5 ways we can (hopefully) save NASCAR


How to (hopefully) save NASCAR
An Article by Brian Cotnoir

NASCAR was once the Most Widely Popular “Spectator Sport”.   For Years they had great success in the mainstream and attracted people from all walks of Life.  However sometime between 2006-2008, their popularity began to dwindle and it’s been on the steady decline and now is up for sale.  Personally, I think that’s a good thing.  I think the sooner we get the France/Kennedy Family out of NASCAR the better, because then we can hopefully save this amazing sport that I’ve loved for my entire life.  But to whomever does by NASCAR here are some suggestions I have for you to save the sport.

1.) Do Away with Stage Racing!

OH MY GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHDDDD is this dumb!  Here’s the thing: when stage racing was 1st introduced it was confusing to me, the Diehard fan, so how the hell can you expect to attract new fans, when your present fans don’t even understand what the hell is going on?!  Go back to the previous points system, and all should be fine. You can make a few tweaks to it if you’d like; Personally, I don’t think non-chartered drivers should receive points.  I’m okay with them receiving exposure and getting prize money, but they should not be considered a part of the championship.  Formula 1, only gives points to the Top 10 and that makes for some intense racing.   Maybe if you trimmed it down to the Top 25 or 30 receive points it will make for some more intense racing?

2.) Smaller Tracks

Seriously, what the hell is the point of racing in places like Kansas, Fontana, New Hampshire, and Chicagoland, if you can’t even sell the place out?  My advice, go back to your roots:  We want to see races run at places like Myrtle Beach, South Boston, Rockingham, Hickory, Asheville, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Milwaukee, Nashville, Gateway, Hell even Iowa Speedway deserves a Cup Race at this point.  Stop racing these damn cookie cutter tracks!  I’d rather watch a race on TV that has 40,000 hardcore fans there to see a race than see a track that has a 150,000 seats and can’t even sell 2/3 of its seats.


3.) Bring in Some Actual Diversity to the sport

It’s a surprise to no one, but the make-up of a typical NASCAR driver is a White Male from the Rural South.  Remember when guys like Tim Richmond, Alan Kulwuicki, and Jeff Gordon were considered “outsiders” because they came from the Midwest?   To this day I think NASCAR has only had 4-5 black drivers and a handful of Hispanic drivers.   Also, in regards to female drivers stop assuming people will like a driver just because she’s a female.  Danica Patrick was a bust, Johanna Long—unfortunately—couldn’t secure sponsorship for a full-time ride, and Hailee Deegan and Natalie Decker is really the only visible shot for a potential NASCAR star someday, but there’s no guarantees they’ll pan out either.  The most successful diverse driver in NASCAR, in my opinion, was Marcos Ambrose, and he’s a white Australian.  So NASCAR, let’s really put some effort into this “Drive 4 Diversity Program”.  Two Full-Time, non-White Americans in the sport, isn’t enough.

4.)  Stop Trying to Recruit Open Wheel Drivers. 

Sure we’ve had some successful drivers who made the transition from open wheel to NASCAR; Tony Stewart and AJ Foyt being the most successful.  Even AJ Allmendeinger, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Robby Gordon had some moderate success in NASCAR driving for top teams and winning a handful races across all 3 series, but that was mostly on Road Courses, and they all had mixed results on Ovals.   Here’s the thing, for every driver like a Tony Stewart, or a Sam Hornish Jr, and an AJ Foyt, you get open wheel busts Scott Speed, Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett, JJ Yeley, Cole Whitt, Danica Patrick,  and X-Games Athletes like Travis Pastrana and Ricky Carmichael.   Of those several drivers I just mentioned, only one has a win in any of NASCAR’s Top 3 Series (Scott Speed, a Truck Win at Dover), the rest had lackluster careers in NASCAR.   All you’re doing is taking away Great Drivers from other struggling forms of Auto Racing and ruining those series too.  Also STOP hinting that F1 Drivers like Lewis Hamilton might want to try racing NASCAR someday.  He doesn’t want to come and drive your crappy cars! He makes more money in F1 driving for Mercedes than he would be driving for Toyota or Ford, and has better things to be doing.

Dario Franchitti in Stock Cars.  Bad Idea!


5.) INVEST IN THE DRIVERS YOU ALREADY HAVE

People still watched for Dale Jr.  even though he only won 2 races in 6 Seasons.   People want to support drivers like Chase Elliot, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, and William Byron.  Just let them have a chance.  Stop chasing “The Next Superstar of NASCAR” and focus on who you have already.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Top 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History

Image
The Top 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History An Article by Brian Cotnoir I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in Cup History, I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in Xfinity History, and now today I’d like to present you the 10 Most Iconic Paint Schemes in NASCAR Cup History. 10.) Citgo, Wood Brothers Racing The Wood Brothers are one of the oldest teams in NASCAR, and in the late 80’s early 90’s they left quite the impression on NASCAR fans with the Citgo Paint Scheme which was piloted by drivers Dale Jarret, Morgan Shepherd, and Michael Waltrip.   Citgo eventually left the wood brothers and sponsored Jeff Burton at Roush Racing, but it was a truly iconic sponsor with that famous number twenty-one 9.)    Skoal Bandit, Harry Gant Harry Gant earned the nickname “Mr. September” when he won 4 straight Winston Cup Races (and two Busch Series) races in September of 1991, and he did it all behind the wheel of the Iconic Skoal Bandit race car.
Read more

Top 10 Ugliest Paint Schemes in NASCAR History

Image
Top 10 Ugliest Paint Schemes in NASCAR History By: Brian Cotnoir I’ve talked about the Best Paint Schemes in NASCAR, and now I’m here to talk about the Ugliest.   Sometimes a paint scheme looks bad because of whose sponsoring the car, and other times it’s a real bad color combination, but whatever the reason these are some of the most hideous Paint Schemes to have ever graced a NASCAR track. 10.)   Dave Marcis, Prodigy paint scheme This one is so ugly, that it’s kind of cool.   For me the big issue is the combination of Purple & Green, and the Neon Orange numbers make it a little better, but this car is still looks like a disaster. 9.)     Joey Logano, AAA Insurance paint scheme Joey Logano has had a number of awesome paint schemes while driving for Roger Penske, however this red, white, and blue monstrosity is not one of them.    I think Logano and Penske should call AAA Insurance and see if they can use their policy to give this paint scheme a complete
Read more

Top 10 NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series Championship

Image
Top 10 NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series championship By: Brian Cotnoir           NASCAR has been around for over 70 Years now and over those seven decades we’ve had many fantastic drivers.    Petty, Earnhardt, Waltrip, Yarborough, Gordon, and Johnson are all great drivers and all have won multiple championships in their illustrious careers,   Just between Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon they have won more than 1/3 of all NASCAR Cup Series Championships, but there are dozens of NASCAR drivers who came close to scoring that illusive title, but just couldn’t pull it off.   These are the Top 10 NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series Championship. 10.)   Ernie Irvan Ernie “Swirvin” Irvan was my first favorite driver in NASCAR.   He was one of the best drivers of the early 1990’s driving for top tier teams like Morgan-McClure and Robert Yates Racing.    Irvan even won the 1991 Daytona 500, but as the decade went on his career suff
Read more