Forum Activity for @ernest-sutton

Ain't if funny how time slips away????

Stock Car Racing History

My father was at the '62 Daytona 500 when Fireball Roberts won from the pole position, and he came back to south Georgia & ordered a new black Pontiac Catalina "just like the one Fireball won with yesterday" from the local dealer. Well, it wasn't exactly like Fireball's (his had a 421 engine), but it did come in with the 389 w/3x2bbls. I loved that car & was a Fireball Roberts fan until we lost him in '64. After that, I became a Richard Petty fan & have been ever since. I've been to the Daytona track a few times in January when the teams are doing tire testing as I had a friend here with the local Pontiac dealership who was a friend of Richard's.....and had the good fortune to just be able to "hang out" in the infield garages with the drivers & teams. I believe Richard got most of his wins with the Plymouths, but at that time, they had the STP Pontiac. I remember thinking at the time that there just could not be anything "cooler" than spending the day in the Daytona garages with Richard Petty & his Petty Enterprises team............one of my fondest memories. Another memory I have of Richard was the year Chrysler boycotted Nascar racing and Richard came to the local dragstrip w/the Plymouth Barracuda drag car ('64 or '65, I think).........the only time I ever saw or heard of Richard being on a dragstrip. I became a huge Dale Earnhardt fan in the '80s & '90s, but in my opinion, there has never been another driver who has had such a huge impact on Nascar racing as Richard Petty. He was such a great driver, great champion, & the best goodwill ambassador that Nascar has ever had. I have many great memories of seeing him on the tracks......especially his duels w/David Pearson.

Discontinuance of March Atlanta race

Current NASCAR

I just read that the 2 Nascar Cup races on the Atlanta trackhas been reduced to 1. The only Cup race scheduled on the Atlanta track next yearwill be the September Labor Day weekend race. The new Nascar Cup race replacing the March Atlanta race will be on the Kentucky track. The owner of the Atlanta track is Bruton Smith............the owner of the Kentucky track is Bruton Smith. I can't help but believe that this move is more for thefinancial benefit of the track owner than any benefit to the fans. The Darlington races were reduced from 2 to 1, now the Atlanta racesare being reduced from 2 to 1. Many of the most enjoyable races on other tracks have been reduced to 0 & replaced by races on such sleep-inducing tracks as Fontana, etc...................and Nascar wonders why they are losing fans
updated by @ernest-sutton: 12/05/16 04:04:08PM

Jimmy Johnson, was that rough driving

General

Jimmie claimed he was trying to bumpdraft Kurt...............this from a "4-Time Champion". In my unqualified opinion, a driver bumpdrafts on a straightaway from a position directly behind & in alignment with the car in front. The "4-Time Champion" didn't appear to be directly behind & in alignment with Kurt............so I suppose the logical conclusion is that the "4-Time Champion" has not had enough experience when it comes to bumpdrafting and could probably use some more schooling in that area.

WHAT NASCAR LEARNED AT POCONO TODAY

General

They finally showed up..........but that was one of the slowest responses by safety crews that I have seen in a long time - probably a good thing his car wasn't on fire. Another very obvious thing was the extremely poor design of the guard rails in the area where Elliot hit - the design engineers on that deal must have been smoking something the day they designed that.

I went on a fishing trip after the July race in Daytona and this was what I heard

Current NASCAR

I'm not saying we need to go back to the days when we drove down a dirt road to get to a local dirt track (although that does bring back some fond memories), but there is a line in the sand which becomes much more visable in a declining economic environment and fans become reluctant to cross when they have to make more careful choices as to what they spend their money on. Granted, diehard race fans will spend the money as long as the sport is exciting and keeps their attention..........but NASCAR seems to have over-engineered the sport & some of the new tracks to the point that the excitement level & attention-holding capability is down..........hence, fewer fans, less money spent.

I went on a fishing trip after the July race in Daytona and this was what I heard

Current NASCAR

I'm happy that these meetings & discussions are taking place..........and it would be great if these things could stimulate NASCAR to recognize & effectively address the problems which are affecting the sport today. However, the bottom line is that it all comes down to the fans...............when the fans are deprived of those things that built the sport (the competitive racing, the personalities, etc.) and after experiencing these deprivations, are charged high prices for a show that gives less pleasure than before, then the business will decline. There is no one all-encompassing answer, but one area I would draw attention to is some of the track designs being used today. I don't know what some of these engineers are thinking, but they are designing facilities which produce some of the most boring racing which has ever existed.... they may as well just create a perfect 2 mile circle & make it 200 yards wide. Many millions of dollars have been spent creating some of these venues, but it seems obvious that more thought should have gone into the plans as far as creating exciting racing. I fear that the new repaving of the Daytona track will have a negative effect on those races. At any rate, if the show on the track can't excite the fans & keep their attention..........at a REASONABLE price, then the direction of the sport will continue to go in the wrong direction. The CORE fans are not the ones who fly in in their private planes or show up in their Prevost motor homes & NASCAR needs to recognize this. Obviously, they need to find ways to reduce the costs to the race teams & the costs of staging an event..........and thereby passing those savings to the fans. Racing promoters, racers, team owners, & racing teams have become wealthy because of this sport, but it has been at the expense of the fans............and now the fans are looking for ways to find the same level of entertainment at a lower cost.

