NASCAR aiming for younger, more diverse fans, quicker finishes

To help attract younger fans, the sport has spruced up its website and mobile apps after building a media and entertainment hub in Charlotte.
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This just screams "We hired a consultant and they charged us $1000 an hour fee and told us to do this. Having Aps and a nicer website isn't going to attract younger fans when your on track product is as bad as NASCARs is right now. I expect all the people that rated Charlotte an "8" to disagree of course, but just turning practice laps for the first 80% of a race isn't going to appeal to the young folks.

NASCAR this year introduced a “Generation 6” car, with vehicles that look more like the factory models.
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No, they don't look like production cars. They have DECALS for headlights and Grills, and even Decals for fake tailpipes on the back. The Gen 6 car is a "look we did something!" change and nothing more. It' still terrible.

Gibbs, the team president, said race length is a difficult balancing act.

“I have four boys,” he said. “They are not going to watch something for three and a half hours. But we also have fans who say, ‘I want my four hours of racing.’”
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Yea, no kidding. Especially when the first 2 hours are so meaningless that drivers wave to each other when they pass.
 
Matthew2470 said:
If NASCAR wants the new hip demo they should probably tell their young stars to quit wearing those stupid cowboy hats and stop with the prayer crap before each race.
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Yes, this makes perfect sense. I've always thought that cowboy hat wearing prayer reciting folk are the downfall of America and not just NASCAR.

Stetsonphobia is alive and well.
 
muggle not said:
Doesn't make sense. Shorten the races yet run both races on the same track on the same day.
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Why not 2 series on the same day makes perfect sense, crowds for NW are ****, why not have them on the same day?
 
gordonite said:
The best way to create a new nascar fan is take a non-fan to a Cup race. I would never have become a hardcore nascar fan if I had never attended my first race. Being there in person to see the race and everything involved is what made me a nascar fan.

You're not going to get new fans just from watching it on TV. Getting new people to the track will get you new nascar fans.

Ratings may be more important than attendance, but if they don't try to get (new) people to the track, this sport is headed for a massive drop in attendance and ratings.
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Totally agree....I took my Ex wife to a Craftsman Truck race at PPIR back in 2001, this was when you could get close to the action and stand right against the catch fence. She had never been to a race before, a native of Hawaii, racing was unheard of in her state unless it was on a quad or motorcycle. Well, trucks come roaring out of turn 4 to the start line for the green, she is holding her beer and screaming as the flag is waving....hooked on the first lap. From that point on we went to Vegas, Colorado National almost on a weekly basis, Phoenix, and a lot of local tracks out here in New England when I moved back here. She loved it, and I firmly believe that exposing some one to live up close racing is the best way to gain a new fan...absolutely!
 
gordonite said:
The best way to create a new nascar fan is take a non-fan to a Cup race. I would never have become a hardcore nascar fan if I had never attended my first race. Being there in person to see the race and everything involved is what made me a nascar fan.

You're not going to get new fans just from watching it on TV. Getting new people to the track will get you new nascar fans.

Ratings may be more important than attendance, but if they don't try to get (new) people to the track, this sport is headed for a massive drop in attendance and ratings.
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The on-track product isn't good enough to get fans interested by watching a Cup race in person. Short tracks and dirt tracks are one thing.

Yes, I've gone to Cup races in person and been bored. And others on here have as well. The racing is that bad right now. Mainly because NASCAR races at a bunch of brobdingnagians that were built for open wheel racing.
 
Also, and I blame this more on the corporate sponsors, but the sport is not fan friendly and hasn't been for some time. The drivers are surrounded by marketing representatives that tie the drivers down in sponsorship commitments and, in a lot of cases, they go out of their way to keep drivers away from the fans. You have to "be somebody" to get to meet drivers or get that close to the action.
 
If they could race more like the last 20 laps at Charlotte it would help. Long runs of follow the leader are boring.

Better racing is the answer. Not shorter races or more diversity.

Dirty up the areo on the cars and let them race.
 
