Musings During the Off-Season in NASCAR - Again
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Authors Note: My
articles are based on my thoughts and observations only. Normally there are no
statistics offered. Please enjoy and feel free to comment afterwards.
There
has long been a saying which goes like this: "The more things change, the
more they stay the same."
Last
January I offered an original article about the off-season and now I would like
to offer it again - with additions added after each paragraph. Because of those
additions, it is longer than normal. And if it seems redundant at times, it is
because I did not want to change the original.
During
the NASCAR off season, a lot of us look for other sports or activities to
entertain us during the times we normally would be watching racing or racing
shows. We count the days until the date in February when what we call "our
sport" returns. Some of us wait with anticipation while some of us just
wait because it is a tradition for us. All of this waiting seems to make our minds
wander - and then all of us begin to wonder about what we can expect in the New
Year. We think about the past and contemplate how, if at all, things will
change in the future. We are always speculating about what changes will be on
the horizon for NASCAR during the next season.
The above
is still true one year later. This off season, I am looking forward to
Supercross starting in January. I think next to NASCAR, that is my favorite
type of racing. What about you?
Looking
back on the 2016 season, there was a lot of excitement and a lot of
disappointment for fans. Whether we are dedicated fans of a specific driver, a
certain brand of car or whether we just have a love and need for speed - these
are the things that seem to dictate our feelings. Many race fans were very
grateful that they were able to watch the races in person and/or on television.
Even though most were grateful, they were not without complaint about different
aspects of how the sport was presented by the NASCAR sanctioning body and by
the media.
Now,
looking back on the 2017 season, there was once again a lot of excitement and
disappointment. Attendance and
viewership was down quite a bit. A lot of us deemed Martin Truex, Jr to be our
Season Champion at the end of the 26th race. We were all pleased that at the
official season end, he was rightfully named the official Champion by NASCAR.
Congratulations, Martin! This time it came out right.
Fans
who attended some of the races in person always reported back to others who had
stayed home about how exciting the races were. This was because they could
watch the whole track and all the cars as they competed to be the best that day
and win the race. Those who did attend enjoyed the surroundings and the activity
and took in almost every aspect of what was offered and available at the track.
While at the track, they made memories that they will pass down to future
generations. In the future, they will talk about the "Good Old Days"
of racing and how great it was. In their mind, it was great because they were
there and experienced it in person. A lot of us older and longtime fans have
actually done the same thing. It is not unusual to hear and older fan start a
sentence with "Back in the day..." and sometimes even we longtime
fans get tired of hearing that when the announcers use it. Even so, most of us
feel the times we were able to be at the track were the best "Good Old
Days". We seem to have a mind set about that. Each generation, because of
what they experience and see, will always think theirs was the best of the
best. And each of us is right in our own way because we only know what we
experienced at the time. Casual fans come and go now, and if they were never
exposed to any other way the sport was, then they have no way to compare which
was truly the best.
The same
reports came back from attendees who were actually at the track watching the
races. That aspect has not changed at all. We still don't get to see all we
would like to see on television and most viewers feel the broadcast crews still
have their own biased agenda. It is still not unusual to hear fans of assorted
ages starting sentences with "Back in the day...” and each one feels
theirs were the best days.
Some
of the fans that weren't able to attend the races in person had positive
attitudes and did not really mind what Network or Channel the race was on as
long as they could watch it. Others preferred certain channels and announcers.
The one common core was that it did not matter who was broadcasting the races,
the biggest and most major complaint was that there were always too many
commercials during the broadcast.
Too many
commercials were still a big complaint in 2017 regardless of what channel was
providing coverage.
Let's
talk about commercials. Some of us consider them a necessary evil. Others
consider them an intrusion into their enjoyment of a program. Some resent the
interruptions and often complain very loudly about them. Do they ever stop to
think that if there were no commercials, would they still be able to enjoy
NASCAR or any other racing programs? Possibly, but being human seems to make
the “my satisfaction and me first” attitude take over. Some of us seem to want
instant gratification and anything that gets in the way is usually a very big
annoyance. We don't take time to realize that we need the commercials because
at the time we only think about what we want. The truth is that we must endure
them to have the luxury of watching a race on television. Until the races are
shown on commercial free channels or until they are on pay per view without
interruption, we will be inundated with many commercials. Personally, I don't
look for either of those things to happen as NASCAR and teams will always need
sponsors who in turn need exposure fairly often during a broadcast. This
results in the need for many commercials during any broadcast.
We still
need commercials but it does seem that in 2017, each commercial was repeated
many times more than before. There also seemed to be less companies advertising,
thus the reason for the repeats, in my opinion.
Now,
let's talk about the competitors for a bit. To me, as I have often expressed,
there are two groups of competitors on the track. Some of them I call racers
while others are what I call drivers. After each race, we see and hear varied
reactions from the ones who competed in the race. Most of us can predict the
reactions of each competitor the media chooses to interview. The interviews are
normally the same questions from the media regardless of who presented the
broadcast. Some competitors are congenial and friendly and present themselves
in a very positive manner. Some come across as upset because they didn't win
and others who did not win may just walk away and refuse to do an interview. We
are all familiar with the ones that react in each of those ways. I think we all
recognize the fact that they have been conditioned by the sanctioning body and
their sponsors to be congenial, represent both their sponsors and NASCAR to the
best of their ability and always in a good, positive manner.
Not much
has changed in this arena of racing. We have some happy competitors at times
and we also have upset ones, which a lot of fans call whiners. It does seem
there are quite a few that always place blame on others if there is an
incident, rather than thinking they could ever cause a problem. Some of the
new, younger participants are quickly picking up the same attitude. This is a
trend explained by history that has shown that one becomes the same as whom you
associate with.
There
are times on the track or on pit road that some drivers refuse to follow the
rules set forth by the sanctioning body. If they are not representing the sport
correctly, they will be called to "The NASCAR Truck" for a discussion
or a reprimand. Although I do not have any statistics or records to present, I
often wonder if there has ever been a competitor who was never called at one
time or another to report to NASCAR after the race. They also tend to call crew
chiefs to the truck at times. Sometimes it is both driver and crew chief and
sometimes it is just one or the other, depending on the perceived infraction or
action. Depending on what rule was broken or whether the driver or crew chief
in question, they may or may not be penalized. Each of us fans have our own
theory as to why some do and some don't get a penalty.
One of
the strangest penalties they implemented in 2017 was having drivers sit in
their car on pit road for various times due to lug nut violations the previous
race. Most of us still don't understand this one.
These
are just a few of the things I think about during the time when there is no
racing in NASCAR. Do you have thoughts or perspectives that come to mind during
the off season? Please feel free to share them by commenting below, or you can
email me if you wish. Thank you.
One other
thing I have been thinking about during this off season period is how different
the 2018 season will be without Dale Jr, Matt Kenseth and Danica Patrick. I
will miss all of them. I am sure most of you will miss them also.
Thank you
for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section
below, or you may email me. I do ask that you keep it clean and not bash anyone.
