Comments on: What Changes Will We See In 2008?

By: Bill Webb

Bill Webb — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:53:54 +0000

DW summed up Nascar in a recent interview, sayin,” Nascar has sucked the life out of racing and emasculated the drivers.” Current broadcasters are boring; the races are too long (a result of boredom); there is product differentialtion (COT) and the race cars are “spec” racers. The game has changed. I will probably stay a fan because I like race cars with fenders.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:49:19 +0000

I’m in the demographic that NA$CAR doesn’t want any more. I’m almost 70 with a lot of discretionary funds. I’ve been a strong fan for many, many years. I stopped watching the races and supporting the sponsors primarily because of the top-35 rule. My driver drove for a new team and never had a chance to get into the top 35. He very frequently qualified faster than many of the top-35 drivers, but seldom raced. Why should I watch?

I also cancelled my Nextel contract because of the exclusive sponsor rule and all the lawyer BS that followed…I now use Verizon. I wouldn’t think of using Nationwide insurance because they (and NA$CAR) are chasing out all other insurance companies. Sponsors used to be as competitive as the drivers, now they just buy their way into the sport and lock out competition.

NA$CAR has changed so that money rules and the fans are totally ignored. If you ignore your fans long enough, there will not be any fans left to provide the dollars to the sponsors…what happens then? G’bye.

Cheers,

Larry

By: knavekid

knavekid — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:30:39 +0000

NASCAR jumped the shark when they started trying to make all of the cars the same. It started innocently enough, when they outlawed ground effects and mandated roof flaps in the wake of the increasingly higher speeds in the name of safety. Restrictor plates came next and kept the speeds down at the super speedways. After successfully implementing these important safety rules, NASCAR went crazy with more and more rules. Instead of requiring the car body to use panels from and match the dimensions of the manufactures production car, they changed the rules to dictate the body dimensions. They started dictating rear spoiler height followed by angle. You no longer saw the pit crew adjusting the spoiler for more straightaway speed or more downforce. Instead of each team choosing their tire supplier, they pushed Hoosier out and mandated Goodyear (I don’t disagree with this tire decision as tire safety had been declining in the effort to maximize performance). More and more rules were implemented to the point of almost every component of the car being dictated by NASCAR. DEI had a great super speedway program due to their engine builders making their engines reliable at RPMs higher than anyone else. New rule: NASCAR will now dictate the transmission and rear end gearing to be the same for every car. So much for all of this engine development effort. Dale Jr. no longer dominates the super speedways.

NASCAR should make and enforce rules that pertain to safety and other key car specifications only. Rules on the type of engine, displacement, weight, and tire size are all OK. I would like to see OEM body panels as well. Let the teams be creative in improving performance.

I still like to watch the Cup races. However, while I used to plan my weekend around them, I now turn on the TV if I happen to be home and remember that there is a race. And then it is usually in the background as I concentrate on something else.

By: mike wignall

mike wignall — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:26:28 +0000

first of all the format wasnt changed when dale jr missed the chase and secondly jeff gordon dale jr didnt have a problem with qualifing and never have. how much did michael waltrip pay you anyway

By: Rob

Rob — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:48:10 +0000

I like your colum, I like the chase format, it think even more should be put on winning,more points and more money, Bruton Smith made a commit that more of the purse money should go to the winner, i agree, there should be a big gap between 1st & 2nd,and finishing 40th,41st,42nd&43rd should pay little to nothing,i like your view of getting rid of the top 35 and the 5 points for leading a lap. As far as races being boring, they are, because racing has become a business and business is boring. I want to see door to door, fender rubbing, bumper tapping racing every lap not drivers scared to do anything for the fear of losing points or being suspended,im not saying you have to destoy a bunch of cars, because i dont like watching a caution filled race either, when i first started watching racing the yellow goodyear on the tire would not last 10 laps, now they never go away,i want to hear the commentators call the race, not show me how something works every week, week after week after week,if every week you are catering to the new people to the sport and waht point do let them become loyal fans, its the same people talking about the same thing every week, i love nascar, have for the last 12 years, now its become……………. a business………… boring ol’ business

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:40:32 +0000

I agree with almost everything you stated in your article. I have said for years that if you are fast enough to qualify then you go home and I don’t care which driver you are. It’s not fair to those who beat say Jeff Gordon or Dale Jr and they go home because of them being in the top 35. It’s just plain wrong. If they send the top driver’s in points home want to bet that they will get it together at the next race. Why are the fan’s not watching the race on television? It’s because the announcers are just awful this year last part of the year and the fan’s are sick of seeing and hearing nothing but Jr. Who cares if he’s riding around in 36th place and have them show us for five minutes or longer inside his car. That’s just nuts…plus I could care less about the break away car leave it on the track where the action is at. I also don’t believe that Dale Sr is the reason why viewing has gone down. It’s because we never know which channel it’s going to be on. Plus ABC/ESPN as been the pits…we don’t get have of what we get when FOX is showing the races.

The point system just plain stinks from my point of view. Why should a driver that has lead the points for the first 26 weeks have it all taken away from him. It’s a shame that when the Chase starts that the driver doesn’t get some kind of bonus for it. Not put behind another driver because they had a couple more wins. In my book it’s how you do all year and not what you do the last 10 races. Give more points to the winner of a race, bonus for a pole, bonus if you lead the points for 10 weeks in a row…then start the Chase where the driver’s are at the time the Chase starts. Don’t give a bonus for wins then…also they need to bring some different track and type races in the last 10 for the Chase. A road corse race needs to be in the Chase…Nascar needs to wake up and start listening to the fan’s or Nascar won’t have any fan’s left. Thanks for a great article.