Nascar 2008

[Capt_Redneck]

Alright everyone. Speedweeks is upon us very soon, teams are testing in Daytona. Another start to the NASCRAP season.

Here is a good article I read on frontstretch.com by Matt McLauglin

Winning Back Longtime NASCAR Fans : Part I

Thinkin' Out Loud · Matt McLaughlin · Thursday January 3, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is Part One of a two-part series by Matt McLaughlin on fixing NASCAR’s future. Part Two will be posted Friday.

Towards the end of last season, Brian France gave a press conference concerning the state of the sport of NASCAR. Not unexpectedly, given his position and lack of mental ability, for the most part Mssr. France assured everybody all was well despite the sagging TV ratings and blocks of unsold seats in the grandstands. But France did state that NASCAR was determined to keep and win back the longtime fans who have been the backbone of the sport all these decades, those who have been jumping ship in record numbers over the last few years.

That’s a Tectonic shift in corporate policy, as such longtime fans have been routinely ignored and alienated for years now. In the past, NASCAR “corporate think†seemed to be, “Aw, let them old-timers go. There are plenty of folks lined up to grab them seats anyway, and we’ll have a better class of wealthier and less rowdy followers at the end of the day.†Well, that didn’t work out too well, did it? New fans can be a fickle bunch. The same problems that caused them to give up old interests and sports to give NASCAR a shot can drive them away from stock car racing just as readily. Blame it on MTV, blame it on You Tube, USA Today, the Internet, or whatever else – but it just seems that these days, folks don’t have much of an attention span anymore. They want their information and entertainment in bite size-easily digested nuggets. A four hour race after a ninety minute pre-race show that is a thinly disguised infomercial just doesn’t cut it in this Brave New World of “what have you done for me in the last five minutes?â€

Well as a card-carrying, hidebound traditionalist who also doubles as a saddle-weary and scarred longtime fan, I offer the following pointers to the NASCAR powers that be on winning back the old-timers who once kept your trough full.

Lower Prices – Most longtime fans still work for a living, many of them in “blue collar†jobs. Not to put too fine a point on it, but ticket prices to NASCAR races are fricking obscene these days. It’s no longer a choice between a race weekend or a weekend hunting in the mountains, it’s become a decision between a race weekend and a summer family vacation. Not only have tickets to Cup races become too expensive, often to get them fans are forced to buy tickets to other events at the track they may not wish to or even be able to attend. So, the first step is to do away with these damned “season ticket†plans in deference to the working man; split it up so fans can pick and choose what they want to do.

Of course, the price of a ticket is only part of the expense of a race weekend. Some tracks, most notably those run by Bruton Smith, have tried to rein in the price gouging of local hoteliers who have resorted to inflated rates and demanded lengthy minimum stays on event weekends. It behooves track general managers to work not only with the hospitality industry but with local Chambers Of Commerce to get costs under control for race fans. Let the local politicians know that if the gouging continues, those coveted race dates might just leave the area all together. To show good faith, those track GMs might want to take a look at their own concession stand prices, which amount to legalized larceny as well. Yes, race tracks can try to wring every last dime they can out of each fan that attends a race – but it’s not good for repeat business.

Gimme Back My Cooler – Given the high concession prices noted above, race fans have traditionally packed their own coolers with food, soft drinks, and of course, good ol’ beer. Well, back after the tragedy of 9/11 that right – which many fans and myself consider inalienable – began to erode. Tracks limited the number and size of coolers a party could bring into the stands, claiming that it was in the interest of “security.â€

Of course, fans saw right through that gambit and responded with outrage. At least other new tracks didn’t even try that ruse; they simply banned coolers altogether, admitting they wanted to force fans to buy at the concession stands. Oddly enough, a lot of those same tracks are having difficulty selling tickets these days. Hmm… could it be that fans have decided if their coolers aren’t welcome, they aren’t welcome either?

All these years after the fact, let’s compare terrorist attacks committed by cooler toting bad guys at the tracks that still allow full size coolers to the tracks that limit the size of coolers or ban them all together. Oddly enough, the score is zero to zero.

Gimme Back My Color – Today’s generation of race car drivers contains some incredibly talented individuals. I’m an old timer, but I’m not going to say the latest generation of drivers couldn’t run with the heroes of my youth (As long as the newcomers were allowed to have power steering, of course). But it does seem to me that drivers in the days of yore were a lot more colorful and interesting than today’s crop of drivers; “old time†fans increasingly complain the new generation of competitors is too vanilla.

