Constant NASCAR Critic
(You might have another alternative soon)
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So, you hate Playoffs (you probably still call it/them “the Chase”) and would like to see the old point system back in use.
You hate composite car bodies, splitters and just about anything “aero,” and you’d like to see sheet metal and real bumpers make a comeback.
You hate the Charter System and want Flyin’ Robbie from down at the Saturday night track to put together a team for a couple of races.
You can count on your fingers the nice things you’ve said about NASCAR since Dale Earnhardt Sr. died. Welcome to the club. I’m kind of guessing, but I think there are quite a few of us.
So why are you still watching or following the NASCAR news and results, if you don’t like anything about it? Oh, because it’s the only stock car racing available, you say.
Unless you have access to MAV-TV, that’s pretty much true, but we may be headed toward something of an alternative, and I’m not talking about Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham’s Superstar Racing Experience, which promises to put drivers you care about into cars you don’t, then race them on short tracks for money put up by some TV network. The curiosity value will work for a while, but even if SRX succeeds, there needs to be more to keep racing relevant to fans who are younger than most of the prospective drivers.
Here’s what else is on the horizon. During the last decade, several regional super late model sanctioning bodies have managed to bring their rules packages together for this type of car, and for a couple of big races each year – think the All-American 400 at Nashville, the Winchester 400 in Indiana, and the Snowball Derby – draw at least a decent representation of the best short track chauffeurs in the county. Quite a few of the top names have made occasional starts in the Camping World Truck or Xfinity Series: Snowball winner Ty Majeski and fourth-place Chandler Smith (some guy named Chase Elliott took third); All-American 400 winner Casey Roderick and near-winner Carson Hocevar (who won the Winchester 400). Others, like Bubba Pollard and Stephen Nasse, have never gotten that chance but have proved themselves many times over.
You hate composite car bodies, splitters and just about anything “aero,” and you’d like to see sheet metal and real bumpers make a comeback.
You hate the Charter System and want Flyin’ Robbie from down at the Saturday night track to put together a team for a couple of races.
You can count on your fingers the nice things you’ve said about NASCAR since Dale Earnhardt Sr. died. Welcome to the club. I’m kind of guessing, but I think there are quite a few of us.
So why are you still watching or following the NASCAR news and results, if you don’t like anything about it? Oh, because it’s the only stock car racing available, you say.
Unless you have access to MAV-TV, that’s pretty much true, but we may be headed toward something of an alternative, and I’m not talking about Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham’s Superstar Racing Experience, which promises to put drivers you care about into cars you don’t, then race them on short tracks for money put up by some TV network. The curiosity value will work for a while, but even if SRX succeeds, there needs to be more to keep racing relevant to fans who are younger than most of the prospective drivers.
Here’s what else is on the horizon. During the last decade, several regional super late model sanctioning bodies have managed to bring their rules packages together for this type of car, and for a couple of big races each year – think the All-American 400 at Nashville, the Winchester 400 in Indiana, and the Snowball Derby – draw at least a decent representation of the best short track chauffeurs in the county. Quite a few of the top names have made occasional starts in the Camping World Truck or Xfinity Series: Snowball winner Ty Majeski and fourth-place Chandler Smith (some guy named Chase Elliott took third); All-American 400 winner Casey Roderick and near-winner Carson Hocevar (who won the Winchester 400). Others, like Bubba Pollard and Stephen Nasse, have never gotten that chance but have proved themselves many times over.
Here’s Bubba Pollard after a big win a few years ago. In the asphalt short track racing world, people come out to see this guy drive.
Anyway, with a crossover among the different sanctioning groups already happening at these races, their representatives have done some talking about creating a true national short-track series that would include some of these races and others (but would not replace the regional series). I, for one, would really like to see that happen.
First, an admission that all is not perfect in this short track world for the true NASCAR traditionalist. The cars have fiberglass bodies, not sheet metal pulled from the junkyard. (If you want steel, you’ll need to follow the much smaller Super Cup Stock Car Series.) The number of rent-a-rides is considerable; don’t expect an owner to call you because of your wins last year. Rather, that call will reference your sponsor.
Still, if you can get your hands on a car, you can enter a race without the limitation that 80%-90% of the qualifying spots are reserved for the privileged.
Right now, it would be hard to follow such a series, because there’s no central television “home,” but that could change, maybe in ways that would be a tad less expensive than picking each up from a streaming service.
There’s not much super late model racing in my area, so I probably wouldn’t have a local hero to cheer for, but I know the stories of some of these drivers, and I could learn more. I think I could identify with a lot of them. From what I’ve seen, I know I could identify with their racing.
