I think just about anyone who saw the Pepsi 500, at Fontana, CA can sum the race up in one word:  B-O-R-I-N-G !!!  Anyone who thinks that this race is going to suddenly attract more fans and more attention merely by moving it to a later date in the schedule is off their proverbial rocker.

Sept. 12 — Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 20 — New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Sept. 27 — Dover International Speedway
Oct. 4 — Kansas Speedway
Oct. 11 — Auto Club Speedway
Oct. 17 — Lowe's Motor Speedway
Oct. 25 — Martinsville Speedway
Nov. 1 — Talladega Superspeedway

Case-in-point, this year, the race was held on Labor Day weekend, the weather was nice and mild, there weren't any regular season NFL games on, the NHL and NBA haven't ramped up toward their seasons, yet, and...well, lets face it, there just isn't a lot to do but either go to a college football game, or watch racing.  So, where were all the fans?


And, it wasn't just in this particular section, but all around the track, except for (maybe) right in front of the flag stand.  


(Nope, I was wrong) (Oops! That was the Nationwide race.)


(That's better!  More than a smattering, anyway.)
Look, I know that fan attendance at races has been flagging, as of late, but NASCAR needs to realize that maybe this market is never going to pan out the way they would like it to.  Remember Riverside?  


And, Ontario?  


Whatever happened to those two venues?  The bottom line is that Auto Club Speedway has been utilized by NASCAR since 1997 (for the Sprint Cup series) and attendance has faltered each year, not because of when the race is held, but because of lack of interest.  It may be a fun race for the drivers because of all of the track they can use for racing, but it is a boring race to watch.  I actually didn't mind helping my wife out with a few chores in the middle of the race last night, because the racing was so predictable.  Nobody could touch Jimmie Johnson all night, the Toyotas ran decently, the Roush cars were stout, and Jeff Gordon flailed again.  No surprises, whatsoever.


Now, next week will be huge!  Lots of excitement; lots of racing; lots of fun, at Richmond.  parking may be a pain in the ####, but there really isn't a bad seat in the house and the racing is fast and furious.  Where else can I see racing like that, but on a super-speedway?  Hmmmmm!  Oh, yeah!  That's right!  Darlington!!!  Didn't NASCAR used to have a race at Darlington during Labor Day weekend?  Oh, yeah, that's right, they did.  But, they took that race away in favor of a boring cookie-cutter track out in California.  Go figure!

As I sauntered through my local super market today, something strange caught my eye and I felt so strongly, that I just had to write about it.  

It all started in the cereal aisle, as I tried in vain to see which brand would be the most cost effective, as marketers have seemingly gone out of their way to try to confuse the #### out of we consumers.  Some boxes were 14.3 oz., some were 11.9 oz., some were 10.7 oz., and there were a myriad of other size boxes, too...all of the same brand of cereal.  And, of course, other brands had followed suit, all selling different size boxes, with different prices.  I guess marketers have a new model to draw on; a model that challenges consumers to find the best buy, then hopes that people get so frustrated, they'll just grab one and go, thus putting one over on us, while padding their sales figures.  And it works, too.  Just go to any financial website and look up the last 12 months worth of financial data on General Mills and Post cereal companies.  I'll just shorten my explanation by saying, they're are doing very well in this stagnant economy.  It seems that the "confusion model" sells.
  
Well, guess what sports fans?  Now, that model has crossed over into beer marketing and sales.  Just look at the latest bottles of Guiness, for instance.

No, look closer.  Do you see, 11.2 FL OZ ?  And its not just Guiness, but Labatts is also doing it.  Here's one of their bottles.

While everyone else is selling actual 16 0z. bottles of brew, Labatt's is selling 14.9 oz. and trying to pass them off as 16 ouncers.  So far, its just these two (that I've witnessed), and a few micro-brews trying to make quick money on an unsuspecting public, but how long will it take before the big conglomerates sell out and start doing the same?  How long before, now Belgium-owned, Budweiser starts doling out 11.3 oz. and 14.7 oz. cans and bottles of Bud and Bud Light?  And how long after they start doing can we expect the rest to follow suit? 
Cereal companies may be getting away with it, folks, but are we going to let them get away with this for everything?  Men and women, they're messing with our beer!

