Has Nascar gone completely off track(pun intended)?

May be...

No one likes change and you can't hold back time. I loved the old days of racing too but what can you do?? I'm sorry people lose the desire to watch but it happens, personally I try to find good things in all racing from all eras. Dammmmm i'm gettin old. LOL :)

I agree to an extent. I haven't been watching as long as some of you on here (only since 2000 have I really been a die-hard fan), but the racing was exciting back then, for me. It does seem like there is only a small pool of drivers that win every week. I do agree that in order to win a championship, you have to be better than the competition all season long, not just a third of it. That's how Earnhardt, Sr won all of his championships, by playing it smart all year long, and being in the right places and the right times. Why should the guy who dominates the first 26 races not even have a shot in the last ten? I'm the furthest thing from a Kyle Busch fan, but last's years' Cup was his to win or lose.

I don't think NASCAR can win in this argument. If they left the points system in place, people would be complaining that towards the end of the season, it gets boring that a driver has an insurmountable lead. So, they invent the Chase and people complain that not enough action happens early in the season.

In the end, you can't please everyone. If you're a real fan, you watch because you'll take any kind of NASCAR you can get. If you're not, you won't watch because you'll think it is boring, and predictable.

Time changes everything, and if you look at every sport, they have all evolved over time. Some people like the changes, others do not. It's a part of life.

NASCAR needs money to exist, so they need sponsorships. That's never going to change, and it hasn't because it was the same back in the day. The only difference is that it was cheaper to run back then so more teams could afford to.

So, to answer your question, no NASCAR hasn't gotten off track. Part of evolution is following track, and that is exactly what NASCAR has done.

Also, one thing I will disagree with in your question is that balls to the wall all year long is not competing. I'm sorry but it is. In any competition, there has to be strategy involved. And part of that strategy is figuring out how to salvage a good day from a bad day. How many times have you seen a football team rest its starters at the end of the season so they are fresh for the playoffs? That's not balls out. It's strategy of looking for the bigger-picture win (Superbowl, Championship).

the chase blows.

Your Question
Has Nascar gone completely off track?(pun intended!)?
You know many of us who have followed Nascar a long time(I started in the 70's watching Petty and Pearson), have lost the desire in recent years for racing. It no longer is the thrill and unpredictable sport it once was. Yea, people die, people get hurt and fans get pissed. But none of that happens anymore! Instead of having Jeff Gordon going for his 7th title this year(by the old points sytem he would have won in '04 and '07) you have Mr. Chase(JJ) going for 4 in a row. Do any of you real fans care? I don't. Instead of balls to wall racing ALL YEAR LONG, you really can just sit back and do enough to get in, then hit the gas! That ain't racing or competing! Any of you agree with how dull the sport has become? How watered down and corporate?

I concur!!!!



GO 24!!!!

You just stole the words right out of my mouth... NASCAR couldn't get anymore P C (politically correct) then they already are. It's taken A LOT away from the sport, and this is coming from a 24 year old that has been watching since 1993. I use to make sure I was where I could watch the race, now it doesn't matter. I'll DVR it and if I hear its worth watching then I will. Otherwise, I only watch a few select races live (Daytona, Talladega, Bristol, Richmond, Darlington, Atlanta, Martinsville, Dover, Watkins Glen)

Yes I agree with you 100%. Since Brian France has taken over Nascar has gone downhill with all of his stupid changes. They need to get back to their roots and start back like they were in the sixties.



H E N D R I C K~M O T O R S P O R T S~R U L E S ! ! ! ! !

"Yea, people die, people get hurt and fans get pissed. But none of that happens anymore!"

so,
you're looking for more people to die???

sorry, you lost me on this one !

it's not your neck out there getting chopped off

"Watered Down" Would be the key my friend. I am so incredibly pissed about last weekends race or should I say Mondays race (rained out). I live in Charlotte, and to be honest with you these boys are like the hometown heros or something. They own everything here, night clubs, car lots, etc... I am trying to figure out when NASCAR started getting more endorsements than NBA players. Just like the NBA with too much money comes no passion for the game! I wish we could go back to Petty on the track and Jordan on the court!! Preach on Buddy!!!!!

ya

I totally agree! You summed it up perfectly!

This question makes me think of the movie "Rollerball". The original with James Cann. And all the problems the "sport" started running into when the conglomerate that ran it became too controlling.

I started with Pearson, Petty, Allisons also. So I want the old time, let's settle this behind the garage after the race, attitude back. dangit!!!

Before Brian France came along, the points race was completely secondary.. It was winning.. Bill Elliot won eleven races in, back in 1985, and DW won two, and won the title.. When asked if he would trade places with DW he laughed.. The answer was "hell" no..
Brian France thinks he could snag more fans, by making the Championship "special".. He did.. For over forty years, the fans never knew, or cared what place their driver was in, unless he was in first place, or close.. Now that is all you hear about.. France wants this thing to be about winning, but you can't have it both ways (don't children always think you can) .. Apparently nobody ever taught him that other parable that goes "don't fix it, if it ain't broke".. Idiot child that he is, he took the fastest growing sport in the world, and made it the fastest shrinking sport in the world.. Maybe we need to get him work as Tony Eury Jr's helper, over at Hendrick R&D.. Or F1 would be good for him, as well.. For fifty years it kept going up, and up.. It only took him a tenth of that time to bring it to it's knee's..
Edit: Melissa, you seem like a very nice person, but your answer tells me you never really saw Richard Petty race much.. Race after race he did the same thing.. He would sit in seventh place for the entire race, unless sixth place fell back too far.. With fifty laps to go, he would slowly work his way forward.. That's how we knew he was going to win, and he did.. And those that say "things change with time", let me just say this.. Racing will never change.. Put guys in cars, and tell them that the first to get from here to there gets paid, and you've got a race on your hands.. Fill a book full of rules, and I guarantee that every page added to that book, just takes away from racing.. I can even prove that..

I disagree. Obviously you haven't been watching Kyle Busch
He will never let that happen

You are dead-on. Although my favourite driver remains Kasey Kahne, I love to watch Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards because they still understand what the sport is about. Too many people (like our current champion) just try to have a good points day. Do you ever notice how many of the races he actually wins are just snoozefests? Like last year's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. That race was a joke- and predictably, he won. The more boring, the higher the odds JJ wins it. Kyle and Carl try their hardest to win every weekend, and they put on a good show for the crowd. Because of them, I still hold out a little hope that things can improve.

you hit the nail on the head.

yes i totally agree!!!!!!makati shangri la incident