I think better fans are the answer..ones that can enjoy the race without whining like a baby and doing their best to influence others to be as miserable as they are. Got quite a few losers who cluster together (misery loves company) and the poor souls are so miserable by the time the race is over, I question their reason for watching the race? It isn't for watching, but the main motive is to make each other more miserable than when they started. If I was that miserable watching a race..well lets try it again..I wouldn't watch a race in the first place if it made me that miserable. Insane people do the same thing over and over expecting different results. Self flagellation... Oh yeah..and it is always better somewhere else than where they are..the game or a program..or another racing series..and it is always somebodies fault why they are miserable..THEY are making me miserable..yeah that's it..it is THERE fault. Don't take responsibility for their own happiness or misery, spend all your time on the earth trying to control others who you can't control..and ignoring the person who you can change...yourself. Enjoy the next race, it could be your last. Let Nascar and other forms of racing be what they are...you will be happier..it is a conscious choice.
 
1. Perhaps I have never articulated the thought but some hot trophies queen would help. I mean like duh the evaporating white man isnt the only ones that like them.

2. I liked Nascar better when Nascar wasnt cool anyway, and I tired of dumbing down the racing with gimicks to attract and keep the shallow fans.

3. If you cant handle 4 plus hours and long greens, I hope you whither away before Nascar accommodates your whims.

4. Change isnt always bad, but just pursue making real improvements, like some real stock components and stop the bull**** debris cautions.

Note #3 isnt meant to insult anyone, but I felt like it needed to be said.
 
sloggie said:
This just screams "We hired a consultant and they charged us $1000 an hour fee and told us to do this. Having Aps and a nicer website isn't going to attract younger fans when your on track product is as bad as NASCARs is right now. I expect all the people that rated Charlotte an "8" to disagree of course, but just turning practice laps for the first 80% of a race isn't going to appeal to the young folks.



No, they don't look like production cars. They have DECALS for headlights and Grills, and even Decals for fake tailpipes on the back. The Gen 6 car is a "look we did something!" change and nothing more. It' still terrible.



Yea, no kidding. Especially when the first 2 hours are so meaningless that drivers wave to each other when they pass.
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This is why I think races should be no more than 300 miles in length, what is the point in running around for half the race turning fast laps, not actually racing so much, but waiting for the last 75 or so to make the moves you need to make???!!! Make the races shorter so these teams half to make changes sooner, so the drivers have a sense of urgency to go! Maybe have one long distance race like the Coke 600 on Memorial day, other than that, no more than 300 miles. And yes the Gen 6 car did not go far enough, it was and is just a tease, but some of the racing has been better. Nascar sure and hell has to tweak this new car and allow teams to tinker with the set ups more!
 
kinda hard to dissolve into extinction when the ratings are up this year...some of them breaking all time records..maybe you need to dissolve? But, in your case and the other poor miserable souls, I'm sure you can find something else to make yourself miserable..you will have plenty of company sitting on the pity pot.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think better fans are the answer..ones that can enjoy the race without whining like a baby and doing their best to influence others to be as miserable as they are. Got quite a few losers who cluster together (misery loves company) and the poor souls are so miserable by the time the race is over, I question their reason for watching the race? It isn't for watching, but the main motive is to make each other more miserable than when they started. If I was that miserable watching a race..well lets try it again..I wouldn't watch a race in the first place if it made me that miserable. Insane people do the same thing over and over expecting different results. Self flagellation... Oh yeah..and it is always better somewhere else than where they are..the game or a program..or another racing series..and it is always somebodies fault why they are miserable..THEY are making me miserable..yeah that's it..it is THERE fault. Don't take responsibility for their own happiness or misery, spend all your time on the earth trying to control others who you can't control..and ignoring the person who you can change...yourself. Enjoy the next race, it could be your last. Let Nascar and other forms of racing be what they are...you will be happier..it is a conscious choice.
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Ha...wow how profound you think you are, if the racing was in fact that much better the actual critics who have been around this sport for more than 5 years would give it its 'due....but it isn't, and there is the problem. I have been to so many races on a local level and a National, I lost count, watched Cup level racing when you could only get it on Wide World of Sports in bits and pieces weeks after it ran. Nascar has evolved, like any other sport it has ups and downs, it happens to be in a down turn right now and there are reasons for that. I think for one the Chief Naascar guys(France and Company) have grown indifferent. They made their billions, what's left to do now, they can ride that all the way to the bank for the rest of their lives and the rest of the lives of their families. They tweak it just enough here and there to appease a few, but the real fans, the ones that have been here for decades see right through it. You may like the racing, I like some of it, but last nights race was horrible, probably one of the worst or maybe the worst of the season. If it wasn't for the "Mystery" debris caution with 27 to go JJ would of ran away with the win, there would of been no little battle for first for those 5 exciting laps! Five laps of excitement out of 367, really??? Wow that was a good race wasn't it???!!!
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yes, this makes perfect sense. I've always thought that cowboy hat wearing prayer reciting folk are the downfall of America and not just NASCAR.

