The Year is Over

With last night’s banquet the year is finally over. I hesitate to re-hash my already stated complaints:

• Television ratings are down.
• Fans are conspicuously absent from the tracks (and it’s not the recession).
• Jimmie Johnson won the championship again and many of us (including me) question its legitimacy.

Despite all my complaints I continue to watch every race. Although I enjoy them, the races many times are not what they used to be. NASCAR can do much to make the whole series and each race better:

• Modify the points system and eliminate the Chase. The best idea I’ve heard is to heavily weight podium (top three) finishes. Also, eliminate points for, say, 31st on back.
• Influence the television networks to focus on racing rather than blather. Do we really need 11 (count them) on-air personalities vying for the microphone?
• Make the cars look like race cars with more manufacturer identity.
• Eliminate the “Lucky Dog” and the “wave around”. It’s a race – not a show.
• Find a way to get rid of the restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega. What we saw at Talladega is not racing and is very dangerous.
• Try a little harder to hold qualifying rather than setting the field by points.

I will credit NASCAR with one change this year and one change planned for 2010:

• The double file restarts are a good thing. I had my doubts, but other than the “wave around”, they added something.
• The plan to have more races start at the same time (early afternoon) next year is a good one.

Let’s hope that 2010 is a good season.

Talladega Race

The Talladega NASCAR Cup race of November 1st was the beginning of the end for both restrictor plate racing and the current configuration of the Talladega and Daytona tracks. NASCAR, of course, doesn’t know this yet. They will figure it out eventually. I predict that in about five years you will hear NASCAR come up with a plan to do it. They just have to figure out a way to make it sound like it is their idea. That’s just the way they are.

The problem NASCAR has with Talladega and Daytona is twofold: boring and dangerous. During the Talladega race ABC/ESPN made it out to be the bore it was. Single file, stay in line, be careful not to bump the car in front of you in the turns or big, bad Mike Helton will get after you. Now NASCAR is deriding the ABC/ESPN announcing team for daring to say that the race was dull and hinting that the dullness was NASCAR induced. ABC/ESPN usually is very careful not to offend the NASCAR powers to be, but this time they had no choice but to ridicule what they were seeing.

The increased danger in the racing at Talladega and Daytona has been there ever since they went to the restrictor plates. The cars just cannot separate themselves from each other. No matter how hard NASCAR dictates that it not happen, wrecks will occur. Ryan Newman was blunt in his criticism after the wild ride he took. After his wreck at the finish, Mark Martin nearly bit his tongue off to prevent expressing his displeasure with the safety of restrictor plate racing. No matter how safe NASCAR makes these cars (and they have made them much safer) it is only a matter of time racing in these conditions that someone gets seriously hurt or killed.

So, five years from now NASCAR will find a way to remove the restrictor plates and knock down the banking at one end of Talladega and Daytona. They will come up with reasoning that will save face. NASCAR will deem that some kind of technological breakthrough or improvement has made the removal of the plates and the changing of the track configurations a major improvement to the racing at those two facilities. As they are patting themselves on the back I hope we aren’t mourning the loss of a driver.

Hendrick Body-gate

I suspect many fans are confused and disturbed by what happened when NASCAR took the 5 (Mark Martin) and the 48 (Jimmy Johnson) cars back to Charlotte for more inspection following the Dover race. At first we heard that the bodies were illegal by a few thousandths of an inch. Then we were told that they were, after all, legal. Then John Darby shrewdly stated that he told those teams that the cars were legal, but had nearly failed, so don’t bring them back.

Huh? Is he saying that they are legal, but you can’t race them? He then tried to backtrack and say that what he meant was they are so close to being illegal that you better not use them. Huh? Darby then used a weight limit analogy to describe what he meant, thinking that if he brought it down to our level we’d understand it. Is he saying that a car right at the weight limit cannot come back? His explanations are tortured to say the least.

Many fans and competitors (Jack Roush for example) have often felt that NASCAR shows some level of favoritism toward Hendrick Motorsports. It’s hard to say if it is true, but NASCAR seems to have a penchant of making decisions that can be viewed that way. Others will point to how many times Hendrick’s crew chiefs have been suspended as proof that there is no favoritism. Regardless, penalizing the 5 team after the race is something that fans might not smile upon. Mark Martin has, in his post-retirement era, become a real fan favorite.

