2016 brickyard 400 worst race I have ever seen.

Kyle18fan said:
Probably 5 of the folks that show up at Monaco are race fans .... the rest are there because its cool to be there
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I said the same thing about this year's 100th Indy 500. The same could be said of the Kentucky Derby and any number of high-profile sporting events, likely including even the Super Bowl.

The point is, those 'cool people' are paying to be there. The owners and promoters certainly don't care why.
 
ted@economy said:
I will never get it . Always thought racing was... Put a bunch of cars on track and see who is the fastest . Second fastest beats third fastest . By half a lap , a whole lap or a fender . The race is the race . We claim not to wasn't the governing body to 'manage' the races by bunching up the field . We claim not to want fuel mileage races or rain shortened races . In the old days , guys would win by five , six, seven laps. Gave the other cars something to shoot for we said . So we want the fastest car to win but only by a little, with lots of lead changes , but we don't want it managed?
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The governing body manages races by throwing cautions any chance they can, knowing that the most exciting racing comes on restarts. Manufactured drama is the best product on the track? That's a problem.

Fuel mileage races are usually awesome. I didn't think many fans had any issues with that.

Rain delays...nothing anyone can do about mother nature.

Fans want passing and good hard racing, simple as that. Like 20 years ago when the racing was great, despite the 24 car winning 40% of the races. The racing was usually great throughout the field, no matter the track. And what a surprise, the ratings were through the roof and tracks were selling out. Funny how that works
 
TAZ said:
NASCAR is now complaining they can't fill the stands -- this has been going on ever since NASCAR let a foreign auto company into the races and prices have gone sky high. This action chased MoPar out of the fold, and now the mega $$ the TuRD has put into their program has stunk up the events. Now there are rumors another foreign Co. is looking (Mercedes?). And again, prices have gone out of sight -- and for what ... to see one foreign auto company stink up the show? If something is not done, the old saying of "win on Sunday -- sell on Monday" will be gone. France did it to himself. I for one will not attend a NASCAR race at any venue -- I'll put up with a gazillion commercials and watch on the tube.
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Dodge (also a foreign company, remember?) left because their new Italian owners didn't want to be involved in racing at any cost. Get your facts straight.
 
Acs said:
So why can't NASCAR races be cool things to go to?
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They were. 'Cool' comes and goes. From the mid-70s to early 80s, tennis was the cool thing. People everywhere took it up, recreation departments paved new courts. Then the crowd moved on to the Next Big Thing. Those who remained were those who were there to begin with, along with a small percentage of newbies who had learned to appreciate the sport beyond the big names and perceived jet set lifestyle. NASCAR is going through the same loss of 'coolness'. Tennis survived; so will NASCAR.
 
ted@economy said:
I will never get it . Always thought racing was... Put a bunch of cars on track and see who is the fastest . Second fastest beats third fastest . By half a lap , a whole lap or a fender . The race is the race . We claim not to wasn't the governing body to 'manage' the races by bunching up the field . We claim not to want fuel mileage races or rain shortened races . In the old days , guys would win by five , six, seven laps. Gave the other cars something to shoot for we said . So we want the fastest car to win but only by a little, with lots of lead changes , but we don't want it managed?
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LOL. Ted, I think you summed it up pretty well.
 
I love 'em. I think it demonstrates a different aspect of a driver's skills, an added level of tension, a crew chief ability to calculate how short he can make that pit stop.

But then, I hate plate races. To each his own.
 
Fuel mileage is only fun when people start running out. Otherwise it turns into a long strung-out parade for the last 1/2 hour of a race only to be let down in the end.
 
Acs said:
Fuel mileage is only fun when people start running out. Otherwise it turns into a long strung-out parade for the last 1/2 hour of a race only to be let down in the end.
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What if a guy like Casey Mears wins because of fuel mileage?
 
the hype around this race has got carried away as far as nascar is concerned. I think its a decent race for indy car. I wouldn't doubt if they're afraid to get rid of it just for the criticism of dumping a "tradition" kind of race.
The tire debacle race was a mess, but to me that race had more suspense than the others I've seen there.
They need to replace this race with third road course track.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I don't think racing at IMS causes Nascar to lose money directly but putting on a crappy event year after year can't be good for them either.
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I agree that the optics are bad.

