While the Autopian staff share a vast number of car-related beliefs, we certainly still have our differences. For example, some writers flat out love air-cooled Beetles, while others never want to smell that black vinyl and suffocate while sitting on top of that ring-a-ding sounding motor in back of one of those things on a baking hot August day ever, ever again. Racing is another subject where we don’t always see eye-to-eye. A few staffers can’t get enough of stats and standings in some series, while for others the lack of connection between the faceless cars and anything resembling the reality of street driving is just too much to take. Honestly, it might as well be hockey to them (well, that’s a bad comparison since admittedly some of these same staffers don’t really care how many touchdowns Michael Jordon got to win the World Series Stanley Cup anyway). How can we get more folks into racing?
I think it’s unfair to say that non-racing-fans watching an event are just bloodthirsty jerks looking for accidents, however when incidents occur in a race that seem to establish a connection with “the real world” it certainly adds appeal to everyone. Just look at a few of these past sheninagans with just pace cars that got big coverage:
Don’t Leave The Keys In The Pace Car
Outside of the track, you would never leave a shiny new Pontiac Trans Am idling out in the open surrounded by a thousands of (often drunk) people in a party-like atmosphere. Apparently, it might not be a good idea to do such a thing even within the confines a track.
At the 1986 Winston 500 at Talladega, one rather disturbed fan jumped three fences and hopped into the bright red Firebird GTA pace car and took it for a joyride around the track in front of cheering fans and officials who, according to some of them, didn’t even realize they were watching grand theft of an auto until a minute or two later. The track was blocked and the fan was arrested without injury, much to the delight of the roaring crowd:
Who Moved The Flag?
The reality of pace cars at races is that they are usually driven by celebrities, many of whom do not have any kind of professional driving training. A good example of this is the person behind the wheel of the pace car in the 1971 Indy 500.
As the owner of a Chrysler dealership in Indianapolis, Eldon Palmer certainly had tremendous skills as a car salesman, but that didn’t necessarily translate into driving prowess. For this running of the 500, Eldon did a few practice laps in a new Dodge Challenger convertible (arguably one of the nicest, least cheesy pace cars to ever pace the field) to get a feel for how to drive it. To assist Eldon in knowing when to brake, someone set up a flag inside pit row to indicate where to jam on the left pedal. Unfortunately, on race day, some caretakers must have done a cleanup; besides oil cans and hot dog wrappers they also pitched this little flag.
After the pace lap, Eldon drove onto pit road at the high rate of speed needed just before pulling out of the way of the pack. By the time he realized that his flag was no longer with us (and not wanting to return onto the track) he locked up all four of the wheels on the Challenger and went sideways into a grandstand full of photographers (who got some great shots of the red convertible heading right at them). Remarkably, nobody was killed and only two were seriously injured in this unfortunate altercation, which made for spectacular coverage that would have gone viral had it been fifty years later:
Dumb as all of this might seem, it’s sort of fun to see some reality forced upon motorsport, and it certainly makes the events more intriguing. Honestly, faster racing will not necessarily be more interesting racing. I’m not condoning stolen cars and staged accidents, but I would like to add a dose of real world challenges to competition and watch the ratings go up. How could it be done in a controlled manner? Here’s a few ideas:
Moonshine Running Simulation
In case you weren’t aware, the origins of NASCAR go back to the days of transporting illegally-produced backwoods high-proof alcohol from the woods of the Carolinas to where it could be distributed. The ensuing chases by officers of the law apparently begat the sanctioned racing series.
I say why not add an opening trunk lid to all current NASCAR vehicles and stuff them before the race with giant five gallon glass jars similar to what was used to transport booze back in the day. Sure, we’ll fill them with water but any breakage will deduct points from a racer’s victory, so even if “rubbing is racing” you had best watch what you’re doing lest you sabotage your points total regardless of where you place at the race’s end. There would be camaras mounted in the trunk and LED illumination as well so spectators can observe.
Formula 1 Familia
This one will be pure torture for drivers but a hoot to watch. Imagine the scenario: Formula 1 cars would look the same as they do now, drive the same, and are just as capable in every way. However, alongside the track there are a series of ride simulators lined up based upon the position of the cars on the grid. These simulators receive not only video from the in-car camera but also signals from the race cars that make them replicate the G forces of each particular car going around the track in real time. Into each simulator go the friends and family of the respective drivers; if they are married or in a relationship the significant other HAS to go as well. If the driver is unattached at the time, it has to be their mother in the capsule instead. No, really.
