Steve Phelps on NASCAR: "We lost our way.."

I'd like to see them at Laguna Seca. My dad lives about 20 minutes from that track.

The Charlotte Roval is a joke.
 
Elliott_Fan_9 said:
I'd like to see them at Laguna Seca. My dad lives about 20 minutes from that track.

The Charlotte Roval is a joke.
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They already race at one California road course, there are plenty as good or better elsewhere in the east, Canada or up in the mid north and they have real trees for shade.
 
If they can somehow get the racing fixed we won’t need to worry about tracks.
 
Mispeedway15 said:
Also who didnt like the Roval? It thought that was a fantastically good race, track was good for stock cars
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I didn't. I thought it was a joke of a course, especially for a stock car, but then again, I don't like Sonoma that much either, especially since they have redesigned it about four times. I liked it better the way it was when NSACAR first went ther.
 
North Wilkesboro is never coming back sadly. Unless I win the Power Ball lottery. But I can’t imagine SMI putting money into it to make it raceable again, would it even be profitable? I would suppose IF SMI wanted to put their own money into fixing the place up they have almost two whole years to gut the place and start from scratch their with the amenities before the 2021 season/alleged schedule changes so they have enough time.
 
Snappy D said:
North Wilkesboro is never coming back sadly. Unless I win the Power Ball lottery. But I can’t imagine SMI putting money into it to make it raceable again, would it even be profitable? I would suppose IF SMI wanted to put their own money into fixing the place up they have almost two whole years to gut the place and start from scratch their with the amenities before the 2021 season/alleged schedule changes so they have enough time.
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North Wilksboro has deteriorated to the point that you'd have to bulldoze the whole thing and rebuild from the ground up, if you want professional races there. The last race there, the PASS Super Late Models $100,000 To Win Race in 2011, found the track in rough shape and the facilities even rougher - some buildings had to be roped off because their roofs were falling in. Yet another group, STS Motorsports Inc., tried to raise donations in 2017 and apparently is still trying... but they're not getting far.

If you want to see one of the old NASCAR tracks come back, Rockingham is probably your best bet. It has been kept up and used, on and off, since it was last on the NASCAR schedule... and it does have another new owner who is refurbishing it some more. It has been renamed "The Rock Entertainment Complex".
 
gnomesayin said:
Does anyone have an SBJ / SBD subscription? This is the article Adam Stern was teasing about Jim France's swift leadership moves, with Hendrick and others as sources.



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“An industry craving change”

No, not really. Changing everything every 2 seasons is what got NASCAR in the stupid situation it’s in now. Still way out of touch it seems.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
“An industry craving change”

No, not really. Changing everything every 2 seasons is what got NASCAR in the stupid situation it’s in now. Still way out of touch it seems.
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I agree to a point, but if you find yourself at the end of a dead end road, the only way out is to turn around and go the other way. I would LIKE to think that is where NASCAR is now, backtracking to get back on the main road. Time will tell.
 
Formerjackman said:
I agree to a point, but if you find yourself at the end of a dead end road, the only way out is to turn around and go the other way. I would LIKE to think that is where NASCAR is now, backtracking to get back on the main road. Time will tell.
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NASCAR has to decide if they are going to renovate, remodel, or “throw the match” and start over? Reality TV...
 
I wonder when they lost their way.....some point to leaving Wilkesboro. Some point to when they moved the traditional Southern 500 date of Labor Day weekend to Fontana. I’d point to 2004 when they created The Chase. It’ll be interesting to see how the powers that be interpret what exactly it is they lost their way on and the appropriate steps taken to back track
 
Formerjackman said:
I agree to a point, but if you find yourself at the end of a dead end road, the only way out is to turn around and go the other way. I would LIKE to think that is where NASCAR is now, backtracking to get back on the main road. Time will tell.
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To mangle an analogy even further, if NASCAR gets back on the main road, that doesn't mean they're going to turn back the way they came.
 