Some might have observed my con####uous absence in the forums this past week and may have concluded that I have gone on the disabled list again, but you'd be incorrect in that assumption.  Instead, I was busy welcoming into the world, NASCAR's newest little race fan, Bailey Elise, who was born last Friday, August 22nd.  She weighed in at 6 lbs., 14 oz., and was 20.5 inches long.  Too early to say who her driver is, though.

Not to say, “I told you so”, but….I told you so!

 

After Gordon’s horrendous showing at Michigan, he had this to say to the Detroit Free Press:

"I'm relieved because we've been going every week: 'Well, we can't take too big of a risk, but we got to push hard enough.' " Gordon said. "I'm relieved, and now we just don't worry about anything. We can just drive as hard as we can and just go all out, and that's all we can do and we'll see where we end up." Gordon said he has had crazier seasons. "But this is definitely been a frustrating year," Gordon said. "Up and down, and one that only challenges our whole team to see what we're made of, and I don't see that as a bad thing." -- Detroit Free Press

 

This just goes to prove what I, as well as some of my other compadres, have been saying all along, “there are some drivers out there who are playing it safe, not pushing too hard, trying to just end the race in a good position to collect as many points as possible, and, in essence, just points racing”. 

 

This is what everyone envisioned when The Chase  format was developed and came to be, a playoff system for auto racing, where anyone in the Top-10, or 12, in this case, could win it all.  Kind of like the Giants winning last year’s Super Bowl.  A Wild Card team up against the unbeaten New England Patriots; a true-to-life David and Goliath story.  It would mean that ultimately, somebody like David Ragan, a relative newbie to the sport, could come in under the radar and win it all.  Or, a has-been, as much as I love him, like Ken Schrader, could make one last charge, make The Chase, and finally get to glory.

 

But this also presents challenges, and much like teams in the NFL employing the Prevent Defense, NASCAR teams have developed team strategies designed to “just make it into The Chase”.  What they don’t seem to realize is that a lot of teams in the NFL lose games because they get too conservative and go with the Prevent Defense.  They try to play it safe and a lot of times, they pay for it. 

 

That’s happening this year in NASCAR, perhaps more than ever before.  The big money has been allocated to teams making The Chase, as well as a setting at the head table in New York City, in December.  The #24 team is in jeopardy of not making it to that table, now, and is a prime example of what is wrong with The Chase format.  Races have become predictable, blasé, and boring.  Those drivers who take care of their equipment, will shine in the end.  Just look at the results week in, and week out; those teams who have the best cars, and whose driver’s keep their tempers in check and cars off the wall, usually have good finishes.  The only team, to me, who said, “to Hell with it, I’m racing hard every week and going for the win”, is Kyle Busch.  And, he’s beating Gordon by playing the same game Gordon used to play, run hard every week and strategy be damned! 

 

Jeff Gordon may have become the elder statesman of NASCAR, but maybe he should take a moment to sit down and talk to Kyle Busch.

Sometimes, I think we all need to ask tough questions of our star athletes.  And sometimes they are not going to like answering those questions.  But, the time comes when their fans may ask, "Are you even trying?"  Or, "What the Hell are you doing out there?  Coasting Until The Chase?"  Or, the dreaded, "So, what are you...points racing, again?"
         

Such questions seem to keep plaguing the #24 team, this year, as the performance marker put down last year has people scratching their heads over this year's dismal start.  One finds themselves asking the very questions mentioned in the opening paragraph, and then some.
             
Jeff Gordon served notice last year, that he was "The Man" to be reckoned with and it looked, pretty much, that way until, the much bally-hoed "Chase" format, that he so strongly endorses, bit him in the butt, and robbed him, yet again, of what would have been his 6th championship, under the old rules, 5th under the new.
                  
But lets do a little comparison to last year at this time of the season, shall we?  Last year, at this time, after Watkins Glen, Gordon was still ranked 1st in points, he had 5 poles, 4 wins, 14 Top-5's, 20 Top-10's, an average start of 12.7, an average finish of 7.9, he ran 94% of all the laps, and led nearly 12% of them.  So far, this year, he has 2 poles, 0 wins, 8 Top-5's, 10 Top-10's, an average start of 11, an average finish of 15, he has run 97% of all the laps, and led only 4% of them.  So, what does all of this mean?
                     
