrolet introduces new Camaro model for 2020 NASCAR Cup Series

Chevrolet will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next season with an updated version of its Camaro, the ZL1 1LE.

https://www.autosport.com/nascar/new...odel-to-nascar

The ZL1 1LE is an attempt to create the Niche appeal of the Monte Carlo SS Areocoupe.

But first they have to start notching some wins... 2020 will be critical to see if GM actually exits NASCAR.

I think the single biggest reason for the slow decline is millenials( or gen YZ whathaveyas) are just not in to cars, period. And before someone chimes in with " I know this 30 yr old blah blah" it's a #s game, and not one Nascar is winning,or can seemingly fix no matter how many attempts to re invent themselves they try. It's over.

I first started losing interest in NASCAR when they went from the big block to the small block engines, I think with a CID limit of 358 or 359. I can't remember when this actually occurred. When Richard Petty retired after the 1992 or 1993 season I lost more interest. When they started making the cars look like cookie cutter ones with only decals differentiating them I completely lost interest. It basically turned into an IROC series. I would feel for all those who make a living in NASCAR, but wouldn't miss it at all if it went under.

Agree with all points stated, especially the indistinguishable cars - you need to look for the model on the front to determine what it is!!

Plus, there is no R&D Technology feedback for the mfg's with outdated pushrods, carbs, etc....think F1 and to a lesser degree Indy Car. IMHO, I like the old school V8 config's, but GM isn't learning anything new from the NASCAR engine builders that they can implement into current production models.

I agree with some of your opinions; for me I am not so put off by the displacement thing but, I agree 110% about the cars being cookie cutter with decals used to make them resemble the production cars.
Can't the teams built all of the safety into a car that uses production body panels? or at least some of the panels.

I also think the Chase thing isn't adding anything to the sport.

I agree that the races are more like a IROC series and less of a competitive sport.

I miss the days of “ You run what you brung “
Rob

Chevy was very dominate in Nascar for years. Most wins, championships on and on. Chevy started to decline a few years ago. Their engine program was not keeping up with Toyota's program. Toyota was making more horsepower but Chevy never countered to keep up Ford was getting better but Toyota was still winning. Nascar is like Pro Stock in the NHRA drag racing series. Expenses were getting way out of hand but they still have a limited number of races at NHRA series. Chevy is king there. Tony Stewart switched to Ford in Nascar, he has always been a Chevy guy but could see the horsepower war was a losing cause for Chevy. I quit watching after Gordon, Earnhardt Jr, retired. The young guys came in and just had no respect how they raced out there and Rusty Wallace made comment to this years back. It has changed big time. Empty seats all over the series, interest has been slipping. Ticket prices and Toyota winning all the time turned people off. Agree with other poster, this should be only a GM, Ford, Chrysler all America manufacturer series. The Trans Am series stopped but still operates under no manufacturer support now. Will Nascar be next? Chevy still is big in the NHRA drag racing series support and Indy car.

GM did not say they were killing the Camaro in 2023. They said that the 7th gen Camaro development would go on hiatus and that the 6th gen would continue at least through 2023.

Way too many rules + boring cars + boring drivers + mickey mouse points chase + many of the greats have moved on + same driver winning multiple championships = sport is dead.

FYI Marlin....they run fuel injection now in Nascar

Yeah they went fuel injection a few years ago. Machine shop I use in Tucson run by Jeff Koerner, he used to build all the carbs for several Nascar teams right up until they switched. Not only is he one of the best carb guys in the country, he builds some fantastic engines, and his machine work is superb. I use him exclusively. Rob McCabe used to build the headers for a few of the teams. When he retired he started a shop right up the street from me and now does beautiful custom stuff for all types of vehicles. So some good is coming out of Nascar, at least for some of us hot rod guys :)

Besides, who doesn't like a screaming small block. Here's one Jeff built for the South West Tour Nascar series. Only 9:1 compression and 353ci. https://youtu.be/Sh8RjkwuiTs If you don't like listening to this, check your pulse.

I still watch Nascar most weekends. Don't really care what people think of it. I enjoy it more in person, the roar of all the engines going by shaking the grandstands and the smell of high octane fuel. I've kind of enjoyed it more as the dragstrips have been drying up slowing my participation, plus the lack of anything related to the street car or muscle car crowd.

The racing has NEVER been better!The"good old days" might have 4 cars on the lead lap and the championship might have been decided with 3 races left in the season.The rules are there to try to keep the costs under some kind of control.If you remember a few gen cars ago they were going around the track a cockeyed.JMHO,Tom

Excellent points.

IROC.....IROC....IROC.....:eek2:......boring

I actually enjoyed the IROC series. Made me want to go out and buy a new 88 IROC-Z at the time.

The road races and short track are boring?Do you actually ever watch a race?Tom

I enjoy the road racing Tom. Reminds me of the old SCCA stuff. Unruly heavy V8 RWD cars sliding around, looks like fun to me.

I am the polar opposite, watch only the road course and short track. I fall asleep watching the mile and a half tracks, and the superspeedways while exciting are always wreckers n checkers.