But, every time NASCAR does something like this they lose a little bit of credibility. I think what happened here is that these two teams found a little way around some measurements that NASCAR had never imagined. Since NASCAR has an incredibly difficult time admitting to an error or an omission, and since they were deathly afraid of taking points away from Mark Martin, NASCAR had no choice but to give these two teams a free pass.

Fans are treated with disdain and sometimes, outright contempt by NASCAR when it comes to issues like this. Otherwise, we would have been given a complete and exact description of what was found and why it was deemed to be legal.

Change the Points System

I have been contemplating possible ways that NASCAR can improve the Cup points system. Let’s face it - the current approach using the Chase has resulted in lower ratings rather than the intended higher ratings. No matter how much Brian France and his posse pretend otherwise, ratings are sacred. Sports are just another television show. All television shows live and die by their television ratings. It’s not just the money that NASCAR and the tracks make off television rights - those ratings are looked at very closely by team sponsors.

There are two approaches that NASCAR can take. One involves a major tweaking of the Chase as it is today. The other throws the Chase out and institutes a complete new (to NASCAR) points system.

1 – The fatal flaw in the Chase is that teams compete who do not have a chance of winning the championship. No other professional sport includes teams in their play offs that are not eligible to win it all.

The solution to this is to, at the start of the Chase, change the point structure to let the top 35 teams be able to win it all. How? Look at the PGA and the FedEx Cup. They start their 4 tournament playoff with a fixed number of players, all who have a theoretical chance of winning the championship. Then, after each tournament, some players at the bottom are dropped off – but those remaining are still, in theory, able to win it all.

Apply this to NASCAR. Start the Chase with the top 35 teams. After each race, drop off the team with the least points. When the series arrives in Homestead there are 26 teams left. But, restructure the points so that all teams can still win the championship.

This approach will make for some interesting racing. The only downside is that sponsorship contracts have to be designed to allow the possibility of not competing in all 36 races. But, it does eliminate the fatal flaw in the current Chase system by allowing all teams in the races to be competing for the championship.

2 – The other approach NASCAR can consider to boost ratings is to eliminate the Chase and adopt a Formula 1 type point system. Formula 1 awards points to only the first 8 finishers. Since their typical starting field is about 20 cars that is usually 40% of the field.

Apply that to NASCAR and award points to only the top 15 finishers. Weigh it heavily toward the top 3 finishers so that there is a reward to not go into “points racing” mode. Something like:
1 - 30
2 - 26
3 - 22
4 - 18
5 - 15
6 - 12
7 - 10
8 - 8
9 - 7
10 - 6
11 - 5
12 - 4
13 - 3
14 - 2
15 - 1

Using this method thru this year’s 29 races so far (three Chase races) the top five is:
Stewart - 395
Gordon - 371
Johnson - 343
Martin - 338
Hamlin - 308

With seven races to go at least the top four have a legitimate shot at winning the championship. The key concept is that a team receives no reward for a less than fifteenth place finish. The top teams have to continue to race hard or they can be caught.

NASCAR has always maintained that their points system rewards consistency. That’s a nice idea, but wasn’t the Chase instituted after Matt Kenseth put us to sleep with his consistency in 2003 when he won the championship? Fans will love it when teams gamble and go for a win rather than being content with a top ten finish.

Richmond

I attended the Nationwide race at Richmond and was a bit surprised by what I saw.

I have attended 9 of the last 10 Nationwide (or Busch) Friday night September races there. Attendance is off at least 20% from what it used to be as recently as 2 years ago. There are fewer vendors on the “midway” and even the Chevrolet pavilion has lost something.

I still had a great time. The race was excellent. The areas accessible to spectators are well maintained. Food prices seem to generally be steady.

Saturday night I watched the Cup race on television. It was painfully obvious that, not only is the race no longer a sell-out, but it appeared that 10% of the seats were not filled. It was only a couple of years ago that it was difficult to get a ticket for that race. No more.

So, what is the problem? I don’t believe that it is all about the recession. That is what NASCAR and the media want you to believe. It seems we have crested the hill in fan interest and have started on the downhill side. True, ESPN has managed to hold or even slightly improve their ratings over last year. But, not enough to make up what they lost previously.

