Where were all the fans?

[Wingnut]

At this time of year the weather in Florida can only be described as somewhere between an overheated sauna and hell. Regardless we had some neighbors over for a late afternoon B-B-Q .

My neighbor suggested tuning in to the NASCAR race, which, out of total boredom and in need of time for my brain to cool a bit until the food needed another flip/roll, I did. “Where are all the fans”, he asked.

Man NASCAR must really be in a bad way if that is what passes for a crowd today at a nascar race.  Pathetic.

[Cripplecreek]

They're making a real mess of things. Michigan International has removed probably 50,000 seats over the past couple of years. I drove right past the place during the June race without any problems. 10 years ago you couldn't do that because traffic was locked up for miles around.

The last of the true NASCAR stars are retiring early. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr.....
Most of these "retirees" aren't actually retiring, they're returning to dirt track racing where they can have actual fun again. Kenny Wallace is a perfect example. He still does NASCAR broadcasts but says dirt track racing has returned some of the fun to his life. He abandoned SC and returned to MO because all the racing he wants to do can be done within a 4 or 5 hour drive with most even closer.

Broadcast deals are also doing real damage. They spread the coverage over a dozen channels with half of them being premium channels that you have to pay extra for.  This is the first year I haven't been able to watch the local race at MIS on CBS because it was on FS1 this year and that's a premium channel on my direct TV.

The true collapse began when they ditched those evil tobacco manufacturers as sponsors.

[catfish1957]

Man NASCAR must really be in a bad way if that is what passes for a crowd today at a nascar race.  Pathetic.

Overexposure and sickening over commercialism killed the golden goose.

[Wingnut]

I heard some say there are too many races and they return to the same tracks/venues to often.   Well that and NASCAR the governing body has lost touch with it roots.  If I were a big wig with GM, Toyata or Dodge I would pull back my bounty payments to NASCAR.   There is little ROI.

[ABX]

At this time of year the weather in Florida can only be described as somewhere between an overheated sauna and hell. Regardless we had some neighbors over for a late afternoon B-B-Q .

My neighbor suggested tuning in to the NASCAR race, which, out of total boredom and in need of time for my brain to cool a bit until the food needed another flip/roll, I did. “Where are all the fans”, he asked.

Man NASCAR must really be in a bad way if that is what passes for a crowd today at a nascar race.  Pathetic.

The race Sunday at Indy had a chance for very bad weather (which did cause problems) - Strike 1.
NASCAR has been inflating ticket prices the past few years, pushing out a lot of fans, assuming they can still fill it up. Average prices have shot up past $200. They were around $50 a few years ago. - Strike 2.
Specifically regarding the Indy race, that stadium holds 200K people, twice the average NASCAR attendance, so even if they didn't have problems #1 and #2, it would not look full. - Strike 3.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_attendance_figures

Icing on the cake, just from my observations, people are starting to get bored with NASCAR. It is interesting because F1 seems to be gaining traction again.

[Cripplecreek]

I heard some say there are too many races and they return to the same tracks/venues to often.   Well that and NASCAR the governing body has lost touch with it roots.  If I were a big wig with GM, Toyata or Dodge I would pull back my bounty payments to NASCAR.   There is little ROI.

I think the roots thing is the primary problem. They need to ditrch the Wall Street journal readers running the show and put guys in charge who love racing. Guys like Rusty Wallace and Kyle Petty would be great idea men. Listen to the retiring drivers and ask them why.

I don't think too many races is a problem for the fans. NASCAR was at its peak in the mid 90s and I don't think there are more than 2 or 3 more races now than then. They need to return to Rockingham. North Wilksburo was a good track but its in ruins today

[roamer_1]

Yep.
There was a long time in my life, when you could bet money where to find me on race day...
Not any more.

Rubbin's Racin' - Take all the rubbin' out, and it ain't racin' anymore.
WAY too damn many rules.
Too much bouncy-jangley crap on the screen.
Changing the colors on the cars all the time, and complicated paint jobs made it hard to follow...
Pimpin the 'show' to attract the 'cool kids' always, always turns rednecks off. Shoulda kept it Country.
And yeah... PAYWALL. Everywhere.
Screw em.

Walked off. Can't even begin to be interested.

[Cripplecreek]

Yep.
There was a long time in my life, when you could bet money where to find me on race day...
Not any more.

Rubbin's Racin' - Take all the rubbin' out, and it ain't racin' anymore.
WAY too damn many rules.
Too much bouncy-jangley crap on the screen.
Changing the colors on the cars all the time, and complicated paint jobs made it hard to follow...
Pimpin the 'show' to attract the 'cool kids' always, always turns rednecks off. Shoulda kept it Country.
And yeah... PAYWALL. Everywhere.
Screw em.

Walked off. Can't even begin to be interested.

One of my all time favorite finishes. Friday afternoon race so the empty seats are meaningless. 2 days later it standing room only.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0qvLvXLXBE

[dfwgator]

A question the NFL is going to start asking real soon.

[jpsb]

Man NASCAR must really be in a bad way if that is what passes for a crowd today at a nascar race.  Pathetic.

NASCAR has gone PC and banned displaying the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events. I think it done a few other PC things too.


http://www.nationalreview.com/article/420846/nascar-asks-fans-not-display-confederate-flag-nascar-fans-rebel-shubhankar-chhokra

[Restored]

There was so much rubbin' in Michigan than Danica Patrick came in 11th, solely because she didn't get knocked out.