Well, nothing really.  You see, Kurt Busch proved in the very first season incorporating "The Chase" format, that you can start out in last place (in The Chase format) and still win the whole enchilada.  Heck, yeah!  If a team can put together a string of victories, they can go from worst to first.  Jimmie Johnson wasn't in those dire straits last year, but he still had not matched Gordon's performance.  But, down the home stretch, when it really mattered, he got the wins and took home the big trophy.
           vs.         
Still, that is a lot to ask of a team that doesn't seem to be on the same page, and a driver who seems to be too busy playing hubby and Daddy to be bothered with risking his neck every Sunday.  Hey, though, who can blame him.  There have been several drivers who married and had kids and people noticed a definite "slowing" in the years that followed.  It's human nature, really.  Spending time with family becomes more important than the idea of running all-out at break neck speed, week in and week out.  Those once out-of-control urges to find that extra ounce of speed give way to, "how many more laps are left until I can see my family, again?"
                     
Jeff may be thinking he's trying just as hard as ever to get the wins, but then his fans look at how Kyle Busch has been leaving the field in his wake, and they see the Gordon they used to know.  The Gordon who risked it all, took chances, and won races.  When one thinks back to the glory years and compares them to this year, its easy to see why one might think that Big Daddy Gordon might just be collecting a paycheck.
                   

Well, there is a time for every season when armchair quarterbacks, like myself, decide they can run things better than their favorite sport's sanctioning body and invite everybody to chime in with their suggestions, as well. And the topic of the day, you might ask?  The Chase.
            
One problem I have with The Chase is that there are still not enough points awarded for good performance.  The current format start is a good place to start from, but I am not a huge fan of only awarding an extra 5 points for leading a lap, and 10 for leading the most, but not awarding any extra points for placing in the Top 5, or Top 10 at the end of a race.  I think if extra points are doled out at the end of the race, then the driver who leads the most laps should get 5 extra points, all drivers who came in the Top 5 should 10 extra points, and all those in the Top 10 should get 5 extra points.
       
This would still allow for the current extra 5 points for winning the race, but also increase the winner's total because they would receive 5 extra points for being in the Top 5, and another 5 points for being in the Top 10.  It still rewards great performance for the driver leading the most laps by giving him 5 bonus reward points, but does away with the points previously given for leading a lap, as the new system would promote more drivers challenging for a Top 5 or Top 10 spot, which would result in more competition at the front of the pack due to the competitive nature already instinctive in a driver's persona.  Some might notice that if a driver leads the most laps, but comes in second, they would get just as many points as the winner, again.  True, but if they dominated the race and lead all day, shouldn't they be entitled to those extra points.  Besides, with the new points system, that scenario would be the only way that another driver could equal the winner's point total.  If the dominating driver came in 3rd, then the winner would still have 5 more points for winning.
                   
My second change would be the tracks assigned for The Chase.  The current lineup looks like it was designed to touch the major markets and regions with the biggest fan bases, but it looks like it was thrown together at the last second.
                  
1.  The Chase starts out in New Hampshire.  Okay, New Hampshire is pretty and has nice weather this time of year, but the track has gone stale.  If you're going to stay to hit this market, then lose the first New Hampshire race in the season and bring back a more challenging, one-of-a-kind track, like Darlington.
            
2.  Dover.  This one's a no-brainer.  Concrete surface.  One mile.  High-speed.  Great view from anywhere (well, except the first four rows in Turn 2).  Great market.  Keep it like it is.
         
3.  Kansas.  Okay, if you have to have a cookie-cutter track, then let's keep this one, but move it back a couple of races.  You have KC, St. Louis, and some other big markets close by, so this is a good venue.  In fact, you could probably make a case for eliminating one of the California races and substituting Kansas as a warm-up for The Chase.
            
4.  Talladega.  Move this race to the 4th of July, in place of the Firecracker/ Pepsi 400.  I'll explain why in a minute.
             
5.  Lowes Motor Speedway.  Come on!  Do we really need to go back to Lowes?  We already go there twice in a freakin' season.  Give this date to another track.  Swap this race out with a unique, one-of-a-kind track, like Pocono, or Watkins Glen.
                  
