Letter sent to USA editorial about NASCAR

[Joe771476]

In a response to a NASCAR article in USA Today as to why viewership and fan attendance are dwindling, my friend mentioned recent driver non allegiance to car makers and specifically the defection of the Waltrip boys to Toyota. What they didn't print was how Toyota shouldn't be allowed to race since NASCAR stock racing was born from moonshine running and they didn't use Toyotas back then!

[Kotzenjunge]

A compelling argument.

[Guest Sixcav]

The thing about modern NASCAR, it's a rolling advertisement show. I fully respect that the cars are damn fast and the amount of skill it takes to drive them. But let's be honest. NASCAR has big backing form corporations because the cars are rolling billboards. The fact that most of the races take place on big circles should tell you something. It keeps most of the cars on the screen in the camera shot most of the time for the greatest amount of exposure to the public. It's become all about promoting and advertising your product to the masses. And most everyone knew that and that was ok so long as you didn't mess with the tried and true tradition of Ford vs GM vs Chrysler (to a lesser extent). But now you have Toyota throwing their hat into the ring and drivers jumping ship to sign on with what many hardcore NASCAR fans consider to be an outsider. It becomes obvious to a lot of fans that these boys couldn't really care less about who they drive for so long as they get the most $$$$. While I understand the desire to get paid, I also understand that fans place big importance on loyalty. So these guys are seen as fake and traders and if they are so easily willing to jump on the Toyota band wagon, who else might be? Pretty soon fans begin to realize what they knew all along, it's just about money. It's not really about the competitive spirit of racing or the thrill of it. It's just about money through and through and that sobering reality has the effect of leaving fans felt pretty let down. As if all along the whole thing was just a big facade and now they realize it was all just for show. People are not as stupid as a lot of us would like to believe. They understand, even if only on some innate level, a few truths about life. A corporation is just a souless conglomerate that may have a slick appearance and smooth talk but in the end it's just an empty promise that wants your retail dollars. It is without honor and it's only loyalty is to the almighty dollar. People are just the fools that must be conned out of those dollars. That is the reality at the core of what NASCAR really is now and people are starting to wake up to it. It's not like it was when Petty and Yarborough were racing. It's a cold hard business and fans are turned off by the calculating nature of it.

[Keyser Soze]

The big problem for me is the departure from what it used to be. Hell, even the name means nothing anymore. "Stock car" racing? Not for a long time.

 

How about bringing the speeds down and actually running real cars with safety modifications? Perhaps then manufacturer affiliation would mean something.

 

The corporate sponsorships don't help, but that genie is out of the bottle.

[Roadrunner]

Nothing's been stock on those cars since about 1993, if not earlier.

[old_fairmont_wagon]

Well, we could all go on and on about what NASCAR has screwed up, but, lets remember that at the height of its popularity a few years ago, the cars still didn't even resemble what you could buy. What's changing now that wasn't present then? The only variables that I can see are Toyota and the last ten Chase for the Cup races. Perhaps the schedule has changed a little as well during that time.

 

The other thing there is that perhaps the product itself is going stale. The US public is notoriously fickle. They get boared with stiff very quickly. What keeps sports entertaining is that there is the possibility of a different outcome each time. But, in most other sports, there is a "Home Team". For Nascar, very few fans can claim a "Home Team".

 

So, here are my suggestions for Nascar.

1) Designate "Home tracks" for each racing team. Have them geographically spread around the country. Give the local "Home" crowd lots of accessibility to information about their home team.

2) Bring the cars back to looking like what the fan can buy at his local dealership. While some changes will obviously be needed to make a FWD car RWD, these should be minor and involve hood and front end sheetmetal only. This will neccessitate bringing car speeds down...

3) Bring car speeds down by reducing the size of their engines. Make the target engine size roughly 4.8L. Allow any cam configuration (overhead, or cam in block). Allow any number of valves per cylinder. Require port fuel injection. Require the use of 93 octane pump premium gas (unleaded). Limit the maximum revs for the engine to 7000 RPM. {Why am I suggesting this? Each manufacturer already has a 4.6-4.8L V8 engine in production, and the rev limit and fuel specification limit how much power can be generated by that configuration. It also makes the racing more accessible to new teams}

4) Since car speeds will be brought down, shorten the races by 100 miles a peice, except for Taladega, Daytona, and the 600 mile race. Those are races about endurance. The average race should be 300 miles.

5) eliminate two repeat visits to oval tracks and replace them with two more road courses. I suggest Road America and another (pick your favorite, I like Laguna seca)

6) Eliminate two other repeat Oval Track appearances and shorten the season.

 

Now, I know everyone won't be thrilled by my suggestions, but, that's what they are, suggestions. Will any of them actually happen? Not in my lifetime. The Car Of Tomorrow has been introduced and that's the horse that the France family has saddled up on.

[hoss96racing]

I still don't understand what the whole car of tomarrow thing is about...

 

if they want to slow them down... make them use a production front fascia and hood... give them a spoiler that can be used in any way on the front within a certian area range... that would make them slow down real quick .. and heaven forbide make the driver actually race instead of just hold the pedal to the floor and see who gets the best gas milage

[tommyturbo]

If they actually raced factory production cars, no mods , in a track that turned both ways, with curves that varied in tightness, and more hills up and down, like really roads I'd watch. Otherwise, i could care less about nascar, they're all the same damn car underneath, and that bores the shit out of me.

