NASCAR is failing.
If there was ever a time for an upstart racing association to try to move in on the 800 lb gorilla that once was nascar, now would be the time. Did you see all the empty seats at Talladega? This is not an aberration and is quite indicative of NASCAR's slow fall from grace with the racing public. Races that five years ago were nearly impossible to grab a ducat to, are now available with ease.
The race that was run on Sunday was, well, lets not be delicate about this, boring as hell. Not to say it didn't have its moments, but on the whole, driving in a single file lane for 35 laps at a time is not what racing is all about, nor is it the reason race fans are willing to pay exorbitant ticket prices.
What has gone wrong? There are a myriad of reasons, but one tops the list. GREED.
NASCAR has sold its soul and its fans down a fetid, roiling river owned by television and sponsors. Racing has become secondary to the corporate profit line and the constant and varied demands of sponsors.
Would you want people running your company who didn't have the foresight to head-off the sponsorship wars that have caused problems, bad press and angered high dollar sponsors? Alltell, Sprint, Coca-Cola, Pepsi - its a scary thought to believe the brains at NASCAR didn't see this coming.
When NASCAR burst onto the television scene with that huge dollar contract seven years ago, they had the proverbial tiger by the tail and they didn't know what do do with it. NBC had lost its NFL contract and was desperately looking for something to not only fill the sports void on the weekends, but to do battle, head-to-head with the NFL for viewership. Fox, being the hogs they are, jumped on the bandwagon and helped drive up the price of poker and the perception that NASCAR was the Next Big Thing.
Had NASCAR had the vision and stones, they could have asked for anything and received it. They were the shiny new toy that television thought would save the day. NASCAR had flash, danger and excitement, an untold fan base, and were an advertising dollars dream come true with brand based fan loyalty higher than any other sport, by far.
What would a television broadcast look like today if NASCAR had told all bidders there would be a
maximum amount of commercials on each broadcast and that NASCAR would decide who the broadcasters would be, ala Augusta National and it's contract with CBS for The Masters? Certainly the bids would have been lower, but at least NASCAR would have held the reigns to it's future, instead of being whipped like a slow horse just leaving the gate. We quite possibly wouldn't be saddled with The Chase either, which, I have a gut feeling, will be a source of contention with many fans for years to come, much like the designated hitter in baseball.
Would we still have two races a year at the Grand Old Dame of Racing known as Darlington? Would we still have Rockingham on the schedule? Places that couldn't possibly seat as many fans as NASCAR wanted and needed with the new contract but were unique tracks that pressed teams to find a way to be faster?
NASCAR is in trouble, whether they know it or not. A grueling schedule, drivers with too many demands on their time, a slowly dwindling fan base, rising ticket prices, bland cookie-cutter tracks, automaton drivers who too often sound like media mouthpieces for fear of retribution and a points system that rewards everything but racing, just to name a few problems.
Add to that super speedway races that are kept artificially close for the express purpose of creating danger and, in the mind of NASCAR, excitement and you have a company of idiots being lead down the path to destruction by a media that has no soul.
If you're out there, have a few bucks to spend and want to start a racing series to compete with NASCAR, give me a call, I would love the chance to do it right.
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