I crossed out your last sentence because it’s irrelevant. If you put F1 cars on the “shorter tracks and road-courses”, I would wager that they would run almost identical top speeds. Lap times however, would be better for F1 due to a much higher acceleration rate. I guess it begs the question of whether you would rather watch single file racing at 200 mph or door to door racing at 120 mph. I find both enjoyable!
My OP was not to say that NASCAR is far superior to F1 in every aspect. It was to illustrate a level of excitement that F1 just can’t replicate. F1 runs mostly in a single-file line unless you get close to the car in front of you. Then you push a button and pass them. In the picture above, at Talladega, they run 3-4 wide, 6-10 deep, inches apart (door to door & bumper to bumper) for 3+ hours. I will be the first to admit though, not all NASCAR races are as exciting as Talladega. That’s why I only watch a few of their races a year. ‘Dega, Daytona, a couple road courses, and Martinsville.
Don’t get me wrong, I am quickly becoming an F1 fan. It comes across to me as a much more technology driven, cerebral kind of racing. I know there is a lot more for me to learn/understand about the sport, but it just seems that I would enjoy it more if there was a little more close racing.
With all of that being said, I will be the first to admit that I am a redneck. And when I was growing up, Iowa had the most stock car tracks per capita than anywhere else in the nation. At a minimum, every county had a track, and there are 99 counties in Iowa. I can’t even begin to count the number of dirt track races that I’ve been to. I’ve enjoyed every division at every track, although sprint cars have always been my favorite.
I will continue to learn about F1, which will increase my enjoyment. Honestly though, I probably still wouldn’t have much interest in it if it wasn’t for our fantasy league. So that’s a positive!