There must be something going away either in the product or its presentation, or both. In most companies when this happens a change in management is used to get things going again. I suggest that is what NASCAR needs to do. Mike Helton, John Darby, and others may need to be pushed into other positions and be replaced by some fresh thinking new people. I hate to see the product continue to go downhill.

Watkins Glen on Monday

I attended the race at Watkins Glen on Monday and, while I enjoyed the race, a couple of comments are necessary.

The race should not have had to been held on Monday. In the good old days (before NASCAR’s gazillion dollar television contracts) ESPN came on the air for this race at 1:00 PM and engines were started at 1:06 PM. Remember that? If that was done this year the race would have reached around half way before the rain started. Since it stopped raining so that the race could have been restarted at 6:00 PM, the entire race could easily have been run on Sunday.

The ratings just came out for the Monday race and, as expected, they are abysmal. I don’t have a clue how the television contracts are worded. There must be a ratings factor in it. Does the network benefit from a long pre-race show? Does anybody watch it? I keep wondering how much the ratings have to go down before big changes are made. NASCAR and ESPN – please feel free to offer me a job to help you out in this area. I can make things better. Just leave a phone number in the COMMENTS.

I have attended 20 of the last 22 races at Watkins Glen. At most, 60% of the fans attended the race on Monday that were there on Sunday. That’s sad. Fans remember those things. After what happened at Richmond last September you can bet I’ll never buy an advanced sale ticket again. NASCAR needs to work with the networks to have a better chance of getting a race in without carrying over to the next day. Granted, a 1:00 PM start will not work all the time, but this is an example of when it can.

At most, only 25% of the food vendors were there and operating on Monday. I guess contracts for getting food to the track end on Sunday?? Whatever the reason, I felt overly gouged for a $6 slice of pizza and a $4 bottle of soda. Maybe those were the prices on Sunday. Whether they were or not, I was held captive to their prices if I wanted to eat.

Pocono Problems

The Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono brought to light three huge NASCAR problems:

1 – Rained out qualifying. There was no time on Saturday to run qualifying? True, all teams present got into the race, but it seems that the process of putting on qualifying is not high on NASCAR’s agenda.

2 – Rained out race. The attempt to dry the track looked pathetic. Four jet dryers are not going to dry a 2.5 mile track very quickly. Put a gazillion vehicles of all sorts out there and see how fast it gets dry. Having been in that situation I feel very sorry for all the fans that could not come back on Monday. ESPN was very careful to not show a good crowd shot, it appeared the seats were only about half full. I’d love to see the count.

3 – Lucky Dog. Jimmy Johnson only raced 490 miles! He was given 10 miles - 4 laps. For 2 of those laps he was more than a lap down. This is racing? Does NASCAR ever consider that nonsense like this is why the old, hard core fans are losing interest? Do other sports do anything like this?

I'm not taking away the incredible job Johnson's pit crew did to fix their engine problem. But that does not earn them 10 miles! The gushing of the on air television personalities was sickening! Any positive comment they made about Johnson finishing 13th should have been accompanied with a great big "BUT"!

Jeremy Mayfield

I don't know what to think about the Jeremy Mayfield saga. I find it very confusing that he continues to deny ever using ANY illegal drug while the results of NASCAR’s testing shows otherwise. Since O. J. Simpson denied murdering his ex-wife and her boyfriend we have not seen this kind of public denial that has gone on and on.

I alternate between believing him and not believing him. If he is lying he will eventually look so incredibly stupid that, not only will his career be over (it already is), but he’ll never hold a job or have a means of supporting himself. Why is he spending all his money on legal help if he is lying? Doesn’t it make more sense to just take his punishment and get on with his life with some money in the bank?

If he is telling the truth, then a large number of questions arise. First and foremost is the question as to the viability of the entire NASCAR testing process. Is there a chemistry reason for the results that shows a false positive as Mayfield contends? Why has NASCAR been so secretive about what is on the list of drugs being tested for? The France family and NASCAR have never been open as to their decision making and methods. That may work when it comes directly to managing the cars and the race, but it doesn’t work for off-track issues like this.

