I enjoyed NASCAR back in the day when they were truly "Stock Cars". Something that you could go and actually buy off the showroom floor. After all, that is where they got the term, "Win on Sunday, and sell on Monday". Today it represents nothing of the sort. Tubular chassis, dry sump, high rpm racing engines, restrictor plates, aero flaps, and all the rest, has taken the sport into an area the automobile consumer can no longer relate to.
And the funny part is all of this has done nothing to increase performance. Bobby Isaac lapped Talladega over 200 MPH back in 1969, in a wet sump factory produced 426 HEMI. Sure, both the car, engine, and suspension had been gone through and beefed up. But it represented a relationship to the racing enthusiast to something he could actually go out and buy. You could see the Aluminum plate they bolted to the dash, to cover up the hole left by the AM radio.
I get the whole part about safety, and all of that. But it must be realized when Bill France built Talladega, he built it with 200+ MPH speeds in mind. That was where the sport was headed, and that was the direction the fans wanted it to go. They were on the right track when Bill Elliot lapped at 212 MPH back in the 80's. (That record still stands, and most likely will for years to come). At least the tubular chassis, and all the rest got the speeds up. But now every time the race engineers find some speed, NASCAR, in their infinite wisdom, find a way to take it away from them.
We watch cars run around in a pack, bumping and pushing one another, because none of them can get away from each other. NASCAR is no longer "racing". It has been transformed into an "event". Much like the WWF, or WWE, or whatever they call themselves these days. It's a place where guys go to get drunk, see a good wreck, (which is all but guaranteed at the Super Speedways), and eyeball girls in halter tops and short pants. I'm not saying there is anything "wrong" with any of this. Just don't tell me it's racing. It's a Sunday show. A bit better than the strip mall carnival, or the local rodeo, but a show none the less.