Of course, there is a camera in the simulator so spectators can watch the families and, worst of all, a real-time audio connection from the simulator to the driver of the F1 car. “SLOW THE HELL DOWN!! LITTLE BOBBY IS GETTING SICK”. Oh, yeah, this will rock. Plus, if the car collides with another one, a big foam hand bonks your friends and family on the head or gut. Ratings gold, here, people.
Looking at the telemetrics recorded of famous drivers, it’s obvious that if they did this type of racing the needed skills would drastically affect the success of many of them. Senna would have been a nightmare with his signature all-on-or-off style, while Jackie Stewart would have cleaned up even more than he did in period. Supposedly the Wee Scot could drive at an alarming pace and passengers could still possibly sleep in back; here’s the man throwing down in a decidedly non-competition car:
Maybe there’s something in that. Whatever you say about Sir Jackie, he won a lot of races and, unlike a vast number of his contemporaries, he didn’t die on the track before age 35. Who knows.
The Next Steps
Look, automobile racing can be exciting, and adding dumb gimmicks to bring on more fans could really cheapen the sports. Again, adding a bit of outside-of-the-track challenges to anything can only increase the thrills, and offer new tricks. I’m reminded of a possibly apocryphal story of a secret race between cab drivers in Checker taxis and Formula 1 drivers in Ferraris from the Bronx down to Lower Manhattan. Supposedly the cab drivers won with time to spare. One of the race drivers apparently put it best- “you know, it just never, ever, occurred to us to drive on the sidewalk”.
Bring it on.
A Daydreaming Designer Realizes The Dream Of The SuperFrunk – The Autopian
Our Daydreaming Designer Creates The Minivan Of Motorcycles – The Autopian
I would love a fan ride in one of those simulators in real time!
As described, it would mean even more dominance from Verstappen as his mother was a pretty capable racer herself as I understand it.
…t-this is where I crawl into a hole and hide, right? Especially from the F1 idea. I refuse to drive my mother for that very reason.
It’s hard to get excited about Home Depot vs M&M’s. I’m old. NASCAR of the 60’s and 70’s. Ford vs Chevy et al. It kind of actually meant something.
I believe Jackie Stewart when he says the Tempo handled well. It was being driven by Jackie Stewart.
Remember the Back To The Future ride at Universal Studios? I always wanted someone to make a Bullitt car chase attraction in the same vein. “Enter your modified eight passenger Mustang and help Frank Bullitt capture the bad guys!”
For me the answer is to remove two wheels. For whatever reason, I’ve always found motorcycle racing more interesting than car/truck racing.
Okay, but which two wheels get removed is determined by a separate dice rolls for each car just before the race.
I like the idea of the moonshine thing, but let’s be real: the true spritual heir of the moonshine runners is Rally, not NASCAR. No real moonshiner ever drove a bespoke purpose-built racing machine on a paved circle, they drove modified cheap family cars from one point to another on backcountry roads.
Partially correct.
Moonshiners got into arguments about how fast their cars were, so they raced point to point and then finally around dirt tracks to see who was the fastest. Many of these drivers ended up driving in the first 10 years of NASCAR. Now you could argue these were still modified family cars, and some were.
Then you get guys like Junior Johnson who went to prison for Moonshining, would go on to win over 50 races, and run a winning NASCAR team into the 80’s. Bud Moore, a veteran that built cars for moonshiners, ended up running those same cars at Darlington kickstarting his racing career. Junior and Bud were known for making specialty chassis, engines, drivetrain, and suspension for racing in that time period so they were not just modified family cars.
So technically moonshining was rally, but moonshiners lead to oval racing. In fact it’s argued that dirt racing of NASCAR of the day made faster moonshiners as learning how to take high speed turns on dirt repeatedly made for better and faster car control when running shine.
To be honest I’m not sure it’s possible to grow the racing audience to Big Four sports levels. Or appreciably larger than it already is.
Having said that, I think the biggest boon for televised auto racing coverage in its entire history was the development of in-car cameras. Because people finally got to see what it’s really like. But only to a point.
The huge problem that auto racing has, is that most people, as they were growing up, tried a variety of sports. Most people have an idea how hard it is to throw a baseball accurately, or make a three-point shot, or hit a seven-iron to within four feet of the cup. The average person thinks, “I drive a car every day, how hard can it be?” These people don’t realize that driving a car to the store has as much to do with competitive racing, as playing Pop-A-Shot at your local bar has to do with playing in the NBA. I run into people all the time who say they would come to the track and show me a thing or two, despite the fact that I’ve been doing track days for over thirty years. They’re half joking maybe, but you get the sense they believe it.
