63 replies to this topic

[Samiam]

NASCAR meddling in the racing format to make it "more exciting racing" has resulted in some serious consequences in the past.

 

One example would be the 2001 Daytona 500. The aero package  and spec'd shock/spring was supposed to make exciting side-by-side racing and passing.

 

So when Sterling Marlin got inside of Dale Earnhardt in an attempt to pass and took the air off Dale's spoiler it was supposed to be exciting. How did that work out? 

[MSwiss]

Why don't you just blame Sterling Marlin's parents for procreating XX years earlier?

[Samiam]

The cars that day were very unstable and prone to being even more unstable from the aero effects of adjacent cars.

 

It is rumored that Dale commented during the race, "Somebody's gonna' get killed." 

[B.C.]

As with so many things lately, whether racing or otherwise, so much prejudging going on without giving good ideas a chance.

 

NASCAR had to do something to try to do away with, as was pointed out before, 'win and you're in'. We saw at Talladega last fall the riding around in the back because they were 'already in.' I like the idea of at least trying.

 

I wiil be very excited to see how this plays out. It looks like a winner to me.

[MattD]

Probably be an improvement over the guys just making laps and taking whatever finish they can get, since most have a pre-paid contract. It's not like the '50s-'70s when salaries were low enough that prize money was welcome. Today a guy can run 30th place every race and still take home a salary in the hundreds of thousands or even a million. Several years back when Phil Parsons owned a start and park team, they managaged to clear $600K ( I think) for just starting every race with the same car, tires, and motor, then pulling in and saying something was wrong before they ran 15-20 laps.

Bottom line is that most fans don't much care any more and outside of five-six tracks, nobody pays a lot of attention to it. This will maybe be good for the sponsors, commercials, and stuff. It may make them think the cash cow is coming back.

[Samiam]

I think a Series Championship should be just that. A title based on the performance of the entire series. It was good enough for 50 years. A little tweaking with points making a win more important was all that was needed.

 

You won't see any drivers or team members saying boo. One slip of the tongue and you are out $25K. An example is Hamlin being fined for saying the Gen-6 car wasn't much better then his Gen-5. In NASCAR's words: "The sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product."

[Zippity]

Thankfully, both NASCAR and F1 are screened live here in New Zealand - both are ad free!

 

I was told years ago, that the ad breaks that appear on American TV shows every 7 or 8 minutes, are actually "pee" breaks. 

 

Wiki explanation.

[Samiam]

NASCAR makes sure there are enough breaks by throwing yellows anytime they want to. Whether it's for more commercial breaks or to bring the cars back together for a more exciting restart and finish.

 

Tampering with the race for profit or ratings is shameful. If a driver is injured during a restart crash means nothing to them. TV ratings and profit are their only concerns. This wacky format in their top tier division is a desperate attempt to regain what they once had.

 

I'll tune in for the last 50 laps. Been doing that for the last few years.

[NSwanberg]

Check ISCA at Fidelity. They call them shorts for a reason.
 
Snapshot:ISCA

[Rob Voska]

NAPCAR did it to themselves. Hours upon hours of cars droning around a track with no excitement. Commentators trying to create drams where none exist and sounding dumber by the lap.
 
The only thing they have any moreis crashes, everyone looks at the accident. When do they happen... yep that's right, starts and finishes so lets add three starts and three finishes that will give us tons of crashing, people will watch and no real racing.
 
Cheater said:  "And if the green flag racing is closer and more compelling because of the new points scheme, as they believe will be the case, it gives the viewers some slack time to hit the loo and grab some grub and drink without missing some of the on-track action."
 
But I thought we were to watch commercials so sponsors sell and we buy crap we don't need, I'm so confused... 

Never mind, I'll just not watch the same as I do with Indy cars with all the shaky bits hanging off the sides like a kid's toy transformer.

[Cheater]

Point taken, Rob, but there will still be commercials during green flag and maybe the idea is to charge more for those spots.

 

Though ad rates are set by viewer numbers for the full broadcast, and not segments of the broadcast. Neilsen doesn't track whether a viewer is in front of the screen, or in the crapper or the kitchen.

[Rob Voska]

Greg, no offence meant or taken.
 
My point is really simple. "When the circus comes to town every week, there is nothing special about it."
 
NAPCAR drove people away for many reasons. They missed again with this move. The market is oversaturated.

[Cheater]

Was not offended, Rob. Civil discussion is always good.

"The market is oversaturated." A very cogent point. I'm thinking of NFL vs MLB here...

[NSwanberg]

I guess it is NAPCAR.
 
