BREAKING: Majority owners explore sale of NASCAR

Team Penske said:
What you are eluding to are changes demanded by the sponsors. Nascar and the the teams/drivers have no choice in the matter. If you take away the sponsors your done. That happens when you turn over control for the sake of Money.
If they could dial back the costs of racing so that a team could run on 5-8 million, they would have enough sponsors to refuse those with high demands.
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They'd also have to dial back on how much they all want to get paid.
 
DUN24 said:
Hey you got a bit of a shoutout on Door, Bumper, Clear this week for your coverage of the fight at Hickory last weekend. lol
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I went to a fight and a race broke out.

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DIDIT said:
While I may be one of the older folks on this page and have been a long time NASCAR fan, I honestly enjoy the stage racing and the playoffs. Racing is entertainment for me, not my life, and these changes have made racing more entertaining.
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:booya::booya::booya: I am write there with you. It seems petty to whine because they throw the yellow after each stage. I think it is a small price to pay for the mystery debris cautions we had prior and every sport has built in commercial time. There now is at least 3 times in a race when they have to go hard. If they don't the smaller teams can push them out of the points. Racing the whole race has caught JJ with their pants down and they are having a hard time making the adjustments.

Charlie Spencer said:
They'd also have to dial back on how much they all want to get paid.
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I think with lower salary demands for drivers and other moves being made, the owners are working on that. The "sell sponsor" days are going away. Lots of smaller sponsors willing to jump in. I am sure two small sponsors would be willing to split the hood and rear showing their name.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I doubt many people following the sport these days know what Tim Richmond looked like. I've only been following the sport since '95 and I had to Google him to get a picture.

If I'm mistaken, the sport has a bigger demographic problem than I thought.
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Didn't matter if he looked like Tim Richmond or Curtis Turner, my point was he has a personality that can be both professional and corporate without being a cookie cutter.
 
Team Penske said:
What you are eluding to are changes demanded by the sponsors. Nascar and the the teams/drivers have no choice in the matter. If you take away the sponsors your done. That happens when you turn over control for the sake of Money.
If they could dial back the costs of racing so that a team could run on 5-8 million, they would have enough sponsors to refuse those with high demands.
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I know it's been nearly thirty years, Rusty won the title with five cars and a $3,000,000.00 sponsorship. Without 25 engineers studying non stop data. Technology has made everything the same. The few with the most $$$ have the best technology. I applaud the current crop for being able to put on some good races with the microscopic management of every little detail. I wish NASCAR would lighten up on the rule book. Never skimp on any safety aspect. Stop with the "one size fits all" mentality. Like the air guns, Geez, leave stuff alone. Let them use what they like best. If it's not working, let them work out a deal with another supplier. I think the overbearing management style from NASCAR has been a factor in the downturn as well.
 
DIDIT said:
While I may be one of the older folks on this page and have been a long time NASCAR fan, I honestly enjoy the stage racing and the playoffs. Racing is entertainment for me, not my life, and these changes have made racing more entertaining.
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Funny how a pair of long time NASCAR fans could look at the same changes so opposite.
 
For me, the new championship format just killed my interest. I used to be interested in who got top tens, who wrecked or broke, as well as all the fortunes throughout the field since it all had huge championship implications. Now, all I care about is winning. If I'm not interested in the drivers racing for the lead, the race is uninteresting to me. A wreck at Daytona used to be just as big of deal as a wreck at Homestead. When I went to see a race live, I knew that race was just as important as any other that would be run that year with the true consequences manifesting themselves as the season progressed.
If you look at other sports with playoffs, 50% of the teams still get to win every week, which gives the fans of those teams a much better chance of enjoying wins along the way while they wait for the play offs. In racing, winning is a far more arduous task with only 1 team getting to win every week. It is a mistake, in my opinion, to render the rest of those finishes almost meaningless since that leaves the vast majority of fans unsatisfied every week. A top 5 for my driver used to be a very satisfying finish since it would likely help in the points standings, especially if some other guys had trouble. I used to check the points standings after every race, now I have no clue how the standings look.
I doubt that new owners are going to come in and give me what I want , and the excitement over new leadership could quickly prove to be ephemeral. With that said, I'd still like to try. The current leadership has left so many of us unsatisfied that maybe a reset is what the sport needs.
 
paradigm said:
Get rid of the chase point systems, get rid of the playoffs, get rid of the multiple restart rounds. It has made the championship meaningless and made the whole race seem fake. Bring back unfiltered redneck drivers, bring some road courses to the mix, bring back what made NASCAR successful in the 90s. Hell bring back Tobacco sponsors too.

