Is NASCAR better today then 10-20 years ago?

May be...

I have mixed feelings on the subject.There is a LOT more competition today than ever before,as opposed to 10 or more years ago when there were only a handful of drivers that could realistically win races and championships.However,the racing was more exciting back in the day because there weren't as many rules and NASCAR didn't punish everyone for every exciting thing that they do(i.e. punishing Logano Saturday night for going for the win at all costs,getting into altercations after the race,etc.).
The COT has really made a lot of the races boring and the modification of some tracks(Bristol is the perfect example) have made those tracks almost painful to watch.I guess some would argue that Jimmie Johnson's domination has watered down the sport a bit(of course,I wouldn't).I still love NASCAR but they could make it a lot better than it's current state.

My opinion is that with all the sponsors out there it is getting to political and away from what got them there. Safety is far better then it was and not what I had in mind with asking this. I applaud them for all the safety advancements.

From the drivers safety aspect the sport has totally revolutionized literally overnight.

Sadly, the car is now so heavy and I fell that the racing has deteriated. Drivers are now satisfied with second place.

I held that opinion all of last year until it came to 'Dega. That was some of the best racing I had ever seen.

NO i don't think so.

I agree with Jeff C. I think he deserves the top answer. just my opinion, but your question was answered directly and his answer wasn't two years long... thanks for the points, i needed them.

20 years ago NASCAR was a better sport.Sure today there are advancements that have made it safer for drivers,crews and fans,and this is great.But the spirit of competition seems to be less today.
20 years ago when teams pulled into the track they had to quailify for position or go home.Today there are 35 free rides and young or new teams don't have a good chance with quailifing and racing.Too many of todays drivers(and teams)are media puppets that want to win popularity contest instead of races.
Then there is the political aspect of the sponsorship this is causing good teams to be restricted in what they do because of lack of funds.
Limit number of teams
Open sponsorship
Have all teams quailify,fastest 43 race.

Well I have a comment or two. To me, the safety is tons better which is a great thing. The racing is a different subject. While today's racing is very exciting and enjoyable at times.....to me NASCAR was absolutely fantastic 20 years ago. There was less sponsors and less TV coverage BUT the racing was always news worthy....bumping and banging, spins, and guess what none of the "political" crap that goes on now. NASCAR let the drivers be themselves....which made a better sport. If NASCAR was the way it is now back then....we may have never had an Intimidator, a Mr. Excitement, or a Rooster.
Why NASCAR does have lots of great things now....to me the 80's will always be the source of many fond memories.

Just an opinion as always.

In terms of exposure. WAY better. Unlike 10-20 years ago, when races were scattered about 5 or 6 channels, and the stations would not promote any race on a rival channel, the schedule, though still loaded with 3 or 4 channels (depending on your point of view), is set up in a way that the flow from one to the next is much better, and with agreements, when Fox switches over to TNT, who switches over to ESPN/ABC, the races are still promoted. If you want to know about a NASCAR race, its pretty easy to know whats going on in terms of it being out there. What I would like to see is just one network (or a partnership of 2 networks) have the entire season. We know FOX and CBS cant do it to due to NFL commitments, ABC/ESPN could make sense, since they really dont have a commitment to any of the major sports. NBC... ok forget about them, we know how bad they screwed up, and alienated NASCAR themselves (gee, lets overload the races with commercials... lets take an arab looking guy to a NASCAR race for Dateline, just so we can get a reaction... yeah, good way to improve your odds in getting the contract renewed).

In terms of sponsors, I would also say its ok. With NASCAR having much more exposure, it makes more sense to plunk down money to put your name on a stock car. I understand the economy is crap right now, but if NASCAR can stay rather popular, and once the economy picks back up, things should be ok again, and sponsors willing to put money down on the cars. I would have a feeling that if we had as crippling of a recession 10-20 years ago that we have today, NASCAR would still exist, but it would of been hurt much more than it is today.

In terms of competition, like before. WAY better. 10-20 years ago, if you had more than 10 winners in a season, that was considered an ultra competitive season. Today, if you have less than 10 winners in a season, something is up. It does help that about half of the cars fielded are fielded by A-list teams like Roush, Hendrick, Gibbs, etc., but there are plenty of other cars out there that can run for at least top 10's, or can even give some of the top teams a scare every other race. Yeah, that might mean that a Derricke Cope style upset at Daytona in 1990 might not be as shocking now as it was then, but there is competition. Even the Championship isnt necessarly going to be between 4 or 5 guys at best... AT THE START OF THE SEASON!!! This is the one thing I like about the Chase, sure, I can understand how some of the traditionalists dont like it, but I like it because it does throw a bit of a monkeywrench into the season, and if someone flat out dominates, they cant just let up, they got the last 10 races to go, not to mention with all of the competition, there are lots of drivers who realistically are title contenders at the start of the season.

In terms of how it is run however. Thats where it goes a bit awry. First off, with NASCAR's race decisions lately, that has really hurt people trusting the guys at Daytona Beach. Also alienating some of the more traditional fan base hasnt helped much, but when change happens to modernize a sport, it cant really be helped, just got to try and manage it. There are some decisions that quite frankly, people have to understand that hey, they are trying to make change in the name of safety, or other reasons, just let it happen. It does make me wince sometimes when NASCAR makes some of these decisions, but some fans have to use common sense, rather than their heart. Also, NASCAR does need to let the drivers show some emotion. Does it mean pulling a stunt like Logano did on the track, or having 2 guys duke it out on the apron after they wreck their cars? No, but there are other aspects where NASCAR should be hands off, and let the drivers be human, rather than robots. I do like the COT decision in a way. They should of worked with some things on it, but 10-20 years ago, we had fans complaining weekly that their car brand was being disadvantaged. Now that we have the cars equal, people are complaining about that. What do you want, unequal cars, and complain about that, or equal cars, so at least thats one less thing to worry about. The COT does make sense in a way on cutting costs on building race cars and such, that I will say.

Overall, in some aspects, its better, some aspects, it is not.

I am 17. I didn't start watching NASCAR till 2005. The way I see it, embrace the change or be destroyed by it.

A lot more politics but the racing is better.marriott in london england