Fan Commentary

Fan Speak - Part Six (Tradition)

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. Grandstand Bob Instead, I've separated the comments into different categories. First, I've listed 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.

Tradition

-- I became a NASCAR fan in 1968 and living in FL I've been to several Daytona 500s, Firecracker/Pepsi 400s and Twin 125s.

I became a junkie when I discovered the world of cable tv(1980) with ESPN's flag-to-flag live coverage of about all of NASCAR divisions(including USAR).

My whole life has been shaped by NASCAR because I only buy products that sponsor/promote, I drink Budweiser, smoke Winstons, eat at Burger King - well you get the idea. It even spilled over into my hobby/pc. I race online in a league with NASCAR Racing by Papyrus.

God knows how much I've spent on things because of my love for NASCAR - food, clothes, men toys, tv dish system, etc etc etc. I realize that NASCAR is no longer just good ol'boys but now a growing, thriving business and that's ok too because I an a dyed-in-the-wool fan but there is one thing I will REFUSE to do - when/if NASCAR goes to a pay-per-view channel - REPEAT I will NOT do this.

-- Perhaps a better question with which to end your rather amusing column is: Does NASCAR care about the fans they are alienating? It seems as though they are courting the "new" fans -- i.e. the khakis who jump on every bandwagon and then jump onto the next one as it comes by -- since they tend to have a higher disposable income ratio than the traditional NASCAR fan. Of course, NASCAR seems to have conveniently forgotten that it was the "hillbillies" (I use this phrase lovingly, as I certainly consider myself one) whose clamoring over the years led us to precisely where we are. With one of the largest TV packages in television sports history and with a fan base growing exponentially -- seemingly, sometimes from race to race. And, as "hillbillies" they are loyal to the bitter end -- up to a point -- but once they have had enought, that's it. And, it would seem that with the combination of external forces mentioned in your column, a lot of these hillbillies have reached the end of their rope and (combined with the passing of our fearless leader last February) are prepared to throw in the towel and spend some more time fishin'. I'm sure you have heard more of the complaints than I -- which brings us back to the questions posed at the beginning of this missive. I know the corporations only care about the bottom line, and being a supported of "free-market capitalism" myself, I see the necessity of charging for services to recoup losses (and were the service more reliable, especially the radio end I would gladly pony up my $25/year to listen to my favorite driver), but it seems that NASCAR knows nothing about pacing out increases, nor does its public relations firm seem to know anything about softening the blow of unpopular decisions (see the cooler and carry-in bag debacle). Hillbillies and racin' have historically been family -- and now NASCAR seems to want to shuck aside its poor relations for an elusive demographic famous for its capriciousness. It makes me sad to watch all of this -- as when I was in Chicago for Grad School I spent a great deal of time bragging about "my people" -- How their handshake is better than a signed contract, how our word is all we have and we protect it above all else, how we sink with the ship that brung us, etc. And now . . . perhaps it is true what they say: Without Mr. Earnhardt around telling them what to do the honchos at NASCAR are at a loss.

Thank you for letting me vent, hopefully something can be done to stem the losses before they are so great this sport isn't able to recover -- hello, CART anyone? In the meantime, a big WooHoo to the return of Steve Park and our prayers for the speedy recovery and return of Tony Stewart -- who may the best thing to hit racin' in a long time and I say this as a diehard Chevy Girl -- let's hope they are never able to completely muzzle him.

-- First of all, I agree with everything you stated in your article "Which Straw Will Be The Last?" I have talked to several true NASCAR fans who have been following the sport for several decades. I usually ask them the same question, "been to any races lately?" Nine times out of ten, they reply with the same answer "I haven't been in years, I can't afford it anymore". It's a real shame to see hard working people who helped get NASCAR to the place it currently is, left by the wayside. I happen to live in the heart of NASCAR country, North Carolina, and was devastated at the loss of one of my favorite tracks on the circuit, North Wilkesboro Speedway. This is a prime example of being strung along and then have our feelings stomped on. Do we really need another 1.5 mile tri-oval in racing? If you don't think you can seat a lot of people at a short track, you might want to pay Bristol a visit. I know I'm bias due to what part of the country I live in, but the larger markets NASCAR seems to favor these days have no history to them. One of the last straws will be when NASCAR decides that places like Darlington, Rockingham and Martinsville are no longer needed on the Winston Cup schedule. These tracks are what helped put NASCAR on the map and if the France family and Mike Helton turn their back on them, that's when I turn my back on NASCAR. I always hear the argument that the sport needs growth to survive, but there is only so much older race fans can take. Besides, NASCAR was able to survive for fifty years without pulling the plug on smaller markets. Who's to say all these new tracks and their new fans will care about the sport in five or ten years anyway? They probably haven't even heard of places like South Boston, Hickory and North Wilkesboro. I guess only time will tell their loyalty to the sport. Until then, I'll keep a close eye on my Winston Cup schedule to see which is the next speedway to fall from grace.

