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Nascar Open Thread


by turfgrrl


April 6th, 2008 · 30 Comments

By popular request, its all about Nascar. So what is ailing the Nascar fan base? The Dallas Morning News Reports:

NASCAR research and development usually focuses on minute technical details such as gear ratios and air displacement. Last winter, one topic was fan displacement.

The racing giant took note of increasing numbers of empty seats and declining television ratings during the 2006 and ‘07 Cup seasons. It determined its most ardent supporters were watching six fewer minutes of the races. Research also showed those fans were attending half as many races as they used to – an average of three to five as opposed to six to 10.

NASCAR has addressed what it considers erosion to its foundation, the core fans who have followed the sport for years – long before there was a Chase, a Texas Motor Speedway, a Car of Tomorrow or a Toyota parked in Victory Lane.

That doesn’t mean going back to abandoned tracks such as Rockingham or North Wilkesboro. But NASCAR chairman Brian France and several NASCAR executives talked with track presidents to get an idea of how to better serve the loyal fans.

The sanctioning body has a new marketing campaign, “Our NASCAR,” designed to thank fans, especially the longtime fans, and remind them why the sport means so much to them.

It also has loosened rules pertaining to driver conduct and has done an about-face with tangential issues such as race day entertainment.

“NASCAR is different from other sports in that most people don’t grow up competing in it like baseball or football,” said Mike Helton, NASCAR’s president. “So NASCAR fans must spend more time to understand the nuances and strategy of the sport.

“That commitment and understanding translates into fans with deep roots in the sport – they’re the so-called ‘core fans.’ We have a tremendous respect for these most dedicated fans who represent such a big part of ‘NASCAR Nation.’ ”

So far this season, the news is getting a little better for NASCAR. Television ratings for the first five races on Fox showed a 7 percent increase over 2007, not counting California’s Monday finish. (It’s still up 4 percent if you include California.) Ratings for viewers 50 and older are up 14 percent. Overall ratings in the Dallas-Fort Worth market have increased 13 percent.

Nascar has its Daytona 500, but I’m coveting the FIAT 500.

source: Dallas Morning News, NASCAR taking steps to keep its core fans happy, By RICHARD DURRETT, April 5, 2008

Tags: current affairs

30 Responses so far ↓ “Nascar Open Thread”



  • 1 barnstorm // Apr 6, 2008 at 3:11 pm

    I will admit to being a big NASCAR fan at one time. I also used to go to the old Danbury track. Racing was all about the drivers…and the race.

    Now it is all about big money, and corporate sponsorships. It became politically incorrect to have the big series sponsored by beer and tobacco companies, so out went the Winston Cup & Busch Series.

    Back in the day, rubbin’ was racing. Drivers weren’t afraid to trade paint during a race or fists afterward. It came with the territory. Now you’ve got a bunch of (IMHO) spoiled millionaire kids who think they’re being dissed if somebody dents their precious little Car of Tomorrow.

    That’s another thing. You used to race Fords, Chevys, Pontiacs, etc. Then it became a bunch of generic cars with different front grills. Now it’s the “Car of Tomorrow”. It took the last shred of “stock” out of stock car racing.

    NASCAR fell in love with the dollar and themselves, “fixing” the sport to the point where the last 10 races or so are meaningless to anyone except the top contenders. If you’re a fan of one of the older veterans, chances are you aren’t even in the running for the cup title. Does this mean the top drivers are that good? Hardly.

    I guess it can all be summed up by saying that if NASCAR wants to know why their popularity is starting to plummet, they need only look in the mirror…..or their wallet.

  • 2 Anonymous // Apr 6, 2008 at 3:19 pm

    Couldn’t have said it better myself but I’m actually watching the race now. The good ‘ol days of real racing are gone. Watching a race with Earnhardt SR was always a thrill. A little bump and push was what people looked for, it meant that if they made it to the finish line they were good drivers. Unfortunately Earnhardt and the the top drivers are gone and we see things are more about money than the fans anymore. Used to be when I wouldn’t miss a race, these days I still watch but not as much of a fan now a days. Now its all about money and attitudes and that gets tired after a while.

  • 3 Anonymous // Apr 6, 2008 at 4:28 pm

    Car racing is bad for the environment.

  • 4 anonymous // Apr 6, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Used to be that a lot of NASCAR fans were guys who worked on their own cars and then “run what you brung” at the local dirt track. There are still those guys out there. But the cars have changed. Check out grassrootsmotorsports.com for a glimpse of racing that’s still fun…and growing.