It’s unfortunate for the sport that this has happened. The media, justifiably, cannot leave it alone. It may just fade away, but I don’t think so. It seems too late for Mayfield to confess. NASCAR will never admit they did something wrong, even if they did. It looks to be heading for a protracted length of time in the courts. That is not good for Jeremy Mayfield, NASCAR, the fans, or the sport.

NASCAR's Lucky Logano

NASCAR rules handed Joey Logano the New Hampshire race. Don’t get me wrong. I like Joey Logano. I believe he will have a long and successful career in NASCAR. But, he was not worthy of his first win.

NASCAR’s “Lucky Dog” rule gave Joey his first win. He was the recipient of a free lap not once, but twice. Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, and others were far more deserving of getting the win. I have no quarrel with the fuel conservation strategy Joey and others used. That is part of racing. But, the gift of the “Lucky Dog” rule determined the race winner. It is such a bad rule.

Joey wasn’t even in contact with the leaders either time when he was awarded a lap back. This is called racing? This is a contrived show that NASCAR wants us to believe is a competition. It looks more and more like IROC.

For now on we must call Joey by the name “Lucky” Logano.

Double File Restarts at Infineon

NASCAR got away with the double file restarts at Pocono and Michigan with little comment from the drivers. For those two tracks was it very much different? Such wide tracks with a significant distance from the start/finish line to turn one made the double restart benign, regardless of the TNT crew gushing over them.

The next two races (Infineon and New Hampshire) may be a little more interesting. Late race restarts, when the drivers are thinking it is time to “go”, may produce a lot more beating and banging. The result of that may be some bruised drivers’ feelings. When someone up front gets turned as a result of these close restarts with only a few laps to go, expect some angry words.

This may be fun for the fans, unless your favorite is the one that lost out. I think that the double file restarts are a good thing until the race is past its half-way point. After that it needs to go single file. Fairness cannot be totally sacrificed for fan excitement.

NASCAR's "Wave Around" Gift

NASCAR’s new “wave around” policy seemed to go without problems at Pocono. TNT seemed to have a little trouble keeping up with everything that happened under caution and didn’t stress enough that these “wave around” cars were receiving a big gift. After all, they were over 2½ miles behind, then suddenly they were only 100 yards behind.

There appeared to be only a few cars that took advantage of the gift. I think that will change dramatically at a track like Bristol. At Bristol, where many cars go a lap down, we will see many cars take advantage of this racing oddity that NASCAR has invented.

I guess that NASCAR’s ultimate goal is to keep all cars on the lead lap. Is that racing? If that is what fans want then I have totally lost touch. Even if it becomes obvious that this change was a mistake NASCAR will never admit it. We are stuck with it.

NASCAR's Latest Manipulations

So, NASCAR went ahead and instituted double file restarts. This may be fun to watch. There will be unintended and very unfair consequences to this latest attempt to manipulate racing.

The most interesting thing to watch may be when lapped cars remaining on the track instead of pitting will be “waved around” the pace car to pick up a lap on the leader. Wow! Losing a lap now becomes insignificant. With so many cautions it will be easy to get a lap back.

I cannot grasp the reasoning for this change. True, those cars that did not pit started at the tail end of the lead lap ahead of the rest of the field and frequently caused fan confusion and difficulties for the race leaders. But, I can see instances where everyone a lap or more down will not pit so they can gain a lap back and hope another caution comes out quickly. Essentially, any car a lap down can become a “Lucky Dog”.

This is not racing. It’s a contrived show. Real race fans will not like it. Once, again NASCAR is showing that it cares nothing about its base fans. It’s really odd how NASCAR keeps going farther and farther away from the racing that made it a strong series. Their attempts to make things even do not ring well.

NASCAR Ruins Carl Long Team

What NASCAR has done to Carl Long is unthinkable. Essentially it has ruined his NASCAR career forever.

His crew chief, Charles Swing, will not be allowed to obtain his 2010 NASCAR license if the $200,000 fine is not paid. So, Charles Swing has been booted from NASCAR for all intents and purposes, never to return. This team doesn’t have $200,000 in their annual budget!

The basis for this fine and suspensions makes NASCAR appear to be looking for a reason to get the Carl Long team out of competition. The rule on engine size is 358.00 cubic inches. Supposedly, NASCAR will allow up to 358.09 based on heating/cooling. Carl Long’s engine was 358.17 cubic inches. So, his engine was .08 of a cubic inch over what NASCAR allows.

