Like many others here, I don’t hold anything against drivers like these staying in racing longer than it seems they should have. First, each earned their place in Cup racing and if there were hundreds of better drivers out there, they’d have been in the cars. If you look at the spread between qualifying lap times, the differences are often in hundredths of seconds. They were all elite drivers to the end. Second, racing is never down to just the driver - had Petty been in Gordon’s 24, things would likely be very different and we see that in Waltrip’s races in DEI’s car. Finally, these people are more than statistics - each one is the face of an entire organization and often intimately tied to a company or product. They did more than turn laps and win or lose races and had the fortunes of entire teams, all of their families, and even entire corporations on their shoulders. Like imagine what it meant for Kellogg’s to have Terry racing their colors? So the demands and expectations are very different than, say, skiers.
Uh, driver crossover from open-wheel to stock car and so on has been a feature of NASCAR forever. Tim Richmond came from Indy cars, AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti too. Petty ran drag racers during their boycott in 1969 and the KK Insurance team of Harry Hyde’s ran land speed. I’d wager the impact on the sport was less than you think. As for much of the other things, it’s difficult to point to exactly why NASCAR declined, but there’s every chance that the things you’re glad are gone is part of it - a ton of places to get “media” dilutes the brand and fractures the fanbase. FOX presided over a historic drop in fan interest (boogety and all), and the new rules merely codify the stupid debris cautions that killed NASCAR’s credibility.
In terms of Kyle Larson. Let's say he finishes top five in both the Kansas stages and get the top five finish..... Which is very likely, I actually think he should be aggressive at Talladega. Try to get some stage points and then whatever happens, happens. He isn't bad at restrictor-plate races, he just gets caught in a wreck. There have been several times he has run in the top 10 with a few laps to go and get caught in something. That's why I say he needs to be aggressive and go for stage points so if / when he wrecks out he will still be good going into the rowville. The oval is still a toss-up race as we've seen in the past although it has gotten a little bit better
I don't see it as an issue. Sponsors always come and go. It's a part of the past and will always be part of the future. I don't know why everyone keeps making a big deal of it.
Seeing these sponsors leave makes me concerned about other huge sponsors such as Bass Pro Shops, Coca Cola, etc. It's not a good direction for NASCAR at all
My Opinion: I'd give this race a 5/10, here's why: What Larson did was impressive, but you are right, watching someone dominate like that, have no adversity to really overcome, just sucks. Good for him, but man it's a slap for everyone else. I think the outlook prior to the start of the race was much different. I personally was expecting to see Bowman and Byron in the mix more, maybe swapping the lead. Bell as well. We got none of that. You are also right, fans will say something is bad because x,y,z, but not ACTUALLY look at the product. I think 27% is kind of unfairly low... It should have been more like 40, maybe 50. There actually was SOME glimmers of good racing going on, that overall (minus the spring) was an improvement on this package. The coverage was actually decent, I have no complaints really there. Some cars seemed to fall off, so that was interesting to watch develop Watching Suarez get frustrated with Stenhouse I think sums it up... This car is just boring at lower speeds. It handles too well. Ricky should have wrecked 2 or 3 times trying to save that car... But the grip level is just too high. I think that grip is what makes the 1.5 tracks so , because the car can provide about as much as the driver is ballzy enough to try. Nobody was really in a position to get frustrated because they just couldn't get around other cars. The fact that Larson was having SUCH a difficult time passing some of the lap down cars kind of testifies to that. When you have a car that doesn't race well, can't be set up much, all are the same, and is brittle (suspension wise), on top of a b.s. timer that prevents you from fixing the car, yeah, it's frustrating. It truly baffles me that in this format, where drivers are literally getting eliminated by 1 point, that we have a vehicle policy that prevents drivers from getting back valuable points... (Case in point, Ryan Blaney at Watkins Glen)... That's a tangent but I do think it applies to how aggressive the rest of the field is willing to be
I have no issue with Larson dominating. The problem I have is that other good cars that got shuffled to the back for whatever reason had absolutely no way of moving forward. Like a car that was fast enough to be running 2nd at the start of the race suddenly couldn’t get past 24th. Practically no one was able to pass anybody throughout the field. And there’s the aggression at Bristol?!? Like don’t blatantly wreck anyone, but use your dang bumpers! The whole night they’re hyping up driver tempers flaring at Bristol, but it looked like everyone was content to just drive in circles. I get that they weren’t content-they just couldn’t pass-but it’s not what Bristol should be, and has often been.
its gonna be to the point where it's only car/motorsport related sponsors, only becuase it's so expensive to sponsor a car. Why is it so expensive? Because NASCAR doesn't wanna cut part of their billion dollar income to the people who make their sport what it is. Let's be honest, do we see NASCAR existing in the next 10-15 years if they don't share their money?
