I was watching Around the Horn on ESPN last night, where they debated this very topic.
Trouble in NASCAR land? Perhaps, at least it seems like there might be problems. Car counts are about the same this year – there’s always 43 cars – but it seems like the competitive cars are getting less and less. In previous years, you had your token backmarkers who would be two laps down by halfway, if they weren’t in the garage already, but this year there seems to be a consistent set of Start & Park cars who're often qualifying knowing they'll only race a handful of laps...and, in the process, keeping out fully-funded teams who suffer misfortune during practice and/or qualifying.
FOX’s portion of the Sprint Cup Series (the Daytona 500 through the the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover) were down a whopping 13%. That would surely be making alarm bells ring in Daytona Beach. There’s no doubt about that. TNT’s ratings held steady, maybe because of the pleasant absence of Bill Weber. ESPN’s numbers are going to tank this season, so long as the boring Jerry Punch remains in the play-by-play slot. Of course, the racing product – which hadn’t been very good this season – doesn't help matters one little bit.
As sure as Dale Jr. can get to the front at Daytona, Mike Helton and the France Family are worrying. And with good reason. This sport is less healthy now than it’s been since the boom of the late 1990’s. They can pass off poor track attendance to the Global Financial Crisis. It’s a fair enough excuse, because a weekend at the track isn't just the tickets for the race themselves, it’s accommodation, food, other entertainment and transport to and from the track.
So, naturally, with attendance down, you’d expect more people to be watching on TV. Right? WRONG! Ratings are down – and you can't blame that on the GFC. You can, however, blame it on the poor racing that we’ve seen this year. The May race at Dover is a perfect example. Jimmie Johnson led more than 250 laps – that’s almost half of the 400 lap distance – and it was, for the most part, a snoozer I could’ve done without watching. It’s happened too often this season. Kurt Busch led something like 70% of all laps at Atlanta back in March. Jimmie Johnson led 250 of 400 at Dover. It’s boring, mind-numbing stuff.
Let’s face it, the sport is in a rut. The COT, while lowering costs, has not produced the most inspired racing. The cars aren't conducive to passing, so we’ve seen a lot of follow-the-leader racing. I can get that in a Formula One race. The best race of the year, in my opinion, was the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. The problem is that no one seems to like restrictor plate races – except for yours truly.
On top of the poor racing, you factor in that the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior – love or hate the guy, he’s the most recognisable and popular face in NASCAR, roughly by the length of the back stretch at ‘Dega – hasn’t had a righteous win in the Sprint Cup in a long while. I don’t count the lucky fuel mileage win at Michigan last season. If that’s not bad enough, he’s driving for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that fields Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon – AKA the two biggest whiners and whingers in NASCAR – and the team that everyone loves to hate. How does that work? The sport’s most popular driver with the sport’s least popular team.
On the flip side, you have the IndyCar Series. With the reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series, the stars are all in the one series and, despite ugly cars, the racing is pretty good. There’s been some entertaining stuff going on, especially on the ovals, but the street course races have been exciting, too. They have Danica Patrick making headlines for consistently running up at the pointy end – she’s only one of a number of drivers who’ve taken a big step forward during the 2009 season – and Helio Castroneves put the IRL on the map this past May with his fairytale win at the Indianapolis 500.
There was another exciting race this Sunday just gone, at Kentucky Speedway where Australia’s Ryan Briscoe beat American Ed Carpenter by some less than a nose cone. They were side-by-side at 200mph for ten laps. It was breathtaking stuff. Attendance was good at Kentucky. It’s been good all season, and TV ratings have been rising steadily.
Don’t forget, there was a time, in the mid-to-late 1990’s where the IndyCars, known then as the CART FedEx Championship Series, was the most popular form of auto racing in America, where massive crowds packed out places as diverse as Michigan International Speedway and Road America to watch the races. Then the split happened, and OW was fractured. Now it’s back together in one piece and with NASCAR’s obvious troubles, maybe the tables are turning.
Only time will tell.
One thing’s for sure, though – Sprint Cup has mostly been boring this year. Something needs to be done. Double file restarts helped make yawner races like Loudon and Michigan a little more exciting, but still there’s plenty of room for improvement. The IRL recognised they had a problem with passing during their oval races and mandated some new aero parts to promote overtaking. If the people in Indianapolis can do it, why can't NASCAR take similar steps?
