I was reading the NASCAR article where France said he was worried about the future of the Big 3 in NASCAR with each facing huge financial woes as of late. One fan wrote a response that said that the fans love the drivers and not manufacturers which I disagree. I come from Central Wisconsin the home of such NASCAR drivers like ol' Dave Marcis and now Scott Wimmer. People love NASCAR here and they hated Toyota when they entered NASCAR (even though they did welcome the overall competition) and they were disgusted when Martin left Ford for a Chevy team. So I do feel drivers do play a bigger role for the fans but to say the fans don't care about the manufacturers is false from what I see.
So what matters to you more as a fan? Drivers, manufacturer, or both?
Both, independently of eachother. My favourite Manufactuer is Ford well duh, but my Favourite drivers are the Busch brothers, Mark Martin, and Bobby LaBonte... none of whom drive Fords. However I do like all the current Ford drivers so I haven't had any conflict in having a driver in a Ford I dislike in quite sometime.
I've never really understood the brand loyalty thing unless your were employed by the mfg. or the mfg. went out of his way to take very good care of you.
Other than that,,, they mostly all build good cars and I see no trouble switching up for whatever gets your goose at the time.
Manufacturer all the way...
Maybe I'm old school (my age may show this),
before I could drive (legal), I rooted for the
car in NASCAR, not always a particular driver.
Although I still respect Mark Martin, I just
can't find a way to root for him with that
bowtie on the hood!!!
lots of people like Ford because they are the underdog.. they have what, 8 cars in the field right now? 5 competitive for all intents and purposes, and two more falling under the same team more or less.
underdogs always have a high following..just look at Robby Gordon.
Matt Kenseth is my favorite driver, and it will be a cold day in Hades before I buy a Ford again...
So what are you driving now and what turned you off to Ford?
My F-150 which is supposedly the toughest truck in the world had plastic parts breaking left and right... I'm not talking window knobs and such, but things like the ignition switch and the clutch master cylinder... To top it all off, due to a major design flaw, it caught fire just sitting there parked... Thankfully Geico did me right by waiving my deductible and giving me more than the blue book value for it...
Now I drive a Honda Accord SE V6 sedan, and I love it!
lots of people like Ford because they are the underdog.. they have what, 8 cars in the field right now? 5 competitive for all intents and purposes, and two more falling under the same team more or less.
underdogs always have a high following..just look at Robby Gordon.
Well maybe..but I wouldn't consider Roush an underdog and he is the reason Ford only has one team.
Robby Gordon is a different story. Easily a top 5 racer, who never got the chance to show it cause he wouldn't play ball. Like they say now..it is what it is.
Matt Kenseth is my favorite driver, and it will be a cold day in Hades before I buy a Ford again...
So what are you driving now and what turned you off to Ford?
My F-150 which is supposedly the toughest truck in the world had plastic parts breaking left and right... I'm not talking window knobs and such, but things like the ignition switch and the clutch master cylinder... To top it all off, due to a major design flaw, it caught fire just sitting there parked... Thankfully Geico did me right by waiving my deductible and giving me more than the blue book value for it...
Now I drive a Honda Accord SE V6 sedan, and I love it!
Can't blame you for being teed off there!!
So what makes you a Kenseth fan? and does the fact that he is in a Ford annoy you a bit?
Well maybe..but I wouldn't consider Roush an underdog and he is the reason Ford only has one team.
Robby Gordon is a different story. Easily a top 5 racer, who never got the chance to show it cause he wouldn't play ball. Like they say now..it is what it is.
it's a percentage thing.. Ford comprises such a small percentage of the field, thus they are an underdog.
Robby drove for RCR, thought he could do it better. So.. ya got what ya got. I wouldn't call him a top 5 racer simply because he has never been able to wrap his head around a oval track setups. Sideways driving is fine in the dirt, not so great for tires on pavement. He's good on road courses simply because he isn't afraid to man-handle a car to make it do what he wants it to do. Perfectly fine thing to do on a short road course as there's not enough time to wear the thing completely out. He builds a strong road car. His road chassis are top notch.
Matt Kenseth is my favorite driver, and it will be a cold day in Hades before I buy a Ford again...
So what are you driving now and what turned you off to Ford?
My F-150 which is supposedly the toughest truck in the world had plastic parts breaking left and right... I'm not talking window knobs and such, but things like the ignition switch and the clutch master cylinder... To top it all off, due to a major design flaw, it caught fire just sitting there parked... Thankfully Geico did me right by waiving my deductible and giving me more than the blue book value for it...
Now I drive a Honda Accord SE V6 sedan, and I love it!
Can't blame you for being teed off there!!
So what makes you a Kenseth fan? and does the fact that he is in a Ford annoy you a bit?
I'm a Kenseth fan because my fiancee's father used to build his engines when he raced for Reiser Motorsports in the Busch series. They are still good friends today, and he has never had a cross word to say about Matt. I'll always be a fan no matter what he drives...
Well maybe..but I wouldn't consider Roush an underdog and he is the reason Ford only has one team.
Robby Gordon is a different story. Easily a top 5 racer, who never got the chance to show it cause he wouldn't play ball. Like they say now..it is what it is.
it's a percentage thing.. Ford comprises such a small percentage of the field, thus they are an underdog.
Robby drove for RCR, thought he could do it better. So.. ya got what ya got. I wouldn't call him a top 5 racer simply because he has never been able to wrap his head around a oval track setups.
Surely, you don't want to through out politics when your talkin NASCAR. RCR was pretty awful in the stretch after Sr. passed. I've said it a million times that Robby had to give up one entire crew and 2 or 3 crew chiefs while at RCR to try to get the GOODWRENCH team on track. It is what it is and Robby has probably been the most successful owner/driver since Alan Kulwicki when you consider the big scheme of things.
He answers to no one (maybe to his detriment) but he is very successful and still look at the boss in the mirror ecah morning.
Surely, you don't want to through out politics when your talkin NASCAR. RCR was pretty awful in the stretch after Sr. passed. I've said it a million times that Robby had to give up one entire crew and 2 or 3 crew chiefs while at RCR to try to get the GOODWRENCH team on track. It is what it is and Robby has probably been the most successful owner/driver since Alan Kulwicki when you consider the big scheme of things.
He answers to no one (maybe to his detriment) but he is very successful and still look at the boss in the mirror ecah morning.
sorry, I thought we were talking about manufacturer vs. driver fans. I simply stated that people like underdogs. You said that Roush is a winning team and thus not an underdog, I countered with the fact that they are, percentage wise, at a significant disadvantage and thus so an underdog.
