NASCAR Fanning Flames by Trying Too Hard to Change

There was a time not so long ago that NASCAR made its rules, set its format and prioritized its decisions for the garage, not the grandstands.

There was a time when the feedback from its drivers and owners counted at least as much as an anonymous and fickle group of survey respondents fancifully titled, "the fan council."

There is change for the sake of progress. And change for the sake of change. And somewhere NASCAR's best intentions have been derailed.

When NASCAR chairman Brian France met with reporters in Daytona Beach two weeks ago, he implied more changes were on the way -- particularly for the Sprint Cup Series and its Chase for the Championship playoff.

One of the most exciting sports in the world feels this overwhelming need to manufacture excitement.

Is it possible NASCAR is trying too hard?

A couple of hours after France's news conference, four-time champ Jeff Gordon was asked about the increasing perception that NASCAR is becoming more entertainment than sport.

And it hit a nerve.

"Nothing is more important than winning in my opinion,'' Gordon said pointedly.

"I don't care if I lead by 10 seconds and it is the most boring race you've ever seen. I'll take that. I'll take it every week.



Share "Racing -- the competition -- is always going to be at the forefront of minds in here in the garage.''

And it also should be at the forefront in the NASCAR executive offices.

Admittedly, the racing media used to chide France's predecessors -- his grandfather Bill Sr. and father Bill Jr. -- for being too entrenched and unwilling to evolve. NASCAR was "the benevolent dictatorship."

Their heads would spin today.

You have to appreciate NASCAR's willingness to listen to its constituency. There's no doubt NASCAR has only the best of intentions and is absolutely tops of all professional sports when it comes to accommodating its fans.

But there is a fine line between being beholden to the whims of the grandstands and being accountable to the people who are most heavily invested in NASCAR -- the drivers and team owners and tracks.

There needs to be a balance between competition and spectacle.

NASCAR has always touted its fan base as being the most loyal in sports. Maybe it's not.

Maybe it's become spoiled by the "how-about-this," "or-this," or "maybe-this" so generously offered whenever television ratings or ticket sales slump.

Obviously, the sport needs lots of happy, come-back-for-more fans. But the real race fans don't need gimmicks, revolving door rules, or a championship formula tougher to keep up with than Jimmie Johnson.

Judging by the half-full grandstands and sagging ratings -- NBA star LeBron James' "The Decision" special on ESPN got a 7.3 television rating; the Daytona 500 a 7.7 on FOX -- the change-this, change-that tactic isn't necessarily working anyway.

But the problem isn't lack of excitement, personality or athletic drama.

People aren't coming to races because -- despite the best efforts from tracks -- hotels are still jacking up rates and airlines are charging $30 a bag. Unemployment is in the double digits in many markets NASCAR visits -- some twice a year.

People aren't watching the races on television because they can get tweet-by-tweet updates from Twitter keeping them abreast of every single practice, qualifying and race lap -- and what Dale Earnhardt Jr ate for lunch.

"For whatever reason, the sport has been affected and I think that we've got some of the best, most exciting racing that we've had in a long time, so is it the racing?'' Gordon asked last week in Chicago. "Is it the points' system? What is going to engage the fans in our sport in a way that is going to grow the sport?

"There are so many things going on in the world today that are entertaining and where people are going to spend their money and when times are tough they have to make that decision and choice. NASCAR's job is very broad and very difficult on managing and balancing that out of making sure we're able to race, but that it is still entertaining.

"I still see tremendous crowds and very avid fans but are the numbers what they want from a viewership at home, in the grandstands? Maybe not. But I still see great crowds everywhere I go and see incredibly avid fans so that's what I measure by.

"I don't use the same measuring tools that they measure by.''

The real race fans don't need gimmicks, revolving door rules, or a championship formula tougher to keep up with than Jimmie Johnson.
It's hard to imagine Major League Baseball giving batters four strikes because 1,000 baseball fans said 1-0 games were boring.

NASCAR has injected some great nuances like double-file restarts, green-white-checkered flag endings, in-race reporting from its drivers and a long-needed playoff system.

But hopefully as NASCAR contemplates its newest set of "revisions," it will be done with deference to competition and sport, not solely motivated with creating a three-hour television variety show or a 36-week soap opera.

The sport has become wildly popular because NASCAR was smart enough to seize opportunity and lure fans. But it has evolved again and maybe the way to attract more fans -- and just as importantly keep its current fan base interested -- is by keeping the sport pure.

Bodies in the stands, eyes on the tube -- give em' something to talk about. That's crucial to the success of any major league sport. But there was actually more of all this before NASCAR tried so hard.

"It seems like the more that we start to listen to what other people want us to do the less popular it's getting,'' championship contender Denny Hamlin said.

So much of the last decade was about growing the sport. Maybe now it can be about preserving the sport and resisting the temptation to create drama when so much already exists.

NASCAR comes by it honestly, and that's what fans appreciate.