NASCAR, Rednecks & Millenials

ChexOrWrex

ChexOrWrex

Ya gotta wanna
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Since the announcement that Monster Energy is the new title sponsor of NASCAR, I have seen a good handful of young people (not on this forum but in other online domains and real life) talk about how this is good for the sport to move away from its 'redneck base'. I was unaware that folks had an issue with NASCAR's redeck identity.

Being a fan of a sport that was born from white lightening runners and southern country boys, I cant see why alienating the niche market can be seen as a good thing.

What say you?
 
I think there is a group of NASCARs Redneck fans that are "deplorables". For example I was watching After The Lap live on Facebook and when Claire B Lang came out with Sauter and Suarez there was a good amount of comments saying that either Claire is ugly or Daniel needs to learn how to speak English. I for one think those are the people us young folk want out but of course that's not all rednecks.
 
Well I'm a redneck and I'm also a millennial. It would bode well for NASCAR to get away from the redneck stigma that they have with a lot of people. Monster might be able to help with that and bring in a more diverse audience. Suarez and Bubba Wallace coming up to Cup might help some to.
 
I'm a millenial and I think the issue isn't so much that it's generally perceived as redneck as much as it is just uncool. Somebody posted the stats here recently showing that a huge, lopsided amount of NASCAR fans these days are frankly pretty old. I think Monster, being a high energy lifestyle brand that advertises purely on attaching themselves to cool things, will be key to opening the sport up to a younger audience.

But here's a big part of why I think the sport doesn't thrive with young people right now: It sucks to watch live. This summer I went to Fenway Park for the first time, and then the following weekend I went to the first Loudon Cup race. I do not really follow baseball and I think it is painfully boring to watch on TV. On the other hand, I've been following NASCAR and other forms of motorsport since I was 5. Here is my take when comparing the live experiences...

Baseball games are fun because you can go with friends and actually talk to them and enjoy it together and then there are the intense moments sprinkled in. You can get $30 standing room tickets like I had and still have an awesome view. It's part of a fun daytrip into Boston because you can also go do other stuff like check out bars or whatever you want before and/or after the game.

Loudon... Cheap tickets at a racetrack suck because you're too low in the stands to see anything. It is SO freakin loud that even as a car guy I found it to be super annoying during green flag runs where there's no break in traffic. And with green flag runs, talking over 100 laps here, NOTHING HAPPENS. It's like sitting there in an echo chamber for an hour straight you can't even follow it well because unlike Fenway there isn't a beautiful, clear, giant TV with information. And on the scanner I want the team chatter, not to have to tune into the radio broadcast. And outside of the track there is NOTHING. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Travel to the track, have your ears assaulted for three hours to see a boring ass race and then go home. A casual fan can go to a baseball game and have fun. A casual racefan cannot say the same about the track experience.
 
I can't really add, I'm a millennial but with my political views and other stuff I'm already a very atypical nascar fan
 
Agree with cheesepuffs that a lot of tracks are secluded with nothing around them. Kentucky has a gas station across the road and that's it. Another thing is the lack of hotels around the tracks as most fans camp for the weekend but younger fans are not really the camping type and most don't own campers. I don't know how you really fix that problem as putting a hotel next to a track would only get business during a race weekend and would be dead the rest the year.
 
I am thankful to have an identity now and stamped with my certification. After I am done chasing my sister around the house, I reckon I will commence to posting the res' of my rednekcar thoughts.

Sectioning off demographics is a placebo.
Just put on the best racing possible and let nature run it's course. Car people and people attracted to those related things will love the adrenaline rush, the noise and smells. Just set up races that are genuine without the shenanigans.

A study of demographics might make for good conversation, but you are not going to trick a person into invested 3 or 4 hours of their mental energy into something they are not attracted too. And I wouldn't want to take someone that isnt into it, to a race. I would not want to get pulled into something that was personally unappealing for several hours.

About the age thing. It is part of life, we get older and eventually go bye bye. But it was good solid racing that bought most of us into racing. And simply stated that's paramount or the essence.
Before Sprint, Monster or whatever. There just the commercials worthy of the purchased advertisement. But they are not the real product. It is about the racing imo.
 
