There is an aspect of the Clint Bowyer illegal car drama and penalty that I cannot grasp. Cars are inspected at least three times – before practice, before qualifying, and then again before the race. So why wasn’t the 1/16 of an inch discrepancy discovered then? Why wasn’t it discovered until after the race?
This is very disturbing. It’s been stated that NASCAR can do a more comprehensive examination of the car when they get the car to their facility in Charlotte. It doesn’t seem right that the same examination cannot be done before the race. It’s bewildering.
I’m assuming that there was no concern about the car being modified to become illegal while the race was going on. No change during a pit stop resulted in the car going from OK to not OK.
And, I don’t understand why the issue with the car that Carl used at Richmond is relevant to this discussion. That was a different car. Laughably, NASCAR officials basically said the Richmond car was legal, but they better fix it before it is used again. Huh?!?! Sorry, we fans can only see these things in black and white terms. Legal and not useable, or not legal. One or the other. NASCAR has done this before, see my blog dated October 7, 2009.
I suspect that there are many fans as confused as I am about this process of declaring a car illegal after it had passed inspection three times. This is another area that NASCAR continues to build on their lack of credibility.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Brian France - Step Aside!!!!
Brian France needs to step aside before he does any more damage. Although he continues to make money for NASCAR and the race tracks, he is in danger of losing too many fans.
I attended the Nationwide Series race at Richmond last Friday night. I have been to that race 10 of the last 11 years. There were less than half as many fans there as there were 5 years ago. Attendance, even compared to last year, was down at least 25%. The track did not open nearly as many sections as they used to.
I watched Saturday’s Cup race on television and could easily see at least 25% of the seats were not sold. That race was a sellout just a few years ago. And, there are fewer seats than there were then because they widened each seat! Television ratings for the race were down more than 10% from last year. Justifiably, ESPN doesn’t mention the attendance and ratings numbers. I don’t think enough is being said about it.
Brian France and his cohorts need to rethink some things. His bodacious attempt to steal football fans in the fall with the Chase has fallen flat on its face. The scary thing is he is about to tweak that format again, still thinking that it is a winner.
And now they are talking about messing with the Nationwide Series to somehow limit how Cup regulars participate in it. There was a time when that seemed like a good idea to me. Now it seems like it might kill the series.
I know Brian France and company will not change their thinking until money is being lost. That is probably a ways off. But, if things continue downward as they have been, it’s hard to say how far off that is.
The two things that need most to be done to the Cup series to begin righting the ship:
1 – Eliminate about 6 races. There are just too many to keep fan interest. A correlation can be seen between when they increased the number of races and when fan interest starting dropping.
2 – Eliminate the Chase and replace the points system with one that favors the top 5 finishers very heavily. The fans will love it. The drivers will no longer settle for top fifteen finishes.
It’s not surprising that NASCAR fan interest peaked like it did about 8 years ago. It’s not surprising that it went downhill from its peak. What is surprising is how far and how fast fan interest has fallen. The blame for that falls squarely on Brian France and the rest of NASCAR management.
I attended the Nationwide Series race at Richmond last Friday night. I have been to that race 10 of the last 11 years. There were less than half as many fans there as there were 5 years ago. Attendance, even compared to last year, was down at least 25%. The track did not open nearly as many sections as they used to.
I watched Saturday’s Cup race on television and could easily see at least 25% of the seats were not sold. That race was a sellout just a few years ago. And, there are fewer seats than there were then because they widened each seat! Television ratings for the race were down more than 10% from last year. Justifiably, ESPN doesn’t mention the attendance and ratings numbers. I don’t think enough is being said about it.
Brian France and his cohorts need to rethink some things. His bodacious attempt to steal football fans in the fall with the Chase has fallen flat on its face. The scary thing is he is about to tweak that format again, still thinking that it is a winner.
And now they are talking about messing with the Nationwide Series to somehow limit how Cup regulars participate in it. There was a time when that seemed like a good idea to me. Now it seems like it might kill the series.