"The core problem here is that NASCAR is losing popularity. I have some concerns about management and capital allocation, admittedly, but even some of those issues stem from management's response to that problem. NASCAR attendance over the past six years probably is down by 35% or so, given figures at ISCA and TRK (which operate all but three NASCAR tracks). Attendance for baseball - hardly a sport that seems cutting edge, or growing in popularity - is basically flat over the same period. The NBA set an attendance record last year, and while there were concerns about NFL football interest this year, it remains the dominant sport in the US"
 
A Declining Business Plus Management Questions Makes International Speedway A Low-Beta Short

[Dave Crevie]

NASCAR lost me when they started morphing into generic cars. I strongly support "brand association." A modern stock

car may say Chevrolet on the side, but there is no Chevrolet in it. Nor are they stock cars.

 

It should be National Association of Spec Car Racing, not National Association of Stock Car Racing.

 

I've said too much already.

[Rob Voska]

Words can't describe... that... um... event... whatever... it was...

[tonyp]

I think the word is effing ****.

[Half Fast]

Just like the Demo Derby at Riverhead Raceway, except much more expensive. 

 

Cheers,

[Pablo]

NASCAR = Goat Rodeo. I'd rather knit sweaters. What a joke.

They have absolutely ruined it for me.

 

 

Wasn't I paying attention, or did Kurt B. flounder in the back all day long, then by some rules/format miracle, win?

[Cheater]

Should have been paying attention.

 

Turned into a fuel mileage race and some of them didn't make it, most notably Chase Eliot, who led 23 of the 26 last 26 laps until his engine stumbled as it ran out of fuel.

 

More crashing than is usual even for NASCAR and they tore up a bunch of cars. I believe on 5 cars at the end of the race didn't have crash damage or were out due to crashes.
 

NASCAR needs to think about putting a little downforce back into the cars on the superpseedways, as they seem a bit unstable to race this hard at these speeds for so long.

[Pablo]

Yes, I saw them running out of fuel. So a guy can win the race by going slow and drafting people all day. 

 

Just my preference, but that ain't racing. The Chase concept was the beginning of the end, the Stages just nailed the coffin shut IMO. 

[tonyp]

I haven't watched for years, thought I'd give it a shot this year. No thanks, I'm done.

The announcers seemed to love the wrecks, I guess it gave them something to talk about.

[bluecars]

I think NASCAR has some of the same problem as slot car racing. Growing up in the heyday of both there are things that are constant.

 

When I was a kid you could pretty much figure that at least once a month you or one or more of your friends is in the driveway fetching tools, etc., for his dad changing the oil or fixing the family car so they could get to work Monday morning. With that happening we learned to work with our hands.

 

Model building was big thing (maybe it was the glue). The first few were pretty much just gobs of glue then things got better with practice. Model car kits were cheep and you could buy them in any grocery store, drugstore, or five and dime. And lots of other things like that.

 

We were kicked outside on good weather days and had to learn to socialize, learn to deal with people like bullies. We learned respect for other people. If not from your parents, from the neighbor kid you mouthed off to once too often. I know, A little off track.

 

Anyway, we learned pride in the things we associated with and did. Not how well you could manipulate a computer, smartphone, etc.

 

When NASCAR was strong it was "win on Sunday sell on Monday" That's gone. Slot cars were a lot like that in my eyes. Everything changed when the cars changed and people quite working on the things that they had to so they could make it to the end of the week or month and still have a little left over.

 

Rant finished!

[brnursebmt]

"NASCAR needs to think about putting a little downforce back into the cars on the superspeedways, as they seem a bit unstable to race this hard at these speeds for so long."
 
Could you imagine Petty, Yarbrough, and Pearson, and the like, racing like this? It was rare for the " big one" to occur "when racing was racing." The cars they drove did not handle like the cars of today do. I'm surprised they didn't burn the damn bearings out of the steering column from sawing the wheel so much!
 
But they had to take that car to Atlanta the next week to put food on the table. A totaled car would but a major financial bind in their race team budget. Only a couple of teams even had more than one car anyway. The Pettys and the Wood brothers had a speedway and a short track car, most others just had one car.
 
Today you hold it wide open and if you wreck," it's the crew chief's fault, car won't handle" or... "It's Goodyear's fault, tires are crap," ectc., etc., etc. As long as you were out front when you wrecked it's OK. They have about 10-15 more cars just like it back at the shop.
 
These are suppose to be the best race drivers in the world, according to some in the booth, but they sure don't drive like the best.

[Cheater]

I think NASCAR has some of the same problem as slot car racing.

I'm going to agree with you, Red, but from a different angle.

What happened in NASCAR is what happened in slot car racing. When winning becomes all important, and the enjoyment of the racing becomes a much less important factor, bad things occur.

So many of the crashes happened yesterday because winning has become the holy grail of the activity, and it doesn't matter how much equipment, yours and that of others, gets turned into junk. In the old days of NASCAR, there was a concept called saving your equipment and that sure doesn't seem to apply much at all any more.