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Was Texas Boring to You, Or Just Good Ol’ Racing?by Chuck Abrams ~ April 8th, 2008. Filed under: Chuck Checks In!. |
I have seen a lot of comments in the media and in blogs about how the race at Texas on Sunday was boring.
But if you listen to Michael Waltrip and the guys on This Week in NASCAR on SPEED, they talked about how exciting the race was and it came down to a restart with 2 laps to go to settle the thing.
OK, before you all go nuts on Waltrip, set aside that he has been known to be the ultimate shill for NASCAR. Remember, this is the same guy that has been on record for saying the mandated NASCAR bump stops should be outlawed.
So was Texas boring or not? What makes a good race? Sure there were only 10 cars on the lead lap. But back in the day, there were plenty of races where the winner had lapped the field more than once, including several Daytona 500s.
Perhaps it is not the race, but the race coverage that is boring. We seem to get plenty of pre-race antics (who chained Carl Edwards’ bike to a fence) and odes to cowboy hats (gee, that is a novel idea, cowboy hats in Texas? Maybe all the on air guys should wear them!) but little coverage (that I saw) on Dario Franchitti and how he feels about missing the race. Maybe Dario was not into wearing a cowboy hat to go on air.
And the coverage – oy. Did anyone remember seeing Joe Nemecheck? What about Sam Hornish? Much more than a passing mention of Kurt Busch? Was David Ragan mentioned at all? Patrick Carpentier?
My point is that unless you are in the top 10 or get wrecked, you have little chance of getting on the air these days. Long gone are the days of Eli Gold taking us through the field. So maybe it is not the races that are boring, but the coverage.
But perhaps I am being hasty, I have been to boring races. There are certainly parts of some races that are yawners. With 500 miles or laps in a race, many drivers are content to just pace out the middle section of a race and get down to business with just 100 laps to go. Sounds suspiciously like an NBA game to me…
For all the hype, the new car is not what was promised. While it appears to be safer, it has not produced better racing, more side by side racing, better finishes, a level playing field or a less aero dependent car. It may have put the issue of a race back in a drivers hands to some (Carl Edwards) but one could also argue that the car is so sensitive to set up that if a team misses the set up even a little, the car is nearly undriveable (Jeff Gordon). And THAT my friends is NOT putting the car back in the drivers hands – in my opinion.
So exactly what makes an exciting race? Lots of lead changes? More cars on the lead lap? More wrecks? What makes YOUR clock tick? Let me know!!
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
Feel free to send Chuck your thoughts on this and other race topics at chucka@turnleftracing.com. The blog at www.turnleftracing.com is down now due to spammers. We will have that back up as soon as we can.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:16 am
I don’t know about the coverage of the race,I didn’t see it yet,but I was there at the track,it was a boring race.I’ve been to all but the first race @ Texas Motor Speedway,this one took the cake.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:44 am
The coverage was lousy.All the comments are scripted by napcar and the announcers must go by these guidelines.If they get out of line they get a visit to the trailer a la Tony Stewart.What happened to the real racing of Petty,Pearson,Cale,Bobby,when they won by a lap?It was the fastest car and the best driver,not who napcar wanted to win ,like today.These new cars stink…………………….
April 8th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Sorry NASCAR but I turned to the INDY cars when they came on and turned back when the commercials came on just to see if ANYTHING was going on! Since NASCAR has gone to the new cars (that they took from the merry go rounds at amusement parks) I don’t watch as much. I enjoyed the races when you could tell a FORD from the DODGE or from the CHEVY! And if NASCAR was truly about “STOCK CAR” racing then why am I driving a FRONT WHEEL vehicle while DALE JR is driving a REAR WHEEL vehicle. I am an ole NASCAR FAN ( Tiger Tom Pistone & Paul Goldsmith [etc] ) days! I think INDY cars will be the racing to watch now!
April 8th, 2008 at 9:00 am
The reason that the races are so boring is that they are TOO LONG! It does not take 500 miles to see who has the fastest car. Nascar keeps the races long so that the advertisers can bombard the fans with more ads than laps. Only races at Daytona & Talledega(wide open racing) should be 500 miles, the rest should be kept at 400 miles or less.