I know Brian France and company will not change their thinking until money is being lost. That is probably a ways off. But, if things continue downward as they have been, it’s hard to say how far off that is.
The two things that need most to be done to the Cup series to begin righting the ship:
1 – Eliminate about 6 races. There are just too many to keep fan interest. A correlation can be seen between when they increased the number of races and when fan interest starting dropping.
2 – Eliminate the Chase and replace the points system with one that favors the top 5 finishers very heavily. The fans will love it. The drivers will no longer settle for top fifteen finishes.
It’s not surprising that NASCAR fan interest peaked like it did about 8 years ago. It’s not surprising that it went downhill from its peak. What is surprising is how far and how fast fan interest has fallen. The blame for that falls squarely on Brian France and the rest of NASCAR management.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Edwards and Keselowski NASCAR Penalties
NASCAR cannot have it both ways. Either they are going to let them race or they aren’t. Which is it?
The nonsense they came out with this year - “boys, have at it” apparently was nothing but public relations to try to raise fan interest. NASCAR has chickened out on that stated policy. The incident at the end of the July 17th Nationwide race at Madison has resulted in a $25,000 fine, loss of 60 points and probation for Carl Edwards, and probation for Brad Keselowski.
I do not like to see incidents like the one at Madison where a driver’s well being is put in such jeopardy. When Carl turned Brad at Atlanta it was even more frightening. But, NASCAR has a habit of not being consistent. They just cannot seem to determine whether they are willing to take risks or not.
NASCAR has said many times over the years that they will let the drivers settle it on the last lap. Well, they have to be consistent on that or, once again, lose credibility with fans. Do you remember the Bristol night race in August, 1999 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. turned Terry Labonte on the last lap and went on to win? Dale “just wanted to rattle his cage”. No penalties resulted. Sure, some fans booed, but NASCAR knew that it was good for the sport.
What is the difference between that incident and the one between Edwards and Keselowski? Has NASCAR become so mainstream, so plain vanilla, that they will not tolerate a villain? Earnhardt Sr. was viewed by many fans as a villain. NASCAR knew that, and they knew it was good for the sport.
The incident at Madison is being interpreted as a continuation of the Edwards – Keselowski feud. It was, instead, a move by Edwards coming off the final turn of the race to win the race. It has to be treated the same way as the Earnhardt Sr. incident at Bristol in 1999.
Above all things NASCAR must be consistent. Fans see right thru it when they aren’t. And, if they want a bunch of namby-pamby drivers going around in circles, that is fine. That is not what the fans want.
The nonsense they came out with this year - “boys, have at it” apparently was nothing but public relations to try to raise fan interest. NASCAR has chickened out on that stated policy. The incident at the end of the July 17th Nationwide race at Madison has resulted in a $25,000 fine, loss of 60 points and probation for Carl Edwards, and probation for Brad Keselowski.
I do not like to see incidents like the one at Madison where a driver’s well being is put in such jeopardy. When Carl turned Brad at Atlanta it was even more frightening. But, NASCAR has a habit of not being consistent. They just cannot seem to determine whether they are willing to take risks or not.
NASCAR has said many times over the years that they will let the drivers settle it on the last lap. Well, they have to be consistent on that or, once again, lose credibility with fans. Do you remember the Bristol night race in August, 1999 when Dale Earnhardt Sr. turned Terry Labonte on the last lap and went on to win? Dale “just wanted to rattle his cage”. No penalties resulted. Sure, some fans booed, but NASCAR knew that it was good for the sport.
What is the difference between that incident and the one between Edwards and Keselowski? Has NASCAR become so mainstream, so plain vanilla, that they will not tolerate a villain? Earnhardt Sr. was viewed by many fans as a villain. NASCAR knew that, and they knew it was good for the sport.
The incident at Madison is being interpreted as a continuation of the Edwards – Keselowski feud. It was, instead, a move by Edwards coming off the final turn of the race to win the race. It has to be treated the same way as the Earnhardt Sr. incident at Bristol in 1999.
