Lady and Gentleman…”Start Your Engine….” The switch is flipped and the engine fails to fire! That’s exactly is what is happening to NASCAR. The engines are failing to light any fires and fans are showing it many different ways. Ticketnews.com is reporting the Brick Yard 400 held at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the lowest number of ticket’s sold for a race “ever” at 140,000. Now admit it you watched about 15 laps and realized the same thing I did….Independence Day was on TNT and you’d rather be watching that!
Are people shying away from the Sprint Cup Championship Series, NASCAR’s, driving elite? The answer is….”YES!” The Brick Yard 400, once a powerhouse for revenue, is reportedly grossing under 10 million from a high in the 30’s. International Motor Speedway (IMS) is also discounting ticket prices, to get people into the gates. There’s only one problem, PEOPLE STILL AREN’T COMING! The Chicago Tribune wrote “NASCAR estimated that attendance has fallen in 14 of the first 19 events.”
Hell…People aren’t even watching it. ESPN is reporting a 13% drop in television viewers as well. Let’s face it, times are tough, recession, people out of work, and prices on everything seem to keep going up from milk to meat. I still think that if NASCAR produced something that was worth (A) going to…and (B) watching, fan’s reaction would be different. Until then, I’ll keep watching Will Smith kick some alien butt! And BTW… I just love that speech Bill Pulman gives!
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You hit it on the head exactly. We are in a terrible place in the economy and people can’t afford to watch stupid shit. And NASCAR has become a stupid product. JJ hasn’t lost a championship in years and leads the series in wins. As long as he can stay in the top 5 before the Chase comes he will be looing at another championship.
Something needs to change and it needs to change quick.
Yes I watched since 91 no longer hope kh wins
Shannon,
Nascar really is in a tough place right now. After Jimmy Johnson wins his 5th consecutive championship you can only hope that some major change takes place. He still has some of his best courses left in the final few races and can easily take his spot on the pedestal if nothing accidental happens.
It is quite sad.
As for Harvick, I haven’t followed NASCAR enough this year to even know how he is doing. I know he started out the season hot, but couldn’t find the will power to watch the races to see how he has ended up.
He pretty much phizzed out after 19 year old Joey Lagano made the comment about Harvick’s wife wearing the “fire suit” in the family….