--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There was a day when you could identify a…" description: "\"There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge and they actually looked like \"stock cars.\" Now they are pod machines, slick..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/brock-yates-20099_auto-racing_there-was-a-day-when-you-could-identify_1687565.jpg" --- # There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford… ![“There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge and they actually looked like "stock cars." Now they are pod machines, slick on the outside but still powered by the same Neanderthal carbureted pushrod V-8s that have been under their hoods for half a century. If this is…” quote by Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/brock-yates-20099_auto-racing_there-was-a-day-when-you-could-identify_1687565.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/brock-yates-20099_auto-racing_there-was-a-day-when-you-could-identify_1687565.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/947/brock-yates-20099_auto-racing_there-was-a-day-when-you-could-identify_1687565.jpg) > “There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge and they actually looked like "stock cars." Now they are pod machines, slick on the outside but still powered by the same Neanderthal carbureted pushrod V-8s that have been under their hoods for half a century. If this is real auto racing, then the WWF ought to be part of the Olympics.” [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern NASCAR has become highly stylized, yet its core technology remains rooted in traditional V‑8 engines, highlighting tension between tradition and spectacle. **In simple terms:** NASCAR mixes old engines with flashy designs. Key Takeaway Appreciate the blend of heritage and innovation. Themes sports technology tradition Mood enthusiastic nostalgic Type sports cultural commentary When to use this quote - watching races - car design analysis - fan discussions Key Concepts engineering spectacle culture Questions to Reflect On - Why do fans cherish traditional engines? - How does spectacle affect sport authenticity? A Different Perspective May overlook safety or environmental concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Auto racing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/auto-racing/) [Car](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/car/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Chevrolet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chevrolet/) [Computers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/computers/) [Dodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dodge/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Half a century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half-a-century/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hood/) [Identify Nascar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identify-nascar-1019640/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Machines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machines/) [Nascar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nascar/) [Nascar Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nascar-ford-1019641/) [Neanderthals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neanderthals/) [Olympics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/olympics/) [Ought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racing/) [Racing Wwf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racing-wwf-1019639/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Slick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slick/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Stock Cars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stock-cars-893213/) [Wwf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wwf/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of the kids we have coming up through our ranks now have been in stock cars since they were 12 or 13…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-harvick/a-lot-of-the-kids-we-have-coming-up-through-our-ranks-now-have-been/) [Kevin Harvick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-harvick/) > [Not everyone has the means to race stock cars - we know that - but VR technology can recreate the experience right at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-france/not-everyone-has-the-means-to-race-stock-cars-we-know-that-but-vr/) [Brian France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-france/) > [I eventually wanted to do Stock Cars, because it was my dream as a child, after I have done Europe, I have always liked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rubens-barrichello/i-eventually-wanted-to-do-stock-cars-because-it-was-my-dream-as-a/) [Rubens Barrichello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rubens-barrichello/) > [All American cars are basically Chevrolets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-caen/all-american-cars-are-basically-chevrolets/) [Herb Caen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-caen/) > [If Ford is to Chevrolet what Dodge is to Chrysler, what Corn Flakes are to Post Toasties, what the clear blue sky is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyle-lovett/if-ford-is-to-chevrolet-what-dodge-is-to-chrysler-what-corn-flakes/) [Lyle Lovett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyle-lovett/) > [She wondered: How could people respond to these images if images didn't secretly enjoy the same status as real things? Not that images were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/she-wondered-how-could-people-respond-to-these-images-if-images-didn/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [I want to say thank you to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for their hard work...Obviousl y, the front row is very special, big