The Truth Crashes at Darlington

Fan Commentary by Grandstand Bob

Losing air quickly after running over a wad of cash, the truth spun out and smacked the wall hard at Darlington Raceway. Series officials have yet to confirm that the truth died in the fiery crash, and suspicion is running rampant among fans.

You really got to hand it to ISC’s spin-doctors. They’re masters of sliding drastic changes quietly into reality, and then working the media to put a positive spin on those changes that infuriate several fans and would potentially irritate several others, if the public relations scheme weren’t successful.

A case in point is the recent “news” from Darlington that more than half of the letters that track officials received in response to losing the Southern 500 Labor Day date to California were from “folks who understood.” ref: http://www.thatsracin.com/mld/thatsracin/6309416.htm.

“Folks who understood” is a pretty broad description, quite realistically encompassing everyone from the ISC shareholder who is ecstatic that the company is squeezing a little bit more from the fans, to the dedicated fan who has purchased tickets every year since he has had a job and is now furious that the race weekend lands during deer season. In short, I’m sure that some of those “folks who understood” understood that NASCAR was robbing their area of much-needed revenue and spitting in the face of tradition.

As I’ve said previously in this column, I understand why NASCAR is making some of the moves that it is – they are a business and concerned about the bottom line – so I guess that I can count myself among “folks who understood.” On the other hand, some of the spin on the situation almost makes me nauseous.

Track officials, speaking almost as if ISC<NASCAR put words in their mouths, said that the November weekend could even be better than the Labor Day weekend, because, they say, the weather will be better, and the race will be near the end of the season, meaning that the points race could add drama to the regularly scheduled race. Alright, I will concede that Labor Day weekend in Darlington can be hotter than hell, and it seems that the Southern 500 is always plagued by some pesky rain clouds, but I don’t believe that the weather in November is that much better. I’ve been to races in Rockingham, only about an hour north, around the beginning of November, and have seen both extreme cold and brutal rain. One can’t help but think that the adverse weather was one thing that contributed to Rockingham’s struggling attendance and subsequent loss of a race date. Darlington officials know that they face the same challenge.

As far as the end of the season holding considerably more drama, that’s a tough sale to me also. The Labor Day date is typically pretty close to the night race in Bristol, and there is already plenty of emotion spilling over after a night at that track. There were plenty of us hoping that Terry Labonte would get close enough to Dale Earnhardt to “rattle his cage” a few years back.