Humpy's Hot Topic: What's Wrong With NASCAR?

carolinabuff said:
I think Humpy has alot of good points. Simply put, NASCAR got too big and too corporate and wanted to go national and attract new fans. The problem is, those fans checked in for a short time and then didn't stay because they weren't interested, and in the meantime they lost many of their longtime grass-roots fans. So in the end they came up short with both the old and the new fans.
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Even the ways they go about trying to bring in new fans show how clueless they really are. For instance, they put the Chicagoland race weekend smack in the middle of September when football season is heating up. Obviously football schedules come out months after the NASCAR schedule does, but you can't schedule a race for a time when you know there's potential for conflicting events in the area. Guess what, the football schedules come out and the Bears, Illini, and Northwestern Wildcats are all playing in Chicago or Evanston Saturday and Sunday. You can't expect to pull fans away from Big Ten and NFL football.
 
MRM said:
You nailed it. Except for NFL football, everything is in decline as far as attendance is going. Even college football is seeing some sizeable declines because they are doing what NASCAR did 10-15 years ago - price the fans out of going.

The other thing is most forms of racing aren't getting enough young fans interested in the sport. Part of that goes back to my prior comment about ticket prices. But even at local tracks, most people in the stands are 35 and older.
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Even the NFL is declining in attendence , except for big market cities and even in some of those. They do however get huge TV ratings. The NFL is also covered alot on multiple networks. They have Sunday night and Monday night primetime too, that helps. All in all, if we are watching racing, it don't matter.
 
Ya know I can sit for 55 minuets in a lecture hall and listen to a professor babble on about mass communications and be totally enthused by it, but I cannot listen to Humpy speak for 18 minutes without brain cells dying of boredom.
 
NASCAR has got to mix it up. For the last decade, it's been the same drivers racing on the same tracks. Every other sport at least has new players come in every year.

It's boring. Even if the racing is great, it's boring. NASCAR desperately needs an infusion of young, new talent in the Cup Series and very desperately needs new venues. At least they're trying in Nationwide and Trucks - but as long as Bruton's around, it'll never happen in Cup. If they dared to move the Kentucky race to, I don't know, a street course in Baltimore or a short track near Denver or Seattle, he'd sue NASCAR and it'd be blocked.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
And why on Earth would they schedule Texas --- a huge deer hunting state --- on opening weekend of deer season. It's not like it's kept secret.
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ChexOrWrex said:
Ya know I can sit for 55 minuets in a lecture hall and listen to a professor babble on about mass communications and be totally enthused by it, but I cannot listen to Humpy speak for 18 minutes without brain cells dying of boredom.
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I bet humpy is way more fun to hang out with and knows way more about the mass then your professor.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
NASCAR has got to mix it up. For the last decade, it's been the same drivers racing on the same tracks. Every other sport at least has new players come in every year.

It's boring. Even if the racing is great, it's boring. NASCAR desperately needs an infusion of young, new talent in the Cup Series and very desperately needs new venues. At least they're trying in Nationwide and Trucks - but as long as Bruton's around, it'll never happen in Cup. If they dared to move the Kentucky race to, I don't know, a street course in Baltimore or a short track near Denver or Seattle, he'd sue NASCAR and it'd be blocked.
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nascar is not for everyone. they need to stop trying to make it for everyone.
 
NASCAR doesnt need another young talented Jeff Gordon. It needs broader competition. We're basically watching ARCA here now. Let the manufacturer have more freedom with the cars and then youll see some entertainment,
 
ChexOrWrex said:
NASCAR doesnt need another young talented Jeff Gordon. It needs broader competition. We're basically watching ARCA here now. Let the manufacturer have more freedom with the cars and then youll see some entertainment,
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Yes it does. Young talent is part of what makes other sports so great. Even Preseason draws big ratings for that reason. Nobody wants to watch Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth go at it another 10 years.
 
Say what you want about Bruton or Humpy but that combo did things right. Humpy knew how to put on a show and Bruton puts money into his facilities to make them top notch. They could have done a lot more but they were two Type A personalities that couldn't keep working together.

Sure, the ticket prices are high. They're high when I go to the Steelers, Penguins or Pirates games too. That's nothing unique to NASCAR. Do you people out there do anything or go to any sporting events? How about concerts? I used to pay $10 or so to go see a top group. That same ticket today is over $100. Entertainment is expensive. That sucks but that's the way it is.

Fan friendly? Seriously? I'm leaving on Sunday to go stay at one of the best facilities that SMI owns. I know when I get there that I'll have a great time and get the entertainment due for the price of my ticket. Always have, always will.