My nephew in So. Cal. just texted me down in NZ (vibered actually) an hour ago to say ...Hey, let's go to the Phoenix Nascar race in Phoenix totally out of the blue.
He's 30 and I'm the last of the boomers at 53.
I'm thinking that Monster may have had some effect already......social media? Anyhow I think it's cool he asked. :)
 
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cheesepuffs said:
I'm a millenial and I think the issue isn't so much that it's generally perceived as redneck as much as it is just uncool. Somebody posted the stats here recently showing that a huge, lopsided amount of NASCAR fans these days are frankly pretty old. I think Monster, being a high energy lifestyle brand that advertises purely on attaching themselves to cool things, will be key to opening the sport up to a younger audience.

But here's a big part of why I think the sport doesn't thrive with young people right now: It sucks to watch live. This summer I went to Fenway Park for the first time, and then the following weekend I went to the first Loudon Cup race. I do not really follow baseball and I think it is painfully boring to watch on TV. On the other hand, I've been following NASCAR and other forms of motorsport since I was 5. Here is my take when comparing the live experiences...

Baseball games are fun because you can go with friends and actually talk to them and enjoy it together and then there are the intense moments sprinkled in. You can get $30 standing room tickets like I had and still have an awesome view. It's part of a fun daytrip into Boston because you can also go do other stuff like check out bars or whatever you want before and/or after the game.

Loudon... Cheap tickets at a racetrack suck because you're too low in the stands to see anything. It is SO freakin loud that even as a car guy I found it to be super annoying during green flag runs where there's no break in traffic. And with green flag runs, talking over 100 laps here, NOTHING HAPPENS. It's like sitting there in an echo chamber for an hour straight you can't even follow it well because unlike Fenway there isn't a beautiful, clear, giant TV with information. And on the scanner I want the team chatter, not to have to tune into the radio broadcast. And outside of the track there is NOTHING. Nowhere to go. Nothing to do. Travel to the track, have your ears assaulted for three hours to see a boring ass race and then go home. A casual fan can go to a baseball game and have fun. A casual racefan cannot say the same about the track experience.
Click to expand...

Renting a scanner would have improved your experience and saved your ears.

Pretty sure people that were our age in the 60's got assaulted by the same noise. Fenway was the same too.


Bottom line is Motorsports are declining and society sucks.
 
I was born in 1989 and I am considered a millennial, even though I don't feel I am. I have been watching Nascar since the 1996 season. For a lot of people my age, are attention spans are a lot smaller than generations past. We grew up in a video game era and personally I have felt the effects of this myself. The internet has made it where, when I see big paragraph's and long stories I shy away from reading the article. Sports has always been the one thing though, that I have never had this problem with. Unfortunately any sports exceeding 3 hours has been criticized recently. The short attention spans leave the viewers either wanting constant entertainment (crash's for some I suppose) or only caring about the outcome of the event. I have a friend who will record the races just to fast forward through the whole thing and look for crashes and then watch the last 5 laps.

Getting away from there core base is a double edged sword. They have already dumbed down the points system (1-43 point system) and manipulate the championship by creating a different playoff format every couple years. This will likely continue if they choose to court the millennial audience.
 
NasNYG567 said:
I think there is a group of NASCARs Redneck fans that are "deplorables". For example I was watching After The Lap live on Facebook and when Claire B Lang came out with Sauter and Suarez there was a good amount of comments saying that either Claire is ugly or Daniel needs to learn how to speak English. I for one think those are the people us young folk want out but of course that's not all rednecks.
Click to expand...


Are snowflakes preferred over redneck deplorable's?
 
Greg said:
I am thankful to have an identity now and stamped with my certification. After I am done chasing my sister around the house, I reckon I will commence to posting the res' of my rednekcar thoughts.

Sectioning off demographics is a placebo.
Just put on the best racing possible and let nature run it's course. Car people and people attracted to those related things will love the adrenaline rush, the noise and smells. Just set up races that are genuine without the shenanigans.

A study of demographics might make for good conversation, but you are not going to trick a person into invested 3 or 4 hours of their mental energy into something they are not attracted too. And I wouldn't want to take someone that isnt into it, to a race. I would not want to get pulled into something that was personally unappealing for several hours.

