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NASCAR Fans Are Racing Away From The Sport Even Faster

Lord Tammerlain

Lord Tammerlain

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveca...ontinue-racing-away-from-nascar/#2dc096ab1df5

Back in the early 2000's I recall the term Nascar dads, and how popular the racing series was. Lately the series has been seeing declines in ratings and attendance at a much faster pace than MLB or the NFL (can't blame it on driver protests for Nascar at least)

What is the cause, societal, the series itself?
Live attendance and television ratings at NASCAR races did not just start declining yesterday. It is a stale, decade-old story, with race tracks removing thousands of seats that had been filled in NASCAR’s prime, and faithful stock-car couch potatoes tuning elsewhere.It appears, however, that fans are now deserting in droves. Sunday’s big Monster Energy Cup race at Talladega, Ala., won by Joey Logano on a gorgeous afternoon, was run before grandstands that were mostly filled, but empty enough that the word “TALLADEGA” in unused seats at each end was visible.
(Maybe overhead shots from the Goodyear blimp are not such a great way to sell the sport.)
But it was the television ratings from Talladega — one of NASCAR’s most famous tracks — that were most eye-opening. The race delivered a 2.85 national rating on Fox, with 4.7 million viewers. The same race in 2017, a week later but also on Fox, had a 3.5 rating and 5.9 million viewers.
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There is just so much good stuff to watch on TV nowadays that I think sporting events just can’t hold people’s attention as well as they used to.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveca...ontinue-racing-away-from-nascar/#2dc096ab1df5

Back in the early 2000's I recall the term Nascar dads, and how popular the racing series was. Lately the series has been seeing declines in ratings and attendance at a much faster pace than MLB or the NFL (can't blame it on driver protests for Nascar at least)

What is the cause, societal, the series itself?
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They need to start racing clockwise. The average NASCAR fan is uncomfortable with a turn to the left.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveca...ontinue-racing-away-from-nascar/#2dc096ab1df5

Back in the early 2000's I recall the term Nascar dads, and how popular the racing series was. Lately the series has been seeing declines in ratings and attendance at a much faster pace than MLB or the NFL (can't blame it on driver protests for Nascar at least)

What is the cause, societal, the series itself?
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Personally, I never got into watching sports much.

I mean, it's fun, but I don't seek it out.
 
NASCAR became too contrived and akin to the WWF on wheels, and too politicized.

Compared to F1, Indycar, Le mans, or MotoGP, the series is seen as a parody of motorsports to most other gear heads.

I expect them to join the pile of other deceased racing bodies like IMSA GTP, CART, and ALMS within five to seven years.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveca...ontinue-racing-away-from-nascar/#2dc096ab1df5

Back in the early 2000's I recall the term Nascar dads, and how popular the racing series was. Lately the series has been seeing declines in ratings and attendance at a much faster pace than MLB or the NFL (can't blame it on driver protests for Nascar at least)

What is the cause, societal, the series itself?
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My wife's madden name is Petty. We don't even go anymore. We go to family reunions, but not the races. It got to where it wasn't fun with all the idiots at the track getting drunk and throwing chicken wing bones. And that was in the in-field. The stands are worse. NASCAR could control a lot of things, but who shows up and how they act isn't one of them.

Plus, NASCAR fans used to be able to get to any track within a few hours drive throughout the season. Now there's races on the west coast, Texas, and God knows where's next and the average NASCAR fan doesn't want to travel that much, nor do they have the same amount of money as the average NBA or NFL or PGA fan. There's not that many fans scattered around the country. They tend to be concentrated in the same states they've been in for years. Plus, they run their version of the "super bowl" race as the very first damned race of the year - Daytona.

It can be very repetitive.

Turn left, go fast. Turn left, go fast. Turn left, go fast. Pit. Turn left, go fast. Turn left, go fast. Avoid colliding with the wall and other cars. Stay out of the grass. Repeat as needed.
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveca...ontinue-racing-away-from-nascar/#2dc096ab1df5

Back in the early 2000's I recall the term Nascar dads, and how popular the racing series was. Lately the series has been seeing declines in ratings and attendance at a much faster pace than MLB or the NFL (can't blame it on driver protests for Nascar at least)

What is the cause, societal, the series itself?
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It's not "STOCK CAR" racing anymore. They should have evolved from oval tracks to road courses 35 years ago.
NASCAR stopped evolving in a good direction since they stopped using doorslammers, in my humble opinion.

Its roots are moonshine bootleggers who had colorful personalities and colorful language, trying to outrun federal revenue agents on real roads under real conditions, using real cars.
What is it now? It is the sport of corporate kings and a purity test for the bible belt and a paid showcase for the military.
And all that's fine but it's not the average guy with a souped up car playing chicken on a road course, is it?

When there's a racing series with modified stock cars on a realistic road course, I'll watch it, but NASCAR is totally irrelevant today and is really better represented by movies like "Talledega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby"

 
Every sanctioning body of auto & motorcycle racing has been in decline for years.

Drag racing, open wheel, motorcycle, and stock cars.....all of them.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
It's not "STOCK CAR" racing anymore. They should have evolved from oval tracks to road courses 35 years ago.
NASCAR stopped evolving in a good direction since they stopped using doorslammers, in my humble opinion.

Its roots are moonshine bootleggers who had colorful personalities and colorful language, trying to outrun federal revenue agents on real roads under real conditions, using real cars.
What is it now? It is the sport of corporate kings and a purity test for the bible belt and a paid showcase for the military.
And all that's fine but it's not the average guy with a souped up car playing chicken on a road course, is it?

When there's a racing series with modified stock cars on a realistic road course, I'll watch it, but NASCAR is totally irrelevant today and is really better represented by movies like "Talledega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby"

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My god, I haven't thought about that movie in years. It was so damn good.

