What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/FanPart Five
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I have no idea why all the bold copies of this show up. Maybe someone above my pay grade can remove it. Thanks
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What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/FanPart Five
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Part Five
How many of you remember the famous Walt Kelly cartoon strip, "POGO" POGO coined the phrase, "We have met the enemy and he is us". Maybe it IS time we all took a peek in the mirror.
Every day I read on site after site, one face book page after another and blog after blog about the downfall or demise of NASCAR. Riddle me this! If you were not familiar with racing and NASCAR in particular and all you read, day after day was negativity, would you waste your time paying for a seat or tuning in on a Sunday afternoon to watch. Same goes for the sponsor side.
Don't get me wrong. As I have stated before, there is plenty NASCAR could do to help their product. It ranges from fixing the dang car to eliminate the "aero" push to cutting some laps from some of the races to letting nature take her course with some of the on-track action. Growing the sport back to its roots would go a long way to developing the fan recognition needed to regrow out sport.
I think most of us know that things aren't going back to what we grew up with but our sport isn't the only one to continue to make changes. Baseball has eliminated things to speed up the game. The same goes for the NFL, NBA and hockey.
The good old days are gone. Its time to move ahead on both fronts. Our side as well as NASCAR.
I was watching the Golf Channel one night last week. They were interviewing the President of Quail Hollow CC in Charlotte about the changes in the game. I quoted the gentleman in a reply to Tim and I am going to use it again here. He, in a very positive way, said there were three ways people viewed those changes. He said, "There are those who fear change, those who watch change and those who embrace change". I have given a lot of thought to his comment in the days since. Could it be that the time has come to embrace the changes to the sport we all love? If for no other reason, to help save what we have left??
Part five will be the last for a while. I can't keep up with the changes as it is and now NASCAR is considering getting rid of the jack man on pit stops. What will they screw up next??
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes od an Old Fart/Fan
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Part Four;
Near the end of part three, I mentioned a couple of things NASCAR could do to help create the name recognition missing in the Xfinity and Camping World Series, and soon to be in their "premier" series if the cup owners continue to bring the no-name kids along so quickly. I think some of the following ideas could go a long way in developing a real following for some of the new drivers.
The NASCAR TV package makes it possible to hold "developmental" series events in conjunction with the "cup" tracks which puts money in ISC and SMI pockets. Why not put some of that money in the South Boston's or Motor Miles, Langley's or Myrtle Beaches or any number of other great short tracks? Make the ISC and SMI tracks like Daytona, Charlotte and a few more special events for those series. They could use five of the ISC and SMI superspeedways (10 events). Then add in Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond for double headers for the Xfinity or trucks or even a big-time Late Model Stock or Modified show with one of the series when the cup cars are at some of the Midwest or west coast venues or even a week night or two. Then bring in six to eight of the great short tracks along with a couple of the stand-alone events those series already do and you have a good schedule that would generate some name recognition for the drivers as well as the excitement for the local fans getting to see the "developmental" series at their local track, not to mention the money the owners could save in travel, tires, engines, etc.
They could do away with Owner points unless the car was driven by an Xfinity/Camping World driver in every event. They could begin awarding their dang Stage points to the highest finishing series regular instead of the current system. If the "bushwhacker" doesn't receive driver points, they shouldn't dock the regulars the points for the positions filled by the "bushwhackers" or car owner points for that matter.
Getting back to having the "developmental" series at the short tracks. Can you imagine trying to find a seat at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway during the Tennessee State Fair for a Thursday night Camping World Truck Series event with Kyle Busch and Keselowsik rubbing fenders for a 200 lapper with the Nashville regulars in a seat or two on in a hundred lap Late Model door banger in front of a big crowd and a couple or three "name" owners or drivers scouting talent? Sounds good when you lay it out like this but I am sure NASCAR can find a way to complicate things.
Good things sometimes come in small packages. Maybe it is time to really get back to the roots of the sport and try to rebuild from the bottom up instead of from Daytona Beach down.
More in part five.
updated by @rwmyers: 08/17/17 10:08:28AM
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Lord knows I don't agree with a lot of things that go on at my "home" track, Bowman Gray Stadium but they do a good job of entertaining their fans and keeping the drivers coming back. My nephews, Jason and Burt, are 39 & 41. Tim Brown is 44 and the average age is probably closer to 45 than 25. Junior Miller just retired at 67. Al Hill is still starting a car each week and he is past 70.
