# NASCAR **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 1999, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551 "1999-08-08T01:04:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dirty\_Devil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Dirty\_Devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dirty_Devil)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 1999, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551/21 "1999-08-10T00:05:00Z")
Omniscient said - “Also do the road courses also all run counter clockwise. I suspect that while they make a circle eventually, a few may be predominantly clockwise.” Sears Point Raceway here in Sonoma County, CA, while being a twisting road course, runs predominantly clockwise. ---
**Author:** ![ConMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ConMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ConMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551/22 "1999-08-15T05:01:00Z")
To NickRZ: Yes, I am quite sure about the horse races running clockwise. I destinctly remember seeing sports footage (pre-ESPN) of several races that Steve Cauthen jockied shortly after he left to race in Europe, about 1979. * * * “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’” E A Poe ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551/23 "1999-08-15T03:29:00Z")
Do they still run figure-eight races in the south? It was pretty cool to watch. You might have to visualize this to get the “impact”. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![ConMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@ConMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ConMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 1999, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551/24 "1999-08-15T23:57:00Z")
To mangeorge: Man! I do miss those figure-8 races you speak of, shown on The Wide, Wide World of Sports during the '70s! I had a contractor working on my last hotel and he mentioned he actually runs in those races on the weekends - somewhere in southern Virginia. He also mentioned he liked the older Buicks to drive because they had metal grills to protect/puncture radiators. * * * “Quoth the Raven, ‘Nevermore.’” E A Poe ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 1999, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551/25 "1999-08-16T01:45:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m no NASCAR fan, but I seem to recall a event covered in Sportscenter where the cars ran clockwise. Certainly it was simply a novelty, but a interesting one at that. Also do the road courses also all run counter clockwise. I suspect that while they make a circle eventually, a few may be predominantly clockwise. Just a WAG, but if anyone of you proud southerners can enlighten me, it’d be appreciated. Races at the Road Atlanta racetrack are run clockwise; it’s the way the track was designed. At least one racetrack I know of (formerly known as Bryar, in New Hampshire, not sure what they call it now) has run sports car events where they run clockwise on Saturday and counterclockwise on Sunday. It’s a completely different course whichever way you run it. It’s been so long since I’ve been to any of the other courses around the country that I disremember how they run, but it’s just as possible for a sports car track to be one way as the other. your humble TubaDiva proud member, Sports Car Club of America [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nascar/2551.md?page=1)