While I'm there you can stay home and read a good book. :D

Andy.jpg
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
nascar is not for everyone. they need to stop trying to make it for everyone.
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Agreed . I hate the stick and ball sports because the names keep changing every year . I can't watch without a damn program. When I do learn a players name (with sixteen letters and no vowels) he is gone to another team . Nascar has the same 43 drivers every year , a lot of the family names were around when I started watching in the Wide World of Sports days . All the old guys I know who stopped watching have stopped because of the changes . The new fans haven't stayed long enough to get hooked . The new tracks aren't as interesting as the old tracks that Nascar let disappear . If Nascar ever loses Darlington , Martinsville , Daytona , and Richmond , they will be screwed .It is the consistancy of Nascar that has kept me coming back , not the change .
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Yes it does. Young talent is part of what makes other sports so great. Even Preseason draws big ratings for that reason. Nobody wants to watch Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth go at it another 10 years.
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Better them than a bunch of Timmy Hills .
 
Parity, cars producing almost equal amounts of HP with similar drag and downforce numbers.
The "gray" area where a crew chief can use his ingenuity grows increasingly smaller and smaller.
Mile and a half cookie cutter tracks. You don't need a Ph.D in economics to see there's more seats to put more butts in resulting in more $ than half to mile long tracks.

Nascar got greedy and now they're strangling the golden goose.
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
nascar is not for everyone. they need to stop trying to make it for everyone.
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Exactly. It's a niche sport whether or not they want to admit it.

As others have noted, the tracks are also a big problem. Not only are they pulling races out of the Southeast, they're going to these generic 1.5 milers that are too wide and have no character. Phoenix is probably the only venue that's relatively new to NASCAR that has some uniqueness to it. And the only positive change made to the schedule over the past decade is pulling a 2nd race out of Fontana.
 
carolinabuff said:
I think Humpy has alot of good points. Simply put, NASCAR got too big and too corporate and wanted to go national and attract new fans. The problem is, those fans checked in for a short time and then didn't stay because they weren't interested, and in the meantime they lost many of their longtime grass-roots fans. So in the end they came up short with both the old and the new fans.

Sure, there's other factors involved. It's a different world today in the internet age of instant news and every game in professional sports is available regardless of where you live if you want to pay for it. Most college teams in FBS are on TV every week. And the attention span of today's society is much shorter because there are simply so many options - you can have the game or race on TV while simultaneously browsing the internet, checking the up-to-the-minute stats of a game, and texting your buddies.
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Great post. And once you lose your hardcore fanbase, it's hard to get them back.
 
The local race fans from areas that have had a NASCRAP race for many years are Burnt-Out on the same ole same ole...Look at the crowds at newer venues like Kansas and Iowa with excellent attendance. Bristol has turned into a JOKE...They need to Re-Invent their marketing scheme...Look at the ELDORA race, people want something new and different...How about the night race @ Richmond being run in the opposite direction...Unfortunately the NASCRAP BRASS got their big tv money contract from FOX soooo they are complacent...Don't look for any substantial changes in the future, except less and less fannys in the seats....
 
fox-n-nbc now have tha big long term $$ in play......not tha butts in tha seats.

bruton-n-france corp's will now have ta answer ta them...... so any changes have ta work on tv/digital foremost.

luv humpy...but he's like me....times are a changin.....an we ain't ! ha!
 
hawg dawg said:
fox-n-nbc now have tha big long term $$ in play......not tha butts in tha seats.

bruton-n-france corp's will now have ta answer ta them...... so any changes have ta work on tv/digital foremost.

luv humpy...but he's like me....times are a changin.....an we ain't ! ha!
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Oh, FOX and NBC paid way too much for NASCAR to continue this decline. I think they'll be insisting that NASCAR mixes things up a little.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Oh, FOX and NBC paid way too much for NASCAR to continue this decline. I think they'll be insisting that NASCAR mixes things up a little.
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what can they mix up? They can't put the big boys on dirt.
AndyMarquisLive said:
It'll be interesting. Attendance doesn't matter anymore. NASCAR answers to NBC and Fox now. The television ratings are going to be more important than the corporate VIP suites.
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How much more can they do? if there is no passing for the lead the ratings will not be there. There is no racing/passing for the lead. Just look at yesterday mark was a mid pack car until he got out front by not pitting. then no one could pass him until he ran out of gas.
 
ted@economy said:
Yeah , that'll fix Nascar ....30 El Doras..
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You're missing the point. NASCAR needs to change ... something. People are tired of 30 races at tracks like Charlotte, Kansas and Michigan. That's why people love the road course and short track races so much.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
You're missing the point. NASCAR needs to change ... something. People are tired of 30 races at tracks like Charlotte, Kansas and Michigan. That's why people love the road course and short track races so much.
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even last weeks road course had no racing/passing for the lead.
 
