A Voice for the Fans ~ Why All The Secrecy?
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I bid you welcome gentle readers, and the same warm welcome to
that lucky person assigned to read us on behalf of NASCAR this fine day. This might
not be the only missive you’ll see from me this week, but my mind had been
gnawing at something for a while now, and I just wonder if it’s bothering
anyone else but this crotchety old lady.
Jim and I have been doing this site together since March of
2013, and in that time, we’ve included many little “perks” to please and assist
the race fans, who are after all, the folks for whom the site exists. Since we
are a fairly small site compared to some of the giants such as nascar.com or
Jayski.com, I’m sure what’s happening isn’t aimed at us in particular, but I’d
just like all the fans to know that we find it annoying when we can’t serve you
as in the past.
Several bits of general information used to be readily available
if one knew where to look. I’ve always prided myself on knowing where to look,
but this year, an increasing number of things seem to be purposely delayed or
hidden. Don’t ask me why, but it’s true. NASCAR itself used to announce
penalties and things of that nature on Tuesdays. That has now moved to Wednesdays,
and occasionally even Thursdays. As a media member in good standing, this
scribe finds it annoying to have news of the last race dribbling out in bits
and pieces when the next race is already on the horizon. We’ve always felt it
best to work ahead, as the past is already history.
TV Ratings, at least the overnight readings, have long been
readily available on Tuesday morning and could always be found on Jayski.com, (Thanks
Jay!) whose source was almost always quoted as SportsMediaWatch.com. Now, for
unknown reasons… at least unknown to me… Sports Media Watch posts all other
weekend sports, mostly of the stick and ball variety, but NASCAR ratings for
the Cup race are delayed. We only occasionally have reason to post the ratings
here on Race Fans Forever, but I have friends that depend on having them on Tuesday
for other media. So far, I have been able to find and share the ratings for the
previous Sunday’s race, but I think it wise not to say where at this time.
Still, that inquisitive though aged mind of mine keeps asking, “Why?”
Mind you, this is nothing personal and I’m not being paranoid…
at least any more than usual. It’s quite obviously happening to many racing
sites. Ever since we started, we have included on our Home Page, a preview of
the upcoming offering of our National Anthem. Why? Because race fans have asked
for it. That was usually available in a timely fashion from the page dedicated
to the upcoming race on Jayski.com. In many cases, it could be found, sometimes
weeks or even months in advance on the website of the host track.
For every race in its proper turn, I put up a countdown clock,
set to the approximate wave of the green flag. Beneath that, I’ve always given
a “preview” via YouTube or other video of the promised singer, musician or
group of either. I can no longer do that, because that seems to have become a
State Secret, at the discretion of NASCAR. They have a page on nascar.com that
eventually will hold all of the race information including such things as Grand
Marshal, Invocation Giver, Honorary Pace Car Driver and Honorary Starter,
Color Guard, Anthem Singer and Flyover. That information magically appears now on
Sunday morning, and not before. I’d try to lay the blame on Colin Kaepernick, but it was happening over the long, hot summer,
well before he took his little stand against America and embarrassed the NFL
right out of a portion of their own ratings.
Never, it seems, is it now made available by the individual
tracks. I’m not sure what to make of this, but we’d like our readers to know
that some of the things you’ve been accustomed to finding on our Home Page are
no longer there because the information is no longer available. It’s hard to
imagine that withholding such things would be to NASCAR’s benefit. One would
think that any positive reinforcement would be a good thing, yet it is
obviously someone at NASCAR that is withholding at least part of what’s gone
mysteriously missing this year.
No, this is no big deal, but big deals start from tiny ones.
Wars have been started by no more than a slight insult. The feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys started
over a hog… and lasted through generations. Over the years, fans have had to stand
by and watch NASCAR take over more and more of what used to be individual
enterprises. The food at all ISC tracks is now served up by Americrown Service
Corporation, which in reality is just another name for NASCAR. Teams and
drivers used to contract and sell their own merchandise. Now, that privilege is
allotted only to NASCAR. Mention “Souvenir trailers” to a young fan today and
you’ll get a blank stare in return.
In earlier times, when those trailers were an integral part of
every race, fans would go willingly to spend their money at the trailer of
their favorite driver, and there was always that chance you’d meet someone
special at a trailer. I met crew chief Waddell Wilson at Geoff Bodine’s
trailer, some 30 years before I would write an article about
him and his career. You just never knew… Now all “bling” is licensed and sold by
NASCAR at a huge bazaar-type area at the tracks, and there isn’t a chance
you’ll run into a one-day Hall of Famer there that just came out to say “Hey
y’all” to the fans.
Those things, one can at least understand as generating a
profit… perhaps. Tactics such as delaying or attempting to hide TV ratings on
the other hand, in this scribe’s opinion only serve to inconvenience and annoy
both fans and members of the media. Locking down information on an upcoming
race is just beyond my comprehension, especially as “some” information is
readily available. For months ahead of time in most cases, you can read all
about the entertainment scheduled at every track, and intriguing things such as
someone’s idea of a “special” sandwich or calorie-laden drink. Some tracks even
push their own “designer beer” or something similar. Can anyone explain to me
why that information can be found so easily, but it’s
Saturday morning as I write this and I still cannot tell you who will present
our National Anthem at Texas tomorrow?
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks
so good on you!
~PattyKay