thank…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmie-johnson/i-want-to-say-thank-you-to-everybody-at-hendrick-motorsports-for/) [Jimmie Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmie-johnson/) > [This Reese's Chevrolet was downright awesome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-harvick/this-reese-s-chevrolet-was-downright-awesome/) [Kevin Harvick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-harvick/) > [I wouldn't take nothin' but a Ford: F-O-R-D, period. Ain't nothin' like a Ford. I wouldn't drive a Chevrolet 'cause I can't spell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-bruce/i-wouldn-t-take-nothin-but-a-ford-f-o-r-d-period-ain-t-nothin-like-a/) [Bruce Bruce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-bruce/) > [I'm very pleased and very proud of my accomplishments, but I'm most proud of that (hitting four-hundred home runs and three-thousand hits). Not (Ted)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-yastrzemski/i-m-very-pleased-and-very-proud-of-my-accomplishments-but-i-m-most/) [Carl Yastrzemski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-yastrzemski/) > [I just had…my Farmer's Insurance Chevrolet was the fasted car here. In the first run. We were going forward, just taking our time. Regan…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kasey-kahne/i-just-had-my-farmer-s-insurance-chevrolet-was-the-fasted-car-here-in/) [Kasey Kahne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kasey-kahne/) > [Chevrolet was puzzled when they discovered that their sales for the Chevy Nova were off the charts everywhere but in Latin America. They finally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-waits/chevrolet-was-puzzled-when-they-discovered-that-their-sales-for-the/) [Tom Waits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-waits/) > [I would hate to have "Holiday in Cambodia" become as tiresome to other people as hearing "Like a Rock" in a Chevrolet commercial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jello-biafra/i-would-hate-to-have-holiday-in-cambodia-become-as-tiresome-to-other/) [Jello Biafra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jello-biafra/) > [If you can call a Chevrolet a Chev, why can't you call a Japanese a Jap?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-ballard/if-you-can-call-a-chevrolet-a-chev-why-can-t-you-call-a-japanese-a-jap/) [Harold Ballard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-ballard/) > [The public needs the equivalent of Chevrolets as well as Cadillacs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/learned-hand/the-public-needs-the-equivalent-of-chevrolets-as-well-as-cadillacs/) [Learned Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/learned-hand/) ## More by Brock Yates > [They still talk about the night that Augie Pabst, a fresh-faced heir to the brewing fortune, drove a rented Falcon into the swimming pool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/they-still-talk-about-the-night-that-augie-pabst-a-fresh-faced-heir/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Had I been more responsible I might have made something of myself as a junk bond trader, long-haul trucker or perhaps a plumbing contractor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/had-i-been-more-responsible-i-might-have-made-something-of-myself-as/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Unlike conventional jocks, who tend to sell aluminum siding and give canned speeches to parochial-school athletic banquets in the off-season, race drivers never shuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/unlike-conventional-jocks-who-tend-to-sell-aluminum-siding-and-give/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [More books, more racing and more foolishness with cars and motorcycles are in the works.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/more-books-more-racing-and-more-foolishness-with-cars-and-motorcycles/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [The whole movie thing has never been a source of great pride for me, in that Burt Reynolds, who starred in the picture, butchered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/the-whole-movie-thing-has-never-been-a-source-of-great-pride-for-me/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [I admit to wasting my life messing around with fast cars and motorcycles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/i-admit-to-wasting-my-life-messing-around-with-fast-cars-and/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Regardless, I did rise to the editorship before embarking on a freelance career in the late '60's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/regardless-i-did-rise-to-the-editorship-before-embarking-on-a/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Some critics of racing witlessly claim that spectators only attend to see someone die. This is utter and complete nonsense. I have been at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/some-critics-of-racing-witlessly-claim-that-spectators-only-attend-to/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [The bicycle is a former child's toy that has now been elevated to icon status because, presumably, it can move the human form from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/the-bicycle-is-a-former-child-s-toy-that-has-now-been-elevated-to/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Some guy once told me that skydiving is like cutting your throat and seeing if you can get to the doctor before you bleed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/some-guy-once-told-me-that-skydiving-is-like-cutting-your-throat-and/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [A written regulation in NASCAR is about as reliable as an Egyptian immigration law.