can't get enough but then I am in the UK and it's is all very new having all the races flag to flag. God bless you Sky.

btw... what's happening next year?

well, they do just drive in a circle all day.

ihatedumbpeople: well, they do just drive in a circle all day.

the grand national cars [whatever cup] race at both watkins glen and sears point.

but it has diversity now, so it has that going for it.

Because the chase sucks if the guy you pull for is out of it?

Must share a gripping tale (prefer that to, "Cool story, bro.")

I have a good friend that is way too much into NASCAR and always trying to get me to come over to watch the races. He is not from the south. One day I took up his offer and he fed me with chille and beer (no complaints). When I noticed that he was recording the race, he took me to a closet where he had boxes of NASCAR races on VHS. After I told him that those tapes will degrade and be unwatchable in a few years, he told me he is in the process of putting them on DVDs. Then I told him that recordable DVDs don't really have a long time span either. He looked shocked and I probably should have slowly backed away from him at that point, but it was good chille.

snuffy: but it has diversity now, so it has that going for it.

A few guys from California does not make NASCAR diverse.

NASCAR has as much diversity as Dukes basketball team

Ball of Confusion: ihatedumbpeople: well, they do just drive in a circle all day.

the grand national cars [whatever cup] race at both watkins glen and sears point.

Yeah, but a vast percentage of NASCAR races aren't road tracks.

Chris Spielman is a mensch!

/second story.
//favorite Buckeye.

i stopped watching when they started changing a hundred rules every year. Then the series changes its name every other year, the cars change their paint schemes too much and if i watch a race a month, i can never figure out what car is what from a distance.

I blame Johnson. It does your sport no good when it is dominated by an uninteresting, unemotional robot. If he were only half-black, or were a crazy wildboy, or anything that would make him standout from the crowd.

Easily explained:

ABC broadcasts the "Chase", which nobody wants to watch unless you are a Jimmie Johnson fan.

TNT - people are cutting back on their cable packages and are not paying for this station

FOX - people don't want to see Digger every week or listen to D.W kiss Juniors ass through the entire race.

Imagine how cool it will be when they discover fuel injection.

NASCAR's ratings suck because the same hand full of drivers do all the winning. That crap get's as boring as watching the staged wrestling shows finish with the same champion every month week. Just ask the WWE how that's working out for them.

It's because NASCAR turned their backs on the old school fans in favor of attracting a new, more mainstream audience. The problem they have now is that the new fans they sold their souls to rope in are getting bored and the old NASCAR fans will not touch what they call racing with a 10 foot pole.

The actual racing tool a back seat long ago to advertising and marketing, and it's finally starting to bite them in the ass.

Cookie cutter drivers driving cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks, and god help you if you step outside the box..you may end up like Mayfield.

NASCAR is dying and I could not be happier.

/Cale Yarborough FTW

The racing is boring. You can't even move a guy out of the way anymore without getting called to the NASCAR trailer for an ass chewing after the race. They need to turn guys like Stewart and Kyle Busch loose and make it a little more interesting again.

Also, they farked the cars up.

Lost Thought 00: I blame Johnson. It does your sport no good when it is dominated by an uninteresting, unemotional robot. If he were only half-black, or were a crazy wildboy, or anything that would make him standout from the crowd.

Or if your sport was more complex than, say, checkers. Or if your sport wasn't simply an excuse for everybody with a logo and twenty bucks to advertise something on a Chevy's body panel. Or if your sport was marketed to folks other than those that lurk somewhere around the bottom of the left slope on the IQ curve.

Yeah, it's all Johnson's fault.

menolikepoopybad: Cookie cutter drivers driving cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks...

Yeah, that's pretty much the very definition of "stock car" racing.

FormlessOne: Or if your sport was more complex than, say, checkers. Or if your sport wasn't simply an excuse for everybody with a logo and twenty bucks to advertise something on a Chevy's body panel. Or if your sport was marketed to folks other than those that lurk somewhere around the bottom of the left slope on the IQ curve.

