Changes NASCAR should make

[kelloggs5TLfan]

Andy be sure and read number 4. LOL


http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news?slug=jb-changes112407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
By Jerry Bonkowski, Yahoo! Sports
November 24, 2007
Editors note: This is the fourth in a five-part series looking back on the 2007 Nextel Cup season and peeking ahead at 2008.

Week after week, month after month, the letters keep coming by the thousands. Longtime fans constantly write in to Yahoo! Spots expressing fear that their beloved NASCAR is going down the tubes.

After a season that generated more complaints than I've ever heard – everything from concern over continuing drops in attendance and TV ratings to chagrin over the Chase for the Nextel Cup – I've compiled a list of the most popular changes NASCAR fans would like to see occur in the near future.

The question is whether chairman Brian France will listen to them.

1. One more strike: Give the Chase one more year to prove itself or else scrap it.

When it was introduced in 2004, the Chase lived up to everything France had hoped for. But since then, and particularly this past season, the Chase has been the antithesis of what France envisioned. Even several tweaks to the format for 2007 seemed to only make things worse and watered down the field. That TV ratings were down nearly 12 percent for the season finale at Homestead, a pretty clear indicator that the Chase is losing more fans with each year. If things don't get turned around in its fifth year (2008), get rid of it – plain and simple.

2. Sponsors or fans: France's insistence that the top 35 teams in owner's points be automatically locked in to starting positions for each and every race has nothing to do with racing and has everything to do with catering to sponsors. NASCAR has to decide who it is really in business for: the fan in the stands who spends his hard-earned money to attend races or the sponsors that spend tons more money to show their product on the side of a four-wheeled billboard.

Sure, sponsors foot the bill, but without fans there's no one to advertise to.

3. A real minor league: Give the Busch Series – make that the new Nationwide Series – back to the young up-and-coming drivers who NASCAR originally designed the Cup level's primary minor league for. Sure, it's great to see Cup drivers in Busch/Nationwide events from a popularity standpoint, but when guys like Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart invade NASCAR's Triple-A league, it takes away opportunities for exposure and success from the guys who need it the most.

4. Down goes Daugherty: NASCAR has to make ESPN/ABC either shape up or ship out.

NBC might have been bad, but ESPN overhypes everything. The network has too many talking heads on camera who seem to have nary a clue about what they're talking about (see Brad Daugherty). There's also too much hyperbole and there isn't enough focus on the drivers. These shortcomings are driving viewers away.

Get rid of Daugherty. Get rid of Rusty Wallace. Give us picture-in-picture during commercials. And most of all, shut up.

5. The commish: Hire a commissioner.

Fan after fan is becoming more and more disenchanted with the sport, mostly because they don't like the changes ushered in by Brian France. Everything is down – TV ratings, fan support, attendance – so why not bring in some new blood?

Other changes to ponder: NASCAR should stop changing or modifying rules during the course of a season. No rules – unless they're due to dramatic changes in driver safety – should be changed from the season-opener at Daytona until the season finale at Homestead. … Make sure all races finish under green-flag conditions, even if it means more than one green-white-checker segment in a race. … To win a race, you must cross the finish line first. End of story. No more debacles like Kansas.

Tomorrow: Things to look forward to in 2008

 

[Digger]

I like...

... Brad. I actually think he's the only good color commentator they have. He knows a lot about the sport from an owner's perspective. Brad Daughetry is probably the most underused assett at ESPN.

Allen Bestwick deserves to be in the booth. He's the ONLY commentator at ESPN who's any good.

NBC may have sucked, but the highest rated NASCAR broadcasts were on NBC. They managed to attract a new audience and keep them tuned in. Bash Bill Weber all you want, but Bill is a great writer and a decent announcer. He runs circles around Dr. Punch.

All I heard last year was "NBC" this, "Nothing But Commercials" that, Bill Weber sucks, Benny Parsons has to go, Wally sucks, blah blah blah blah blah.

