mmi16 - 16 October 2009 04:48 PM

HiVolt65 - 16 October 2009 10:38 AM

Not to mention, if you don't complete 90% of the scheduled distance you get no money either. Unless of course for a legit engine blowing or accident. No 2 laps and overheating etc.

Pay them the money....they need it. If you are creating a 'show and go home' class, and the 'mandate' for 43 starters does, they need the money to be able to show up the next race. Racing is not ALL about the stars....it is also about those that do it for the LOVE of the sport...the Show & Go Home guys are in it for the love of the sport and just hope to get enough to keep their operations going until the magic sponsor appears. In this economy, it will be a long wait for those magic sponsors.

I agree it's not all about the 'stars'. but these cars that barely make the field, and just are filler, they shouldn't even be there. lets b honest, if you know you can't even race the scheduled distance, then don't bother. Nascar shouldn't allow cars just to start the race, whats the point in that, get $50,000, to let your team go one more week. Then what happens when you don't make the race?? Need to shrink the size of the fields, no more that 30 cars. that is plenty, and probably should be 25.

I think NASCAR should drop the Chase and shorten the season by 10 races. Part of the problem with attendance is 2 races at a lot of the tracks. Another problem is the last ten races take place during college football, the NFL and post season MLB...duh! Sorry, but NASCAR cannot compete with that competition. They have one of their chase races in Fontana that first off doesn't showcase great racing and secondly was competing against both the Dodgers and the Angels in post season games; not to mention USC and UCLA football. I don't know if Helton or France have heard but their is a couple of other places in southern California that draw crowds; in particular Disneyland and Knott's.

Wake up NASCAR. Fans read the new book...www.racepublications.com

Whats wrong with NASCAR? That's easy! They are to afraid of technology. We live in a technology driven world, yet Nascar is to scared to use it. Until Nascar grows up, you will continue to see bad racing, the same winners, and more topics like this pop. Nascar- your son is all growen up now, it's time to let your 35 year go the College.

jcmark611 - 17 February 2009 12:21 PM

Why do you want to bring back Rockingham? The track didn't even sell out on it's last race. Why not Kentucky or St. Louis? Someplace new that has good attendance for non-NASCAR events.

Because Kentucky is just another cookie cutter track, we got plenty of them already.

hdhar5 - 17 February 2009 11:52 AM

What's wrong with NASCAR? That question seems to be the common thread in chat forums here in SPEED TV, NASCAR.Com and ESPN. Well, there are quite a few problems with NASCAR. It used to showcase the best racing in America; but, like many other major sports, management's focus on becoming "bigger and better" has begun to cause much more harm than good.
When you take races away from venues that have history and have helped to build your sport (such as Rockingham) you weaken your fan base. When you build tracks that are as generic as vanilla ice cream at Walmart (such as Fontana) you weaken your sport.
When you try to "manufacture" excitement by creating a "play-off" system that is more in-line with other major sports, you weaken your sport. When you throw yellow flags for questionable debris to tighten up the field, you weaken your sport. When you fail to be consistent with penalties and leave even a suspicion of favoring one driver or team over another, you weaken your sport.
When you build up a race and call it your "Super Bowl", count down the days until that race on your official website, commit 40-plus hours of television broadcasting to that event and then treat it as if it is any other race and not allow it to be completed in its entirety...yes, you weaken your sport.
NASCAR, in my humble opinion, lost sight of who made their sport appealing to advertisers, sponsors and that golden umbrella known as National Television. They lost sight of the fans. Yes, us, the fans. We are, for the most part, blue-collared workers who work long hours and are the heart and soul of NASCAR's fan base. We are the ones who look forward to that one or two races a year that we can save our money to attend. We are willing to travel hundreds of miles to attend a race and, when we do, we spend hundreds of dollars on merchandise that supports our sport. We aren't like MLB fans who have three or four stadiums or hundreds of games we can choose from. We aren't like NFL fans who can buy our favorite team's t-shirts or hats in any department store. We are race fans. Yes we are ridiculed for following a sport where "they only drive in circles". You mention the Atlanta Falcons to anyone on the street and they will know who you are talking about. Try mentioning JGR and see if you get the familiar nod or just a look of complete confusion.
My point is, we---the fans---, made NASCAR appealing to the sponsors. NASCAR got greedy and forgot who goes to their races. They created this polished image, which appeals to some (sponsors). It wants controversy to stimulate ratings but punishes certain drivers and teams if they do controversial things. They have put "personalities" in the broadcast booths and have added cut-away cars to teach us the intricacies of NASCAR racing. I don't know about you but I can read...if I have a question about roof flaps or spring rubbers then I will go to the library.
NASCAR keeps making changes that do nothing more than weaken its fan base.

