Before tackling the weighty matters of changing NASCAR today, there’s something I think you ought to read. Thanks to the folks over at allleftturns.com, we have a transcript of the Tuesday town hall meeting with the NASCAR brass and the drivers.
http://www.allleftturns.com/nascar-town-hall-meeting-transcript
It’s more revealing than a Danica Patrick “go daddy.com” commercial, isn’t it?
Having taken a pulse of what NASCAR Nation is thinking, there’s quite a discussion going on as to what just took place in NASCAR’s 2-hour, mandatory “town hall” meeting. According to the report from Associated Press, drivers had apparently left the gathering feeling “encouraged.” At least for now, I’ll take that a positive sign- for I know this: I have a little more faith in the Tony Stewarts of NASCAR than I do the corporate brass.
I don’t think NASCAR has to blow the whole gig up to better, contrary to the belief of some. I see a few, simple steps. Not all of them would be easy, but it’s better than doing 400 things that only change things a little.
Here’s what I propose:
#1- A latitude adjustment. By that, I mean the car. Let’s take the straightjacket off the shops and remove some of the rigidity from rules and regs on the current car. Fundamentally- Job #1 is to making the RACING better and it starts with the car.
Yes- I know; many of you would love nothing more than to escort the CoT to “Tow Mater’s” junkyard and have it melted down for making those metal toilets they use for restrooms in public parks. We can wish that one all we want, but it just isn’t going to happen.
While I’m at it, that “what wins on Sunday, sells on Monday” was a great notion….in 1960. We live in a different world today, folks. I don’t know that there’s anything about seeing a Ford Fusion win on Sunday that makes me want to buy one on Monday. Now if we’ve got 1968 Chevelles racing ‘67 Mustangs that’s another story….but that day is over.
Let’s be honest, the previous generation car didn’t bear much resemblance to any car you’d find of Main Street either.
Let’s just start with with something they CAN do and see where it takes us. There’s millions of dollars tied up in these cars, so keeping the car is inevitable, but let’s open it up and let the engineering geeks devise a way to make it happen.
#2- Slice the cookie cutters. It wasn’t all that many years ago, a vast majority of the new stadiums in Major League Baseball were sterile and lifeless, devoid of character. The worst of all were the damnable domed stadiums (yuck).
Then- just when the sport needed it- came along ballparks like Camden Yards in Baltimore and the Ballpark at Arlington. Ballparks with character, venues that enhanced the experience.
This is the one solution that isn’t easy. I get the idea it will take time to reconfigure tracks from the boatload of mile and halfers we have. Let’s make another short track or two- a la Martinsville or Richmond. Let’s even make a road course.
While we’re at it- how about giving Rockingham a second chance and putting Iowa and/or Kentucky on the schedule. Let them know you’re looking for support, that you’ll give them five good, solid years to put up or shut up.
Where would the dates come from? While it may take a rocket scientist to make the car race better, it won’t take one to figure out where it isn’t working. Fontana (ouch, my hometown) heads the list. Give them ONE date and make it a good one- not on Oscars night. Of course, if you make the product they see better, maybe they’ll show up! Reconfigure the track before you pull the plug on it. This is strictly my opinion, but Atlanta, Texas and Pocono may also be candidates for pulling one date.
#3- Let them race! The chief among my gripes is the top 35 rule. If you’re the 44th fastest car- and I don’t care if your name is Jimmie Johnson- then you don’t get in! At the end of the day, I don’t think it changes things a whole lot. The good teams will make sure they’re set up to get in.
That’s the whole deal there. Its competition! Provide the incentive to win the race. I don’t care whether its more money, a points system that places are greater reward on winning, or whatever it takes. To me- the top 35 points systems smells of socialism. We don’t need it in America and we sure don’t need it in NASCAR!
Double file re-starts are also good, lose the “Lucky Dog” and lets at least let the fans be re-assured that the race is put on FOR them and not the corporate sponsors. If the sponsors are properly sold on the idea that good racing, even if its a little rough, will get them what they want in terms of plenty of exposure and more consumer dollars.
If you take these simple measures, and fans are treated to a good race, I think it will be then that the motorsports loving public can look past a few of the things they don’t like. I don’t know if the chase is all that great, but in my mind, the old points system wasn’t anything special either. Not when a driver with one win gets the title.
As for Toyota, I will say it right now- I see no reason for keeping them out. No one, to this day, has offered up a good reason to keep them out. The “American made” argument no longer flies. If you hate them, fine. Just root against them. Let them settle the matter on the track the question of who’s better.
One network for covering the races? It’s not needed. Multiple networks handle the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball just fine. It’s up to the networks to find the right personnel for handling the coverage, and trust me, if ratings continue to fall, you WILL have their attention. No ratings, no advertising revenue.
