What is Wrong With Brian France?

Well thought out and well stated Tervren.

Although, the use of "fin'n or suspendin'" is also one of my sayings, I thusly feel justified in charging $1.00 for its
use in this forum. Rob, back me up here man!

When we see the disconnect NASCAR as a sport has devolved into from what is once was and how rapidly things
have gone down hill especially since Brian France took the helm, it's little wonder NASCAR has lost its fan base.

But, lets not kid ourselves, NASCAR still gets the kind of numbers (both ticket buying and TV watching public) that
other relevant racing series would kill to have. And, with hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, they've still
got a lot of weight to throw around, whether the boss is a asshat or not.

BHW

 

Certainly, with the exit of high profile drivers like Jr. Jr. Jr. and Danica, NASCAR is going to
feel it.

For whatever reason, Jr. Jr. Jr. has been the most popular driver since like forever. It never
made any sense since the expectations for his career, especially after he joined Hendrick
never came close to what pundits like Dave Despain (who must have been paid $1,000 each
time he said Jr. Jr. Jr.'s name on "Wind Tunnel") were touting at the time.

Jr. Jr. Jr.'s transfer to Hendrick was predicted to bring automatic results and multiple-mutiple
championships. And, even through the heavy hand of NASCAR intervention to try and get
Jr. Jr. Jr. his long awaited championship, it never materialized which must have had the
NASCAR hierarchy deep in the fake wood paneled walled offices in Daytonner walking in circles.

Danica, on the other hand, provided some colorful episodes but most of it negative. I ran
across a You Tube video of her getting snarky with interviewers and even with her own team
on the radio and she just comes off looking like an entitled princess. They probably won't
miss her too much evidenced by the fact that they couldn't get her into a ride for 2018.

They won't, but NASCAR should re-examine itself. The way the races are presented on TV
is so over the top now that no event can live up to all the hype.

Case in point. I was staying in Central Florida on some family business and friends wanted
me to attend a NASCAR party they were having, I reluctantly agreed. They had it on monitors
on like five TVs in one room with all the pre-race hype, Michael Waltrip this, Michael Waltrip
that. He said something so incredibly stupid in exasperation, I let out, "Jesus, what a jackass"
to which they all gasped as if his every utterance is gold.

The smallish group got all hyped for the race during the pre-race and when the green flag
at long last dropped, they were hooping and hollering, I thought was in a scene right out
of the "Dukes of Hazard". The hype quickly evaporated and about 20 or so laps in, the
room got quiet, I looked around and every one of them were asleep on the couches and
chairs, I was the only one awake, ha!

The only time they'd wake up was during a wreck and ensuing caution where they show
the incident 50 different times from 50 different angles. If these are typical NASCAR fans
who buy into this hype, NASCAR is missing their target. They're like sugar addicts who
get their fix then crash only in a much more rapid fashion.

BHW

 

Which leads right into my next question...

What are the duration of the current TV contracts with FOX and NBC?

And, what was the announced deal with Monster?

Seems to me NASCAR wanted a much longer term deal than Monster was willing to
pony up for and Monster pretty much got their way.

BHW

 

Things may go a lot further than finin & suspendin' though, unfortunately.

Back in the early GrandAm days at Daytonner when the Earnhardts, Sr. and Jr. Jr. Jr. drove together for Corvette,
highly respected sports car journalist Michael Cotten attempted to get an interview with them in the garages during
some down time.

Mr. Cotten, while not geriatric at the time but up in years shall we say, was manhandled by security. He was forcibly
removed from the garages, credentials revoked and threatened with arrest (yes, you read that right) if he pursued
with his requests for interviews with the Earnhardts.

Now, this type of stuff was nothing new at Daytonner. Treatment of credentialed media and fans alike is abysmal. They
give tin badges to a bunch of old goats with the instructions of making life as completely difficult for journalists, photographers
and spectators as possible.

Having been on the receiving end of this numerous times myself, I could write volumes on mistreatment of journalists and
photographers at Daytonner. It became so pervasive that they noticed in the lead up to one of the 24 Hour races a few years later that they had not received a single request for credentials from any overseas journalists or photographers, uhoh...

GrandAm was tipping in the balance in the competition with ALMS (as if there was ever really any competition) and they were desperate for any good PR. So the good folks deep in the fake wood paneled walled offices in Daytonner came up with a solution, cover all the expenses (flights, rental cars, hotels, etc.) for any journalists and photographers coming from overseas to cover the event.

As I understand it, three or four actually took them up on this offer.

This illustration shows exactly the lengths the NASCAR hierarchy goes to protect themselves and if anyone dares to step out
of line, then access is denied. Rough up an old man, threaten him with an overnight stay in the Daytona jail. They're low lifes,
pure and simple.

BHW