I haven't watched a full race in several years. If the stands were full it would help. I have a hard time watching a televised race that has empty stands. It just looks weird. Like watching a football game without fans. The crowd used to really get into the races, especially when Dale Sr was racing. It won't bother me at all if it dries up or gets sold and becomes something different. I just lost interest over the years. I don't know any of the drivers anymore.

Tommy

Besides, who doesn't like a screaming small block. Here's one Jeff built for the South West Tour Nascar series. Only 9:1 compression and 353ci. https://youtu.be/Sh8RjkwuiTs If you don't like listening to this, check your pulse.

Now that's a lil' old whine maker ... awesome sound!!

Thats the problem Tommy!The cars are on the track!Forget the stands and watch the cars.I dont know how many realize how evil the cup cars are.Even when they take them to 550HP they run 200.If you ever get a chance to drive the school cars it will open your eyes.I have about 30 plus laps at Vegas.I dragged raced for 10 year,held many AHRA records and I just dont have the balls to keep my foot on the floor going into the corners.I had dinner with Dale Sn 2 weeks before he died.Because of my job I got to meet and spend time with many of the drivers and pretty much spent my days at the track in the pits.Watch the road races and watch them carry the front wheels around the corners.The car for 21 is getting bigger wider tires and rims,IRS suspension and more modern improvements.I got to spend a day at TRD and watch them run a race on a engine dyno,happened to be a road course and it was assume listing to the loading and unloading of the engines and the gear changes.We are REALLY in the best days of "stock car"racing.People talk about running what we drive,the genie is out of the bottle and not going back.We dont kill drivers anymore thank God but they know when they go upside down and barrel roll at 200 it might be there last race.Spend some time this year and watch a few races,watch the end of the stages when they all lose their minds and would move their grand mother for a couple Xtra positions.Enough of me.Tom

Anyone who has watched NASCAR for as long as I have knows that it's not the same sport as it once was. Back in the 70's the cars basically used a stock production body and you could actually tell what kind of car a driver was driving. Very few rules back then, the body was required to match the body template for that particular manufacturer, a limit for the maximum cubic inches an engine could displace, and various safety mandates and that was it, anything else goes. The teams that spent the time, money, and the R&D to make their cars go faster were the teams that had winning cars as it should be.

Todays NASCAR there are so many rules and technicalities the best NASCAR teams in the world usually can't get their cars to pass tech inspection on the first try and that's due to NASCAR's obsession with all the cars being identically equal. Today, a car would fail a post race tech inspection if a bolt or nut was out of place by as little as a tenth of an inch and that's just plain ignorant on NASCARS part. Darell Waltrip really said it best... Let's build a car, inspect it, race it for 4 1/2 hours in 110 degree heat on a rough bumpy track, beating and banging with 40 other cars, and then inspect it again and see what moved!

NASCAR better take a good hard look in the stands and see how the popularity is falling, and take the sport back to its roots where the cars used factory parts and resembled factory cars, and get over the obsession that all the cars be exactly equal before it's too late. It will make for better, safer, and more interesting racing and the fan base will grow again. If they don't, I wouldn't be surprised if NASCAR doesn't exisist in another 10 to 15 years.

Your whole post was well stated but with regards to the last part, I think we are way too late to fix this problem. The holes are too deep and I don't think we can ever climb out of them. It is just not fun to watch or participate in any more and there is just way too much greed involved. That will never change and that is what governs this sport like so many other sports.

Based on many of the comments I have read, I am 100% sure that many here have no idea how profitable the TV and Radio yearly broadcast rights for NASCAR are:

$8 BILLION

That's what NBC and Fox Sports pays NASCAR!

Keep that in mind when you post about empty seats at race tracks.

Do you know that NASCAR gives the teams a tolerance?The teams make the decision to go even past that.Speeding on pit road?They are allowed 5 mph OVER the speed limit.Its not NASCAR,it's the teams pushing the limit over what they are allowed.The lower teams very rarely have a issue because they can't afford a fine.The large teams have a fine budged in for the years.Its just risk against reward.Now that they take wins and money away there are way less fines.The engineers find a little advantage here and there in the wind tunnels that the small teams can't afford.This is and never will be a level playing field.Speed cost money,how fast can you afford to go.Tom

That is right. And when adjusted for inflation that is better than 1/2 what NASCAR was making 10 years ago.

As it is--The writing is on the wall.

Eh, it will never be stock cars like they had up through the 70's. That's when safety wasn't shoved down our throats. Totally different today. As much as I'd like to see it, that's just not going to happen. They can't take a production car today and make it safe enough without starting from scratch. It's not a reality anymore, and hasn't been for decades.

The reason they fail tech isn't because of Nascar's obsession with the rules, it's because the teams are pushing the rules. They all do it, only some get caught. Not much different in NHRA.

OMG.. Good one Lee! that wall Meme looks exactly like the condition of today's NASCAR.

A wall that looks like a wall - but no structural mortar to hold it together in the long term.

Great Meme!