Above all things NASCAR must be consistent. Fans see right thru it when they aren’t. And, if they want a bunch of namby-pamby drivers going around in circles, that is fine. That is not what the fans want.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
NASCAR Track Attendance
While watching Cup races on television I always keep my eye out for crowd shots that reveal the attendance for that race. It appears that the televising networks rarely show crowd shots like they used to. I’m sure it is because so many races are now poorly attended.
I believe that the New Hampshire track used to sell out when they had one event per year. At best, it appeared the event of June 27th only had about 60% of the seats occupied. Since turnstile counts are rarely announced by a track or NASCAR, we will probably never know for sure what the attendance was.
It certainly is not unique to the New Hampshire track that attendance is way down from, say, 15 years ago. Every track they race at, even Bristol and Richmond, are having attendance problems. I used to attend the September Richmond event by signing up to be eligible to request tickets on a certain date. I’d go in to work late just so I got my ticket order in. They even sent me a decal that I could display that I, proudly, had my Richmond tickets.
NASCAR’s pointing of the finger at the recession has grown old. It’s not the problem and they know it. There are too many races for the fans. Much like the television ratings continual decline, fans are so over-exposed that they have curtailed their attending races too.
I guess NASCAR only looks at the bottom line. It must be more profitable to have two not so well attended races than it is to have one sell out. It must be more profitable to have lower television ratings for 36 races than to have excellent television ratings for, say, 30 races.
That approach seems short sighted. As fans lose interest, are there more fans coming in to make up the difference? It seems like just a matter of time before we see the number of races scaled back.
I believe that the New Hampshire track used to sell out when they had one event per year. At best, it appeared the event of June 27th only had about 60% of the seats occupied. Since turnstile counts are rarely announced by a track or NASCAR, we will probably never know for sure what the attendance was.
It certainly is not unique to the New Hampshire track that attendance is way down from, say, 15 years ago. Every track they race at, even Bristol and Richmond, are having attendance problems. I used to attend the September Richmond event by signing up to be eligible to request tickets on a certain date. I’d go in to work late just so I got my ticket order in. They even sent me a decal that I could display that I, proudly, had my Richmond tickets.
NASCAR’s pointing of the finger at the recession has grown old. It’s not the problem and they know it. There are too many races for the fans. Much like the television ratings continual decline, fans are so over-exposed that they have curtailed their attending races too.
I guess NASCAR only looks at the bottom line. It must be more profitable to have two not so well attended races than it is to have one sell out. It must be more profitable to have lower television ratings for 36 races than to have excellent television ratings for, say, 30 races.
That approach seems short sighted. As fans lose interest, are there more fans coming in to make up the difference? It seems like just a matter of time before we see the number of races scaled back.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
NASCAR's Overtime
For the 6th time out of 14 races so far this year the Pocono race went into NASCAR’s version of overtime. It resulted in a horrific crash, as had most of the other overtime races. Teams that had earned a decent finish for a hard day’s work ended up loading a destroyed car.
Miraculously, no drivers were injured. NASCAR dodged that bullet again. How long will NASCAR play with fire before it gets burnt?
If fans are interested in seeing that kind of carnage, risking drivers’ lives, then I’m very disappointed. NASCAR has resorted to a Roman gladiator type approach to increasing fan interest. That is sad. What is sadder is that this, apparently, is what the fans want. It won’t be long before the charges of NASCAR being a blood sport are heard again.
There is nothing wrong with finishing a race under caution. The race can, and should, go for the advertised distance. Let strategy for fuel come into play.
I’m afraid it will take serious injury or death before NASCAR realizes that Green-White-Checkers is not the best way to increase fan interest.
Miraculously, no drivers were injured. NASCAR dodged that bullet again. How long will NASCAR play with fire before it gets burnt?
If fans are interested in seeing that kind of carnage, risking drivers’ lives, then I’m very disappointed. NASCAR has resorted to a Roman gladiator type approach to increasing fan interest. That is sad. What is sadder is that this, apparently, is what the fans want. It won’t be long before the charges of NASCAR being a blood sport are heard again.
