media? Like some testicular fortitude?
The most common question I've gotten is, "what is NASCAR going to do to them?" Simply, nothing. There is nothing we can or would do. We've long believed in having an independent media.
I laughed myself silly after reading this. Just read Jack Flowers book “Dirt Under the Asphalt” and you’ll see just what NA$CAR could do to them. Ask Jack Flowers himself what NA$CAR has done to him. Ask Bob Dilner what NA$CAR did to him when he made some critical remarks about them. Ask the reporter who got his credentials jerked when he asked Faux King Brian why 38 million fans didn’t watching the Daytona 500.
And if the media is so independent, why do we see some many stories which are lock-step with the official propaganda sheets cranked out by the Ministry of Propaganda? Why does NA$CAR control what is put out in the media? Why do they control what will and won’t be broadcast by the TV networks?
"Spencer contends that the economy has absolutely nothing to do with attendance. "People will come to events if it's worth coming to," he says. In a sense, that is true and quite frankly I'm damn proud of the crowds we've had this year. By any estimate the average attendance is over 100,000 fans at each race.
I don’t remember seeing anywhere near 100,000 fans at Charlotte just a couple of weeks ago. There sure weren’t 100,000 fans at Otto Klubb Speedway. And why was the backstretch seating closed for the Firecracker 400? Spencer is right. If the racing is exciting people will come. But what both Spencer and Posthole missed was the fact that Faux King Brian has managed to chase off a lot of the core fan base. He also managed to alienate anyone who isn’t one of his LaLaLand “beautiful people”. He also served up the Uni-Car which has proven itself to be safe and that’s about it. It’s resulted in extremely boring races. And how about shifting around race dates and shutting down tracks which actually had some very exciting racing in favor of the damnable cookie cutters. If you’re proud of underachievement, chasing away race fans, and killing off the sport there Ramses, then there’s something seriously wrong with your thought processes as the results of way too much Kool Aid.
NASCAR has 17 of the 20 largest sporting events of the year - that's good in any economy. But to think the economy hasn't had any affect is just wrong. Going into the season, more than a third of NFL teams were in danger of having local games blacked out this year because they could not sellout. Those worries were indeed justified, as several games have already been blacked out. In addition, MLB had the biggest drop in ticket sales in 50 years. So, has America turned against all major sports? Of course not.
The economy has affected the attendance to a certain degree. But it’s the poor decisions and leadership that has had the biggest impact on NA$CAR. Maybe the NFL teams that didn’t sell out aren’t all that hot. I know from being in Jacksonville the locals there aren’t watching because of the team's poor performance. Sound familiar? Poor performance? And did you happen to think that maybe some of the scandals involving drugs and steroid use might have something to do with the lack of attendance for the MLB games? Nah, things like that wouldn’t back up your argument.
Spencer also takes a shot at the on track competition, "it's just not where it needs to be," he claims. Anyone can throw out an opinion like that but what does it mean? What's that based on? Take a look at Spencer's career, he won two races in 1994 (and earned more than million in his career). In that year, there were an average of 9.2 leaders per race and an average of 18.9 lead changes with an average margin of victory of 2.85 seconds. Oh yeah, 1994 was the last year when a race winner lapped the entire field. How does that compare to today? There are an average of 10 leaders per race and an average of 18.8 lead changes with an average margin of victory of an astounding 1.1 seconds. Here's what I have to say about the competition today: NASCAR is the best racing in the world, period.
Jimmy Spencer is right. The on-track competition is not where it needs to be. That pig of a car (my apologies to pigs everywhere) hasn’t lived up to any of the performance hype that you yourself and His Roual Highness laid out. It’s more aero dependent (which it wasn’t supposed to be), it still uses a restrictor plate (which it was supposed to eliminate) and it’s made the races boring (it was supposed to make them more exciting). Go back and read your own hype Ramses and you’ll find Spencer is right. As to Spencer’s record, he’s got 2 more wins that you do Pharaoh.
While Spencer made most of the comments, Larry Mac and Kyle seemed to happily agree and piled on too. People like to **** about things and that's fine. Some just like to stir up controversy. But when you are a paid broadcaster shouldn't there be some kind of standard and responsibility for what you say? Could you imagine John Madden complaining about the NFL or Joe Buck telling fans that baseball wasn't worth going to?
