So…Does NASCAR suck? Earlier in the year before the season starte we wrote a post entitled 5 reasons why NASCAR sucks, and funnily enough it has been one of the most popular posts on the site to date. Now we have to ask the question; Does NASCAR suck?
The reality is that NASCAR’s attendance at the nine (9) races has been down significantly when compared to years past. Watching any of this season’s races, you can see gaping holes in seats where just a few years ago, a sea of people were once standing.
Yahoo Sports reported at Michigan International Speedway, “MIS president Roger Curtis was thankful that even 100,000 fans, or about 30,000 fewer than normal, showed up.”
But does fans not showing up for races mean NASCAR has lost its appeal or are fans not showing up for monetary reasons such as the great recession that we are in now.
Jayski has attendance statistics for every race so far this year compared to years past. There is a significant downward trend but does that mean NASCAR sucks, yes and no.
In my opinion track attendance and TV rating are down both because NASCAR has lost its appeal with it’s fans, and the economy has hurt it a bit. But the popular baseball, football, NBA, and hockey venues are still drawing huge crowds in the same economy.
So what is to blame for NASCAR’s woes?
Well, over the past nine races, Jimmie Johnson, has won three time, Denny Hamlin has won two, and yesterday’s race almost had Jaime McMurray posting his second win of the season (he was passed by Kevin Harvick for the win). So it looks like competition is thin.
The Talladega 500 set the record for the most lead changes in a single race. (Which was exciting for me as I watched the race because Michael Waltrip actually recorded a lead lap), but it ended with the same old same old faces at the front of the pack.
What NASCAR needs is a scandal, I’m not talking Tiger big, but maybe a quote un quote “bad boy” needs to come out of the shadows and revive the days of Dale Earnhardt.
Do you remember the old days?
Weren’t the old days of NASCAR more fun when Tony Stewart was punching every camera man he came into contact with? Weren’t the days more fun when drivers were throwing helmets at passing cars after a wreck? Weren’t the days more fun when the infield was a gigantic three day party.
I miss NASCAR. And until they can create the “NWO” (old wrestling analogy) bad boys who will do anything for a win attitude and bring back the edge that was NASCAR I think they will continue to lose fans.
So in short, yes NASCAR sucks. It lost that edge that made it great, it lost the competitiveness, with running 4 time Champ Jimmy Johnson looking like he is on his way to his 5th championship, and it won’t win us good ole boys back until it makes us feel the fire that once was NASCAR.
As always thanks for visiting FANBREW…..Please leave a comment below to be registered for freebies that FANBREW is giving away every Friday in April. Also don’t forget to subscribe to our website by clicking on the email button in the top right hand corner of the site,visit the newly formed Fanbrew Store, find us on Facebook, tweet us on Twitter, google us on Google, or dig us on digg.com.