All this business about different starting times? A little more uniformity would be good,but really, I don’t think this is keeping the fans away. Maybe it’s a West Coast bias on my part, but I think I can read a schedule and figure out when the race is on. Otherwise, maybe I have no business watching the race.
Tuesday’s meeting COULD BE one step in the right direction for making the sport we love better. Being an optimist by nature, I watch with anticipation to see if the message is getting through.
NASCAR is first and foremost a business. if the message doesn’t get through, they’ll need for than a bailout.
Frankly- it’s not something I would want to asking the boys and girls in Washington for.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
The single and easiest thing they could do to make “race day” better is “start paying points or money to led laps”, there is nothing they are doing now to promote leading laps and exchanging the lead!
Fans going to races now want action “that day” not a chess match!
Also one of the problems that I think you and others are forgetting is Nascar is built on the competition between the brands of cars, all these look alike cars are hurting attendence, these fans are leaving Nascar, the brand of car and rooting for a Ford or Chevy or Toyota is what help make Nascar, no matter how they what you to think, GM, Ford and Toyota, Chrysler would not be putting money in it if they didnt think it would lead to sales, not every fan including myself is a “driver fan”, but show me a “spec car’ series that has done well, IRL, IROC etc
Us ‘Car Guys’ are important for Nascar, today just as they were in the 1960s!
@Charles.I like the first idea. I cringe at a “good points day.” Saving the equipment is one thing. Sand bagging it is another. I may ultimately stand corrected on your second point, but I am not as convinced on the matter of brand loyalty being as widespread as you make it sound.
You never know. Whatever it takes to revitalize things. If I were France and Helton, I’d listen.
The same people who keep pushing for the end to the lucky dog are the same “traditionalists” who didn’t want the wild card in baseball. I was at the Atlanta race this year and saw some great racing–not at the front but, in the field as multiple cars fought for the opportunity to regain their lost lap after the “loose tire incident”. Without the Lucky Dog, the race would have been watching Kurt Busch sliding around the top of the track.
The Lucky Dog does not get the credit it deserves for keeping the race exciting. If you only watch on TV you will never see the excitement of watching your driver fight to be in the race instead of just completing laps to stay in the Chase.
Keep the lucky dog. Let other tire makers have a shot at providing the tires. Double file restarts. Split screen TV coverage. More points for leading laps( not just 5 points for leading a lap, maybe 0 for 1 lap, and maybe up to 10 points for leading multiple laps) Drop the top-35 rule. Uniform start times. Put the NASCAR rule book and the list or “bad” drugs on the web and make the NASCAR web site more user friendly, including an e-mail address so fans can e-mail NASCAR directly.
Give the teams an engine size, a total weight, and get the hell out of their way and let them race, let them hang any body on they like, as long as it at least resembles the name they are using, if the Ford has a aero disadvantage, then race something else.
All this parity is ruining racing, just like it’s ruining this Great Country
I’m not sure anything will fix it. Being in my late sixtys and living about two mile from the Dover track still does not make me want to go set and watch what they are trying to sell. I gave up tickets at Richmond last year as I was tire of getting rip off by the motels. I have been a fan since the earley sixteys and as a long time fan I agree it needs fixed.; I do favor double file restarts and the lucky dog would need to stay in place but starting in the back and let them race fot that spot. You would have two races going on at the same time. I feel like Dale Sr. Build the fence stronger and run what you brung. I belive some of todays drivers are happy playing follow the guy in frount of you. we already have a lot more thing to keep the drivers safe so give the fans a reason to spend there money
No Chase,
No COT,
No Brian France
Problems solved
Alot of good ideas, except for one. You cannot get rid of the “lucky dog” pass and still get double file restarts. The “lucky dog” pass was created when drivers could no longer race back to the yellow flag, if you get rid of the free pass as well as have double file restarts there will be no way for drivers to get a lap back. Thats why the lapped cars were put at the front of the pack to begin with. Sure some cars dont deserve that benefit, but there are also fast cars that get caught up in accidents or have a tire go down, etc. and would have no chance of even racing to get their lap back if they had to start so far back in the field.
“To me- the top 35 points systems smells of socialism. We don’t need it in America and we sure don’t need it in NASCAR!”
On the contrary, that is protecting your interests, which in this case are the sponsors. That is not socialism, that is CORPORATE FASCISM.
The more you stir manure, the more it stinks. The COT and the current rules are a big pile of manure.
Start a 4th series. GM, Ford and Chrysler, stock-bodied cars on DOT tires and pump gas. All race parts must be available to the public from the dealer’s parts department. Modify ‘em for safety only and run 300-400 mile races. No gimmicks. The first one across the line at the end wins. It’s called stock car racing.
After being a TMS season ticket holder for years, I wouldn’t spend another nickle at a NASCAR race run under the current formula.
Just grabbed the feed… thanks for posting this.