I’ve had a peak behind the curtain, and I know that some of the drivers fans complain are too bland are actually pretty colorful guys, some with wicked senses of humor. But in an era where a driver serves as a corporate spokesperson in a clown suit, they watch what they say and what they do. Even one moment of unguarded emotion could have them fined or even suspended.

At this point, it’s time for everyone to loosen up a little. Sponsors need to remember that racing is a physical and emotional sport, not lawn croquet. And NASCAR needs to stop penalizing drivers for every emotional outburst. If drivers want to push and shove each other while discussing one another’s ancestry, let ‘em do so. If drivers want to rub and bump on the cool down lane or to discuss an on track incident, let them have some slack within reason. To date, I have seen nothing in the last decade that even approaches the sort of beating and banging Bobby Allison and Richard Petty used to do routinely. That’s a problem, because it was rivalries like that Petty/Allison feud and the one between Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip that put a lot of butts in the grandstands. Naturally, that sort of stuff can’t be allowed to happen on pit road – where crew members and officials might be hurt – but on the track, a few instances of bad temper give everyone something to talk about for the rest of the week.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m as uncomfortable as anyone when kids hear bad language on TV (to be frank, if I had kids I might not even own a TV these days). But it is the job of the network censors to keep that language off the air more so than it is that of the driver never to issue a colorful phrase or two after an altercation.

[Capt_Redneck]

A second part of the above article just came out . He makes some very good points. Let's see what ya'll think about the current NASCRAP. Give me back the days he mentioned in the article. His last sentence pretty much sums it up pretty good

From Matt McLaughlin - frontstretch.com

Winning Back Longtime NASCAR Fans : Part II

Matt McLaughlin · Friday January 4, 2008

Editor’s Note: This is Part Two of a two-part series by Matt McLaughlin on fixing NASCAR’s future. If you missed Part One, click here to catch up.

Speaking of TV – And who isn’t these days, usually noting that they find the current NASCAR broadcasts absolutely terrible to the point of being almost unwatchable. Of course, everyone needs to be appreciative to a point, because only a generation ago a damn few races were on TV at all – and those that were were shown in part often weeks after the fact. But like so many things, it’s not that much harder to do things well than it is to do them poorly.

A lot of folks, myself included, thought or just hoped that things would improve when ESPN got back into NASCAR broadcasting. That didn’t turn out to be the case. After a tough year, it would behoove ESPN management and “talent†to use the offseason to review tapes not of this year’s broadcasts but tapes from the glory days of the mid-to-late 1980s. Those broadcasts were free of gimmicks and talking heads with little to say, long on information and actual coverage of the racing itself. Today’s race broadcasts were exactly that, coming across too much like People magazine – a curse on this generation – and too little like ABC’s old Wide World of Sports.

Naturally, the primary bugaboo that drives fans nuts is “too many commercials.†You’ve got to pity the poor producers and directors of these race broadcasts, trying to cover about the only sport with no natural “timeouts†or scheduled breaks. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t with ads; while fans are screaming there are too many commercials, network execs are screaming they need to sell more at higher prices to make race coverage profitable. The number one improvement that could be made to current race broadcasts is to adopt the “side by side†type coverage ABC/ESPN uses during IRL races. That way at least fans can keep track of what’s going on on-track, while enduring the barrage of commercial messages.

Secondly, I know there are new fans to the sport who might not be the dyed-in-the-wool gearheads that most old-time fans were – and I appreciate they may not know a camshaft from a driveshaft. But if I have to endure one more animated explanation of valve train failure, I might launch a frosty through the HDTV. Networks can use their websites to provide technical data for the uninformed; it’s time to stop talking down to the audience.

Along those same lines, it’s well past time for some members of the broadcast teams to stop serving as NASCAR apologists and to realize that they’re there to report the “big show;†and contrary to what they think, they are not the big show. A lot more honesty and a bit more humility would improve race broadcasts overnight. Stop worrying about biting the hand that feeds; it’s the networks that are feeding NASCAR huge bushels of cash. Believe me, for all their occasional bluster NASCAR officials aren’t going to upset that gravy train.

