Fan Commentary

The Fans Speak (Part One)

by Grandstand Bob

In last week's column, I asked fans to send me suggestions about what NASCAR could do to quell fan discontent and to bring back fans who are feeling alienated. I intended to write a column based on this feedback, but the responses were so overwhelming and well stated, that I really couldn't say it any better myself. Thus, I'm turning over the next six columns to the fans.

I would put this all in one column, but it would take 24 pages to do that. Instead, I've separated the comments into different categories. First, I'll list the general comments. Following that, I'll list comments related to attending races, Internet broadcasts, rules, television and tradition. These comments will appear in successive days, so make sure that you keep coming back to ARS Racing Outlet to check.

All of these are straight from fans. I didn't edit a word, but I did cut out names and addresses to protect fan privacy. If I didn't list your comments, please don't be offended. I tried to avoid repetition, so I couldn't include everyone's writing, though I did read each and every message. Thanks for your participation, and make sure that you check back each day this week to read what fellow fans are saying.

General Comments

-- You put most of it right up front, but didn't mention the cutoff of many rural fans (including me) who cannot receive NBC and FOX and FSN; hence no TV of cup races, no Fox Sports shows other than what they run on Speed Channel, no qualifying.  Since they also (by edict) told FOX and NBC to MPEG2 encode (digitize) the race backhauls, they not only ruined the video of the backhauls, they required anyone wanting them to buy an MPEG-2 decoder, but with the video already substandard, few are doing it.  For those who cannot stand Larry McReynolds or Benny, they stopped all MRN stations from streaming on the internet, and also delayed the MRN by a minute so you can't use the MRN audio with the TV. This is also after you paid for the MRN and the RaceCast.
Yes NASCAR caused it all:
1. High ticket prices by controlling most of the tracks, and controlling the number of races given to non-France owned tracks.
2. Maximum yield from the TV deal, which put races on over the air TV which has not only decllined in popularity, is less and less covering in rural areas and will be even worse with HDTV which will put all TV stations on UHF, cutting coverage even more.
3. Setting race dates with Busch which requires buying a weekend ticket at a
track to get a good seat.
4. Making Busch a farm system by not going to spec engines and chassis, not
paying good purses, making Busch sponsorships a poor deal, power differences in Busch making Busch a marginal race at superspeedways:   we are seeing declining numbers of teams.
5. Ditto for NCTS, which is hanging by a thread even though it has the most exiting racing in the three series.
6. Stupid Aero Cars, with front air dams, small greenhouses,laid back
windshields, which make slight damage into an uncompetitive car, and force restrictor plates on up and on Busch which permanently runs restricted carburetors.
7. TV deal money paying too much to drivers to shut up about the aero cars
and mickey mouse rules, but also starving Busch of decent purses.
8. Selling the Nascar.com web site to Turner Broadcasting for maximum money which they could not make through operation, which led to the pay for Race Cast and MRN.

So overall, they have already lost the fans who like racing; the exitement now is in IRL and World of Outlaws.  Many of us will watch NASCAR races at short tracks where side by side racing and almost no aero effects so that racing is equal, but don't watch the 1.5 mile tracks or the stupid races at Daytona and Talladega.

-- I wish NASCAR would give RaceCast back to us, the fans, free of charge. We can't even get the MRN or PRN links without reaching once again into our pockets.  I, for one, refuse to pay for RaceCast.  I am a single mother, working 2 jobs, with 2 teenage daughters, one of whom is in college.  The "regular" NASCAR fan has to save for months just to be able to attend one race a year.  NASCAR gouges us with ticket prices, they took away our coolers so they now can gouge us with concessions prices, soon they will have it to the point where we will no longer be able to even bring our own scanners into the track and NASCAR will conveniently set up booths to rent scanners to us at outrageous prices. NASCAR has turned into an ever-growing, ever-hungry money machine and, in its greed, is running over the very people that have taken this sport to where it is today--the fans.

-- nice thoughts expressed in your column...i applaud your efforts and wish you well...my suggestion may not be what you're really looking for....it is to get rid of the dependence on aero dynamics and the resultant rules changes...since the mid 90's ,this has been the theme each week....the increasein the number of flat tracks has only added to this....the result,less real  racing and more and more whining....if anything could be done in this regard,it might  return some of the excitement that is  sadly lacking now...it just might make more bearable  the higher ticket costs and  less informative but more talky t.v. casts...

-- hello, i was once a die-hard nascar fan.  in the last five years i have grown farther and farther apart from the one sport that i had once idolized.  nascar has gone to pots.   they want to keep changing the rules so that they say everyone is on a level playing field.  here is one suggestion that i recommend.  Instead of making all the different changes to the cars and such, let's put a stop to the cup regulars that drive the busch series on saturday.  they claim that this give them a little bit of advantage for sunday knowing what the track is going to do on long and short runs.   most of all the cup guys have made it to the show, let the guys running the busch series to put food on the table work their way up to the show.  to many good busch boys are going home because of the cup regulars.  you don't see the busch boys trying to make the cup field when the two series are combined on the same weekend.  like i said before, nascar wants to do away with one team or driver having an advantage lets start with saturday.