Snappy D said:
I wonder when they lost their way.....some point to leaving Wilkesboro. Some point to when they moved the traditional Southern 500 date of Labor Day weekend to Fontana. I’d point to 2004 when they created The Chase. It’ll be interesting to see how the powers that be interpret what exactly it is they lost their way on and the appropriate steps taken to back track
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Interesting question worthy of its own discussion. It would have made a great off-season topic.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
“An industry craving change”

No, not really. Changing everything every 2 seasons is what got NASCAR in the stupid situation it’s in now. Still way out of touch it seems.
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So if it still "way out of touch" which was Brian's leadership, why would a person consider staying with that model??? Let's see what they come up with in the next 2 seasons and then start the bitching.
 
Team Penske said:
So if it still "way out of touch" which was Brian's leadership, why would a person consider staying with that model??? Let's see what they come up with in the next 2 seasons and then start the bitching.
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yep, been a whole lot of changes and lines drawn. We'll see how it plays out this year. I'm curious to see what happens if they need to make changes on the fly, under Brian's administration if they had something that didn't work, they doubled down, trotted out the yes man and tried their best to baffle us with B.S. and big words that didn't mean spit.
 
Snappy D said:
I wonder when they lost their way.....some point to leaving Wilkesboro. Some point to when they moved the traditional Southern 500 date of Labor Day weekend to Fontana. I’d point to 2004 when they created The Chase. It’ll be interesting to see how the powers that be interpret what exactly it is they lost their way on and the appropriate steps taken to back track
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I think they lost their way when they stopped doing what was in the best interest of the sport and instead just went for the biggest paycheck. That's at the root of a lot of the current problems, from less than favorable TV deals to taking ISC and SMI public, to abandoning smaller markets for big ones, to not investing in their own cable channel, and hundred other bad decisions that were all about cashing in instead of allowing the sport to continue to grow and prosper organically. I also think that they got to the point where they were arrogant enough to think that they could do ANYTHING, and the fanbase would just lap it up, and as I and others have pointed out, this strategy of doubling down on every scheme that didn't work out. There were a lot of things going on that were totally out of NASCAR's control. but a bunch that WERE, and were mishandled.
 
oh poor us, sniff sniff. I'm thinking about joining a Nascar victimized fan encounter group. Find my lost inner Nascar. :D
 
StandOnIt said:
yep, been a whole lot of changes and lines drawn. We'll see how it plays out this year. I'm curious to see what happens if they need to make changes on the fly, under Brian's administration if they had something that didn't work, they doubled down, trotted out the yes man and tried their best to baffle us with B.S. and big words that didn't mean spit.
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Wasn't there a post that a lot\some of the yes men for Brian have been moved out of their positions????
 
Snappy D said:
I wonder when they lost their way.....some point to leaving Wilkesboro. Some point to when they moved the traditional Southern 500 date of Labor Day weekend to Fontana. I’d point to 2004 when they created The Chase. It’ll be interesting to see how the powers that be interpret what exactly it is they lost their way on and the appropriate steps taken to back track
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I would agree that late 2003-early 2004 is when things started going downhill. That’s when Winston left, when Rockingham was removed from the schedule, when the Southern 500 was moved from Labor Day weekend (thankfully it’s back there now), when the Chase was created, and worst of all, it’s when Brian France took over. Other factors in the late 2000’s that may have further run fans off were the COT, Toyota coming into the sport (I obviously didn’t mind this, but a lot of people did and still do), Jimmie fatigue when he was winning 5 straight titles, etc.

I still love this sport, but there’s definitely something missing that was there 15-20 years ago.
 
I didn't know that they had to remove 67,000 seats from Daytona. Also, I didn't know that according to ISC’s recent annual report for fiscal year 2018, its net income was $225.3 million on revenues of $675 million. TV accounted for $255.8 million of the revenue, compared to $109.6 million in ticket sales. Those were eye-openers for me.
 
