Get over it

He compared Kyle Busch to Rusty Wallace? That nearly made me puke. Rusty was nothing like Busch. Rusty was rarely an instigator on the track. In fact he was one of the more vocal leaders in the garage when it came to "respecting your fellow driver". He regularly spoke during driver's meetings going back to the early 90's. He as feisty his first 4-5 years but mellowed pretty quickly. I don't really see any driver in this era like him. In the past I always thought he was a cooler, edgier DW. Both often talk a little too much..lol

I also disagree that Charlotte can't get 120kish for the 600. Memorial Day weekend is still very big in the racing world. The Indy 500 still draws a big time crowd. If the folks in Daytona can find a better balance between the live and tv experience I think attendance will improve. The 600, the Bristol night race and the Brickyard are the only raceI could see getting a pretty big jump. The other tracks should try to get 10-20k fans back over the next 4-7 years. The 2003 attendance figures absolutely aren't coming back but the 1993 ones can.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
He compared Kyle Busch to Rusty Wallace? That nearly made me puke. Rusty was nothing like Busch. Rusty was rarely an instigator on the track. In fact he was one of the more vocal leaders in the garage when it came to "respecting your fellow driver". He regularly spoke during driver's meetings going back to the early 90's. He as feisty his first 4-5 years but mellowed pretty quickly. I don't really see any driver in this era like him. In the past I always thought he was a cooler, edgier DW. Both often talk a little too much..lol

I also disagree that Charlotte can't get 120kish for the 600. Memorial Day weekend is still very big in the racing world. The Indy 500 still draws a big time crowd. If the folks in Daytona can find a better balance between the live and tv experience I think attendance will improve. The 600, the Bristol night race and the Brickyard are the only raceI could see getting a pretty big jump. The other tracks should try to get 10-20k fans back over the next 4-7 years. The 2003 attendance figures absolutely aren't coming back but the 1993 ones can.
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If someone compared me to Kyle Busch I would hunt them down and pummel them with punishing blows. (For my friends with no sense of humor I don't really mean I would do this)

The Daytona 500 used to attract 160K and now has a little over 100K in attendance which is a huge drop but still a good crowd. According to Jayski Charlotte is down to 89K seats and they can't get those any where near full. Daytona will stand on its own and there will probably still be some races that draw decent sized crowds but I think we are heading to a point where 25-40 K will be normal.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
If someone compared me to Kyle Busch I would hunt them down and pummel them with punishing blows. (For my friends with no sense of humor I don't really mean I would do this)

The Daytona 500 used to attract 160K and now has a little over 100K in attendance which is a huge drop but still a good crowd. According to Jayski Charlotte is down to 89K seats and they can't get those any where near full. Daytona will stand on its own and there will probably still be some races that draw decent sized crowds but I think we are heading to a point where 25-40 K will be normal.
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I still factor in the infield into total attendance. Daytona is still getting safely over 100k for the 500.

With the infield there was still probably 60-65k at Pocono. Down from about 150k in its heyday.

As for a NASCAR as a whole, I'll be a little more optimistic and say grandstand attendance in the 50-80k range is still possible and 100k is not an unattainable mark if the stars align.
 
7. Sorry, but North Wilkesboro Speedway isn't returning to the schedule
Hey, I loved -- still love -- the place, too. I've written numerous columns and TV pieces about it. But the people who still cling to the notion of a NASCAR national series event returning to the land of Junior Johnson might as well be hoping for the return of rotary telephones. Lost to the warm and fuzzy feelings of nostalgia is the fact that the place was already falling apart when it hosted its final Cup race in 1996. The track itself was awesome. The dried-up toilets and the nails sticking out of the wooden grandstands were not. Not so long ago they brought late models back to North Wilkesboro and no one showed up. Down the road at Rockingham, fans did show up for the first Truck Series comeback race but failed to return for the races that followed.

Alternative to embrace: Martinsville Speedway is less than two hours north of Wilkesboro, located in the same moonshine-soaked foothills and raced on by the same moonshine-marinated NASCAR pioneers. The old bullring still hosts two Cup races and if half the people who scream to bring back North Wilkesboro would buy a ticket to Martinsville, it would easily prevent the latter from joining the former on the extinction list. And hey, the toilets and grandstands work just fine.



It's a shame people won't go to Martinsville, while screaming about needing more short tracks. I seen so many excuses for why people don't attend that race... almost all of them are complete bull**** too.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Daytona will stand on its own and there will probably still be some races that draw decent sized crowds but I think we are heading to a point where 25-40 K will be normal.
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This is why I think N Wilkesboro and Rockingham would shine again if put back in the loop. They are built for these size crowds and it would bring racing back to many of the fans that "got 'em there" in the first place. It would be worth it to revamp N Wilkesboro.

btw, when was qualifying ever a big-ticket item other than the Twin 125's.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
7. Sorry, but North Wilkesboro Speedway isn't returning to the schedule
Hey, I loved -- still love -- the place, too. I've written numerous columns and TV pieces about it. But the people who still cling to the notion of a NASCAR national series event returning to the land of Junior Johnson might as well be hoping for the return of rotary telephones. Lost to the warm and fuzzy feelings of nostalgia is the fact that the place was already falling apart when it hosted its final Cup race in 1996. The track itself was awesome. The dried-up toilets and the nails sticking out of the wooden grandstands were not. Not so long ago they brought late models back to North Wilkesboro and no one showed up. Down the road at Rockingham, fans did show up for the first Truck Series comeback race but failed to return for the races that followed.