-- Don't waste your time trying to convince Nascar that we the fans are tired of them sticking us up everytime we want to got to a race or take advantage of the internet to listen to scanners.

If we really want some action we as fans need to start a concerted letter writing effort to the sponsers! I mean Home Depot, Dupont, Budweiser, Tide, Miller Brewing etc. etc. What we need to tell them is that the way Nascar is going is driving Mr and Mrs America away from Nascar because it is ecomonically unfeasible for the average family of four to attend a race. Why do I say this? Just had to send my advance ticket payment to Homestead (six months in advance). One ticket $165 (x 4=$660), then we need a hotel, some sodas and hot dogs, plus a trip past the souvenir trailers, we are right at $1000 for the weekend. This is getting out of hand!  So if we tell the sponsers that we can't afford to go they will soon realize they are not getting the exposure or the brand loyalty aspect that they have come to expect from Nascar fans and if they stop spending the $10 million plus per year to sponser a car Nascar will have no one to race and guess what? SCREWED!! So in sum let me say the way to get the word to Nascar is to start at the top!! The sponsers!!!!

-- I agree with your column.  What I think they do not understand is that much of their new found prosperity comes from fans that have only been fans for a short period of time and will be fans for only a short period of time.  They will become bored with the sport and move on to something else.  Witness the nearly short fields after Daytona.  As long as they can cycle new fans in and out they will not notice that some of us old timers have stopped giving our support and money.

As far as the concessions made to one brand or the other, what ever happened to the notion that if you get behind on your job you simply have to work harder to catch up?  Where did the provisionaIs come from?  I believe the fastest 43 cars start the race on Sunday and the rest go home.  

Even the competition has suffered due to all the dollars and corporate pressure.  Can you ever imagine a time that Bobby Allison would have let David Pearson get a lap back on a caution?  Or Richard Petty in 1979 letting Darrell Waltrip back on the lead lap because they might happen to drive the same make of car?   

I am a 47 year old male that began going to races with my father when I was 5 years old.  The way the sport is run today is an insult to all us old time fans who helped build the sport to what it is today.  But, what goes around comes around.  I live for the day when Bristol has to advertise to sell tickets to their Winston Cup races. 

But look at the drivers and their haste to get the plug in for their sponsor.  Each interview is a commercial for the numerous sponsors.  Ex:  "The Mobil one, Quaker State, Northwestern Life, Miller Lite Ford was running great today on the Goodyear tires until I hit the Exxon Oil Slick in turn one and hit the Sakrete Concrete wall right on the Budweiser sign."  One thing I really admired about Alan Kulwicki was how he handled his interviews.  He would start by saying, "I would like to thank my sponsors, Hooters Restaurants, Naturally Fresh Salad Dressing and Ford Motor Company."  Then he would continue with the interview and answer the questions.  I thought Richard Petty was much the same way. 

-- I have been a loyal fan of NASCAR for over 30 some years. These last two years have proven my undoing.

I have not renewed my subscription to "Winston Cup Scene" and do not even bother with the commercials, I mean televised race.

NASCAR has taken the fan out of the picture. I make a good living, but I can no longer attend the races. How is it that the average Joe can attend a race ??? New rules, you cannot bring in your $5.00 six pack or your $10.00 fried chicken into the track, oh by the way, the beer is only $5.00 a cup and the sandwiches are $5.00 as well. The line is only 1/2 hour long. Don't worry, NASCAR is doing this for your safety. My ass ! They continue to infringe on the gasoline that fuels this fire. The fan.

I was a diehard NASCAR fan. Nevermore.

-- reign in ticket prices. They have skyrocketed too high too fast. Not allowing coolers is also one of the worst offenses. If you're not going to allow coolers, then have the darn stuff priced reasonably. $3.00 for a bottle of water is extreme.

Umm, ditch the Nascar commercials during Nascar races. In fact, hold the tv stations accountable for over doing the commercials. The past two years have been extremely frustrating in this regard. More commercial time than race time aired.

If it's being considered, pay per view races is a big no-no. Do Not Go There!

-- First off, I want to say thanks a lot for your article and the opportunity to unload some of the stuff I personally and my cohorts collectively have been carrying around on our chests for a while now! hey...you asked right? <grin>

Can NASCAR make racing any better? NO! The racing part of the sport is at an all time high and as long as the drivers and teams continue to improve it CAN only get better. The emphasis on "can" means the possiblity exists. The young guns of today are better in this sport for the same reason that athletes in every athletic endeavor, whatever it is, are better: they are being groomed to do what they do. Tiger Woods had a nine iron in his hand before most kids have their first tricycle. Venus and Serena Williams didn't play jacks and dolls; they played tennis. The track record holder at Sandusky Speedway two years ago in late model sprints was 15 -- and had been in organized racing for 5 years before that! On the other hand, the forefathers of NASCAR started their racing careers in the hills of Tennessee tryin to get away from the Revenuers! And when they were successful they were very apt to take the same Packard or Roadmaster to the local fairgrounds for Saturday and Sunday racing. Can you imagine Sterling Marlin haulin 'shine in his Intrepid the day before Darlington? Well, maybe but...lol...the point is this: With the drivers and equipment getting better by the minute, the racing itself will only continue to improve.