6.  Martinsville.  Perfect.  Don't touch it.  Leave it alone.
          
   7.  Atlanta.  The fastest track on the circuit.  But, you know what?  Texas is pretty fast, too, and it comes next.  So, if you're going to keep one of these fast tracks, then lose the other and swap it out with what would be, the second Darlington date.  Come on, people, you have to include Darlington in the Championship some where.  NASCAR's first super speedway?  Come on!
        Vs.        
8.  Texas.  See above.
         Vs.          
9.  Phoenix.  I like this race track, but some might argue for moving the race to Las Vegas, instead.  Either way, I think this location has to stand.  But, I would move it to position number 5, or 6 on The Chase schedule.
            or          
10.  Miami.  Here's the switch.  Instead on Miami, I'd end the season where it began, Daytona.  What better way of bringing the season to a close than finishing where it all started?  It would also give teams a leg-up for February by having the race in November.  It's not exactly like February, but its close.  You can also get more fans seated, it's not as far of a drive (by about 4.5 hours), and its not as hot as it is in July.  Make it a night race and this becomes a no-brainer.
   vs.        
Well, those are my changes.  How about yours?

So, where does the majority of money come from in NASCAR races, you ask?  How on Earth could Indianapolis possible have paid out over $6 million dollars to the participants of the Allstate 400? Sponsors, dear lads and lasses, sponsors.  

Sponsor ship is what pays the bills, builds new race cars, buys new technology, and permits these race teams to put on show after show, week in and week out for their adoring fans.  Face it, people, if fans just stopped going to races, the races would still happen; the show would still go on.  Want to know why?  Sponsors.

Don't believe me?  Just ask the IRL people.  They held their series together with bubblegum and bailing twine right up until they couldn't pay the bills any more.  Only then, when they couldn't find any more sponsorship, did they combine forces with Champ to keep open-wheel racing solvent.
               
Is this really the direction NASCAR wants to go in?  Watch their fan base disintegrate until they have to combine the series with another faction just to stay afloat?  It could happen.  Why, you ask?  Well, when the administrating authorities start taking racing out of the drivers' hands and dictating races, it drives away customers.  When customers stop going to races and buying the products of the sponsors, then sponsorships start going away, but this takes time.  People will still continue to buy the products that NASCAR, IRL, Champ Car, endorses, at least for awhile.  Then, when product lines fade, and companies start doing their research to find out why, they start looking for a new team, or venue to sell their product.  Another term for sponsorship might just as well be Marketing, because that's what racing teams do, they market products for companies and corporations.
               So, when drivers are running in the top 10 or 15, in any given race, the pressure starts coming from places others than within the teams themselves, as to how they should run.  No more is it just the driver taking the race into his own hands, mashing the petal, and hauling the mail.  Now, there are other "voices" on the radio, telling the driver to bring it on home to a good finish so that we can "make The Chase".
                 
Because, the whole purpose of being out there is to bring home the hardware.  It means millions of dollars to the organization that wins the whole she####.  That's why it has become very annoying to many fans, that some of their favorite drivers don't seem to be putting forth the same kind of effort they might have once given, week in and week out.  There is so much emphasis place on making "The Chase", that drivers may have lost some of the drive and desire to go out and drive hard every week.  Instead, they are focused on making "The Chase" and paying the bills.  Nobody likes a wrecked race car, as far as teams go, but now it seems that added pressure from sponsors might actually be dictating how hard drivers really push the edge of that envelope week in and week out.  Gone is the maxim that used to warn sponsors that "hey, the driver you're sponsoring make wreck a race car every now and again, in his zeal to be the best every week".  Now, it seems that the sponsors are more apt to warn the drivers, "race cars cost money, and seeing as we're paying for them, you had better not wreck the car, if you want us to keep footing the bill".
               
The bottom line here is that somebody needs to have the brass to go to NASCAR and tell them their system is flawed and needs to be fixed, but it has become painfully obvious that one or two persons doing that won't work.  As Tony Stewart said, "you think NASCAR is going to listen to me?"  That's why I propose a NASCAR Drivers Union.  
            
A Union to force NASCAR's hand on some of these issues.  A Union to make NASCAR sit up and take notice, listen to the drivers implement policy changes accordingly.  The time has come for the heavy-handed rule of the NASCAR czars to come to an end.  That is, unless people want to see, NASCAR join forces with another organization, just to stay afloat.  Hmmm, maybe harness racing, or Segue.....
         

So, after the debacle that was the Allstate 400, some say you want a tire war? Is this really such a good move?  I mean, sure the race didn't leave much to the imagination, but let me remind folks what happened the last time there was a tire war in NASCAR.
           
Anyone remember this guy?  It is widely speculated, still to this day, that the crash had happened because he was running Hoosier tires when his car suddenly turned left, during a practice session at Daytona.  Neil Bonnett was trying to make a comeback in a salute to Davy Allison and The Alabama Gang, only to lose his life that day in 1994.
    
