Ok..
I'm not a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I think he's a little over hyped. I mean, I'll give credit where credit is due - he's won 18 races. He's tied for ninth on the list of most wins by an active driver, and he's tied for 40th most wins in NASCAR history. He has more career wins than Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman, and Kasey Kahne. Yet, it's been 7 years since his last multi-win season. And only 3 of his wins have come since 2004.
Even with the past 7 years being statistical duds, considering how he started his career, he has unquestionably been the most popular driver for the past decade. He has more souvenir haulers at the race track than some most other drivers combined. He's on the very short list of NASCAR drivers anyone off the street probably know the name of.
Some pin his popularity on the fact that his father is undeniably number 1b when you take stock of the sport's greatest drivers (Richard Petty would be 1a, just in case you're keeping track - [ha, get it, like a race track]). But that's unfair. The poor guy was 30 feet in front of his father when he wrecked at the '01 Daytona 500. It's unreasonable for anyone to expect him, or anyone else for that matter, to live up to that standard. Yet he's tried. He's really done the best he can. I mean, he is the lynch pin for this sport. If he came out and won his 400th start at the Daytona 500, and then rattled off a few more wins, ratings would surge. NASCAR knows it. The networks know it. And unfortunately, DEJ knows it too.
That's a lot of pressure. So I kind of feel bad for him.
Do you?
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Nascar 2011
So...
Wednesday night I watched Speed's broadcast of Brian France's "State of the Sport" address. Unfortunately, I really don't feel like he touch on the actual state of the sport, only changes they've decided to make - Here's how I think it should have went:
Fellow members of NASCAR nation. We are here, this evening, in the place that has been constructed on the greatest accomplishments, tragedies, and events that have occurred since my grandfather first created NASCAR. In those 60 plus years we have survived and prospered. Unfortunately, that prosperity is threatened. In an effort to grow viewer ship, we have alienated a fan-base that, in the past, has supported us through all. In an effort to grow profit margins, we have reeled in the "Last American Rebel" nature of our drivers in favor of suit and tie marketing tools. In essence, we've tried to be something we're not. It's ironic now that we sit here nearly ten year after the passing of one of those Rebels, the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Sr. In a lot of ways, his unfortunate accident led to the boom in popularity early in the last decade. Never before has NASCAR weighed so heavy on the American consciousness.
We've made many changes since then; some good, some not so good. Safety has driven many of those changes. Yes, in retrospect, we could have made the COT a little less ugly, and make it look a little more like a real car. But if I could go back, I wouldn't change the car. I guarantee that Jeff Gordon, Elliot Sadler, Carl Edwards, and the countless others whom have walked away from crashes that just ten years ago, probably would have killed them, agree.
In retrospect, maybe the Chase wasn't a great idea - but we had no choice, do you have any idea how difficult it is to sell advertising against the NFL? Baseball can't do it. Hockey doesn't have nationally televised Sunday games until after the playoffs have ended.
We've also done a lot of good - the past two or so seasons, the racing has been as exciting as ever. We've listened to our fan base - we've added double file restarts, changed our qualifying procedure, tried to end every race under green. It's a delicate balancing act to keep our old faithful fans happy, while trying to usher in a new era with new fans.
The one thing I know for certain is that this Sport cannot stand still. We are in constant motion. We don't take timeouts or step out of the batter's box. Our competitor's lives are on the line every lap.
Fan's, we know it's hard to come to the races. We know it's hard to sit for 5 hours to watch the race on the couch. We know that with hotel, travel, and tickets most of you need to choose between a wee- long vacation and a weekend at the track. We want you to know that we really do care. We want you to know that you're more important to us that any television contract, sponsorship deal, or bottom line.
We're making a few more changes this year. We're adding 2 wild cards to the chase opposed to the 11th and 12th place drivers. These wild cards get in based on wins. We're changing the points system to a 43 to 1 scenario. The winner will get 3 bonus points for the win, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point if they lead the most laps. So there’s a 48 point maximum.
We hope you stick with us. We're going to do our best to continue to put the best racing in the entire world on the track week after week. If you're a fan that's lost interest, I implore you, take a few minutes and watch a race this year - you won't be disappointed.
Wednesday night I watched Speed's broadcast of Brian France's "State of the Sport" address. Unfortunately, I really don't feel like he touch on the actual state of the sport, only changes they've decided to make - Here's how I think it should have went:
Fellow members of NASCAR nation. We are here, this evening, in the place that has been constructed on the greatest accomplishments, tragedies, and events that have occurred since my grandfather first created NASCAR. In those 60 plus years we have survived and prospered. Unfortunately, that prosperity is threatened. In an effort to grow viewer ship, we have alienated a fan-base that, in the past, has supported us through all. In an effort to grow profit margins, we have reeled in the "Last American Rebel" nature of our drivers in favor of suit and tie marketing tools. In essence, we've tried to be something we're not. It's ironic now that we sit here nearly ten year after the passing of one of those Rebels, the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Sr. In a lot of ways, his unfortunate accident led to the boom in popularity early in the last decade. Never before has NASCAR weighed so heavy on the American consciousness.
We've made many changes since then; some good, some not so good. Safety has driven many of those changes. Yes, in retrospect, we could have made the COT a little less ugly, and make it look a little more like a real car. But if I could go back, I wouldn't change the car. I guarantee that Jeff Gordon, Elliot Sadler, Carl Edwards, and the countless others whom have walked away from crashes that just ten years ago, probably would have killed them, agree.
In retrospect, maybe the Chase wasn't a great idea - but we had no choice, do you have any idea how difficult it is to sell advertising against the NFL? Baseball can't do it. Hockey doesn't have nationally televised Sunday games until after the playoffs have ended.
We've also done a lot of good - the past two or so seasons, the racing has been as exciting as ever. We've listened to our fan base - we've added double file restarts, changed our qualifying procedure, tried to end every race under green. It's a delicate balancing act to keep our old faithful fans happy, while trying to usher in a new era with new fans.
The one thing I know for certain is that this Sport cannot stand still. We are in constant motion. We don't take timeouts or step out of the batter's box. Our competitor's lives are on the line every lap.
Fan's, we know it's hard to come to the races. We know it's hard to sit for 5 hours to watch the race on the couch. We know that with hotel, travel, and tickets most of you need to choose between a wee- long vacation and a weekend at the track. We want you to know that we really do care. We want you to know that you're more important to us that any television contract, sponsorship deal, or bottom line.
We're making a few more changes this year. We're adding 2 wild cards to the chase opposed to the 11th and 12th place drivers. These wild cards get in based on wins. We're changing the points system to a 43 to 1 scenario. The winner will get 3 bonus points for the win, 1 point for leading a lap, and 1 point if they lead the most laps. So there’s a 48 point maximum.
We hope you stick with us. We're going to do our best to continue to put the best racing in the entire world on the track week after week. If you're a fan that's lost interest, I implore you, take a few minutes and watch a race this year - you won't be disappointed.
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