[RichardJensen]

The other thing there is that perhaps the product itself is going stale.

I think this hits the nail on the head.

 

The France guys need to learn that you CAN have too much of a good thing.

 

TIP:

 

When you start licensing "current fad" cologne, you're just about at the saturation point and the next step is "Dude. That is SO 2006".

 

http://www.perfume.com/wilshire/nascar-1009117.html

[oldracer]

I was a big fan of Richard Petty and his contemporaries when they were racing.

About 10 years ago, when "managed racing" seemed to be the way of the future, I quit being interested and watching.

 

NASCAR,(like the NFL is doing now), has squashed personality and individual expression and instituted some of the dumbest, asinine rules to supposedly "improve"

racing competition.

 

I raced 17 years straight in SCCA and NHRA, and a total of 30 in AMA as arider & team owner, here's how it worked:

1st car/bike over the finish line won, no candyass staged pit stops, no penalty for a little "contact" in the course of racing, no fines for cursing out a fellow racer for stupid actions, no fining because your girlfriend or wife argued with someone else's GF or Wife....

No concern about gas mileage, race cars are supposed to be fast, not frugal no pit stategy and manipulation of stops; you went in when something broke or you needed tires or fuel, other than that you RACED in an attempt to be first....

 

I won my class racing 911's for 17 years 21 times out of 43 races, I was second 11 times, 3rd 8 times and 4th or worse 3 times.....I ran the shit out the car as God intended.

 

So my position is inderstandable, JUST RACE DAMMIT and dump the Kindergarden rule thing....

[bec5150]

I could post pages on the reasons, but suffice to say, my family had followed NASCAR from the late 60's until the mid 90's. For whatever reason, our interest got less and less.

 

This year I haven't even watched a whole race and neither has my parents or brother. It's just not interesting anymore. I guess my biggest issue is that with the technology they can take an 18 year old kid and put him into a car and BOOM, he's fast. I like the stock cars when they were finicky and had to be manhandled. Not so much anymore.

 

IN short, I used to watch it and now I don't. Judging from the recent stories in the media, the numbers are going down as other folks have walked away.

Edited November 30, 2006 by bec5150

[Red Star]

It would be cool if we could get more car brands in NASCAR. Maybe Pontiac, Mercury?

[one2gamble]

nascar needs to get back to its roots..end of story

[RichardJensen]

Shine runners on a Daytona beach?

 

Sure, why not.

[fllcobra]

I don't understand why this sport is still popular considering NASCAR race car has absolutely nothing in common with anything people drive. :reading:

[hoss96racing]

I don't understand why this sport is still popular considering NASCAR race car has absolutely nothing in common with anything people drive. :reading:

 

it still is popular because they turned it into a soap opera... cars are all the same but you have your favorite young gun to cheer for... they stopped racing a few years ago... its like reality TV ... it will fade....

[FordPaul]

I used to be a big fan of Nascar but lost interest. Too much like WWE "wrestling" with cautions for "debris on the track" when a favored driver needs a lap back. And the free pass at every caution? please make them race to get their laps back like its suppose to be. Now I see Toyota coming in and I am done with Nascar forever. Looks like they will have more Toyotas in the field than Fords next year, what a joke.

[ebritt]

If they actually raced factory production cars, no mods , in a track that turned both ways, with curves that varied in tightness, and more hills up and down, like really roads I'd watch. Otherwise, i could care less about nascar, they're all the same damn car underneath, and that bores the shit out of me.

Try rallycar racing.

[ford-boy]

I used to be a big fan of Nascar but lost interest. Too much like WWE "wrestling" with cautions for "debris on the track" when a favored driver needs a lap back. And the free pass at every caution? please make them race to get their laps back like its suppose to be. Now I see Toyota coming in and I am done with Nascar forever. Looks like they will have more Toyotas in the field than Fords next year, what a joke.

 

I've been done with NASCAR for several years now, especially so after the Tundra was allowed. Now with Toyoda coming into the field for next year, I hope more and more people feel like you and walk away from it.

[markfnc]

I know they want saftey. I thought they should all be given a stock body to be put over the roll cage. Then add rear spolier /front air dam to increase or decease speed to make them competative. Even if the body was thin sheet metal like they use, but ini the exact shape and size of a real "Fusion", "Monte Carlo", "Charger".

[ford-boy]

I know they want saftey. I thought they should all be given a stock body to be put over the roll cage. Then add rear spolier /front air dam to increase or decease speed to make them competative. Even if the body was thin sheet metal like they use, but ini the exact shape and size of a real "Fusion", "Monte Carlo", "Charger".

 

NASCAR is not about real racing, but rather making everyone equal. By having a REAL body on each car, some are sure to be more aerodynamic than others, which in turn would make them faster and win more races. If its not your favorite car, you become disinterested. They can't have that. To NASCAR the perfect finish next year will be a Ford, Dodge, Chevy and now Toyo four abreast racing for the finish line and that photofinish to determine the winnah!! If your too fast, they will penalize you, If your too slow, they'll give aero benefits. It's basically just like handicapped horse racing. If your horse wins alot, they will force your jockey to carry more added weight. If your horse rarely wins, then your jockey gets to carry less added weight.