FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
Nate Ryan.
What will it take to drive the new savior of the Sprint Cup Series straight into your hearts, NASCAR fans?
A cool nickname? Meet the Gen 6 stock car, a catchy moniker so subversively sophisticated, it makes Apple employees jealous. A raft of glowing testimonials? The reviews for the revamped 2013 model have been so universally positive they're enough to place it in the running for car of the year.
A full-court promotional press? The wave of propaganda churned out by the industry's vast marketing machine has been virtually omnipresent for two months, blanketing the offseason with glitzy news conferences, splashy infographics and striking photo ops. The annual preseason gleefest of sweetness and light conjured images of a chorus of smooth car salesmen touting the Gen 6 as an off-the-lot panacea for all that ails NASCAR.
Carpower, in other words.
"I really believe we're going to see some of the most competitive, intense and exciting racing that we've seen in quite some time," said vice president of competition Robin Pemberton.
"Unbelievable excitement and anticipation," said Chairman Brian France, adding the car will be graded based on the action it produces (i.e., lead changes, passing, side-by-side racing).
But here is the drawback with hanging the entire season on a new car whose sexier and sleeker look admittedly is striking. How well the car drives ultimately might not be the primary determinant of whether the racing improves.
Among the dirty little secrets of auto racing: It can be inherently boring to a casual observer.
The new car has been compared with the advent of the 3-point shot in basketball and the designated hitter in baseball, but creating offense in NASCAR isn't as simple as adding water. At the 1.5-mile superspeedways prevalent on the Cup schedule, sometimes no amount of passing can mask the monotony of long periods under green. There simply aren't enough remaining short tracks – three that host six of 36 races – to create the weekly fender-banging that made NASCAR a contact sport.
External factors also are critical. Consider last year's gripping Formula One finale. Sebastian Vettel won the championship after spinning on the first lap of a race in which intermittent rain showers upended strategies and left the outcome in doubt.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon was as enraptured as anyone but also was struck by the perception.
"Everyone was raving about what amazing racing it was," Gordon said. "But it wasn't the racing. That was just drama that was created as well as a lot on the line for the championship. That's what everybody wants. We have tracks with plenty of side-by-side racing, but if they get long green-flag runs, then people kind of forget about it. So to me, what we're needing is the buzz in this car, which we have. We need to have more good races. And we need to add a little drama – and we had spurts of it last year."
Much of the drama is sparked when the field is bunched up by caution flags, which also are an indicator of aggressive and entertaining racing in which drivers test the limits. There was a dearth of yellows early last season, which included a bizarre four-month stretch of nearly 2,500 miles without a multicar wreck on the 1.5- to 2-mile ovals. Drivers seemed almost hesitant to push the envelope and risk their title chances.
It made for mostly a lackluster final season for the Gen 6's much-maligned predecessor, which also was billed as a means for enhancing competition while vastly improving safety features. "The Car of Tomorrow" probably saved many lives, but it didn't save stock-car racing from its woes. In fact, as France conceded recently on the media tour, the 2007-12 edition harmed NASCAR's brand.
It was a homogenized, pig-ugly car that fans despised for its aesthetics, and drivers hated just as much for its lack of stability in traffic. Yet it also produced some indelible moments. Consider last November at Phoenix International Raceway. Few remember the first 235 laps that featured nary a multicar crash. Everyone, though, remembers the next 84 laps that featured wild swings in the championship, a garage brawl and incensed allegations of mystery oil slicks. Caution flags and multicar pileups featured prominently in all of it.
It's virtually impossible to legislate drama in racing without resorting to tricked-up, ham-handed concepts. Though track owner and showman Bruton Smith has floated the idea of mandatory caution flags, even that seems beyond the pale for the stock-car circus. Besides NASCAR already has taken many steps, such as double-file restarts, that should be applauded.
"If there are more things they can do like that, then awesome," Gordon said. "But NASCAR implements a mandatory caution, we can't create those on our own. It has to happen naturally."
The 2013 car might give NASCAR a better chance at enjoying more races such as Phoenix. Drivers have hailed its increased downforce as providing the handling that might encourage more daring moves.
Ultimately, though, an uptick in excitement won't result from just putting the cars on the track.
It'll depend on those who drive them.
Starpower, in other words.