It’s the Racing, Stupid! – The core of what ails the last couple of years of stock car racing is what NASCAR officials like to call “the product†– the racing itself. The fact NASCAR officials call racing

“the product†is a pretty clear indication of what’s wrong at the heart of the matter. Racing isn’t a “product†– it’s a “sport.†Equally clearly, my dear Mr. France, racing is again a “sport,†not “entertainment.†Most sports – with the obvious exception of baseball and golf – are entertaining by nature. But entertainment is not “sporting.â€

If the current “product†is seen as entertainment, then it is acceptable to manipulate the rules to make the “product†more entertaining. By that analogy, I’m thinking of all those dubious debris caution flags that have peppered the endings of otherwise monotonous racing the last few years. I’m thinking about the absurdity that is the “Chase,†used to determine our champion and prolong crowning the victor. In my mind (what is left of it) Jimmie Johnson is the “Entertaining Product†champion of 2007, while Jeff Gordon – who amassed the most legitimate points of any driver this season – is the “Sport†champion.

But let’s leave aside the debate about the Chase for a moment and get back to the brass tacks. Over the last few years, “the Product†itself has sucked on the track. 2007 has entered the record books as one of the most tepid in series history; for every finish like the first Martinsville race or the second Texas race, there were too many quickly forgettable “Instant Debacles†waged in the name of stock car racing.

The problems leading to the current state of affairs are myriad. Some fault must be laid on the current mix of tracks on the schedule. The loss of two dates at Rockingham and one at Darlington removes three dates from a pair of highly competitive and unique tracks. The continued scheduling of two dates at places prone to put on snoozefests like New Hampshire, Michigan, California, and the inclusion of Joliet now almost guarantees a high ratio of clinkers to classics when it comes to good racing. Let’s face it: when Michigan, California, Joliet and Kansas City were designed, they were planned as “dual use†facilities that would cater to both stock car and open wheel. Well, with open wheel racing having become an asterisk on the sport’s scene – rivaling curling and fencing in the American conscience – it’s simply time to tear up those tracks and build a facility more suited to racing the “taxi cabs.†Yeah, it’s expensive and the shareholders will *****, but it’s another case of the long term good versus short-term profits.

California is a track that particularly galls me. Other than a few Truck events, I can not recall a single race worth watching at the joint. It’s time to dig it up and replace it with a three-quarter mile track patterned after Richmond – or better yet, replace it with a three-quarter mile dirt track patterned after Richmond. Now that would be something to see. As for Joliet, how about a one-mile circular track with graduated banking reaching to forty degrees at the top of the corners? Kansas City? A one-mile track configured as a figure eight, with the frontstretch bridging over the backstretch. That ought to drive the chassis guys crazy; but it’s time to start thinking outside the box.

Some blame must also go to the hideous new cars, which have not solved the problems they were designed to eliminate. Everyone says these new cars are tough; I don’t know about that, but I agree they are tough to look at. And drivers, by and large, are still afraid to beat and bang with the things, fearful of upsetting their aerodynamic perfection. I hate aerodynamics; frankly, I feel a rule forcing any crew member found within three miles of a wind tunnel to wear a pink party dress for the rest of the season would be good for the sport.

But wind tunnels should have been a thing of the past, as the CoT was supposed to eliminate the “aero loose†condition that is ruining racing. The problem is simple: when a faster car attempts to pass a car ahead of it, the loss of air off the nose makes the car “looseâ€. (Simple explanation; the car wants to go straight even as the driver turns the steering wheel). That makes the driver unable to pass, creating a disappointing single-file stalemate. It’s a problem that has been deviling stock car racing for a decade now – and it’s time to eliminate it.

Much of the problem is there isn’t enough “stock†left in stock cars. These are aerodynamically tweaked rockets, with suspension geometry unlike anything that has been run on the street since the days of the horseless carriage. With the exception of the necessary safety equipment, stock cars should be simply that – “stock,†complete with outside rearview mirrors, stock front valances, stock suspensions, and production-based fuel injected engines. Ideally, they would be virtually indistinguishable sheet metal wise from the Mustang you can drive off a dealer’s lot, or the new Challenger and Camaro you’ll be able to purchase soon. In my opinion, a fender removed from a Mustang rental car in the track lot should bolt perfectly to a Cup car, and the windshield and side windows should drop in place as well. As for the engines, horsepower should be capped at whatever level the competition department can beg past the warranty department in mass produced cars sold by the thousands at prices under $35,000. That would get the old time Ford, Chevy, and Mopar stalwarts back in the stands; strip off the exhaust systems, paint some numbers on the side, and race those summa*****es while Al Gore has a coronary over the carbon footprint of the sport.