Unfortunately there’s very little way to show someone firsthand the difference between a pro driver’s skills and that of a regular Joe, short of getting them onto a go-cart track and giving them matched carts and ending up with the pro twenty seconds ahead of them after five laps. So to casual fans, racing just isn’t that compelling because they haven’t developed the appreciation for the skills involved.
At the same time, televised racing has been a double-edged sword. While it’s allowed more to access it, it also has made it look boring, in that by the nature of broadcast fields of vision, things often appear way slower and leisurely than they really are. The macro view obscures the micro difficulty.
Like you, I love watching b/c I’ve been a participant (at a low level and badly, but I’ve done it) so I at least have a visceral sense of just how hard it is and can mentally scale it up. But if all you’ve ever done is seen it on tv or play it in video games, it can seem uninteresting.
NASCAR heyday was late 90s into the 2000s. You what they were doing then to attract fans? Nothing! Just racing. Today they are continuously tweaking and fiddling too much.
NASCAR was furiously reaping the benefits of CART/IRL shooting themselves in the dick, is what they were doing during that time, more than anything else. Even US sportscar racing was fractured then. Fans like me went where the action (and the fun) was, and we ended up at NASCAR. For a while. Then NASCAR just assumed it was always going to be like that, and when it turned out they were niche like they’d always been, they’ve been desperately throwing things at the wall in an attempt to get people back.
Yeah I like to align the death of NASCAR with the day it no longer was the Winston Cup. Use to go to a lot of races, was there when DE lost his life, haven’t thought about going to a race in over 15yrs, and its so unbearable to watch today on TV. Use to be filled with tough racers, now its whiny fancy spoiled brats. Get rid of the chase, stages, comp cautions, and not have the broadcast be 90% ads.
The stages are the worst. Is this a race or some kind of demonstration?
It’s a bit like Heat racing, but allows for commercial breaks. Honestly it has made the Championship format more interesting, but I agree it’s a bit weird. With the new car, it’s no longer needed to bandaid the old one.
People aren’t leaving because of what they are doing, younger people just don’t care about watching racing of any kind.
I know I’d rather spend 4 hours playing Forza than 2 hours of drivers going around a track intermixed with 2 hours of commercials.
Related, anyone remember a few years back when the pace car ran out of gas at an IndyCar street course event (I want to say St. Petersburg)?
Driver even tried to go down pit lane before it died, but got waved off b/c won’t work.
You Need the drunk spotter/podcaster package. Beer googles, twitter account, crappy clothes company, tiki torches, fireball, and a usb microphone.
Racing broadcasts need a Manningcast.
I’d pay to watch an HBO type broadcast with cursing and swearing and lots of drunks.
I’ve had this idea for years. Set up any major sporting event with some MST3K style banter and go to town.
I miss the old drunk guy broadcaster. Today we only have the broadcasting school clones with their fake voice and dweeb attitudes.
Maybe require racers to ‘bicycle’ their cars in the turns, à la Lloyd Seay? That’d be pretty entertaining to watch.
https://dawsonnews.cdn-anvilcms.net/media/images/2021/08/16/images/Lloyd-Seay-car.max-1504×846.jpg
A little info about Lloyd Seay; he was a pretty fascinating racer who honed his skills running moonshine and tragically died at the age of 21 just the day after winning the first national stock car racing championship in 1941.
https://www.dawsonnews.com/life/local-history/week-racing-history-not-first-time-stock-car-went-two-wheels/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_Seay
And his family put up a remarkable gravestone with a bas relief carving of his car with a photograph of him in the driver’s window:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10961109/lloyd-seay
I’ve never gotten into any type of auto racing fandom, but I am curious about either extreme:
Note that I’ve put zero thought into potential unintended consequences of either of these scenarios, so I am certain that both would somehow end in disaster.
I think you just described the Can-Am series from the 1960s and 1970s, and World Rally Championship Group B in the 1980s. Both were very dangerous for drivers, and in the case of Group B, spectators as well.
True, but to be fair Group B spectators stood inches from the course. Maybe try again with actual distance and protection?
Doesn’t help the Driver, but who could say that Group B wasn’t fun to watch?
Every time the “no rules” calls come, we need to remind folks how the series that actually came closest to no rules, consumed themselves in short order.