There is nothing wrong with finishing a race under caution. The race can, and should, go for the advertised distance. Let strategy for fuel come into play.
I’m afraid it will take serious injury or death before NASCAR realizes that Green-White-Checkers is not the best way to increase fan interest.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
NASCAR at Talladega
The recent races at Talladega were quite a spectacle. NASCAR and the media were giddy after the races as a result of all the lead changes, the three exciting green-white-checkers it took to decide a winner in the Cup race, and the wild crash at the end of the Nationwide race. I saw things much differently. I saw incredibly close racing that was dangerous to the drivers, crews, and fans.
NASCAR has totally given in to the fan. Television ratings and track attendance is what is driving NASCAR. They have, once again, been lulled to sleep by the safety improvements that seem to have made the drivers, crews and fans immune to injury. The fact is NASCAR has been nothing but very lucky.
What I saw was a demolition derby. When they wrecked, the cars looked like pin balls in a video game. Fans at home and in the stands are so mesmerized by these wrecks that they seem to have lost a sense of just how hard and dangerous these impacts are.
These cars are not foolproof safety wise. The drivers are still vulnerable. The fencing meant to protect the fans will not always hold. A picture of the fence after Dennis Setzer’s impact left me wondering how many fans would have been injured if there were grandstands located near that section of fencing.
NASCAR will continue to roll the dice at Talladega and Daytona until injuries (or worse) happen again. At some point NASCAR will roll craps and charges of blood sport will be heard again. It’s time to lower the banking at one end of these tracks so the restrictor plates can be removed resulting in breaking up the packs of cars. ESPN’s Andy Petrie said that, as a crew chief, he had many times brought cars home “in a box” from Talladega. I contend that NASCAR needs to make changes before it’s the people that are brought home “in a box”.
NASCAR has totally given in to the fan. Television ratings and track attendance is what is driving NASCAR. They have, once again, been lulled to sleep by the safety improvements that seem to have made the drivers, crews and fans immune to injury. The fact is NASCAR has been nothing but very lucky.
What I saw was a demolition derby. When they wrecked, the cars looked like pin balls in a video game. Fans at home and in the stands are so mesmerized by these wrecks that they seem to have lost a sense of just how hard and dangerous these impacts are.
These cars are not foolproof safety wise. The drivers are still vulnerable. The fencing meant to protect the fans will not always hold. A picture of the fence after Dennis Setzer’s impact left me wondering how many fans would have been injured if there were grandstands located near that section of fencing.
NASCAR will continue to roll the dice at Talladega and Daytona until injuries (or worse) happen again. At some point NASCAR will roll craps and charges of blood sport will be heard again. It’s time to lower the banking at one end of these tracks so the restrictor plates can be removed resulting in breaking up the packs of cars. ESPN’s Andy Petrie said that, as a crew chief, he had many times brought cars home “in a box” from Talladega. I contend that NASCAR needs to make changes before it’s the people that are brought home “in a box”.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Carl Edwards vs. Brad Keselowski
Carl Edwards has shown his “dark” side before. Remember when he threw a fake sucker punch at Matt Kenseth? Carl is an expert at smooth talking the media and fans, but there is a streak in him that is disturbing. What he did at Atlanta shows he is really not the All-American boy that he has fooled us into thinking he is.
He had many other options. He could wait for an opportunity at a far less dangerous track to put the bumper to Brad Keselowski. Carl could get in his way when pitted next to Brad. He could block him on the track when Brad is obviously faster. These are much safer than turning someone at 195 MPH right in front of the grandstands. They say that revenge is a dish best served cold. Carl should have thought of that.
Not that Brad Keselowski didn’t deserve a dose of his own medicine. Aggressive drivers are the kind we like to watch. But, Brad always seems to go a little bit over the line. Just ask Denny Hamlin. Brad will be a very successful NASCAR driver if he just dials it back a notch.