[Capt_Redneck]

Part 2 - continued

One important deviation from “stock†would be the rubber bolted to these cars. Radial tires have been a decided detriment to stock car racing; Goodyear introduced radial tires to the sport not only because they were faster, but in an attempt to drive upstart tire company Hoosier from the sport. However, the bias ply tires – last used in the late 1980s – were more predictable and forgiving. Drivers could race harder on bias ply tires, and speeds were both reasonable and safer. Oh, Goodyear might get upset, but let’s look at things logically: how many of you go out and buy tires that need to be replaced every fifty miles and can’t be operated in the rain for your wife’s mini-van? The idea that racing improves the breed when it comes to street tires is as outdated as tailfins and whitewalls.

Finally, it’s time to revamp the points system and payout structure of our sport. Each race is currently not 1/36th of the season. Each race is a unique event in and of itself, and it should be viewed only as such. Every effort should be made to see that that week’s unique event is of the highest possible caliber, and there should be a massive points difference between the first and second place finishers tally. But that’s not enough. Two cars racing for the lead is all well and good (and a bit of a rarity lately) but there needs to be good racing throughout the front half of the pack. Points payouts between each position should be made significant enough that we see the old style dogfighting (not literally, Mr. Vick) over each spot we once enjoyed.

And we cannot stop there. The current payout structure rewards teams with the big checks at the end of the year. That system was designed back when NASCAR was struggling to find enough teams to run the full schedule after the car manufacturers withdrew from the sport in the early 1970s. Now, there’s too many teams that want to run the full schedule week in and week out. Make the purses to win races or finish in the Top 10 much larger, while at the same time making the year end payout for the top teams much smaller. $100,000 and the pride involved ought to be plenty of incentive to win a title – and if a driver wants to fly in a private jet and keep an eighty foot motor yacht at the marina, he can damn well get out there and run for all he’s worth each and every week to earn the big check, to the considerable delight of the fans who bought tickets not for the season but for that one particular event. It’s those old time fans who used to fill up the grandstands, remember? Crew chiefs often remind today’s drivers to keep “the Big Picture†in mind when trying to get them to give up positions or a chance at a win for a safe and sure points day. Well, the “Big Picture†here is that the sport is all the poorer for conservative racing, and it’s beginning to show up in NASCAR’s bottom line.

You want the old-time fans back? Limit the cost of the sport on both sides of the catchfence. Make a set of easily understandable rules and stick to them. Give the drivers and teams incentive to finish as best they can each week in cars similar to what fans might have parked out in the lot. Then, clear out the bottom ten rows of the grandstands, stand back, and let them summa*****es race.

[JESSI DUKE]

This seasons begin is going to be weird. Junior is not going to be #8 anymore. It will be weird to see him as #88.

[Garrett Duke]

Forty-two more days!

[redneck woman]

That article made some good points Capt Redneck. I especially liked the points about the coolers and prices of tickets as well as concession stands. The last race I went to in Talladega, you couldn't get anything for under $5, and that was a 16 oz lemonade. Fortunately for me, small coolers were allowed inside the grandstands so I packed my lunch and drinks.

[Capt_Redneck]

This is why Tony Stewart is the MAN in NASCAR. Love him or hate him, he does care.

Got this from insiderracingnews.com . A great article by Kim Roberson

January 20, 2007

By Kim Roberson

Kim Roberson

This week has been a great week for the car fans out there. Not only did we wrap up Sprint Cup testing at Daytona, but we have also been treated to the annual Barrett-Jackson car auction in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I became hooked on watching the auction a few years ago when I was flipping through the channels while bored in the off-season. I have never been much of a car person per se, however I am the granddaughter of a former GM accountant, and thus have always appreciated the looks of nice cars; if not what makes them go. Over the years, I have learned to tell the difference between a Road Runner, a GTO Judge, a ‘Cuda, and a Nomad. There are your usual Dodges, Chevys, and Fords…along with Bentleys, Buicks, De Sotos, Packards, and Shelbys.

