Well, the 14th has come and gone. Anyone have an idea why we don't yet know who's made it through to the next round? I can't imagine an easier process: whichever writer in a pairing scored the highest moves on.
I’m a corporate type guy. A business suit wearing, profit maximizing, jargon speaking, "who moved your cheese" type of guy. Here’s what I’d do to fix NASCAR:
1. Tweak the dress code. The gaily coloured driver and crew jumpsuits don’t cut it. Copy what works for big business in America. Let Brooks Brothers, Armani, or Ermenegildo Zegna come up with a crisply tailored two or three-button flame retardant suit (could put tasteful advertisements on the ties). Maybe declare a race or two to be “casual Friday” type affairs, although I’m personally not too keen on that. 2. Lay-off all of the pit crew except one guy (or gal!). Gross inefficiency here. This fix will save each team at least half a million dollars per year, and make each pit stop way more interesting than they are now. 3. Conduct a driver-satisfaction survey on an annual basis. These guys seem to be pretty unhappy about stuff. Survey them to find out what they like and dislike and then act on it (e.g. do they want a microwave in the lunchroom?, are same-sex marriage benefits important to them?, etc.). 4. Lose “NASCAR” as the brand name. It’s old and tired and no longer tests well. I suggest “Amoreg” plus a smiling panda as the logo. Both tested well with wealthy males AND females in the critical 49 to 53 year old Chinese and Hispanic market groupings.
Next: conducting more productive driver meetings; and, hot dogs vs. Hot Pockets – taste or profits?
Billions of dollars have showered down onto NASCAR as a result of it's incredible rise in popularity over the years. The teams who succeed are no longer the legacy teams - the Petty's and the Wood Brothers - but the teams with the resources to invest in the refinements needed to gain tiny increments of speed, speed that is necessary to capture a decent proportion of NASCAR's huge treasure chest. This research requires millions of dollars per year instead of thousands. Further, drivers rotate through these teams far more rapidly than they used to. Loyalties are strained by the pace of these changes.
NASCAR has also radically expanded the number of races on the schedule. This has stretched the ability of their fan base and drivers/teams ability to sustain energy levels.
Are these really problems? Well, T.V. ratings have dropped over the past two years. Races with histories of sell-outs over the past ten years have been struggling to sell out. These are likely normal growing pains, not signs of imminent doom. I can't think of a single racing body that wouldn't kill for "problems" such as these.
WHAT TO DO?
Continue to expand the fan base. Much of the fan complaints are a result of uncomfortable change; most will adapt with the sport. There are demographics not yet reached by this sport, although the fan base upon which the sport was built seems sensitive to such expansion.
Trim some of the races that don’t produce a strong return or that don't show promise to expand interest into new demographic areas. Make it clear the problem is with that specific race, not the sport. The old fan base will be impressed, and new investors and fans will know NASCAR means business.
NASCAR is a success story, and will be for the next decade or two unless they overreact to the current, normal growth pains.
