NASCAR is DEAD

selmaborntidefan

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I cannot wrap my head around the idea of going from, "Hey, Martha, let's go watch Kyle and Jimmie go bumper to bumper" to "Can't bring a Rebel flag? To hell with you, I'm never going back."

They were complaining about major attendance drops in 2012, the flag ban wasn't until 2015. That means even if that idea is true, it's a tiny percentage of the bigger picture.
 

CajunCrimson

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I did not know the history behind the picture. Maybe they were great guys every moment for the rest of their lives but they were big babies with no control over their own emotions in that moment. Hardly an apt picture to accompany the statement, "When men were men."

It's cool they worked on their own cars and that the teams were spread out.


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Seems like the de-masc-ing of men started right about the time global warming began.....

Coincidence? ;)
 

Bamaro

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I did not know the history behind the picture. Maybe they were great guys every moment for the rest of their lives but they were big babies with no control over their own emotions in that moment. Hardly an apt picture to accompany the statement, "When men were men."

It's cool they worked on their own cars and that the teams were spread out.


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My guess is whatever it was about, Cale was behind it all.
 

GreatMarch

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I did not know the history behind the picture. Maybe they were great guys every moment for the rest of their lives but they were big babies with no control over their own emotions in that moment. Hardly an apt picture to accompany the statement, "When men were men."

It's cool they worked on their own cars and that the teams were spread out.


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The picture was from the 1979 Daytona 500 and that was the race that catapulted NASCAR to more than just a regional and small town racetrack sport. The entire east coast was snowed in and there were only three tv stations to watch in most households. Plus, this was the first race that was televised from start to finish. That had never happened before, not even with the Indy 500. So, you could say that Nascar had a captive audience since most were snowed in. The final lap was a two car race between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarbrough who were racing and bumping one another to the finish line when they took one another out. That allowed Richard Petty to win the race. As Petty crosses the finish line the cameras shoot over to the fight in the infield between Yarbrough and both Bobby and Donnie Allison. Nascar got their most famous name in victory lane and had the nation talking about the last lap fight.
Understand that I was never a big Nascar race fan but I enjoyed the personalities in the garages, the pit crews, the drivers, and in the stands. The people were some of the greatest people I have ever met and known. Many of them (especially the drivers) were risk takers, entrepreneurs, crafty, and intelligent. These were people who came from rough and poor backgrounds and they wanted nothing to do with the lives they came from other than to remember how hard it was. That was still a time that if you wrecked a car, you didn't race again till it was fixed and you had to pay for the parts and the repairs out of your own pocket. Sponsors didn't pay for repairs then and you did not have the corporate money influencing the sport either. It was very much a small town and small business and mom & pop shop feel to the sport and the atmosphere around it.
I remember being a 6 year old sitting there telling my dad they were fighting on tv. He pulls the Sunday paper down and says, "Good thing Bobby is there because Donnie doesn't like when they hit back." Never will forget that.
As far as Nascar dying, I have no qualms about it even though I know some great people who are still in the marketing side of the business from a sponsorship standpoint. But, I also know of some small tracks that you can go to where there is still that small business and family like feel to the atmosphere that I think will survive no matter what happens to Nascar as we know it today. As far as the Confederate flag in concerned, never paid attention to it and never had one. While I was always intrigued by the history of the country, including that timeframe, I did serve in the Navy and saluted the American flag.
 

Crimson1967

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I wonder if we'll see some races fold with no replacement.


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bamachile

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I think everyone finally figured out that it is just cars driving to the left. It is more boring than watching paint dry
Agreed. The salient point of many of these posts being that it wasn't always so. You never knew if Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, Baker, et al, were going to win or crash, but it always seemed they were going to do one or the other - in cars that looked like they belonged to you and the guy at work that you hated.
 

