Done With NASCAR

MacLeod

After many years of supporting and being a fan of NASCAR, I believe Im finally done with it.

The last few years have gotten progressively worse with the idiots Mike Helton and Brian France trying to make NASCAR appeal to everybody. They castrated the drivers so they dont dare do or say anything controversial so now you just have 43 corporate spokesmen whos interviews are as exciting as watching grass grow. If anybody dares do anything that may offend somebody theyre slapped with a $100,000 fine and 200 points! Hell even Tony Stewart is all sweet and nice now! Who wants to watch 43 corporate spokesmen? Theyre even turning on the media. When the Speed TV commentators chastised NASCAR a few weeks ago, one of NASCAR's vice presidents came out and called for them to be fired! Gimme a freaking break!

Then there is the idiotic "Car of Tomorrow" that no longer resembles actual production cars at all. Worse yet, it wont race. It wont turn and since its so big it creates so much turbulence behind the car so the closer you get to the back of one, the slower you go. This translates into a 4 hour long parade because nobody can pass.

What makes this that much worse is that the incompetent leaders of NASCAR refuse to admit anything is wrong. When every driver, crew chief and owner were telling NASCAR this car sucks, they hold a drivers meeting and tell them literally, "shut up and drive". When Dale Jr speaks up against it he's told by president Mike Helton, "he's only complaining because he's not winning".

Then you have the Chase. The idea of the Chase is a good one because it keeps things interesting down to the last race, however since the Chase tracks are always the same and they just happen to be Jimmy Johnson's best tracks, he always wins. Over half of Johnson's wins have come on the Chase tracks. So every year you have the same thing. Johnson is 300 points behind after the 1st 26 races, then the Chase starts, points are zeroed out and then he goes on to ace the next 10 tracks and wins the championship. What a crock!

Honestly, whats the point? The races are painfully boring to watch - the drivers equally boring so you dont really care to root for anybody - the championship is rigged so who cares about watching the same guy win every year - attendance is dropping, ratings are dropping and sponsorships are dropping yet the two stooges, Helton and France, are telling us nothing is wrong and to get over it.

Ill watch some races next year if Im home and have nothing else to do but the days of me religiously following the sport and watching 30 of 36 races a year are probably over.

vc69

I'm a huge fan of NASCAR too. I feel your pain.

I have some thoughts on this to share, but it will have to wait because I'm about to sack out. Just wanted you to know you aren't alone in your frustration.

Systems

While I don't agree with the JJ championship conspiracy theory I agree that the racing for the most part has become boring, the exception being the last 25 laps at Daytona and 'dega.

dkg999

Obviously many people are of the opinion that NASCAR sucks based on the declining attendance and TV viewer rates. I don't think they can blame it on the economy much longer. I hope some of the teams will break from the pack and start a new series. I've been done from NASCAR as a serious follower for a couple of years now, and life is good!

Jstas

I think I gave up on NASCAR when Ford and Chevy started using a 4 door body style for racing. Yeah, last I remember actively watching, Ford was still using Thunderbirds.

It's been a 200 MPH parade of billboards since then.

engtaz

I stop watching when the Chase starts. True winner is the leader of points at that time. They have proved their the best overall on all the tracks. Tony Stewart is the winner this year in my eyes.

Toolfan66

I have been done with NASCRAP for about 5 years now I catch a race here and there but the NASCAR party's are no longer.

BrettT1

4 hour long parade

I have to agree with MacLeod on this one. I've been cussing Nascar for a while now. Not much action anymore. With that said, I don't see them making major changes anytime soon.

I've really started to get into NHRA and attending in person is where it's at.

mhardy6647

Back in the days when it was ex(?)-moonshiners racing stock cars...

sucks2beme

I don't know how anyone has stuck with it this long.
But then again, I've also dumped football and baseball.
All have sold out to pure capitalism. Sucked all the fun
right out of it.

nooshinjohn

I would like to see the old-timers like Richard Petty and Cayle Yarborough speak up. Sadly the last driver worthy of watching can't do so... RIP Dale Earnheart Sr.

m00npie

I caught the pre-race on Speed... I think people that work within are feeling a bit put off by Nascar as well. Jimmy Spencer rattled off 10 or so driver names and basically said they're just showing up for the pay check. I think it's more like 20.

As for the races... I think they should shorten each race by 200 miles, except for the road courses. And they should base qualifying on results, not owner's points or other stupid provisional rules. If the guy that is leading the points has a bad day at qualifying…tough. Come back next week.

