NASCAR 2024…..

[Hatin Since 87]

I would push back and say it requires more ingenuity & creative thinking. When the cars are closer, it shifts to strategy and the drivers. I don't think the gap in driver ability has ever been closer. Instead of trying to figure out how go get more lead in the roll cage without getting caught, they focus on different stuff. PhD computer scientists running simulations to determine pit strategy. Physical therapists and nutritionists trying to squeeze every ounce of performance out of a driver. Every week, you have 30+ drivers who legitimately have a shot to win. I don't remember it that way 25 years ago. NASCAR hasn't lost casual fans because of the short track package or composite bodies.

The sport is living, breathing, evolving.

I would agree if we didnt have stages. If they could run them and strategize green flag stops and not knowing when a caution is coming out, thatd be amazing. But, knowing you can count on a caution every 100 laps takes the tire/fuel saving out (there is exceptions on occasion).

 

[JCSR]

NASCAR needs to talk to the MotoGP guys and find out how they do it. Most motorsports are losing fans except MotoGP.

MotoGP: French GP Drew Record 297,471 Fans

MotoGP: French GP Drew Record 297,471 Fans

The 2024 Michelin Grand Prix de France drew 297,471 fans, breaking the record of 278,805 fans who came to the same MotoGP venue in 2023.

www.roadracingworld.com

The Brickyard 400 has seen some of the largest crowds in NASCAR history, with a record 250,000 spectators attending the first race in 1994. The 2024 Daytona 500 is believed to have had between 150,000 and 175,000 fans in attendance, and is thought to have been a sellout.

 

[BigRed]

and is thought to have been a sellout.

nascar sold out long ago

 

[Mark-DuCo]

NASCAR needs to talk to the MotoGP guys and find out how they do it. Most motorsports are losing fans except MotoGP.

MotoGP: French GP Drew Record 297,471 Fans

MotoGP: French GP Drew Record 297,471 Fans

The 2024 Michelin Grand Prix de France drew 297,471 fans, breaking the record of 278,805 fans who came to the same MotoGP venue in 2023.

www.roadracingworld.com

The Brickyard 400 has seen some of the largest crowds in NASCAR history, with a record 250,000 spectators attending the first race in 1994. The 2024 Daytona 500 is believed to have had between 150,000 and 175,000 fans in attendance, and is thought to have been a sellout.

Kind of hard to compare the two, there are 36 Nascar races in one country compared to Moto GP where your country may only have 1 race all year. If there were only one or two Nascar races in the US every year, they would be sold out a year in advance for sure.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Last year ended with the lowest ratings ever recorded. To have races with a loss of viewership from a record low season isnt good.


On the flip side, I do like the throwback paints they run and will always love Darlington. Its got a mix of speedway and short track driving to it, exciting race when they bring the right package

 

[Destro]

Last year ended with the lowest ratings ever recorded. To have races with a loss of viewership from a record low season isnt good.


On the flip side, I do like the throwback paints they run and will always love Darlington. Its got a mix of speedway and short track driving to it, exciting race when they bring the right package

I do wonder how much cord cutting affects this. Are the drops proportional to the loss of access to the channel? In theory there could be a net increase in viewership when adjusted.

 

[JCSR]

I do wonder how much cord cutting affects this. Are the drops proportional to the loss of access to the channel? In theory there could be a net increase in viewership when adjusted.

NASCAR decided to sell out to the cable and streaming channels. It was a decision about making the most money while taking viewing away from the fans.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

I do wonder how much cord cutting affects this. Are the drops proportional to the loss of access to the channel? In theory there could be a net increase in viewership when adjusted.

Thats been discussed before. To get an accurate comparison, you would have to consider other sports that are televised on cable. MLB had a 6% increase at the beginning of the year. Last year nba viewership was up 16% according to espn. Cord cutting surely accounts for some loss of viewers, but as a whole, the sport is losing viewers at a rate much higher than other sports that are on cable, and other sports are setting record viewership stats and seeing an increase. Last year being a record low, and this year having losses is proof that there is more to it then cord cutters.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Has anyone seen the Dale Jr discussion about how North Wilkesboro got brought back to life by the online racing community? Its a pretty good watch. Dale Jr and iracing developed the track. The sim racers was very outspoken about wanting that piece of Nascar history to return, and Dale Jr organised an event to clean up the track and get it back to its original state. Nascar agreed if that happened they would return and see how it goes… it is now part of the regular schedule again

 

[Mark-DuCo]

Has anyone seen the Dale Jr discussion about how North Wilkesboro got brought back to life by the online racing community? Its a pretty good watch. Dale Jr and iracing developed the track. The sim racers was very outspoken about wanting that piece of Nascar history to return, and Dale Jr organised an event to clean up the track and get it back to its original state. Nascar agreed if that happened they would return and see how it goes… it is now part of the regular schedule again

I watched it, it was really interesting. Although with this new car, the racing wasn't good last year, and I don't have a lot of hope for this year with the new pavement. I do like that they are going to have two different tires that the teams have to run like Indycar. It could make things very interesting.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

I watched it, it was really interesting. Although with this new car, the racing wasn't good last year, and I don't have a lot of hope for this year with the new pavement. I do like that they are going to have two different tires that the teams have to run like Indycar. It could make things very interesting.

I agree. I think giving teams the freedom to choose which compound opens a whole new dilemma to watch play out. Soft/fast with more wear, or go harder and be slower but longer pit cycles. Thats the kind of racing i enjoy.

