reactions, and the advice that we get into a way that gets the best outcome for the sport," NASCAR Chairman Brian France said. "We're not perfect. We'll make mistakes. But by and large, year after year, we will make far more good decisions than we will poor ones. And the poor ones that we make, we'll try to fix them as fast as we can."
Gee, let’s see what advice you’ve filtered out. Getting rid of the Chase for the Chumps. Despite the fact that it is boring, killing the sport, not artificially exciting the fans like it was supposed to, and dropping the ratings against the NFL, you’re still keeping it. Fans have said they’d like to see cars that look like what they drive on the street. Instead, you give us the Car of Turmoil. Fans want to hear drivers say what’s on their minds. You tell them to shut up if it makes you look bad. Engine builders and team owners have been saying for years that a smaller engine is needed to eliminate the need of the restrictor plate. You keep the plate to keep the cost of your track insurance down. Fans watching the races at home want to see all 43 cars racing. You dictate the coverage so that only 13 cars are shown. Race car drivers are supposed to race each other. You tell them not to race the play-off contenders. Fans want to have professional commentary from the broadcast booth and decent camera work to see what’s happening during a race. You prefer having shills and cheerleaders to promote your agenda and could care less what the fans want to see because you don’t even watch the races. Fans are staying away from the track because the races are boring. You lower ticket prices thinking fans will come back to take a 500 mile nap instead of improving the actual quality of the races. Fans are staying away from the track because the cost of hotels are too high. You don’t bother to negotiate something with the hotels to keep the fans from getting gouged.
You’re definitely not perfect. You have made mistakes. You will continue to make mistakes. Your first mistake was throwing away the winning formula your dad and granddad set up to make stock car racing an exciting sport. You filter out sound, sage advice from fans and people inside the racing industry because You know what’s best for the sport and yet the ratings are horrible, the races boring, fewer fans are showing up at the track, fewer souvenirs are being sold, the concession stands aren’t selling the $8 beers like they use to, over 1500 people are out of work because of Your “efforts” to save the teams money which actually cost them millions upon millions and causing race teams to close their doors. You continue to steal sponsors from the teams and chase away others that don’t fit your “image” of the racer-tainment industry when the teams are in desperate need of sponsorship. You continue to chase away the hard-core, long-time race fans and try to replace them with fans who can’t even remember to unzip before they urinate. You have made a lot of poor decisions and have done little to nothing to correct them. And in doing so, You will have to suffer the consequences for Your inability to listen to the advice You have been given.
I had to chuckle about the stats saying that wrecks were down for the Cup series. Well, when you consider the high number of start and parks, that might be one of the reasons for the number of wrecks being down. Then you have His Royal Highness telling drivers not to race the Chase for the Chumps competitors. Plus, you’ve got a car that really doesn’t race. So it’s no wonder the number of wrecks are down.
McHale’s Navy had Washing Machine Charlie, a Japanese pilot who would occasionally stop by to strafe McHale and company. NA$CAR has “Spin Cycle Sam”, who manages to spin solo and occasionally collect a few drivers during the process.
Marty Reid will be in the announcing booth and Jerry Punch will be returning to pit road where he has done a much better job in the past. I guess IBPN must’ve finally read a lot of the complaints over the last year on The Daly Planet about Punch’s less than exciting commentary in the booth. Too bad Focks can’t take the same hints about their shoddy product.
While folks have been distracted by the Queen of Hype, another female driver may be making the move to the IRL. Her name is Simona de Silvestro. She finished her season in the Atlantic Championship with 4 wins, 9 podiums, and 4 pole positions. If she does make the move to the IRL, it could get interesting.
Some folks, not many, have noticed Milka Duno checking out the ARCA Series and running in a car for Braun Racing. OK, you say “so what?”. Think back to one of Faux King Brian’s grand plans for NA$CAR’s Global Domination of the racing world. This included expanding into South America. Remember when Jeff Gordon didn’t show up for the awards banquet because he was busy racing in the Race of Champions in France with NA$CAR’s permission and then they raised heck because he wasn’t at the awards dinner? The week before that very same awards dinner, His Royal Highness was down in South America checking out the place looking to expand there. Where’s Milka Duno from? Venezuela. Where’s JPM from? Colombia. And how about the sham of a diversity program? What market is the Majestic Maladroit so desperate to lure in suckers, I mean fans from? The Hispanic market. Are you getting the picture now folks? If you think about how JPM was touted as the Diversity Program poster child, just think of a female Hispanic driver and all of the hype, media attention, and beating of the chest proclaiming the Diversity Program is a success because of a female Hispanic driver. It won’t matter to NA$CAR if she’s competitive or a start and park. So long as she fills that ethnicity niche they so badly need for publicity purposes.
Some other stats for “Milk and Doughnuts” as she’s been referred to by Robin Miller. Milka’s second-place finish in the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona makes her the highest finishing female driver in that event‘s history. She also got a four-win season in the American Le Mans Series in 2001 and continued with her three-win Rolex Series years. Uh, Danica? Where’s your wins in the ALMS and where did you finish at the 24 Hours of Daytona?
As we’ve seen over the last several years, Fontana has had some major problems filling the grandstands even when giving away large numbers of tickets in an attempt to fill them up. And the grandstands look pretty barren for both the Truck and Busch series races. Do you think it’s a coincidence that NA$CAR’s newest “savior” would make her debut at Fontana?
For those who watched the press conference
about the Queen of Hype, her answers regarding
her testing in Orlando were pretty generic and
didn’t have a lot of specifics. Sure, there’s the
language barrier (IRL vs. NA$CAR terminology)
and two remarks about the car’s handling, but
nothing about the car’s acceleration, aero, grip,
braking power, ability to see out of the car,
temperature inside the car, noise, or other things
we’ve heard from other drivers in the past who
have tried to make the transition. The questions
asked by the media were pretty much lobbed at
her like a softball. I don’t know if the media has
been instructed not to ask hard questions or if
those who would ask a tough question weren’t
there. Also missing were the past complaints
about how long the NA$CAR season was versus the IRL. With the races she’s committed to between the two series, she’ll find out what a long racing season is really like. Too bad they don’t run 40-60 Cup races a year anymore. We’d really hear some whining about the schedule being too long.
I hope everyone had a decent Christmas and pray that 2010 brings you all much health, happiness, and prosperity. Our 2010 here at the old homestead is starting off good with the news that we’ll be grandparents in about 7 months. So there may be another curmudgeon in training in a few years to carry on the family tradition.
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