The sport has been taken over by Yankees. When they abandoned North Wilkesboro, the fix was in.

[roamer_1]

One of my all time favorite finishes. Friday afternoon race so the empty seats are meaningless. 2 days later it standing room only.

LOL! I have to laugh at myself, watching that... I still get 'the clench' coming up to the finish line.

[Cripplecreek]

LOL! I have to laugh at myself, watching that... I still get 'the clench' coming up to the finish line.

I was one of the guys in a red vest up against the fence that day.

[roamer_1]

NASCAR has gone PC and banned displaying the Confederate Flag at NASCAR events. I think it done a few other PC things too.

I wonder just how many good ol boys hit the 'oh hell, no!' button right there... That alone.

[roamer_1]

The sport has been taken over by Yankees.

TRUE

[Axeslinger]

There was so much rubbin' in Michigan than Danica Patrick came in 11th, solely because she didn't get knocked out.

The sport has been taken over by Yankees. When they abandoned North Wilkesboro, the fix was in.

@Restored

Well now hold on!  If I'd have known somebody was rubbing Danica, I probably would have tuned in for that!

[Wingnut]

The sport has been taken over by Yankees.

Worse.  Taken over by Californians.   If you're from California, you're not a Yankee. You're not really anything.

[ABX]

Worse.  Taken over by Californians.   If you're from California, you're not a Yankee. You're not really anything.

Yet, two of the best tracks are in California- The Autoclub speedway which has a very long straight stretch allowing to push speed to the limits and Sonoma which is a great road track and breaks up the always turning left fatigue.

[Cripplecreek]

As far as Yankees "taking over" there has never been some kind of affirmative action to put northerners into the cars. They raced their way in just like everybody else. If anything, nepotism probably kept a lot of southern drivers in the sport who wouldn't have been there otherwise. There are standouts like the Allisons and Dale Earnhardt Jr who just had an inborn talent but there are guys like Michael Waltrip who ran over 800 races before his first win. How many years did Kerry Earnhardt waste seat space?

NASCAR hasn't been exclusive since the days of racing on the beach in Daytona. Michigan was built in 69 and became one of the best attended NASCAR races within just a few years. My dad talks about going to the Jackson Speedway in Jackson MI in the 1940s. There are small tracks all over the place here in Michigan and many of them are just as old as anything you'll find in the south.

[roamer_1]

As far as Yankees "taking over" there has never been some kind of affirmative action to put northerners into the cars.

I don't think that was pointed at you, or northern drivers. I think that was pointed toward Yankee sensibilities taking over the 'how' of it. 'New York City Values' and all

[Cripplecreek]

I don't think that was pointed at you, or northern drivers. I think that was pointed toward Yankee sensibilities taking over the 'how' of it. 'New York City Values' and all

NY values came in with the Wall Street sensibilities where all that mattered was the money.

[ABX]

I don't think that was pointed at you, or northern drivers. I think that was pointed toward Yankee sensibilities taking over the 'how' of it. 'New York City Values' and all

I don't think you can blame the 'Yankee' sensibility for the failure. There is a very Southern virus in a lot of media, brought about by Ted Turner, a deep south Atlanta boy, that commercializes everything. You don't here much about it any more, but it is the 404 Value- (aka Atlanta). When Ted Turner nationalized television media, he started national branding of everything. We complain about 'Yankee' values, but, take CNN for example, came from the deep south of Atlanta and the new money way of slapping labels on everything.

[Wingnut]

The "Mouth of the South" really wasn't a southerner with southern values.  He was a hollywood redneck who blew smoke up everyones ass and married that slut Jane Fondu.

[Restored]

The drivers don't run NASCAR. The Yankees brought a WWE-type promotion to NASCAR.
- Sanitize it hoping to appeal to people who won't watch it anyway.
- Drive up prices to pay for an "experience"  no one wants anyway.
- Commercialize it so you can bow and scrape to companies who will then abandon you anyway

When NASCAR was a sea of Confederate flags, there was an element of KMA that ensured there would always be sell-out crowds of drunk, chicken bone throwing rednecks. College football on Saturday and Racing on Sunday. Every boat on every lake had the radio tuned to Racing. NASCAR was awash in cash. So the Yankees killed it just like they did to tobacco, rasslin' and textiles.

[dfwgator]

As far as Yankees "taking over" there has never been some kind of affirmative action to put northerners into the cars. They raced their way in just like everybody else. If anything, nepotism probably kept a lot of southern drivers in the sport who wouldn't have been there otherwise. There are standouts like the Allisons and Dale Earnhardt Jr who just had an inborn talent but there are guys like Michael Waltrip who ran over 800 races before his first win. How many years did Kerry Earnhardt waste seat space?

NASCAR hasn't been exclusive since the days of racing on the beach in Daytona. Michigan was built in 69 and became one of the best attended NASCAR races within just a few years. My dad talks about going to the Jackson Speedway in Jackson MI in the 1940s. There are small tracks all over the place here in Michigan and many of them are just as old as anything you'll find in the south.

You know better than anyone that once you get out of Detroit and the other big cities, a lot of Michigan is as "Deep South" as Alabama.