You guys got your wish. NBC's gone. The Brickyard 400 (our biggest race, next to the 500) is on cable and only got a 2% ratings share. Despite the Chase races actually being fairly exciting for the most part, nobody watched 'em.

That's when people like Bucky came in (sorry, have to do it) and say if you don't like the coverage, don't watch it. That's happening. Race fans actually will not watch races on ESPN, which made NASCAR what it is.

So, to all of you who wanted NBC out, you got your wish and now I'm missing races to ESPN because of it.

At least NBC would cut "Through the field/Up To Speed" or whatever if there was a lead change.

TNT, which had the best coverage BY MILES over the competition, has 4 of the most boring races on their network. TNT, on cable, got higher ratings with some sucky races (minus Daytona) this year than ABC.

I would hate to see Rusty get fired because I genuinely like Rusty Wallace. But, if ESPN has the same lineup next year, NASCAR needs to step up and get rid of them.

 

[Digger]

Attendance is down because we have tracks like California running the race the same week as the Oscars. What does California Speedway offer that would make me want to turn down a chance to meet Ashley Tisdale?

All the races I go to are sold out. Go to a race at Richmond and say attendance is down.

They just need to overhaul the schedule. And Loudon losing a date is unacceptable. They're taking away dates from tracks that sell out because tyhey only seat 60,000 people and go to tracks that can seat 100,000 people and only get 40,000 people to turn out (See Darlington then, California now).

I like the Chase. The reason it sucked this year was because everybody ended up wrecked in the first 5 races and Jeff and Jimmie had a rabbit's foot jammed up their azzes. Clint Bowyer is not a top 5 driver. I've never considered him a top 10 driver. He lucked his way into the Chase and lucked his way through it. He won't have the same success in 2008.

TV ratings are down because of ESPN. The ratings slide under FOX and TNT was negligible, at best. But ESPN just killed ratings.

I don't support NASCAR, the sanctioning body. They screwed Harvick at Homestead with that b.s. commit cone violation. They went out of their way to prevent Robby Gordon from winning at Montreal.

To me, watching NASCAR screw my drivers over is just like watching a Redskins away game. It's entertaining, but they already know who they want to win.

 

[muggle not]

The Oscars is only on one race in the year.

All you have to do is check the statistics and you will see that, overall, the attendance was down drastically for the season.

It's a business, like it or not. They will race at the venues where they can make the most money.

The majority of fans do not like the chase.

ESPN did not televise the racing in season 2007 when they had the biggest decline of all, a 12 % decline in TV viewers.


It's a Conspiracy.

Another Conspiracy.

 

[Magnethead]

I side with andy.

 

[gottaloveit]

Shut them up!!! best move they could ever make as far as televising them goes. the commentators who knew when to talk, when to share thier racing knowledge (yes, they actually had some), and when to just watch the race aren't there anymore... the best move the current "commentators" could make is to just be quiet.

that, and make the races shorter.

 

[Digger]

The Oscars is only on one race in the year.

All you have to do is check the statistics and you will see that, overall, the attendance was down drastically for the season.

It's a business, like it or not. They will race at the venues where they can make the most money.

The majority of fans do not like the chase.

ESPN did not televise the racing in season 2007 when they had the biggest decline of all, a 12 % decline in TV viewers.


It's a Conspiracy.

Another Conspiracy.

FOX's ratings were down by very small margins.

Check the numbers, they're on Jayski.

ESPN ESPN ESPN. They're the number 1 problem.

I don't know about you guys, but I didn't see a single empty seat at any race I went to. Richmond and Dover sold out. Well, I didn't go to Dover in the Spring because I knew it would be a washout (Tropical storm).

Bruton Smith wants to take a date from NHIS, which sells out every time. And let me tell you something right now, the day they take a date from Richmond is the day my cold dead body rises from hell.

Half of the races were rained out or at risk of being washed out. There are fans that won't take a chance on buying tickets if it falls on a rainy day.

How the eff Richmond and Dover were washed out when we suffered a long drought.