I like the track itself. I like the gen 6 package a lot more than this new one, but hopefully allowing tire variations will increase passing and increase the braking zone.

Bristol was ok, but that was a happy accident because of the tire situation. Martinsville was awful. Harvick described it to a T. With the new cars and less horsepower the braking zone is so small, they can drive it so much deeper into the turns. The old cars they had to brake sooner, which would allow the guy behind to drive in slightly deeper and get to the back bumper. Hopefully that style of racing comes back. Short track racing is the heart of racing in America. If they create excitement there, they will draw viewers

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Thats been discussed before. To get an accurate comparison, you would have to consider other sports that are televised on cable. MLB had a 6% increase at the beginning of the year. Last year nba viewership was up 16% according to espn. Cord cutting surely accounts for some loss of viewers, but as a whole, the sport is losing viewers at a rate much higher than other sports that are on cable, and other sports are setting record viewership stats and seeing an increase. Last year being a record low, and this year having losses is proof that there is more to it then cord cutters.

I get what you’re trying to compare in numbers but you have to consider that baseball has 100+ games a week over several channels compared to a weekly single race. There’s a lot more games to watch through the week.
Still its hard to view games unless I pay $140 for mlb streaming.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

I get what you’re trying to compare in numbers but you have to consider that baseball has 100+ games a week over several channels compared to a weekly single race. There’s a lot more games to watch through the week.
Still its hard to view games unless I pay $140 for mlb streaming.

Absolutely. Which is why it isnt a huge deal when a league like nba or mlb have a ratings loss… when theres 100 games a week a rating loss could mean people thought “eh, ill watch wednesday nights game instead”. In nascar, when theres only 1 event a week, a ratings loss has much more impact.

And like you said, MLB is usually behind a paid channel. So to see an increase in viewership when your games are on mlb network… well, you get what i mean. The strike killed the mlb, theyre slowly gaining popularity but will never return to what it was.


All star weekend this week… I always liked seeing underdogs run good at the all star race. Hopefully someone like Matthew Dibendetto wins it and not Denny or Kyle Busch. I like Kyle, but they have the bank accounts, need someone on these underpaid teams to dominate like Truex did with Furniture Row. Sucks they left the sport, but I’m glad they finally got a winning season and championship before leaving.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Kevin Harvick drivibg for Larson this week while Larson practices for Indy.

In other nascar news…

Michael Jordan, 23XI Racing co-owner, says NASCAR is 'going to die' if its business model isn't improved

Michael Jordan says Nascar is going to die if it doesnt change its business model. Coming from MJ, a new team owner, hopefully the execs at the top wake up and listen to the team owners. Without them there is no nascar. The owners are paying for thousands of employees, from the machine shops, pit crews, and everything between. Thats a lot of money these owners are paying. They should get a lot more percentage than they are receiving currently.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Kyle Busch has a youtube channel. If nobody has watched it, I highly suggest it. It is primarily documenting his sons racing career. His son Brexton is an amazing driver for his age.

 

[Mark-DuCo]

The All-Star race certainly delivered this weekend. I was worried that with the repave it would be 1 groove racing, but it was anything but that! The softer alternate tire was awesome and I think it may have finally given Nascar the answer for exciting short track racing with the current car.

On to the Kyle Busch and Stenhouse incident. I definitely agree with Wrecky, from the footage I saw he didn't even touch Kyle. He has wrecked enough drivers that he had it coming though.

 

[JCSR]

#22-Joey Logano won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night by leading 199 of 200 laps from the pole position.

I have not watched any of the race but
I recorded it to watch later. But the above headline does not lead me to expecting much in the way of good racing. I hope I'm wrong.

I did see the KB vs. Wrecky incident. Can't say I'd be proud of sucker punching someone but the one dude on KB's team was ready to rumble!

 

[Mark-DuCo]

#22-Joey Logano won the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday night by leading 199 of 200 laps from the pole position.

I have not watched any of the race but
I recorded it to watch later. But the above headline does not lead me to expecting much in the way of good racing. I hope I'm wrong.

I did see the KB vs. Wrecky incident. Can't say I'd be proud of sucker punching someone but the one dude on KB's team was ready to rumble!

Logano ran away with it, but there was side by side action the entire race.

 

[thunderchicken]

The All-Star race certainly delivered this weekend. I was worried that with the repave it would be 1 groove racing, but it was anything but that! The softer alternate tire was awesome and I think it may have finally given Nascar the answer for exciting short track racing with the current car.

On to the Kyle Busch and Stenhouse incident. I definitely agree with Wrecky, from the footage I saw he didn't even touch Kyle. He has wrecked enough drivers that he had it coming though.

I've thought for a long time they should have two tire options. Give the teams another choice in how they want to strategize.

On the Kyle and Wrecky incident, I disagree with you. I think everyone was focusing on the front fender are of KB's car for contact that didn't happen. However, there's footage that shows the left side of KB's car as Wrecky made it three wide. Before Wrecky do that the #8 on KB's car was perfect but after Wrecky was able to get in front of KB, the #8 clearly has black tire rub markings on it. Leads me to believe there had been contact but whether that caused KB to get it to the wall Idk.
KB, I think had a right to be ticked but should have let it go after the first retaliatory bump. He would have been better served to see how things played out over a few more laps.
Wrecky, has a problem if he couldn't cool off after two hours. I think this isn't over and could be an issue at some point during the 600

 

[JCSR]

It was a stupid move by Wrecky to jump into the sucker hole on the first lap of a 200 lapper. He will think twice next time.