Hey NASCAR, Please Make Sure You Meet With The Fans Too!

As I sit sipping my coffee and surfing through Jayski this Sunday morning, eagerly anticipating a GREAT day of all kinds of racing, I read about the expanded focus of the Team/Driver meetings with NASCAR this coming Tuesday in Charlotte.

Supposedly, as reported at mikemulhern.net, there will be 'mini-meetings' for each of the individual cup teams to sit down and talk how Cup racing can be made more compelling... and then it HIT ME!

Wasn't the COT, something that many say is a bore to watch 'race', supposedly designed with the input of all the teams too?  And I thought... Uh-oh... Here they go again.  Now don't get me wrong, I am NOT bashing NASCAR and recognize that there is a ton of great stuff that has happened in NASCAR as it has grown, but i started to think about MY history as a race fan and thought I'd share it because I have a feeling it may be similar to many of you...

I've been watching NASCAR since Bill Elliott drove the #9 Coors Melling Ford all over the place and I was his biggest fan (Really, I was... REALLY!!).  Typically, whenever our family would gather for a birthday or anniversary, the TV would be on 1 of 2 things, a Red Sox game (we lived in South Eastern New England) or a NASCAR race.

I even spent time at Stafford Motor Speedway where my father worked the pit gates for a couple of years and watching those SK Modifieds was incredibly exciting, but I never forgot the indelible images of the #9 Coors Melling Ford zooming around the track... it was recognizable, it looked different than the other cars and I could 'see one' on the road too!

Wow, how times have changed... Little did I know that 25 years later I'd have worked in the world of NASCAR and ended up creating a website that was all about LOCAL racing... mostly because I could see a change happening, almost in slow motion... I felt like I wasn't watching racing anymore, I felt like at least half the time on those D-shaped tracks, I was watching parade laps where there would occasionally be a fight for a position, but seldom a real race for the lead that lasted more than a few laps at the most.  

THEN, I went to Sycamore Speedway in Illinois and I got reacquainted with local racing... I brought my kids... they raced in the bubble gum race on the track... they looked at the cars lined up in the parking lot at the end of the night as we walked to the car... They were TRULY amazed and I felt like I was transported back to those I'd spent at Stafford Motor Speedway with my Dad... I realized I had gotten to a point where I wasn't enjoying the actual racing anymore, I was enjoying the 'Business of NASCAR' and getting sponsors involved far more than I was enjoying the actual competition of Racing... and I was glad to be back at a small local track.

Having been in the media, I can talk about why more commercials cause tune out.  I can talk about WHY people tune-in and why they stay or leave.  I can even talk about how ANYONE in the media should have seen the decreased ratings coming at least a year or two ago when that giant media contract was signed and the car was changed.  But this column isn't about bashing NASCAR and telling them what they did wrong, it's about asking them to do something that many think they haven't done in a long time... Listen to the Fans... Solicit their opinions... AND PLEASE... DON'T MAKE ANY MORE CHANGES UNTIL YOU GET REAL FEEDBACK FROM THOSE YOU RELY ON FOR YOUR EXISTENCE

So, in the case they don't do that directly, let's use this forum as a way to give our feedback about the changes we think would help... Although I can't promise it'll make any impact or truly get considered, I promise I'll make sure they all get to the people I know that are higher up in the chain at NASCAR.  And whatever response I get, I'll post that here too if/when I get it.

After all, whatever you feel about NASCAR today, it doesn't change how you've felt about it the rest of your life and the enjoyment that you've felt from it too... So, think for a second about what you would say if you were sitting across a table from NASCAR officials, hit the 'comment button' below and don't forget, feedback is always listened to more intently when it's conveyed in a respectful way without name-calling, anger and ridicule. CLICK HERE to read the comments so far or to leave your comments now!

Cheers folks and enjoy a great day of racing from all over the world!

Lessons Learned From the NASCAR All Star Race in Charlotte

So, as we sit and think about the great stories that unfolded last night and the great racing that was seen in short segments, there are many, many things that come to mind as lessons learned in Charlotte last night... 

... Tony Stewart and Chevrolet are meant to be together and Ryan Newman is way better than he ever showed at Penske

... Yes, Kyle Busch CAN put a race car pretty much he darn well wants to and where few would think about doing it first

... Pre-Determined segment lengths where 'position counts' in each one really do make for some great racing

... Integrating the pit crews into the competition adds another level of excitement

... The Speed Channel does racing REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY well

... Seeing 20 cars MISS Jeff Gordon within about 1.3 seconds at well over 150 mph prooves that these guys are absolutely incredible drivers

YEAH, those were some of the positive things that I saw... but there were some negative ones as well.. or actually 1 REALLY negative one that scares me about next week's 600...

In Segment #3, with just 20 laps of racing, by the end of the segment the field was separated by almost a half a track....  And this SCARES THE HECK OUT OF ME that the follow-up to an incredible weekend of racing that probably made lots of highlight reels and could actually attract NEW EYES to the sport will probably end up being a race that is more like a lot of long drawn out parade laps.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE NASCAR... do something to figure out how to make the racing as exciting at D-Shaped Ovals as it was at Richmond and Darlington (on shorter tracks) and at the All Star Race last night...  This may be my opinion only, but the answer to increasing excitement at those cookie cutters may indeed be more segmented racing.... but I'm just a 'Fan of Fast'... what do I know!

Feel free to leave your comments below on what you liked and didn't like about the AllStar Race and what you think the 600 will end up being.

The Racing At Richmond... Actual RACING!?

Let me be the first to acknowledge that I am probably the first to complain about strung out 'follow the leader, lap half the field, 3 contender' races at those D-shaped 'ovals'.... BORING!!!

I've also said that maybe with all the 'pack' racing at Plate Tracks that if competitive 'racing' is what drives viewership then maybe every track should get a plate... Kind of like IROC Part 2!

However, I will honestly say that apart from the last several laps last night when Kyle Busch shined and pulled away, I think I saw more real 'racing' last night than I've seen in a LONG time.  Until the TV #s come out, we won't know whether it mattered or not because who knows if more people than not have gone away and aren't coming back... BUT... I'm sure as heck glad that Richmond has 2 races!

What do you think?  Maybe the 'solution' is to find a way to 'shortin' the tracks at the D-shaped ovals... After all, most of them only have stands along the front stretch anyway!  Or, if we're stuck with them, maybe NASCAR can find a way to 'sprinkle' the good racing tracks through the schedule a little better so we never end up with more than 2 weeks in a row of 'follow the leader, lap half the field, 3 contender' races.

How would you schedule the races if YOU were NASCAR!?  The world awaits your 'Master Plan'!