Topic: Whats going on in racing this year?

[MattW]

How bout IRL???  Just kidding...

I dunno if anyone saw the Sao Paulo street race they had last week, but it was a GREAT race.

[Chadley]

I agree about JJ's dominance, but I'm sure people felt that way about Richard Petty and others back in the day.
A couple years ago I thought the IRL was actually putting on the best shows with really close side by side racing right to the checkered flag. That's kind of gone away and it wasn't putting fans in the stands or getting TV viewership anyway. If they lose Danica to Nascar, they'll be pretty much done. And why wouldn't she want to jump ship? Nascar's got to be the only place to make real money.
However, has anyone noticed all the empty seats at Nascar races? During the Atlanta race Bristol was running TV commercials for tickets. Bristol! The hardest place to get a ticket in all of racing and they are having to advertise.
So Nascar has gone to consistent start times like the NFL, they are letting the "boys have at it," and they have a new talent/variety show at the track every week. They are trying to figure out what's going to keep the people coming.

[Robert Vining]

It's not just Nascar either... I think it's the way of the world today. You only have to look as far as our own paint scheme request forum to see how new people often times act.

They expect it RIGHT NOW, without excuses.

When was the last time you heard about the little league world championships?

Who did what this year at the Olympics?

Today, it's all about instant gratification.

I'm scared for what my kids will have to deal with in the future... it's an instant on/instant off world today.

[Chadley]

There are a ton of empty seats at Bristol. What does that tell you about the popularity of the sport? That huge growth that Nascar and motorsports in general saw in the 1990s is over.

[nascarfreak88]

But don't forget man, there is something called the economy which is in something called the crapper. If it wasn't for the economy taking a dump, I would be going to both Phoenix, California, and possibly even Vegas races this year.

[Chadley]

Agreed, and unfortunately that's going to affect everyone, even sports that have staying power like the NFL. I just think that Nascar exploded in the 90s, and carried that into the 00s, but now all the fans that showed up then because it was the hot new thing have moved on. They realized they really didn't care about racing, just the color and excitement of it.

I think like Big E's death, Little E and Jeff Gordon's leveling off of their careers, JJ's dominance and the messing around with cars, shapes and makes has all factored into it. There are still a core group of us that will follow no matter what and that's a larger group than it was in the 80s, but still it has dropped from what it was 10 years ago.

[nascarfreak88]

It is also always, "Jimmie Johnson this, Jimmie Johnson that. Oh look, Jimmie Johnson's in 24th! And somehow, Jimmie Johnson will win!" However, some drivers have stepped up this year like Roush and RCR, but it is still always "JIMMIE JOHNSON!" I also think the way NASCAR has modified the cars and tracks has affected it. Clearly the new rule changes have so far been unsuccessful, mainly because they came a little too late. And, even though with these rules, most drivers are still sissy's and want fines and probation after a small bump. And yes, Jr. and Gordon have been bottoming out in their career, Johnson's being NASCAR God, and also the multiplying start and park cars have made the sport less exciting.

I also believe last year's Carl Long deal made NASCAR seem very harsh and made people realize drivers cannot tweak their car as much.

Talladega has also been an issue in the last few years. Namely, the 2008 fall race and 2009 spring race. In those two races, NASCAR made two quite contradicting decisions. In the fall race, Regan Smith had run under Tony Stewart after Stewart had FORCED him under the yellow line, and gave the team with all the funds, sponsorship, and fans in the whole industry while Smith's team got s***. Then we all know what happened at the spring race following. The point behind me saying all of that was that NASCAR would rather have drivers wreck and get hurt rather than letting the forced person win the race. I believe that lost some of NASCAR's hard core fans.

While I'm posting this, I would like to vent about Edwards/Kes. I think, had they've been running the spoiler, BK wouldn't have gone airborne, and NASCAR would probably not have made a big deal.