-- Your article, "Which Straw Will Be The Last" so directly stated my thoughts,
I almost thought that you wrote it from my notes. Well Done! As a lifelong
fan of NA$CAR (I remember watching races on ABC Wide World of Sports before there even was a Winston Cup), I have pretty much gone full circle on this whole issue. I have been to many tracks over the years and seen a lot of
good races. This is a bigger task than some might think since I live in NJ
and there are not a whole 'local' tracks. When planning our trips, it was
like planning a vacation. Based upon available funds in my younger days, it
was just about all I could afford anyway, these extended weekends were my
vacation. Load up the truck with a tent, burgers and beer and the bunch of
us were off. Over the years, as ISC gained control of more tracks, all the
rules became more and more restrictive. I remember about 10 years ago when they told me at the gate of Watkins Glen that if I removed my bicycle from its rack on my truck, they were going to throw me out of the place (just one instance, but it seems to stick out in my mind). A couple of years later,
Dover Downs banned people from camping in tents, you needed an RV in order to stay at the track. Finances are much improved these days so I have been able to 'keep up with the Joneses' when it came to doing what ever it took to get to the track for my racing fix as well having a rec room all decked
out with NA$CAR related stuff. This past summer, my wife supprised me for
my 40th birthday by sending me to Daytona to run the Petty Experience. This
was the most awsome time of my life, now I was really hooked. After the first of this year, it was announced that speed vision (now speed channel) was going to be necessary to keep up with all of the racing telecasts. Sign me up! Upgrade to the highest level cable package was the only way to get this channel on my system to the tune of an extra $18 per month, but I did it anyway. It was just this past month when they had begun to charge for the internet radio feed for MRN, then I lost it. I live and work in area where there is not a local affiliate that I can tune in, so I relied on this feed for qualifying, rainout races etc. when at the office. I drew the line in the sand and NA$CAR finally crossed it. I started thinking about what it costs to be a real fan of this sport and I realized that it was less expensive to go on a four day Caribbean cruise than it was to go to a nascar event after including all associated costs. When I shared this information with my dear wife, who is also a fan and has her own favorite drivers, we agreed that it was crazy to continue this money spiral just to be a fan. I have been to my last NA$CAR event, spent my last dollar on any related logo merchandise, made my last visit to nascar.com, bought my last Budweiser, Coors & Miller Beer, stopped buying Tide, General Mills products, Valvoline, Texaco, Quaker State, Pennzoil no more Gatorade, Coke or Pepsi products, stopped shopping at Target & NAPA, switched from Sprint phone services, even directed my company shipping department to utilize Fedex and Air Borne whenever possible to avoid using UPS, and if you should ever shop on e-bay, you will find most of my collection listed for sale.

In summary, I am done and it doesn't hurt a bit. I do still check a few websites for info occasionally but realize that I was brainwashed by NA$CAR, thinking that this sport was somehow a necessary part of my life. How wrong I was! Now I will have more free time and lots more money to spend on grown up toys. By the way, I kept the cable upgrade since they threw in a bunch of premium movie channels.

-- Here are a few problems I have with NASCAR....
First of all, As has been discussed by MANY people, the building of these
huge cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks all over the midwest......NASCAR says it
just wants to reach new markets and spread the wonderful SPort of auto racing to more Americans-TRANSLATION: "There's a hell of a lot more money in it for us". The day they take Bristol, Martinsville or Richmond off the
schedule will be the last day I ever watch a Winston Cup race.

