NASCAR AT INDY? LET'S GET REAL FOR A MOMENT

fGood Monday morning after NASCAR's annual trip to Indy. What do you all have to say about what you saw? In the stands, on the track?

As for the stands, even though the size of those grandstands can dwarf a good size crowd, such was not the case yesterday. There is no getting around the fact that, for all intents and purposes, the stands were empty. Oh, there were a few warm bodies in the seats, but any effort of NASCAR to make that "crowd" exceed 40,000, in my opinion, is an outright lie. Sort of reminds you of what's going on in politics, huh? On top of that,a friend of mine who covers races for the press was in the press facility yesterday and told me this morning the place was deserted. What NASCAR hypes as their Grand Event, second only to the Daytona 500, couldn't draw enough press to cover the race.

Wait!!! Did I just call what unfolded on my television yesterday a "race"? Surely, after four cups of coffee this morning, I should be more cognizant than to use such a word to describe was what a parade, for the most part and a Kyle Busch show for the other part. I am trying to recall, as I sit here this morning, if there was even ONE green flag pass for the lead. I don't think so. Frankly, from what I recall, there was some passing back in the pack, but, as usual, the clean air deal kept the leader out front and allowed him to pull away with great ease.

Yes, I watched almost all of the race. I think I missed lap 122 to lap 140 as I has other things to do at that time. I still watch races with the continuing hope that one day NASCAR is going to realize it is committing suicide, slowly and painfully, with each presentation they puton the track. NASCAR likes to brag about the record number of close finishes they've had in the past two years but fail to mention those close finishes are about the only"racing" we are seeing on the track, and I can't help but wonder how many of those close finishes are orchestrated and/or manipulated by race control.

NASCAR is the one sport on the planet that has complete and total control over their participants. Drivers and crew members are fined when they make any negative remarks about NASCAR. To NASCAR racing has become the "on the track product". What???? They don't even call it racing. It is a product. It is a product, in my opinion, failing miserably. Yet there is nothing, I repeat, NOTHING being done to save it. A few changes to aero packages here and there which accomplish little to nothing because NASCAR will not return to what worked. Sometimes things of the past work better. Like the old fridge in my house when I was a kid. It had been in the kitchen for as long as I could remember when my parents decided to buy a bigger one when I was about 12. The old one was moved to the back porch and later into my Dad's workshop garage. During the course of their lifetime, my parents went through probably 10 new fridges as the newer ones lasted only 8 to 10 years. A repairman once told my Mom they were made that way so you would have to buy a new one every 10 years at least. That old fridge? When my Mom died in 1998 and we were cleaning out the workshop where the fridge was, I noticed it was working and inside were three ice cold soft drinks. So, you see, sometimes the old things are better. To my knowledge, that fridge had never been serviced.

Many people far more knowledgeable about the sport have commented that the schedule needs to be shortened as well. I agree. And part of the process in a shorter season would be getting Indy off the schedule, and removing at least one race from Pocono, Loudon, Texas, and Talladega. Bristol could stand to lose a race date as well as the crowds there are dwindling faster than the winds in an F-4 tornado.

Why do I continue to watch? Because the sport has been a part of my life since age 5 and I am approaching 70 this October. I want to see the sport survive. I want to see the sport REVIVE. I keep hoping that someone at the switch will wake up and make it happen but week after week I am subjected to the same excuse for a race. I do admit the competition has been better at some of the tracks when aero packages were changed. Why can't NASCAR make the changes permanent and let's go racing. Those "splitters" on the front of the cars could go and racing would improve substantially.

It is a sad Monday. There wasn't even a traffic jam trying to exit the track yesterday. I understand all 130 cars in attendance had cleared the parking lot before that idiotic tradition of "kissing the bricks" had commenced. At least one Busch, little Brexton, had sense enough to know that is a dog a pony show not worth his time. Dale Jarrett should be ashamed for starting such a stupid tradition and NASCAR should be fined for actions detrimental to the sport for allowing it to continue.

Ok, that's it for today. I have laid off writing Forum posts here as some enjoy criticizing my negativity when it comes to my comments regarding the sanctioning body from hell. I don't mind the criticism, but what I can tolerate is the mindlessness of those who claim there is nothing wrong with NASCAR these day. There is plenty wrong. Some folks say NASCAR is too big to fail. Is it? If what is happening today is not "failure", then how do you define failure?