NASCAR is getting into the same trouble F1 was in the second half of the 2000s. Increasing costs, increasingly greedy organizing body (NASCAR vs FOM), sponsors leaving left and right, losing ground to other sports.... I hope it won't hit NASCAR as hard as it did with F1, because around 2006-2008 there was a real possibility that F1 would collapse.
NASCAR is a dinosaur - make racing available on regular channels cause I'm not going to buy several channels to see just one race a week. Hamlin can have some good ideas that are better than those that's never sat in the seat OR owned a team
NASCAR shot itself in the foot with the TV deal. 2 broadcasters was too much. Now FOUR? Not going to subscribe to all four in order to watch 1 season of 1 sport, the only TV I watch. They’ll lose me as a viewer next year. I’ll come back when they’re back down to 2, preferably 1 broadcaster.
lets be honest here, the economy isnt in a great place. the covid economy is still here, whether we want to admit it or not. money is tighter for businesses and regular normal people. this is essentially a 2008 type economy, and as more corporate companies begin to struggle, they see less incentive to advertise in an also struggling market. do i think some companies will come back? yes, but i also think we as an industry need to find a way to keep our sport alive without relying solely on sponsors.
I thought the race was solid, not great but enjoyable and I do agree with Larson on his take of “when has Bristol ever been easy to pass” and I think tires where just a touch more fall off from being perfect, they fell off we saw that with Gibbs with Suarez. The way these cars are being Spec cars the only thing that can save this is horsepower, goodyear I think did pretty good this week and im tired of people blaming the tires and good year these cars just need to be harder to drive and I also think shrinking the fuel tank could be a thing to look into. Make these guys need to pit because with stages green flag stops are getting more and more rare
It isn't just in NASCAR where there are sponsor issues currently as over in Indycar, Hy-Vee is considering leaving Rahal & going to another team or even becoming the title sponsor for the series, though NTT wouldn't take too kindly to that. Then over in F1 there are two major things that are going to happen with sponsors. The first is that Puma will be leaving Mercedes due to Lewis Hamilton joining Ferrari next season. To replace Puma, Mercedes will likely sign a deal with their bitter rivals Adidas so don't be surprised to see a ton of Adidas branding when watching F1 next season. Lastly Heineken's deal with F1 as the official beer expires at the end of the season (with Heineken likely not renewing in order to pursue other opportunities) which opens the door for Budwesier or Molson/Coors to take over.
Think FedEx is an exception. Like you said, it was started because of a personal relationship. The changes with sponsors is just natural for the sport.
I think one major issue you don't have companies compete with each other, UPS vs FedEx, Lowes vs Home Depot, McDonalds vs Burger King, Bud vs Coors vs Miller, It seems like one major company leaves the other competitor looses interest.
A little thing there is still one sponsor that your forgetting. Napa it’s been in the sport since 2001 Michael Waltrip DEI, Martin Truex Michael Waltrip Racing, and Chase Elliott Hendrick motorsports
I can see unfortunately where a lot of people during the upcoming New World Order/7 year tribulation will think the AntiChrist is this upcoming hero. The last thing a person should do is take the mark(666). For the first 3 and a half years, things will be prosperous(so to speak). But then the later 3 and a half years, it’s hell on earth. Anyone who takes the mark, no chance of them becoming saved and making it to Heaven.
The economy took a dump in 08 never fully recovered. No lowes no Home Depot M/Ms Gone what’s changed? Parity fair racing it’s hurt nascar. No sponsor wants to here the word fair. Those Businessman are smarter than that
Look, when Jr had to start taking multiple primary sponsors each year we knew it was going to wind up here. There's not a huge pull for sponsorship right now. The teams are going to be hurting and the only way you can offset is to have cheaper operations. Good luck. Also, the nonsense of Nascar on all the non network channels is pretty telling. Who wants to sponsor something not many people will see?
Why would you sponsor NASCAR when no one watches it and you make no money back from it. In the 80's, 90's, 2000's, even the early 2010's it made sense but the thing is no one watches it really anymore besides the daytona and talladega races because of crashes which is sad. Sponsoring race cars is so expensive now days and racing in general is very expensive.