Trouble in NASCAR land? Perhaps, at least it seems like there might be problems. Car counts are about the same this year – there’s always 43 cars – but it seems like the competitive cars are getting less and less. In previous years, you had your token backmarkers who would be two laps down by halfway, if they weren’t in the garage already, but this year there seems to be a consistent set of Start & Park cars who're often qualifying knowing they'll only race a handful of laps...and, in the process, keeping out fully-funded teams who suffer misfortune during practice and/or qualifying.
FOX’s portion of the Sprint Cup Series (the Daytona 500 through the the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover) were down a whopping 13%. That would surely be making alarm bells ring in Daytona Beach. There’s no doubt about that. TNT’s ratings held steady, maybe because of the pleasant absence of Bill Weber. ESPN’s numbers are going to tank this season, so long as the boring Jerry Punch remains in the play-by-play slot. Of course, the racing product – which hadn’t been very good this season – doesn't help matters one little bit.
As sure as Dale Jr. can get to the front at Daytona, Mike Helton and the France Family are worrying. And with good reason. This sport is less healthy now than it’s been since the boom of the late 1990’s. They can pass off poor track attendance to the Global Financial Crisis. It’s a fair enough excuse, because a weekend at the track isn't just the tickets for the race themselves, it’s accommodation, food, other entertainment and transport to and from the track.
So, naturally, with attendance down, you’d expect more people to be watching on TV. Right? WRONG! Ratings are down – and you can't blame that on the GFC. You can, however, blame it on the poor racing that we’ve seen this year. The May race at Dover is a perfect example. Jimmie Johnson led more than 250 laps – that’s almost half of the 400 lap distance – and it was, for the most part, a snoozer I could’ve done without watching. It’s happened too often this season. Kurt Busch led something like 70% of all laps at Atlanta back in March. Jimmie Johnson led 250 of 400 at Dover. It’s boring, mind-numbing stuff.
Let’s face it, the sport is in a rut. The COT, while lowering costs, has not produced the most inspired racing. The cars aren't conducive to passing, so we’ve seen a lot of follow-the-leader racing. I can get that in a Formula One race. The best race of the year, in my opinion, was the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega. The problem is that no one seems to like restrictor plate races – except for yours truly.
On top of the poor racing, you factor in that the sport’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Junior – love or hate the guy, he’s the most recognisable and popular face in NASCAR, roughly by the length of the back stretch at ‘Dega – hasn’t had a righteous win in the Sprint Cup in a long while. I don’t count the lucky fuel mileage win at Michigan last season. If that’s not bad enough, he’s driving for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that fields Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon – AKA the two biggest whiners and whingers in NASCAR – and the team that everyone loves to hate. How does that work? The sport’s most popular driver with the sport’s least popular team.
On the flip side, you have the IndyCar Series. With the reunification of the Indy Racing League and Champ Car World Series, the stars are all in the one series and, despite ugly cars, the racing is pretty good. There’s been some entertaining stuff going on, especially on the ovals, but the street course races have been exciting, too. They have Danica Patrick making headlines for consistently running up at the pointy end – she’s only one of a number of drivers who’ve taken a big step forward during the 2009 season – and Helio Castroneves put the IRL on the map this past May with his fairytale win at the Indianapolis 500.
There was another exciting race this Sunday just gone, at Kentucky Speedway where Australia’s Ryan Briscoe beat American Ed Carpenter by some less than a nose cone. They were side-by-side at 200mph for ten laps. It was breathtaking stuff. Attendance was good at Kentucky. It’s been good all season, and TV ratings have been rising steadily.
Don’t forget, there was a time, in the mid-to-late 1990’s where the IndyCars, known then as the CART FedEx Championship Series, was the most popular form of auto racing in America, where massive crowds packed out places as diverse as Michigan International Speedway and Road America to watch the races. Then the split happened, and OW was fractured. Now it’s back together in one piece and with NASCAR’s obvious troubles, maybe the tables are turning.
Only time will tell.
One thing’s for sure, though – Sprint Cup has mostly been boring this year. Something needs to be done. Double file restarts helped make yawner races like Loudon and Michigan a little more exciting, but still there’s plenty of room for improvement. The IRL recognised they had a problem with passing during their oval races and mandated some new aero parts to promote overtaking. If the people in Indianapolis can do it, why can't NASCAR take similar steps?