About the age thing. It is part of life, we get older and eventually go bye bye. But it was good solid racing that bought most of us into racing. And simply stated that's paramount or the essence.
Before Sprint, Monster or whatever. There just the commercials worthy of the purchased advertisement. But they are not the real product. It is about the racing imo.
Click to expand...
:booya: Awesome Greg! There's nothing like the smell of race fuel, a bucket of chicken, a cooler slam full of beer, and a stop watch to pacify me at the racetrack. Before Brad K., I had nobody left to pull for(Rusty already retired) but John Andretti in his first year in the #34 FRM car. He ran about 20th all day at the Martinsville race(last one I've been to, Oct.2009), but I was content to follow him every lap of the race and stop watch him the entire time. Man, I really need to hit the track again.
 
cheesepuffs said:
... It sucks to watch live. ... And on the scanner I want the team chatter, not to have to tune into the radio broadcast. ...
Click to expand...
If the younger opinion is that live racing is an inferior way to watch this sport, it's doomed. I've always regarded it as the best way, primarily because TV coverage can't show the entire field.

A scanner will carry team chatter. That's exactly why they're popular. Maybe yours was incorrectly programmed. Is it possible you weren't using it to full effect?
 
I like the sport as it was, pre-Chase, pre-gimmick, pre-social media. I understand that times change and you either change with the times or you get run over.
I don't believe that a new popular series sponsor is save the sport and cause new fans to flood the grandstands. If you aren't into stock car racing then drinking an energy drink isn't going to suddenly open your eyes.
My experience in the grandstands is a mix of demographics. People of all ages, races, etc. all around. The decline in attendance and ratings is not the result of any perceived redneckphobia. If you aren't into NASCAR to begin with then removing a certain demographic from the fan base isn't going to suddenly make the sport more appealing for you.
 
Gobsmacked is the only word I can use....well maybe flummoxed too....concerning some of the expectations of the younger generations. When I go to a movie I go to watch the movie not to chit chat with my buddies and the same thing goes if I am at a Metallica, Van Halen or Iron Maiden concert for crying out loud! I went to the Bristol night race for 4 decades and wore foam ear plugs the whole race and never gave thought that I could not commiserate with others as I was there to see a freakin race not shoot the shi+ with my seatmates!!!!

Nascar lost its way when it tried to become a national entity and attempted to be all things to all people and it is clear to see what that has wrought. It needs to decide who it wants to appeal to and I believe the ship has sailed on many professional people as they see Nascar as "people of Walmart" fare. Appealing to rednecks and hillbillies would be fun as we could get back to throwing chicken bones, drinking a case or more of beer per race and all enjoy the glorious absence of sophistication that would bring to the series.

I believe appealing to millennials may give the series a small short term boost but the more I hear about the generation the more I am convinced it is full of softie navel gazers trying to find happiness, accpetance and contentment in things that cannot provide it. My concern with Nascar and millennials is that they will flock to the series until the next new "experience" comes along and then drop Nascar like a hot potato. Based on what Cheesepuffs said IDK why going to see a form of entertainment is even important as it would be cheaper to just go to a bar, talk to your friends, post everything you are thinking, feeling or believing on social media and then leaving the place in collective angst. Can you tell I am confused old fart!!!
 
TexasRaceLady said:
As for this old fan, as long as the RACING is good, I'll watch.
Click to expand...
I think young fans would too. If we become something else.... whatever that is and it becomes bigger than the actual racing itself, then all is lost. imo.
I just wish Brian France believed in the racing itself enough to go about pursuing it to the fullest.

And we will never be the most popular. Racing by its own nature is more of an outlaws paradise, than a domesticated one. I wish the people that need something other than plain unadulterated racing at its best would just go away.
No hard feelings and I would be happy to see them find the thing(s) they want. I just dont like the fools errand of trying to a get a love that does not exsist.
 
I've met people who didn't want to give NASCAR a chance because they thought it was a "redneck sport" but when they actually watched it, realized that they liked it.

If you don't think that the "redneck sport" stigma is a barrier to some people then I don't know what to tell you. It is and NASCAR needs to work to shed that image.
 
Coke really has large foothold in the series being the parent of Monster.
 
DanicaFreak said:
Coke really has large foothold in the series being the parent of Monster.
Click to expand...
They're not, exactly.

Coca-Cola only owns 16.7% of the Monster Beverage Corporation. It took the stake in Monster in 2015 for approximately $2.15 billion. In addition to the equity stake, both companies have entered into a strategic partnership related to business transfers and expanded global distribution.Jan 12, 2016
Top 5 Companies Owned By Coca Cola (KO) | Investopedia
www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/.../top-5-companies-owned-coca-cola-ko.asp
 
Johali said:
They're not, exactly.