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/a-written-regulation-in-nascar-is-about-as-reliable-as-an-egyptian/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [ To be sure, \[NASCAR\] stars were initially ex-bootleggers for the most part drawn from that talent pool in the Carolinas hills: "good ol' boys"… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/to-be-sure-nascar-stars-were-initially-ex-bootleggers-for-the-most/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [Will a day come when our cars have carbon-fiber tubs, 18,000-rpm V-10 engines, and ground-effects tunnels? Perhaps, about the same time we have condos…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/will-a-day-come-when-our-cars-have-carbon-fiber-tubs-18-000-rpm-v-10/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [While greenies and their media flunkies continue to savage the gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine and rhapsodize about hybrids, hydrogen, electrics, natural gas, propane, nuclear, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/while-greenies-and-their-media-flunkies-continue-to-savage-the/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) > [I have spent--or wasted--my life around motor racing: driving, promoting, and writing about what Ernest Hemingway once linked with mountain climbing and bull fighting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brock-yates/i-have-spent-or-wasted-my-life-around-motor-racing-driving-promoting/) [Brock Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) [Explore all 31 Brock Yates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brock-yates/) ## More Auto racing quotes > [It is amazing how may drivers, even at the Formula One Level, think that the brakes are for slowing the car down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-andretti/it-is-amazing-how-may-drivers-even-at-the-formula-one-level-think/) [Mario Andretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-andretti/) > [When you're in the back of the pack, you can gamble a little bit more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-andretti/when-you-re-in-the-back-of-the-pack-you-can-gamble-a-little-bit-more/) [Michael Andretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-andretti/) > [It's basically the same, just darker.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-kulwicki/it-s-basically-the-same-just-darker/) [Alan Kulwicki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-kulwicki/) > [Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/auto-racing-bull-fighting-and-mountain-climbing-are-the-only-real/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Auto racing is boring except when a car is going at least 172 miles per hour upside down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/auto-racing-is-boring-except-when-a-car-is-going-at-least-172-miles/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly. And when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-prost/when-i-look-fast-i-m-not-smooth-and-i-am-going-slowly-and-when-i-look/) [Alain Prost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-prost/) > [You are going in one second the length of a football field. That means you brain is receiving information from your body what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emerson-fittipaldi/you-are-going-in-one-second-the-length-of-a-football-field-that-means/) [Emerson Fittipaldi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emerson-fittipaldi/) > [When I started racing my father told me, 'Cristiano, nobody has three balls but some people have two very good ones.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristiano-da-matta/when-i-started-racing-my-father-told-me-cristiano-nobody-has-three/) [Cristiano da Matta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristiano-da-matta/) > [It's like flying jet fighters in a gymnasium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-trickle/it-s-like-flying-jet-fighters-in-a-gymnasium/) [Dick Trickle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-trickle/) > [Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enzo-ferrari/race-cars-are-neither-beautiful-nor-ugly-they-become-beautiful-when/) [Enzo Ferrari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enzo-ferrari/) > [The winner ain't the one with the fastest car. It's the one who refuses to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt-jr-2/the-winner-ain-t-the-one-with-the-fastest-car-it-s-the-one-who/) [Dale Earnhardt, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt-jr-2/) > [What's behind you doesn't matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enzo-ferrari/what-s-behind-you-doesn-t-matter/) [Enzo Ferrari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enzo-ferrari/) > [To achieve anything in this game you must be prepare to dabble in the boundary of disaster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stirling-moss/to-achieve-anything-in-this-game-you-must-be-prepare-to-dabble-in-the/) [Stirling Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stirling-moss/) > [Someone I talked to who covered auto racing for a lot of years said she believed there was a 60 percent chance that Junior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kornheiser/someone-i-talked-to-who-covered-auto-racing-for-a-lot-of-years-said/) [Tony Kornheiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kornheiser/) > [The best way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junior-johnson/the-best-way-to-make-a-small-fortune-in-racing-is-to-start-with-a-big/) [Junior Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junior-johnson/) [Browse all 38 Auto racing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/auto-racing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There was a day when you could identify a NASCAR Ford, Chevrolet, or Dodge and they actually looked like \"stock cars.\" Now they are pod machines, slick on the outside but still powered by the same Neanderthal carbureted pushrod V-8s that have been under their hoods for half a century. 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