In 1994, Goodyear's contract had run out and NASCAR had allowed Indiana-based Hoosier tire company to compete for one year.  Financial considerations supposedly forced the company to withdraw from the series, but conspiracy theorists argue it was more likely due to the death of Neil Bonnett and some crashes which led to questioning of the stability of the tire, as compared with Goodyear.  It wasn't all bad for Hoosier that year, though.  They won 12 poles that year and Geoffrey Bodine won three points races on Hoosiers, including the All-Star race, as an added bonus.

                         
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's Vice President in charge of Competition, said he had been through two tire wars in his career, and that, "...it was terrible.  You might have an advantage one week and a disadvantage the next".  My question is, though, is this necessarily a bad thing?  I mean isn't that supposed to be part of the challenge to the team, to try and come up with the best car they can, week after week?

NASCAR really needs to take a long hard look at its association with Goodyear.  Although the tire company's contract doesn't run out until 2012, there most assuredly must be some sort of clause in the contract pertaining to performance issues.  If not, then NASCAR needs to also address its legal department, as well.  
                    
History has proven, time and again, that competition is a good thing.  It sparks creative thinking and innovation, and fosters a good healthy competitive environment.  While some may say that this is a dead issue, I'd like to argue that people thought the very same thing in 1988 and 1994, when Goodyear had some competition.  It forced Goodyear to examine the way they were doing things and come up with a better solution.  It wasn't that long ago that Tony Stewart came out in full force and blasted Goodyear for the quality of their tires.  Goodyear came back the following week with a better compound, but here we are again with tire issues.  That's the problem with long-term contracts; they breed latency, laziness, and stagnation.  Maybe Tony is onto something with this whole tire issue, and maybe not.  Maybe NASCAR and Goodyear need to take a long look at testing.  But, that is whole other story.

    

Ridiculous!  That's the only word I can use to describe it.  Well, no...that's not true.  I could use others, like atrocious, deplorable, egregious, erroneous, sick, twisted, boring...get the picture? 
 
The Allstate 400 at Indianapolis, today, had to be, by far, the most ridiculous and sad excuse for a major NASCAR race, I have ever had the displeasure of seeing, in my whole life.  Playing ring-around-the rosy, and stopping every ten laps for new tires, is NOT my idea o####ood race.  
I feel genuine sorrow for the thousands of race fans who had to actually sit there, at the track, and endure this sad drama, especially seeing as how they probably blew most of their family's vacation money on the experience.


How on Earth did this fiasco happen?  Whatever happened to the days when Goodyear tested the tires for the respective tracks, NASCAR approved them, and teams didn't ever have to worry about them?  Why did NASCAR have to ship tires from Pocono, in the first place?  Who is responsible for this lunacy, Goodyear, or NASCAR?


My guess is that its probably a little of both, but the sad reality is that a day which should never have come in this sport, has passed with a lot of questions still lingering, incuding, "What's it going to be like, next week?"  

Goodyear should be testing tires at the beginning of the season, or at prescribed intervals, at NASCAR's discretion (which probably already happens), but then NASCAR should be approving the tire compounds to be utilized at the respective tracks well in advance (I'm talking months, here) of the race date.  These week-to-week compound changes have got to stop.  Teams are still trying to get a handle on how to set these cars up for optimal performance, and yet NASCAR and Goodyear want to throw them a curveball each and every week with a new rubber compound.  It's ridiculous!  


And the ones who truly are suffering is the fans!  We are the ones who are being forced to watch our favorite drivers and teams struggle week in and week out.  And while some may say that the cream will only rise to the top, I submit this season as a challenge to your theory.  Drivers (with the exception of Kyle Busch) are more or less just making laps until 30 to go, and then hoping for a good outcome in the ensuing shootout.  And in the meantime, crew chiefs, and drivers alike, have to worry about blowing a tire.  I know its turned me off for much of the season already, and after today at Indy, I may not watch much of the rest of the season, either.


Mike Helton, I do appreciate your being candid with folks and going on television to explain what's going on, but my question to you is, "Why did it happen in the first place?"   Why can't Goodyear come up with a single compound that's acceptable at all tracks?  This would save teams money, provide a little more consistency and balance, and let teams worry about optimizing the cars.  Mike, you're NASCAR's President and leading authoritative voice, so fix it.