Do NASCAR and other gas wasting events need to go?

[T J]

I don't know how much gas/oil Nascar uses on an annual basis but if things get bad enough could gas-guzzling events be a thing of the past? Things like The Blue Angels and monster truck rally events are all just entertainment. If we cut them out would it make a lick of difference? If not, how bad would things have to get before we would ban such events? Would rednecks survive?

Discuss if you please.

 

[Sheep]

Any answer that's not "Wouldn't make a lick of difference" is wrong.

To give a more concrete example, ABC News recently reported about cross-country rally events held by supercar owners. While reckless driving is an issue with these events, that's a different discussion for a different thread.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/26/stating-the-obvious-cross-country-rallies-have-huge-carbon-foot/

People pointed out that the carbon footprint from this race (generating 650,000 pounds of CO2) is the equivalent of 16 or 17 regularly driven cars over the course of a year or one 747 flight from Australia to England. I'd venture a wager that the gas used by these events is a sliver of our total consumption as well.

In other words, it's less than a drop in the bucket and not worth worrying about unless you plan to curtail vacations and all non-necessary travel as well.

 

[Small White Car]

This is a lot like asking "why do basketball players get millions of dollars?"

Trust me, if either NASCAR or the NBA folded tomorrow both would have the same impact on you: Zip.

Likewise, if other sports can afford to pay their athletes millions, I'm sure gas is going to stay in NASCAR's price range for a long, long time.

 

[JonathonWally]

I don't want to live in a world without car races.

Drag racing is a way of life.

 

[Garak]

I don't want to live in a world without car races.

Drag racing is a way of life.

I won my girlfriend that way.

 

[Holdfast]

I don't want to live in a world without car races.

Drag racing is a way of life.

I won my girlfriend that way.

You raced for pink?

Slips. Pink. SLIPS.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

I don't want to live in a world without car races.

Drag racing is a way of life.

I won my girlfriend that way.

What, you and her ex both dressed in drag and you were more convincing?

 

[Captain Ice]

This is a lot like asking "why do basketball players get millions of dollars?"

Trust me, if either NASCAR or the NBA folded tomorrow both would have the same impact on you: Zip.

Likewise, if other sports can afford to pay their athletes millions, I'm sure gas is going to stay in NASCAR's price range for a long, long time.

My understanding is that the fuel is part of the sponsorship deal from Sunoco. So, they pay nothing or next to it for the fuel.

 

[Trekker4747]

I doubt auto-racing is "using up" all that much gasoline to make it worth "banning" it to increase supply/reduce prices.

So much more can be done by lowering the speed limit on state and federal highways from 70/75 to 60/65 or even 55/60. TONS and TONS of gasoline can be saved that way. Far more than getting rid of auto-racing.

 

[jkladis]

I don't know how much gas/oil Nascar uses on an annual basis but if things get bad enough could gas-guzzling events be a thing of the past?

Compared to the rest of the U.S., it's a thimble from a lake.

 

[Sephiroth]

I doubt auto-racing is "using up" all that much gasoline to make it worth "banning" it to increase supply/reduce prices.

So much more can be done by lowering the speed limit on state and federal highways from 70/75 to 60/65 or even 55/60. TONS and TONS of gasoline can be saved that way. Far more than getting rid of auto-racing.

i remember when they did that before, ever try driving across texas doing 55? takes about a week

 

[Ariadne]

This is a lot like asking "why do basketball players get millions of dollars?"

Trust me, if either NASCAR or the NBA folded tomorrow both would have the same impact on you: Zip.

Likewise, if other sports can afford to pay their athletes millions, I'm sure gas is going to stay in NASCAR's price range for a long, long time.

On the other hand, the (mostly blue-collar) NASCAR fans may not being able to afford to travel long distances to go to races as often.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

^ The die-hards will still go; they'll just make cutbacks somewhere else.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

No it wont make a differance
and to crank it up more I don't believe they pay for the Race Day/Weekend Fuel they use it free!
They do pay for the Testing Fuel @ about $15+ a gallon

An ultra high performance leaded racing fuel designed for racing engines with very high compression ratios. HCR Plus™ is ideally suited for applications in sustained high load/high rpm conditions. This fuel contains no oxygenates and is very resistant to vapor lock. Sunoco HCR Plus is recommended for four-stoke engines with compression ratios exceeding 14:1.
Price: $78.78 for 5 gal.

they typicaly use a 55 gallon drum for testing that the teams payfor.

 

[Pingfah]

Well NASCAR specifically should go simply because it is the most boring racing sport ever conceived and formula one kicks it's circular ass.

But no, they should not be banned, such an action would only be paying lip service to the real issues. We don't need to ban every fast car or impressive machine ever made and doing so distracts people from more important strategies.

 

[Hermiod]

If anything, motorsport has always been a testing ground for improvements we'll later see in road cars.

NASCAR, and other motorsport, teams might be rich now but they're profit-making businesses so they will always look to find cheaper, more efficient ways to run their cars. If that means investing a few dollars in finding renewable fuel sources then they'll do it.

 

[Captain Ice]

If one cares to do the research, one will note that NASCAR did make an attempt at a fuel saving gesture in the 70's when the oil crisis hit. All races were reduced by 10% to conserve fuel. Didn't work.

One will also note that their cars haved been downsized at least once.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

It would make a bigger difference by far to ban attendance to the races (and all sporting events). Just let it be televised and fans can watch without using the gas to go there. Figure you average attendence to NASCAR (or NFL, NCAA Football) to be 80,000 or MLB, NHL, NBA to to 15,000 - multiply that by just five gallons perperson saved and then you have true savings.

But that isn't going to happen and shouldn't. People should be free to decide themselves how to spend their gas money.

hmm.. I think I just thought of a new thread - look for "Should the US return to gas rationing like in WW2?" if your interested.

 

[John Picard]

Any answer that's not "Wouldn't make a lick of difference" is wrong.

To give a more concrete example, ABC News recently reported about cross-country rally events held by supercar owners. While reckless driving is an issue with these events, that's a different discussion for a different thread.

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/26/stating-the-obvious-cross-country-rallies-have-huge-carbon-foot/

People pointed out that the carbon footprint from this race (generating 650,000 pounds of CO2) is the equivalent of 16 or 17 regularly driven cars over the course of a year or one 747 flight from Australia to England. I'd venture a wager that the gas used by these events is a sliver of our total consumption as well.

In other words, it's less than a drop in the bucket and not worth worrying about unless you plan to curtail vacations and all non-necessary travel as well.

"Carbon footprint" is a scare tactic used by hypocritical fat blubbering snake oil salesmen. AlGore is the prime example.

 

[Star Wolf]

If one cares to do the research, one will note that NASCAR did make an attempt at a fuel saving gesture in the 70's when the oil crisis hit. All races were reduced by 10% to conserve fuel. Didn't work.

One will also note that their cars haved been downsized at least once.

I sort of remember during the 'first' 1974 oil crisis there was talk of turning 500 mile races into 500 kilometer races. I can't recall any special measures from the 1979 oil crisis. But to this day there are fuel restrictions so teams must manage how much they use. They can't use as much as the lead foot would want or at the end of the race they will be coasting in nuetral attempting to outlast an accelerating rival.