April 15th, 2010 
Journo The last two seasons have been rough for this sport. Sponsors have left, fields have shrank and teams have folded. Mergers became the new name of the game for many fledgling organizations and layoffs plagued the industry. What NASCAR was faced with was a forced correction thanks to a bad economy. As a result the strong just got stronger and the weak generally got a lot weaker.
On top of a weakened economy NASCAR alienated a lot of fans with the introduction of the COT in 2007. The car, with it’s boxy appearance and rear wing, didn’t sit well with a lot of people. Some have argued that it’s hurt the competition. Whether that’s the case or not is open to argument – I know NASCAR would disagree.
To be sure, the last 10 years can be summed up in one word – change. Over the last two seasons though we have seen a sanctioning body more willing to listen and embrace changes everyone can get behind. We saw NASCAR institute double-file restarts, more attempts at G-W-C finishes and the return to the spoiler.
Their recognition that the sport isn’t perfect has benefited everyone. What I’ve seen over the first few weeks of this season is a sport that is more tough, more rough and more exciting.
While we’re far from where we once were, things are starting to look up. The ratings for this season’s races haven’t been all bad – they were up at Phoenix and Atlanta and they performed pretty well against the backdrop of a compelling USA v. Canada hockey game. The rain delay didn’t help at Martinsville, but overall Fox is down around 4%. While down is certainly not good, 4% is better than the 11.5% they were down this time last year. More than growth, NASCAR needs these numbers to stabilize. Hopefully they’re starting to do that.
On the competition side we’ve seen a competitive Earnhardt Ganassi team and an almost renewed Penske Racing team. In seven races we’ve had five different winners from five different teams. Sure Jimmie Johnson has won three races, but maybe he’s peaking early? All I know is, is I’ve seen some great finishes this season.
Like a recession in the economy, it’s going to take time for recovery to take hold and for the effects to be seen. I’m hopeful after a couple of tough seasons we’re starting to see the signs of recovery in NASCAR.
What do you think of the season so far? Have you been enjoying the season? Do you like the changes NASCAR has made? Has the competition been better?
A Happy Belated Birthday!
I’m disappointed TNI readers. It was our birthday on April 7th and no one remembered – me and TC included. Oops.
As we enter our third year on this project I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who comes to the site, reads the posts, and contributes to the conversation. TC and I have enjoyed our time working on this and look forward to the year ahead.
As always if you have any questions, comments and/or concerns please don’t hesitate to get into contact with us. We’re pretty good about emailing people back.
Thanks again to everybody who comes by. We know your time is valuable and we appreciate you make us a part of your day!
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Happy belated birthday!!! Thank you for taking out some of your time for us.
I think this season is great. After the death of Dale Earnhardt and at least one other young driver NASCAR became heavily focused on safety. Hans devices, safer barriers, even the COT were all about safety and I think the COT was also meant to be a step toward a “greener” sport. As a result a t-shirt and jeans type sport suddenly felt like a heavily starched button-up shirt and suit. The fun seemed to have been wiped out of the sport. So NASCAR had a heavy weight to shift-keep drivers from dying and keep fans happy. I think NASCAR has come a good long way in a short time of balancing the two most important aspects from inside the sport. Also, on my opinion I got real sick of seeing the same old guys win and the new guys talent get stuffed. New life has been breathed into this sport!! It will just take some time for the ratings to recover. And keep in mind attending a race is a luxury. Certainly one I cannot afford, even at the lowered prices. God bless guys like Denny Hamlin for doing give-aways! Every driver should be doing it! These prizes are a staple of every other sport. NASCAR took it’s fans for granted and has finally realized we ate fragile and so is our income. In addition, like every other sport we’re fickle too. We want to see battles on the track instead of Jimmie and Kyle leading every lap. We want to see the rookies get brought in the hard way and fight for their spot in victory lane and on the track. We want what we’ve always wanted: to be entertained. Yes! That means feuds, tempers, bump drafting, crashes and craziness on the track. I think nascar’s given us back almost all of that! It’s gonna be a great year! So strap in tight! We don’t know what’s gonna be next!! Becca
this season is turning out great! with the exception of jimmie johnson’s 3 wins. and i do feel that nascar is back! they are much better off than they were 2 years ago. but i do agree they are indeed a long way from what they were in the past.
