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Rockets To Race Over Wisconsin Skies

Posted by timothy on from the nitro-burnin'-funny-ships dept.

Iron Condor writes with a reminder that that the first race of the Rocket Racing League (last mentioned here in April, after its 2005 founding) is set to take place later this month at Oshkosh AirVenture 08. This race, says Iron Condor, "is exactly what it sounds like: NASCAR 1000m above ground in rocket-propelled airplanes. Created by X-prize founder/CEO Peter Diamandis, this is 'the next evolution of racing' (at least according to the promo video, which is definitely worth watching)..."

15 of 210 comments (clear)

  1. Doh! by genner · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just moved from Wisconsin. Who knew there was a reason to stay,

    1. Re:Doh! by h4rm0ny · · Score: 4, Insightful


      Speaking as a European, I have, and really no offence, found US cheese to range from bland for the better stuff, to disgusting for the most mass-market ranges. And the thing you call processed cheese is beyond description all together. I'm sorry, I really am - the people of the USA have contributed to culture and science in many, many ways - but your cheese is the foulest thing that anyone has ever had the gaul to pass off as food. I tried pretty much all of it until I found somewhere that imported proper English cheddar which I bought with great relief.

      I guess it's just one of those things.

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    2. Re:Doh! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      your cheese is the foulest thing that anyone has ever had the gaul to pass off as food.

      You obviously haven't tried our beer.

  2. Oh yeah!!! by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Funny

    Rednecks racing rocket's 'round a ringed raceway! Radically refreshing!

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    1. Re:Oh yeah!!! by snowgirl · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Anyhow, they said it was just like NASCAR, so I figured the spectators would be rednecks.

      Yeah, when I saw "like NASCAR 1000m in the air", I was all, "oh great... ANOTHER NASCAR."

      Seriously, anyone who watches real racecar driving on circuits internationally just shivers when you suggest "NASCAR", because it's boring to watch. "Go fast, turn left," I've heard it described as. And then, Indy and Champcar spun off of F1, to go around in ovals...

      I remember playing a Indy race car simulator game back on the Apple ][e (yeah, old school racing sim!) and now I'm surprised looking back on it... the tires on the right-side are larger than the ones on the left... why? To help you turn left better... because SURPRISE! They're only going left!

      Compared to GT racing, F1 racing, and hell, even freaking Autocross ("put up cones; instant track! can I drive my civic?") are way cooler and more interesting to watch than a bunch of dumb americans chasing their tail all day long.

      --
      WARNING! This girl exceeds the MAXIMUM SAFE standards established by the FDA for BRATTINESS
    2. Re:Oh yeah!!! by FiloEleven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'll take the bait. I'm not a huge NASCAR fan, but my roommate is. "How can an otherwise intelligent young man get so much enjoyment out of such a crappy sport?" is what I asked myself. Part of it was certainly his upbringing - his dad was a huge fan. But you know what? Under the surface, it's actually pretty interesting.

      The issue is that it's kind of like golf, only the people who tend to watch it are larger, rowdier and smellier. Golf is pretty boring to watch, too, unless you have an eye for the subtleties of a good shot or an appreciation for the difficulty of a particular putt.

      If you're watching mostly the track and seeing the cars go 'round to the left, you're going to be bored as hell. If you focus on an individual driver, and watch how he catches a draft off of a passing rival, and you understand that drafting will make both cars go faster (though the guy in front is at full throttle and the guy in back only half), the dynamics of the race become more interesting. In fact, I find the most entertaining part of the race to be how drivers play with the airstream (well, except for the crashes, of course).

      I'm not a fan of Nascar by any stretch of the imagination and will never go out of my way to catch a race. If people are watching one where I am, though, I don't have to play the elitist asshole anymore because I understand that the game has some merits.

      I agree that F1 is more interesting. Autocross not so much. And don't even get me started on drag racing.

      --
      Your brain is not a computer.
  3. this reminds me of something... by Tumbleweed · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Now *that's* what I call *pod-racing*!"

    Now all we need is some Sand People to shoot at the racers, and we're all set!

    1. Re:this reminds me of something... by Darth_brooks · · Score: 5, Funny

      Now all we need is some Sand People to shoot at the racers, and we're all set!

      So you're saying they need a tribe of people with language of unintelligible guttural noises that are both heavily armed and perpetually dressed in baggy, concealing clothing? Sounds like Wisconsin to me.

      --
      There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
  4. Wow. by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Amazing how they can make giant glowing polygons float in the sky for the planes to fly through.

    --
    http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
  5. It was only a matter of time by EdIII · · Score: 4, Funny

    .... before Wile E Coyote (Super Genius) merged with NASCAR.

    I predict similar spectacular failures to occur, and I think I will enjoy it just as much as I used to do when I was five years old :)

  6. Re:Finally. . . by smooth+wombat · · Score: 5, Informative

    To use the Answers.com definition of a rocket, which is pretty much what I think of when I hear the word rocket:

    A reaction engine that contains all the substances necessary for its operation and is not dependent on substances such as atmospheric oxygen, drawn from the surrounding medium, and thus is capable of operating in outer space. Also called rocket motor.

    If the engines of these vehicles are drawing in air from their surroundings, they're not using rockets, they're using jet engines.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  7. Depends on how this works by jd · · Score: 4, Interesting
    If it's NASCAR-style, then it'll appeal to some folks but it just won't have the kind of hold that other racing leagues get. Formula 1 gets serious money, and world-class rally racing is just that - world-wide, with an audience few sports can compete with. These two are descendants of the old European city-to-city races, where racers where gentlemen first. NASCAR is descended from bootlegger contests where winning was more important than how.

    Rocket racing really needs to take the same road as the old-style European racing leagues, perhaps even taking that kind of idealistic "it's not the winning that counts" attitude even further. Anyone can make a fast rocket, but does it have style? Is it fast out of brute-force or because the design is the coolest hack ever? Award points for place, yes, but also for style. Why encourage crap designs and crap driving?

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  8. Re:Finally. . . by Falrick · · Score: 4, Informative

    Armadillo Aerospace is providing the RRL with rockets for their planes, so yes, they are rockets. http://armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/Armadillo/Home/News?news_id=358

    --
    something clever
  9. Fuel? by StellarFury · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uhhh... does anyone care about the massive waste of rocket fuel that this is? I mean, that's the number one reason I hate NASCAR. It's just downright wasteful. We could be using that gas, instead of burning it to drive in a circle 500 times.

    This whole auto-racing thing is an artifact of a world where energy is plentiful and can be freely squandered.

    1. Re:Fuel? by rkanodia · · Score: 4, Funny

      I look forward to the day when the US starts importing yogis from India in order to compete in Olympic Energy Conservation.

      "Radhakrishnan's got his heart down to 4 beats per minute... 3... but OH! Gupta has tapped the core of his seventh chakra, and he's coming in with 2.. 1... ZERO BEATS PER MINUTE! This is unbelivable - this is the first time ANYONE has achieved complete body stasis in a competition setting! Now, remember folks, according to IOC rules, he has two minutes to re-awaken and establish the validity of the record, or else paramedics will be deployed to the field with a defibrillator..."