Even Nascar caves to pressure...

[Sigblitz]

Ok kids, we're going to have a safety caution at lap 25. And we're going to stop the race a couple times so you can all bunch back up together. Who wants a free pass from being a lap down? There's a wreck over here, so we're going to redo the finish. Hey, we have playoffs now just like football.

 

[Sigblitz]

I do enjoy watching it, but it's far from a real race. There's no glory.

 

[edporch]

I already walked away from NASCAR (and Indy) racing several years ago, so this latest NASCAR "cave" is just another nail in their coffin.
They deserve to have the reduced attendance at races, because the governing body brought it on themselves.

It's now an over-regulated farce, and is little more than glorified IROC racing that I wouldn't walk across the street to see with a free ticket.

 

[SS 396]

I already walked away from NASCAR (and Indy) racing several years ago, so this latest NASCAR "cave" is just another nail in their coffin.
They deserve to have the reduced attendance at races, because the governing body brought it on themselves.

It's now an over-regulated farce, and is little more than glorified IROC racing that I wouldn't walk across the street to see with a free ticket.

I second that we have stopped watching it long ago, no side by side racing anymore the sport pretty much died with Dale Earnhardt love him or hate him back then was some great racing.

 

[jgressley2003]

Funny thing is that John Nemechek is sponsored by Berry’s in the Xfinity series. He did have their sponsor in the truck series awhile back too.

 

[Karl-just-Karl]

This seems like a natural evolution to me. Are not drivers, owners and teams subject to the PR of their sponsors?

They dumped evil cigarette sponsorships, remember Winston Cup? Alcohol branding has been far less noticeable over the past couple of years. Bass Pro Shops is just about fishing and guys riding around in UTVs right?

After the horrible "Digger" movie they seemed to pretty much peak and their family-friendly, safer, more youthful image seemed to drag the whole thing right into the toilet.

What could be more indicative of the current state of the "sport"? First it was cellphone service providers, then more cell phone service providers, then energy drinks. Candy and food advertisements on cars for an obese society... the trend just seemed to follow and mirror the overall direction of society.

NASCAR will never be X-games and it will never return to what it was in the late 70s.

Maybe there is a deeper parallel here. Everyone needs safer barriers, child booster seats, HANS devices, restrictor plates, every car must meet a template requirement and everyone must be the same but is allowed to have a different paint scheme as long as no one else is offended by it.

I'll just add this to the list of things lost that will never be again.

 

[halfmileharry]

Big corporate money. It did the same thing to the Indy series.

Bloomberg money is spreading the disease.

 

[BigRed]

NASCAR Goes Sissy – Abbeville Institute

www.abbevilleinstitute.org

 

[foszoe]

NASCAR Goes Sissy – Abbeville Institute

www.abbevilleinstitute.org

So are the Federalist papers non canonical for civil war deniers?

 

[Ingomike]

NASCAR Goes Sissy – Abbeville Institute

www.abbevilleinstitute.org

Holy thread resurrection Batman…

 

[Bugzilla]

They need to do what WV did to the green banks.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Holy thread resurrection Batman…

By INGO standards less than three years ain't bad.

 

[JAL]

well NASCAR was invented forthe people that didn't understand professional wresteling

NASCAR used to entail and entertain with professional driver wrestling, usually just after the race, but occasionally during the race.

John

 

[tim87tr]

Good article and thread reanimate because all pro sports have declined significantly more since. Like others here I have stopped watching NFL, etc. What I do like and have since the beginning is UFC. They have a winning template with a decision maker at the top that drives the sport and revenues.

Dana White has stated he will not use a venue which is not 100% capacity and does business with places that make it easy. States like Texas and Florida have had sold out crowds. The other woke sports with trickle down tyranny will continue until they collapse or owners who need to make money get out of the sport. What is the long term upside to the woke virtue signaling? Doesn't look like it's revenue or longevity.

 

[45/70 Henry Lover]

I am a HUGE race fan! That being said, I haven't watched a NASCAR race in quite a while, I will admit to watching the Indy 500, but other than that, I haven't watched an entire Indy Car race this year. Again, I love racing, or maybe it's "Loved"? I loved it when teams built their own chassis's and engines, they don't/can't build either one now, they are not allowed to even tinker with cars in NASCAR or you get a whopping penalty, even putting a decal in the wrong place! It's absurd! Indy Car isn't much better! I watch wing and non wing sprint cars, AMA flat track bikes and local stuff these days. SCREW woke NASCAR! They will never get another penny from me!