How about you? If these races were on a reasonably accessible cable/dish network as weekend alternatives to Cup, would you pull the NASCAR plug, or does complaining about Daytona fulfill a personal need that you can’t risk denying?
Best of all, for me, one of the tracks mentioned for a major “national” event is Jennerstown Speedway, less than three hours away. I used to drive that far to races regularly. Maybe once more, for traditions sake.
First, an admission that all is not perfect in this short track world for the true NASCAR traditionalist. The cars have fiberglass bodies, not sheet metal pulled from the junkyard. (If you want steel, you’ll need to follow the much smaller Super Cup Stock Car Series.) The number of rent-a-rides is considerable; don’t expect an owner to call you because of your wins last year. Rather, that call will reference your sponsor.
Still, if you can get your hands on a car, you can enter a race without the limitation that 80%-90% of the qualifying spots are reserved for the privileged.
Right now, it would be hard to follow such a series, because there’s no central television “home,” but that could change, maybe in ways that would be a tad less expensive than picking each up from a streaming service.
There’s not much super late model racing in my area, so I probably wouldn’t have a local hero to cheer for, but I know the stories of some of these drivers, and I could learn more. I think I could identify with a lot of them. From what I’ve seen, I know I could identify with their racing.
How about you? If these races were on a reasonably accessible cable/dish network as weekend alternatives to Cup, would you pull the NASCAR plug, or does complaining about Daytona fulfill a personal need that you can’t risk denying?
Best of all, for me, one of the tracks mentioned for a major “national” event is Jennerstown Speedway, less than three hours away. I used to drive that far to races regularly. Maybe once more, for traditions sake.
I’m going to guess that there are more fans wearing these shirts at a major super late model race than there are wearing t-shirts for most recent developmental drivers at a NASCAR race.
Frank’s Loose Lug Nuts
Another addendum to the above: Some newer NASCAR racers have good track records in the weekly world – Christopher Bell, for example – but NASCAR and the owners have put their blessings on a career path of legends or Bandoleros, then maybe K&N East/West (or ARCA East/West, or whatever it’s called now), then ARCA/Menard’s, and then trucks, seldom spending more than a year or two at each level. This keeps drivers from developing a fan base prior to showing up on a major touring circuit, and that’s a big problem for the sport now, and it’s one reason fans might really like some of the super late model racers.
Speaking of the Superstar Racing Experience, does anyone out there really believe that Tony Stewart’s involvement had absolutely nothing to do with NASCAR’s decision to move the truck race from Eldora to Knoxville?
This is old news now, but I haven’t said much publicly about the 2021 Cup schedule, so I’ll reiterate an ongoing opinion: the variety of tracks will help in the short run, but unless the racing changes, road courses offer nothing, once there are enough that they’re not a novelty. It says here that NASCAR’s decision to cut costs by going to a single producer of specialty parts, is yet another move away from stock cars, and that’s one of the core issues in the decline. Go back to stock, limit the areas teams can fiddle with their cars, and costs will drop even more. I think fans will like it, too.
I’ve missed this writing, but this could be the beginning of a retirement tour of sorts. I just don’t see that much to write about, unless it’s history or articles that draw attention to other, more grassroots forms of racing. We’ll see, but regardless, it has been a privilege to have had you read anything I’ve written.
Another addendum to the above: Some newer NASCAR racers have good track records in the weekly world – Christopher Bell, for example – but NASCAR and the owners have put their blessings on a career path of legends or Bandoleros, then maybe K&N East/West (or ARCA East/West, or whatever it’s called now), then ARCA/Menard’s, and then trucks, seldom spending more than a year or two at each level. This keeps drivers from developing a fan base prior to showing up on a major touring circuit, and that’s a big problem for the sport now, and it’s one reason fans might really like some of the super late model racers.
Speaking of the Superstar Racing Experience, does anyone out there really believe that Tony Stewart’s involvement had absolutely nothing to do with NASCAR’s decision to move the truck race from Eldora to Knoxville?
This is old news now, but I haven’t said much publicly about the 2021 Cup schedule, so I’ll reiterate an ongoing opinion: the variety of tracks will help in the short run, but unless the racing changes, road courses offer nothing, once there are enough that they’re not a novelty. It says here that NASCAR’s decision to cut costs by going to a single producer of specialty parts, is yet another move away from stock cars, and that’s one of the core issues in the decline. Go back to stock, limit the areas teams can fiddle with their cars, and costs will drop even more. I think fans will like it, too.
I’ve missed this writing, but this could be the beginning of a retirement tour of sorts. I just don’t see that much to write about, unless it’s history or articles that draw attention to other, more grassroots forms of racing. We’ll see, but regardless, it has been a privilege to have had you read anything I’ve written.