When does it happen?

General

Good posting, Tim.....you & I have many of the same thought processes - maybe it's the age since we're pretty close.....or maybe it's that great minds think alike (don't laugh). Seriously, I believe we want to (and do) remember those experiences which brought much pleasure to our lives & I think many of us believe that we'll never be able to have & enjoy those experiences again. I know I tend to think that way. Obviously, there are many of our heroes from the racing world who are gone & we know we'll never be able to appreciate/enjoy seeing those talents again......as well as experience the pleasure of their personalities; but I also think that in trying to look into the future, we can't see the liklihood that our racing world will ever be as good or pleasurable as it was in the past............I'm not even going to get into the winds of change coming out of Washington these days. Although we have already passed many of the milestones you mentioned (driver's license, age 21, graduation, 1st car, etc.), I would like to believe we still have many pleasurable things to look forward to..........in my case, being able to see children & especially grandchildren experience some of those same milestones which we enjoyed so much. As for our racing worlds, I, too, hope to visit the HoF in Charlotte one day & have all those racing memories & personalities come flooding over me again. We won't see those historical racing environments again, but we can certainly derive pleasure from having them race through our minds again.I can't say at what age we might tend to think more in the past than to the future, but I would hope that going forward we still have the capacity & liklihood to build many precious memories (maybe in different areas) just as we have in the past.

Crowd at Indy

General

B.T., I gave my thoughts on this on the other discussion - but I will say that of the reasons you listed, the economy probably has a little to do with it..........but not as much as several other reasons. The cost of the tickets has something to do with it - as I said on the other discussion, big money has taken control of NASCAR racing, and one of the results is that they have priced many fans out of the race tracks. You touched on one of the other reasons............the race typically stinks. After running the Brickyard 400 18-19 years, I'm still trying to figure out why NASCAR is still trying to sell everyone on this being one of the 2 major races of the season. In my opinion, it's not. There are many tracks which are way more enjoyable to watch a race on than this one.

NASCAR makes huge improvements!!!!!!!!

Current NASCAR

Good story, Tim. I enjoyed reading it............although I do sympathize with you & the uncomfortable situation you found yourself in. I have been to many race tracks over the years, more at Daytona than any other track & have found myself in uncomfortable situations as well, but probably not quite as bad as yours. NASCAR has spent millions of dollars at their development center developing the perfect NASCAR Cup car with the help of Brett Bodine, Pemberton, and others...........the perfect one obviously being the COT. The thing these brilliant racing minds have managed to create is IROC racing with a 43 car field. Now no one is going to argue with improved safety innovations, but NASCAR has overengineered the sport. The second brilliant idea they came up with was this joke called the "Chase". How can they call a 10-race series at the end of the season a championship? Under this format, 1 driver could win every race leading up to the "Chase", have a couple of DNFs in the last 10 & lose the championship..........what's wrong with that picture? Lastly, NASCAR will not allow drivers to exhibit their true personalities lest they offend the sponsors & incur fines and point penalties. NASCAR racing has lost the personality it once had due to big money taking over the sport & dictating how the sport would be run. It has become very expensive to go to the race tracks these days. In the process, they have managed to pretty much run off the core race fans who made the sport what it was. I believe this is one of the reasons you hardly ever see the veteran stars around the race tracks anymore..........such as Junior Johnson, David Pearson, Bobby/Donnie Allison, Cale Yarbrough, Buddy Baker, Pete Hamilton, Ned Jarrett, and many others (except for Richard Petty). I believe there are still some longtime veterans associated with NASCAR (Helton, Hunter, James France, etc.), but Brian France did not come out of the same mold as Bill France, Sr. & Bill France, Jr. Those two men worked hard at the sport & worked hard for the sport............I don't believe Brian France ever had to work hard at anything, and it shows. Those are some of the reasons I believe we're seeing so many empty seats at NASCAR races these days & TV ratings dropping off. Well, there's my soapbox sermon for today.

Anybody know the location of where that race was held that was on tv sunday

Current NASCAR

I don't even know for sure how many years they have been running the Brickyard 400, but I'm still trying to figure out why NASCAR continues to try to sell race fans on the idea that this is one of the two major races of the season. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has a long history of racing, but NASCAR seems to think that just because they started running their cars on that track, it makes it a major race. Besides the fact that most NASCAR races on that track are boring, NASCAR also holds the distinction of running the very worst car race I have ever seen on any track............remember the tire debacle where "4-time Champion" (thanks to the "Chase" format) Jimmie Johnson managed to win another race? NASCAR should have given every paying customer a free ticket to another race after that one.