In the three years I have been watching the auction; I have seen a lot of vehicles go for a whole lot of money. In 2005, a 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 concept car was sold for $3 Million. In 2006, a 1950 Futureliner tour bus sold for $4 million. Last year, a 1966 Shelby Cobra that was actually Carroll Shelby’s personal vehicle sold for $5 million. A recreation of the original Batmobile went for $185,000; the truck from the Beverly Hillbillies went for $125,000. A stagecoach went for $40,000. Someone took home the MonkeeMobile, another picked up the Robosaurus. The 1966 Ford Thunderbird convertible from “Thelma and Louise’ was on the block last night, along with William Shatner's 1995 Harley Davidson motorcycle, Patrick Dempsey’s 2005 Ford Mustang FR500C, a 1969 Dodge Charger used in the “Dukes of Hazardâ€, a 1996 Presidential Limo, and Carroll Shelby’s 1969 convertible GT500. A Replica of the Bill “Grumpy†Jenkins 1966 L-79 Nova NHRA A-Stock Race Car was sold for $57,000.

Several people took home race-used Winston/Nextel/Sprint Cup cars. On Friday, a Ford Taurus driven by Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield sold for $37,000.

Ray Evernham spent $72,000 on an orange and white 1955 Chevy Bel Aire Custom. Tony Stewart was on hand to buy, and sell. He bought a tangerine orange 1950 Mercury custom 2-door coupe for $85,000, and a black custom 1967 GTO for $120,000. However, what he sold made more than one person tear up with happiness and appreciation.

Friday night a 2006 Chevy Monte Carlo #20 burned its way onto the auction stage with Smoke behind the wheel. The car was described this way in the car guide: “This Tony Stewart/Home Depot car has won 3 races including the Banquet 400 at the Kansas Speedway on Oct 1, 2006, the Bass Pro Shop 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on October 29, 2006, and the Dickies 500 at the Texas Motor Speedway on November 5, 2006. It also had six Top 5 finishes and ten Top 10 finishes. An awesome racecar with a 358 V8 and incredible history. Tony Stewart will be present to offer this amazing car. All proceeds of the sale will benefit the Darrell Gwynn Foundation.â€

Everyone in the auction area was on their feet as Tony climbed out of the car. Darrell Gwynn was on the stage to describe what the proceeds from the car would be used for. Next to him, a young man suffering from Muscular Dystrophy was sitting in a new wheelchair provided by Darrell’s foundation. Darrell said he hoped the proceeds from the sale of the car would help buy more wheelchairs for more youngsters who needed them, but couldn’t afford the $10,000 price tag. Lead auctioneer Spanky Assiter took the floor, surrounded by people who wanted to see just how much the car would go for. Spanky said he was going to have to do the auction blind because so many people were around him he couldn’t see the bidders

Quickly, the bidding hit $100,000. Then $200,000. Tony took the microphone and added a race-worn race suit and helmet to sweeten the deal. $250,000 was bid. Smoke then offered a photo op and autographs. $300,000. Tony then took the microphone again and offered up his championship ring from 2006, valued at $25,000, to anyone who would add another $25k to the bid. Up stepped Reggie Jackson, who offered up $10,000 of his own money to add to the total. Another person added $25,000. Craig Jackson, the son of one of the auctions founders and current CEO of the auction, added $50,000 of his own money. The auction took less than 10 minutes. Every time the bidding stalled, Tony worked to get it going again. By the time the gavel was hammered, $380,000 was raised to go directly to the Darrell Gwynn Foundation. It also turned out that the man who bought the car had already donated $100,000 to the foundation before the car came up to bid. In the end, the foundation came away with enough money to buy not one, not two, not three, not four, not ten, but 38 wheelchairs for those who could not afford them.

I had tears in my eyes. Tony had a huge smile on his face. Gwynn had a look of extreme gratitude on his face. Everyone in the room stood and applauded.

By the time the last of the cars are auctioned off today, tens of millions of dollars will have changed hands. But for ten minutes on Friday night, a now-obsolete race car driven by a man many people love to hate was used to raise money for those facing devastating injuries and diseases. The final tally brought tears of joy to some eyes, a really big smile to the face of the man who had driven it so well, and added a one-of-a-kind memory to an auction known for dream cars and big pockets.

[Capt_Redneck]

A great article about the new NASCRAP. Isee I am not the only one longing for the good ol' days of NASCAR...Got this one from the Greensboro News and Record .

Hardin: NASCAR runs from its fans, and they know it

Ed Hardin

Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008 3:00 am

CHARLOTTE -- Now comes the fun part as we watch NASCAR try to put the cow back in the barn.

The strange admission last week from Brian France that stock car racing's sanctioning body had lost its way in recent years had a lot of people wondering just what the sport is up to. NASCAR is not, nor has it ever been, in the business of looking back. So when France, the third-generation owner of the second-most popular sport in the world, said racing has seen all the change it can stand, you just had to wonder what he was really saying.

