BE PREPARED FOR A RANT ON WHY F1 RULZ AND THE OTHERS ALL SUCK BALLS MORE THAN MATT DAMON!
Formula 1 is the absolute king of motorsports!!! The Champ Car Series is decent, but I find NASCAR and the IRL just plain boring. For one thing, unlike NASCAR and the IRL, F1 and Champ Car guys actually have to be able to drive (i.e. turning left AND right). They have to actually know HOW to safely and successfully pass a rival driver ON THE TRACK (instead of JUST in the pit lane). In F1, they have to deal with elevation changes (which the North American racers are just scared shitless to do). F1 drivers are also skilled enough to race in the rain (unless it's a torrential downpour like a thunderstorm or monsoon or something, that would just be stupid), unlike NASCAR and IRL, who pack everything up and call "rain delay" if there's a mild shower a couple of miles away from the track.
Best part of it (F1) though, is that each team gets to design their own car!!! This makes for a lot better competition, because certain teams will have better advantages on one track, but then may lose it on the next. This makes things like pit strategy, how hard they drive, etc., so much more important. Champ Car, NASCAR and IRL cars are all the same, they follow the cookie-cutter philosophy. Ok, IRL has 2 different chassis that teams can choose from. Oooooo...2 chassis. Big fuckin deal, they're practically identical anyway. Unless you're standing right in front of the cars, you'd never be able to tell the difference.
With F1 cars, even as they're racing at top speeds on TV, you can see the differences in the front wing placement/shape, the bodywork on the side-panels, the height and size of the rear wing, and on the McLaren cars, those little mini-wings they have near the air intake port above the driver's head.
Then there's the engines. Champ Car is ALL Ford-Cosworth, which is not bad, IMO, because it puts everyone on an equal-playing field. The team that does the best job of maintaining and maximizing the engine
should get the best results (I say should because a lot depends, of course, on the driver and the luck of the day). NASCAR has all North-American engines, I think (Chevy, Ford, Pontiac), and IRL has Honda, Toyota, and Chevy (again, I think). The variety in engines has the potential for creating better competition as we look to see who's engines perform better and are more reliable, especially since all the cars use the same chassis.
F1 is racing that is won/lost on the strength of the engines, moreso now than ever since the FIA instituted the new rule that an engine HAS to last for 2 race weekends. None of the other racing promotions would even think of doing that. Normally it's one engine for practice, one for qualifying, and then one (the most reliable) for race day. This new rule FIA instituted has caused the engine makers to make engines that are even tougher/more reliable than ever. They'd kick the shit out of a NASCAR/IRL engine. Also, the same way each F1 team develops/designs it's own car, they each provide their own engine (except for the smaller teams, who have deals with the bigger teams for engines.
I always make an effort to watch the F1 races. I'll also watch Champ Car now and then (at least they can turn left AND right). Never watch NASCAR, cuz I don't really care about redneck racing. I only watch IRL during the Indy 500, or if they're doing a spot on
Danica Patrick. Fuck I'd love to go 200 MPH with her!!!