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Television viewership is down and attendance at the races has declined. What NASCAR needs is a stimulus package of its own. And after watching the race at Martinsville this weekend, it’s clear what that stimulus package should be: more short tracks.
While the race this past Sunday wasn’t one of the best we’ve seen at Martinsville, it was definitely an entertaining race to watch and was by far the best race of this season so far. If there is any single factor that interfered with making this a better race, it was the domination factor. No matter what track NASCAR races at, the quality of the racing can be hurt when one car leads a ton of laps. But with a finish like we saw on Sunday and the competitive racing we saw in most of the field, I can’t complain too much.
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We all know that the equal bumper heights on the Sprint Cup cars has made it harder for drivers to execute the bump and run. That is unless you use your bumper against the rear quarter panel of your adversary’s car as Jimmie Johnson did at Martinsville. It was a great demonstration of driving ability as both Johnson and Denny Hamlin saved their cars from spinning after they made contact. It looked like a synchronized drifting race.
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I’m sure you have heard about the plan by Formula 1 to award its championship to the driver who wins the most races in a season. Several of my friends who I argue with about NASCAR think this is a good idea. But an editorial in NASCAR Scene has taken a view that I hadn’t considered before. Here is an excerpt:
Reader poll
“Professional sports are a business, and financial considerations must be taken into account if that business is to survive. Many of the Cup season’s final races could be rendered meaningless if a driver racks up a number of wins early and locks up the championship with weeks to go. That’s bad for track owners trying to sell tickets for the final races and bad for the ratings of the TV networks that pay the freight for a very expensive sport.”
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Last week’s Bloggity poll asked if the resurfacing of the Bristol track had made the racing better or worse: 11 percent said better and 88 percent said worse.
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Lastly, here’s my cartoon for the editorial page of the Las Vegas Sun about the departure of GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner.
Wins are trivialized when it doesn't lead to Championships. "...financial considerations must be taken into account..." is MBA talk for 'greed must be served'. Real Na$car fans will watch every race they can, even though The Chase trivializes over thirty of the teams for the last quarter of the season. The season is too long so the Na$car-lite tv fans go back to watching football in the fall. Shorten the season, most wins takes the title. Try that for three seasons and see if the marketing guys can't find a way to make that profitable instead of designing everything the other way around.
I agree with rocket on the shortening of the season. The NASCAR season has been too long for 7 or 8 years now. Shorten it up some and most teams will perform better.
I disagree however on two things. First, I don't think the reduced attendance and viewership is because of the season being too long. I think it's because of the abundance of mile-and-a-half tracks and the rules package being so even across the manufacturers and the boring racing that produces. It's all about who has figured out the set-up the best and not necessarily who has the most talent. Don't get me wrong... Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have tons of talent, but where would Jeff have been without Ray Evernham? And where would Jimmie be without Chad? I used to consider myself a diehard fan, but with bigger tracks taking dates from some of the old smaller tracks, and Rusty retiring too, I can't find a guy to get behind and I'm just not that into it anymore. I can't tell you how many times in the last 2 years I've turned on the tv with 15 laps to go in the race, and I didn't feel like I missed anything. NASCAR went the way that everything else has... bigger and more expensive. It's turned me off quite a bit. No disrespect to Rick Hendrick, but until NASCAR comes up with some kind of spending cap, the championships will always be won by just a handful of teams, who not coincidentally have more, and spend more, money than anyone else.
I also disagree with giving the championship to the driver who wins the most. The championship always has been, and I hope always will be, awarded to the team that proves the most consistent. I think a decent compromise to your point could be this though; the only drivers that qualify for the Chase are teams that win during the first 26 races. Definitely puts a premium on winning then. Maybe sprinkle in the top 5 guys in points who didn't win too just for good measure, and to get Earnhardt Jr. in there. Otherwise there goes another 20% in viewership.
But as always, these are just my opinions, and I'm used to being in the minority on alot of things.
Harski, I have to agree that your Chase format is even better than 'most wins takes the cup'!
It rewards winning but also allows for consistency to have its place (and Junior too, of course).
I think the attendance and tv viewership numbers are more complex than just one or two factors. The ever increasing choices for entertainment, the economic situation of the past year and a half, the length of the season, the cookie cutter car, the 1.5 mile super snoozeways, major changes in drivers and sponsors and the declining quality of the broadcasts and are all factors in turning away long established fans.
Capping spending is hard to do unless you run an IROC type deal. Too easy to find ways around it and the teams aren't going to open their books to the France family. Na$car didn't just follow the 'bigger and more expensive' path, it has been pushing it for nearly ten years.
So our opinions aren't that far apart.
I've got to believe that the Fox broadcast team has worn thin (for me it's just ole rascally DW - I like the knowledgeable Mike Joy and the destroyer of the English language, Larry Mac). The pre-race show with "I kid because I care" Myers has driven me away until what I believe will be the official race start. Last week's Martinsville race was exciting thanks to Johnson, Hamlin and others who pushed their way toward the lead (the truck race was equally as exciting). I attribute the decline in race attendance to the tough economic times we are all going through. I agree with rocket car - a shorter season (so long California's second race) with more emphasis on wins would spice up a format that becomes staid for any team out of the top 12.
"Last week's Martinsville race was exciting thanks to Johnson, Hamlin and others who pushed their way toward the lead."
hey, spartacus ... you said last week that drivers can't nudge cars out of the way with the new car. which is it?!?!?
If winning a race was a ticket to The Chase, you would have seen even more pushing and shoving...as it is, Tony Stewart was a happy owner/driver with a 3rd place finish. With all the emphasis on consistency, no reason to hang it all out until late in the season.