I haven't watched a race since they went to the segments. But I got aggravated long before that with the meddling NASCRAP pulled. On a couple of occasions, NASCRAP penalized Mark Martin's team points in addition to money, which gave the title to Ironhead, all because NASCRAP hated jack Roush.
If the Frances really want to have fun, potentially (very temporarily) bump interest and ruin what's left of the sport before they sell here's the crazy things they should do.
Teams to own 6 vehicles maximum to campaign, a maximum of 2 per a class, two trucks, 2 Nationwide cars and two cup cars.
Mixed class racing. Now all 3 races that make up the series will occur at the same time! No more worrying about filling up the field as now it'll be capped at 16 entries per a class to yield a 48 car field of zaniness!
Lastly, driver releagation. Just like European soccer! If your driver falters and is the lowest points earner over the previous 4 races, down a level of series for you, same for if you're the top driver within a truck or Nationwide series, congratulations, you've moved up.
So many moving pieces through the front and back of the field at every level. Eh nevermind, nobody could keep up with that while downing 16 cans of Busch.
Odds are Nascar ratings will continue to be lower in the future. However, media companies/broadcasters seem to be desperate to invest in anything that can grab serious numbers of eyeballs and have real revenue streams. Now would be a good time to sell shares.
Stefan said:In reply to Chris_V :
I have friends that race Spec944 and SpecMiata and used to race FF. So I can safely say you're missing the point I was trying to make.
V8 SuperCars is completely different to watch and experience than those series mentioned previously. Think of it more along the lines of NASCAR went Touring Car Racing, complete with all of the aggressive and assertive driving and cars that are actually fast enough to be fun to watch and listen to. SpecMiata/944/E30 are a hoot to drive and for the driver's friends and families, a blast to watch, everyone else tires of the constant drone of the relatively uninteresting sounding engines and lack of outright speed with the occasional tire slide or even a crash.
Go watch a SpecMiata race and a V8 SuperCar race and come back to tell me which one is more exciting for the average person to watch. I'll wait.
NASCAR on road courses is an absolute blast to watch and its some of the only races of their's I'll actually watch. The short tracks were also interesting before they mostly went the way of the dodo.
I'm not missing the point. If road races were all it took to make the series better, then people would be lined up to see Spec Miata and other sports car road races. They aren't. You can't spectate very well from the track for those. And decrying NASCAR for being similarly shaped jelly bean colored cars is the part that's missing te point especially when said poster is a fan of Spec Miata kinds of racing which is similarly shaped jellybean colored cars racing around slowly as well.
The problem with NASCAR is not road racing, which doesn't get spectators anyhow, nor is it similar cars (which it's been for decades) nor is it brightly colored similar cars (which it's been for decades). It's about cost to get in and the stupidity of recent rules changes, like the Chase and Stage racing. Those two areas are what are killing the sport from it's heyday. I still think that the Chase or something like it was inevitable, so that a driver could be crowned champion in a winner take all bracket race, but it's poorly implemented, and the idea of stage racing is just bad.
STM317 said:The cars aren't relevant to anything you can buy today, and there's not enough differentiation to make things interesting.
It's just millionaires going around in noisy billboards while they huck a thousand different products in your face in order to make even wealthier people more money.
I'm sure you level the same charges against F1 and the Rolex series, as well (especially the last bit).
In reply to Chris_V :
No, just no. F1 not only advances automobile tech, but also aviation and space tech. Endurance racing directly adcances all auto tech and, without it, our spirtscars would eitget not exist or be much more mundane.
In reply to markwemple :
Can my 'spirit car' be the Eagle? 
Doesn't NASCAR own Grandam that merged with IMSA or continental tire whatever?
They do have a series for small cars, the(Goody's) Dash I think.
Chris_V said:STM317 said:The cars aren't relevant to anything you can buy today, and there's not enough differentiation to make things interesting.
It's just millionaires going around in noisy billboards while they huck a thousand different products in your face in order to make even wealthier people more money.
I'm sure you level the same charges against F1 and the Rolex series, as well (especially the last bit).
The last bit is absolutely true, not just for racing, but all professional sports. But I think F1 cars and top level sports cars are certainly relevant technologically speaking while NASCAR struggles to catch up to the 90s. I think what's different is the direction that the tech moves.
F1 and sports cars have tech that trickles it's way down to street cars. ABS, active aero, turbocharging, direct injection, variable valve timing etc all started in racing and eventually bled down to street cars. Experimental materials and construction techniques, awd, hybrid systems, etc are all common place. The companies and engineers that design, build, and participate can learn things and apply them to the next generation of vehicles.
In NASCAR, the opposite is true as street cars seem to eventually transfer some tech back into the sport. They just recently started fuel injection, 20+ years after the last carb disappeared from a showroom. Most of the lower classes still use front suspension clips based on 70s GMs. They don't even try to develop anything new that could be passed on to street cars. At this point, it's strictly for entertainment and marketing which is fine, but there's no substance. They're literally just candy coated wrappers that cover irrelevant chassis that make loud noises and rarely pass. What does a Toyota NASCAR engineer learn through NASCAR that they couldn't learn just running an engine on a dyno?
It’s been said before, but it needs to go back “run what ya brung” grassroots. Real cars, modified off the showroom floor. Real drivers that came up doing wrenching in the garage, not “Jean Girard” of F1 pedigree.
Get nascar back in touch with the ground. After all, all things can only fly high for so long.
That would result in a manufactuers war as it did years ago. Superbird anyone. This is why Nascar had to step in with some rules. It was fun while it lasted,
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