Martinsville as stimulus package

Monday, March 30, 2009 | 8:19 p.m.

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.