Does @NASCAR even understand their fans and supporters anymore? https://t.co/8tNx8J3y7w
— William Teach2 ??????? #refuseresist (@WTeach2) July 6, 2024
Do they actually think this will excite fans? From the link
Part of the experience of a NASCAR race is hearing the engine roar, the rumble of each car’s approach and the zip when it whizzes past at more than 150 mph.
NASCAR unveiled its first electric racecar Saturday in downtown Chicago, but it doesn’t thunder when the grand marshal says “drivers, start your engines.”
It hums.
The top motorsports series in North America partnered with Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and electrification company ABB to demonstrate a high-performance electric vehicle and gauge fan interest in electric racing.
They want to represent electric vehicles, and more broadly electrification, in racing as cool, fun and accessible, said Riley Nelson, NASCAR’s head of sustainability.
Is this what the fans want?
It accelerates almost twice as fast as top gas-powered racecars and can stop almost immediately. But its lap time at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was two-tenths of a second slower because it takes the corners slower due to being heavier. Ragan said it may go even faster; he wasn’t pushing the one-of-a-kind vehicle to its limits. Risk-taking is for racing, not testing, he said.
Here’s a question I’m not seeing being asked: EVs are much heavier, so, what happens when they crash? What happens if they go over the wall or wipe out in the infield? Or, into the pit?
Burning gas pollutes the air and produces carbon dioxide, which warms the atmosphere and leads to more extreme weather. Burning one gallon produces about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Racing events consume thousands of gallons in a weekend.
And almost no NASCAR fans give a damn.
