NASCAR is a subject that could fill endless blog posts. As a long time invested fan, I, just like all other fans, have opinions on what to do about NASCAR. The 2019 season has been a roller coaster according to some fans, but I do not think that. I have enjoyed the start of the 2019 season. To me, I appreciate and respect the sport enough to cherish that it is still happening. I’d rather have some NASCAR than no NASCAR. With that said, below are some things in no particular order that I think would bring more life to the sport.
- Reduce the cost of the sport
- Millions of dollars are spent by the teams to get their car to victory lane. Yet, the cars are not much faster than they were over two decades ago. While safety should always be invested in, a racecar that does not exceed any milestone that a previous one could (in many cases NASCAR is making the cars less powerful than older cars) that it seems silly to be spending more on them.
- Sponsorship is getting harder to come by because it doesn’t always give a return on investment. If the cost is reduced, it opens up the possibility for both large and small sponsors to take a chance at advertising more.
- Add charters and allow any manufacturer
- Allowing more manufacturers to get into the sport would provide some healthy competition.
- Shorten the schedule and add new tracks
- Diehard fans don’t just happen, they have to be made. Go to new places to get new fans.
- Try to get away from cable deals
- This one hits close to me. Growing up my family did not have cable. We were able to watch races using the antenna. As a young adult who is budget conscious, I still do not have cable and still watch the races using an antenna. I think that more people would watch NASCAR if it were more available to them on non-cable channels and that with a shorter season, it would be more appealing to newer audiences.
- If you don’t qualify, you start from pit road
- It should be if you don’t qualify you go home, but this is the next best thing.
- Make the cars resemble more closely consumer roadworthy cars
- Viewers, especially new ones, might be more inclined to want to “buy on Monday” if the cars resembled more what they could actually purchase.
- I think NASCAR should mandate that in order to compete with a particular model of a car, manufacturers would have to produce at least 20 street legal versions of the car. This would mimic the rules the FIA implemented in the late 90’s for their GT cars. If Toyota wanted to race the Camry, there would have to be 20 V8, rear wheel drive, roll cage equipped, no back seats, street legal Camry’s on the road. This will start to help put the “Stock” back in the acronym. It would also start to produce a bunch of highly sought after collector vehicles which spurs interest in both racing and in the general consumer market
- Create an easy to explain point system
- It is getting easier, but if I can’t explain it to my wife in less than a minute, then it is still too hard. Racing should be very simple, you cross the line first you win. If points are needed then it should be simple to explain and calculate by an average, casual viewer/fan.
- Have a digital connection element
- In today’s digital age, younger potential fans are looking at screens. In order to engage them, some sort of digital element should be implemented. Whether that is some sort of driver digital ranking gets an extra point at the end of the race, or gets an extra lap back, something that fans can be on their phones and directly affect some sort of aspect about the race. (Think about those power boosters on arcade games. Drivers get a “boost of speed” from the viewers.)
I could go on and on about NASCAR and I might have more in-depth blogs later about the specific subjects highlighted in this post. If you want to hear more NASCAR talk, listen to Undisputed, hosted by myself and my friend Clay. It is a weekly show that recaps the latest race, comments on any of the latest news, and making picks for driver positions in the upcoming race. If you love NASCAR as much as we do, you will enjoy the show.
All Out Octane 