Stetsonphobia is alive and well.
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This one goes even deeper..

cowboy jesus.gif
 
sorry you had a miserable time..I enjoyed the racing all weekend long..apparently so did millions more who watched the race. If you don't think the cautions aren't the right kind or thrown at the wrong time what did you do, just wake up from a long nap? About like stick n ballers whining about a bad spot of the ball. so what, it happens in every race I have ever watched that threw a caution..it is the wrong time/place/mystery for someone who is looking for a reason to be miserable.
 
Keeping up with technology and social media is a no-brainer for any business.

Make race day two heat races (at least more than one fuel window, so a pit stop is necessary), LCQ race, and a 100 - 250 lap feature (at least three fuel windows). Exceptions being big track races at Daytona and Talladega; keep them one 500 mile race and accentuate the endurance factor - bigger gas tank to encourage tire or even short-fueling strategy, etc. I'd love to see IndyCar do this, too.

I agree with some of the posters here that getting more folks to the track for the first time can be a big boost, but it's a lot harder to keep up with the leader and position changes without TV and commentators explaining everything. It's the overall spectacle of the experience that makes it so attractive - same as going to any other major sporting event (or concert, for that matter). But for me, the sounds and smells you don't get at home make it worthwhile to have to walk to the restroom.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
If younger people all have short attention spans and it's an ADD generation, how come they still watch football games and baseball games?

That's an excuse.
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Young people aren't exactly flooding football stadiums in huge numbers.

Declining student attendance is an illness that has been spreading for years nationwide. But now it has hit the Southeastern Conference, home to college football's best teams and supposedly its most fervent fans, giving athletics officials reason to fret about future ticket sales and fundraising.

As it turns out, Georgia students left empty 39% of their designated sections of Sanford Stadium over the last four seasons, according to school records of student-ticket scans. Despite their allocation of about 18,000 seats, the number of students at games between 2009 and 2012 never exceeded 15,000.

Winning isn't even necessarily a solution. The average student crowd to see last year's Georgia team—which finished the season ranked No. 5—was almost 6,000 short of maximum capacity. Even at Alabama, 32% of student seats went unused by students between 2009 and 2012, when the Crimson Tide won three national championships. Alabama coach Nick Saban wrote a flattering letter last week in the student paper to recruit students back.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304795804579097223907738780.html
 
sloggie said:
This just screams "We hired a consultant and they charged us $1000 an hour fee and told us to do this. Having Aps and a nicer website isn't going to attract younger fans when your on track product is as bad as NASCARs is right now.
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It doesn't help that their new web site is still terrible, too. NASCAR.com is the only site to consistently make my laptop lag, and it's overall a pain in the ass to navigate and not aesthetically pleasing.
 
LIL
And knock off DJ asking the in race reporter/driver a question from the Summers Eve mail bag...like a driver on the warm up lap prior to green has nothing better to do.
 
gordonite said:
Can you imagine MLB cutting games back to 5 innings to help boost ratings?

