Every year there are numerous blogs posted by racing fans out there stating NASCAR owes them something. Whether it's a photo finish every week or a tight points race, there is always some fan who thinks because he buys a ticket or turns the channel onto a NASCAR race that he is owed something.
I am from the opposite school of thought.
The only thing NASCAR owes the fans is a race where all 43 competitors are subjected to the same rules and enforcement.
The fans aren't guaranteed a photo finish in the Daytona 500. They aren't guaranteed 50 lead changes every week. They aren't guaranteed rumpled fenders and heated tempers at Bristol or Martinsville. They aren't guaranteed an autograph and they aren't guaranteed their favorite will win or even run near the front. They aren't guaranteed anything!
That's what sports is all about. If you knew going in that the Steelers would win by 35 points over the Browns, would you go? Maybe if you're a die hard Steelers fan, but for the rest of us knowing what's going to happen ahead of time goes against the fabric of what sports is all about. You buy your ticket or tune in on television to see what happens and who wins.
Sometimes you go to the ballpark and you get a game with seven homers and a 14-13 final score. The game might even be settled by a bottom-of-the-ninth grand slam. But the very next night, the same two teams could play and end up with a two-hitter and a 1-0 final score. Do the fans from the second game deserve some sort of refund because they didn't get the same game as the fans on the first night?
I don't follow stick and ball sports too much, but I do follow them enough to know I don't read too many blogs from fans wanting their money back after a 1-0 game.
There are still bloggers out there complaining that they were "ripped off" by NASCAR because the Daytona 500 was rain shortened. Was I disappointed? Sure, who wouldn't be? It's the biggest race in the sport and to have it be ended short is a bummer to say the least. Did NASCAR rip us off? No. (The discussion about the 3 P.M. start is for another time...) Since when is NASCAR in control of the weather and how long any particular rain shower will last?
It seems some are mad there aren't more wrecks and heated tempers at Bristol. The new track there isn't like the old track - there is room to race and room to pass. The old track was a terrible racetrack. The narrow groove led to caution after caution and kept the actual racing to a minimum. It's funny, the people who complain the racing is bad at California now complain that actual racing at Bristol is boring!
Racing isn't about wrecks and lost tempers. If that happens as a result of close competition that's one thing. But to expect it as "the show" is something else entirely. Like I said earlier in the week, if that's the only reason you tune in, there are demo derbies at thousands of county fairs all across the country.
NASCAR does a fairly good job at giving us what they owe us: an event governed fairly and equally among all the competitors entered. As long as the rules are the same for the guy qualified 43rd as they are for the guy on the pole, that's fine with me. Whatever the drivers deliver on the racetrack once the green flag drops is fine with me because I understand sometimes it will be a barn burner and sometimes it might enduce a yawn or two.
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The old track was terrible - in your opinion! I love when racing elitists smuggly imply that you aren't really a racing fan if you some occasional carnage. Week after week, we watch races at a mile-plus tracks in length where the speeds dictate discretion. The only break from this are the restrictor plate races, the short tracks and road courses. All of which I look forward to for various different reasons. Bristol..I look forward to for a little 'rubbin' and genuine emotion from otherwise PR neutered driving core. People are purchasing far less tickets and if that is a result of the economy, then more people should be watching on TV. The ratings for Bristol were down 18%. Does NA$CAR owes the fans...absolutely not...but the fans don't owe NASCAR either. It's a two way street. Glad you are happy with the product, the fan base is not...and their apathy displayed with viewership numbers will soon rock NASCAR to it's sponsor driven core if this continues.
ReplyDeleteIf I pay $100 bucks to see a race, plus travel expenses, I don't expect to yawn! Racing isn't lawn darts and unfortunately most of the so-called races have resembled high speed parades, than an actual competition. I get more adrenaline rush driving on the interstate in during rush hour.
ReplyDeleteSo, I disagree, I think that NASCAR has diluted the product (racing) including the addition of the ugly unicar and yes, it does owe it's fans excitement, at least the ones it wants to keep.
And sometimes it will be like last years Brickyard 400. At 150 a ticket, they could have at least said sorry
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 11:10:
ReplyDeleteI would hardly classify myself as a racing elitist. I love watching street stocks around a quarter-mile dirt track as much as I enjoy watching the Cup guys run the Daytona 500.