We’ll, there’s one exception: Pike’s Peak unlimited class is still going strong, but in that case there’s the advantage that the demands of the track itself form a pretty severe set of restrictions. But in general, yes unlimited racing pretty much devolves into a combination of bloodsport and “the one with the most money wins”
OverlandingSprinter- yes, I was thinking Can Am as well, particularly Jim Hall’s creations like the Chapparal Sucker car with the snowmobile engine sucking it to the ground.
I’ve always liked the idea of an actual “stock car” racing series:
They’d have to figure out what to do about manufacturers that aren’t full line, and make a way to level the playing field for makes or types that don’t have a sport/race model.
It could almost be a full channel following the teams modifications and training.
At least for some of what you mention, Tony Stewart’s SRX series comes close. Its regional track focus is really cool – the series even gives a walk-on entry to whomever is the local track champ. More than a few times, they’ve given the pros a run for their money.
For about 15 years now I’ve been outlining my theory for how to fix NASCAR. It’s a little dated now but I’ll rehash the technical bits:
Stock body dimensions on cross section of three axes. Car must feature design elements as on the production vehicle (body lines, wings, vents & scoops) available at some trim level. This doesn’t mean actual stock bodies in white, because let’s be honest, we need to have some level of racing safety.
Driven wheel layout must be as on the vehicle replicated. RWD, FWD, AWD, doesn’t matter.
Engine block and cylinder head castings must be stock, available part numbers from some product in that OEM’s product portfolio (you can have a Lexus engine in your Toyota and so forth). Everything else is free.
Cup are 8 cylinder, Xfinity are 6 cylinder, and trucks are fours.
This is simplified for space but the idea is to keep giving the OEMs a reason to be involved (read: truckloads of money). But again I first drafted this plan over a decade ago and 8 cylinder engines are almost dead so I don’t even know anymore.
They used to run very similar rules in Xfinity and the Goody’s Dash Series. Unfortunately the lack of competitive parity leads to issues with a manufacturer not seeing success and wanting to leave. It’s why Cup engines are neutered to 550 HP. TRD can’t build a pushrod V8 to save its life.
Even in the 80s, when they gave engineers relatively modest limits in Group B* it racked up an astonishing body count in fairly short order. Today we somehow still have the Isle of Mann TT, which is as close to no rules moto racing as you get and sure enough, it is by far the most deadly motorsport both still around, and arguably ever.
*- Group B was not “no rules”, it had displacement, wheelbase, and basic safety limits. What it did not have was any boost limits or restrictions on materials use, and so you ended up with Lancias and Audis the size and weight of the original Beetle, with 600-1000 HP engines, 20 odd inches of suspension travel and burning between corners faster than humans can physiologically react.
Could at least require something like stock engine block, stock body shell, and stock drivetrain configuration. Your production model only comes as a FWD sedan with a 4-cylinder? Well, then I guess you’re racing a FWD 4-cylinder sedan, aren’t you? Want to be allowed to race a V8? Then better make it available for the street. Want to use a RWD coupe? Well, then, better build it for sale to the public
Spec racing with a 718 GT4 Clubsport, or a 911 Cup Car is as close to stock car racing as I think currently exists.
1. Bring back the LeMans start in EVERY version of motor racing. NASCAR, WRC, Top Fuel. Every driver has to run to their car, buckle in, and start the thing with a key before they can take off.
2. Reserve a spot in the grid for any fan who can show up on qualifying day and run within, say, 5 seconds of the slowest qualifier. And the car they get to drive has, say, 10% more horsepower.
3. All rules violation disputes are settled by a fistfight between the entire racing team and the rules committee on the main straightaway within 2 hours of the race end.
Please note, these are all terrible ideas, but man, races would be a SHOW.
Everyone knows Nascar hasn’t been worth watching since Earnhardt died. That’s when I stopped and I’ve heard it’s only been getting worse. I’ve been saying since the 90s that they need to go back to racing bone stock sedans. Take the top selling sedan from each manufacturer, have an independent party strip the flammable bits out, change the tank for a fuel cell and install a driver safety cage. Then the teams draw numbers for the car they race that week so all cars are equal. Only further modifications are their team and sponsor livery. Maybe we could get some cool editions again like the old monte carlo ss.
I wish. Honestly let NASCAR fall apart further. Like a forest fire. Then it can regrow with the smaller teams and smaller tracks. Niche following will make it stronger for the fans.
