F
fastfordfan
Guest
I'm still amazed at the ppl that watch a race that one car gets out and leads all day and they say it was the best race they ever saw. This is just one example of MANY. So what has changed since 2009.
C&P from 2009 I Think
FORT WORTH, Texas
The rebounding American economy certainly has to be good news for NASCAR men trying to persuade U.S. companies to invest in their own particular businesses, be it race teams or race tracks.
And with the looming prospect of another debilitating round of NASCAR job cuts for crewmen, and maybe some drivers too, at the end of the season – while many of the 1,000 or so laid off at the end of 2008 are still job-hunting themselves – a good shot of positive economic news like this week shows is positive news on the economic front.
Maybe there is still time for NASCAR to jump onboard this train and milk something out of the dwindling season. There are only 18 days left…but maybe NASCAR can pull something off at the awards banquet in Las Vegas -- where a flurry of news stories from NASCAR could erupt, to try to pique everyone's interest.
Now if NASCAR execs can just hop this freight.
But…
Kyle Petty has described NASCAR as rudderless.
And NASCAR is losing credibility among its fans.
Sunday's Talladega 500 may well have been an example.
NASCAR bosses had nearly six months, from late April when Carl Edwards' flipping crash at Talladega pointed up a major issue, to respond to the issue, and yet they did virtually nothing: the fences were raised, which should have been done years ago, and engine horsepower was cut maybe 12 mph by a tiny restrictor plate cut.
And what happened Sunday? Ryan Newman went flying and flipping, and so did Mark Martin, in two separate incidents – late-race, after drivers decided once again to ride around for as long as they could without rocking the boat by actually racing each other.
So far NASCAR's response has been to point to a ton of lead changes and to blame ABC for having the nerve to point out the racing was boring – which drivers themselves were doing on their own radios to their crews.
Ryan Newman says NASCAR itself has "created a lot of the boredom…because we couldn't race. It is survival.
"I just hate it for the fans."
Jeff Gordon says it's boring racing for so long because "we know what we're up against. And why go out there and beat and bang and turn one another sideways in the first 100 or 200 miles?
"You want to make this a really exciting race for the whole race -- make it 200 miles.
"But unfortunately the rules that we have are going to play out: The cars suck up too much (in the draft). They need to change that for this race track, or it's just going to happen every single time.
"The (new) car is in a box, there's no doubt about that. Ever since this car has come about, we've seen pretty much the same results at Talladega.
"NASCAR obviously sees what's going on…and we leave it up to them to make the call."
The pre-race drivers meeting left everyone confused. ABC says that it asked NASCAR president Mike Helton to come on camera and explain things but that he declined.
Many fans are rightly angry about it all; and their comments are all over the web.
So tracks can cut ticket prices to zero, but fans would still have to paid enormous hotel bills and other expenses, and these next few weeks it will be interesting to see just who bothers responding to the PR efforts by NASCAR's many tracks to buy tickets for 2010.
Unless NASCAR boss Jim France steps to the plate and shakes things up among his staff, it might be a long, cold winter.
And NASCAR officials have only themselves to blame for some of the PR problems this sport is facing. They have continued to insist, for some two years now, that things are going to be fine if we're all just patient. NASCAR insists the car-of-tomorrow is doing just fine. NASCAR says it still likes the chase (even though Johnson has dominated it four straight years now) and the 10 tracks in it.
It's time for NASCAR bosses to man-up about all this.
NASCAR almost seems to be in denial that its car-of-tomorrow and championship chase simply aren't producing the anticipated results.
When drivers complain, they're told to shut up and race.
When the media points out the issues, NASCAR complains of its 'negativism.'
And NASCAR seems to be trying to intimidate what little media there is left still covering this sport. (Quick, how many full-time media are covering the full 38-race Sprint Cup tour?)
Maybe it would help if NASCAR executives themselves were more positive and responsive.
Bill France Jr. would have been front-and-center in all this, defending his sport, and certainly willing to make changes if necessary. During the past several weeks of controversy – from the latest Jeremy Mayfield twists to the J. C. France issue, and the still slumping TV ratings, and the problems of low ticket renewals at the sport's Los Angeles anchor – NASCAR CEO Brian France has been invisible, despite requests that he appear to address the 'state of the sport.'
NASCAR executives and officials need to be more 'fan friendly,' and more accessible, and more willing to acknowledge some things may need to change.
Sunday's Talladega 500 may just be the latest flashpoint.
When NASCAR officials stood up in the pre-race drivers meeting and announced they would firmly enforce a 'no bump-drafting' in the corners rule, drivers were stunned, and they peppered officials with a flurry of questions unlike in any drivers' meeting in quite a while. Almost like drivers giving NASCAR officials a vote of no-confidence. Then drivers spent the first two hours of the race running single-file.
Such an enforcement policy could have been announced anytime following the April race.
And then all NASCAR did was issue some general 'warnings' to all teams during the race not to get too aggressive.
So what were drivers to do? After all, consider the speeding on pit road penalty NASCAR slapped Juan Pablo Montoya with at Indianapolis while he was on his way to winning one of this sport's biggest races….and consider that record-breaking fine and penalty in May on lowly Carl Long, a good-guy journeyman….and consider the Mayfield situation, which at times has looked like a vendetta against another lowly driver who dares to stand up to NASCAR….
Yes, this sport has some problems….and its biggest problem now may be the image of NASCAR bosses as arrogant and petulant.
But fans may be voting with their wallets and their TV remotes….not voting against the sport, though there are too many boring races and a number of aggravating technical issues, but rather against NASCAR's perceived arrogance in all this.
Is NASCAR just fiddling away while the sport burns down?
Of course NASCAR can push some of its house shills to cameras and try to denigrate those who object to some things that are going on….