What sounded on the surface a lot like a concession to Southerners that he had screwed up their sport was more likely something far more insidious. This sounded a lot like a dreaded vote of confidence for someone about to be fired. France's rambling speech before a room full of media creeps Monday afternoon begged the questions: Just who are NASCAR's core fans now? And would France know one if he ran into him on the street?

NASCAR's core fans are from North Carolina, the state that now has lost two tracks to stock car racing's vision of the future. NASCAR's core fans are from Darlington, S.C., where the legendary track was left for dead three years ago. NASCAR's core fans work at north Georgia service stations and auto parts stores in Virginia and Tennessee. They drive too fast, drink too much, struggle to keep up with their bills and cuss a lot.

They are the very people NASCAR has been running from for about 10 years now. They've put up with a lot in recent seasons, and every one of them could clearly see that NASCAR was losing its way. France listened to no one. The sport kept pushing ahead, racing in places that any fool knew had no business hosting stock car races, and building racetracks that had about as much character as I-95.

Just last October he told reporters: "If we stay still, we fall behind."

In three months he has changed his tune? Not likely. It's far more likely that he took a good look at what's getting ready to happen this year and realized that NASCAR has never changed more in one season to the next than now.

The sport will start next month under a new brand name, the third in five years. It will race its entire schedule with the new Car of Tomorrow, which NASCAR officials were referring as the "Car of Today, or whatever," last week. The car is actually a kit with decals differentiating the makes and whatever. NASCAR's core fans figured that out last year right after Kyle Busch won the car's debut, then cussed it afterward.

Busch is driving for a different team this year, along with what seems like more than half the tour. And that includes the marquee name, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will drive for Hendrick Motorsports along with his biggest rivals, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

And all the while, the sport continues to attract the kind of drivers that appeal to absolutely no one. Among those going to NASCAR this year will be Dario Franchitti, Jacques Villeneuve, Dan Wheldon, Scott Dixon and Patrick Carpentier, open-wheel drivers who will join Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr., open-wheel drivers who came on the scene last year. It isn't lost on NASCAR's core fans that these guys are taking the jobs once reserved for Saturday night racers from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

The tour is becoming more like open-wheel racing than Saturday night stock car racing. Teams fear the sport is getting closer to Formula One than anything else, and that means racing with money instead of speed and guts. Ray Evernham thinks that would be the downfall of the sport.

"If this becomes a battle of money, then those people in the stands are going to stop watching,'' he said.

Evernham gave up control of his team in the offseason, selling the majority of it to the Canadian investor George Gillette.

Other than all that, nothing has changed since last year. NASCAR will start its season having undergone more alterations in one offseason than in its recent history, which has seen more upheaval than in the first 50-odd years combined. In this, the 60th season of the sport founded by France's grandfather, the changes have already occurred. NASCAR now must convince its fans to ignore the changes, to disregard the fact that they no longer recognize the sport they built with their own hard-earned money and pretend that nothing ever happened.

Attendance is down and TV ratings are down, but fans still pour into Darlington and cows still graze just outside the old track at North Wilkesboro, where grass is growing through the asphalt.

[Capt_Redneck]

Another good article I read. Rusty Wallace has some valid points and something I have always said - The day Dale Sr. died was the day NASCAR changed.

www.insiderracingnews.com

NASCAR's Brian France: Finally Answering the Clue Phone?

An Opinion

January 25, 2008

By Rebecca Gladden

Retired NASCAR Cup champion Rusty Wallace echoed the sentiments of millions of disenfranchised NASCAR fans this week when he spoke of the sport's dramatic trend away from tradition in recent years.

"We went after that new fan, but we forgot the old fan and that's a mistake," Wallace said bluntly.

For the past several years, NASCAR's fans and participants have been unwitting passengers on the Brian France Express, as it made a sharp detour from the well-worn tracks of tradition and barreled headlong into a dark tunnel of unwelcome change - new rules, new points, new cars, a whole new feel and direction for the sport.

Of course, NASCAR is not just a sport. It's a business. And businesses need to grow and evolve to survive.

But there's a manner and a pacing in implementing change that makes it feel right, natural, even welcome.

Then there's the France method of change, which makes the passengers want to storm the cab, tie up the engineer, commandeer the runaway train and point it back in the proper direction.