IMO shortening Cup races is simply barking up the wrong tree.
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Different sports.

If baseball decided only runs scored in the last inning will count, 5 innings would be a good move for sure.
 
I dont have a problem with social media, wouldn't be here without it.

But just how many freaking changes do ya need.
Nascar is already changing to accommodate a crowd that will never be satisfied and most likely doesn't even know what they want. It is the impossible dream.

Cant focus for four hours, Ok we will give you:

Nonsense debris cautions
Your driver need a mulligan? heres a lucky dog.
Dont like it when the same old SOB wins? Ok heres the double file restarts to complement the BS caution we just threw for one of your drivers.

We will just keep reshuffling the cards and just maybe we will get to How you think you may want things.

Nascar isnt perfect, there are not enough owners to bust up the big box effects of the superteams. But changing that is as practical as trying to manipulate the weather.

If you dont like Nascar why not just find your real love, and quit trying to inflict your misery on to a formula that has proven to work well for many generations.

Last of all you cant mass produce the majical moments like Alan Kulwicki 1992, or Craven/Kurt at Darlington.
You either have the patience to wait for those magical times or you don't, but expecting and trying to contrive it every week is a fools errand (maybe one myself not sure of the spelling of "errand").
 
Analogy: A successful young man tries to accommodate his young wifes every whim well beyond just compromising with the routine housebreaking, or orientation.

Then one day she realizes she liked him better when he wasnt completely broken. She also realizes she already had the thing that he has become, and hers is natural and better than his denatured equipment.

Hence, he is no longer interesting, respected, wanted or needed.

Nascar doesnt need to become that man.
 
kinda funny, I have watched races in the past, long time ago, when the leader would be two or three laps ahead of second, second a lap ahead of third fourth and fifth place. They throw a caution..nobody gets a lap back on the restart unless they out run the leader and drive all the way around the track or catch a caution..years later as the competition got closer..leader laps everybody, couple more might be on the same lap..they throw a caution..lap down cars and multi lap cars line up on the inside..restart and all the faster cars lined up on the outside have to pass the back markers on the inside to have a run at the leader..Nascar kept growing and changing..now today you have wave arounds, lucky dogs and routinely have 10 to 20 cars on the lead lap, all lined up acording to their place. restarts that are exciting to watch. I don't think the racing is worse, but Nascar has attracted more people and became the most popular motorsport in the country and is popular world wide. But with the growth and the changes to make the sport better, you also get the Pseudo fans that if it was like it was in the old days they wouldn't be around probably.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Yes, this makes perfect sense. I've always thought that cowboy hat wearing prayer reciting folk are the downfall of America and not just NASCAR.

Stetsonphobia is alive and well.
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Makes about as much sense as the rest of the crap on this thread . Where have all the Nascar fans gone? Shorten the races ? Add a seventh inning stretch ? Allow push to pass ? Give extra points for a really good spin ? This is total crap! Change the fans , don't change the racing.
 
Again, it's BS to blame younger people and say they had ADD and there's no point in accommodating them. It's convenient to say that to yourselves but it's not true. The reason a five hour NASCAR race doesn't hold peoples' attention isn't because of attention span, it's because the races are boring. The networks cutting to commercials every five laps doesn't help either.

If the races were half as good as the Late Model race at Martinsville, I'd watch for 10 hours.

You can keep blaming the fans but that won't change the fact that the racing sucks more times than not. Is it better this year than the past few? Yes. But it's not even half as good as the races I grew up watching.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
I think it's bull**** to say young people don't love cars. Young people don't love Ford and Chevy cars because they're pieces of ****. Honda and Toyota owners definitely love their cars because their cars take care of them. Subi owners are a different breed - it's a Subi world.
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Are you forming your opinions from your area???

Around here, more than half of the vehicles are trucks, work vehicles. I can't remember the last time I saw a Subaru or Honda truck pulling a grain wagon. I have owned GM products most of my life and have racked up many, many miles on them.

