Nascar Rant

[nobody05]

Okay after all an Internet Forum is a place for opinion/diccussion. I used to be a die hard fan, now just kind of a if i'm not doing anything or if the weather is nasty outside, I'll suppose I will watch the race. First a couple of my thoughts.

What would My Ideal NASCAR be:

My Ideal NASCAR would be well a competitive stock car race. A place where well the cars would have at least a backround of the actual car on the road. A place where manufactures spend time in the wind tunnel to supertune aerodynamics. A place where they will spend money in order to gain an edge in fuel economy or horsepower to gain an edge over another manufacturer to potentially sell that car on the dealership on monday.

Afterall I think it's great that they moved to EFI. Sure it comes with a few mishaps and changes. But time does change. I'm sure the same kind of contraversy was going on when they moved from bias ply tires to radial's in the sport. Deal with it. We dont have to have the Indy Car equivialent "supercars" of the day in NASCAR. Yes cost will go up. But if I would be able to tell my Great Grandpa 40 years ago that a new family car in 2012 will cost 30k and a gallon of gas will cost $4 he would have defacated/urnanated/thew up all at once.

What got NASCAR noticed?

The fight in the '79 500 right? The average non die hard fan wants to see contraversry & rebelliance in a sport persay. Let's take Bristol for instance. The hardest ticket in NASCAR to get well until nowadays as we seen from the race. What from? Sure a weakend economy has some to blame. Some has to do with the repaved racetrack to make better side by side racing, but lost the single grove bump and run it was known for. A reason for controversy and shotty behavior, like it or not that's what people want to see. It's what get's NASCAR on TV on the 10pm news.

Racetracks

IMO tracks like California/Michigan/Homestad are not helping matters on a falling fan base. I dont even bother to tune in. I'm sure others dont either. Just for the uneventfullness.

Again this is just an opion on my part as i'm loosing interest every year In the sport sadly. I could go on but dont want to boar you guys to death. I dont know how they could fix it. Maybe it's just and end of a era, turning of a page and nothing can be done.

[LMITOUT]

Nice post and I completely agree except with the EFI part. I'm sure it'll get figured out but I still like the ability of a team to easily troubleshoot a mechanical device instead of having to go behind the wall so they can plug in a laptop to figure out the problem. I think a few years ago it was Hamilin's team that replaced the entire carburetor under caution and never lost a lap. It was obviously a larger track so they had a little more time, but still. Good luck with that using this EFI configuration. I suppose it was time to move forward but I still like the flames out of the pipes and stuff like that. Feels more like racing, I guess.

Here is a thread about the new cars coming that may ease your mind about the way they used to "win on Sunday, sell on Monday":

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2761317/2013_Sprint_Cup_Cars#Post2761317

They look a lot better than the cookie cutter COT's we have now and think the new Nationwide cars were the best thing they've done lately. Glad to see it happening on the cup side now.

Speaking of cookie cutters, I'm all on board about the horrible 1.5 mile tracks and always have been. They are basically all the same and there is no character. Vegas and Homestead have become a little better after the reconfiguration. California is awful and Chicago and Kansas aren't a whole lot better. The Bristol race yesterday was a joke. They completely ruined that track. Goodyear needs to bring a tire that wears out faster otherwise they need to bring in the bulldozers and start over.

[CAMAN]

The Bristol race yesterday was a joke. They completely ruined that track.

Did you happen to glance in the stands? I'd say about half of the seats were empty! Wasn't it just 5 years ago they had a waiting list for tickets?

[LMITOUT]

Yup.

Try as they might, TV coverage couldn't hide it at a track like Bristol unlike other tracks where you rarely see the stands...

[Tracker55]

+1

Bristol was a real yawner.

[Big Tom]

Some of it's surely the economy and some it just as surely is folks coming to the realization that it's not your Father's NASCAR anymore. I'm not sure why anyone would part with money for this or most of the major league sports. The money has ruined them.

[Papa Grump]

According to the paper today, there is plans on ripping up the track and restoring it to what it used to be. I might just start watching again...

[PierBridge]

The attendance has almost nothing to do with the track or how the race was and if they restored it to exactly the same way it was the attendance gains would be minimal if at all.

Still 100,000 paid is a pretty good turn-out all things considered these days!

[CAMAN]

According to the paper today, there is plans on ripping up the track and restoring it to what it used to be. I might just start watching again...

[LMITOUT]

The attendance has almost nothing to do with the track or how the race was and if they restored it to exactly the same way it was the attendance gains would be minimal if at all.

Still 100,000 paid is a pretty good turn-out all things considered these days!

That is not exactly accurate. As mentioned in CAMAN's quoted text, they added variable banking to the track which allowed for multi-lane racing that previously didn't exist where the only way "around" the guy ahead of you was to give him the bumper, a.k.a the "chrome horn" and move him out of the way. This ruffled feathers and made for some exciting racing and reactions both during AND after the race. That is why Bristol seats 150,000. People wanted to see something they didn't get at the tracks on the rest of the schedule. As long as the bump and run was done in a respectful manner, of course.

Yes, the economy went downhill and hasn't recovered which will hurt ticket sales, but that doesn't affect the people at home who are voicing their comments about the racing they are watching on the big screen from the comfort of their La-Z-Boy.

And the estimated attendance of 100,000 is an exaggerated figure from what I've read. A typical promotional tactic done everywhere. It seems that it was closer to the 70-80k range.

Bruton Smith is crazy (and wealthy) enough to tear up the track. Hopefully something is done one way or another.