Happy birthday!
This season is better, but there are three areas that have not been addressed by NASCAR that have contributed to our declining interest:
1 – The Chase, and abysmal decision that has really damaged the sport, why are they all talking about “The Chase” now? There is a whole season of good races ahead and all the broadcasters talk about is “The Chase”.
2 – Yellow flag happy officials. Every time someone spits on the track they throw a yellow flag and then stay yellow lap after lap after lap. Clean up the issue and go green, if everyone does not get their pit stops in so what? That’s racin’, get over it and race!
3 – Incredibly bad TV coverage, particularly from Fox. The Fox personalities are not the show and we could care less what they did last week! How about showing the racing back in the field instead of watching the leader go round and round. Many, many people have said the race you watch in person is so much better than what you see on TV – why? It is even better and more exciting on the radio!
#1 – Ditch the Chase. It is a complete joke.
#2 – No tire changes for the GWC. That way teams that earned their way to the front have a chance to win instead of being screwed by a gimmick.
#3 – Ditch the Lucky Dog.
There… I just fixed your sport for you.
There have been lots of good moments this year. The race here in Martinsville was particularly exciting. I love the standardized start times and despite usually having more traditional opinions, I even like the double-file restarts.
However, one thing that is beginning to ruin races for me is the multiple GWC rule combined with double-file restarts. The winning car should be the car that’s best most of the time. Sometimes weird things happen, but I believe that the best car should usually win. However, that has not been the case in some recent races (such as Phoenix) and I’m afraid that will only get worse. It feels like the first 99% of a race is rather pointless. Just stay on the lead lap, in the top 10 or 15, and you have a shot at the win because it’s all based on the final pit stop and how many GWCs there are. I’m happy for Newman, but in all fairness, his car was not among the best that night. Race endings are beginning to feel like artificial games and I do not care for that at all.
Its getting better but there are still some things to work on. Get rid of the Chase, Splitter, the lucky dog and no more 1.5 mile tracks added to the schedule. There is more the TV coverage must change show all the cars sometime not just the ones who pay FOX and no more cut away car unless something unusual happens get rid of the Gopher and tighten them belts one more time boogity boogity boogity. The announcers should stop talking to everyone like they are a new fan no new fans watch unless and old fan is watching with them leave the teaching to us and tell us useful information.
Oh for God’s sake–there’s been nothing to blame but the economy for Nascar’s deficits!!! I work at Disney and they’ve been struggling with decreased attendance, too. Do Nascar people never get out?? GEEZIS!!
I agree with Keith-
The splitter needs to go. The nose needs work. Let them shake out the dead wood,even if that means losing Dodge, which is only a matter of time,and move on to the great sport it once was.
(Would that be THE Keith?)
Lucky Dog is meaningless to me. I just don’t care if someone gets a lap back. Every so often it puts an unlucky contender back in contention, but more often it puts a backmarker further from the back.
Chase: it’s here, it isn’t going away. Deal with it and enjoy each race. I don’t like it either. Should the NBA end its season now and declare the Cavs champs?
Agree on Fox: DW and Larry Mac are both good, but in tandem? Overkill. However, announcers have to talk to new and old fans alike – that’s one of the big challenges of the job.
I really enjoyed the “24/7″ series on Johnson early this year. It gave a good glimpse into the functioning of a top-rate team. Kevin, sure the races are long and the early stages may not matter, but that’s what NASCAR is – an endurance contest. You have to be there at the end, and building and driving cars that make it through the first 490 laps/miles is a big part of the game.
Dennis: I agree about the yellows, but am not sure what to do about it. It does seem to take a long time to pick up a piece of metal, doesn’t it? The pit road speed limit plays into it as well, and they DO have to bring the entire field behind the pace car before sending safety folk out on the track.
BLT- I think that might be an argument you could make if the only issue was attendance, but ratings have been down too. Other sports have had attendance issues, but none have had the issues with ratings NASCAR has had . If it were purely an economics problem we would see not as many people in the stands but improved TV ratings. That hasn’t happened. Both have been down. That tells us the issue goes beyond the economy.