And NASCAR – it is a family-owned business, remember – certainly has a lot of clout.
C&P from 2009 I Think
FORT WORTH, Texas
The rebounding American economy certainly has to be good news for NASCAR men trying to persuade U.S. companies to invest in their own particular businesses, be it race teams or race tracks.
And with the looming prospect of another debilitating round of NASCAR job cuts for crewmen, and maybe some drivers too, at the end of the season – while many of the 1,000 or so laid off at the end of 2008 are still job-hunting themselves – a good shot of positive economic news like this week shows is positive news on the economic front.
Maybe there is still time for NASCAR to jump onboard this train and milk something out of the dwindling season. There are only 18 days left…but maybe NASCAR can pull something off at the awards banquet in Las Vegas -- where a flurry of news stories from NASCAR could erupt, to try to pique everyone's interest.
Now if NASCAR execs can just hop this freight.
But…
Kyle Petty has described NASCAR as rudderless.
And NASCAR is losing credibility among its fans.
Sunday's Talladega 500 may well have been an example.
NASCAR bosses had nearly six months, from late April when Carl Edwards' flipping crash at Talladega pointed up a major issue, to respond to the issue, and yet they did virtually nothing: the fences were raised, which should have been done years ago, and engine horsepower was cut maybe 12 mph by a tiny restrictor plate cut.
And what happened Sunday? Ryan Newman went flying and flipping, and so did Mark Martin, in two separate incidents – late-race, after drivers decided once again to ride around for as long as they could without rocking the boat by actually racing each other.
So far NASCAR's response has been to point to a ton of lead changes and to blame ABC for having the nerve to point out the racing was boring – which drivers themselves were doing on their own radios to their crews.
Ryan Newman says NASCAR itself has "created a lot of the boredom…because we couldn't race. It is survival.
"I just hate it for the fans."
Jeff Gordon says it's boring racing for so long because "we know what we're up against. And why go out there and beat and bang and turn one another sideways in the first 100 or 200 miles?
"You want to make this a really exciting race for the whole race -- make it 200 miles.
"But unfortunately the rules that we have are going to play out: The cars suck up too much (in the draft). They need to change that for this race track, or it's just going to happen every single time.
"The (new) car is in a box, there's no doubt about that. Ever since this car has come about, we've seen pretty much the same results at Talladega.
"NASCAR obviously sees what's going on…and we leave it up to them to make the call."
The pre-race drivers meeting left everyone confused. ABC says that it asked NASCAR president Mike Helton to come on camera and explain things but that he declined.
Many fans are rightly angry about it all; and their comments are all over the web.
So tracks can cut ticket prices to zero, but fans would still have to paid enormous hotel bills and other expenses, and these next few weeks it will be interesting to see just who bothers responding to the PR efforts by NASCAR's many tracks to buy tickets for 2010.
Unless NASCAR boss Jim France steps to the plate and shakes things up among his staff, it might be a long, cold winter.
And NASCAR officials have only themselves to blame for some of the PR problems this sport is facing. They have continued to insist, for some two years now, that things are going to be fine if we're all just patient. NASCAR insists the car-of-tomorrow is doing just fine. NASCAR says it still likes the chase (even though Johnson has dominated it four straight years now) and the 10 tracks in it.
It's time for NASCAR bosses to man-up about all this.
NASCAR almost seems to be in denial that its car-of-tomorrow and championship chase simply aren't producing the anticipated results.
When drivers complain, they're told to shut up and race.
When the media points out the issues, NASCAR complains of its 'negativism.'
And NASCAR seems to be trying to intimidate what little media there is left still covering this sport. (Quick, how many full-time media are covering the full 38-race Sprint Cup tour?)
Maybe it would help if NASCAR executives themselves were more positive and responsive.
Bill France Jr. would have been front-and-center in all this, defending his sport, and certainly willing to make changes if necessary. During the past several weeks of controversy – from the latest Jeremy Mayfield twists to the J. C. France issue, and the still slumping TV ratings, and the problems of low ticket renewals at the sport's Los Angeles anchor – NASCAR CEO Brian France has been invisible, despite requests that he appear to address the 'state of the sport.'
NASCAR executives and officials need to be more 'fan friendly,' and more accessible, and more willing to acknowledge some things may need to change.
Sunday's Talladega 500 may just be the latest flashpoint.
When NASCAR officials stood up in the pre-race drivers meeting and announced they would firmly enforce a 'no bump-drafting' in the corners rule, drivers were stunned, and they peppered officials with a flurry of questions unlike in any drivers' meeting in quite a while. Almost like drivers giving NASCAR officials a vote of no-confidence. Then drivers spent the first two hours of the race running single-file.
Such an enforcement policy could have been announced anytime following the April race.
And then all NASCAR did was issue some general 'warnings' to all teams during the race not to get too aggressive.
So what were drivers to do? After all, consider the speeding on pit road penalty NASCAR slapped Juan Pablo Montoya with at Indianapolis while he was on his way to winning one of this sport's biggest races….and consider that record-breaking fine and penalty in May on lowly Carl Long, a good-guy journeyman….and consider the Mayfield situation, which at times has looked like a vendetta against another lowly driver who dares to stand up to NASCAR….
Yes, this sport has some problems….and its biggest problem now may be the image of NASCAR bosses as arrogant and petulant.
But fans may be voting with their wallets and their TV remotes….not voting against the sport, though there are too many boring races and a number of aggravating technical issues, but rather against NASCAR's perceived arrogance in all this.
Is NASCAR just fiddling away while the sport burns down?
Of course NASCAR can push some of its house shills to cameras and try to denigrate those who object to some things that are going on….
And NASCAR – it is a family-owned business, remember – certainly has a lot of clout.