There are a couple of other tracks that have managed hang on to their drivers. Langley Speedway, Anderson, SC, South Boston and Motor Mile come to mind. I can't think of many drivers that have moved on from our region since the Sadlers and Burtons.
More on that in parts four and five.
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Part Three:
It seems that when discussing the problems facing NASCAR these days, much of the focus is on the "cup" level. I think it goes much deeper than that.
This week NASCAR announced another rule change to slow down the cup drivers taking the glory from the "developmental" series drivers. Now, it may seem I am getting off track here, but bear with me. After all, this is my rant.
The problem in the Xfinity and Camping World series may be name recognition but stripping the cup drivers from competing there is not the solution. The name recognition problem goes much deeper than those series and it is affecting the very core of the feeder system of our sport. Remember in Part One when I mentioned Jeff Gordon? Well this where Mr. Gordon comes into play.
Jeff Gordon made his way into the "premier series" in 1992 and things haven't been the same since. His success created a phenomenon that began to undermine the very core of short track racing and that has led to the newest rule against the "buschwhackers".
His success created the "new kid on the track". Those with access to, you guessed it, MONEY! Every daddy that could afford it, and some that couldn't, wanted his kid to be the next Jeff Gordon. The promoters at the local bull ring were happy to welcome that money to their tracks, even at the cost of driving their regular local hero away.
Granted, some of the weekly regulars did move along to the Busch Grand National Series and a few even to Winston Cup with success. Drivers like Dennis Setzer, Ron Barfield, Johnny Rumley, Steve Grissom and a few others made the transition on talent alone while others like Dale Jarrett, Dale, Jr., Brian Vickers, Steve Park and Martin Truex, Jr. made it on a combination of talent, money and in some cases being at the right place at the right time.
But, not many paid attention to the rumbling heard in the background. The rumbling that was heard but went unheeded. This is when things started to go wrong: Daddy bought junior a race car, leased a cup-style rig, hired a crew chief (often the local hero) and went racing. After a couple of seasons daddy's money runs thin or he figures out that junior can't drive a nail and away he goes leaving two holes in the local tracks pit road. One from junior's exit and one from the local hero turned crew chief left without a job. Not to mention probably defaulting on the lease on the big rig. Turn that into two or three "junior's" and crew chief/drivers at several tracks and you have a problem. Most of the tracks in my area have not, and may never, recover.
What this phenomenon created was that the future Jeff Gordons never stayed around the weekly tracks long enough to build a true following and when daddy's money, mom, a couple brothers or sisters, an aunt and uncle and grandparents left, another hole in the grandstands was created on that side of the track. This created no name recognition at the local level and the same chain of events carried over to the Xfinity and Camping World Series and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup as well.
The Xfinity and Camping World Series are filled by ˜Premier Series' team owners or driver owned teams that cycle those kids with MONEY through the seats like rainwater through a Leaf Filter gutter guard. Those owners have an obligation to the sponsors that make it possible to put those cars and trucks on the track.
Some drivers stay if they are lucky enough to land in the right seat or until the funding dries up and some put all their eggs in one basket and hope their efforts will get the attention of the right team. Let me stop here and congratulate Ryan Preece again and hope his talent secures him a seat for 2018.
I say again that name recognition is definitely an issue. Most don't stay long enough to build that name recognition and many that do hang on simply fill the seat of a mid-pack or worse car.
I remember when Earnhardt, Sr., Harry Gant and others frequented the Busch Series events and when Mark Martin was the "darling" of the series. Both the Xfinity and the Camping World Series need the "buschwhackers" name recognition. Especially with the cup owners ditching name drivers in favor of no-name kids who didn't stay anywhere long enough to build the name recognition of the past generation of drivers.
I saw an article last week about Steph Curry playing golf on the web.com Tour. The writer commended the PGA for trying this to bring attention to the developmental tour (isn't that what NASCAR likes to call the Xfinity/Camping World Series)? The writer said they should do it more often.
So in wrapping up the Xfinity/Camping World portion of my rant, let me say that NASCAR can go a long way towards fixing this problem by bringing both series back to the short tracks and allowing the "buschwhackers" to compete at a restricted level. They should consider putting an age limit or time-in-series rule in place instead of hustling the kids to the "premier" series. If for no other reason to keep the drivers in those series there long enough to build that following.
