State of the Sport

aunty dive said:
The Phoenix grandstand was full, 2 or 3 million people watched the whole race on TV and the broadcaster’s checks are still cashing.

All is lost because Playoffs. 😎
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Unfortunately, we don't yet have access to that alternate universe where Brian France remained a ticket agent on Daytona's 800 line, so we have no way to compare with a NASCAR where playoffs were never implemented.
 
NASCAR is at a crossroads. The next few years are going to be extremely important as to what its identity will be moving forward.

Plenty to be excited about. New teams with names like Jordan and Pitbull attached to them, rising stars emerging, new markets. And I'm sure after the way Los Angeles and St. Louis embraced NASCAR with Chicago on deck, I'm sure some other cities have made phone calls. Baltimore's hosted IndyCar before and embraced it in spite of what happened in 2011. There has already been a lot of chatter about Denver. We could even see Cup races in Canada and Mexico by 2024-25.

Along with looking to the future, NASCAR is also trying to reconnect with its past more than it did during Brian France's reign of terror. The shocking return to North Wilkesboro (THANKS DALE), the inevitable return to the Nashville Fairgrounds. After years of upsetting rumors about Martinsville's future during the BZF Reign of Terror, its presence and importance have been firmly solidified under this regime.

This year is also the first time in a long time I can remember NASCAR making headline news and it not being for awful reasons. The Hail Melon, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Daniel Suarez winning, Austin Cindric's upset at Daytona.

We also have a solid crop of rising stars like Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Ty Gibbs. The Xfinity Series has a healthy mix of aspiring young drivers as well as veteran racers such as Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry. We're seeing a diverse group of rising stars, from the short tracks to the speedways.

Hailie Deegan is poised to enter the Xfinity Series with a rockstar personality, a massive social media presence, and the potential to possibly one day make history - not just in motorsports, but all of sports. Rajah Caruth comes in with raw talent, an extremely likable personality, and a work ethic to match. We also have a crops of rising young female stars, Kaylee Bryson in USAC, Katie Hettinger in the CARS Tour, Isabella Robusto with Toyota Racing.

There is a renewed commitment to NASCAR's grassroots racing level, from Modifieds to the Weekly Series, and a spotlight on short track racing (THANKS AGAIN DALE) that hasn't existed since the days of TNN Motorsports and ESPN Speedworld.

There's so much going on now, and I'm actually emotionally invested in NASCAR for the first time in a long time.

NASCAR has A LOT of work to do. They have to capitalize on the positives, but also have to address the negatives. I'm 100% sure that the safety issues with the NextGen car is their #1 priority. As much flack as I'll give NASCAR, driver safety is something they take seriously. They also need to fix how this car races on short tracks, flat tracks and road courses. Those are the two most important things right now.
 
^The garage lost its personality years ago, and with it the enthusiasm of fans (for now). TV ratings will probably increase throughout the decade with new major markets coming on board, but NASCAR's next peak is still a few years away when the younger generation of drivers mature and the new car comes into its own with a new engine to match.
 
JimmyJ4UK said:
^The garage lost its personality years ago, and with it the enthusiasm of fans (for now). TV ratings will probably increase throughout the decade with new major markets coming on board, but NASCAR's next peak is still a few years away when the younger generation of drivers mature and the new car comes into its own with a new engine to match.
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This sport has the potential to draw in new viewers.

There is new blood that has got personality after a decade of bland, vanilla personalities. Of which the sport's most popular driver epitomizes. Although, even Elliott has come out of his shell personality wise with wisecracks in interviews and a burning passion behind the wheel.
 
JimmyJ4UK said:
^The garage lost its personality years ago, and with it the enthusiasm of fans (for now). TV ratings will probably increase throughout the decade with new major markets coming on board, but NASCAR's next peak is still a few years away when the younger generation of drivers mature and the new car comes into its own with a new engine to match.
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Speaking of losing personality how does the guy that seemingly has no personality continue to get nominated as most popular driver? I'm not a chase hater, but seriously besides being Bill's kid what does he do that fans love so much?

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wi_racefan said:
Speaking of losing personality how does the guy that seemingly has no personality continue to get nominated as most popular driver? I'm not a chase hater, but seriously besides being Bill's kid what does he do that fans love so much?

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Inherited Bill Elliott's fanbase, Dale Jr's fanbase, Jeff Gordon's fanbase and Jimmie Johnson's fanbase.
 
wi_racefan said:
I can't disagree, but that's setting the bar pretty low these days. Wasn't Kenseth a 1st ballot?

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Yep. I suspect going forward that having The Big Trophy will get a driver in. I don't think that's justification on its own, but I don't vote for membership.
 
I didn’t see it in the tweets but Phelps said the current charter agreement ends after 2024 and that they and the teams have mentioned the idea of spending caps and floors, even luxury taxes. So while it seems like revenue increase is on the table they’re also serious about the expense restrictions, a la the F1 budget cap.
 
StandOnIt said:
I wouldn't trust any of the owners as far as I could throw them to honor a price cap. Trying to enforce that seems impossible for the Nascar brass .
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There’s already been a bit of controversy with a couple minor breaches in F1 and it’s been in effect for a couple of years. It’s not without drawbacks for sure. On the flip side, it’s generally starting to bring R&D costs more in line across the series. But it seems like NASCAR isn’t willing to hand out a bunch more TV money and then subsequently watch team spending go nuts. It’ll be interesting to see how much each side forces the issue.
 
FLRacingFan said:
There’s already been a bit of controversy with a couple minor breaches in F1 and it’s been in effect for a couple of years. It’s not without drawbacks for sure. On the flip side, it’s generally starting to bring R&D costs more in line across the series. But it seems like NASCAR isn’t willing to hand out a bunch more TV money and then subsequently watch team spending go nuts. It’ll be interesting to see how much each side forces the issue.
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The new car with spec parts, the various engine restrictions and engine re use were supposed to curb costs and I think they have. I know with the rapid accelerations of costs after the pandemic has reeked havoc with costs for everybody. That makes it hard for everybody to figure costs. I would think that would be another problem trying to figure out a reasonable price cap. Nascar/ISC had a good year in comparison to the teams in my opinion. Not many rainouts, great attendance. I think they need to come to the party with an after season bonus to the teams.
 
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