None of that has changed over time. NASCAR ratings have been through the roof, relatively speaking given that it is basically a regional sport with regional appeal, even with all the faults that you cite.

1) The media is the entity that hyped up Nascar as the "next big thing" - NO, it's not

2) NOTHING can compete with football. On Sunday, if football is on, that is what a sports person is watching. If there is no NFL on, then you are outside, or with family, etc.

3) Jimmie Johnson - is lame. And so is Jr - the "for no reason most popular Nascar driver". As soon as the Nascar people realize this, they will push someone else into the role.

Tissot: 1) The media is the entity that hyped up Nascar as the "next big thing" - NO, it's not

2) NOTHING can compete with football. On Sunday, if football is on, that is what a sports person is watching. If there is no NFL on, then you are outside, or with family, etc.


I generally agree with these two comments, but note that MLB attendance and total viewership (taking into account both local and national) is far higher than even football's.

bronyaur1: Tissot: 1) The media is the entity that hyped up Nascar as the "next big thing" - NO, it's not

2) NOTHING can compete with football. On Sunday, if football is on, that is what a sports person is watching. If there is no NFL on, then you are outside, or with family, etc.


I generally agree with these two comments, but note that MLB attendance and total viewership (taking into account both local and national) is far higher than even football's.

Well they do play 10 times as many games. I would sure hope so.

bronyaur1: Tissot: 1) The media is the entity that hyped up Nascar as the "next big thing" - NO, it's not

2) NOTHING can compete with football. On Sunday, if football is on, that is what a sports person is watching. If there is no NFL on, then you are outside, or with family, etc.


I generally agree with these two comments, but note that MLB attendance and total viewership (taking into account both local and national) is far higher than even football's.

You have to look at the viewership per-televised contest, though. If you can air Football for 7 hours (early and late afternoon national games), and get the same number of eyeballs that you could get by airing 15 hours of baseball (5 games, optimistically) in a week, you'd rather be broadcasting football.

Races are only exciting for me if they're in the 1-5 minute length. Which is why I'll sometimes tune into NASCAR with 10 laps to go. Though I'd rather watch two Lifetime movies than a complete NASCAR race.

ScienceRocks: menolikepoopybad: Cookie cutter drivers driving cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks...

Yeah, that's pretty much the very definition of "stock car" racing.

You obviously have not spent much time around real stock cars.

"Poston, who this season criticized ESPN/ABC announcers for not being perky enough on-air, suggests teamwork can help..."

Fark suggests Erin Andrews could provide the perkiness.

Whole lot of trolls in this racing thread. Go watch your big muscular men play with their sticks and balls, in their tight pants, etc.

I can't really pick on the F1 fans as NASCAR was no more exciting than F1 this year, so you got me there.

/enjoys pretty much all sports, yes NASCAR is a sport, hell even world series of poker is a sport

As much as I hate nascar, I'll play Mario Kart all day long.
/really nothing to add

menolikepoopybad: It's because NASCAR turned their backs on the old school fans in favor of attracting a new, more mainstream audience. The problem they have now is that the new fans they sold their souls to rope in are getting bored and the old NASCAR fans will not touch what they call racing with a 10 foot pole.

The actual racing tool a back seat long ago to advertising and marketing, and it's finally starting to bite them in the ass.

Cookie cutter drivers driving cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks, and god help you if you step outside the box..you may end up like Mayfield.

NASCAR is dying and I could not be happier.

/Cale Yarborough FTW

Came for this.

dam: hell even world series of poker is a sport

Not in any sense of the word.

But watching cars go straight then turn left is SO FRIGGIN EXCITING!

MyFarkIsWorseThanMyBite: But watching cars go straight then turn left is SO FRIGGIN EXCITING!

It is if you know what you're watching.