 

[edporch]

I am a HUGE race fan! That being said, I haven't watched a NASCAR race in quite a while, I will admit to watching the Indy 500, but other than that, I haven't watched an entire Indy Car race this year. Again, I love racing, or maybe it's "Loved"? I loved it when teams built their own chassis's and engines, they don't/can't build either one now, they are not allowed to even tinker with cars in NASCAR or you get a whopping penalty, even putting a decal in the wrong place! It's absurd! Indy Car isn't much better! I watch wing and non wing sprint cars, AMA flat track bikes and local stuff these days. SCREW woke NASCAR! They will never get another penny from me!

True.
I've watched very little racing for many years.
The top levels of racing have turned into an over regulated farce that's little different than IROC racing.
The only difference being that the teams have to pay for their own cars.

When I see an announcement that "this will be next year's car", it screams of the truth in what I say.

When they removed the ability of teams to modify their cars within the most open rules possible to gain an "edge", they destroyed innovation.

I watched about 5 minutes of the Indy car type race yesterday, and it appeared that the cars were all the same except for the paint schemes and sponsor decals.
BORRRRRING!

 

[Ingomike]

Good article and thread reanimate because all pro sports have declined significantly more since. Like others here I have stopped watching NFL, etc. What I do like and have since the beginning is UFC. They have a winning template with a decision maker at the top that drives the sport and revenues.

Dana White has stated he will not use a venue which is not 100% capacity and does business with places that make it easy. States like Texas and Florida have had sold out crowds. The other woke sports with trickle down tyranny will continue until they collapse or owners who need to make money get out of the sport. What is the long term upside to the woke virtue signaling? Doesn't look like it's revenue or longevity.

We must account for the fact that most of the pro sports you mentioned receive significant government largess, most have an anti-trust exemption, and government funded venues. UFC will likely run into issues if they try to leave the few states they are now working in.

Do NFL owners care about woke? Probably less than we do. While there are some woke players, my money is on agents telling the players to kneel to get exposure to drive jersey sales and recognition for endorsements. Follow the money…

 

[STopaz1982]

True.
I've watched very little racing for many years.
The top levels of racing have turned into an over regulated farce that's little different than IROC racing.
The only difference being that the teams have to pay for their own cars.

When I see an announcement that "this will be next year's car", it screams of the truth in what I say.

When they removed the ability of teams to modify their cars within the most open rules possible to gain an "edge", they destroyed innovation.

I watched about 5 minutes of the Indy car type race yesterday, and it appeared that the cars were all the same except for the paint schemes and sponsor decals.
BORRRRRING

This is exactly what I thought when Tony George announced the Indy Racing League. What made the Indy 500 special was the routes individual teams took to go fast. It has become a class race like sailboats. All the same, no opportunity to experiment. The competition should come from everyone trying their best to go fast, not from an overbearing organization pushing down from above. I guess it's the racing equivalent of EQUITY. Definitely can't have turbine cars now! (That was cool back in the day.) Like they used to say - the way to win is "go fast, turn left"!!

 

[Ingomike]

This is exactly what I thought when Tony George announced the Indy Racing League. What made the Indy 500 special was the routes individual teams took to go fast. It has become a class race like sailboats. All the same, no opportunity to experiment. The competition should come from everyone trying their best to go fast, not from an overbearing organization pushing down from above. I guess it's the racing equivalent of EQUITY. Definitely can't have turbine cars now! (That was cool back in the day.) Like they used to say - the way to win is "go fast, turn left"!!

One must add the why to all this, safety and cost. In the 50’s smart guys could innovate cheaply, then by the 90’s a fraction of a second began to cost millions. Then add in the technological advancements that led to cars capable of speeds beyond the physics to keep them on the ground creating safety issues for drivers and fans alike.

As much as I would like to blame a sanctioning body, race track owners, and car owners, it really is science that killed car racing.

 

[edporch]

This is exactly what I thought when Tony George announced the Indy Racing League. What made the Indy 500 special was the routes individual teams took to go fast. It has become a class race like sailboats. All the same, no opportunity to experiment. The competition should come from everyone trying their best to go fast, not from an overbearing organization pushing down from above. I guess it's the racing equivalent of EQUITY. Definitely can't have turbine cars now! (That was cool back in the day.) Like they used to say - the way to win is "go fast, turn left"!!

I used to love going to the track over the month of May and seeing all the different cars with their own ideas of how to go fast.
Yes, Tony George had an opportunity to improve the race and he blew it big time.

I'd rather see a bunch of different cars under MUCH more open rules all trying to do a 200MPH lap, than a bunch of cars that are all the same running 230mph laps.