That might work. IndyCar is finally on a nice trajectory right now after the CART/IRL debacle nearly destroyed open wheel racing in the US. They had to be reborn and slowly rebuild, but the racing is awesome and the events keep getting better and better.
The simulator stuffed with driver family is, of course, genius. It might prompt me to watch.
Regarding the moonshine in the trunk idea, and I think you hinted at this, but award points for the number of pints (I’m guessing moonshine sells by the pint) the vehicle carries. A slower car carrying more pints might be declared the winner because cars finishing in higher order might carry less. Strategy!
Maybe, and perhaps this is too wacky of an idea, NASCAR could race stock cars. I would concede to removing superfluous accessories such as air conditioning, seats, sound insulation, stereos, touch screens and ammunition. I would allow alternative fuels, reprogramming the ECU, roll cages, removing the cat & muffler and limited suspension upgrades. Sure, the speeds would be lower, but so might the cost of fielding a team. Make stock car racing stock again.
I’m sorry, I was onboard until you said to remove ammunition. As we’ve learned recently, this is ‘Merica dammit; cars WILL have loose ammunition inside.
I don’t watch auto racing because the entire premise to me is flawed.
In most other sports, I root for teams, not individuals. To me, a “team” in racing is an automaker. I don’t care about drivers.
The idea of a bunch of cars with the same engines and design specs going around a track, with driver skill as the deciding factor, holds basically no appeal to me. Who cares when all the hardware is the same?
Give each automaker or “team” a budget, some minimum safety qualifications, and otherwise no restrictions on designing and engineering the best car possible. Have the race series on a variety of tracks, so that a single design feature (top speed, downforce, or whatever) isn’t the overriding factor. Losers of each race get the largest budget to improve their cars through the season.
Would all the cars look like Formula One racers with the same engines and wings? I somehow doubt it.
Maybe something like this exists already. If so, it needs better publicity.
The manufacturers are in the mix. They do have to use the standardized parts from approved sources. The manufacturers take the parts and make them work though. The teams are so big that the manufacturers use them for input rather than tell them what to do.
F1 is kinda like that, but there will always be some rules limiting development for competition and safety purposes. Still, it’s much less spec than something like NASCAR or IndyCar.
F1 cars have tons of regulations, such that there is a long Wikipedia page required merely to outline them all.
Every car has a 1.6L hybrid V6, an 8 speed transmission, a single tire supplier, a prescribed wheelbase and dimensions, a long list of banned technology, and so on.
My preferred series would have regulations that fit on a single sheet of paper (the car must protect its occupants in several prescribed crash scenarios, and must cost <$X)
NASCAR. The fastest car in qualifying has the option of starting last in the grid instead of at the pole. As the last place car, the car would be the “Regulator,” y’know the PoPo that chased down the moonshine-running cars back-in-the-day. Every car that the Regulator passed earns him bonus points. If a car is lapped by the Regulator, that car has to go into his pit stall for a 5 second penalty as a simulation for spending a night in jail.
What if you get passed by the Regulator, then you’re out of the race? Your moonshine has been confiscated. The winners have successfully delivered. Or, the Regulator caught enough people to win in points overall. Sounds fun. Still just a race, but I like the idea of slower cars being slowly attrited from the race.
What would be the benefit of being the Regulator? Points for every rum runner you catch? Also, the Regulator needs to have a gumball on the roof.
Bonus points. And per jb996’s suggestion, perhaps a rule if you pass/lap a car they are out of the race. That would all figure into strategy and the current points standings.
I like the elimination race. Would be wild.
Would be an interesting variable in strategy if the Pole sitter were just out of qualifying for the Chase and took the Regulator spot in order to specifically take out the car(s) right above him in points. Or if the Pole sitter has a specific beef with a certain driver (i.e. Martin Truex Jr v. Joey Logano) and aimed to deny him the points to qualify for the Chase or the Championship, he could opt for the Regulator spot to play spoiler.
What if the Pole qualifier doesn’t accept being the Regulator? They would have to make it statistically advantageous in points to do so. Not a guaranteed win, but just slightly more likely than just starting in the front.
Make the point structure so it’s possible to earn as many points from running as Regulator to, say, fifth or seventh, as it is for the win. So if one thinks they can win from the back, they could get more points for that than a win from pole. That gives them a decision to make, almost like a bet on themselves.
I like this idea; can we get Tony on the phone to try it at one SRX race this year as a test?