Do you know how big .08 cubic inches is? Get out a ruler and try to measure it. That’s less than .5 inch by .5 inch by .5 inch. The engine was oversize by a whopping 0.02%!

In 1991 NASCAR suspended Junior Johnson’s team 4 weeks for an engine larger than this. Carl Long’s team is suspended for 12 weeks. Why the severity for Carl Long? Although it will never happen, what if it were Earnhardt Jr., or Jeff Gordon, or Tony Stewart? NASCAR doesn’t have the courage to apply this kind of punishment to anyone on a significant team.

NASCAR on FOX

NASCAR on FOX is finally over for this year. The overnight ratings for Dover are down 14% compared to last year. For the part of the schedule that FOX has, the ratings are down 12%. The reasons noted are more cautions, fewer lead changes, and lower average speeds.

NONSENSE!

There are many reasons for lower ratings, but not any of the above. See my previous blogs.

Before next year FOX needs to make the following changes:

- Get rid of Digger (but keep the in-track camera)

- Get rid of the Hollywood Hotel

- Rotate announcers each week – not the same three in the booth

- Start the race within a half hour of air time

- As much as possible have the same air time week to week

- Keep the top five car numbers on the screen at all times

Here’s hoping that TNT does a better job.

NASCAR's Double File Restarts

Please NASCAR, don’t do it. Step back from the edge. You do not want to put all the lead lap cars up front, double file, for restarts.

Why? Follow this scenario: you are the second car one lap down, right on the bumper of the first car one lap down. The leader just passed both of you and the second place car is 100 yards behind you. There are 20 cars on the lead lap.

The caution flies. The car ahead of you will get the “Lucky Dog” and will now be the last car on the lead lap. When they line up all the lead lap cars double file you will restart 22nd on the track, having lost all track position. You cannot race your way back onto the lead lap, but will have to depend on getting the “Lucky Dog” to get your lap back.

NASCAR’s creation of the “Lucky Dog” was a mistake. This will compound the mistake. Each time NASCAR introduces more artificial manipulations of racing they actually make things worse. They continue to push away their hard core fan base. This scripting must stop. We all fell in love with this when it was a race – not a performed show.

No Improvements Stated From NASCAR

The benevolent despots that rule NASCAR had their meetings with the owners and drivers of the Cup series on Tuesday. Everyone received a polite little pat on the head and were told that everything is just fine despite the poor television ratings. Here are the things the owners and drivers were told:

- Don’t worry about the drug testing issues, because we know best about that. Feel free to check with us before you take a prescription drug so we can tell you if we’ll suspend you for it. Even though what prescription drug you take is none of our business, we won’t tell anybody.

- And to improve ratings we’ve come up with this great idea to have all the lead lap cars up front on the restart - double file, with all lap down cars behind them. That should do it. So, if you are the second car a lap down and you are in between the first and second place cars when the caution flies we’ll just put all other lead lap cars ahead of you on the restart.

- And we are not changing the car! John Darby becomes apoplectic whenever we bring the subject up. He doesn’t handle change well.

- Yes, let’s have some more of these productive meetings.

NASCAR just refuses to get it. They insist on ruling from the top. They can get away with it because no owner or driver really dares challenge them. Sure, some owners and drivers spoke up on Tuesday, but I’m sure they were very careful in their choice of words and tone. They don’t want to upset the NASCAR despots and get paid back during their car’s next inspection.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, came out of the meeting that changes a thing from the fans’ perspective. NASCAR is tanking and its management just continues to whistle in the dark.

NASCAR's Big Meetings

Well, NASCAR has seen the light and decided to have some “meetings” today with Cup owners and drivers. It must be that the brain trust of Brian France, Mike Helton, and John Darby have finally caught up with the fact that ratings and attendance are tanking. My feeling is that these meetings are mostly for public relations purposes. If you look at the history of NASCAR, it is the slowest moving organization in the world. It doesn’t listen to advice from outside its ruling elite.

There are many things that need to be addressed. I hope the owners and drivers speak up without fear of retribution on such things as the current car, the fence that really did not hold at Talladega, the drug testing policy, and whatever else they think can improve the series. But, I want to state as I have in previous posts the problems from a fan’s perspective.

