Perhaps this was bound to happen.
What has separated NASCAR for years from other major sports such as baseball, basketball and football is how clean it can be considered. Clean in the sense of how drivers live their lives both on and off the track.
Sure, there’s teams who break the rules and get caught cheating, every sport has those, but in the bigger picture NASCAR drivers are considered some of the sporting world’s best role models. Repeated DUI’s, numerous arrests for murder or officials who are convicted for race fixing don’t happen here. And performance enhancing drugs, records being taken away? Never.
NASCAR and its fans have always been able to stand up and show how great their drivers are. How different the sport is. But, at last they’ve entered their darkest year.
It’s painful. It’s painful to have to constantly defend the sport or answer questions of how it happened, why it happened and if this is what goes on all the time.
As hard as it is to admit or want to face, the time has come: NASCAR has an image problem.
This beloved sport is in trouble. The latest news that Nelson Piquet Jr. has been fine and ordered to participate in sensitivity training after he used a gay slur comes on the heels of months of negative attention and headlines.
While NASCAR itself has been partially responsible for the attention – Brian France stating in essence that he could do what he wanted by placing Jeff Gordon in the Chase – they are not the only ones to blame. Those who represent the sport and make it what it is have done the most damage.
See, Robin Pemberton did say, “Boys, have at it” a few years ago but it was supposed to be about the racing. Instead the boys have gone at it from every other angle and it’s been, in the terms most notably used for NASCAR penalties, “detrimental to stock car racing.”
Upsetting because the year started with so much promise with the new Sprint Cup car and then Danica Patrick on the pole for the Daytona 500. The hype and excitement started early and it was attention the sport needed, it was attention that grabbed headlines and didn’t let them go quickly. Then, all hell broke loose.
NASCAR could have overcome the attention from the Daytona Nationwide race in which Kyle Larson’s car went airborne into the fence and injured spectators. They’ve come back from that in the past, unfortunately. NASCAR and Daytona made necessary changes for safety and the racing went on.
They also could have overcome the negative attention Jeremy Clements provided when he was penalized for using a racial slur. The season was still young, the rose colored glasses firmly on. This had been advertised as the most promising season in NASCAR history.
But a kick in the genitals at Richmond and the legal saga of Jennifer Jo Cobb and Mike Harmon started the downhill slide. Then came the cheating scandal heard around the world.
Richmond earned not only NASCAR headlines but those from major mainstream media. The word “cheating” being attached to the sport can never lead to good things, especially when the most important part of the season – the playoffs – was about to begin. But there it was, splashed across news pages as other networks and news agency’s openly compared NASCAR to wrestling, claiming fan fraud.
And it does have a far-reaching affect. Loyal fans now question everything that happens in a race, whether team orders were apart of this race, or that pass or a championship season. After Sunday’s race in Dover there were those now willing to clog the airwaves and Internet with questions and rumors that Dale Earnhardt Jr. let Jimmie Johnson win because of the championship. While casual or non-NASCAR fans are asking how a professional sport can be rigged.
Within the sport, lives have been affected. A major sponsor is leaving, a driver is potentially looking for a job and all those who work on that car don’t know what their livelihood will look like past the calendar year.
So, yes, NASCAR definitely has a problem.
It might be argued that Richmond snowballed out of control. While NASCAR needed to do something, and they did with the initial penalties, it should have stopped there. Instead, a witch-hunt ensued. From Michael Waltrip Racing to Front Row and Penske, everyone wanted “justice” for what had taken place.
Call it like it is, it was a witch-hunt. Everything that looked suspicious, sounded suspicious or just wasn’t right, need to be fixed, or so everyone said. Now, the only thing that’s come of it is a headline that won’t go away. And everyone’s responsible, it’s not something that can solely be placed on NASCAR’s shoulders.
NASCAR made their good and bad decisions, however, they weren’t the ones repeatedly writing or tweeting about every little thing. They weren’t the ones in the grandstands or in public forums screaming about their unhappiness, bringing more attention to the events. And they aren’t the drivers, the men and women who stand at the center of it all.
The 2013 NASCAR season will go down in history not for what has happened on the racetrack. It’s been a trending topic and a “did you hear about this,” topic tossed around the water cooler.
The rebound needs to come soon in order to wipe away the 2013 season and its bitter taste. And those who have been responsible for its downfall need to step up and make sure they do their part in building it back up.
In 2014 we’ll have new faces in new places as Kyle Larson comes to the Sprint Cup Series as does Austin Dillon. Even better, he’s believed to be bringing the famed #3 with him.
Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart will be healthy again and ready to tear up the circuit. Meanwhile, the Nationwide Series will be entering their final season under that sponsor banner, with a new champion leading the way.
So right now, it sucks. The sport has a giant egg on its face that’s still in the process of being wiped off. Which makes it important that 2014 gets back to basics and make it all about the racing. Now more than ever it really needs to be about the product on the track. If that means everyone has to become vanilla for a while, so be it.
Because the rate things are going the risk rises of driving away all the hardcore fans who’ve become disgusted with what’s happened in 2013 while never standing a chance of converting the casual fan who’s become more confused than before on what NASCAR’s really about.
You all need to back off and go watch basket ball. Everyone knows the history of NASCAR and how it originated, that’s part of what made the sport what it is,call it good old americana. Sure there might be some pretty seedy things about NASCAR but who doesn’t anymore. Who you should be blaming is the money hungry sponsors and american greed. So when ever anybody wants to try and critisize NASCAR, well good for you, what ever turns you crank, just leave us out of it. Stock car racing will be around as long as cars have tires.
