I personally think they need to go back to the old system or just limit the number of races you can run in a junior division. Maybe only allow you to run 1 race per weekend at a given track? With that said, if you think the stands are empty now, wait until they eliminate the Cup drivers in Nationwide.
I hear this reason, alibi, rationale, whatever alot. In fact, it's the reason NA__AR gives for encouraging the Cup raiders to drive in the lower series. The question I always give about this line of reasoning is: How in the world did BGN Series ever survive from 1982 (and with the Sportsman Division prior to that, which dates back to 1950) until Harvick began driving full time in both Cup and BGN in 2001 and Biffle went full time in...? 2004 or 2006?
Before that you hardly ever heard any complaints from the race fans, even when the
occasional Cup driver showed up. The Series had a good amount of fans who followed that Series almost strictly. They ran at tracks the Cup Series didn't run and they had teams with no deep Cup affiliations and it wasn't unusual for 55-60 cars to show up on a race night, trying to make the field. There were drivers who loved the series and didn't make any serious attempt to go up to Cup (Do the names Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Tommy Houston and Tommy Ellis ring any bells?)
The stands at Rougemont, Hickory, Myrtle Beach and South Boston were always crammed with screaming fans. Milwaukee always had a good turnout and the few accompanying Cup events they ran at may not have filled the massive number of seats but you seldom heard any complaints as you do today.
Today they run basically the same weekends and the majority of people in the stands are there because (a) They had to buy a weekend two-race ticket, or (b) They are at the track for the weekend anyway and it's too early in the day to get seriously drunk. From the look of the stands, from the few TV shots I've seen there aren't all that many of either type because the attendance looks pretty anemic.
I hear a lot of complaints about the Cup, BGN and CTS these days. Everyone seems to complain about the decreasing number of fans. However, NA__AR has one series which is doing great. The stands are usually filled and folks go home talking about the great racing. I'm talking about the Whelen Modified Series. How could this be? My gosh, They have almost zero number of Cup Raiders run in the series and whoever heard of names like Todd Szegedy, Mike Steffanik or Ted Christopher? Why, the series is still basically the same series it was back in the 70's, and has stayed true to its roots? The number of companion events they run each season can be counted on the fingers of one hand?
Gee, I wonder how such a series could ever be successful? Could it be because it draw race fans and not necessarily driver fans? Could it be it's a series that actually gives it's fans what they expect, actual non-gimmicked up racing? Could it be that the folks who plunk down their hard earned money to see a modified race leave the track feeling they got their money's worth?