Part of what is wrong with nascar is the multicar team monopoly. They should be limited to 2 cars per team. If you dont drive for the big boys you cannot win unless its a restrictor plate track. Back in the day somebody could win with a single car team. Now, we have start and parks. Past champion provisional should be abolished. If you dont qualify you dont race. Plates are another problem in itself. May as well be the IROC series the way the cars are. Track position is everything. Prices are too high. This is just a handful of things off the top of my head.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Races don't need 56 lead changes to be exciting. But, alas, I didn't see the Mid-Ohio race. I was at South Boston for the PASS race that got rained out.
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than what is your bitch? just watch the cars go around the track. me I like a little racing for the lead and passing up front.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
You're missing the point. NASCAR needs to change ... something. People are tired of 30 races at tracks like Charlotte, Kansas and Michigan. That's why people love the road course and short track races so much.
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There are some of us who are pure race fans, instead of stick and ball, and oh yeah I am a race fan too, that don't think there is much wrong with Nascar racing. I watch, in addition to Nascar, just about any race on 4 wheels and many on two. Hands down, the most consistently good races are in the various Nascar series races. Motor racing in general is so much better now than it was 20, 30 years ago for the most part. Judging how good the product is by people in the stands is an inaccurate way of doing it when you have millions watching it on TV and advertisers and media outlets paying big bucks for the most watched sports program of the weekend. I think ANDY needs to change..not Nascar..their doing quite well
 
ElliottFan said:
Part of what is wrong with nascar is the multicar team monopoly. They should be limited to 2 cars per team. If you dont drive for the big boys you cannot win unless its a restrictor plate track. Back in the day somebody could win with a single car team. Now, we have start and parks. Past champion provisional should be abolished. If you dont qualify you dont race. Plates are another problem in itself. May as well be the IROC series the way the cars are. Track position is everything. Prices are too high. This is just a handful of things off the top of my head.
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yes,Roush and Hendrick started the down fall of nascar. they are the ones started the out of control cost of nascar racing.
 
BOWTIE GUY said:
yes,Roush and Hendrick started the down fall of nascar. they are the ones started the out of control cost of nascar racing.
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They may have spent more , but everybody else spent all that they had or could borrow. That's life in the big leagues baby.
 
StandOnIt said:
There are some of us who are pure race fans, instead of stick and ball, and oh yeah I am a race fan too, that don't think there is much wrong with Nascar racing. I watch, in addition to Nascar, just about any race on 4 wheels and many on two. Hands down, the most consistently good races are in the various Nascar series races. Motor racing in general is so much better now than it was 20, 30 years ago for the most part. Judging how good the product is by people in the stands is an inaccurate way of doing it when you have millions watching it on TV and advertisers and media outlets paying big bucks for the most watched sports program of the weekend. I think ANDY needs to change..not Nascar..their doing quite well
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I take it you've never been to a dirt late model race, PASS race or K&N race. NASCAR is some of the worst racing there is.
 
ElliottFan said:
Part of what is wrong with nascar is the multicar team monopoly. They should be limited to 2 cars per team. If you dont drive for the big boys you cannot win unless its a restrictor plate track. Back in the day somebody could win with a single car team. Now, we have start and parks. Past champion provisional should be abolished. If you dont qualify you dont race. Plates are another problem in itself. May as well be the IROC series the way the cars are. Track position is everything. Prices are too high. This is just a handful of things off the top of my head.
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Yeah they should make Furniture row get more cars to be competitive dammit. but seriously, I think that has hit the ceiling. Nascar made them go down to 4 cars when the sport was in a big growth spurt and the economy was good. now many teams are having a hard time running three good cars. It has always been that way in not only Nascar, but auto racing forever. Petty was a big money team, Junior Johnson's stuff was first class on and on. Crying about something that has always been that way and isn't going to change. Big money usually wins.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I take it you've never been to a dirt late model race, PASS race or K&N race. NASCAR is some of the worst racing there is.
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before you were born, I was going to dirt tracks, drag races, boat races with Allison engines in them... I've forgot more about racing than you know. Your stick n ball B.S. ya got me there.
 
ted@economy said:
How can you argue with 'fans' like that?
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I'm a racing fan. I go to more races a year than you can count. Hell, I can't even count how many races I've been to this year. I'd rather watch NASCAR than baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey, lacrosse or any other stick and ball sport that isn't football any day. That doesn't mean the racing is good.
 
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