While we’re at it, let’s stop talking about how safe stock car racing has become. Nobody wants to see the Flying Wallendas fall to their deaths from the high wire, but the knowledge that it
could happen is what draws crowds and sells tickets. The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze isn’t so daring when he works with a net, and right now, NASCAR spends entirely too much time talking about the net.
And finally, it’s time for NASCAR to dramatically re-shuffle the cards and revamp its Monster Energy, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series schedules. With the exception of the Eldora Truck race, most fans cannot remember the last time a new track was added to the agenda. And after a decade or more spent circulating through the same venues – year after year after year – stagnation has begun to set in.
The fans have spoken. They want fewer “rubber stamp” 1.5-mile ovals, and more short tracks. More road courses. More new, more exciting. Moving old races to new dates is not nearly enough to create a much-needed dose of excitement.
In order to give the paying customers what they want, it’s time for NASCAR to interject a three or four-race series of short track events into its MENCS schedule, returning legendary venues like Hickory, Nashville or Oxford Plains to the competitive calendar for the first time in decades. First-time venues like Myrtle Beach or Berlin would further sweeten the competitive pot.
Those races cannot happen without some major concessions by both NASCAR and its teams. In order to make Cup Series racing a reality at short tracks with limited seating, NASCAR must dramatically cut its sanction fee, eschewing profit – just a few times per season – in favor of excitement, drama and a dose of something new. Race teams must agree to race for a downsized purse – again, just a few times per season – choosing to do what’s best for the sport, instead of what’s best for their own bottom line.
http://motorsports-soapbox.blogspot.com/2018/07/commentary-problems-and-solutions.html