Here’s the best way to watch a race, Set your recorder to record the entire event, Go spend time with your loved one’s, when it’s over sit down, Skip over the commercials, skip over the pre-race show, skip over the made up debris cautions & watch nothing but racing! It will save you at least two hours every sunday.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:33 am
You guy’s are crazy!Indy cars (except for sportcars)are the most boring racing on TV,and there has been all kinds of NASCAR cup racing that go down to the last lap in the not to distant past,I think from a safety standpoint the new cars are great (just ask Michael McDowell)some teams have them figured out better than others. The racing will get better,just watch.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am
The coverage of the race was OK. It (the coverage) can only be as good as the race. You cannot make chicken soup out of chicken sh**. The racing has been terrible thanks to the CoT. As noticed in the qualifing (just over 8 tenths between 1st and 43rd)when the cars are alone on the track and can be driven on the drivers preferred marks then everything is OK. When you get the cars together and take away the prefered line as well as the the aero needed to hold the car to the track then the car becomes a handful and drivers have to back off the gas to keep control. NASCAR needs to do some serious testing with groups of cars running together in order to correct the engineering flaws in the CoT. If you have noticed all of the testing has been done with a limited number of cars and based on the individual car performance rather than the racing performance of the CoT. NASCAR is looking for the perfect “car” NOT the best “race car”. In my opinion, the 1st place they need to look is at the stupid splitter. They need to free up travel on the front of the car and stop forcing crews to use coil binding or shock stops to prevent it from hitting the ground. If NASCAR keeps going the way they are, they will create a whole new type of IROC car and we know how that turned out, as evidenced by the sale of all the equipment and cars last month.
April 8th, 2008 at 9:57 am
I hope you are right Donnie. I am waiting for the racing to get better with the new car. But I have my doubts. I have no problem with the fact that they are a handful to drive. But the difference between the haves and have nots seems to be greater, not less. And I don’t see NASCAR addressing that issue at all — now or in the foreseeable future.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:10 am
The COT tomorrow is boring to watch. The car maybe safer, but the racing is lousy. The cars all look the same except for the paint schemes, sponsors and manufacturer logo. NASCAR is losing me and others as a fan. I do not watch as much as I use to and I do not record the races to watch later. A group of us used to go to a couple of races a year. Not anymore. The NASCAR body is a joke and they have ruined the sport. NASCAR is not consistant and they show favortism. NASCAR has no problem with pentalizing some and looking the other way for others. The perception is NASCAR itself is cheating and they get away with it. If you want to make the arguement about how exciting it was to watch the last few laps, then maybe NASCAR should shorten the races to about 10 laps.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:28 am
JR–They already shorten the race to 10 laps. It doesn’t matter what happens in the first part of the race because it is there only to sell commercials. There is 100% chance that there will be a caution in the last 10 laps so there will be a close finish. The “lucky dog” is there to keep more of the field on the lead lap and an occasional “debris” caution or unneeded cautions (Robby Gordon) keep the field close.
I can DVR the entire race and start watching about a half hour before the end of the race. I can spend about half an hour and see the entire race as I skip the boring parts and still see the “exciting” finish live.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:25 am
My NASCAR raceview was down for most of the race on Sunday,so I had to watch it on TV. My God, what a mess. Wall to wall commercials for up to 15 laps of racing. Announcing that was just plain awful, and BORING racing that focused on just a few drivers. At least with Raceview and MRN radio, I can hear good race commentary and I can watch who I want to watch on the computer.I kept hoping that it would get better, but it didn’t.
I have a question for some of you who attend races: I will be seeing my first races ever this season at Darlington and Richmond. Tickets are high up in Colonial Towers and Tyler Towers across from pit row. Is that a good spot or not? Bought them mainly because it looks like they are real seats not bleachers(the old back couldn’t deal with 4-5 hours of bleachers.)
April 8th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Well penrod I don’t think you could have picked 2 better tracks to see nascar races,you’ll love it ,wished I was going,I was at Darlington in’93 when turn 2 was turn 4, we sat half way up in the covered sec. out of then turn 4.Great seats,great race.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I get to go to ONLY one race each year and that is the Texas race. I was so disappointed in the racing this year. It was extremely boring!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
NASCAR did test the cars in groups back before it was ever allowed on the track. But it is obviously slower and a handful to drive for many drivers. As far as favoritism — I just don;t see it. They have penalized drivers and teams across the board including Gibbs, DEI, Hendrick and Roush.
While many fans still say they are not going to watch a race again, TV ratings are steady to increasing right now. Go figure.
But I do have to agree with you that in too many cases, you can blow thru a taped race because it is the same top 10 show and you just need to get to the end anyway.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
JMO but it was borning to me and not because my favorite driver did not win, he at least finished. To me it was unbelievable to have only 12 cars on the lead lap at the end. To have 13 back 1 to 8 laps down till you got to the DNFs was amazing and yes, boring. The coverage is also getting boring as far as what is going on with the cars on the track and what the broadcaster’s are talking about and showing at the same time. Lead changes and all most of the time aren’t even shown only if in a replay of how did this happen.