1 – Too many races. It’s an endurance test even for hard core fans such as me. The casual fan will never stick with it.

2 – The television productions are terrible. Please TNT, don’t overdo it like FOX has. So much blather, so much nonsense.

3 – The cars have really become IROCized. Allow some creativity.

4 – Get rid of the Lucky Dog rule. Make a team earn that lap back. Do not change the restarts to double file with lap down cars to the rear. What you did before worked. It just needs a little tweaking for safety.

NASCAR can and has blamed the ratings problems and the attendance issues on many things. The economy, the rain shortened Daytona race, competition from other sports and activities, and lack of driver controversy. The real problem is that they have not paid attention to their base of hard core fans. They misread the ratings spike that occurred from the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. They thought they had suddenly hit the big time, and they failed to realize why.

Has NASCAR awoken?

So NASCAR has suddenly become concerned about their television ratings! See the following article in "Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal":

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/62420

The comments made in the article are quite strange:

- It claims Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s lack of success is complicit in the ratings decline. Huh? True race fans are not going to stop watching if one of their favorites is not running well.

- The article says that the horrendous Carl Edwards crash at Talladega was thought (hoped?) to increase interest (ratings). See my April 27 blog entry. Does NASCAR, in fact, really want a blood sport?

- NASCAR official Paul Brooks is quoted in the article comparing NASCAR ratings to those of other sports on the same weekend. That is apples to oranges.

What the article does not address is that the rating decline is a continuation of a decline begun a couple of years ago. NASCAR’s television ratings declined significantly from 2007 to 2008 too. It is just getting worse. The comments made in this article are like whistling in the dark. There is a problem – please address it meaningfully!

My March 30 blog entry addressed some areas that need to be looked at. I want to add another idea concerning the networks’ presentations. Prior to 2001 many more networks were involved in bringing us the races. The same network did not do the telecast week after week until its part of the schedule ended. We may have watched the race on ESPN one week, TNT the next, then TBS, and so on. The point is: we did not have to endure the exact same on-air personalities week after week. I constantly hear from my racing friends of how tired they are of one announcer or another. It would be much nicer if the old jumbled schedule was still how it was done.

NASCAR Ratings Continue Slipping

NASCAR Cup racing continues to have a serious television ratings problem. Things have gotten no better since my comments on 3/30/09. The ratings for the last five races compared to last year:

Martinsville - down 13%
Texas - down 13%
Phoenix - down 18%
Talladega - down 12%
Richmond - down 12% (overnight)

How can this be?!?! Has NASCAR, aided by FOX, killed the goose that laid the golden egg???? I think it has, at least, seriously injured it.

FOX only has three races left this year so it is too late to change anything. But, FOX needs to revamp its on-air personnel for next year. And get rid of Digger. Quit insulting us fans.

NASCAR can only hope that ratings improve when TNT takes over, followed by ESPN/ABC later in the summer. There may be some improvement, but for all the reasons I stated in my blog of 3/30/09, I am not confident that there will be a significant turnaround.

David Poole's Death

NASCAR lost a great advocate for the sport when David Poole died on Tuesday. His insight will be sorely missed.

If you have not read his last commentary please go to http://www.thatsracin.com/135/story/7980.html
In it he succinctly states the need to fix Talladega. I hope NASCAR will listen.

It has been very disturbing to hear NASCAR officials, some drivers, and especially the media, such as ESPN Now commentators, downplay the seriousness of what happened at Talladega on Sunday. Looking closely at some of the video of the fence one can see it was very, very close to failing in a way that would have resulted in many more injuries of a serious nature.

Restrictor Plates

NASCAR must find a way to slow the cars at Talladega and Daytona other than restrictor plates. Once again, on Sunday, tragedy was narrowly avoided. Seven people in the stands were treated for injuries. The catch fence held this time. If you watch the replay you can see the angle that Carl Edwards’ car hit the fence was not as direct as it could have been, more like a glancing blow. It’s scary to think what a more direct hit might have done.

Carl’s quote after the race says it all: “NASCAR puts us in this box and we’ll race like this until we kill somebody, then (NASCAR) will change it.” I think Carl was referring to the drivers. Two ‘big ones’ decimated the field and then this one at the finish probably made Carl feel lucky that he could climb out of his car and run to the start/finish line. I wonder if Carl has received a ‘talking to’ from NASCAR about his comment.