[CAMAN]

Empty seats a sad sight at hallowed Bristol

Do fans miss the old Bristol so much that they refuse to go to the new Bristol?

It sure looked that way Sunday, when almost half the seats appeared empty as Brad Keselowski won his second consecutive event on the half-mile oval.

What is going on here? It's not Keselowski, who simply proved he doesn't need any timing-lines manipulation to win at Bristol.

But where is everybody? This place was NASCAR's shining example of success, the Rose Bowl of racing.

It wasn't long ago that 160,000 people packed the house. You had to will your tickets to family members or give a scalper your first born just to get a seat for the show.

A lot has changed since those days. The economy nosedived, and the part of the Southeast where Bristol Motor Speedway sits was particularly hard hit. The area has limited hotel space, and those room rates skyrocket for a race weekend to prices you would expect to pay on New Year's Eve in New York City.

But based on what fans say on our chats and comments section, it isn't the economy or the prices. It's the reconfigured track. The old banging and bashing days of Bristol are gone, the days where drivers often wanted to punch each other after a typical wreck every 40 or 50 laps.

Since the track was repaved with progressive banking, it's more about actual racing with side-by-side action. Drivers love it and fans seem to hate it.

Just not enough wrecks now, although Sunday's race had a big one early that ruined the day for Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose.

But it was shocking and sad to see so many empty seats at a facility that was NASCAR's showcase for years.

"It's tough," Keselowski said Sunday after the race. "Everybody looks up at the grandstands and says, 'Well, I remember five years ago ... ' Well, I remember when gas prices five years ago were a lot cheaper, too. It's a different world."

Let's be fair and note that Bristol has close to 160,000 seats. So half full still is 80,000, which is more than a full house at other NASCAR tracks and more than most NFL stadiums hold.

It's the fact that Bristol was packed with people for so long that makes Sunday's crowd seem comparatively sparse.

"I just think you're seeing a shift to where it's harder to sell tickets, but there's still a lot of interest in the sport," Keselowski said. "I think you have to be very careful of how you read into that because, obviously, each person is different. But I still think the sport is very strong and very healthy."

And he's right. This isn't about the health of the sport. It's about Bristol.

Attendance was outstanding at Phoenix and Las Vegas in the two races before Bristol. Not sellouts, but big crowds with the grandstands close to full. So Bristol's poor attendance Sunday seemed out of line with the trend.

No doubt the economy has something to do with it. And the forecast called for rain. It rained a little Sunday morning before the race. Maybe some people stayed home to watch the NCAA tournament.

But those are secondary reasons. It's the track and how it has changed, along with its perceived new reputation for less exciting racing, that likely is keeping people away. And that's not something that easily can be changed.

[Black Bear]

I'm glad someone brought up last weekends Bristol race. I missed the first part but watched the last half. It just was not the same Bristol I had seen in years past. I did not appreciate the announcers repeatedly telling us how great a race it was. It was just plain boring. NASCAR is loosing me I guess.

[SkunkedAgain]

I too have noticed how I need to will myself to watch many of the races. NASCAR got too popular too fast and didn't have the right people in charge to manage the growth. Now it's nothing like its roots. They have a new generation of fans, but their the same fans that root for 45-42 "thrillers" in football games. The heart of NASCAR was fans who bought nothing but STP motor parts because Petty was the King. How many JJ fans only shop at Lowe's?

[GFNER]

Agree with Nobody05. Ive said it for the past couple years,why do you think there is no IROC race anymore? Because EVERY race is IROC. Every car has to be exactly the same! Liked the old days when guys came to the track with some secrets and a few tricks up their sleeves....and yes even a little cheating! That was racing!!!

[gregg52]

ya it isnt bristrol any more thats obivious the last couple years..hardly any fights or even harsh words

i hope they change it back

as far as attendence i think the racing has something to do with that

it was almost a fuel race which never use to happen there or very seldom

but also i've said this before nascar and brouton got to greedy and put seats evey where they could put one to make a buck as nascar was peaking now that it has leveled off and people are pinching pennies its just flat out spendy to go to a race and with less disposble money and racing aliitle ho-hum you just arnt going to fill a 160k seats I would wonder if the NFL could every week

[harvey lee]

A few years ago my wife and I went to Bristol.

I think the biggest expense to go to this race is the rooms. We stayed about 40 miles from the track and paid $300 for 2 nights and that was in a private house. We went through a company that works with homeowners to open up thier homes for race fans to get a place to sleep.

We were going to stay there for 3 nights but for $450, we were not looking to buy the room, we only wanted to sleep there for 6 hours a day.

Spendy lodging to say the least but I would go back, just not every year.

Very hard to find a room there as so many keep thier rental rooms from year to year and it only gives one a shot at a room many miles away and it is not cheap.

No doubt in my mind that with this economy, many are not going to pay these room rates for a race even if they are big NASCAR fans. I am sure many would not pay what we did for our room.

Great race though.

[gregg52]

exactly Harvey

I've checked on rooms for several different races in different citys but holy smokes the week before the race the room like 89 $ the week of the race it 289 and i'm not exgerrating

Thats one thing the NFL has over nascar is its home town people

so nascar has to bring the ticket prices down or i dont think there would be the people in the stands that there are

kinda of bummer for nascar

then theres transportation to get there drive or fly ???

[harvey lee]

If one does not have a track in thier area, these races are awful expensive.

We try to make it part of a vacation so one can justify the costs to attend the race.

To go to Bristol from MN for a weekend, just for the airfare and the room, she gets spendy and the ticket price for the races is the smallest part of ones total cost.