More often than not, France has been accused of forcing change on the sport too quickly and with what seemed to be a callous disregard for its time-honored methods and tradition-minded fans.

Last Monday, NASCAR's CEO delivered his 2008 State of the Sport address, and it appears that for the first time in recent memory, Mr. France is listening to critics when it comes to the topic of change.

At first, while acknowledging that "change" has been a "hot button with the media" for the past several years, France proffered something of a defense, stating, "There were a lot of changes that were made, had to be made, that were scheduled many, many years ago, like the Car of Tomorrow, which had an eight- or nine-year development cycle, or some changes that were frankly out of our control - the series entitlement sponsors coming or going or whatever."

But after that, France made several statements that have given rise to cautious optimism:

"We certainly are proud we've been able to attract new fans virtually every year NASCAR has been in existence. But we're also proud of those fans who have been with us for many decades."

"I think what I hope you'll take out of today is we're getting back to the basics, we're going to try to minimize the change going forward as best we can, and focus on what we've always focused on, which is the best product in the world."

"But we'll also continue to embrace the past and the rich heritage beginning with the biggest event, the Daytona 500. Next month, the 500 will run for the 50th time."

"Our sport is strong. We're determined to make it stronger and maintain the intense commitment of our generations of loyal fans. We'll continue to grow and evolve. We'll always be mindful of our past."

"Back to the Basics" - certainly a better catchphrase than ceaseless change.

In addition, France addressed an embarrassing issue that came to the forefront back in 2005, when a Wall Street Journal article stated, "At the end of each season, fines collected from drivers and crews are pooled together and disbursed to the top 25 racers … As a result, some violators not only get their penalty money back, but they actually earn a profit."

This revelation created a huge outcry three years ago, as fans called for adjustments to the way fine money is utilized. In Monday's address, France announced, "One change we are going to make for 2008 is, fines based on NASCAR's penalties will go to the NASCAR Foundation for its charitable initiatives. Now that the NASCAR Foundation is well-established and supporting dozens of charitable organizations, it's the logical place for fine monies to be distributed."

Agreed.

NASCAR is also tweaking the top-35 qualifying rule this week - long considered a burr under the saddle of race fans who feel it symbolizes the kind of corporate favoritism that gets in the way of pure racing. Starting this season, drivers outside the top 35 will qualify together - minimizing the impact of random factors like qualifying order and track temperature changes during a qualifying session.

Also, NASCAR president Mike Helton chimed in on the topic of drivers showing their emotions and personalities - something critics allege has been stifled by NASCAR in favor of political correctness. "We want the drivers to be themselves," said Helton. "The character of the sport is built by all the drivers that participate as well as owners. But I think part of NASCAR's responsibility is for us to keep our hands around the entirety of the sport. NASCAR is in that same position, as is other sports. When you see things escalating, you react in accordance to that until you feel good about the environment that you've got, you've got your hands around it, then you're able to give a little bit of breathing room."

Hopefully, that extra "breathing room" starts this year.

The sport even seems to be returning to its roots in the musical realm, with country artist Garth Brooks replacing Kelly Clarkson as spokesperson for NASCAR Day and country duo Brooks and Dunn pegged to headline the pre-race show at the Daytona 500. Many NASCAR fans have chafed at the sport's recent trend towards edgier rock and hip hop acts.

While it's true that Brian France didn't address the elephant-in-the-room issues that have angered race fans in recent years - the Chase points system, the Car of Tomorrow, the top-35 rule itself, the similarity between car makes and models, the excessive late-race debris cautions, the dreadful television coverage, the loss of the Labor Day race at Darlington (to name a few) - his statements this week do offer a glimmer of hope that your voices are being heard.

Keep ringing the clue phone, NASCAR fans - one day, Brian France is going to pick up.

[Capt_Redneck]

So what is everyone's opinion of NASCAR this year? Jr in the #88? Smoke? Hendrick Motor Sports? DEI?

Let's get this racin' season started......

I'm gone

Darrell

[TRPColtrane95]

yeah I read also about for Tony And Jeff had problem with wheels something like that and we are going to Kansas Speedway in Sept soon.. and I watch lot racing and it fun. I wish tony need win better with toyota but he said lot problem with wheels etc.. ouch I wish he need win badly..

Edit: and also I hear about Dale Earnharnt will have open new Bar in his hometown as well.. very nice when I read news on internet Comcast Sport. very nice for him as well..