  • 5 ShakeNbake // Apr 6, 2008 at 5:56 pm

    Any other spectacular observations for us #3 ? it’s a sport enjoyed by millions…go wash your Prius after you finish hugging trees !

  • 6 Gaston Duvall // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    Hey #3 So is Farting from Humans,Farm and wild animals. Keep that in mind the next time you feel the need to pass gas that you too are destroying the environment, and causing “”GLOBAL WARMING”"

  • 7 turfgrrl // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    Can we play nice here please?

    The Management.

  • 8 Anonymous // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    I agree with number 3. What a silly “sport” (hahah I am dying of laughter). Its bad for the environment and littered with jam it down your throat advertising which is enjoyed by millions of morons.

    Hybrids rule and I suggest you get one before gas prices reach 5 dollars.

  • 9 ShakeNbake // Apr 6, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Hey #8 or is that just your IQ ? before you call millions of nascar fans ” morons ” , I suggest that you look at the demographics for nascar but then again you problably wouldn’t even understand them….the fastest growing sport in america…..what sports do you watch…curling?? and for your info…I can’t tow my 12,000lb camper with a prius

  • 10 Norwalker // Apr 6, 2008 at 8:14 pm

    I have been a Nascar fan since 1961. I started going to Danbury then and was hooked. If you still want to see some rubbin go to Waterford Speedbowl and you’ll get your fill. Auto racing in general is the largest spectator sport in the WORLD. You can go to Yankee Stadium and a packed house would be 60,000 fans. You can go to Daytona for the 500 and you’ll find over 150,000 fans. Auto racing has given some of the most important advances to the cars that we drive today, like seat belts and disc brakes. You’ll always have the nay sayers about NASCAR and auto racing but I think you will always see that they are outnumbered by the fans. I agree it’s big money now but it didn’t just start. We used to be able to replace the straight axle front end of our stock car for nothing. My dad and I would pick an old junker and tow it home, stip the front end out and pop it in the car. Eventually they went the way od independent front ends and then custum made parts in the 70’s and thats when it started to get expensive.

  • 11 JP GETTY // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Hello Earth to poster 8
    ——————————
    “Hybrids rule and I suggest you get one before gas prices reach 5 dollars.”

    ———————————–

    Do you weenies who by Hybrids think that you are going to save money on gas in the long run. FORGET IT. The oil companies are a lot smarter than you. If tomorrow everyone in the world owned Hybrids, do you think the oil companies would sit back and go broke. NO THEY WOULD JUST RAISE THE PRICE OF GAS TO $25 a gallon to make up the difference so that all you Hybrid owners can pay through the nose. Hybrids might be better for the environment, but for saving gas. IT’S ONLY A BIG JOKE BEING PLAYED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. You fell for it hook line and sinker.

    The smart money will be on Mopeds and Mini cars that are just around the corner.

  • 12 Ronald Karas // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:35 am

    Did anyone on here see the episode of “South Park” where they made complete fun of those who owned Hybrids?

    I now realize how true the lesson in that episode really was.

  • 13 Anonymous // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:38 am

    #11 - Your ignorance only shows your predisposition to redneck logic. If hybrid owners end up paying the same as everyone else for gas but get X times better gas mileage, where does that leave you, Einstein?

  • 14 Norwalker // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:39 am

    I don’t know about you guys but I bought a hybrid because I travel 150 miles each weekend and I’m saving money when I get 50 MPG.

  • 15 Al Einstein // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:45 am

    #11

    With my big 451 HP Mercedes Benze AMG, I don’t care what the price of gas is.

    I will always be driving.

    You on the other hand will not.

  • 16 Anonymous // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:53 am

    Al - your redneck and prevaricatin’ ways is gonna have ta change, pal. Git one o’ dem fancy dickshunarees and lern how to spel Mercedes Benz if yer gonna lie about havin one.

  • 17 Al Einstein // Apr 7, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Just a typo but we Po Folks do that sometimes, whereas you Hybrid Elitist types make no mistakes ever, except maybe in your choice of Automobiles.

    “Save a tree, eat a beaver”

    I hear the Arabs laughing at the thought of “Hybrid’s.” I guess that they will have to cut back on their Fleet of Rolls,Maybach’s,and Bentleys, palaces and private jets. Well! maybe they will add the New Hybrid Rolls.

