A NASCAR Nation of Whiners

By Greg Engle Editor, Cup Scene Daily Contact

I spent 23 years in the United States Army. One thing I used to hear was that soldiers would whine about the sunshine. Meaning of course that soldiers would complain about anything and everything, no matter what. And so it goes with a segment of NASCAR fans.

In the so-called ‘NASCAR Nation’, there are many fans that’ll bemoan just about anything connected to the sport they allegedly love. And thanks to uncle Al Gore’s Internet they can find a multitude of platforms to do so. From fan sites to blogs, the disgruntled fan can find a stage to air their collective disparaging remarks. Then suddenly they’re expert analysts who find fault in everything about the sport of NASCAR in addition the sanctioning body itself.

Problem with these sunshine patriots is that most of the time they are way off the mark. And the issues where they may have a point or two are directed at no one in particular. They whine to whoever will listen, and most often fellow fans take their word as gospel. Well it’s time for a little exorcism boys and girls.

One of the issues that gets a great deal of fodder is one that I happen to agree with wholeheartedly. The price an average fan has to pay to attend a race in person is becoming way out of control. Ticket prices are going through the roof, and a night’s stay in a Motel ‘4’ (that’s a hotel by the way that isn’t even up to the standards of a Motel 6), is ridiculous. Although I’m blessed with an expense account, I know first hand that even a substandard room on race weekend can cost enough to make a manager at a Ritz-Carlton raise an eyebrow, and that is just plain wrong.

To me there is a difference between making an honest living and gouging a middle-class race fan that just wants to attend a race.

So what can be done high ticket prices and outrageous hotel bills? Don’t blame or expect NASCAR to do anything about it. That’s seems to be where most of the whiners direct their energy. NASCAR is in the business to stage races, that’s it. Yes the parent company does own tracks, but not all of them. Yet there are the collective whiners crying to the world that a ticket costs as much as a car payment and that staying somewhere during a race weekend is akin two months pay. Again they have valid points and I agree with them in principal, but I wonder, when is that last time they aimed their anger at the people who could actually address the issues?

How many of the disgruntled, disenchanted and downtrodden have ever written, or called for that matter, a track president? Those are the people who could affect change. A track president is the one person who stands to gain or lose the most by attendence or the lack thereof. A track president lives in the local community and by addressing the high prices for tickets as well as lodging they could start to see fewer and fewer empty seats come race day.

Let’s suppose that this track president were to reach out to a local government and point out that fewer out of town race fans mean fewer tax revenues and that fans who balk at high prices for hotel rooms during a race weekend would rather stay home. Perhaps the local government could then talk to and work with the local hoteliers. Too far fetched you say?

In my home state of Florida several years ago, citizens got together to complain that hotels and gas stations were charging three or four times the normal prices whenever a hurricane came near. Hotels and gas stations gouged people who were forced to evacuate unmercifully. The evacuees in turn complained to the state and the state enacted a law preventing the practice. Could this not be done on a local level? If a city or county knew that they could attract more fans and more tax revenue by telling local establishments to hold the line, perhaps in the end everyone would win.

If NASCAR truly is a nation, then its citizens need to get together and let themselves be heard to the right people instead of simply whining amongst each other.

Another favorite topic for the whiners is declining TV ratings. And its true that TV ratings are down this year. But campers none of the people seem to mention two very important facts; NBC pretty much screwed itself out of the contract and decided in turn to screw the fans on the way out the door. And in the last few years with the glut of cable stations coming on board meaning more choices for Joe sports fan to watch, ratings are down for all sports, not just NASCAR. But of course some would have you believe that NASCAR is on its way to an early grave.

Then there’s the Car of Tomorrow. It’s ugly, not one driver I met this year seems to think otherwise and I have to agree. But drivers and most NASCAR fans applaud the safety innovations designed into the car and god forbid we should have another Daytona 500 like we did in February 2001. No one wants that and the Car of Tomorrow incorporates the latest in safety and will help prevent another Earnhardt tragedy from ever happening again. And what’s so bad about that?

Let’s go back in history a bit. When the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series first hit the track in the early 1990’s most of us looked at the big boxy trucks and wondered what that hell NASCAR was thinking. But the truck series has evolved into one of the closest, most competitive and exciting racing series in the world. And as the series has developed so has the truck. The truck’s themselves have become racier in appearance over the years and seeing them on the track no longer looks strange. So it will go with the Car of Tomorrow. Sure it will take a while for us to get used to seeing them, but eventually the Car Of Tomorrow will become the norm. And since NASCAR has designed them to act much in the same way as the trucks, I’m looking forward to seeing them race.

One of the things that makes me chuckle is when I hear that NASCAR has in some way determined the outcome of a race in some form or fashion. I can tell you after seeing all the people involved in a garage area, that NASCAR could no sooner control the outcome of an event then the man on the moon. There are just way too many people who would stand to benefit by exposing any type of plot, not to mention those who would come out on the losing end in a scenario. You really think that a driver who has never run better than 20th would stand to be told that they couldn’t contend for a win just so driver ‘X’ could? Of course not, their competitive spirit would eat them alive. And NASCAR would be paying out more hush money that the current National debt. So boys and girls, this dog don’t hunt. And by the way there was no shooter on the grassy knoll in Dallas.

None of this stuff compares however to the holy grail of the whining nation- the Chase.

According to them, Brian France (who to some is the anti-Christ), has single-handedly destroyed NASCAR. First he closed Rockingham, then he took away a date from Darlington, got rid of Winston and to top it all off he changed the very point system that had been in place since time immortal. The way some of them think about the old point system, it’s almost has if Moses himself handed it on two stone tablets to Bill France Jr.

Their most recent example is this year’s edition. Under the old system, Johnson would have won the title by a mere 4 points over Matt Kenseth. And while I admit that it would cool to have seen that, I’d rather take my seat at Homestead knowing the title could be won by a total of five drivers, not two.

There isn’t a week that goes by that someone somewhere doesn’t bemoan the Chase and suggests ways to ‘fix’ it. I’ve seen formulas so complicated they’d have to be taught in high school along side algebra in order to be understood. When all is said and done, the points system has and always will reward consistency. A driver can win several races in a season but still lose the championship because of a few bad races. And that is how it should be.

The point is, the Chase works. It has generated more interest not only from inside NASCAR but outside as well. The NHRA and the PGA have both developed their own versions of the Chase. Is it perfect? No, but then again neither is NASCAR. And whether you agree with him or not, love him or hate him, Brian France isn’t afraid to lead. He knows the Chase needs some tweaking and will do just that prior to the 2007 version.

My parents owned a furniture store in North Carolina when I was growing up. My dad being an expert sales manager, used to force his salespeople to call every customer they sold after the customer accepted delivery, without exception. When a salesperson asked why (and one always did), my dad would say ‘because if you sit back and wait for the customer to call, then the only ones you’ll hear from are those who are unhappy. Rarely does a customer go out of their way to call and say how much they like us, we only hear from them when the think theirs a problem.’

A point here, one of the things I learned in the furniture business is that problems do occur although rarely and most of the time they can be cleared up with a phone call and turn out to be no problem at all.

When the salespeople in my family’s stores would call their customer, every customer, after delivery they found out that 90% of them were happy and content with their purchase. They only ones who took the time to call and complain were those of the smaller minority.

I think you see my point.

So sharpen your pencils boys and girls, I’ll be steeling myself against the onslaught of backlash from you. And I know it will come, because as I look out my window, I see that the sun is shining.