Just because Kyle and DW’s parrot made sense and agreed with Spencer and the observations of millions of fans who have tuned out doesn’t mean they’re piling on. It means they’re voicing the opinions of the millions of people you and your bosses choose to ignore. When you’re a paid broadcaster, you aren’t supposed to have your thoughts or speech controlled the way that NA$CAR controls the media and broadcast. We all know David Hill from Focks doesn’t give a hoot about the opinions of the race fans. He said so himself. And IBPN serves up such poor coverage and commentary it isn’t even funny. Maybe if they did say something controversial they might get more fans to tune back in. Maybe if they listened to the fans their ratings might go back up. Maybe if the clowns in Brian’s Big Top paid attention to what you’ve done to the sport and make some changes for the better you might get some fans back. But no, His Infernal Incontinence knows what’s best for the sport. That’s why the grandstands are half empty and the TV ratings are tanking on a weekly basis.
Throwing out "controversial" statements isn't "telling it the way it is" or "righteous" if there are no facts and is driven by ego. It's meaningless. Every executive at NASCAR would be quick to say that there is room for improvement. We know that not all fans are satisfied and we've taken steps to improve NASCAR on and off the track. We also are careful to include the industry on all key decisions; that's why we held a Town Hall meeting with drivers and owners earlier this year (and will continue to hold more). We want to be the standard for all auto racing. We're proud of the drivers today and the racing. We want to make it even better and even more competitive.
You wouldn’t know how to tell it like it is if your life or career depended on it Ramses. You’ve been drinking the Kool Aid way too long. The ruination of the sport is being driven by ego. The massive alcohol infused ego of the Imperial Intoxicant. If there’s room for improvement, why aren’t improvements being made? Fans want to see cars which resemble what they drive on the street. Fans want to see exciting racing. Fans want tickets they can afford. Fans want coverage which is controlled or biased. So far, the only thing you’ve done is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The double file restart is nothing more than attempt to divert the fans attention from what’s really wrong with the sport and it’s not working. Bringing back the semi-standardized starting times is the same thing. Neither one is solving the problems of what’s really wrong with the sport and that’s the leadership of it.
How about having some town hall meetings with the fans where you can’t dictate or control their opinions? How about having Mary, Dean, Rick, Jules the Engine Guy, Rob, Steve, Terry, Richard, Kathy, Rita, Maddie, all the Bills, the Johns, Ron, Sandy, Carole, and all the other race fans that have e-mailed me since I started giving my two cents worth and have voiced their dissatisfaction over the sports entertainment that’s being served up as racing? If you’re proud of the racing, then you have some pretty low standards there Pharaoh Ramses. If you really want to make it better and improve it, then you need to listen to what the fans are saying. If you want to be the standard, then get away from standardized spec cars. Enforce the rules equally across the board for all competitors. Get rid of the phony cautions. Quit manipulating things behind the scenes. If you really want the auto industry involved, then you need to listen to them and their desires to have the cars resemble what’s out there on the streets.
The real question here is what are their employers going to do? David Hill, the chairman of Fox Sports and Hunter Nickell, the president of SPEED (all three are on SPEED's payroll and McReynolds is on Fox's), are the ones who should be concerned. Fair or not, broadcasters essentially telling the fans to stop watching the races is not a good thing.
Their employers are going to do whatever
NA$CAR tells them to do. If that means issuing
another gag order like has been issued over the
Mayfield lawsuit, then I’m sure that’ll happen. If
it means taking a forced leave of absence for the
rest of the season to teach them a lesson, I’m
sure that’s what NA$CAR will tell the networks
to do. Maybe if there was racing and not
racer-tainment there might be cause for concern.
But we don’t need the broadcasters telling us
not to watch what’s being served up as racing.
By NA$CAR’s own actions, poor leadership, and
failure to listen to the folks who know racing best, the fans themselves have made the decision not to watch the WWE on Wheels of their own
volition.
As this is still Breast Cancer Awareness Month, guys as well as gals need to get themselves checked out for breast cancer. It’s not a joke fellows. Peter Criss, drummer for KISS, had surgery for male breast cancer. About 3,000 men a year get breast cancer. So don’t take it lightly. Make it part of your annual physicals.
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and John Wayne
Mad Mikie, Curmudgeon at Large
Gotta comment, question or want to say hey there...email Mike here
Want to chat with other race fans about this article and other NASCAR stuff?
Go visit our home page, called appropriately The Pits & check out our photos & pages. Our most popular page; Race Recon is where you get all the info you need to go to the races including local camping, hotels, bars, restaurants, tracks, golf & other important race weekend information. We also have attending a NASCAR Race tips, tailgating tips & recipes, stories, trivia, quotes & more! While you are surfing see if you are a REAL RACE FAN. Be sure to read the Fan Fables, LAIDBACK RACING’S adventures with the tailgating race fan at NASCAR tracks.