Racing is most interesting when there is passing on the track and big personalities off it.
Maybe the if the pole sitter passes on the Regulator position, the second qualifier gets a chance to take the spot. And then the third and so on. That would then give the pole sitter yet another thing to think about before accepting or passing.
Cool idea. We could also have the “chaser” start well behind the pack (10 seconds or so depending on the track). He/she will then have to race to catch up and start “picking them off” with a simulated phaser gun mounted to the front of the car. Top Gun like or sort of like Mario kart.
Last one caught is winner for the next round. Cars don’t have to be fastest but just faster than the guy next to him and keep “hiding in front of the pack”.
I’m likin’ this idea.
There are a few reasons I don’t watch auto racing even though I enjoy it (really, this is any ad-supported TV in general).
For what it’s worth, you might enjoy IndyCar. My views are similar to yours, but I’m a big fan of it.
What draws me to it is that in a lot of ways, it’s a throwback to old-school racing in that the focus is largely on the action on the track, not the personalities off-track.
It also rewards actively paying attention to the details of the competition and its elements…even the announcers’ manner encourages this, as compared to say NASCAR’s breathless hyperactivity or F1’s you’re probably not understanding us tone.
I think IndyCar is the best racing around right now, and, as a bonus, it’s not as snobby as F1 or as red-necky as NASCAR. The drivers all seem like nice guys who respect the sport and each other, there’s not much in the way of pouting or fist-fighting.
I too really like that feel of professionalism among the drivers. Even when they’re upset with each other, it’s measured and always in proportion to the overall danger of what they’re doing (as in, not like when Chase Elliot wrecked Denny Hamlin on purpose this past weekend).
What can be exhausting for me about NASCAR is its seeming focus on generating spectacle above all else. If it’s lost some of the good ole boy thing, it’s replaced it with the vibe of an energy drink commercial.
IndyCar is great, but MotoGP is even better. They battle like crazy but the riders will always high five or shake hands on the cool-down lap, and it seems there’s a genuine respect among them. Maybe because they really get how insane it is.
Also, ever since Marquez crashed in the opener in 2020 (ironically when I started watching), I can’t possibly tell you on any given week who is going to win. The last three seasons have been won by three different riders on three different bike brands.
The US coverage isn’t that great though, so unfortunately if you’re looking for commercial-free live coverage you’re going to need the VideoPass subscription. It’s a good app but it’s about double what F1TV costs, simply because of sheer number of subscribers I’d guess.
There’s even a couple of American riders in Moto2 now! And one of them, Joe Roberts, has been courted to move up to GP; but to his credit, he’s declined, stating he wants to get there b/c of his skills, not his nationality.
Not to discredit Joe too much, but there’s about 10 guys in Moto2 I would promote before him. I do hope he continues to improve.
I feel like MotoGP is tailor-made for an F1-like boost in popularity (especially in the US), if they could just get more eyes on it. The races are compact affairs perfect for short-term modern day attention spans and the racing action is unrivaled.
Instead of watching cars turn left for N hours, people could watch… containers of water sitting in a trunk for N hours?
You could make it its own thing and call it ‘The Jugs Channel’ and people still wouldn’t watch.
(Apologies for the crudity of the double entendre.)
A. Barth- come on, the water jugs would only be an inset on the screen; they’d really only show them in replay if there was a reason to see them get smashed (the bottles get smashed, not the drivers)
What if the drivers were smashed (drunk, or at least buzzed) on moonshine during the race. Nevermind, that’s a terrible idea.
Or is it?
The angry drunks (and blind drunks, because moonshine) would be smashing into everything, the happy drunks would be yelling “Wheeee!” and/or “Yeeehaaa!”, and the sad drunks would be puttering along at the back and wondering “What’s the point?”.
The passed-out drunks would be the targets for impromptu demolition derbies.
“Hey friend, did you see that auto race on Saturday?”
“I sure did; it was a real jug-smasher!”
@The Bishop – is that better? 🙂
From my limited understanding, I don’t think this was out of the norm through the 50’s – 60’s, maybe into the 70’s.
A. Barth- if nothing else, it would be the best living testament as to why NOT to drive while intoxicated ever made.
It certainly would!
They’re on a closed course with tons of safety equipment, what the hell, get them buzzed and see what happens, might be fun.
Sh*tfaced Showdown! 😀
And in other news, NASCAR mourns the passing of another top driver from Cirrhosis today, a condition which has plagued the sport ever since the rule changes of ’23.