Rob Fahrni

I would really love to see NASCAR add a couple international dates to their schedule. Maybe these dates are in place of some track dates that get two races and they’re only done every-other-year?

Regardless, I think it would be good for the sport. Granted I’m a total NASCAR noob but I’ve really come to appreciate the skill, strategy, and excitement of NASCAR.

Exciting? Really?

Yep. I think it’s the most exciting of the three racing leagues I keep an eye on; NASCAR, IndyCar, and F1. Of those F1 is, hands down, the most boring of the three with NASCAR being the most exciting. And, no, it’s not just because of the incredible wrecks it’s because on each weekend you could have a different winner. Sure, there are favorites who will win more races than others but you do have a distribution of winners.

Where would they go?

That’s the big question and I have opinions!

Mexico

Mexico City - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

F1 currently runs at Mexico City so they’re ready to host a major car racing series.

The track is 2.67 miles of road course. Not an oval, of course.

England

Brands Hatch

Billed as Britain’s Best Loved Circuit, Brands Hatch is a 2.3 mile road course and would be a total blast to see NASCAR compete there.

Who knows, if NASCAR were to have some international events like this perhaps they could run a few European tracks.

Germany

Nürburgring

I would LOVE to see them run THE LEGENDARY GREEN HELL. It’s huge! Just shy of 13 miles of road course with elevation changes and tricky turns.

If that’s just too much track they could run the F1 track instead. It’s just over 3 miles of road course.

Japan

Suzuka Circuit

Another course on the F1 circuit that runs 2.6 miles in length.

And that’s that!

Perhaps one of these tracks per year, maybe two or three in Europe while they’re there.

NASCAR is a very different type of organization. They are extremely conservative and that may not translate well to an audience outside America, but I’d love to see them try.

I’d love to see a website — perhaps NASCAR itself — dedicated to the engineering of engines, frames, driver cockpit, and safety, among other things.

They could have a YouTube channel and blog for it.

Here’s a case for you. A nice deep dive on power trains, which teams have full manufacturer support and who doesn’t get a darned bit of help. I’m super interested in that.

The Hendricks Engine Building team (don’t know the exact name) just celebrated their 500th win! Profile them!

Another thing I’d love to see torn down is the process of creating the Next Gen car. Did y’all know every NASCAR race car has the same frame and shares many of the same parts? That’s incredible to me! It means they’ve leveled the field somewhat, see my question about manufacturer support. Yes, some teams have more resources than others but NASCAR fields the most competitive races of any major racing series. Well, them and IndyCar. I like that they make it more about the driver.

How about some driver profiles? Thirty minutes on each driver and looks into the daily life of the crews supporting the teams. Hey, they have drivers who haul all the race equipment and cars to the tracks. Talk about an important behind the scenes job! Profile all the people!

Anywho, just some random off season thoughts.

I just finished watching the Italian Grand Prix and the racing is extremely boring for first place.

Verstappen in a post race interview he said “We had to work for this one today.” No, you didn’t. The Red Bull cars are just too darned fast.

It was nice to see Carlos Sainz take P3 but no car on the grid can compete with the Red Bulls.

So, once again, Verstappen wins by 10 seconds going away. He even coasted on some laps, I mean why not?

In the end F1 wins for its fantastic production. There’s nothing better than a commercial free race, even if it’s boring from a racing perspective.

I wish NASCAR could fix their terrible race production. It’s more commercials than racing, which is extremely frustrating.

NASCAR wins for racing value, F1 for production value.

As I’ve mentioned here and other places I’ve gotten into NASCAR this year. It started with F1 then I started watching IndyCar which lead to NASCAR.

I like NASCAR for a couple reasons. It’s more an everyday Joan’s sport. You know, for us common folks. It’s not hoity-toity like F1 and I think the racing is just plain better. The modern NASCAR cars all share the same design as defined and built by NASCAR. The power trains are the only real difference from an engineering perspective so it’s all down to setup and, more importantly, the driver. But I digress.

There is something that bothers me about NASCAR. Fans seem to be very, uh, conservative. Meaning it’s all about God, country, and to many the Confederate flag and all the hate that comes with it. Bubba Wallace asked NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag and they did, it was a step in the right direction. All that said they have a long way to go, which brings me to why I started writing this.

Which team is progressive enough to put a Progress Pride Flag on the car as the entire livery? I think it would look amazing and start to break down that next wall in the sport.