HOW I SEE NASCAR TODAY

What can I say I love Nascar! I was introduced to the sport years ago by my husband, Jeff, before Jeff had shown me what the sport was all about I was like most people and thought the sport was only about cars going around in a big circle real fast. Boy was I wrong, there is a lot more to Nascar then cars going real fast in a big circle. I was hooked or you can say addicted after I was educated on the sport and became one of the league of many fans that are drawn to the tracks or televisions every weekend to see who was going to get the checkered flag or the point lead. My wardrobe became a testament to my favorite driver who in the beginning was Rusty Wallace. I lived, ate, and breathe the sport; I guess you can say I became a Nascar junkie.

A lot of things have happened to the sport since I became the junkie that I am. “The Intimidator”, Dale Earnhardt is gone, no matter whether if you like him or not he was someone who made the sport great. I myself can’t believe to this day he is gone and I feel the sport still has a very big hole in it without Dale. I often wonder if Dale was still alive what he would think about the direction the sport has taken? Would he agree with the way Teresa is running DEI, Jr. signing with Hendricks, or the new point system? One will never know but I believe he would have not been too happy about it.

The introduction of formula drivers to the sport such as Montoya and next year with Franchitti makes me wonder who will be joining the ranks of drivers in the future. The formula drivers coming to the sport in a way sickens me. In the past you had to earn your way to the cup series, prove that you can hang with the big guys so to speak. Thanks to Ganassi we now have to deal with drivers that haven’t proven themselves in stock car racing. I am not saying that these drivers shouldn’t be allowed in the sport, I believe they need to prove themselves first by starting in ARCA or the Busch series first after all driving stock cars is a hell of a big difference then driving a canoe on wheels. Montoya has proven this year he is a danger to the other drivers with his “I am going to win at any cost attitude”. I wonder if next year if Franchitti will be the same way? I hope for the sake of the sport he won’t be.

I have my doubts on the car of tomorrow. Now I totally agree with Nascar on making a safer car for the drivers and even out the playing field but so far I really haven’t seen that this year with the introduction of the new car. This year all I have seen is Hendricks’s team stinking up the wins with the new car, how is that evening up the playing field? Is it because he has more money then God and has figured out the new car? Who knows but I for one would like to see more than just someone from Hendricks winning the race, where is the excitement in that? As for being safe, well look at what happened to Harvick in Martinsville when the foam of his door caught on fire, to me when it comes to a car setting on fire like that makes me wonder if all appropriate testing was done before the car hit the track? True, not all the kinks have been worked out in the car and in time I am sure Nascar will get them worked out but as far as the playing field be even, I have very serious doubts on that. I hope that next year will prove to be one where we do see some real competitive racing, one where you never know who might win the race.

Nascar also seems to be trying to take the sport and turn it into what I call Hollywood. They took the Darlington Labor Day race away and replaced it with another California race and nix Rockingham altogether. Nascar stated they had to make the changes due to faltering tickets sells in North Carolina and that weather played a factor in their decision. So now we have races where we have Hollywood’s finest flocking to the tracks in hopes that Nascar’s popularity will boost them into superstardom and trying to turn the sport into a red carpet event. Most of these celebrities have never even seen a race or even understand the sport but there they are. Whatever happened to the whole aspect of Nascar being a sport built on southern tradition? How did all these posers as I call them get into the sport that all us die-hard fans love so much? I wonder if you ask any of these posers who the king is, if they would answer back with Elvis? I don’t mind if celebrities are true fans coming to a race and supporting their driver but I do object to the posers coming to the sport in hopes that by riding the coat tails of Nascar they gain stardom and free press off the popularity of the sport.

True, these are just my opinions and maybe you agree or disagree with me but the bottom line is I hate to see the sport I fell in love with turn into just another commercial vehicle like the NFL, NBA, or MLB. Bootleggers, dirt tracks, and a good ole handshake built Nascar not Hollywood, contracts, and formula drivers. Nascar is the working mans sport, a sport where you can take your whole family to and have a good time. Where you have drivers that have values and you can be proud to be a fan. I hope Bill France Jr. and the other board members never forget that as they continue to build the future of Nascar, because really like the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!