The sport has tried to become too much of an entertainment circus and tried to get fans where they never could. Everyone I know who used to watch NASCAR simply doesn't anymore, myself included.
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I , like you don't know a single person who watches Nascar anymore. It used to be a big deal for a bunch of us. Even though I live no where near any track, a group of us would go watch a race live every year.
 
Kinda kills the little enthusiasm I have left when the owners start heading for the exits. Watching NASCAR these days is depressing.
 
Speedbowl14 said:
Lots of people have said that the teams should purchase NASCAR and run it like other major sports where the teams own the sport. In my opinion, that's a terrible idea.

First, the disparity between the "haves and the have nots" in NASCAR is already much greater than other sports. This would only increase as the JGR's and Hendrick's of the sport remove any type of handicap the smaller teams have (more than just taking back their superior air guns).
Second, to protect their investment, teams would make it near-impossible to start a new team. In racing, teams come and go on an annual basis...and that's how it needs to be so there's business competition.

Not only do I think it's a bad idea...but I believe it's impossible. NASCAR is too big to be purchased by the teams. If teams could buy the multi-billion dollar NASCAR they wouldn't bitch about how there isn't a spending cap and wouldn't have formed a race team alliance to get cheaper hotel rooms for their road crews.
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CART tried that and what is good for the owners isn't necessarily good for the sport.
 
Comcast is the likely buyer at this point, they’re also looking to outbid Disney to get fox. All of this is hanging on AT&T successfully merging with time warner.

Since nbc forced nascar to implement the chase, stages, eliminations, later start times, overtime, and dozens of other minor tweaks. Don’t expect anything to reset to the before times after the sale, as far as the competition.

Changes you might see down the road is pay per view. Poorly attended and viewed tracks cut from the schedule. Owners of the teams will become investors and figureheads for their teams, but have little to do with actually running the teams, think monster jam.
 
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how is indycar owned now? It seems pretty stable or am I not digging deep enough?
 
regardless of what happens this is good for nascar, at the current pace we were going there was not going to be a nascar in five years and a new ownership group is needed to at the very least try to fix it.

the two biggest changes that must happen is better racing, these gen 6 cars with tapered spacer, high downforce, splitter race like utter garbage. Also the removal of the gimmicks like stage racing and the "playoffs need to go, all it does is drive away long term fans and not bringing in new ones despite what Brian France and his delusions think.

I heard comcast is the favorite to win but me personally is hoping Liberty Media buys NASCAR
 
A few weeks ago, @Snappy D looked like an oracle for his Matt Kenseth prediction...
Snappy D on February 10 said:
Matt Kenseth is the driver of the 6 by the 2nd half of the year
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Two years ago, I predicted in this thread that the France family might sell Nascar. And last week I posted this...
LewTheShoe on April 26 said:
BTW, while Brian France has certainly been "receding into the background" lately, I believe this is not enough. There is a new president, Brent Dewar, who has received very strong endorsements from his main constituents, and recently a new COO as well. There needs to be a public departure of France and a new CEO, whether it is Dewar or someone else. I also believe there needs to be new ownership... and I have to believe the France family is contemplating an exit strategy. And I still can't make sense of the Daytona Rising and Phoenix investments in economic terms, so I continue to wonder if it's part of a plan to spiff up ISC to sell the company...!
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So mark me down as one who believes Nascar and ISC will be sold as a package deal. But Snappy is still the oracle, as his post was in the 2018 Bold Predictions thread.

BTW, Brent Dewar is trying to reassure Nascar employees that life will go on, according to the AP...

AP source: NASCAR memo: France family ‘dedicated’ to sport

One interesting bit from the AP article:
"There have been rumors dating to last season that NASCAR Chairman Brian France wanted out, but many team owners seemed surprised by Monday’s report from Reuters citing unidentified sources that the family has engaged investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore a sale. One team owner, who spoke to AP only on condition of anonymity, said France firmly told owners in recent months the series was not for sale."
 