If not a single one of the next 8 consecutive Brickyard 400's sells a single ticket, NASCAR's monthly, quarterly and annual operating statements will not be affected in any way.

Some moron conceived of this business model.
 
Fun fact ...

At Monaco during Grand Prix weekend, a bottle of Stella Artois will set you back $40 US.
 
2 Sweet said:
I think it's a lot of fun to watch. I always enjoy seeing underdogs win a race, no matter how they achieve it. Casey Mears won the World 600 because of fuel strategy, and I loved it.
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That was 10 years ago. Has it happened since? Not that I can think of, at least not on fuel.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
What if a guy like Casey Mears wins, regardless of the circumstances? I screamed my head clean slap off when Regan Smith won Darlington on old tires.
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I don't like like plate races but I screamed my head clean slap off when Regan Smith won at Talladega.
 
This was easily the worst race of the season. Barely any passing throughout the field, and then with 10 laps to go everyone ran out of talent.
 
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Skoalbandit33 said:
I would much rather have 200K non fans show up to my event and purchase tickets and spend money on other items then have 35K die hard fans show up and purchase tickets and spend money on other stuff. I am sure track officials at IMS would giver their left prunes to have 200K fans show up at their yearly event.
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So what did IMS do wrong ? were the ticket prices too high, was it too hot outside or did IMS make plenty of money WITHOUT messing with filling seats
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The unfair and inaccurate perception among a lot of people is that Nascar is a form of entertainment for people from a concentrated gene pool. If I am being totally honest and I was in a group of people I did not know well and was asked what sports or racing series I follow I would not mention Nascar as I wouldn't want to be in the position of defending it and/or be thought of as an ignoramus.

The funny thing is 15-20 years ago being a Nascar fan was akin to sitting at the cool kids table during lunch. Not now.
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Skoal, we'll soon have proof that you've got this whole "Death Spiral of Nascar" thing figured out, when the announcement comes down that Sprint is being replaced by some third-rate company paying peanuts for the entitlement sponsorship. Then we'll know.

I guess I'm lucky to be comfortable in my own skin to the point that I don't feel compelled to follow "the crowd" to know what I like. Not that I think all is rosy for Nascar, but it is a damn good product in search of its audience. I'm not in favor of dumbing it down for those who want more beatin' more bangin' and more wreckin'.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Sure. I'll likely be dead, but you'll still be wrong about why the Italian company Chrysler pulled out of all forms of racing.
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Why did they leave all of motorsports? I was bummed when I heard they were leaving NASCAR. Must be an italian thing, or else they don't want Dodge to kick Ferrari's ass! haha
 
LewTheShoe said:
I guess I'm lucky to be comfortable in my own skin to the point that I don't feel compelled to follow "the crowd" to know what I like. Not that I think all is rosy for Nascar, but it is a damn good product in search of its audience. I'm not in favor of dumbing it down for those who want more beatin' more bangin' and more wreckin'.
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Wanting more "Beatin' and bangin" is no more 'dumbing it down' than wanting to see tackles in a football game. It's part of what NASCAR is; part of what set it apart from other forms of racing throughout it's history.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Agreed, and the perfectly good world-class road course to replace it with is the one already there in the Indianapolis infield. Fans get a watchable race, Indy keeps a profitable weekend.
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Yep -- totally agree ... Road America?
 
Kyle18fan said:
So what did IMS do wrong ? were the ticket prices too high, was it too hot outside or did IMS make plenty of money WITHOUT messing with filling seats
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They have had stories showing people trying to give away Brickyard tickets and no one wants them so I don't think ticket price comes into play. Being on the I65 corridor there are plenty of places to stay without getting held up so cheap accommodations are easy. Maybe if the weather was better there may have been a couple of more thousand seats sold but it would have been a drop in the bucket. Nascar's audience does skew old and a lot of old people hate the cold and equally dislike extreme heat whereas young people don't give a flip about temperature or humidity and just drink beer and have a good time. Weather may come into play more as time goes by and Nascar's audience gets even older.

