Three green-white-checker situations. Now even NASCAR drivers complaining it's not racing. That's right guys, it's not racing. And, when pressed to answer if NASCAR is racing or a show the response is always 100% "show". But, let's hear it again right from the drivers themselves: Its just the way it works, Newman said. Its unfortunate. I feel like nobody did anything wrong. But its just a product of what happens here. Its not racing. These shouldnt be points races. If we want to have races for the fans, lets come here and do that but dont let it affect the championship. Because its not racing. Full article: RM
Between Cup and Nationwide, how many cars got wadded up at Dega this weekend? 50? Even if it's not a plate race, this g/w/c nonsense needs to go. It's not exciting when it happens every week, and all it does is tear up equipment, put drivers in unnecessary danger, and make winning a race about the same as playing roulette....or maybe craps
NASCAR knows how to fit the show to a proper schedule--just see Grand Am Rolex. This green-white nonsense is rediculous.
The full article: http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-plenty-of-blame-for-dega-wrecks/ GrandAM is a whole other thread. RM
It's not just g/w/c...the "lucky dog" rule, debris cautions with no debris, the "out of bounds" rule, all the hype over "taking the gloves off" this year for actually letting them race, plus all the crap about the COT and now the wing/spoiler switch. NASCAR has been pimpin' the sport way too hard for the last few years. they need to realize that sometimes a driver beats the field by 20 seconds, sometimes races go caution free, and sometimes ratings suck because people have other stuff to do. otherwise, if you just want to make a spectacle out of people getting hurt, have a tightrope gun duel deathmatch over a tank full of sharks and alligators.
Let's see how low things go before a driver(s) or spectator(s) become sacrificial lambs and NASCAR finally has a rethink. Interesting that Speed showed Australian V8 Supercars over the weekend. Genuine V8 fuel injected power and modified stock chassis which look exactly like their road going counterparts? What a concept and everything NASCAR should be with no "phantom" or "competition" cautions the moment the leader pulls out a two second lead or the lead pack dosent fit the narrative. RM
A whole bunch of empty seats at NASCAR lately; some sections @ Talladega were barren. Came across this Time article today: NASCAR: A Once Hot Sport Tries to Restart Its Engine
The fans are the ones that demanded races NOT end under caution. NASCAR is simply giving its target audience what they asked for..
That's a great article, still it needs to go further. Dwindling TV ratings, empty seats at races, oh dear we had better find our own "Tiger Woods"! That's worked out well for the PGA right? How about this? Instead of borrowing from the business models of WWE, NFL and Ultimate Cage Fighting, why not create a genuine business model consisting of cars people may identify with featuring V8 fuel injected engines (like Australian V8 Supercars) and cut the nonsense with the endless Super Bowl-like hype (which no event may ever live up to) and return to racing roots with no "phantom yellows" and these crap-shoot "green-white-checker" finishes? Unfortunately, NASCAR has gone so far off the beam replacing "sport" with "show", it's become a shadow of it's former self and they've forgotten the number one rule of marketing; over exposure kills the product. RM
While the decreasing spectator numbers are easy to pin on the economy, the 25% drop in TV viewership should be very alarming. It sounds as if the g/w/c isn't universally popular, although I'm of the opinion that the fans who complained loudly about races ending under yellow have been appeased, only to have their protests replaced by those complaining about the current format. You'll never please everyone. Sounds like politics! But I think you have a case of over-saturation where NASCAR maybe reached beyond it's grasp, capturing a more transient fan base and risking the alienation of loyalists in the process. But this is what happens when the plan calls for world domination--you can only get so big without diluting the product in some way. With NASCAR, I fall under the heading of 'casual fan'. I watch Daytona religiously because I enjoy the spectacle of the event, plus my parents live there and I've been to the track. But to me, watching the 3-hour telecasts week in, week out isn't something I care to do, nor is it realistic if spending any quality time with my family on the weekends is important to me. As a racing fan I appreciate the difficulty of NASCAR racing, but a little bit goes a long way when they're pedaling around ovals every weekend. Plus I really dislike the COT and think it creates an even greater disconnect between the fans, the sport and what it once was. So I'll catch a few laps here and there, but I wouldn't expect NASCAR to spend much effort chasing after me as a fan.