What is frustrating and has been for years is the lack of communication Nascar has with the public. They do things and they say they have researched it, but none of the fans have heard anything until after the fact. Their public relations isn't that great. Like right now somebody should vaguely be telling the public what is going on. Much of this what if's and tweak this and that would be lessened. I believe they owe the fans that much.
 
LewTheShoe said:
A few weeks ago, @Snappy D looked like an oracle for his Matt Kenseth prediction...

Two years ago, I predicted in this thread that the France family might sell Nascar. And last week I posted this...

So mark me down as one who believes Nascar and ISC will be sold as a package deal. But Snappy is still the oracle, as his post was in the 2018 Bold Predictions thread.

BTW, Brent Dewar is trying to reassure Nascar employees that life will go on, according to the AP...

AP source: NASCAR memo: France family ‘dedicated’ to sport

One interesting bit from the AP article:
"There have been rumors dating to last season that NASCAR Chairman Brian France wanted out, but many team owners seemed surprised by Monday’s report from Reuters citing unidentified sources that the family has engaged investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore a sale. One team owner, who spoke to AP only on condition of anonymity, said France firmly told owners in recent months the series was not for sale."
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Apparently Mr. Cassidy was not so convinced.
 
StandOnIt said:
What is frustrating and has been for years is the lack of communication Nascar has with the public. They do things and they say they have researched it, but none of the fans have heard anything until after the fact. Their public relations isn't that great. Like right now somebody should vaguely be telling the public what is going on. Much of this what if's and tweak this and that would be lessened. I believe they owe the fans that much.
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I think the fact that they are declining comment rather than disputing the story tells you what's going on at this point.
 
For years they had Mike Helton answering questions at the track and off track. His message was we are the gorilla in the room with the big stick answer to most questions. It wasn't much but it was something. Now they have nobody for the last few years but guessing and by gollying. So maybe a change will be for the good..IF and who knows IF they are going to make a change.
 
Here is what I am talking about. No PR. This had to be smuggled out of the ivory tower

President Brent Dewar sent a memo to staff one day after a media report said the France family was exploring a potential sale of its NASCAR holdings. The Associated Press received a copy of the memo from a person who shared it on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

Dewar wrote in the memo that Nascar does not comment on "industry rumors" but did not specifically address a possible deal by the France family.

“For over 70 years, the France family has worked hard to invest in the sport of NASCAR, including our recent acquisitions of ARCA,” Dewar wrote, referring to the recent purchase of the Automobile Racing Series of America, a lower-tier stock car series that sometimes races in conjunction with NASCAR events.

https://apnews.com/8494371343744c44b21adb620187d392
 
If whatever company buys NASCAR and ISC..... what could happen to SMI, could they form their own series run on their tracks? Doesnt it seem if the RTA doesnt approve of the direction of whoever purchases NASCAR they could run their own series at SMI tracks? or am I totally off?
 
Snappy D said:
If whatever company buys NASCAR and ISC..... what could happen to SMI, could they form their own series run on their tracks? Doesnt it seem if the RTA doesnt approve of the direction of whoever purchases NASCAR they could run their own series at SMI tracks? or am I totally off?
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Just because something happens to NASCAR doesn't mean anything is going to happen to ISC. The sources reporting the rumors have not mentioned ISC as being in play. I don't think the relationship between NASCAR and the tracks will change, other than we'll finally get that incestuous taste out of mouths.
 