The Angry Hand of God: bronyaur1: Tissot: 1) The media is the entity that hyped up Nascar as the "next big thing" - NO, it's not

2) NOTHING can compete with football. On Sunday, if football is on, that is what a sports person is watching. If there is no NFL on, then you are outside, or with family, etc.


I generally agree with these two comments, but note that MLB attendance and total viewership (taking into account both local and national) is far higher than even football's.

Well they do play 10 times as many games. I would sure hope so.

Agreed. But the statement suggests that nothing is as popular as football, but that isn't exactly correct.

/Just being pedantic.

menolikepoopybad: ScienceRocks: menolikepoopybad: Cookie cutter drivers driving cookie cutter cars on cookie cutter tracks...

Yeah, that's pretty much the very definition of "stock car" racing.

You obviously have not spent much time around real stock cars.

lol, apparently neither has the vast majority of American sports fans, because this is what they believe.

That said, NASCAR isn't going away, nor should it. Most of the money is going to come out of it, but there will still be races run every weekend, each watched in person by a hundred thousand rednecks and on TV by another several million. It's a big country.

NASCAR is boring nowadays.

Ugly pieces of crap they call the Car of Tommorow. So much for resembling anything you'd see in a showroom(unless you like headlights and tail lights,and maybe the front grille)

Boring ass tracks. California,1.5 mile D shaped suckfests. They even bastardized Bristol. 1 race at Darlington,none at Rockingham or North Wilkesboro is total BS.

Boring drivers. Jimmie Johnson is a robot. Never says anything controversial,hell,never even starts crap on the track. At least Earnhardt Sr. would spin someone every now or then.

TV Telecasts suck. FOX with the stupid gimmicks like that gopher.TNT wasn't too bad. ESPN's crew sounds like they're bored at the track. Sometimes I can't blame them,but they could help things by getting a little excited. Jerry Punch doesn't need to be in a booth. He's better on pit road. Dale Jarrett can stay,he reminds me of his old man Ned. I don't know what they should do with Petree.

I don't even watch that many races anymore. Usually just Daytona and Talladega,and they're not too exciting anymore either.


NASCAR fans used to bash F1 about being boring,but oddly enough,F1's had four different champions the past four years.Can't say that about Cup. I'll admit F1's on track racing isn't great,though.

colinspooky: btw... what's happening next year?

The NASCAR writers are busy as we speak churning out the scripts for the races.

Ball of Confusion: the grand national cars [whatever cup] race at both watkins glen and sears point.

And they handle those road courses with the grace and majesty of a hippo ballerina. I think they keep them to prove that they turn the steering wheels both ways. Besides, they sub out drivers for these races with "road course experts" that don't look so expertly in the actual race. If the regular drivers don't take it seriously then why should I. Wait a sec...I don't.

RockChalkH1N1: NASCAR has as much diversity as Dukes basketball team

And all those millions wasted by ABC/Fox/TNT trying to infuse it with that certain hip-hop flair. You know to reach the young people.

As you might have guessed I am not a NASCAR fan. Grew up in the middle of NASCAR land but never found it all that interesting. But to each their own and all. Anyway, I have noticed that even down here the interest has slipped. I think NASCAR got too big too quick and now that surge is receding and the market is adjusting.

Cars driving around in circles for 4 hours to the slavish accompaniment of Southern-drawl announcers? Meh.

Call me when the cars are weaponized.

snuffy: but it has diversity now, so it has that going for it.

Why would NASCAR care about an old wooden ship used during the civil war?

/Not at all obscure

Bluestab: colinspooky: btw... what's happening next year?

The NASCAR writers are busy as we speak churning out the scripts for the races.

Ball of Confusion: the grand national cars [whatever cup] race at both watkins glen and sears point.

And they handle those road courses with the grace and majesty of a hippo ballerina. I think they keep them to prove that they turn the steering wheels both ways. Besides, they sub out drivers for these races with "road course experts" that don't look so expertly in the actual race. If the regular drivers don't take it seriously then why should I. Wait a sec...I don't.