And, of course, NASCAR is very culpable in what happened. Their inability to get certain things right never ceases to worry me. They had no qualms before the season began of stating that they were going to “let the boys be boys” and resolve their own disputes. Well, you know that they cannot say such things and allow drivers to use their 3,500 pound machines as weapons. When NASCAR said that they sounded like a half-drunk redneck saying “Hey! Watch this!”. It was clearly an attempt to raise sagging television ratings.
I do agree with NASCAR’s punishment of Carl Edwards – the three race probation. I also understand why many fans feel Carl’s stupidity deserved a more severe punishment. But, NASCAR needs to get real clear about what they are going to allow and not allow. To me, anything like this that happens under the green flag can not be tolerated.
He had many other options. He could wait for an opportunity at a far less dangerous track to put the bumper to Brad Keselowski. Carl could get in his way when pitted next to Brad. He could block him on the track when Brad is obviously faster. These are much safer than turning someone at 195 MPH right in front of the grandstands. They say that revenge is a dish best served cold. Carl should have thought of that.
Not that Brad Keselowski didn’t deserve a dose of his own medicine. Aggressive drivers are the kind we like to watch. But, Brad always seems to go a little bit over the line. Just ask Denny Hamlin. Brad will be a very successful NASCAR driver if he just dials it back a notch.
And, of course, NASCAR is very culpable in what happened. Their inability to get certain things right never ceases to worry me. They had no qualms before the season began of stating that they were going to “let the boys be boys” and resolve their own disputes. Well, you know that they cannot say such things and allow drivers to use their 3,500 pound machines as weapons. When NASCAR said that they sounded like a half-drunk redneck saying “Hey! Watch this!”. It was clearly an attempt to raise sagging television ratings.
I do agree with NASCAR’s punishment of Carl Edwards – the three race probation. I also understand why many fans feel Carl’s stupidity deserved a more severe punishment. But, NASCAR needs to get real clear about what they are going to allow and not allow. To me, anything like this that happens under the green flag can not be tolerated.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Green-White-Checkers and a Pothole
Most fans think the green-white-checkers finish procedure previously instituted by NASCAR and recently modified is a great thing. I do not. I know it is here to stay and that I’m out voted, but here are my reasons:
1 – Races are advertised for a certain distance – 500 miles, 400 laps, whatever. The race should last only that distance. Teams set up the car and figure fuel requirements for that distance. Fans may think that adding that element of mystery or confusion at the end of the race is a good thing, but the teams don’t.
2 – As we saw at the Daytona 500, those end of race restarts turn into a demolition derby. Teams that had a great day going end up in the middle of someone else’s overly aggressive attempt to gain a position. Luck becomes even more a determiner of success.
The pothole that delayed the race by well over two hours should never have happened. Track officials claim the track was examined before the race. It’s extremely difficult to believe that evidence of the problem was not apparent prior to the race. The problem gave a black eye to what was, otherwise, a very good race.
1 – Races are advertised for a certain distance – 500 miles, 400 laps, whatever. The race should last only that distance. Teams set up the car and figure fuel requirements for that distance. Fans may think that adding that element of mystery or confusion at the end of the race is a good thing, but the teams don’t.
2 – As we saw at the Daytona 500, those end of race restarts turn into a demolition derby. Teams that had a great day going end up in the middle of someone else’s overly aggressive attempt to gain a position. Luck becomes even more a determiner of success.
The pothole that delayed the race by well over two hours should never have happened. Track officials claim the track was examined before the race. It’s extremely difficult to believe that evidence of the problem was not apparent prior to the race. The problem gave a black eye to what was, otherwise, a very good race.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The New Season
The new season is suddenly upon us. I hold out a small amount of hope that the series will be improved over recent years. But, it certainly has a long way to go.
Improvements:
1 – The attempt to standardize race start times to be, mostly, 1 PM in the east. West coast races and night races will, obviously, be different as will the 600 mile race in Charlotte. Texas has already been granted a move to 3 PM in the east. Even so, this is a good change as long as 1 PM doesn’t become 1:40 PM as the networks are prone to do.