Alternative to embrace: Martinsville Speedway is less than two hours north of Wilkesboro, located in the same moonshine-soaked foothills and raced on by the same moonshine-marinated NASCAR pioneers. The old bullring still hosts two Cup races and if half the people who scream to bring back North Wilkesboro would buy a ticket to Martinsville, it would easily prevent the latter from joining the former on the extinction list. And hey, the toilets and grandstands work just fine.



It's a shame people won't go to Martinsville, while screaming about needing more short tracks. I seen so many excuses for why people don't attend that race... almost all of them are complete bull**** too.
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I agree with this, Martinsville is on my NASCAR bucket list, I need to attend a race there ASAP.
 
bill94el said:
This is why I think N Wilkesboro and Rockingham would shine again if put back in the loop. They are built for these size crowds and it would bring racing back to many of the fans that "got 'em there" in the first place. It would be worth it to revamp N Wilkesboro.

btw, when was qualifying ever a big-ticket item other than the Twin 125's.
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I could see both tracks doing well as stops on the Trucks/Xfinity Tour with the occasional hosting of the All Star Race if NASCAR decides to rotate it from Charlotte.
 
bill94el said:
This is why I think N Wilkesboro and Rockingham would shine again if put back in the loop. They are built for these size crowds and it would bring racing back to many of the fans that "got 'em there" in the first place. It would be worth it to revamp N Wilkesboro. . ..
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I'm not sure that even with the right marketing and great racing, that these places would ever draw a huge crowd, or even one as large as they did in the 90s. It would take a big change in the economy of the areas the tracks are in. But it just seems to me that these small tracks should make for great racing on tv. I think with the right kind of advertising on tv, the networks could make the short tracks draw ratings close to the plate tracks. But for some reason, the existing short tracks don't get good ratings either. I don't understand it. I'm far more likely to watch Martinsville or Bristol on tv, rather than Kansas or Chicagoland. I feel like the networks aren't doing fans any favors these days, regardless of how many hours they produce. And also, if these new young drivers are so awesome, why is it we don't know a lot about their personalities? People like Waltrip and Rusty, you looked forward to seeing what they had to say about the race. Ward Burton...Sterling Marlin, always good for at least a sarcastic remark or two. If these new drivers have the personality and backgrounds that people like McGee say that they do, then the networks need to do a better job of promoting them and making me want to watch them.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yep. Some refuse to believe even when they are smacked in the face twice. When given the chance at resurrection, fans still stayed away. It's sad but that's the state of the sport today.
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More accurately it is the state of auto racing as at least pro football, hockey and hoops look pretty good overall. I am not saying you are doing this at all but many people act like the misery Nascar is experiencing is justified because the sports world is experiencing the same thing and it simply is not true.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/attendance

http://www.espn.com/nhl/attendance

http://www.espn.com/nba/attendance
 
2. Sorry, but the Chase/Playoff/Whatever you want to call the championship format, isn't going away, either

That's the only one I seriously haven't gotten over and still actively wish it would revert. As to the others, I've supported a few of them, adjusted to some of the others, and never cared about the rest in the first place.

9. Sorry, but Dale Earnhardt isn't coming back
10. Sorry, but also on the not coming back list: Yarborough, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, or Carl Edwards (ok, maybe Edwards)

If he'd lived, Dale would have retired by now anyway. There are people who are fans of a sport, some who are fans of a team, and people who are fans of a particular individual. In this respect, auto racing is no different from other sports.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yep. Some refuse to believe even when they are smacked in the face twice. When given the chance at resurrection, fans still stayed away. It's sad but that's the state of the sport today.
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Andy Hillenberg went broke listening to fans saying how much they wanted Rockingham brought back and how they just looved ol Rockingham. He did what the fans wanted, and went broke doing it. Some continue to wonder why Nascar doesn't listen to them? :confused::D
 
StandOnIt said:
Andy Hillenberg went broke listening to fans saying how much they wanted Rockingham brought back and how they just looved ol Rockingham. He did what the fans wanted, and went broke doing it. Some continue to wonder why Nascar doesn't listen to them? :confused::D
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Yeah, that was a shame. There was a reason that we left those facilities to begin with. They weren't being supported. When they do try to rise again, they suffer the same fate.

I would have loved to have gone there but I could never justify a trip that far for a feeder series.
 
I watched Andy Hillenberg run his first sprint car race ever and we used to pit beside him sometimes. I didn't know him that well but he was a nice upfront guy when I was around him. Can't say after that I payed much attention to the get back to the roots movement after Hillenberg went broke trying it. There are reasons Nascar isn't going down that road. This one was a good example for me. Short tracks are having a tough time making a buck. ISC Nascar made 76 million in profit last year.
 
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