 

[Magnethead]

Texas was sold out, without question. now about the lower sections im unsure, but let me note that sellout equals about 90% of seats sold. That was a for sure for both dates.

I agree the west coast is NOT the answer. If brute takes a date from NH and puts it to LV, he'll be losing money- see previous point in andy's post. I say put the chase back to 10, award MORE points to the winner, change some of the gaps in the points to make top 5's and top 10's worth more, then close up the gaps to 1 or 2 point intervals from 35 on back so we dont have all these wrecked racecars trying to pick up points but dropping debris every 20 laps instead.

 

[mudslinger47]

I place the blame in full at the feet of Brian France. To much change way to fast, he has seen that light and stated that there would be very little change from now on. I'll believe it when I see it. He has also stated that for every old fan that leaves, three new fans step up, the numbers don't seen to bare that out. Right or wrong, us old school veiwer don't like to much change and hate loseing the good racey tracks and end up with cookie cutters, that is where there viewership is going, the races are boreing, 350 miles of freight train and 50 laps of racing. Mikey W said that it was exciting to watch the cars in a line on the wall, for who? Maybe the guys in the cars, but for us in TV land, I don't think so. Duane

 

[barelypure]

If brute takes a date from NH and puts it to LV, he'll be losing money- see previous point in andy's post.

That's probably not true. In 03 and 04 LVMS had 140,000 people in attendance. In 05 it was 156,000. In 06 they added 17,000 more seats and still sold out for the 5th straight year. In fact for the weekend they hosted 340,000 people. 94,875 visitors were from outside of Nevada and had a record $197 million impact on the state’s economy. LVMS will have more people in the stands for practice than some venues have to watch the race.
NHIS has enjoyed 26 consecutive sell outs and seats 101,000. So maybe they lose 1 race. And the date for the other is changed to be the 1st race in the Chase. Nascar is still looking at the schedule.
Bruton may be a lot of things but stupid he isn't. You can see that by looking at the financial statements he has to file with the SEC.

 

[Digger]

I place the blame in full at the feet of Brian France. To much change way to fast, he has seen that light and stated that there would be very little change from now on. I'll believe it when I see it. He has also stated that for every old fan that leaves, three new fans step up, the numbers don't seen to bare that out. Right or wrong, us old school veiwer don't like to much change and hate loseing the good racey tracks and end up with cookie cutters, that is where there viewership is going, the races are boreing, 350 miles of freight train and 50 laps of racing. Mikey W said that it was exciting to watch the cars in a line on the wall, for who? Maybe the guys in the cars, but for us in TV land, I don't think so. Duane

I agree. I'm sick of the cookie cutter tracks. Chicagoland, Kansas, Michigan, Atlanta, Texas, Vegas, California, did I miss any... They're all the same to me.

And now fans don't like Bristol or Talladega?

The COT sucks. They better make changes to it, and big ones. I'm sick of the same guy starting on the pole and winning the race. Loudon usually puts on a good show, but the last two races there sucked, IMO.

 

[barelypure]

And now fans don't like Bristol or Talladega?

Why don't the fans like Bristol or Talladega? What made this year's races different from those in the past?
For that matter what makes a race boring?

Inquiring minds want to know...and this is just directed at Andy. I'd love for a lot of you to chime in on your thoughts. Let's see if we can get a consensus of what's wrong...

 

[tkj24]

I agree. I'm sick of the cookie cutter tracks. Chicagoland, Kansas, Michigan, Atlanta, Texas, Vegas, California, did I miss any... They're all the same to me.

And now fans don't like Bristol or Talladega?

The COT sucks. They better make changes to it, and big ones. I'm sick of the same guy starting on the pole and winning the race. Loudon usually puts on a good show, but the last two races there sucked, IMO.

Maybe the fans complained about Bristol but just try getting the tickets out of their hands. Especially the August night tickets. I would give up my Brother before I would give up my Bristol tickets. (I don't have a brother. LOL)

 

[mudslinger47]

For that matter what makes a race boring?