If they insist on making changes, then I would offer the following suggestions:
1. Make the Daytona 500 the most important event of the season. It tends to rain in Florida (even us rednecks have figured that out), so allocate for the rain. If the race needs to be run on two consecutive days to run all 500 miles, then do so. Start the race earlier. I already turn the TV on at 8:00 to watch that blowhard Spencer.
2. Get rid of the Chase. Sorry, it just isn't all that exciting nor is it popular with your fan base. It is great for Jimmy Johnson but kind of screw other drivers who have a good first 26 races. A driver can win ten races in the "regular season" and have two DNF's in the Chase and lose a championship. It is a dumb format.
3. Bring back Rockingham, take a race from California. If you must have two races in Fontana then fix the track. Put some variable banking in the place that promotes better racing. Heck, I worked as a draftsman for that track, loved the idea of bringing NASCAR back to SoCal but I hate the races there.
4. Get rid of the superficial non-sense that is scattered through the race broadcasts. No more digger, no more race updates by broadcasting hacks like Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and that know-nothing Krista Voda. Dale and Rusty were great drivers but suck as broadcasters.
5. Let drivers drive and let them speak their mind without backlash from Mike Helton. If they wreck someone or get caught cheating...park them. Simple as that. If they find themselves sitting in the stands or their motorcoach during a race maybe they will think before they do something stupid. Suspending the crew chief doesn't really seem to work.


These are my suggestions. True, I am just a fan. I haven't driven a car at 200 mph into a banked turn. But, I am not a sellout to corporate America, either. If NASCAR would read this and acknowledge that they have failed the fans in just one of these areas...that would be the beginning of improvement in a sport that is rapidly losing fans.
NASCAR...your's is a unique sport. Don't try to be like MLB, the NFL or any other sport. Return to the NASCAR that made you great. Fans will come back.

Couldn't have said it better myself. You hit it pretty much square on the head. Most people of this generation don't have a clue how good Nascar use to be. Brian France, & Mike Helton are on the verge of systematicly distroying Nascar, if they havn't already.

Nascar has got to get back to it roots! Nascar is the only sport that is a pure blue collar, working class sport. It has left the roots that made it great! Thats why Earnhardt was so popular, he represented the working class. Now, we have no 'stock' in 'stock car', cookie cutter tracks, white collar guys with money driving instead of truly talented drivers. Nascar was at its greatest when the drivers were everyday guys, not suburban rich kids. Nascar has severe issues coming soon. It has no identity, no one that represnts the sports roots. It abandoned its core, for the casual viewer, and they lose interest quickly. Now, fans like myself, who understand what it takes to go fast, and what talent really is, and who has watched it for years, find it just vanilla. Its a 4hr commercial, with rich kids driving in circles, with stock cars that arent stock, just to see a mega team win, and be compared with real drivers from the past. I want my sport back!!! Nascar wake up!!! Oh, and the chase, what the heck, emphasize 10 races for 12 drivers instead of 36 races for 43 drivers, how stupid. No wonder JJ's no talent ass is winning, cookie cutter tracks, for 10 races seem easy enough instead of a full season. Just be decent for 26 races, and good for 10 and you got it!! NASCAR WAKE UP!

Cause it is like watching WWE!!! Oh yeah they have the same fan base. Its boring and its boring and its on tv everyday of every hour. Dont you think you have had enough of it by now.

In response to: "Why do you want to bring back Rockingham? The track didn't even sell out on it's last race. Why not Kentucky or St. Louis? Someplace new that has good attendance for non-NASCAR events."

Hmmm. Even though I didn't read all the posts on this thread, this one smacked me pretty hard. Rockingham and Darlington were both pressed (by NASCAR) to add hugely expensive and massive grandstands, then they were brow-beat for not selling out, go figure. Now The Rock is closed which is an excellent venue and Darlington has lost a race. Admittedly neither is in a major metro area, but relatively speaking TV fan base is much more important in the grand scheme. Instead we get more cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks with huge corporate suites for high rollers. I'd like to see new track configurations, maybe a peanut shaped track pinched in the middle with cars banking right-left-right (whoopee) or maybe high banked on one end and relatively flat on the other. And they say Pocono is hard to set up for! Speaking of Pocono, it's also pretty isolated but they have two races seeminly back to back. Go figure, it's just NASCAR I guess, no rhyme or reason.

For starters, Brian France is just one of the things wrong with Nascar.

My (first) wife and I put out a travel guide to all the NASCAR tracks called Track & Travel in 1993. NASCAR was sent a draft along with a request for conditional endorsment. Our initial response was that they liked the idea and would consider it. This was followed up about two weeks later by one of Bill France Jr's subordinates, none other that the young Brian France himself with the answer that in no uncertain terms, NASCAR WOULD NOT endorse our (copyrighted) publication in any way. So we pubished it anyway with limited success, maybe 3000 copies sold (we made money and wrote off lots of races trips). BWTM: 90 days after the phone call from France, NASCAR came out with their own version of our book !!! For ALL tracks; We published in the categories of track descriptions and specifics with seat layouts and numbers, airports, rental car agencies, hotel/motel contacts, camp grounds, RV rentals and repair facilities. To stay out of legal trouble with us, NASCAR added valuable additions like ice cream parlors, animal boarding kennels and convenience stores! Three top things needed by traveling fans who ever had problems finding a 7-11 or needed to board the Great Dane that came with them. I guess the bright spot is that their book went out of publication about the same time ours did! Our experience was generally good, theirs was bad I hope as they had a much more polished (expensive to produce) book. I still feel our was more functional though.

About Brian France, I couldn't agree more. He knows little, and cares less about the empire his family nurtured. "Show me the money!"