IMO, IMS did nothing wrong but Nascar needs to understand that the race is a dog that won't hunt and either pull the plug or change the car that is used. Make the race a non points event and during the weekend have a demo derby for the drivers in the infield, have them use different cars like Indy Cars or Go Karts or IROC type vehicles. Silver Crowns or Midgets or Sprint Cars would be cool too.

IMO if Nascar is going to hold 37 events each year they need to think waaaaaaaaaaaay outside to box and provide an event each week that meets or exceeds the customer's expectation. The average Joe just isn't going to travel hundreds of miles or more and spend stupid money to see something as dull as dishwater.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
They have had stories showing people trying to give away Brickyard tickets and no one wants them so I don't think ticket price comes into play. Being on the I65 corridor there are plenty of places to stay without getting held up so cheap accommodations are easy. Maybe if the weather was better there may have been a couple of more thousand seats sold but it would have been a drop in the bucket. Nascar's audience does skew old and a lot of old people hate the cold and equally dislike extreme heat whereas young people don't give a flip about temperature or humidity and just drink beer and have a good time. Weather may come into play more as time goes by and Nascar's audience gets even older.

IMO, IMS did nothing wrong but Nascar needs to understand that the race is a dog that won't hunt and either pull the plug or change the car that is used. Make the race a non points event and during the weekend have a demo derby for the drivers in the infield, have them use different cars like Indy Cars or Go Karts or IROC type vehicles. Silver Crowns or Midgets or Sprint Cars would be cool too.

IMO if Nascar is going to hold 37 events each year they need to think waaaaaaaaaaaay outside to box and provide an event each week that meets or exceeds the customer's expectation. The average Joe just isn't going to travel hundreds of miles or more and spend stupid money to see something as dull as dishwater.
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I work in 120 degree heat on a regular basis but sitting in the stands at Phoenix when its 80 degrees is torture at best
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Agreed, and the perfectly good world-class road course to replace it with is the one already there in the Indianapolis infield. Fans get a watchable race, Indy keeps a profitable weekend.
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The only issues I have with this is that after a few years people will start complaining that they don't run the oval any more. If they are going to replace it with a road course, they should just get a fresh start at a new track imo.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Skoal, we'll soon have proof that you've got this whole "Death Spiral of Nascar" thing figured out, when the announcement comes down that Sprint is being replaced by some third-rate company paying peanuts for the entitlement sponsorship. Then we'll know.

I guess I'm lucky to be comfortable in my own skin to the point that I don't feel compelled to follow "the crowd" to know what I like. Not that I think all is rosy for Nascar, but it is a damn good product in search of its audience. I'm not in favor of dumbing it down for those who want more beatin' more bangin' and more wreckin'.
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I have been a hockey fan since the 60's but there was a time when I didn't speak of it in the same way I don't speak of Nascar now. The reason was there were so many Americans ignorant of hockey and all they wanted to do was talk about it being all about fighting and generally denigrate it. I would rather do something else then listen to a group of people willingly putting their blissful ignorance on display. I was much better at handling that sort of thing when I was younger but I don't have the stomach for it these days.

I have always maintained that Nascar will exist in one form or another and don't expect it to go away at all. Obviously it needs a new leader and proper management that can determine the market for its product and act accordingly. As far as dumbing things down goes that has been de riguer for a longtime now and Mencken's quote that "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public" have never been truer.

29-4 said:
Wanting more "Beatin' and bangin" is no more 'dumbing it down' than wanting to see tackles in a football game. It's part of what NASCAR is; part of what set it apart from other forms of racing throughout it's history.
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There are beer snobs, clothing snobs, automobile snobs and racing snobs and I have never cared for any of them. Nascar has always been about beatin and bangin and rubbin and it is not smart or dumb but just the product it provides.

Kyle18fan said:
I work in 120 degree heat on a regular basis but sitting in the stands at Phoenix when its 80 degrees is torture at best
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When I was a kid I ran presses in a rubber factory and was it ever hot. I never drank so much water in my life and remember all the fans that were running that felt like hair dryers. It was a good job and I got much stronger and learned a lot.
 
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