Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Around the Campfire: Nascar Follies

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Topic: Nascar Follies

Posted By: thomasmnile on 08/14/17 07:59am

Deb and Ed M wrote:

I was flabbergasted by the meager turnout at MMichigan Int'l Speedway last weekend - it's a GREAT track, good visibility for spectators, wide enough to see some real racing action;

Sign of the times......pretty much every Cup venue. This stat didn't help: 14 lead changes among 5 drivers. I didn't watch except for commercial breaks during the PGA Championship and the last 2 laps. 5 drivers swapping the lead isn't a lot of 'racing'.

Posted By: bobsallyh on 08/14/17 09:22am

Deb and Ed M, I remember very well when the stands were packed at MIS. Sure looks like Roger and Greg Penske knew when to get out of track ownership! But with a starting time at 3 PM. many fans can get turned off quickly. Michigan as many of the tracks on the schedule, thunder heads usually will raise their ugly heads later on a summer afternoon. Fans going to the turnpike at Maumee OH. are already 2 hours behind to head east or west. It would be interesting to know how much the Michigan area newspapers covered the days leading up to the race, raceday, and this AM. The exposure in the print media has been lacking for a number of years, as FRANCECAR lacks public relations. It seems to think the teams PR depts. will do the leg work for them. Ha, ha, ain't happening. Spending the winter in Yuma, AZ. there is absolutely no PR coming out of Phoenix for the races there. Only thing I see is an ad in the weekly White Sheets for a bus trip to the track. Boils down to a pathetic situation.

Posted By: Cloud Dancer on 08/14/17 09:41am

OK, so the subject is NASCAR Follies. However, one should be aware that the whole country is changing, and the human race is changing, and climate is changing,...etc.
And, the configuration of this Michigan racetrack, coupled with the configuration of the NASCAR Monster Energy racecars, is the wrong formula for producing good racing. The problem does not have a practical solution. But, it will not stop us from talking about it.
Nevertheless, Kyle Larson and Chip Ganasi have made their mark. Congratulations to Chevy, also.

Willie & Betty Sue
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Posted By: thomasmnile on 08/14/17 01:28pm

Bold move by young Mr Larson. A checkers or wreckers moment.....and Truex Jr took it in stride.

Posted By: PawPaw_n_Gram on 08/14/17 02:50pm

As usual this year, the early morning start meant I missed the first half of the race.

I now see why NASCAR has such trouble attracting a strong audience on the west coast. The traditional NASCAR fan base has to make a choice - watch the race on TV and not got to church, or go to church and miss the first half of the race.

We stayed longer at lunch than usual. None of the TVs in the restaurant were on NASCAR, they were on pre-season football.

Wasn't able to hear the finish on SirusXM because of the signal being blocked by the mountains and trees on the drive back to the CG.

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Posted By: bobsallyh on 08/14/17 06:23pm

Come on Cloud, sure things are changing, always have. But FRANCECAR's business model sucks and they know it. They replaced a bunch of upper management the last several months and I look for that to continue. They prostituted themselves to Corporate America a number of years ago and when you do that, you are no longer in control. So now it seems that Corporate America is slowly backing off of what at one time was their pride and joy.

Posted By: mooky stinks on 08/14/17 07:00pm

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:

"Early morning start"? It started @ 3pm ET. Actually the green flag dropped @ 3:16 ET. That's 12:16pm your time right? Hardly early morning. [emoticon]

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Posted By: Cloud Dancer on 08/15/17 09:20am

bobsallyh wrote:

Does this mean that you agree that there is no practical solution to the NASCAR problems which you describe? In other words, if NASCAR is not going to implement the solutions which are offered by the non-members of their organization all we can do is what we're doing,....watching some of the races and talking about the results and the problems. It's OK with me, as long as it offers entertainment. And, the way I see it, NASCAR has always been successful. IMO the success that they enjoyed at the pinnacle will never be duplicated, because the elements which contributed to THAT success will never again be available. IMO auto racing, if it survives, will be quite different in the future.

Posted By: bucky on 08/16/17 05:34am

How about a Prius demolition derby during the stage cautions? Where is Humpy when we need him?

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Posted By: paulcardoza on 08/16/17 06:29am

If by "no practical solution", you mean they'll never make dramatic changes, than I suppose I would agree. At some point with the current trend though, viewership and attendance will decline to a point where sponsorship money will dry up. Once that happens, there will be nothing but cobwebs in NASCAR Headquarters.

The sport may never recover to the level of popularity during the 80's and 90's, but they absolutely MUST halt the current rate of decline, or face the inevitable consequences........... It's time to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. Even if the transition takes several seasons to fully implement.

Cloud Dancer wrote:

Does this mean that you agree that there is no practical solution to the NASCAR problems which you describe?

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