Forum Activity for @jeff-gilder

The fans and the sport has changed. Does it really matter?

General

So right, BT! That part of the fan experience was a major part of my upbringing as well. There were even family squabbles over car makes and racing. All part of the passion that popularized the sport. I do agree that piece of the passion is gone...along with some other pieces we speak of here often. Today's fan IS different. They view the sport with different objectives.They are attracted to different aspects of the sport. If you look at all the ways today's fans are able to engage within the sport, it is pretty impressive. In-car cameras, and audio. Multiple camera positions to view from your pc...24/7 coverage...and of course "ol DW. Yea I had to bring him up didn't I?

It's different for sure and the gap between fan support from older fans and today's NASCAR seems to be widening for the most part. The sport will not come back to us. If we are to continue to "enjoy" it, we'll have to adapt to the new way of fandom. Is fandom a word?

Here is my concern...and you've heard it before. All this driver-swapping, car-swapping, and foreign car inclusion has certainly affected "brand loyalty" as we once knew it. How can a fan today afford to support a driver that changes teams and makes so often. One used to be able to by a jacket to represent ones favorite driver and wear it for many years. Is is feasible to think fans can go from being Shell buyers to Budweiser drinkers....Home Depot to Office Depot...or Chrysler to to Ford...and then throw in Toyota...and still have that "buying" passion to drive the sport. Are they...are you...buying sponsors products the way you used to? Are the new fans supporting the sport with the strength established by the older generation? How do y'all think the brand loyalty that made all this possible will fair in the future. If the fans aren't buying the sponsor's products, where does the money to fuel this thing come from?

I know that's a lot of questions....but I think this is the biggest problem in the future of the sport.

Jeff

Dick Hutcherson

Stock Car Racing History

Tonight...David Pearson, R.L. "Hutch" Hutcherson Jr, Barry Dodson and the Racing Through History crew will pay tribute to Dick Hutcherson.

Dick Hutcherson

Stock Car Racing History

Hey folks, just a reminder that tomorrow night Tuesday June 21st we'll be doing a tribute show for Dick Hutcherson. David Pearson will also be joining us to talk about his championship runs with Hutcherson as crew chief.

Dick Hutcherson

Stock Car Racing History

Next Tuesday night June 21, 2011 we'll be doing a tribute to Dick Hutcherson on Racing Through History.

IN RICHARD CHILDRESS'S OWN WORDS

Current NASCAR

Hard to tell in these videos.

WHO IS THE TOUGHEST KID ON PIT ROAD

Stock Car Racing History

Several years ago I would have never said this...but one missing from the list is Jeff Gordon. He is a tough as they come. Don't be fooled. I saw certain instincts come out in a tumble he had with...I think it was Burton. There was a Muay Thai knee included in that brief brawl. I don't think either one of the Busch boys belong on this list if we're talking about scrappers (put them on the yappers list). But I agree with Juan, Ryan, Tony, Richard, Elliot, Carl, Robbie...and I agree that Kesolowski and Happy are both potentially good scrappers.

WHO IS THE TOUGHEST KID ON PIT ROAD

Stock Car Racing History

I think I know her....I had a similar encounter after being involved in a wreck with dome one she knew....lol.

Dennis Andrews said:

This is not on the Cup leveland I do not know her name but there was a 4'-9 snaggelled toothed fat galat a N.C. dirt track one night 30 years ago that needs to be on a list like this. She had to be restrained from kicking our race car as it lay disabled against the wall. She was doing more damage than the crash as she was working her way along the car toward my brother. I was glad when her friends stopper her as I was thelast one between her and brother.

A "rustyracer" Feel Good Story

General

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

The Perfect Kyle Busch Gift

General

Lol!

Should Richard Childress Be Punished for Punching Kyle Busch?

Current NASCAR

You can count me in!

Billy & Barbara Scott said:

Guess we are from the "really old school of racing' since we can remember the track having an automatic fine for fighting. Everyone knew it, even the fans in the stands. We have seen drivers take up money, between themselves in thepits,to pay a fine if the accused driver hit a driver they had wanted to hit themselves. Have also seen fans take up money in the stands to pay a drivers fine, if the driver deliberately wrecked another driver, disliked by the fans. One of those incidents happened at Columbia Speedway, the other being further back than that, at a track know by Nascar as an "Outlaw" track.

Do you believe there are enough drivers and fans, who dislike Busch enough, to chip in on Richard'sfine?????