I enjoy seeing the bumping and banging on the short tracks as much as anyone. However, none of that is guaranteed! There was a 500-lap race at Bristol that once ran green to checkered without a caution. There was a 400-lapper at N. Wilkesboro that went the entire distance caution-free. Were those bad races? Maybe by your standards.
The shame of the matter is the old asphalt track at Bristol had everything: good racing and some short track bumping and tempers. The old concrete had nothing but a narrow groove that led to too many wrecks.
If the entire reason you watch Bristol is to see accidents and tempers there's always Ultimate Cage Fighting and pro wrestling. :-)
My husband and I have longed for years to go to Bristol - we believed it to be the Holy Grail of Nascar tickets. We've been to Daytona (several times, spring and summer), Richmond, and Martinsville, all tracks we love. Lo and behold, we got tickets to this past weekend's race, found a hotel room at an outrageous cost, and couldn't wait for the race to start.
ReplyDeleteThe racing was flat out boring. The day was beautiful, the facilities nice, the crowd pleasant, but the racing? I'm sorry to say we were so disappointed, we won't be going again. Especially given how expensive the tickets were and the inflated cost for the hotel, the weekend left us feeling gouged and as if someone did a bait-and-switch on us. Was this really Bristol?
I LIKE YOUR THOUGH ABOUT THE RULES. NASCAR WAS ALL ABOUT TEAMS WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE FACTORYS HELP IT WAS THE AMERICAN WAY TO RACE. YOU GO TO LOCAL TRACK AND YOU SEE GUYS BUILDING AND RACING THERE CARS. ALONG COMES TOYOTA AND NOW WE HAVE A FULL FACTORY OPERATION POURING OUT CARS AND PARTS TO THERE TEAMS. IF I WAS GM FORD OR CHRYSLER I WOULD DO AS GM DID BACK IN THE SIXTYS AND PULL OUT. i THINK HISTORY WILL BEAR OUT THIS JUST ASK WHEELER AND WHAT HAPPEN WHEN JUNIOR JOHNSON BROGHT A CHEV TO CHARLOTTE AND THE FANS RETURNED. LOOK AT THE TRUCK RACE AND SEE WHAT IS LEFT. I KNOW THIS PIECE OF CRAP CAR IS ALL WE HAVE BUT PUT TOYOTA ON ALL OF THEM AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS. I BUT AMERICAN AND I DO SUPPORT THE HARD WORKING AMERICAM MEN AND WOMEN WHO STLL HAVE A JOB
ReplyDeleteAnon 2:14:
ReplyDeleteYou saw one "bad" race and that's enough to cause you to give up going back? What made it a bad race? The lack of cautions? The lack of crashes? The lack of multi-car crashes? The lack of one driver throwing his helmet at another?
Was it the best race in Bristol history? No. Was it the worst? No. But if sitting in the stands and watching 500 laps at Bristol - no matter what is happening at the front of the field - doesn't keep you entertained then nothing will.
Sorry you had a bad experience. Next time find a place about an hour away...hotels are cheaper and you're going to wait in traffic no matter what so you might as well save money while you do it.
Charles, did you take the time to watch the network promos for the Bristol race? What exactly was featured most prominently? Crashes, multi-car crashes, and drivers in emotional meltdowns. Oh yeah, and most of the action was clips from the pre-COT days. And you are confused that fans might remotely expect something resembling the race promotion?
ReplyDelete"The old track was a terrible racetrack"...and yet that terrible racetrack produced hightlight reel after reel of memorable moments and finishes..and that terrible track with its terrible racing..was the hardest ticket to acquire in all of NASCAR.
NASCAR is a business. There is a saying: The customer is always right. The customers do not like the current product. That may frustrate you, that may frustrate Jeff Burton, but it is what it is. I suppose everything will be much 'better' when the stands are half-empty at tracks, the viewership tanks (oops..those two things are already atarting to happen) but those reduced numbers who are watching and attending..are doing it for all the right reasons.
The trouble is it hasn't been one bad race. Bristol became boring with the change to the track, the unicar and the chase that impacted people points racing all to make the chase. Last year the races I saw IN PERSON at Martinsville, Pocono and Dover, made me wish for a place I could have laid down at those tracks and take a nap. I had the chance to go to Bristol before they changed the track and I had a great time. Now, I wouldn't waste my money to buy a ticket to either of the Bristol races. Considering how boring the races have, in my opinion, and judging by the ratings for TV and people not buying tickets as much, I'm not alone in my opinion.
ReplyDelete