Coca-Cola only owns 16.7% of the Monster Beverage Corporation. It took the stake in Monster in 2015 for approximately $2.15 billion. In addition to the equity stake, both companies have entered into a strategic partnership related to business transfers and expanded global distribution.Jan 12, 2016
Top 5 Companies Owned By Coca Cola (KO) | Investopedia
www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/.../top-5-companies-owned-coca-cola-ko.asp
Click to expand...

I stand corrected, tks Gator. I really really hope the saints make the playoffs, b tw
 
TexasRaceLady said:
What is all boils down to is that NASCAR is between a rock and hard place.
They need to make changes to attract new fans without completely alienating the old(not necessarily in age) fans.
Good luck with that.

As for this old fan, as long as the RACING is good, I'll watch.
Click to expand...

They have not minded alienating the old guard for the past 20 years so I doubt fans in longstanding will warrant an ounce of concern and from a business perspective they would be better served doing something different that attracts the new even if it means the old fade away. I could be wrong but I think the majority of the fans Nascar currently has are of the die-hard variety and I believe that even though there are things they don't like about the series it would take an act of God to make them stop watching.
 
My Dad and I never had any problem communicating during races. We had a series of hand signals worked out. Pointing with three fingers (or more) meant '3 wide!'. Pointing with two fingers scissoring meant two cars were trading positions. Car numbers were indicated by holding up the appropriate fingers. Two hands separating meant that car was pulling away. Pulling at your own T-shirt meant your driver was doing well. You get the idea.
 
The Nature Boy said:
I've met people who didn't want to give NASCAR a chance because they thought it was a "redneck sport" but when they actually watched it, realized that they liked it.

If you don't think that the "redneck sport" stigma is a barrier to some people then I don't know what to tell you. It is and NASCAR needs to work to shed that image.
Click to expand...

If I was at at Chamber of Commerce function and stepped to the dais and announced I was a Nascar fan the members would be aghast and then immediately think someone had slipped me a mickey or had my loved ones held hostage and I was forced to say it. We know Nascar is full of millionaire WASP owners and drivers and has millions of fans that have nothing in common with cousin Eddie but the lingering feeling within the professional community is that Nascar is some sort of inbred hick sport.

In much of the US hockey was thought of as nothing but a bunch of Canadian ruffians brawling and bleeding every game even though it was not true. That perception has changed in the last 20-25 years so maybe there is hope for Nascar. Instead of redneck fans maybe Nascar can bill itself as "the official sport of the slacker generation" Perhaps Nascar could develop a loyalty program that went to pay off student debt based on how many social interactions a young person had.
 
Essay time, folks. Grab a chair and your reading glasses.

Like @wilson89, I'm an older millennial, born in '85. I don't really feel like I'm a millennial either, but if that's the label they choose to slap on us, so be it.

I started watching NASCAR as a little kid, with my dad, and I stopped watching sometime in early-mid 2015. Not that it matters, but I just so happen to be a younger black guy from up Nawth. My decision to stop watching had absolutely nothing to do with the ignorant perception that some outsiders have of NASCAR as something that is strictly for dumb Southerners, or this idea that NASCAR somehow isn't doing enough to appeal to my particular demographic. It was the constant changes made under Brian France's leadership that slowly killed my love for the sport. In particular, I didn't like the move from single car qualifying to group qualifying, and I really hated the Homestead Bowl, but after much weeping and gnashing of teeth, I took that stuff on the chin and stuck around strictly for the racing. The decision to (IMO) needlessly screw up the cars, which I felt weren't broken in 2014, was the last straw for me.

Marketing/branding is great and all, and I'm all for Monster coming in, since I love Supercross and feel that they do a good job with that. Of course, I also love the Monster girls. That being said, as @Greg alluded to, branding is merely window dressing, or the icing on a cake. Monster alone isn't going to be enough to draw me back into NASCAR. I watch Supercross because I enjoy that form of racing. The pretty girls present at the events are just a pleasant bonus.

I've mentioned several times on here that I've been playing the newest F1 game and have casually started following the real thing. F1 certainly has its issues, but as a racing purist with an old school mentality, I certainly appreciate the fact that their champion is the driver who scores the most points over an entire season, among other things.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
Ah. 'Momma's boy'? 'Wimp'? A variety of shrubby willow synonymous with 'cat'? Am I interpreting this properly?
Click to expand...