Oh, by the way, I would rather have a redneck at my side than some tofu farting pansy...;)
 
If late model racing at Martinsville was half as good at Nascar racing at any track , networks would be falling all over themselves to broadcast it . Sorry that racing isn't working out for you Andy . I guess this is goodbye . :(
 
So you guys are going to sit here with a straight face and tell me that the entire Charlotte race was the best racing has to offer and that fans who don't like it should quit watching?
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
So you guys are going to sit here with a straight face and tell me that the entire Charlotte race was the best racing has to offer and that fans who don't like it should quit watching?
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I enjoyed the racing last night, really, I completely enjoyed it.

Maybe if you tried watching a race with a positive frame of mind, you could as well.
 
I would like to see that cry baby name one Nascar cup race he hasn't bitched about.
uh yep..that particular race was the best they could do with that tire on that track, with the distance they ran, and the drivers that were there, at that night, with the conditions they were racing under. You don't like the show? the race? might be a better race next week. Shut up and watch or get the heck out. About the best thing that happened in that race was the Mod told ya to shut up nicely and take it to the podium. That was great to have a toothless unwhiney Andy for one race...What was even better was when you went to martinsville and we got to watch and comment on the whole race without ya..we had a great time without the crying.
 
StandOnIt said:
sorry you had a miserable time..I enjoyed the racing all weekend long..apparently so did millions more who watched the race. If you don't think the cautions aren't the right kind or thrown at the wrong time what did you do, just wake up from a long nap? About like stick n ballers whining about a bad spot of the ball. so what, it happens in every race I have ever watched that threw a caution..it is the wrong time/place/mystery for someone who is looking for a reason to be miserable.
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You are wayoff dude, Nascar has been throwing Mystery cautions for years now every time a race gets boring like last nights did. If you think that is a good thing, then I guess you really don't think too much of actual racing.
 
ted@economy said:
Makes about as much sense as the rest of the crap on this thread . Where have all the Nascar fans gone? Shorten the races ? Add a seventh inning stretch ? Allow push to pass ? Give extra points for a really good spin ? This is total crap! Change the fans , don't change the racing.
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Another so called fan that doesn't know what good racing is!
 
StandOnIt said:
kinda funny, I have watched races in the past, long time ago, when the leader would be two or three laps ahead of second, second a lap ahead of third fourth and fifth place. They throw a caution..nobody gets a lap back on the restart unless they out run the leader and drive all the way around the track or catch a caution..years later as the competition got closer..leader laps everybody, couple more might be on the same lap..they throw a caution..lap down cars and multi lap cars line up on the inside..restart and all the faster cars lined up on the outside have to pass the back markers on the inside to have a run at the leader..Nascar kept growing and changing..now today you have wave arounds, lucky dogs and routinely have 10 to 20 cars on the lead lap, all lined up acording to their place. restarts that are exciting to watch. I don't think the racing is worse, but Nascar has attracted more people and became the most popular motorsport in the country and is popular world wide. But with the growth and the changes to make the sport better, you also get the Pseudo fans that if it was like it was in the old days they wouldn't be around probably.
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So mystery debris cautions are ok then?
 
StandOnIt said:
I would like to see that cry baby name one Nascar cup race he hasn't bitched about.
uh yep..that particular race was the best they could do with that tire on that track, with the distance they ran, and the drivers that were there, at that night, with the conditions they were racing under. You don't like the show? the race? might be a better race next week. Shut up and watch or get the heck out. About the best thing that happened in that race was the Mod told ya to shut up nicely and take it to the podium. That was great to have a toothless unwhiney Andy for one race...What was even better was when you went to martinsville and we got to watch and comment on the whole race without ya..we had a great time without the crying.
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Wow....you done? I think you are the one that is the major whiney ass here.
 
ted@economy said:
Come on Andy , it's not just the Charlotte race you don't like.
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Keep in mind that it is not only the Charlotte race that many, many fans don't like. The attendance is down at all the tracks.

I agree though that it is BS to cut down the length of the races. the new tracks that have replaced N.Wilkesboro, Rockingham, etc probably share some of the blame.
 
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