Is it just my imagination, or are we getting less Saratoga this summer than last summer?
I realize that NASCAR holds races the same time every year, but it seems like there’s a lot more NASCAR on TV this year and a lot less Saratoga than there was last year.
I would much rather watch old-money blue bloods and their horses than rednecks and their cars. 
:mad:
Can’t speak to Saratoga coverage this year compared to last but NASCAR, the same. Practice, qualifying, races covered as always and pretty much on the same stations as always.
NBC* covers the second half of the season and Fox Sports covers the first half of the season.
TVG (I know, I know 
) has been promoting ‘every race, every day’ for both Del Mar and Saratoga which I why I don’t have a clue about changes in Saratoga coverage.
PS. A bit offended (and I don’t normally get easily offended) that people that watch NASCAR are “rednecks” as I certainly don’t consider myself one :mad:
Point taken, and I apologize. Didn’t mean to offend – was more laughing at myself, which is why I referred to the horse racing people as blue bloods in contrast. It’s not as if I hung out with either group or knew any of the Saratoga crowd any better than I do, for example, the Talladega crowd (actually I do have a very good friend who works very hard when there is racing at Talladega).
RPM, to me “blue blood” doesn’t have the same potentially “negative” impact that “redneck” does (at least to me).
Been following TB racing since I was little girl (although never in the industry; I remember Native Diver racing the So Cal circuit as I was growing up). NASCAR for about halt that time; never lived in the south or anywhere where NASCAR was the sports “diet” of choice
We’re ok 
FoxSports has had coverage every day of a few races - from the 6th or 7th to the 10th or so…
I’ve watched more Saratoga this year then any previously on NBCsn …their commentary, think it’s courtesy of NYRA, is better then that on the flagship station, less rump kissing and celeb infatuation, more inside commentary from those not long retired and no longer spending the majority of their lives on the backside.
And if you find NASCAR too mundane, F1 is also on including practice and qualifying about every other week. And Indy cars. You want a hobby that can be more expensive then a GP horse? Elite level race team would be it. One wreck sets you back a years worth of show horse funding. No insurance either.
Rather nice we have all these sports channels these days.
"I realize that NASCAR holds races the same time every year, but it seems like there’s a lot more NASCAR on TV this year and a lot less Saratoga than there was last year.
I would much rather watch old-money blue bloods and their horses than rednecks and their cars. :mad:
“Well they actually ARE ‘rednecks’ or good ol’ boys, and they pride themselves on being such. Farm work meant you had a “red neck,” and you were proud of your work. AND … ‘red-necks’ know ALL about NASCAR.”
You already know, of course, that NASCAR, came about from the Old South having Stills, and running MoonShine?
You had to have a car that would out-run the police, AND be able to drive it fast & wicked.
(FWI, I hate NASCAR, but my grandfather (b1899 - d1955) had to do moonshine runs to help feed his family during the Depression, in Alabama)
Brigid, I am well aware of the history of stock car racing, thanks
Today’s NASCAR is slightly different than the NASCAR that raced on the sands of Daytona Beach. That would include who today’s fans are
Even the cars are no longer “stock” cars and are appropriately labeled NASCAR Race Car (not NASCAR Stock Car).
Maybe there are “good ol’ boys” that pride themselves on being rednecks but there are many who are not “good ol’ boys” nor rednecks that enjoy the support.
Not sure what there is about NASCAR that is worth “hating” any more than any other sport. :lol:
One of the first songs I learned from the radio. I must have been about 6. I used to sing it in the back of our station wagon on road trips. Tickled my parents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdwUpxkfSJw
I guess it’s the hours of round & round. I’d fall asleep; as some people who think watching dressage is like watching paint dry <actually these days it practically is>
It just seems to me advertisement billboards going really, REALLY fast in circles. What’s to watch?
It seems to me - people go either support their friends driving/pit crew, or hope to see a wreck. :’(
I’d much rather watch straight line stock-car drag racing.
Years ago, my dad and I used to watch NASCAR races… sitting in front of our TV up in Montreal - not exactly a red neck haven of good ol’ boys! I aways cheered for Richard Petty (43 - orange and blue) and he always cheered for David Pearson (21 - red and white) … that memory makes me smile.
I always asked him if we could go down to Saratoga - just for one day… but that never came to be. The best I could do was to go to Blue Bonnets race track in Montreal - but that was all harness racing. Years later I would work on a Stanardbred farm and come to love them - but TBs have always been my first love and I followed racing avidly for years with access to any live racing… until I finally had the good fortune to live somewhere with a track.
If TVG had existed back when I was a kid I would’ve been glued to it.
Brigid, there are way too many fans with b*tts in seats at NASCAR races to just be friends of drivers or pit crews :lol: No, we don’t go for the crashes either. Every time there is one, my heart is in my throat until the driver gets out and waves that he’s ok.
As with any sport, one must watch for a while before the “nuances” of the sport become obvious. NASCAR is much more than go fast turn left (and hey, at least twice a year they turn left and right ).
I love watching pro road race cycling (a la Tour de France). Most of you would say “boring”… 180+ guys riding bikes for 4+ hours. Not so much. Definitely strategy involved in those 180+ guys racing and many “races” within races. Tuning in for 45 minutes, just a bunch of guys racing.
smoofox, frustrating for me as about a mile from where I live is a very old standardbred track that has been closed for 50+ years (and rumored to be for sale and the grandstands razed). Facility is too old at this point to re-open without a ton of renovation work. 
Still haven’t made it to Turf Paradise (afraid after Hollywood Park, Santa Anita, Belmont… a high bar to jump over).
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