When I was a kid and worked part time the preferred method of dealing with us serfs was yelling and swearing. More times then not what the adults were mad about had nothing to do with you but it didn't matter as they were going to vent their frustration and if they didn't they were gonna blow a 50 amp fuse.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
Nascar lost its way when it tried to become a national entity and attempted to be all things to all people and it is clear to see what that has wrought.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more. You cannot change what NASCAR is fundamentally--cars and guys driving them fast. You can change the stuff that surrounds the reason for being there--concerts, etc., but NASCAR will always be NASCAR. I become hugely concerned when we think that just making Monster a sponsor will change how the younger set sees all of this. Certainly, the Monster Girls give an event a youthful vibe, but after all the the beer and boners, we still have cars firing, and guys driving them. As NASCAR continues to push the ancillary stuff, the absolute awesomeness that these cars, drivers, and teams are gets more and more lost. Bring people in with the leather bras, but quit freakin' apologizing for what this sport is. I have an 18 year old who was locked in for three days in Phoenix. We went to Phoenix because he was pissed over the result in Fontana in March where he was locked in for three days (yeah, I am an indulgent dad, but might have been indulging myself on this trip). This sport is awesome, but the fact is, it is not for everyone. So what?! If I had my way, I would dump all of the new stuff (Chase, etc.), and take this back to its heyday simply because I love to talk racing, and I think that it would make many here happy. I have said that I don't care about the Chase.....the reason is that I stay focused on what NASCAR has always been (as does my kid), and so I don't give a crap about any of that. When I say that I would pay to listen to one of my TRD powered Toyota Racing Championship winning Camrys idle....I am serious.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
My Dad and I never had any problem communicating during races. We had a series of hand signals worked out. Pointing with three fingers (or more) meant '3 wide!'. Pointing with two fingers scissoring meant two cars were trading positions. Car numbers were indicated by holding up the appropriate fingers. Two hands separating meant that car was pulling away. Pulling at your own T-shirt meant your driver was doing well. You get the idea.
Click to expand...

My family and I text during the races---ONLY RACE RELEVANT CONTENT...and very little of it.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Since the announcement that Monster Energy is the new title sponsor of NASCAR, I have seen a good handful of young people (not on this forum but in other online domains and real life) talk about how this is good for the sport to move away from its 'redneck base'. I was unaware that folks had an issue with NASCAR's redeck identity.

Being a fan of a sport that was born from white lightening runners and southern country boys, I cant see why alienating the niche market can be seen as a good thing.

What say you?
Click to expand...

The strong redneck/NASCAR association is definitely a huge massive major embarrassment for non-redneck fans. The NASCAR stereotype is that NASCAR fans look and act like the cast of Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty, are racist, voted Trump. are drunk, hate education, love WWE, are ruled by negative emotion and have no ability to use reason and logic to resolve conflict or understand viewpoints that differ from their own. Sadly, this stereotype is confirmed way too often. Especially on social media. There are many fans that absolutely do not want to be lumped into that group. Obviously some will choose to be offended by my post here but being offended doesn't make you right.
 
Matthew2470 said:
The strong redneck/NASCAR association is definitely a huge massive major embarrassment for non-redneck fans. The NASCAR stereotype is that NASCAR fans look and act like the cast of Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty, are racist, voted Trump. are drunk, hate education, love WWE, are ruled by negative emotion and have no ability to use reason and logic to resolve conflict or understand viewpoints that differ from their own. Sadly, this stereotype is confirmed way too often. Especially on social media. There are many fans that absolutely do not want to be lumped into that group. Obviously some will choose to be offended by my post here but being offended doesn't make you right.
Click to expand...
Me not being offended doesn't make you right ;)
 
Charlie Spencer said:
My Dad and I never had any problem communicating during races. We had a series of hand signals worked out. Pointing with three fingers (or more) meant '3 wide!'.
Click to expand...
From my experience, the three pointed fingers was reserved for the drunken Earnhardt fan in front of me. I swear an Earnhardt fan stood up every lap for 500 laps at Martinsville one time to wave those three fingers at him, as if he was powering Dale's car with said fingers. It was like Dale would come around and those three fingers would shove the car around another lap.
 
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