BUT, the question before us here today is: Why won't NASCAR allow it to continue to improve? Witness the rule changes in just the first 5 weeks of the season. It almost seems like they are having a meeting every day and picking a subject out of a hat, then making a new ruling on it! Then, the coup de grace: "We just want to make the racing better for the fans..."! The question is simply: what is the object of a stock car race? To get to the finish line first, right? I'll put my Chevy against your Ford and let's see who wins! To penalize a team for having a better car is like cutting one of Secretariat's legs off cuz he was 2 seconds faster at Belmont than everyone else!

Now, I realize I may have strayed a bit from the topic at hand, the racecast deal but, the idea is the same: Who is benefitting from these changes constantly being made? In the name of "better racing", the fans are being treated to change after change, just so the racing will look better on TV?

Here is something that made my blood run cold when I heard it: Made for TV racing. What's next(and you know they have to be talking about it!)...the Daytona 500 on Pay Per View? GIMME A BREAK!

One last point: Did golf suffer when Bobby Jones won 11 tournaments in a row all those year ago, or when Nicklaus and Palmer were fighting it out every week to see which one would win, to the exclusion of the rest of the golfing world? Did basketball fold because the Celtics won everything there was to win for about two decades? NO! And why did these things happen?

Because someone was clearly better.Today, everyone is better for it because the lesson was simple: If you are not good enough today, try harder tomorrow. If Sterling Marlin or Jeff Gordon or whomever won the next 20 races in a row, would RYR and Roush Racing and DEI fold up the tent and go home? Nope...they would try harder! JUST LET 'EM RACE!

Thankx for your time!

-- Hi Bob great big 10 -4 good buddy I could not agree more when ted goes PAY FOR VIEW he loses me what a pity that the higher ups at Nascar would tie  there tailor to his operation it will drag them down . I can't believe the GREED coming in to the sport that I have followed since 1963 when the #3 came racing with the mystery motor that finally made Chevy compete [NOT]a rule tweak by Nascar.
This is becoming wwf on wheels lets see it's Dodge's turn to win the manufactures title they should give it to Ford after all the Dodge RT is really a taurus.
 It is most obvious that Nascar rotates who gets the glory as to the manufactures each year its is the other guy not tweaking the rules in speed week 3 times is discussing let the manufacture make the car that is raced like in the old days the Ford and Dodge looks nothing even close to the race car if the want to slow em down PUT THE STOCK HAT ON THE DODGE AND FORD raise em up to stock ride height at least get the proportions of the body close to stock .
 I could go on for ever but won't they are REALLY  killing my Nascar they better not ask me to PAY FOR VIEW

-- .....in response to your request for suggestions for Nascar to regain consumer confidence, my answer is to ask a question back----why should we?   It has been fairly obvious for some time time that Nascar has not taken seriously any of the suggestions or ideas that both us fans or you   journalists have come up with (judging by the things that I have read written in trade publications and on web sites such as these).  I can remember when it was annouced that Nascar.com was going to charge for certain features on their site all the commotion it caused from both fans and writers.  Did Nascar listen?  So what I can't figure out is why anyone would go to their site at all anymore. A person has a multitude of sites to go to for any information, and all of it is free.  I realize that not all areas can have access to live radio broadcasts for qualifing and practice (I know I don't), but I'm not about to PAY Nascar for that privledge.  If all of us would boycott their website, MAYBE they would wake up and listen!!!   And therein is the question again----why should we come up with suggestions?     Nascar has not listened to any of these in the past, and you have offered me no proof that they will listen now. 

What Nascar needs is a wake up call from the fans, boycott their website, low attendence for a couple of races, limited purchases of collectables and souviners, etc.  The almighty dollar is what is motivating Nascar right now, so us fans need to exercise our purchasing power to show them where the dollars really come from.   The perfect scenario---all of us stay home for one race, video tape the event so that when we watch it we can fast-forward through all of the seemingly endless commercial breaks, and not run down to the local store to purchase any souviners.    But how do we co-ordinate such an event?  

It is something akin to trying to co-ordinate a one day gasoline boycott to show the oil companies that we think gas is overpriced.   It is wishful thinking at best.    There are too many of us fans that would not agree to anything like this, and I'm not excluding myself from that group.  It's kinda liked being a Nascar

junkie, we just have a hard time giving it up.   I know, for I have been a Nascar fan since before King  Richard won ten straight!!!!  And I know that some of the things that cause us fans problems are things that Nascar can't control, like hotels charging 3 or 4 times the going rate, or race tracks wanting fans to pay for seats they don't want, or for paying for seats a year in advance. (Living in Louisville I'm familar with these practices during the first week in May).  And I haven't touched on things like fair adjudication of the rules( or the appearance of fairness), the constant tinkering with the rules, and restrictor plate racing. My point to all this rambling is that until Nascar really WANTS to regain fan confidence, I do not believe they will listen to any of our ideas on this topic.  I appreciate that you are wanting to try, I'm just too cynical to believe that Nascar is ready to change.