As for the ridiculous rules and regulations surrounding the car that everyone must adhere to with the exception of headlamp stickers, I've got nothing for that. But agree something should be done.

obieone

DISCLAIMER: I've never followed NASCAR. BUT...
It seems to me that they've caught the pro-sports greed bug. I wonder how much it cost the NYY fans to get that last World Series?
When you factor in the cost of ALL those salaries, along with the TAX payer subsidezed new stadium

And as far as the 'censorship' thing goes, the NASCAR family has been trying to diversify their fan base for several years. 60 Minutes did a segment on them several years ago, and asked about their marketing strategy. Then showed a pic. of the infield with a bunch of bubba's flying confederate flags:p

AsSiMiLaTeD

What's NASCAR?

apphd

NASCAR lost a lot for me when Dale died. I stilled watched and enjoyed it just not as much. But it wasn't for long as all have commented, it has been one bad decision after another by Helton And Brian F. that has ruined it for me. I used to go out of my way to watch every race, now in the last 4 or 5 years I have not seen one race flag to flag and only have watched about 10 -15 laps of 5 races. It's almost like with the passing of Dale and retirement of others opened the door for management to make these changes. Because there wasn't enough drivers left with enough ba!!s or fan appeal to stand up to them. Maybe if Dale Earnheart, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott and a few others were still racing it wouldn't be any different, but their combined fan base and voice of disgust probably would have made it a lot tougher for these changes to take place.

Systems

I don't much care for it anymore myself. It used to be a big thing for me on race day. Chill the beer, fire up the grill, turn on the surround sound and warm up the plasma. If I was on the road driving it was 'find it on the radio'. Then it went to 'where are they racing this week?' That went to 'who won the race?' Then it was more like 'What else is on?'

If they want me interested again its going to be because there are going to be production cars racing like the Camaro, Mustang, Challenger. Hell even a Cadillac XLR & Linclon MKZ are production cars with some **** behind them. Lets see a Mercury Marauder making left turns all day. It used to be there was one race a year that pitted drivers against each other. That was IROC. Now they race IROC every week. Its just like Pro Stock in NHRA. The rules have limited every team no matter what they run to the point of every car is almost exactly the same. Same engine size. Same wing size. Same tires. The race is won back in the shops by the engineers and R&D departments trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. It's like everytime they get to going too fast the brakes are put on by the 'Rulers' of NASCAR. 'Let's slow down some boys. We are taking this away from you and giving you this to play with for a while. See what you can do with that'.

Remember when Dodge showed up to play with a Hemi under the hood? Ford came to the track with a 429CJ or a Wedge engine and smoked the field? NASCAR stepped in then and told them to stop. They were killing everyone and it really wasn't a race. Wasn't a race? Hell yes it was. It was just a race won by a National Automotive Manufacturer that had put into production a motor that was stout as hell and better than the rest. You could go to the car dealer on Monday and buy a car that won the race on the day before. It might not have a number on the side of it, but it was a Mercury Cyclone with a 429. Try and go buy a Car of Tomorrow at a Ford dealer.

And BTW...its called the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Not the INTERNATIONAL Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. But I guess they do build Toyotas here now. Besides that it is a import, do they offer the Camry with a 358ci V8?

vc69

Well...
I'm a huge NASCAR fan. Let me just put that out there to start with so everyone knows where I stand. It sounds like some of you may be just "casual" spectators. That is certainly valid, but this is a seriously expensive and competitive sport the likes of which the casual spectator might find unattractive. I understand that. Really. I also can totally relate when, at the end of the season, you are let down with the results. I am too. Lately quite often. (I am a Tony Stewart fan)

But...

Ya know, it ain't worth typing up and then rebutting. This is not a sport the casual fan can really understand. If you don't like it, fine. I get that. I love it. I love it so much that I travel a couple of times a year and at great expense just to see a race. It's one of the high points of my year. I look forward to it and plan for it months in advance. I rarely miss a broadcast. I don't think I missed a single race this year. i have been a fan since I can remember and a serious fan for over twenty years. Yeah it has changed. It has totally changed. But, it had to.

I don't always agree with what NASCAR does. Talladega this fall was a joke. The drivers made themselves heard the only way they can, they put on a parade instead of a race.

Look, this is complex and intricate sport, if you can't relate to it on that level, then maybe it isn't for you. I love it, and will continue to support it. I could **** about it too, and I do. But only because I love it. I think the OP is right to be dissatisfied. I feel his pain. But I'll be watching as Speed Weeks crank up in February just like I always have.

Prediction: JJ will NOT win a championship in 2010. KB will.

We'll see.

NJPOLKER

My NASCAR days died when Dale died. I always said I was a NASCAR fan but found out that day I was really only a Earnhardt fan. Anyway, NASCAR has gone down hill in my opinion and I rarely watch it. They are trying to be politically correct like the rest of this country which is a major reason this country is going down the ****.