What will it take to drive the new savior of the Sprint Cup Series straight into your hearts, NASCAR fans?
A cool nickname? Meet the Gen 6 stock car, a catchy moniker so subversively sophisticated, it makes Apple employees jealous. A raft of glowing testimonials? The reviews for the revamped 2013 model have been so universally positive they're enough to place it in the running for car of the year.
A full-court promotional press? The wave of propaganda churned out by the industry's vast marketing machine has been virtually omnipresent for two months, blanketing the offseason with glitzy news conferences, splashy infographics and striking photo ops. The annual preseason gleefest of sweetness and light conjured images of a chorus of smooth car salesmen touting the Gen 6 as an off-the-lot panacea for all that ails NASCAR.
Carpower, in other words.
"I really believe we're going to see some of the most competitive, intense and exciting racing that we've seen in quite some time," said vice president of competition Robin Pemberton.
"Unbelievable excitement and anticipation," said Chairman Brian France, adding the car will be graded based on the action it produces (i.e., lead changes, passing, side-by-side racing).
But here is the drawback with hanging the entire season on a new car whose sexier and sleeker look admittedly is striking. How well the car drives ultimately might not be the primary determinant of whether the racing improves.
Among the dirty little secrets of auto racing: It can be inherently boring to a casual observer.
The new car has been compared with the advent of the 3-point shot in basketball and the designated hitter in baseball, but creating offense in NASCAR isn't as simple as adding water. At the 1.5-mile superspeedways prevalent on the Cup schedule, sometimes no amount of passing can mask the monotony of long periods under green. There simply aren't enough remaining short tracks – three that host six of 36 races – to create the weekly fender-banging that made NASCAR a contact sport.
External factors also are critical. Consider last year's gripping Formula One finale. Sebastian Vettel won the championship after spinning on the first lap of a race in which intermittent rain showers upended strategies and left the outcome in doubt.
Four-time champion Jeff Gordon was as enraptured as anyone but also was struck by the perception.
"Everyone was raving about what amazing racing it was," Gordon said. "But it wasn't the racing. That was just drama that was created as well as a lot on the line for the championship. That's what everybody wants. We have tracks with plenty of side-by-side racing, but if they get long green-flag runs, then people kind of forget about it. So to me, what we're needing is the buzz in this car, which we have. We need to have more good races. And we need to add a little drama – and we had spurts of it last year."
Much of the drama is sparked when the field is bunched up by caution flags, which also are an indicator of aggressive and entertaining racing in which drivers test the limits. There was a dearth of yellows early last season, which included a bizarre four-month stretch of nearly 2,500 miles without a multicar wreck on the 1.5- to 2-mile ovals. Drivers seemed almost hesitant to push the envelope and risk their title chances.
It made for mostly a lackluster final season for the Gen 6's much-maligned predecessor, which also was billed as a means for enhancing competition while vastly improving safety features. "The Car of Tomorrow" probably saved many lives, but it didn't save stock-car racing from its woes. In fact, as France conceded recently on the media tour, the 2007-12 edition harmed NASCAR's brand.
It was a homogenized, pig-ugly car that fans despised for its aesthetics, and drivers hated just as much for its lack of stability in traffic. Yet it also produced some indelible moments. Consider last November at Phoenix International Raceway. Few remember the first 235 laps that featured nary a multicar crash. Everyone, though, remembers the next 84 laps that featured wild swings in the championship, a garage brawl and incensed allegations of mystery oil slicks. Caution flags and multicar pileups featured prominently in all of it.
It's virtually impossible to legislate drama in racing without resorting to tricked-up, ham-handed concepts. Though track owner and showman Bruton Smith has floated the idea of mandatory caution flags, even that seems beyond the pale for the stock-car circus. Besides NASCAR already has taken many steps, such as double-file restarts, that should be applauded.
"If there are more things they can do like that, then awesome," Gordon said. "But NASCAR implements a mandatory caution, we can't create those on our own. It has to happen naturally."
The 2013 car might give NASCAR a better chance at enjoying more races such as Phoenix. Drivers have hailed its increased downforce as providing the handling that might encourage more daring moves.
Ultimately, though, an uptick in excitement won't result from just putting the cars on the track.
It'll depend on those who drive them.
Starpower, in other words.
Bummer.