RockChalkH1N1: NASCAR has as much diversity as Dukes basketball team

And all those millions wasted by ABC/Fox/TNT trying to infuse it with that certain hip-hop flair. You know to reach the young people.

As you might have guessed I am not a NASCAR fan. Grew up in the middle of NASCAR land but never found it all that interesting. But to each their own and all. Anyway, I have noticed that even down here the interest has slipped. I think NASCAR got too big too quick and now that surge is receding and the market is adjusting.

They keep the 2 road courses SOLELY because of where they are, the 2 most populous states in the USA. Doesn't have anything to do with anything but marketing. And this:

And they handle those road courses with the grace and majesty of a hippo ballerina.

is part of the beauty of it.

Personally, I like the COT, but then I go back to the days when the cars were top heavy boxes with crappy bias ply tires and NO POWER STEERING!

It's no accident that Mark Martin was resurgent in a car that's alot more like a 1985 Cup Car than a 2005 Cup Car.

Don't look now NASCAR, but the NHRA is creeping up behind you at 300MPH.

RocketRod: Don't look now NASCAR, but the NHRA is creeping up behind you at 300MPH.

NASCAR is nothing but turning left, NHRA doesn't have any turns at all. Any monkey can mash the throttle and hang on for 5 seconds.

</troll>

FormlessOne: Lost Thought 00: I blame Johnson. It does your sport no good when it is dominated by an uninteresting, unemotional robot. If he were only half-black, or were a crazy wildboy, or anything that would make him standout from the crowd.

Or if your sport was more complex than, say, checkers. Or if your sport wasn't simply an excuse for everybody with a logo and twenty bucks to advertise something on a Chevy's body panel. Or if your sport was marketed to folks other than those that lurk somewhere around the bottom of the left slope on the IQ curve.

Yeah, it's all Johnson's fault.

It might not all be Johnson's fault, but he's a big part of it. Unfortunately, the changes that were made to try and break Hendrick's stranglehold on the top spots (the Car of Tomorrow, etc.) have only proven that, just like Ferrari in F1, if you throw more money at the development you could have a trained monkey drive for you and win. With four cars - Johnson as the point man, Gordon and Martin on the second string, and Dale Jr. as the test car because he can't find the gas pedal through the haze of unexplained popularity - Hendrick has a huge base of information to take back to the shop. (Oh, and Stewart-Haas Racing adds to that development base; Tony said flat-out that he enjoyed having a couple of the Hendrick guys as teammates this year. Lowered my regard for one of my favourite drivers.) He throws money (his and Chevy's, I assume) at the development and dumps all the good stuff into the lead car, and hooray, championship for the guy with about as much personality as that pile of dog crap I nearly stepped in this morning. Add in a crew chief who's been busted for infringing the rules a few times now - does *anyone* think that they're not still cheating somewhere along the line, and NASCAR is either unable to figure out where or staying quiet because they drive good ol' GM cars? - and you have a team that wins a lot and that the fans couldn't care less about.
I saw some potential this year for some of the second-tier teams to make some moves. They just need some money, NASCAR to treat everyone fairly, and it might turn around. Until then, bye bye ratings.

Ive been a NASCAR fan for 20 years. Mark Martin has always been my driver. He had a hell of a season but just couldnt catch Johnson. When it became painfully obvious that he was going to come in second yet again I pretty much quit watching. I imagine this was the same sentiment that many fans (not Johnson's) experienced.

As more and more of the old guard retire I imagine their fans are going to stop watching. If you were fan of a Waltrip, Jarrett, Elliot, Martin, etc. Who amongst the new blood would you choose to follow? I personally can't find anyone. When Martin retired the first time I tried to be a fan of Biffle but couldnt get into it. I think Martin is the last old guy standing and when he retires that will probably be it for me and NASCAR.