NJPOLKER

vc69
Which KB do you predict?

concealer404

187CAM wrote: »

I don't much care for it anymore myself. It used to be a big thing for me on race day. Chill the beer, fire up the grill, turn on the surround sound and warm up the plasma. If I was on the road driving it was 'find it on the radio'. Then it went to 'where are they racing this week?' That went to 'who won the race?' Then it was more like 'What else is on?'

If they want me interested again its going to be because there are going to be production cars racing like the Camaro, Mustang, Challenger. Hell even a Cadillac XLR & Linclon MKZ are production cars with some **** behind them. Lets see a Mercury Marauder making left turns all day. It used to be there was one race a year that pitted drivers against each other. That was IROC. Now they race IROC every week. Its just like Pro Stock in NHRA. The rules have limited every team no matter what they run to the point of every car is almost exactly the same. Same engine size. Same wing size. Same tires. The race is won back in the shops by the engineers and R&D departments trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear. It's like everytime they get to going too fast the brakes are put on by the 'Rulers' of NASCAR. 'Let's slow down some boys. We are taking this away from you and giving you this to play with for a while. See what you can do with that'.

Remember when Dodge showed up to play with a Hemi under the hood? Ford came to the track with a 429CJ or a Wedge engine and smoked the field? NASCAR stepped in then and told them to stop. They were killing everyone and it really wasn't a race. Wasn't a race? Hell yes it was. It was just a race won by a National Automotive Manufacturer that had put into production a motor that was stout as hell and better than the rest. You could go to the car dealer on Monday and buy a car that won the race on the day before. It might not have a number on the side of it, but it was a Mercury Cyclone with a 429. Try and go buy a Car of Tomorrow at a Ford dealer.

And BTW...its called the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Not the INTERNATIONAL Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. But I guess they do build Toyotas here now. Besides that it is a import, do they offer the Camry with a 358ci V8?

Do the offer the Taurus with one?

God, i hate NASCAR with a passion.

vc69

NJPOLKER wrote: »

vc69
Which KB do you predict?

Lol... either one is contender, but I think Kyle will pull himself together. I hope so anyway. I love Kyle's emotion. Jimmie Johnson is just so freaking generic and vanilla.

Jstas

vc69 wrote: »

Well...
I'm a huge NASCAR fan. Let me just put that out there to start with so everyone knows where I stand. It sounds like some of you may be just "casual" spectators. That is certainly valid, but this is a seriously expensive and competitive sport the likes of which the casual spectator might find unattractive. I understand that. Really. I also can totally relate when, at the end of the season, you are let down with the results. I am too. Lately quite often. (I am a Tony Stewart fan)

Ohhhhh no. I was not a casual fan!

Sundays from February to September I was torn between CART and NASCAR at times. NASCAR used to be on NBC and CBS had CART. Then the IRL came and ruined CART. Then Fox got the rights to NASCAR and bought out Speedvision, booted WRC and relegated F1 to 3am time slots and then made it NASCRAP TV.

I watched Bill Elliot get in to it with Dale Earnhardt. I saw Ernie Irvin almost die. I saw Davey Allison die. John Andretti's bright yellow Pennzoil car is forever etched in to my memory from my childhood. I remember when the roof flaps got put on the roof because Rusty Wallace went for some big air rides on the infield at Daytona and Talladega. That same year the points leader Alan Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash while on his was to Bristol Speedway. Wallace, in a bid to honor his friend, did a "Polish Victory Lap" at Bristol when he won and every race he won afterwards that year. That was Kulwicki's trademark, a backwards victory lap.

Remember when they showed girls in bikini's in Victory Lane? Remember when they drank the champagne instead of just being sprayed by it? I remember the stink made when Miller changed the MGD car's iconic black and gold to the silver and blue of the Miller Light. I remember when Mark Martin was a rookie and when Dick Trickle wasn't old.

Yeah, I wasn't a casual fan. Just because people aren't fans now doesn't mean they are or were casual fans. The BS with the whiny prima donnas that goes on now never would have flew back then. I was a fan from about 1981 through to the late 90's and I just couldn't take watching it go down hill.

LessisNevermore

vc69 wrote: »

This is not a sport the casual fan can really understand. If you don't like it, fine. I get that. I love it. I love it so much that I travel a couple of times a year and at great expense just to see a race. It's one of the high points of my year. I look forward to it and plan for it months in advance. I rarely miss a broadcast. I don't think I missed a single race this year. i have been a fan since I can remember and a serious fan for over twenty years. Yeah it has changed. It has totally changed. But, it had to.

I don't always agree with what NASCAR does. Talladega this fall was a joke. The drivers made themselves heard the only way they can, they put on a parade instead of a race.

