Debate with my roomate: Nascar vs. Rally, F1

[AndrewBird]

Nascar has all of these save walls to crash into if things go wrong. Rally well there are rocks, trees, culverts, Euro fans, and so on. If that alone dose not make rally the hardest race out there nothing dose.

(my fav by the way is aussie super8, just wish they had more then Ford and Holden)

Rally cars aren't doing 200 mph.

[cale]

Rally cars aren't doing 200 mph.

They also don't have huge runouts on one side and a padded wall on the other. Then again...rally is probably more dangerous for drunken czech fans than drivers....

[325ix]

They also don't have huge runouts on one side and a padded wall on the other. Then again...rally is probably more dangerous for drunken czech fans than drivers....

I didn't know concrete walls were padded.

[Roysneon]

I didn't know concrete walls were padded.

I don't know exactly what they are but they have new "softer walls".

Either way, anyone who really participates in motorsports, amateur or pro doesn't really bring up stupid debates like this, they just shut up and race what they want and respect fellow racers.

[cale]

I didn't know concrete walls were padded.

They're soft walls, maybe not all the tracks...but it's still a highly regulated environment as far as safety is concerned. Rarely do you see the end-over-end death rolls that are found in rally.

[Raxe]

As far as danger goes it's probably Rally, NASCAR and then F1. Formula 1 has huge runouts, the cars are spaced far apart and comparatively they're not even going that fast.

As for skill, they're all equally as challenging in different aspects. Anyone who thinks NASCAR is an easy Sunday drive consisting of left hand turns is either ignorant or Australian.

[Deltron Dirty30]

As for skill, they're all equally as challenging in different aspects. Anyone who thinks NASCAR is an easy Sunday drive consisting of left hand turns is either ignorant or Australian.

I guess you could call me ignorant with a capital N.

[E30Kaiser]

Rally cars aren't doing 200 mph.

Yeah, only F1 and Indy go over 200mph now. On a road course I was watching the GT cars in the Rolex series go faster than NASCAR. I just don't understand the purpose of NASCAR, they don't have fast or advanced cars, they don't have challenging tracks, and the only thing that matters is that you are on the lead lap and how fast your car is for the 15 white/checker restarts at the end of the race.

All that said though, it was fun to go to Charlotte and watch Kimi race trucks while I guzzled beer and listened to fans talk shit about Kyle Busch and then cheer when he won.

[e30rapidic]

Sooo who here has competed in F1, WRC and top level NASCAR series?

^^^this. Unless one has driven them all, it's pure speculation. If you haven't driven any...well you can't really offer much.

My opinion is
1 - FIA rally
2 - F1
3 - NASCAR

Not top tier by any means but I have raced in all 3 types of racing. I started in open wheel in the UK, top thing I ever drove was a Formula Ford. Drove a race prepped 944 over here in the US in on/off road rally. Last form I racing I did was in NASCAR from 2000 until last year, 4 cylinder, limited and V8 classes. The last car I ever drove was a 750 hp Late Model Sportsman last summer.

They are all very different forms of racing and all demand respect. From my experience....The FF cars require a driver to be smooth to maintain speed, fast and choppy doesn't cut it. The rally stuff is definitely more of a finesse thing and being on the verge of uncontrolled for most of the race. The sportsman style was more of a hang on and hope for the best brute force kind of thing.

I figured that since I had all that racing under my belt that when I decided to get back into racing and picked NASCAR, I'd whoop all their asses. Boy was I wrong.....talk about being humbled really quick. I started in 450 hp late models. After the 11th lap of 130 degree cockpit with ZERO air movement, 18 degree banking and constant left turns, I felt like I was going to throw up, shit my pants then pass out.

racing locked in by inches...from the front, behind and on the sides while going into a corner WILL pucker your asshole. Being banged sideways in a corner at full throttle will get your attention. THE NASCAR style stuff drivers beat and bang adding an element that you can't do in open wheel. Lose it in a rally and you're in a tree, lose it in NASCAR and you're in the wall. Lose it in an open wheel on a road course, you're usually ok.

I got made fun of all time for racing in circles and just about everyone figured that it was easy and could do it no problem. I welcomed anyone to drive my car because I guaranteed that they wouldn't go anywhere near as fast as they thought they would. I was never proven wrong.

I did learn one thing, that the last jump I made from roughly 600 to 750 hp machines was too much for me. My level of competence was somewhere between the 2. Scary shit...lol

People will always make fun of NASCAR however they are the nicest group of competitors I've ever been around

The person with the biggest balls?????? the FIA navigator by far!!!

[JasonC]

i have no personal experience with any of the said. So i couldn't tell you. Im not a fan of any of the three. Even though i do own a few rebel flags and drive an f body lol. but no mullet.

[Massimo]

I would say Dakar Rally would be the hardest race, blistering heat non stop driving during the day followed by repairing over night that shit is crazy. while it may not be very dangerous it is a very challenging race and would have to be one of the hardest out there. Probably followed closely by Le-mans 24 hour.

[tg318is]

I would say Dakar Rally would be the hardest race, blistering heat non stop driving during the day followed by repairing over night that shit is crazy. while it may not be very dangerous it is a very challenging race and would have to be one of the hardest out there. Probably followed closely by Le-mans 24 hour.

This. Any sort of endurance race requires the most amount of skill imo. The amount of stress on the driver, physical and mental is mind boggling.

[blocke]

I'll have to bring this up with Kyle next time I'm in Charlotte. I'm sure he will somehow say NASCAR is, in his usual self-glorifying manner.

[FunfGan]

Nascar fucking sucks. I dont care how much endurance or training it takes, it still driving around in a damn circle. Therefor, I don't find it entertaining nor do I think its very tough compared to other forms of racing. You want to see "real" racing? Group B rally. When they have to end a class because it killed too many people, you're doing something right.

[FKNFASTM5]

Although i respect almost any type of racing, in my opinion, which comes from just about no experience would argue that even the mid levels of road racing (touring cars etc) would be more challenging then hitting 2 apexs a lap and making only left (with the exception of the glenn and sears point)