1 00:00:11,484 --> 00:00:14,534 Tonight, * skid. 2 00:00:15,633 --> 00:00:17,656 Richard * tyres 3 00:00:18,337 --> 00:00:21,032 And James get kicked in the face. 4 00:00:26,209 --> 00:00:28,623 Sync and corrections by <font color="#ffff00">APOLLO</font> <font color="#00ff00"> www.addic7ed.com</font> 5 00:00:29,043 --> 00:00:32,972 Hello, hello, thank you, thank you everybody. 6 00:00:33,098 --> 00:00:38,095 Now, let's get one thing straight, from the start... 7 00:00:38,145 --> 00:00:41,509 Formula 1 is better than NASCAR. 8 00:00:43,088 --> 00:00:44,484 It just is. 9 00:00:44,524 --> 00:00:47,282 If you compare them, to musical instruments, 10 00:00:47,352 --> 00:00:52,329 F1 is a Stradivarius violin, NASCAR is banging a saucepan 11 00:00:52,562 --> 00:00:54,086 with a wooden spoon. 12 00:00:54,150 --> 00:00:57,422 Now, we all agree on that in the civilised world. 13 00:00:57,462 --> 00:00:59,566 Well, when I say we all agree, 14 00:00:59,606 --> 00:01:06,164 we all agree apart from Richard J Cheeseburger Hammond III. 15 00:01:18,338 --> 00:01:22,814 I'm not alone in believing in the supremacy of NASCAR. 16 00:01:22,854 --> 00:01:27,438 It's currently the most popular spectator sport in America. 17 00:01:27,478 --> 00:01:32,610 And there are many reasons why it hits the spot with the fans. 18 00:01:32,650 --> 00:01:35,248 The first is to do with its roots. 19 00:01:38,818 --> 00:01:43,319 Unlike Formula 1, which began as a pastime for wealthy playboys 20 00:01:43,365 --> 00:01:49,404 and aristocrats, NASCAR has very humble, blue-collar origins. 21 00:01:49,436 --> 00:01:52,206 NASCAR has its roots back in the 1940s, 22 00:01:52,246 --> 00:01:55,702 when the Moonshine runners, basically naughty hicks, 23 00:01:55,742 --> 00:01:58,232 smuggling illegal booze across county lines, 24 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,892 would modify their cars to out run the cops. 25 00:02:01,932 --> 00:02:04,841 One thing sort of led to another, and before you knew it, 26 00:02:04,888 --> 00:02:08,052 they were holding informal race meetings in the evenings, 27 00:02:08,102 --> 00:02:12,208 on impromptu racetracks that they kicked into the dirt in fields. 28 00:02:14,308 --> 00:02:18,472 The cars the Moonshine runners favoured were ones like this, 29 00:02:18,512 --> 00:02:21,612 a respectable looking 1941 Ford Business Coupe, 30 00:02:21,652 --> 00:02:27,488 which wouldn't raise the suspicions of a passing policeman. 31 00:02:27,528 --> 00:02:29,472 Clearly, the man in such a car as this, 32 00:02:29,512 --> 00:02:33,268 is a man going about his business, why would the cops disturb him? 33 00:02:33,308 --> 00:02:36,240 Underneath though is a highly-tuned engine, 34 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,800 beefed up suspension, and inside, a special hideaway 35 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:45,364 for the illegal booze. 36 00:02:45,404 --> 00:02:49,456 Moonshine runners used this actual car. 37 00:02:49,496 --> 00:02:53,160 It smuggled hooky booze across county lines, 38 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:58,252 and then went on to race in NASCAR, it's the real deal! 39 00:02:58,292 --> 00:03:01,656 As the decades passed, the sport grew. 40 00:03:01,696 --> 00:03:04,908 'One critical time when trouble could be mighty contagious.' 41 00:03:04,948 --> 00:03:08,600 But that love of living outside the law remained. 42 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:12,320 In the early 1950s, for example, roll cages were mandatory 43 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:15,192 in NASCAR racing, but the drivers thought, 44 00:03:15,232 --> 00:03:18,408 well, the added weight was a bit wussy, having a roll cage, 45 00:03:18,448 --> 00:03:22,440 so they just fitted them with things... that looked like roll cages, 46 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,818 made out of off cuts of wood, say. 47 00:03:32,388 --> 00:03:35,459 Another reason I prefer this sport, 48 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:39,061 apart from its rebellious streak, is that next to the spaceships 49 00:03:39,104 --> 00:03:44,115 you get F1, NASCAR machines are beautifully simple. 50 00:03:46,408 --> 00:03:50,100 As was explained to me on race day at Texas Speedway. 51 00:03:50,336 --> 00:03:52,048 This is making 800 horsepower? 52 00:03:52,088 --> 00:03:53,240 Closer to 900, yeah. 53 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:55,376 900 horsepower. 900 horsepower. 54 00:03:55,416 --> 00:04:00,063 And no electronic aids on this? No. It literally carburetted. 