    “South Park” Is really right on the money about most Hybrid owners.

  • 18 ShakeNbake // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    Hey Norwalker….I can drive the 150 miles that you can on $30 worth of diesel fuel compared to your $10 worth of gas…I can also seat 5 adults in comfort Plus our golf clubs Plus a big old cooler filled with the finest budweisers and sammy’s And I can tow your hybrid at the same time…all this for a mere $20 more…maybe I’ll do all of that on the way to my next nascar race !!!

  • 19 Old Racing Fan // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Racing is extremely popular and is where a lot of the better things we take for granted now were developed. 50 MPG is great, and, if more of us had cars that would do that, for local driving, we could really cut global warming. Current hybrids are not the best way, but they are a step in the right direction. Chrysler made a very efficient model of a car they called an omni, many years ago, and it was not that popular. Fuel was much less, then. We will see more and more strictly local cars run on electricity. Already you see a lot of them down south, in small communities. Owners use them for all the local driving, in nice weather, and keep a bigger car for long trips. In time, the big American car companies will produce much more fuel efficient cars that are comfortable and fun to drive.

  • 20 Norwalker // Apr 7, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    Hey Shake & Bake, let me know when I could hook up to your truck for a tow. I’ll let you drive and I’ll sit in the back and have some sammies.
    Old Racing fan, I’m waiting for the fuel cell cars to hit the market. Unfortunately, they also have to build the fueling stations.

  • 21 Aunt Bertha // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:27 pm

    #10 I remember the Danbury raceway. My father a BIG racing fan, piled us all into the country squire and we headed out to the raceway in our pjs so that when we fell asleep on the way home it was an easy pick up and plop into bed when we returned home. The sound was so loud it was the only time I knew of something louder than my little sisters. It was a lot of fun. It was simple. Racing and the trips to the raceway were a little bit of heaven for my mom when we all took off to have the adventure.

  • 22 anonymous // Apr 7, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    It takes hybrids 5-6 years to make up the extra initial purchase price and more expensive maintenance. I’d rather ride in luxury those 5-6 years in my big ole gas guzzler. Don’t usually keep a car long enough to break even.

  • 23 Anonymous // Apr 8, 2008 at 12:28 pm

    There’s just something about those motor racing fans that I just don’t like…

    Possible Nazi Theme of Grand Prix Boss’s Orgy Draws Calls to Quit.

  • 24 ShakeNbake // Apr 8, 2008 at 5:47 pm

    OK #23….Is it the possible nazi theme or the orgy that you dont like ??

  • 25 ShakeNbake // Apr 8, 2008 at 5:51 pm

    That was a nice time in our lives Aunt Bertha, the ride to danbury on rt 7 was actually enjoyable
    and the races were fun…we would sit with the same people every week…like a big family and we would root for all the norwalk drivers.

  • 26 anonymous // Apr 8, 2008 at 6:37 pm

    The F1 scandal is quite juicy…even more so when you dig deeper and see that his parents were big Nazi supporters, were married in Berlin and had Hermann Goering and (I think) Adolf himself as guests. So, the orgy of Nazi guards and concentration camp victims is an interesting Oedipal thing as well. Oy vey…but, of course, leave it to European racing to get really kinky. NASCAR just gets drunk and f***ks the other driver’s wife under the double-wide.

  • 27 Norwalker // Apr 8, 2008 at 7:29 pm

    I remember towing our stock car up rt7 with a 65 Chevy pickup. I used to have to get a running start to get up the hill by Stonhenge. When we got to track the steam would be pouring out of the radiator. We used to spend more money on the car than on the tow vehicle.

  • 28 ShakeNbake // Apr 9, 2008 at 5:15 pm

    Spitzer was probably a formula one fan…another one stupid enough to pay for it…we nascar fans would rather spend our hard earned money on beer and overpriced hats and tshirts !! Wooooooo Hooooooooo !!

  • 29 ShakeNbake // Apr 9, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Hey norwalker…..you shoulda bought a Ford pickup instead, you would have arrived at the track alot sooner and alot less steamy :)

  • 30 Norwalker // Apr 9, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    Shakenbake,
    We actually went from the Chev to a 68 Ford cabover that I built into a hauler. It threw so much oil smoke we had to make sure we weren’t acelerating when the cops drove by us. Chevy Rules!!

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