The demise of NASCAR

mrfury68 · Jul 26, 2017

A niche sport that tried to go mainstream in the 90s & all that did was alienate the real fans of the sport. Combine that with the cars, rule changes, cost etc. and you have a very difficult time winning back the true fans. What I liked about the "old school" NASCAR was not only the cars but the drivers. They were all mechanics first and then got really good behind the wheel. When they were starting out they built their own engines and tuned their suspensions, just like most of the fans that were rooting for them on the weekends.

67Monaco · Jul 26, 2017

190 mile an hour train. Yawn. Racing is supposed to be deadly, that's why a select few do it. Let's make all the cars the same and put different stickers on them, yawn. Mediocrity of having to perform at the lowest common denominator. It's what's killing most of the American motorsports.

live4theking · Jul 26, 2017

I cannot buy at the dealer, enough said.

67Monaco · Jul 26, 2017

live4theking said:
I cannot buy at the dealer, enough said.

That too.

rapidtrans · Jul 26, 2017

Nascar lost my interest a long time ago. The "kit car" concept killed it for good.

commando1 · Jul 26, 2017

live4theking said:
I cannot buy at the dealer, enough said.

People finally figured out that Stock Car Racing is an illusion.

patrick66 · Jul 26, 2017

I was a huge from the early '70s through 2004. Haven't been to a race since. All the reasons mentioned contributed to my not being a fan anymore. Our local dirt track got bulldozed by the City in favor of the horse show assholes. The fun isn't there anymore. Plus, the announcing on both FOX and NBC is just plain horrible! And the mention of sponsors every second word...my god, just announce the ******* race, or shut up! I watch the Daytona opener, and that's all for NA$CAR, for me. Finished. Done. I do follow Indy and F1 closely, and enjoy those.

tunaboat75 · Jul 26, 2017

In NASCAR's defense, there was an almost 2 hour rain delay for last weekends Brickyard race. That may have contributed to the poor attendance.

I'm too young to remember the "glory years" but I do remember NASCAR being really popular in the early/mid 2000s when I was a kid. We even had several NASCAR merchandise stores in our area! (They didn't last that long though).

Jeff Gordon was my driver and after he retired I lost a lot of interest. Plus half the races are on cable now (which I don't have), so it's hard to get into it when only half of the races are on.

And what's gonna happen when Dale Jr. retires at the end of the season?? Thats who the majority of the fan base roots for right now!

Big_John · Jul 26, 2017

High ticket prices, car of tomorrow, all the cars look the same, drivers selected on how they look on advertisements, political correctness, etc.

It lost its appeal a long time ago.

68-300 · Jul 26, 2017

I haven't been watching nascar as long as you guys (for about 6 years now, it simply wasn't available to watch in the Netherlands before) but I think the current season is fun to watch compared to the past years. Since nascar introduced stage racing it really stirred up the whole tactical approach. It may be artificial but there has been some pretty hard racing this season with a lot of different winners. Drivers still fight, crash another driver as payback, move someone to take a win etc..

I agree that nascar really isn't stock car racing anymore (like everywhere else) and it is nothing like it used to be but the way it is now I enjoy it a lot more than F1 (which I have been following for over 20 years)
The attendance at the brickyard has been down for years, it is actually one of the races with the lowest attendance overall I think. The races at Bristol, Martinsville, Michigan, Texas, the monster mile at Dover etc etc were all packed. (Wish I was there too...)
I thought the restrictor plate was introduced to reduce top speed to around 200mph, at higher speeds the roof flaps will not be sufficient to keep the car on the ground if it spins and the fences cannot protect the audience if a car goes airborn and goes into the fence at over 230mph (estimated speed on a superspeedway without restrictor plate)

I love watching the nascar truck race at Eldora (dirt track) each year.

Knebel · Jul 26, 2017

Who can shell out 300$ for a Nascar ticket these days when you can't pay your bills and feed your family working 40h/week minimum wage? You can barely take two people to the movies these days with living situations like that. Not to mention how boring it is since they just drive in a circle :realcrazy:

70bigblockdodge · Jul 26, 2017

They groomed robots now nobody wants to watch robots race.
They made their bed now lie in it.
The greatest thing about NASCAR and Nhra was the charaters I will not make a list, too long. You had good guys, bad guys, wild maniacs, technical racers, outlaws, independents, on and on. That is why a show like Street outlaws is popular there is a broad spectrum of characters and way they think it should be done. It is the drivers and the cars that make it worth following not the racing that the drivers do. NASCAR has lost sight of this with their long rule book. The only rules in cup racing (the top level) should be driveline layout, displacement/cylinders, power adders, and safety.
Cut them loose and if two drivers want to get into a screaming or fisticuffs match make sure you get a camera on it, everyone will be talking about it and popular vote will keep anyone from becoming too much of a problem.

stubs300 · Jul 26, 2017

You know that song, "The wheels on the bus go round & round"? Just change it to "the cars on the track go round & round". That's what I think.
Nothing like watchin Fireball Roberts kick some butt!

rapidtrans · Jul 26, 2017

In my opinion the glory days were 60s & 70s when the manufacturors were battling it out and real charactors driving. Lost interest long before "Days of Thunder" type prima donna drivers took over.

70bigblockdodge · Jul 26, 2017

You want to watch a real race go to a dirt track, asphalt is for getting to the track, dirt is for racing.

MYSINBIN · Jul 26, 2017

I actually caught the end of the brickyard race, first one I watched this year. Turned out to be a waste of time.

I used to be a real serious fan, then Dale Earnhardt was lost, my driver from the start. Just wasn't the same for me after that.

Then the rules started changing more often than my socks.

No more racing to the line when the caution flag came out.

And the most asinine thing they ever did was the multiple attempts at a green flag finish. It's now called overtime.

I have no interest in watching the Daytona 503 or 507, etc.

IMHO, the statistics, standings and overall racing strategy cannot be compared to the previous incarnation.

How many Daytona 504's did Petty and Earnhardt win?

John

traintech55 · Jul 26, 2017

68-300 said:
I thought the restrictor plate was introduced to reduce top speed to around 200 mph,

The restrictor plate was developed to knock Chrysler out so G.M. could have a chance.

70bigblockdodge · Jul 26, 2017

I don't remember who said it but it rings true "it cheating only if you get caught"
The rulebook is too big, all to castrate the cars and drivers.
If they made them run a late model engine available in last 3 years complete with EFI and put it in the generic chassis to not upset the apple cart completely, it would generate interest in the cars at least.
I don't know how to fix the corporate yes men/robots they have created to drive the cars.

pomonamissel · Jul 26, 2017

nascar has gotten to ruley for me , lov'd watching the real cars run . but i'm doing a transplant on my 69 d200 crewcab , takes the time from watching roundy rounders . here is some pics .