" I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo tee shirt. Cause it says like I want to be formal but I am here to party too."
 
They need more short tracks and to go back to stock car racing. We dont like wrecks...we do like beatin and bangin. We like competition. The new cars make the race almost unwatchable.
 
VanceMack said:
They need more short tracks and to go back to stock car racing. We dont like wrecks...we do like beatin and bangin. We like competition. The new cars make the race almost unwatchable.
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If they don't refer to them as "stock cars" and give them some running room and a more road like course, I might even be able to watch it. It wouldn't be "stock car" racing but it wouldn't be running around in a circle with a bunch of drunks in the middle of the oval either, so it might be fun.
 
Crosscheck said:
My god, I haven't thought about that movie in years. It was so damn good.

" I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo tee shirt. Cause it says like I want to be formal but I am here to party too."
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Hasn't lost its chuckle-worthiness for me yet.
I am still very much a motorhead so there's always room for a Ricky Bobby-ism.
I also do a fairly decent voice impersonation of Lucius Washington. It disturbs my wife when she hears
"Don't you put that evil on me Ricky Bobby!"

tenor.gif


 
My likes run the gamut but let me ask a leading question here.
Do any of you nice people enjoy the show "Roadkill" featuring Mike Finnegan and Dave Freiburger?

 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
If they don't refer to them as "stock cars" and give them some running room and a more road like course, I might even be able to watch it. It wouldn't be "stock car" racing but it wouldn't be running around in a circle with a bunch of drunks in the middle of the oval either, so it might be fun.
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The road courses they run are fun...theres 2 of them. Bristol, Martinsville...the short tracks are pretty popular. Dega and Daytona are always fun to watch. Its the mile and a half tracks...the majority of the races...that are...well...boring.

When they changed from manufacturer bodies to "The Car of Tomorrow" they lost a lot of fans. The only 'stock; car part is the nose of the car. Its the only thing with any personality. The templates killed the sport.
 
I lost interest when they went away from cars based at least with the bodies based on production car. Ie the rear drive Monte Carlo
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
It's not "STOCK CAR" racing anymore. They should have evolved from oval tracks to road courses 35 years ago.
NASCAR stopped evolving in a good direction since they stopped using doorslammers, in my humble opinion.

Its roots are moonshine bootleggers who had colorful personalities and colorful language, trying to outrun federal revenue agents on real roads under real conditions, using real cars.
What is it now? It is the sport of corporate kings and a purity test for the bible belt and a paid showcase for the military.
And all that's fine but it's not the average guy with a souped up car playing chicken on a road course, is it?

When there's a racing series with modified stock cars on a realistic road course, I'll watch it, but NASCAR is totally irrelevant today and is really better represented by movies like "Talledega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby"
Click to expand...
Racing goes through cycles.

In the 80's the big craze was street racing. All the sanctioning bodies outside of NASCAR wanted to "bring the race to the fans", so they set-up races in Long Beach, the Meadow Lands, Miami, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, San Antonio, San Diego, etc.

Then people wanted to see more oval racing, which helped NASCAR surge as a more 'Americana' style of racing. The tracks got bigger, the stands got bigger, sponsors were beating down their doors, and the people couldn't get enough.

Now? People want racing that's more along the lines of F1 - probably because of Lewis Hamilton's star status. Not only that, people have been over exposed to NASCAR racing to an extent they don't feel the need to go to the tracks anymore.

It also doesn't help that the Frances have made NASCAR an arm of Republicans politics, which is turning off other fans.
 
MovingPictures said:
Racing goes through cycles.

In the 80's the big craze was street racing. All the sanctioning bodies outside of NASCAR wanted to "bring the race to the fans", so they set-up races in Long Beach, the Meadow Lands, Miami, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, San Antonio, San Diego, etc.

Then people wanted to see more oval racing, which helped NASCAR surge as a more 'Americana' style of racing. The tracks got bigger, the stands got bigger, sponsors were beating down their doors, and the people couldn't get enough.

Now? People want racing that's more along the lines of F1 - probably because of Lewis Hamilton's star status. Not only that, people have been over exposed to NASCAR racing to an extent they don't feel the need to go to the tracks anymore.

It also doesn't help that the Frances have made NASCAR an arm of Republicans politics, which is turning off other fans.
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I never wanted NASCAR to align with any politics except for the politics of V8 engines.
I swear, turning it into what it is today turned me off for sure.
 
Checkerboard Strangler said:
I never wanted NASCAR to align with any politics except for the politics of V8 engines.
I swear, turning it into what it is today turned me off for sure.
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First the chase, then the "boys have had it" WWF bull****, and now this play off crap, that nobody can understand.

When you have less clarity than F1, it's time to rethink your rule book.
 
Five years ago I said nascar sucks on my podcast and explained why. They've been in decline ever since. It's all about my awesome power and influence.
 
NASCAR is boring as hell. The cars just go around in circles. I cant figure out why some people would want to watch that...
 
Howard the Duck said:
Five years ago I said nascar sucks on my podcast and explained why. They've been in decline ever since. It's all about my awesome power and influence.
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Yeah but that's a mystery podcast unless someone knew you five years ago.
 
PoS said:
NASCAR is boring as hell. The cars just go around in circles. I cant figure out why some people would want to watch that...
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Oh it had its appeal once upon a time but at this point it's all been done long ago, which is why I said it needed to get closer to the original concept of revenooers chasing bootleggers over something that resembled a road course.
Anybody can sink unlimited cash into faster and faster oval track cards custom designed for the purpose. The real challenge is if you have to search for someone who take the original concept and breathe new life into it.

Kids play Grand Theft Auto, they don't play Dale Earnheardt Daytona.
If NASCAR more closely resembled GTA, you'd see renewed interest in it.
 
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