.

43 cars on a rail running in a line for an extended amount of laps, makes racing boring. There just killing time and I understand the concept, but that doesn't make it any less boring. Duane

 

[VaDirt]

Why don't the fans like Bristol or Talladega? What made this year's races different from those in the past?
For that matter what makes a race boring?

Inquiring minds want to know...and this is just directed at Andy. I'd love for a lot of you to chime in on your thoughts. Let's see if we can get a consensus of what's wrong...

I honestly don't know what the problem is with Bristol. I actually couldn't believe the angry hords after the race. More people than not (including people I work with that are Nascar fans) were screaming about how bad the race was. Personally, I thought it was great racing (even if the cars were ugly.) They raced side-by-side for most of the race, and even though Kahne led most of the race, you could have thrown a blanket over the top three or four for most of the race.

I think everyone's biggest complaint about Bristol was the lack of wrecks and fights. No long cautions, no helmet throwing, no griping about other drivers taking you out. Talladega though, was a frieght train. Nascar keeps bragging about how much more equal the COT will be, and how much easire it will be to pass. And there just wasn't any. Most of the race was one lane, very little side-by-side or passing.

 

[speedwayphoto]

I agree with Vadirt...... the race was side by side, but it was a "gentle" race.... if that makes anysense..... the truck was outstanding, side by side and beatin and bangin... just looked like the cup guys were ordered to stay 3 foot away from the cars around them. The race was pretty good I thought, just no bumping and bangin... lots of people I think go to Bristol to see the wrecks and fights, and that may have been some of the reason for the upset feelings. personally, I'd rather see 50 laps of side by side green flag racing than 10 laps, then wreck, 10 laps, another wreck......

 

[MRM]

I go back to 1975 in watching NASCAR races. In those days, there were a lot of boring races. You'd see only a few cars finish on the lead lap. They were endurance races.

Today, cars are almost bullet proof with the technology. Repeated cautions is what keeps so many cars on the lead lap today. They are no longer endurance races. But with the advent of points racing, you'll see drivers save their equipment for the end. How many times have we heard announcers at the end of races say the leader has ran his fastest lap of the race? Maybe the races should be shorter.

As far as ESPN, I said last year when the announcing team was released that I was disappointed in their selections. Rusty Wallace has been a huge disappointment. He was a driver that told it like it is, but does not do so as an announcer. Jerry Punch is boring and I said one year ago he should be studio host and not lead announcer. They rewarded him with his loyality. If their ratings continue to slid, I doubt that loyality will come into play.

Loudon may sell out every race. But there is not another track close to them, so fans will flock to that track for their rare chance to see NASCAR. But they races there stink. In the years they have been racing there, I have only seen a couple of decent races there. Just because they sell it out is no reason to keep races there. Vegas would be a big improvement in so many ways.

 

[kelloggs5TLfan]

Random quote: “Stock car racing never would have started if the Government hadn't chosen to tax moonshine”. --Curtis Turner
Thanks Wingee

 

[Mopardh9]

Texas was sold out, without question. now about the lower sections im unsure, but let me note that sellout equals about 90% of seats sold. That was a for sure for both dates.

I agree the west coast is NOT the answer. If brute takes a date from NH and puts it to LV, he'll be losing money- see previous point in andy's post. I say put the chase back to 10, award MORE points to the winner, change some of the gaps in the points to make top 5's and top 10's worth more, then close up the gaps to 1 or 2 point intervals from 35 on back so we dont have all these wrecked racecars trying to pick up points but dropping debris every 20 laps instead.

How would moving a date to Vegas be losing money? The spring race sells out and brings in tons of money for the casinos. Moving the NH date to Vegas and keeping it a Chase race at night would make a lot of sense. I was not a fan of NHIS until i went to a Busch race this past year. It is a nice facility, some good racing and the Modifieds are awesome there, but money does all the talking in Nascar and Vegas has a lot of it.