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.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
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.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
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.
Friday, November 6, 2009
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.
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.
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