There is no doubt that restrictor plate racing was largely responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. Cars cannot run together at those speeds without making contact. It’s as simple as that. Dale’s death made NASCAR belatedly address safety problems that had been around for years. The introduction of soft wall technology and the use of better restraining devices certainly have reduced driver injuries. But, NASCAR has not addressed the restrictor plate racing problem.

There are two reasons for that. First, there is no simple, cheap solution. If there was, NASCAR might feel compelled to implement it. Second, we fans have liked this close racing far too much. Some of the best attended and most watched racing is at Talladega and Daytona. Are we blood thirsty? Do we dare give critics more ammunition when they say that NASCAR is just a blood sport?

I’m a big believer that ‘rubbing is racing’ in full bodied stock cars. But, contact cannot be made when racing with restrictor plates. I used to hold my breath watching those races, now I just wait to see which of my favorites are going to be knocked out of the race, many times for no fault of their own.

The only reasonable solution put forth so far is to knock down the banking at one end of those two tracks. The idea is that drivers will have to slow down so much for the lowered turns that restrictor plates will not be needed. It will be an expensive solution. International Speedway Corporation (ISC) owns both tracks, and since NASCAR and ISC are, more or less, one in the same, I don’t expect any action unless more fans speak up. I hope NASCAR doesn’t wait for serious blood to be spilled or for more deaths to occur.

Race Referees

How many times have fans questioned a call that NASCAR officials have made during a race? We frequently accuse NASCAR of favoritism. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson and others all have at one time or another seemed to get preferential treatment by a NASCAR decision.

I don’t believe that NASCAR officials do, in fact, give preferential treatment to any driver or team. But, appearances are everything. I can certainly understand some fans wondering if NASCAR sometimes makes a call that is not objective. NASCAR has always wanted to “legitimatize” their sport. Fans need to see that any hint of bias or favoritism does not exist.

I’m not sure who the NASCAR decision makers are during a Cup race. I believe it consists mainly of NASCAR President Mike Helton, Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby, and Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton. I don’t believe these men have an agenda that leads them to make calls during the race that may favor certain drivers, but it seems odd that the executives of the series are also the ones refereeing it. It’s kind of like having Bud Selig calling balls and strikes in MLB or David Stern calling fouls in the NBA.

NASCAR needs to have “race referees” - a small group (3?) of people that will make all calls during a race. These people cannot have any hint of bias. They cannot be affiliated with NASCAR in any other way. They cannot be affiliated with track ownership companies such as International Speedway Corporation or Speedway Motorsports Incorporated. The group working a race can be drawn from a larger group on a rotating basis much like other professional sports.

This group will have at their disposal all the scoring and monitoring facilities in place now. They will be in direct communication with pit road inspectors as is done now. It will be their call whether a piece of debris demands a caution, whether a rough driving incident has occurred, whether a pit road speeding violation has occurred, whether a pit crew member has committed an infraction, etc. As importantly, they will decide the penalty.

For NASCAR to move into the “major leagues” of professional sports they must remove any appearance of bias and favoritism. “Race referees” will do that.

NASCAR Lucky Dog Rule

I've been concerned about the "Lucky Dog" rule since its inception.

I understand why NASCAR felt the need to change what was happening when the caution flag flew. Cars a lap down who were in sight of the leader would try desperately to get their lap back, and the leader usually obliged them by slowing down and letting them pass before they reached the start/finish line. Though nothing serious ever happened, NASCAR was justifiably worried that there would be a monumental wreck caused by an over zealous driver trying to get to the leader before he took the yellow flag. I remember one particularly scary incident where a car was sitting wrecked and stalled just short of the start/finish line. No contact was made, but NASCAR felt compelled to act.

But, what NASCAR came up with, is not right from a fan's perspective. It is contrived. It is controlling a show rather than administering a race. How many times have we seen the winner of the "Lucky Dog" half a lap behind the leader! Is it correct to allow that driver to be given his lap back? It's too much of a gift.

As much as I hate to allow NASCAR to make judgement calls this is a place where it is necessary. NASCAR has to change the rule to allow the "Lucky Dog" to regain a lap only if he is "in contact" with the leader. Doesn't that seem a little more fair? Under the old method a car a half a lap down never made up that distance before the leader made it to the start/finish line.