Luke, take your medicine. Go Johnson, Gordon, Jr. and Kahne, and don’t watch Kansas today or your low-NA@CAR mind will go on overload.
A couple of thoughts:
1. As stated by Kelly, Danica’s pole at Daytona was of course rigged, and for the reason stated in the article: it gave the sport a jump start and a lot of positive media attention that it would not have otherwise gotten. It was also done in an effort to legitimize the newly appointed Savior Of The Sport (the shelflife of Junior’s Savior abilities must have expired). It was heavy-handed and quite obvious (even though those in the mainstream NASCAR media will never admit to the fix).
2. Just as dubious as the Daytona 500 pole was Danica’s winning of the fan vote for inclusion in the All-Star race at Charlotte. Evidently, the app that Sprint made available to its users that kept track of the voting had Martin Truex, Jr. well ahead of Danica with less than five minutes of voting time left…and then miraculously, Danica won. The first time Truex, Jr. got screwed by NASCAR this year (albeit not as big of a screwing). Again, this was a heavy-handed and obvious attempt by the knuckleheads in Daytona to foist their new savior onto us.
3. NASCAR penalized MWR not because they attempted to manipulate the finish of a race, but because they were so bad at doing it. NASCAR manipulates the finish of races almost every week with their bogus debris cautions (like last week, when it was possible that had the race stayed green that Bowyer was the only driver who could make it on fuel), but MWR was just stupid.
4. I am also convinced that Rick Hendrick gave out team orders last week that should the 48 be in a position to win the race, that the other three cars in HMS should allow him to win. But he did it smartly: in private before the race, with no cameras or audio equipment around.
Yes, the sport is in trouble, and being force-fed a driver with minimal driving skills as the sport’s new savior (like it or not), and the potential of having yet another title run by the team that is the sport’s most notable cheater won’t do it any good.
Anybody who thinks Jeff Gordon belongs in The Chase must think like Brian France, change the rules as you go along. Where is the intergrity in that? What happened at Richmond happens, just not so overt. No sport just changes the rules in mid game. Unreal. And with Jeff’s wife and his boss “tweeting” all over that Jeff was ‘robbed’ should be a major embarassment to him, but no because it appears he has the mentality that if you show up for a jr. soccer game, everybody gets a trophy, he is happy with the outcome. Sadly the low information fan and people who tweet causes like getting a cat stuck out of tree, made their noise and Brian F. caved. Not good.
All true, but a few other things need mentioning.
– Napa leaves and people don’t understand why. And not only is it portrayed as a villain, teams say that the 16 million that they were paying isn’t enough.That while they would take the money, it wasn’t enough.
– The problems at Richmond aren’t new, just badly done. Many people don’t see it as wrong. Is that how to present yourself as a legitimate sport?
– over 50 % of Nascar’s revenues now come from television.
You know, mid way through this I stopped and said “why am I wasting my time?” No offense to the author of the blog, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing is going to change so why waste my time?
As a 55yr. watcher,listener,and participant in racing, I will personally bow out of all things “nascar” at the end of this season. No more big bucks for premium channels, no more mrn, no more Jayski, no more twitter, facebook,etc.I can’t trust that my fav’s will get equal treatment,the chase is a disaster for the sponsors,and fans of all but the chosen few,the talking heads are biased,and Brian has destroyed the sport I’ve loved most.So- after homestead, its sayonara,adios,etc.I’ll bet dad, and granddad France are very proud. NOT.
I guess out of all the scandals the thing that bothers me the most was the penalty that was doled out to Bowyer. His penalty basically was nothing since he still retained the exact starting spot in the chase and the same number of points in the chase before the penalty. And, he cost his “good friend and hunting buddy” Neuman a win and a spot in the chase although he was put back in by Nascar but nothing can give Neuman that win that his buddy cost him by his actions. No friend of mine would still be my friend with what Bowyer did to Neuman.
The only thing missing from the article and the response from Kelly is Hendricks teams cheat and Jeff Gordon doesn’t belong in the chase. Go ahead and admit it.I hope your sickness didn’t last too long.
Waltrip got what he deserved, sorry they didn’t lose 5 hr crap to a decent team.
And NA$CAR cries all the way to the bank.
if you think dale jr would have finished 2nd without team orders your crazy and also part of the problem.
We love Danica! She’s the greatest!! Did you know she has a boyfriend?
Quite overly dramatic IMO!! While the things you mentioned did happen…to a casual fan they weren’t a big deal…to an avid fan they were … But not unexpected events. The wreck at Daytona..while horrid…not surprising. Racial slurs…while uncalled for they were not malicious. The Richmond debacle was harder to swallow…but it’s passed. What you failed to mention was the actual racing… Now there lies a big problem..for casual and avid fans. If folks are expected to watch cars go around in circles for three hours there darn well better be some action on track..and there is where NASCAR is sorely lacking. Watching a football game where only one team scores is very boring…the same goes watching a race where one car leads the majority of the event. Fix the on track passing problems and NASCAR will have won 3/4 of the battle…the rest of the stuff will take care of itself.
Kinda late with this article, this in today’s media is old news.
You haven’t even scratched the surface. The ones who don’t know will scream to the high heavens without knowing what they have been watching all these years, screaming foul! I do not believe (yes when it comes to PT BARNUM Brian France) and his opening show, I do not believe Sparkle Pony pole was legit. Call me crazy. Poor Kyle Larson really needs to stay in NW for a few more years, as he is being touted as the next great thing and the vicious fans and media will be pecking at him soon enough. Plenty of blame to go around. The pitchfork crowd and the holier than thou crowd were out in full force after Richmond and it made me sick. Thank goodness 5 Hour Energy has stayed on board. Be careful what you wish for people you may get it.