Another example: The new Fox/NBC TV package....The same things were said by NASCAR about being able to reach more people, and the same
translation:"THere's a hell of a lot more money in it for us". Personally, while I do appreciate the fact that they telivise happy hour and qualifying, the actual race coverage is shitty. They are trying to make it into Monday Night Football, with comic routines and too much DW, Larry Mac, and Hammond. Again, they are focusing their broadcasting techniques towards those who aren't TRUE race fans. THey are making it into a spectacle to attract people who don't know anything about people like Junior Johnson or David Pearson or even about how Dave Marcis once kicked some serious ass. So the result is, people who truely love the sport hate the broadcasts. At least on ESPN, they simply broadcasted the race, and treated the fans like they knew something about the sport.

Thirdly is the cars......True racing fans want to see STOCK cars be a little more STOCK. The 60's 70's and even early 80's were GREAT! One manufacterer would build a new model that would dominate, so then the others would have to come up with a model to cathc them, and so on....Now what do we have? Half the Dodge's out there last year were simply re-skinned Pontiacs.....to me that's HARLDY stock car racing. While it is impossible to have a truely STOCK car like we saw in the 60's and 70's, we could have STOCK bodies...with REAL sheet metal that didn't peel off if you hit a tire on pit road.

Well, I have many more gripes, but not enough time...And I know, if I was
reading this gripe list I'd tell the person "If you hate it so much, why do you watch it".....I'm afraid soon I will be taking that advice and not watching at all.

-- I think enough fans will return to racings roots, which is the bullring, and after enough don't show for Sundays parade they will get the picture. MONEY AND GREED are going to kill the cow who laid the golden egg.

-- First a little background so you know where I'm coming from--

I grew up near Ontario and Riverside Raceways in California, and saw every race at those facilities. I was at Riverside when Richard Petty said one of my favorite quotes of his "IROC stands for I Run Off Course" referring to the 'esses' and his preferred line into turn 6. I am now 37, and live in Texas. I have PSL seats at our track. I have been an avid fan for over 20 years. They are losing me. Not only that, they are losing my dad too, he is the one that drug me along all those years that I was too young to understand. He loves NASCAR. Or, I should say, he did. The entire situation in NASCAR has deteriated. They announcers are doing goofy comedy routines instead of telling us about the race. They never mention the sponsor of a car anymore, they only call it by the car number. That will drive more sponsors away from the sport. They charge more to get in the track, more for food, some tracks won't let you bring anything in (not Texas, thankfully) and yet the purse is no bigger than they had been.. The driver is not getting the money. It has become such a big business that I don't think it can turn back. I have over $10k of NASCAR memorabilia in my house, but I do not purchase anything new anymore. The market is so flooded with crap, that the good stuff doesn't sell like it did, so more crap is made....water pistols with driver numbers? I can't see why that is needed other than for the money. I dread it when MRN is not on my radio because they took away the internet. I refuse to pay for it. I can and will do without. But I used to look at the ads when they had it for free. I do not go to NASCAR.com ever anymore. What is the point? They lost a viewer of their ads now. At least one, I know of others who no longer view that site. Larry, Darryl and Darryl on TV were old last year, this year it is pathetic. They scrambled the feed last year, so we can no longer pick up the backhaul feed (I had dish installed just for NASCAR - that is how into it I was!) the over-commercialization of the sport has a strangle hold on it. We saw it first hand when last week only 43 teams showed up to race. When was the last time that occurred? I will hate to see it decline, but it has started and is snowballing.

-- NASCAR is quickly becoming like a dictator style government unto itself. They along with track owners are imposing rules and regulations at a pace that I, as a fan since 1961, can't comprehend.

Like so many other things it's starting to suffer from what I call TMR syndrome; Too Many Rules.

With every new rule i.e. cooler restrictions, fans will slowly become disenchanted and disappear. I've already given up my season tickets at two tracks and am considering just staying home. It's cheaper, less restrictive and with a few friends over, can be just as much fun.

They may think that many "new" fans will take my place. I doubt it.