Can I define "in contact"? No, I can't. I suggest NASCAR have "race referees" make that call. I'll expand on my idea of "race referees" in a future blog, but I've long believed that NASCAR needs more objectivity in the making of judgement calls. To me "in contact" might be thought of as realistically able to pass the leader under the old rule.

Some may argue that this concept prevents popular teams from staying "in" the race. Yes it does. One pit mistake or one bad adjustment puts a team a lap down and they may not be able to make it up. Isn't that what racing is all about? Mistakes and bad breaks have to be endured. I rather have a race than a contrived show.

Rules of Racing

When I started going to local short track races long ago, one of the first things I was told was that a driver attempting to pass on the inside of another car had "earned" the spot (the pass) when he had his front bumper up to the door of the car he was passing. If that had not been achieved, the driver on the outside still had the position and was entitled to come down on (chop off) the car on the inside, who was required to back off and let the guy in.

I still believe that is the correct approach, but I do understand that, when racing for a position late in the race, some of these "rules" are thrown under the bus. And rightly so. When the race is on for the win some things get blurry.

But, let's not forget these "rules". The driver on the outside still has the right to chop off the passer on the inside if the passer is not up to his door. Apparently, Jimmy Johnson does not understand that "rule". When asked about his pass of Denny Hamlin late in the race at Martinsville he said that people should look at the tape because they'll see that Denny chopped down on him. Yes he did, and rightfully so.

Since Jimmy was only up to Denny's quarter panel he had the tacit responsibility of backing off and letting Denny back down. He didn't, and I don't blame him. It was late in the race and he wanted to win. The "rule" is blurred at that point. But, he has no right to complain that Denny chopped down on him. Denny was following the "rules of racing", Jimmy was not.

TV Ratings

Well, it seems the television ratings for the Bristol (3/22/09) Cup race were down over 18% from last year. The pattern is there, almost every race has been down this year. Last year ratings were consistently down, too. When will NASCAR and the television networks admit there is a problem? I guess a better question is: why don't they?

All we hear mention of is track attendance issues. Well, of course, we're in a recession and people may not be able to attend the races that they have in the past. But, they certainly will still turn on their television sets! It stands to reason, that television ratings will go up in a recession.

The reason that NASCAR and the television networks won't admit there is a problem is twofold:

1 - Money. Money, money, money. If they admit that there is a ratings problem more fans may say "oh, I guess it isn't very good anymore, I'll stop watching". And, to be sure, NASCAR is still making globs of money off the television contract. I wonder if the networks are. Apparently, greed is not just the bailiwick of the big financial companies.

2 - Embarrassment. I guess I'd be embarrassed too if I took a product as good as this and slowly ran it into the ground. I bet there are some interesting meetings and discussions going on in NASCAR offices that we aren't hearing about.

So, what are the problems? There are many:

1 - There are too many races. Now wait, think about it. It is fan overload. It's nearly impossible to watch all 36 races. Life gets in the way. And, the thing is, once you miss a race or two, interest naturally drops off. I hate to compare it to the NFL, but 16 games seems just about right for them. I think 30 races seems about right. I'll gladly point out 6 that can be dropped.

2 - The network presentation. Overkill is not a strong enough word to describe what FOX is doing to the Cup race telecasts. All the pre-race chatter is rarely of value. Their attempt to create 'mainstream' interest is not going to work. The telecast should start no more than 10 minutes before the start of the race. Why? Because fans easily can get away to do something else during the pre-race chatter - and not come back!

3 - The cars. The Cup cars look and drive far more like taxi cabs than race cars. The only improvement over the old cars is safety. They bear no resemblance to the manufacturers' road versions of the model. I don't know what can be done to mitigate this problem, but someone must have some ideas.

4 - Many, not all, of the races are too long. Viewers have trouble staying with it for anything that lasts more than 3 hours. Some races need to be shortened from 500 miles or laps to 400 miles or laps. They would be more exciting. Maybe the tracks feel they would have to lower admission prices if they shorten the race. That, in itself, might help attendance.

I'd like to hear other fans' opinions on what the problems are that keep fans away from their television sets. I rarely miss a minute of a Cup race. I know many fans who used to be like me, but aren't anymore.