ToyYoda said:
I would agree that late 2003-early 2004 is when things started going downhill. That’s when Winston left, when Rockingham was removed from the schedule, when the Southern 500 was moved from Labor Day weekend (thankfully it’s back there now), when the Chase was created, and worst of all, it’s when Brian France took over. Other factors in the late 2000’s that may have further run fans off were the COT, Toyota coming into the sport (I obviously didn’t mind this, but a lot of people did and still do), Jimmie fatigue when he was winning 5 straight titles, etc.

I still love this sport, but there’s definitely something missing that was there 15-20 years ago.
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IMO, it was 2001 with the start of the new TV contract. The two networks basically took over control of the sport once Winston left. They were the ones paying the bills and calling the shots, not the title sponsor. The Chase is a product of TV as are the recently added stages. Then in the mid to late 2000s the max exodus of the boom generation drivers; Elliott, Jarrett, Wallace, Rudd, Labonte, Marlin, Martin (kind of) etc. left a huge void.

To this day I don't know how you maintain a fan's same level of passion once their driver retires or even worse dies. My dad's interest has never been the same since Elliott retired. He'll go to races and still watch but not with the same fervor.
 
Towmater said:
I didn't know that they had to remove 67,000 seats from Daytona. Also, I didn't know that according to ISC’s recent annual report for fiscal year 2018, its net income was $225.3 million on revenues of $675 million. TV accounted for $255.8 million of the revenue, compared to $109.6 million in ticket sales. Those were eye-openers for me.
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Not really a big surprise on the TV money when you figure the tracks get 65% of that. TV is what makes the sport turn.
 
Towmater said:
I didn't know that they had to remove 67,000 seats from Daytona. Also, I didn't know that according to ISC’s recent annual report for fiscal year 2018, its net income was $225.3 million on revenues of $675 million. TV accounted for $255.8 million of the revenue, compared to $109.6 million in ticket sales. Those were eye-openers for me.
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makes ya wonder where the other 311 million came from?
 
Towmater said:
I didn't know that they had to remove 67,000 seats from Daytona. Also, I didn't know that according to ISC’s recent annual report for fiscal year 2018, its net income was $225.3 million on revenues of $675 million. TV accounted for $255.8 million of the revenue, compared to $109.6 million in ticket sales. Those were eye-openers for me.
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The backstretch grandstand had 40k seats alone iirc.
 
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StandOnIt said:
makes ya wonder where the other 311 million came from?
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Daytona should remain a cash cow. The speedway's logo and name alone are worth a ton just in copyright/licensing agreements. Like Indy, Lambeau, Wrigley, Fenway and Notre Dame Stadium, Daytona aka "The World Center of Speed" is also a tourist stop for people who otherwise might not care.
 
simple math..from the same article..not so jaw dropping or oh the drama staggering in today's TV market.

If a network can attract 50 cents more per month, at 80 million subscribers, that works out to $480 million a year. Eventually, if they can attract $2 a month — just 36 percent of what ESPN gets — and 100 million subscribers, that’s $2.4 billion for a network before any advertising is sold.

So it’s no wonder that networks will pay so much for NASCAR rights. FS1 recently paid $42-$50 million a year just for the rights to Big East college sports. NBC recently paid $83 million a year for EPL.
 
for those not paying attention. ESPN. FS1 and NBCSN all have similar subscription numbers today. everybody has lost their way. better put this :sarcasm: and guess what Nascar isn't as popular as it once was..am I the first to say that today? FIRST.:pbjtime::D
 
MikeInIllinois said:
Not really a big surprise on the TV money when you figure the tracks get 65% of that. TV is what makes the sport turn.
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The article and what I quoted opened my eyes to –

1) The huge difference in the moneys brought in by ticket holders last year and TV. Over the course of the last 10 years it might be interesting to see where the gap started, if there was one, and how far it has increased. It explains why the sport is moving in the direction that it is moving in as TV holds the power.
2) The seats being removed from Daytona is alarming. That’s the biggest race. It is NASCAR’s Super Bowl and they have had to remove 60,000 seats to make it look filled. Yikes!

Apparently, the above is tough for twitter repeaters to understand. BTW, I do not believe you are one of those people.
 
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