More in Part Four.
updated by @rwmyers: 08/16/17 09:47:32AM
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Pressure? I don't feel no pressure!!
In all seriousness, many of the short track "promoters" try to make the success of the event work of the thought that the back gate will take care of the problem. With car counts where they are these days, sadly it only takes a few races to discover things just don't work that way. By then they have run off the fans with sloppy shows that take half the night to complete.
Have fun at Darlington Tim!
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Dave, I know some of them go to the weekly tracks for the sake of their jobs. That's not saying much. I think most are too busy playing yes-man to BZF to really pay attention, much less understand, the problems facing the sport today. Part three goes into that a bit.
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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We are right in soooooo many ways my friend.
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Part Two:
Thanks to my friend, Tim Leeming, for prodding me to continue my rant. There is just so much going on in the world of NASCAR that I couldn't digest everything and put it in words. But I will continue to try!
Maybe I was being simplistic when I said "Fix the product" in my first attempt to define what is wrong with NASCAR. I know I tried to not lay all the blame at the feet of Brian France and his "team". Maybe I should have placed more of the burden there. In a business that has grown as big as NASCAR there are so many things that factor into the equation that when searching for the problems that need to be addressed, one hardly knows where to start.
With that said, we are facing tough time in all sports. The NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and Golf have all experienced a downturn in their ratings. Their "n-stadium" attendance is down as well. In a few days we can witness the empty seats when football returns. Except for major rivalries there are often many empty seats. The same goes for the other "professional" sports. I don't say this to make excuses for the decline of NASCAR's ratings or attendance. Just stating a fact. The PGA just announced this week, changes to some of their major tournament schedules to ease the conflict with the NFL season. May be its time for NASCAR to shake up their schedule. The "chase" was created to help NASCAR compete with the NFL schedule. Hey Brian, how is that working out? What would be so wrong with ending the season at our biggest event?
Here is where the problem starts. Listen to the opening music for Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" show. "Money, Money, Money, Money, Mo-ney", and you have the real root of the problem. Maybe when "Big Bill" France started NASCAR the goal was to create a level playing field for the drivers of the era. Not long after that, the focus became making money. Then more money. Then more money and that is still the goal for NASCAR today and they have done a damn fine job of doing that. We have billionaires at the head of a sport delegating the day-to-day operation to a group who wouldn't know racing from a dump truck.
Let's take the old saying that "money is the root of all evil" and put it in the equation.
I remember a sign in Banjo Matthew's old shop that read "Money Buys Speed, How Fast Do You Want to Go"? That has been at issue since the beginning of racing. No matter where you race, the better funded teams are almost always on top of the heap. In NASCAR it goes all the way to Mr. Raymond Parks and his racing teams. Roy Hall, Bob & Fonty Flock, Curtis Turner and NASCAR's first Champion, Red Byron, are just a few of the drivers who benefitted from Mr. Parks money and from then till today, money is still what it takes to get to the top. Don't get me wrong. A lot of blood, sweat and tears help, but the money makes it all possible. Mr. Parks and a few others just paved the way for others right on up to today's "mega team" owners.
I am afraid the horse is too far out of the barn to cut spending to the point it would actually have some effect on the competition. But I am not afraid to say that there things NASCAR can do to help. There needs to be a willingness on the part of the sanctioning body to really listen to us "old fans". We got them here and we can certainly help them on the road to recovery.
Part Three is coming and I promise I won't take so long
What is Wrong With NASCAR From the Eyes of an Old Fart/Fan
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Tim, you qualify as a pundit and so much more. LOL! Bobby, you are correct in all you mention. It is not working out well at all. More of my thoughts coming in part 2.
Also, I was listening to the Golf Channel last night. They were interviewing the President of Quail Hollow CC in Charlotte about the changes in the game. Seems golf is having some of the same problems as NASCAR with ratings and changes. He, in a very positive way, said there were three ways people viewed those changes. There are those who fear change, those who watch change and those who embrace change. Thought a lot about that last night. Could it be that the time has come to embrace the changes to the sport we all love? If for no other reason, to help save what we have left??
Stay tuned for Part 2!
updated by @rwmyers: 01/18/20 05:20:38AM