Look, this is complex and intricate sport, if you can't relate to it on that level, then maybe it isn't for you.....

I personally don't like it, because I find it a better cure for insomnia than watching golf.......but, 'complex and intricate'? Go fast, turn left, pull over for tires and push juice, lather-rinse-repeat. The only thing complex and intricate, are the WWE-esque plot and story lines. It's not an intellectual strategy sport. IMO, fans of NASCAR try to make it out to be way more than it really is.

(and since I probably made many enemies with this post....) Can we finally let Dale Earnhart die already? He still doesn't qualify for Sainthood. He died doing something filthy rich folks get to do, he's not a motorsport martyr. Thank you.

(please realize this post is done entirely tongue-in-cheek) Flame suit ON.:D

NJPOLKER

Jstas
Thanks for bring back some great memories for me. I really really miss those days.
How about when Earnhardt abused Bodine at Riverside, made a pass through the s turns.
Worked Bodine over going into the corners/under braking because Dale was on 7 cylinders. I loved that Wrangler car/days.

LessisNevermore

Jstas wrote: »

I remember ........Dick Trickle.....

I remember when that was something you saw a doctor for.

vc69

Jstas wrote: »

Ohhhhh no. I was not a casual fan!

Obviously not.

But the fact remains that the sport had to evolve.

I am one of those same fans that watched people die. I am happy that it hasn't happened lately. I don't think fatal accidents add anything to the sport of automobile racing.

I love chicks in bikinis. I love a good emotional after-race fist fight. I go to enough dirt track races to get my fill of trailer trash entertainment.

NASCAR has changed because the people who foot the bill wanted it changed. Ticket buyers can't touch the cost of putting on a race. Sponsors do that.

NASCAR used to have a very small audience. No television contracts (I used to watch last weeks highlights on Wide World of Sports), no team sponsorship, guys barely making ends meet or not at all just to field a car. And some seasons were entirely boring with one car dominating the entire season.

I'm not saying you weren't a fan or blaming you for bailing out. Don't take it personal man, it isn't.

I think most of the changes have moved the sport forward. Not all, but most. NASCAR is what it is. It's not a democracy. It's a dictatorship. But they hear the fans, so let them know what you think.

concealer404

I think i'll just wait for the Targa Newfoundland and the SCCA Runoffs to show up on TV again.

vc69

concealer404 wrote: »

I think i'll just wait for the Targa Newfoundland and the SCCA Runoffs to show up on TV again.

I get it. You aren't a fan. :rolleyes:

I would also say this to some of you guys, the Nationwide series had a lot of good old fashioned racing this year. Maybe not exactly like the good ole days, but there were many very exciting races this year. Kyle Bush, perhaps the most disliked racer since DW or JG, dominated in everything he drove, except when he was passed and beaten by his rookie cup teammate.

There is still a lot to love in this sport. There are still some very exciting races. I watched 'em.

Jstas

NJPOLKER wrote: »

Jstas
Thanks for bring back some great memories for me. I really really miss those days.
How about when Earnhardt abused Bodine at Riverside, made a pass through the s turns.
Worked Bodine over going into the corners/under braking because Dale was on 7 cylinders. I loved that Wrangler car/days.

Yes, I do remember that. Dale was a talented driver and that was from the days when he had to rely on it to get the wins. Not like in the later years when he turned in to an arrogant punk and got away with alot of stuff because they turned him in to Saint Dale, Keeper of the Winston/NEXTEL/Sprint Cup.

Ah hell, remember when it was called the Winston Cup? I had friend who started smoking just so they could carry a soft pack of Winstons rolled up in their t-shirt sleeve.

Man do I miss those sunny Sundays. Fresh cut grass 'cause I got up early to do the chores so I could watch the race. Dad was firing up the grill for steaks. A light breeze blowing through and Ned Jarrett's voice on the color commentating with Ken Squier doing the lap by lap. It was almost like turning on the Phillies and listening to Harry Kalas calling the game. I used to turn the TV up so loud that it sounded like the cars were in the room with me! The only thing I liked better was watch the CART GP races and listening to Bobby Unser's completely candid and unabashed method of calling the races.

concealer404

vc69 wrote: »

I get it. You aren't a fan. :rolleyes:

Sorry, wasn't meaning to beat on a dead horse or try to make anyone feel bad about liking Nascar. I just couldn't hit edit on my first post in the thread, and figured i should prove that i'm just as hairy chested as everyone else when it comes to motorsports, and that i love burning gasoline for fun.

Jstas

vc69 wrote: »

I get it. You aren't a fan. :rolleyes:

Suck it up. He's cooler than you are. Didn't you know that? :rolleyes: