Post by elp525 on Jun 11, 2009 11:48:40 GMT -5
June 11, 2009
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
BROOKLYN, Mich.
It's been exactly one year since NASCAR's bosses held their infamous 'Shut and race' meeting with Sprint Cup drivers.
What a difference a year makes: just a couple of weeks ago, amid still slumping TV ratings (and Fox' sports boss David Hill is not a bit happy with NASCAR over that) and off-crowds, NASCAR executives held a quite different meeting with drivers. This time it was 'What can we do to make this whole thing better?'
Maybe that's the approach NASCAR should have taken a year ago.
But is anything really going to change now? Or will NASCAR simply go with more of the Same-old, Same-old?
Maybe it's time for NASCAR officials to have some town-hall meeting with fans, the ones paying all the bills for this sport.
The biggest thing apparently coming out of that Charlotte meeting was a decidedly upbeat and positive twist on things from drivers.
Carl Edwards, perhaps the best driver on the tour still winless this season, says don't look at the glass as half-empty:
"At the town-hall meeting we had the other day, we talked about all being in this together and providing the best we can for the fans.
"If we can keep that attitude and make this sport the best it can be, when the economy comes back up, I feel we'll be stronger and have more fans.
"So I'm positive about it.
"I've gone to local dirt tracks and seen nobody making any money, and a hundred people in the stands…and I'm telling you we've still got a great thing going here.
"You won't hear me complain.
"If you look at the whole economy -- I guess the stock market's down, what, 35 percent from October 2007.
"If you look at the whole economy and the percentage that it's down, I feel NASCAR is doing relatively well.
"We provide a sport, entertainment to fans, and our ticket sales are based on people's discretionary income, and their willingness to spend it to come enjoy our sport.
"So considering we're only down whatever small amount we are (11 percent in TV ratings), I think we're doing really well."
In the Charlotte meeting with NASCAR "There were opinions discussed…and ideas thrown around," Edwards says.
"The one thing that came out of it so far is the double-file restarts, which everyone pretty much agreed is good."
Now the new double-file restart rule, debuted to much hoopla last weekend at Pocono, didn't add much to that show, which devolved into a gas mileage race at the end.
But at least it was a new rule, and implemented surprisingly swiftly. "I was shocked," Jeff Burton says of NASCAR's speed.
So what next out of Daytona?
That remains to be seen.
"But I think the thing that came out that's most positive," Edwards says "is the idea that 'Hey, it's not NASCAR versus the drivers, or NASCAR versus the car owners, we're all in this together.'
"That's the first time I've heard that kind of message come straight from (NASCAR CEO) Brian France and (NASCAR president) Mike Helton and all those folks.
"They said 'Hey, lay it on us -- what do you guys think?'
"That kind of relationship will be good for the sport. That's the good thing that came out of it."
But hopefully it didn't come a year too late.
By Mike Mulhern
mikemulhern.net
BROOKLYN, Mich.
It's been exactly one year since NASCAR's bosses held their infamous 'Shut and race' meeting with Sprint Cup drivers.
What a difference a year makes: just a couple of weeks ago, amid still slumping TV ratings (and Fox' sports boss David Hill is not a bit happy with NASCAR over that) and off-crowds, NASCAR executives held a quite different meeting with drivers. This time it was 'What can we do to make this whole thing better?'
Maybe that's the approach NASCAR should have taken a year ago.
But is anything really going to change now? Or will NASCAR simply go with more of the Same-old, Same-old?
Maybe it's time for NASCAR officials to have some town-hall meeting with fans, the ones paying all the bills for this sport.
The biggest thing apparently coming out of that Charlotte meeting was a decidedly upbeat and positive twist on things from drivers.
Carl Edwards, perhaps the best driver on the tour still winless this season, says don't look at the glass as half-empty:
"At the town-hall meeting we had the other day, we talked about all being in this together and providing the best we can for the fans.
"If we can keep that attitude and make this sport the best it can be, when the economy comes back up, I feel we'll be stronger and have more fans.
"So I'm positive about it.
"I've gone to local dirt tracks and seen nobody making any money, and a hundred people in the stands…and I'm telling you we've still got a great thing going here.
"You won't hear me complain.
"If you look at the whole economy -- I guess the stock market's down, what, 35 percent from October 2007.
"If you look at the whole economy and the percentage that it's down, I feel NASCAR is doing relatively well.
"We provide a sport, entertainment to fans, and our ticket sales are based on people's discretionary income, and their willingness to spend it to come enjoy our sport.
"So considering we're only down whatever small amount we are (11 percent in TV ratings), I think we're doing really well."
In the Charlotte meeting with NASCAR "There were opinions discussed…and ideas thrown around," Edwards says.
"The one thing that came out of it so far is the double-file restarts, which everyone pretty much agreed is good."
Now the new double-file restart rule, debuted to much hoopla last weekend at Pocono, didn't add much to that show, which devolved into a gas mileage race at the end.
But at least it was a new rule, and implemented surprisingly swiftly. "I was shocked," Jeff Burton says of NASCAR's speed.
So what next out of Daytona?
That remains to be seen.
"But I think the thing that came out that's most positive," Edwards says "is the idea that 'Hey, it's not NASCAR versus the drivers, or NASCAR versus the car owners, we're all in this together.'
"That's the first time I've heard that kind of message come straight from (NASCAR CEO) Brian France and (NASCAR president) Mike Helton and all those folks.
"They said 'Hey, lay it on us -- what do you guys think?'
"That kind of relationship will be good for the sport. That's the good thing that came out of it."
But hopefully it didn't come a year too late.