55 00:04:00,064 --> 00:04:03,818 NASCAR wants the drivers to separate themselves on the track, 56 00:04:03,883 --> 00:04:06,003 so, for myself, without having data, 57 00:04:06,121 --> 00:04:09,049 I have to explain all the sensations I feel in the car. 58 00:04:09,144 --> 00:04:13,053 Talk about spring changes, shot changes, geometry changes. 59 00:04:13,144 --> 00:04:15,295 So, they're not downloading it off a laptop? 60 00:04:15,388 --> 00:04:18,498 We don't even have a fuel sensor in the car. 61 00:04:18,544 --> 00:04:21,029 And these little things, these are the ones... 62 00:04:21,111 --> 00:04:23,834 It's just to create some drag when the car spins around... 63 00:04:23,877 --> 00:04:25,777 That's not going to stop you flipping! 64 00:04:25,818 --> 00:04:27,803 They've proven in the wind tunnel that it does. 65 00:04:27,834 --> 00:04:30,880 Now, what really helps is this. These deploy. 66 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,600 When there's a low-pressure area on the top, these deploy, 67 00:04:34,631 --> 00:04:36,404 and help set the car down. 68 00:04:36,438 --> 00:04:39,725 That stops you. Two on top. You have these here, as well. 69 00:04:41,262 --> 00:04:44,894 Hey, that's high-tech, that's like a-Land Rover's air vents at the front. 70 00:04:44,934 --> 00:04:46,949 It's not mega high-tech. 71 00:04:48,758 --> 00:04:52,094 If you're a Formula 1 fan, and a NASCAR cynic, 72 00:04:52,134 --> 00:04:56,137 I think I know exactly what you'd be... saying if you were here. 73 00:04:57,214 --> 00:04:59,970 This looks, well, easy. 74 00:05:00,010 --> 00:05:03,816 You just keep your foot down, keep turning left, 75 00:05:03,856 --> 00:05:05,406 and that's kind of it, really. 76 00:05:05,446 --> 00:05:09,358 Whereas in Formula 1, there's corners and stuff to remember. 77 00:05:09,398 --> 00:05:11,426 It's tricky. 78 00:05:11,466 --> 00:05:13,406 So, do these drivers, 79 00:05:13,445 --> 00:05:16,281 who can earn up to £15 million a year 80 00:05:16,322 --> 00:05:19,718 have an easier time of it than F1 drivers? 81 00:05:19,758 --> 00:05:23,250 Well, let's ask a man who's raced in both sports. 82 00:05:23,290 --> 00:05:26,321 To drive? I would say there's nothing drives like a Formula 1 car, 83 00:05:26,683 --> 00:05:28,299 but these are more unpredictable. 84 00:05:28,574 --> 00:05:31,493 They slide around a lot, they have no breaks. 85 00:05:31,712 --> 00:05:35,704 I mean, when I tell you NO breaks, because the car's so heavy 86 00:05:35,782 --> 00:05:37,704 and the brakes are so tiny. 87 00:05:41,166 --> 00:05:44,118 I've got to say, ovals, I think, are more challenging, 88 00:05:44,212 --> 00:05:47,202 and it's because the corner starts way over there, 89 00:05:47,242 --> 00:05:49,134 and ends way over there. 90 00:05:50,746 --> 00:05:52,470 And is the car moving? 91 00:05:52,510 --> 00:05:55,878 The car's moving all the time, it's never settled. 92 00:05:55,918 --> 00:05:59,438 And then, you take the cars all around you, the turbulent air. 93 00:06:00,516 --> 00:06:03,508 If they are on the outside of you, it's pulling you around, 94 00:06:03,548 --> 00:06:06,030 if they're in front of you, you just don't have the grip. 95 00:06:06,070 --> 00:06:10,899 That's when the entertainment value... goes up tremendously, 96 00:06:10,930 --> 00:06:14,134 because you're averaging over 190 miles an hour, 97 00:06:14,198 --> 00:06:16,686 with that many cars inches away from one another, 98 00:06:16,726 --> 00:06:19,345 and we'll be three or four wide through these corners. 99 00:06:21,006 --> 00:06:24,718 You go to Silverstone, you sit in a... stand on and you go, "meooooo." 100 00:06:24,758 --> 00:06:27,890 You wait one half minutes. See if the order has changed. Yes. 101 00:06:27,930 --> 00:06:29,534 But, most likely, it won't. 102 00:06:29,574 --> 00:06:32,938 They used to give awards because, oh, the overtaker of the year, 103 00:06:32,978 --> 00:06:35,391 you passed three people in the whole freaking year. 104 00:06:36,822 --> 00:06:40,158 So, lots of close racing in cars that are tricky to drive, 105 00:06:40,198 --> 00:06:44,415 which means, as a bonus, you get lots of these. 106 00:06:49,006 --> 00:06:51,970 It's a contact sport, put it that way. 107 00:06:58,038 --> 00:07:03,563 A lot of times, the contact that's made is either out of frustration, 108 00:07:03,610 --> 00:07:05,626 the guy wants to get another guy out of the way. 109 00:07:05,666 --> 00:07:07,826 You can't just ram him because you can't overtake! 110 00:07:07,827 --&...
Dolarkrik