Snappy D said:
If whatever company buys NASCAR and ISC..... what could happen to SMI, could they form their own series run on their tracks? Doesnt it seem if the RTA doesnt approve of the direction of whoever purchases NASCAR they could run their own series at SMI tracks? or am I totally off?
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what you have is unidentified sources that Reuters says blah blah blah, and Dewar saying no comment to the industry rumors and this below he could have said. I don't believe much of what I read from the press but so far "no comment" is working for Nascar.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The president of NASCAR told employees Tuesday the France family that owns a majority stake in the nation's top auto racing series "remains dedicated to the long term growth of our sport" following a report of a possible sale.
is dedicated to the sport.
https://racing.ap.org/article/ap-source-nascar-memo-france-family-dedicated-sport
 
StandOnIt said:
what you have is unidentified sources that Reuters says blah blah blah, and Dewar saying no comment to the industry rumors and this below he could have said. I don't believe much of what I read from the press but so far "no comment" is working for Nascar.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The president of NASCAR told employees Tuesday the France family that owns a majority stake in the nation's top auto racing series "remains dedicated to the long term growth of our sport" following a report of a possible sale.
is dedicated to the sport.
https://racing.ap.org/article/ap-source-nascar-memo-france-family-dedicated-sport
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That's corporate speak for "yes we are selling"

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
StandOnIt said:
what you have is unidentified sources that Reuters says blah blah blah, and Dewar saying no comment to the industry rumors and this below he could have said. I don't believe much of what I read from the press but so far "no comment" is working for Nascar.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The president of NASCAR told employees Tuesday the France family that owns a majority stake in the nation's top auto racing series "remains dedicated to the long term growth of our sport" following a report of a possible sale.
is dedicated to the sport.
https://racing.ap.org/article/ap-source-nascar-memo-france-family-dedicated-sport
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You’ll learn soon enough that it is a bad idea to take statements from an executive literally. I use to work for the biggest construction contractor in my city. One day rumors were going around about being bought out by a bigger contractor that had offices in half of the western states, and it was all anyone was talking about all day. That night the company president sent a letter to everyone, assuring we weren’t being bought out, and don’t worry about losing your job and blah blah blah. Two weeks later, after everyone had settled down, I show up to the office, and sure as ****, the guy from hr is handing everyone a folder with our pink slips and final checks insides, the rumors were 100% true.
 
joe h said:
You’ll learn soon enough that it is a bad idea to take statements from an executive literally. I use to work for the biggest construction contractor in my city. One day rumors were going around about being bought out by a bigger contractor that had offices in half of the western states, and it was all anyone was talking about all day. That night the company president sent a letter to everyone, assuring we weren’t being bought out, and don’t worry about losing your job and blah blah blah. Two weeks later, after everyone had settled down, I show up to the office, and sure as sh!t, the guy from hr is handing everyone a folder with our pink slips and final checks insides, the rumors were 100% true.
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I don't believe I implied any such thing.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I doubt many people following the sport these days know what Tim Richmond looked like. I've only been following the sport since '95 and I had to Google him to get a picture.

If I'm mistaken, the sport has a bigger demographic problem than I thought.
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When I started following the sport in the late 80's there were plenty of personalities that did not fall into the typical "Southerner" category. Richmond was very much cut out of the Hollywood cloth. Geoff Bodine was from the Finger Lakes region of NY. Rusty Wallace to me seemed like a slightly more modest Richmond but still very much a typical 80's "dude". Mark Martin seemed like a bit of a hybrid. Alan Kulwicki made sure people knew he was from Wisconsin. Terry Labonte was from Coastal Texas and came across as your average guy with a mustache. Kyle Petty tried his best to shed his "typical" Southern roots. Dale Jarrett didn't fall into any real "stereotype" either. Petty was similar to Richmond and Rusty in terms of personality. Jarrett fell somewhere in between. Ernie Irvan came along and he fit the mold of the brash "Californian". The guys with the deep Southern Roots were the Alabama Gang, Elliott, Marlin, Rudd, Gant, Richard Petty, Shepherd, Dave Marcus among others. I never really thought of DW as a traditional Southerner. DE Sr. was definitely a traditional Southerner but he appealed to all kinds.
 
I guess the death of NASCAR thread finally got some serious validation. lol
 
I’ll put forward $332 that I’ve saved up in spare change, if anyone is willing to put up a few billion dollars, I’m willing to split ownership of the sport
 
NASCAR was obviously aware of the decline in attendance and viewership. They admit that the hardcore fans are leaving.
Either all of the fan feedback they were receiving was coming from part time fans or they really didn’t give a crap about the data and feedback they received.
Nobody at NASCAR perused any online fan forums??
IMO, throwing new gimmicks at the sport every year was a contributing factor to demise of the hardcore fanbase.
 
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