2 – The wing will be replaced by a spoiler early in the year. The wing is ugly. It makes the cars look anything but “stock”. The drivers seem to feel that the cars will race better with a spoiler rather than the wing. Now, let’s hope they do something about the splitter.
3 – The restrictions on bump drafting at Daytona and Talladega have been lifted. This will make for better racing, but also for more accidents. Call this an improvement, but those tracks will continue to be overly dangerous until they modify the tracks so they can race without the restrictor plates.
4 – Some tracks, notably Richmond, are reducing their number of seats by making the existing seats wider. This is long overdue and needs to be considered by most other tracks. It’s hard to enjoy a race when packed in like sardines.
NASCAR is saying “see, we listen to the fans”. To some extent that is true. But, they take too long to make a change and need to address more of the fans complaints:
1 – Most fans want to scrap the Chase. The championship is a season long process. The ratings show no bump during the 10 race Chase. Scrap it.
2 – There are too many races. Fans cannot maintain interest at the required level for 36 races. This is probably the thing that NASCAR has done the most wrong, yet has the least chance of being corrected. It’s much like “killing the goose that laid the golden egg”. Any good entertainment leaves the fans wanting more, but not in this case.
3 – Much like there are too many races, there is over-saturation by the networks. Too many on-air personalities are spending too much time filling up pre-race shows with nothing but blather. Even during the race it is sometimes more fun to turn the sound off.
4 – Fans began to realize last year just how unfair the “lucky dog” and “wave around” rules are. Fans are becoming less inclined to have real competition replaced by artificial attempts to keep all the cars on the lead lap. If you lose a lap apparently you aren’t that good today.
2010 will be a year of better racing and more fan interest. The little things they’ve done are steps in the right direction. Increased fan interest will lead NASCAR to, once again, think everything is fine. But, there are still many more improvements to be made before the series will get back to where it was ten years ago.
Improvements:
1 – The attempt to standardize race start times to be, mostly, 1 PM in the east. West coast races and night races will, obviously, be different as will the 600 mile race in Charlotte. Texas has already been granted a move to 3 PM in the east. Even so, this is a good change as long as 1 PM doesn’t become 1:40 PM as the networks are prone to do.
2 – The wing will be replaced by a spoiler early in the year. The wing is ugly. It makes the cars look anything but “stock”. The drivers seem to feel that the cars will race better with a spoiler rather than the wing. Now, let’s hope they do something about the splitter.
3 – The restrictions on bump drafting at Daytona and Talladega have been lifted. This will make for better racing, but also for more accidents. Call this an improvement, but those tracks will continue to be overly dangerous until they modify the tracks so they can race without the restrictor plates.
4 – Some tracks, notably Richmond, are reducing their number of seats by making the existing seats wider. This is long overdue and needs to be considered by most other tracks. It’s hard to enjoy a race when packed in like sardines.
NASCAR is saying “see, we listen to the fans”. To some extent that is true. But, they take too long to make a change and need to address more of the fans complaints:
1 – Most fans want to scrap the Chase. The championship is a season long process. The ratings show no bump during the 10 race Chase. Scrap it.
2 – There are too many races. Fans cannot maintain interest at the required level for 36 races. This is probably the thing that NASCAR has done the most wrong, yet has the least chance of being corrected. It’s much like “killing the goose that laid the golden egg”. Any good entertainment leaves the fans wanting more, but not in this case.
3 – Much like there are too many races, there is over-saturation by the networks. Too many on-air personalities are spending too much time filling up pre-race shows with nothing but blather. Even during the race it is sometimes more fun to turn the sound off.
4 – Fans began to realize last year just how unfair the “lucky dog” and “wave around” rules are. Fans are becoming less inclined to have real competition replaced by artificial attempts to keep all the cars on the lead lap. If you lose a lap apparently you aren’t that good today.
2010 will be a year of better racing and more fan interest. The little things they’ve done are steps in the right direction. Increased fan interest will lead NASCAR to, once again, think everything is fine. But, there are still many more improvements to be made before the series will get back to where it was ten years ago.
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