Bamabuzzard

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It's not that simple - the Indy500 was a sellout again this year (250k) - same racetrack as the Brickyard400...
Could it be the Indy500 has a different "type" of fan compared to the NASCAR fan? That's probably a rhetorical question to be quite honest. Someone I believed mentioned it above already. But the "culture" in which the NASCAR fans are from is simply dying off. Young people from the South aren't taking on the same culture in which their parents did. I can't answer as to why. Cultures change, they always have and I guess always will. I can look at my life and see obvious cultural differences with me compared to my parents. My parents loved to pack up and go camping at a local campground. As a kid I loved it. But as an adult I have zero interest in doing that and I can all but guarantee my kids wouldn't like it either. I know my wife wouldn't. So there's one family whose kids didn't keep up the tradition of camping. So the Camping Worlds, Bass Pro Shops and RV parks of today lost a generation of $$$$ with me. I can see the same thing happening with NASCAR.
 

crimsonaudio

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Could it be the Indy500 has a different "type" of fan compared to the NASCAR fan?
Little question - they generally appeal to different people. NASCAR has been moving more towards the Indy / F1 model where everything is regulated - despite the fact nothing about the cars has been 'stock' for decades, fans still liked NASCAR as they felt a connection to the mechanics and drivers.

Just saying, suggesting it's fading because "it's only left turns" is overly simplistic - the Indy500 is the same thing yet still draws over a quarter of a million people annually.
 

Bamabuzzard

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Looks like Indy Car racing isn't in any better shape than NASCAR. Granted this article is from 2015 so I don't know if Indy Racing is having the same issues or not. But in 2015 it seemed they were having issues with viewship and attendance. People like wrecks, fights (violence), drama and controversy. If you don't have that it seems they lose interest.


http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/06/29/column-fans-love-daredevil-racing-but-indycar-walking-fine-line-with-driver.html



From the article:
There is no simple fix for IndyCar, which seemingly only draws eyeballs anymore during times of crisis.

The series was square in the spotlight a month ago after three cars went airborne during preparation for the Indianapolis 500. A fourth accident nearly killed driver James Hinchcliffe, who didn't go airborne but was saved from bleeding to death after a broken part pierced his thigh.

It created a buildup for the Indy 500 that drew the casual spectator to the television to see if cars really would fly during "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." It's no coincidence that the Indy 500 drew a higher television rating than NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 for the first time in 10 years.
 
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willie52

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Little question - they generally appeal to different people. NASCAR has been moving more towards the Indy / F1 model where everything is regulated - despite the fact nothing about the cars has been 'stock' for decades, fans still liked NASCAR as they felt a connection to the mechanics and drivers.

Just saying, suggesting it's fading because "it's only left turns" is overly simplistic - the Indy500 is the same thing yet still draws over a quarter of a million people annually.
I would say both types of racing have their own fans but there is a cross over block that like both. Since NASCAR moved towards the make everything even they have begun to lose fans that just want the fastest car to win without hampering the race teams. The independents don't have the resources to compete with the larger race teams so they try to keep them in the fold. I would not say NASCAR will disappear but with all the rule changes, price increases and format changes it has affected the fans a great deal and that spurred the downward spiral. It will never forget its roots began back in the old running moonshine days and many fans just resist any change at all. Again as I mentioned previously, the new segment racing where they go 50-60 laps or so with the segment winner earning championship points seems to be doing well. They are at least racing hard. There are also a lot of people who go to the races just to party. I can look around the infield during the race at Talladega and I would say at least a third within eyesight are watching it on their flat screens or just visiting others.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I think everyone finally figured out that it is just cars driving to the left. It is more boring than watching paint dry
That's why nobody watches the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, right? Because it's the same short sprint lasting about as long as coitus with Rick Pitino?
 

DzynKingRTR

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That's why nobody watches the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, right? Because it's the same short sprint lasting about as long as coitus with Rick Pitino?
The 100 meter dash is over in 10 or 12 seconds. The typical NASCAR race last 3-4 hours. That is 3 to 4 hours of cars turning left and if there is rain or a crash it can last 5 hours.
 

gtowntide

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For me Nascar went down when Fox Sports took over. It sort of became the Darryl and Michael Waltrip show and I really didn't like either one. I at one time was a big fan. I was raised about a mile from the Birmingham Raceway and me and my dad really loved the Allisons. The "Alabama Gang" also had Red Farmer who won a lot of races.

It's just not the same anymore so I'll invest more of my money watching the Tide! RTR!
 

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