Thank you for reading.

Nate Ryan hosts a solid podcast each week with a variety of guests. I listened to one Saturday with Doug Douchardt, Hendrick Motorsports GM. He said HMS was "a technology company in the entertainment business under the crucible of competition".

Huh?

That may be part of the issue these days. Big words from a well-educated man. But part of what has been lost is when teams and drivers simply showed up to RACE.

"USA Today" has an article "We Must Redouble our Efforts to Grow the Brickyard" http://goo.gl/BOjd9C where the estimated crowd of 50,000 was termed "optically horrific". The usual dumb reasons were given, but the dumbest was the heat. Right, fans stayed home because of the heat! Not too many years ago........a ticket to the Brickyard 400 was essentially impossible to obtain. One had to be a licensed ticket big-wig of the Indy 500 in order to even buy Brickyard ticket.....Never has John Q. Race Fan simply decided to go down the Speedway and buy a ticket........heat or not. The weather is NOT the problem.

Obviously, NASCAR had decided, with the parade of retiring drivers, and all sorts of other stuff falling from the sky, Kyle Bush will be the next mega-super-star....He's going to pass Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, and anybody else necessary. That's apparently NASCAR's silver bullet. However, the more he wins, the more fan interest, shrinks. Hey NASCAR, Kyle Busch, and Toyota are not going to save the day.

Awful on the track, awful in the stands. Both days. Stock cars at IMS suck. Nuff said.

They need to throw stock car races at IMS in the crucible.

The company line seems to be the prestige of racing at the Brickyard. Yes, they've done it. Many times. For more than 2 decades. And rather than grow the event as the Southern 500 once did and the Daytona 500 did begining several years later and the Bristol night race and yada 3x, the BY400 has shrunk in relevance.

We're told the drivers cherish winning on the historic track. But historic for what reason? INDY CAR RACING! All the trappings of the stock car race point back to the history of another series. If that's the reason they're racing there, then why not race at Elkhart Lake, LeMans, Pomona, Knoxville Iowa, or any other track with tons of racing history wrapped around it?

I get that the Indy 500 is the biggest race of 'em all. Yes - bigger even than the Daytona 500 despite the relative insignificance of Indy racing these days. But for the life of me, I don't get why NASCAR keeps forcing a square peg into a round hole with that place.

Obviously, the series is stuck with it for at least another 4 years because of the 5 year guarantee NASCAR gave to tracks last year. And I have no reason to believe they'll pull out after those 4 years. But it truly is baffling why this charade continues.

Thank you Mr. Biscoe. When you agree, I feel really good.

Yep, Dave, Nuff said! Thank you.

Dave, your insight is brilliant. You hold all the cards over those NASCAR folks. It's like I can't understand why NASCAR keeps doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Isn't that the definition of stupidity?

Tim, I am afraid we are watching NASCAR on a slow death and makes me sad because it is also in my DNA. Traveling thru Darlington this past Sunday and could not even find the Indy race on the radio, am or fm. I sure as hell am not paying for satelite radio to listen to Nascar. Not being able to locate a station in one of racings sacred places, tells me that the listening audience is down just like attendance in the stands....that is my 2 cents,

BB, what's a typical NASCAR sanctioning fee? I'm sure there's lots of variables, but what did Indy pay for sanctioning?

This loss of attendance is not only at Indy but at most of the Cup events. To me, it seemed to have started when NASCAR allowed Toyota into their events and just snowballed from there.

Indy & Bill France 1954

The NASCAR at Indy situation is like being unable to let go of your ex. You and everyone else knows it's not working but you continue to stick at it, hoping for a return of the brief spark that lit up the initial phase of a mostly tepid relationship.

Sandeep, thanks for reading and for commenting. You analogy is spot on!! I had not thought of it along those lines, but you are right. In fact, I think, you are right about that as an analogy of how my love for current day NASCAR is taking a beating.

Good to hear from you as always. Take care and stay in touch.

Oh goodness. Does that mean we will soon see the emergence of a new NASCAR sanctioned series far younger than trucks? You know, kind of as a "let's make this work" strategy?