/only 35 so this is not a get off my lawn diatribe.
//started following Martin when he drove for Winn Dixie in the Busch series. (I worked for them as a stockboy while I was in high school)
///When Patrick comes in as a sideshow, that will definitely be it for me.
////Will still go to the Twin 150's and Homestead every year with my father, brother, and friends.
//5 slashies are for the #5 car!

clear_prop: NASCAR is nothing but turning left, NHRA doesn't have any turns at all.



/hot like a burnout

MyFarkIsWorseThanMyBite: But watching cars go straight then turn left is SO FRIGGIN EXCITING!

I'm not a roundy-round person, and if I'm watching a roundy-round race its probably the Indy500, but when everyone is optimized to do one seemingly simple task such as turning left periodically, the differences in car set-up and driver style become more obvious...if you can get past the fact that they're just turning left...

They need to get rid of the restrictor plates, and allow them to run turbochargers on the short tracks. Nothing like a little death and dismemberment to liven up a sport!

Five Tails of Fury: FormlessOne: Lost Thought 00: I blame Johnson. It does your sport no good when it is dominated by an uninteresting, unemotional robot. If he were only half-black, or were a crazy wildboy, or anything that would make him standout from the crowd.

Or if your sport was more complex than, say, checkers. Or if your sport wasn't simply an excuse for everybody with a logo and twenty bucks to advertise something on a Chevy's body panel. Or if your sport was marketed to folks other than those that lurk somewhere around the bottom of the left slope on the IQ curve.

Yeah, it's all Johnson's fault.

It might not all be Johnson's fault, but he's a big part of it. Unfortunately, the changes that were made to try and break Hendrick's stranglehold on the top spots (the Car of Tomorrow, etc.) have only proven that, just like Ferrari in F1, if you throw more money at the development you could have a trained monkey drive for you and win. With four cars - Johnson as the point man, Gordon and Martin on the second string, and Dale Jr. as the test car because he can't find the gas pedal through the haze of unexplained popularity - Hendrick has a huge base of information to take back to the shop. (Oh, and Stewart-Haas Racing adds to that development base; Tony said flat-out that he enjoyed having a couple of the Hendrick guys as teammates this year. Lowered my regard for one of my favourite drivers.) He throws money (his and Chevy's, I assume) at the development and dumps all the good stuff into the lead car, and hooray, championship for the guy with about as much personality as that pile of dog crap I nearly stepped in this morning. Add in a crew chief who's been busted for infringing the rules a few times now - does *anyone* think that they're not still cheating somewhere along the line, and NASCAR is either unable to figure out where or staying quiet because they drive good ol' GM cars? - and you have a team that wins a lot and that the fans couldn't care less about.
I saw some potential this year for some of the second-tier teams to make some moves. They just need some money, NASCAR to treat everyone fairly, and it might turn around. Until then, bye bye ratings.

My trolling aside, simply put, NASCAR is losing ratings not because Johnson is "a robot," but because the folks watching NASCAR for "reality TV" drama are getting, instead, professional drivers focused on getting the job done.

"It's boring to watch drivers circle the track, win, and then go home with a paycheck - shouldn't they be drinking, womanizing, fighting, cussing, or somehow demonstrating that racing's a lifestyle instead of a job?"

Aside from it being an incredibly boring thing to watch (my entire family and all my inlaws baring my father-in-law watches this crap), there is also an issue of over saturation.

My parents tell me "Hey, I got to get off the phone, last race of the season is coming on!" at least three times a year. Two weeks from the end of that season, a new season starts. Another end, another beginning little more than a month later. A race every weekend, a bunch of little races and qualifying matches and other leagues with the same drivers in different cars...

I think even the hardcore, drooling knuckle-draggers are going to be getting burned out.

NASCAR officials are deducting 50 fan points for every negative comment in this thread.

/doubleplusgood