-- I've been going to races for 20 years and have been to most of the
tracks in the south. I feel sorry for the fans that have come to the sport in the last 5 years. They will never see a 210+ mph run at Talladega, an AMC Matador or a car with a wing racing for a win, a real slingshot move for the win on the last lap, a fistfight in turn 4, a smoking heap pulling into Victory lane at North Wilkboro, or a driver calling people out to the Kmart parking lot. Nascar has mirrored society. Prepackaged cars, prepackaged drivers, and prepackaged tracks. They are now trying to recruit prepackaged fans. You know the ones. Wearing the latest mass merchandised apparel and 100 dollar sunglasses and a fanny pack containing sunscreen and earplugs, driving their Lexus or Minivan to the track raceday from an overpriced hotel 50 miles away and would only recognize 3 drivers picture and might know the crew chief and sponser for their driver but no others. They pay 100 dollars to come and sit in the same seats that I used to buy for 30 dollars. They annoy the few real fans that still sit in those seats with stupid questions and comments while constantly complaining about "those people".

A word to the wise Nascar, the people that you are trying to woe are a fickle bunch. Ask the NBA, Major League Baseball or any of the other "hot for a couple of years" entities that are either exstinct or struggling. See how the TV contract talks go when there are 75000 people setting in 200000 seats. Myself and the real fans of racing are not coming to the races as much and it's not the ticket prices. The races get more boring, the tracks get more boring and the fans have gotten a hell of a lot more boring. Going to the race used to be as much a social event as it was a sporting event. You came to the track on Thursday or Friday and ride around looking and talking and enjoying the company. I have stood around campfires where there was Docters, Lawyers, Farmers, Mechanics and once even a Congressman all there to party and watch racing. I went 10 years without missing a single race from the infield at Talladega. For the uninitiated the infield at Talladega was not for the faint of heart. It was a rowdy, raucous and sometimes intimidating place. Picture Mardi Gras where the floats were pickup trucks. This like anyotherplace where there is that many people had it's share of trouble makers, but that almost as much for the 200+ mph racing is why we came. An escape from the ordinary, an event, it was fun. Now the infield at Talladega resembles some sort of confinement area. You are given a card when you come in with numerous do's and don'ts. You are assigned an area just large enough for a
decent tent and you can't relocate if you don't like you neighbors, which by
the way is now about 3 feet from you. They have it sectioned off with tall chain link fences and once you get into your section you must leave your vehicle parked until the race is over on Sunday or you will be thrown out. And to go from one side of the speedway to the other you have to take this tram part of the way if it's running and walk the rest. If the trams not running you can't get from one end to the other. What they want is for you to get parked, go to the
trailers, spend your money, go back, sit down and wait for the race on Sunday. I missed the last race and will miss the next race. I missed being at the track but going is just not as compelling as it used to be. So the thousand dollars I normally spent at and around the track got spent on something else.
Nascar is doing everything that it can to discourage the typical "Good ol' boy" from coming to the race now. They won't admit it. They still try to act like nothing has changed. They still try to talk with a country accent, they will even put out the beer drinking, shirtless, "Good ol' boy image" sometimes. But make no mistake. The fans of twenty years ago, the ones that came when there was no TV contracts, the ones that kept the sport afloat when the rest of the nation looked down on us are no longer appreciated and in a lot of case no longer welcome by Nascar.

-- I've been attending races for quite some time. My first race was in 72 at
Dover. Things sure have changed. We used to be able to park our campers up close to the track. Now it seems they want to cater to the "Bus People".
They've pushed the long time race fans to the outer limits to park. The parking rates have also gone higher and higher, They no longer allow you to hold a spot for your friends who will be coming in later. You can't tell people where you'll be because you don't know where you'll be til you get there. I still attend both Dover races plus Charlotte and on occasion other tracks. The prices have risen to where I have a hard time taking my family to see this family sport. I liked it when you could tell the different makes of cars without having
to be told what kind it is. I think NASCAR should get out the car manufacturing business and give it back to the car companies. Using stock
bodies and production engines would also slow them down. Then we could do away with resrictor plates. Also bumping and rubbing is what got alot of
people watching. I think it's ashamed they want to try a make a no contact
sport out of this. Taking your own food and drinks is another thing that fans liked. You didn't have to get out of your seat to go stand in line.

Grandstand Bob Profile and Past Columns

note: This opinions expressed in this column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS Racing Outlet or its parent company, amI, Inc.