major parts suppliers that have closed doors due to the economy, mandated parts, or both. So maybe some of the suggestions I’ve read about going back to not just allowing the teams to have more options on setting up the cars but actually going back to stock parts might be a way to keep these businesses going. I know, NA$CAR isn’t a charity. It might be a charity case but not a charity.
More and more fans are screaming for the replacement of the Emperor of All Things NA$CAR because of how he’s destroying the sport and doesn’t listen to the fans. Obviously he’s not really listening because if he was, we’d have stock looking cars, be racing on more short tracks, and the Chase for the Chumps would’ve disappeared. And in their own way, fans have started their own Tea Party Movement by not showing up at the track and not watching the races on TV. And like the politicians, His Highness is giving the fans what he thinks they want and not what they really want. This will lead to further problems and a further decline in attendance and ratings. With politicians, we can vote them out of office or impeach them. With His Highness, we have to suffer through his gyrations and hope somebody who’s asleep in the Ivory Towers of Daytona Beach will wake up and see what’s happening. Maybe the boredom of the racing, cars, and drivers is keeping them comatose? Maybe it’s self-induced to avoid reality. But either way, unless somebody is at the helm who will actually listen, things are not going to improve unless the fans are given what they actually want and not what His Highness thinks they want.
While they try to put a positive spin on the Pocono ratings, a 3.8 think about this. The ratings were the same as last year’s rainout. Rainout ratings normally aren’t that good because they‘re on a Monday and most folks are at work. And when you compare this to the highest ever rating for Pocono, it’s almost 2 full points lower than the 5.7 in 2005 and lower than the 4.6 when His Highness took over in 2003. So spin it all you want. The ratings aren’t as good as you think they are Your Highness.
I don’t know how many folks watched Shaq Vs where he raced Dale Jr. but it was interesting. They had to put a hatch on the car for Shaq to be able to get into it and you could hear the seat groan in protest as his 300+ lb body sat down in it. Something that didn’t seem to happen, even though Shaq was given a 1 lap lead in the first race and Jr. had to make two pit stops in the second was the addition of ballast in Jr’s car to make the weight the same. Would Jr. have done as well if the cars were equally weighted? Something we’ll never know. But still, it was interesting to hear Shaq admit that NA$CAR drivers are athletes and that he was bested by Jr. Hey Shaq, I’ll race you. 25 lapper at North Wilkesboro in the Bucker Baker Driving School cars.
Speaking of North Wilkesboro, the Pro All Star Series will be running a 200 lapper there on September 4th starting at high noon. There’s also a USAR Pro Cup Series race coming up on October 3rd with a 250 lapper. Despite being off the Cup schedule since 1996, other series are finding out just what made the old girl the place to go back in the good old days for some great racing and it‘s unique “up and down“ design. And apparently it’s the place to go for making music videos too. Tim Dugger’s music video for the song “Sunday Drive” was filmed at North Wilkesboro and has a couple of familiar faces in it. A famous team owner and his grandson.
I’m not sure how many people listen to the Rowdy pod cast but they say that next season Childress will be running his Busch series operation through KHI. Considering KHI builds a lot of the Chevies on the track for the Busch Series, which makes sense when you also consider the relationship between Childress and Mr. Happy.
I guess Hamlin’s last word on Twitter-gate is that he’ll have to be careful what he says. He was brought up not to lie and that’s basically what he was being asked to do. However, “he saw the light” after a severe butt-chewing and explanation from the Beach Boy Bubbas. So expect to see Denny getting another Double Secret Probation fine down the road sometime when he is asked for an honest opinion and accidentally gives one that doesn‘t follow the party mantra of “everything is beautiful”.
As to some fan reaction to Twitter-gate, probably the best assortment of comments is on The Daly Planet:
http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2010/08/did-nascar-crush-social-media.html
You’ll see a lot of the things I’ve commented on over the years reflected in the fan opinions. If this many fans are saying what I’ve been saying, you really have to wonder how much longer NA$CAR is going to be around. If NA$CAR is going to act like David Hill towards the fans who built this sport with their sweat, devotion, and dollars then they’re going to get what they deserve in return. Fans will abandon NA$CAR the same way NA$CAR has abandoned its’ fans.
What an emotional roller coaster ride for Elliott Sadler to go from the highest of highs winning the inaugural Truck Race at Pocono to go to the lowest of lows as a result of his Cup wreck the following day.
One of the things Rick Mast mentioned on the Rowdy pod cast was that the problems that Sadler had at Pocono with the inside berm had been brought up even back when Mast was racing. So this has been known for a while. It’s nice that Pocono is going to do something about it finally but considering how long the problem has existed, you’d think that they’d have gone with the SAFER walls a long time ago.
One trend going on seems to be some changes in the media. I’m not talking about the paid shills on TV, Sirius radio, or NA$CAR.c0m. I’m talking about some of the writers not affiliated with carrying the official broadcast of NA$CAR. They seem to be changing their way of writing and using the fans’ point of view. Gee, I wonder who’s been doing that for quite a while? Anyways, with this change, we’re seeing more dissent in the ranks. More writers are starting to voice fan opinion and the fan opinions are decidedly against what Faux King Brian has been doing to NA$CAR. Now it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that there’s a reason for attendance and TV ratings to be dropping the way they are. And it isn’t just the
economy. And yet, His Highness seems to feel
that some of the media, which is expressing
what the fans are saying, is bringing NA$CAR
down. It’s obvious to even the newest of fans that
what’s happening to NA$CAR isn’t the fault of
the brave souls in the media who are expressing
the fans point of view about the decline of
NA$CAR. It’s what NA$CAR itself is doing to
NA$CAR that’s bringing it down. When I first
started writing back in 2004, folks were saying I
was a naysayer, a nut job, and a few other
things because I didn’t follow the party line. I
said back then that Faux King Brian would be
the ruination of NA$CAR. And here it is, 2010,
and we’re seeing the “show” going down in
flames and more folks starting to tell the truth of the situation. If I saw this coming back in 2004, you have to wonder why few others did.
I’m not sure how true it is but apparently the mayor of Daytona Beach wrote a very terse letter to the mayor of Charlotte demanding the return of their Village Idiot. In his reply, the mayor of Charlotte asked “Which one? We have several”. I guess it takes a Village Idiot to make all major cities go around.
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