buckaroo
Here kitty, kitty, kitty
Much has been said about the loss of attendance and TV audience of the sport, but other than the same old song of the cars are different, not much else has been said to be one of the problems with the sport. As an old race fan from long ago, I have an opinion, and like butts, everyone has one.
Many people, especially from down here in the south (where much of the population erroniously believes that racing started), think that NASCAR is spreading their wings a bit too far. Many of the old tracks that for years were a regular stop for both the Cup cars and the Busch cars are now either closed or are only featuring Saturday night racing. The emphasis for the sport has been to expand, expand and expand even more, even if they can't find the fans to fill the stands. Fifteen years ago, if anyone wanted to build a "NASCAR" track, using the "guarenteed NASCAR race" to help find the funds for the track from the locals, was told by NASCAR that they never gave races to tracks that weren't built, making that proposition a "catch 22" type proposition. But that never stopped NASCAR itself from giving themselves a race at a track that they themselves had yet to build.
Okay, that is water under the bridge, but it was one of the biggest gripes of old fans of the sport. Closing or discontinuing tracks in the southeast was another gripe, especially for season ticket holders. But as said earlier, these are things that have been talked about to no end, and are continuing subjects for many bulletin boards.
Let me now switch gears and add another potential problem or two of NASCAR. First off, and while there is much backing for this one, the addition of Toyota is a big bone of contention for many fans. And, if anyone believes that Toyota will be the only foreign car maker to makes it's way into NASCAR, I've got a big bridge to sell for very cheap. But this is something that has been in the works for a couple of years now and this year marks the year that Toyota wins it's first championship in NASCAR's top three divisions, the truck series. Are we going to see a Nissan or Honda powered truck in the near future? How about a European entrant?
The entry of Toyota into the sport took some time and along with the skepticism, it has weathered the storm and will no doubt do the same in the Busch and Cup series.
But wait, Toyota and whatever might follow isn't the only thing that might be trying to conquer the sport as an outsider. The diviersity programs of many of the top owners is great and is giving drivers of different ethnic groups a shot at the sport, but it also gives drivers from different backgrounds a shot as well. But here's where I think that all of that comes up short with many fans. Foreign drivers. Now before anyone get's their knickers all in a wad, let me try to explain what I see might be a problem.
Why is it fine for some people that NASCAR get's a foreign driver like Marcos Ambrose from Australia, yet when they expand to South America and go for a driver like JPM, they flinch? How about some of the drivers from Mexico? Now before you go off half ****ed with this being a racist thing (something that the libs would surely do) this same thing happened in the open wheel series of USAC back in the 70's with the addition to the Indy 500 to a guy from Italy. What I'm trying to say is this, by trying to become international with the addition of drivers from around the world, is NASCAR going down the same path that USAC/CART/IRL has gone before?
As a fan of racing in all forms, I welcome the best of the best into the series I consider the most exciting, at least at the present, but I believe that I'm of the minority on this. For most of us here, we are a unique bunch that we are very involved in the sport and are as such, a sort of minority in that we are going to be watching the sport no matter. But we are a minority and if the sport of NASCAR is going to continue being where it is now, and they do understand this, they have to continue to appeal to a much broader audience than those of us here at R/F, and that is why I believe they are heading in the direction of ruin, because they only see what is in front of them instead of what and where they've been and forget about what has made them what they are today. I've seen this before and no doubt, I'll see it again, whether in the sport of racing or somewhere else. The bottom line is dollars and that means that a plan has to be made for the future. That doesn't always mean that the direction will be right. I don't believe that Brian France is going in the right direction, but that's just me...and a few hundred thousand other people.
Many people, especially from down here in the south (where much of the population erroniously believes that racing started), think that NASCAR is spreading their wings a bit too far. Many of the old tracks that for years were a regular stop for both the Cup cars and the Busch cars are now either closed or are only featuring Saturday night racing. The emphasis for the sport has been to expand, expand and expand even more, even if they can't find the fans to fill the stands. Fifteen years ago, if anyone wanted to build a "NASCAR" track, using the "guarenteed NASCAR race" to help find the funds for the track from the locals, was told by NASCAR that they never gave races to tracks that weren't built, making that proposition a "catch 22" type proposition. But that never stopped NASCAR itself from giving themselves a race at a track that they themselves had yet to build.
Okay, that is water under the bridge, but it was one of the biggest gripes of old fans of the sport. Closing or discontinuing tracks in the southeast was another gripe, especially for season ticket holders. But as said earlier, these are things that have been talked about to no end, and are continuing subjects for many bulletin boards.
Let me now switch gears and add another potential problem or two of NASCAR. First off, and while there is much backing for this one, the addition of Toyota is a big bone of contention for many fans. And, if anyone believes that Toyota will be the only foreign car maker to makes it's way into NASCAR, I've got a big bridge to sell for very cheap. But this is something that has been in the works for a couple of years now and this year marks the year that Toyota wins it's first championship in NASCAR's top three divisions, the truck series. Are we going to see a Nissan or Honda powered truck in the near future? How about a European entrant?
The entry of Toyota into the sport took some time and along with the skepticism, it has weathered the storm and will no doubt do the same in the Busch and Cup series.
But wait, Toyota and whatever might follow isn't the only thing that might be trying to conquer the sport as an outsider. The diviersity programs of many of the top owners is great and is giving drivers of different ethnic groups a shot at the sport, but it also gives drivers from different backgrounds a shot as well. But here's where I think that all of that comes up short with many fans. Foreign drivers. Now before anyone get's their knickers all in a wad, let me try to explain what I see might be a problem.
Why is it fine for some people that NASCAR get's a foreign driver like Marcos Ambrose from Australia, yet when they expand to South America and go for a driver like JPM, they flinch? How about some of the drivers from Mexico? Now before you go off half ****ed with this being a racist thing (something that the libs would surely do) this same thing happened in the open wheel series of USAC back in the 70's with the addition to the Indy 500 to a guy from Italy. What I'm trying to say is this, by trying to become international with the addition of drivers from around the world, is NASCAR going down the same path that USAC/CART/IRL has gone before?
As a fan of racing in all forms, I welcome the best of the best into the series I consider the most exciting, at least at the present, but I believe that I'm of the minority on this. For most of us here, we are a unique bunch that we are very involved in the sport and are as such, a sort of minority in that we are going to be watching the sport no matter. But we are a minority and if the sport of NASCAR is going to continue being where it is now, and they do understand this, they have to continue to appeal to a much broader audience than those of us here at R/F, and that is why I believe they are heading in the direction of ruin, because they only see what is in front of them instead of what and where they've been and forget about what has made them what they are today. I've seen this before and no doubt, I'll see it again, whether in the sport of racing or somewhere else. The bottom line is dollars and that means that a plan has to be made for the future. That doesn't always mean that the direction will be right. I don't believe that Brian France is going in the right direction, but that's just me...and a few hundred thousand other people.
