NASCAR to resume season in mid-May without spectators

[North]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-motor-nascar/nascar-to-resume-season-in-mid-may-without-spectators-idUSKBN22C3N8

[NeilHamburger]

Nascar and Golf seem like the 2 sports that will have the easiest transition to playing in front of no fans.

[adkindo]

I have not been into Nascar much since Dale Jr. retired....but they are smart to jump back in earlier than other sports. I know they have struggled with diminishing popularity, but I would bet this will be a great opportunity to get new potential fans checking out the races.

[North]

Weekend Preview: Ford drivers bid to end Coca-Cola 600 jinx

6 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

https://www.taiwansnews.net/news/265170929/weekend-preview-ford-drivers-bid-to-end-coca-cola-600-jinx

[adkindo]

Chevrolet strong early....

[dubc47834]

Chevrolet strong early....

:thumbdown:

[North]

The idled cars after the 2nd legt lining up in pit row for 30 seconds of silence in remembrance was a nice thing.

[North]

Brad Keselowski and Ford wins.

[Stray]

Chase has been screwed out of two straight wins. And I don't really think either were his fault, not that Kyle spinning him was his fault obv. But tonight I think his crew chief made the right call. Late caution and he was leading, everyone behind him was gonna do the opposite of what he did. If he stayed out he was a sitting duck since Brad woulda pulled everyone to pit road for tires. But he did pit and managed a 3rd. lose/lose situation for Chase.

Was a boring race tho. This aero package doesn't work at Charlotte. Back to the drawing board for Nascar.

[North]

Chase has been screwed out of two straight wins. And I don't really think either were his fault, not that Kyle spinning him was his fault obv. But tonight I think his crew chief made the right call. Late caution and he was leading, everyone behind him was gonna do the opposite of what he did. If he stayed out he was a sitting duck since Brad woulda pulled everyone to pit road for tires. But he did pit and managed a 3rd. lose/lose situation for Chase.

Was a boring race tho. This aero package doesn't work at Charlotte. Back to the drawing board for Nascar.

I have a sneaking feeling that the "word" was out - everybody, take no chances. They have far to many entrants as is, and have had so for decades, but c'mon, only three dnfs out of a card of 40?

[adkindo]

Brad Keselowski and Ford wins.

LOL, I turned the television off with 9 laps to go....Elliot had a big lead and it just did not have that tense feeling like something was going to happen. So the headline surprised me this morning.

[kaldaniels]

I have a sneaking feeling that the "word" was out - everybody, take no chances. They have far to many entrants as is, and have had so for decades, but c'mon, only three dnfs out of a card of 40?

I was big into NASCAR in the 90’s but lost interest with the new tracks and boring packages - it’s a shame what the sport has become - I’m just curious about “the word” - do you mean NASCAR said “do not wreck”?

[adkindo]

I think Nascar will bounce back eventually, and hopefully learn from their mistakes. They grew too fast in the 90's and early 2000's, but allowed itself to grow on a very few drivers/names....mostly Earnhardt and to a lesser degree Gordon. It became easy money, but they should have developed a strategy to more evenly spread out the branding of the drivers. Now that Dale, Junior and Gordon are no longer driving, and Johnson's on his last laps, I get the feeling they are taking that approach this time around. It will be a slower climb, but far more sustainable. Finally, this is a personal opinion, but I do think the sport has to find a way to become less controlled by the France family or any small group and they need to become a little more standardized in the way they govern to sport.

[North]

I was big into NASCAR in the 90’s but lost interest with the new tracks and boring packages - it’s a shame what the sport has become - I’m just curious about “the word” - do you mean NASCAR said “do not wreck”?

Do not wreck = do not take chances that may cause a collision. I did not say Nascar said it.

[Powel Crosley]

I think Nascar will bounce back eventually, and hopefully learn from their mistakes. They grew too fast in the 90's and early 2000's, but allowed itself to grow on a very few drivers/names....mostly Earnhardt and to a lesser degree Gordon. It became easy money, but they should have developed a strategy to more evenly spread out the branding of the drivers. Now that Dale, Junior and Gordon are no longer driving, and Johnson's on his last laps, I get the feeling they are taking that approach this time around. It will be a slower climb, but far more sustainable. Finally, this is a personal opinion, but I do think the sport has to find a way to become less controlled by the France family or any small group and they need to become a little more standardized in the way they govern to sport.

I think Elliott will be a superstar once he starts winning more races. Blaney has a big fan base as well. So did Larson...

[adkindo]

I think Elliott will be a superstar once he starts winning more races. Blaney has a big fan base as well. So did Larson...

yeah, I get the feeling there are several young drivers with growing fan bases. Elliot drives for Hendricks, so he is positioned very well. I think I understand why it is difficult to spread out the fan support enough to where when 1 or 2 drivers are not on the track the tv ratings take a nose dive how the sport often did every time Dale Jr. wrecked early in a race. Modern sports are built on the stars of the sport, but unlike other sports, there is no "home team" to help guide fans to different stars. It becomes too easy for too many fans to get behind 1 or 2 drivers. Even when someone like Jordan was huge and had a huge fan base across the country, fans in Utah still supported Malone and fans in Houston still supported Hakeem. In Nascar, many fans had one driver, most of them supported Earnhardt or Gordon, and they did not have a secondary or hometown driver to get their loyalty. The sport should seek to ensure a single driver never exceeds 10% of the fan bases support....or at least make sure it does not ever get to where 45% of the flags have a 3 on them and 35% of the flags have a 24 on them again.

[North]

I think Nascar will bounce back eventually, and hopefully learn from their mistakes. They grew too fast in the 90's and early 2000's, but allowed itself to grow on a very few drivers/names....mostly Earnhardt and to a lesser degree Gordon. It became easy money, but they should have developed a strategy to more evenly spread out the branding of the drivers. Now that Dale, Junior and Gordon are no longer driving, and Johnson's on his last laps, I get the feeling they are taking that approach this time around. It will be a slower climb, but far more sustainable. Finally, this is a personal opinion, but I do think the sport has to find a way to become less controlled by the France family or any small group and they need to become a little more standardized in the way they govern to sport.

Heh - Dale Earnhardt. Before I became ancient, I greatly resembled him. My oldest sister married a lad from Birmingham in 1962 and when I visited the area back when, folks would just (politely) stare at me. :D

[adkindo]

Heh - Dale Earnhardt. Before I became ancient, I greatly resembled him. My oldest sister married a lad from Birmingham in 1962 and when I visited the area back when, folks would just (politely) stare at me. :D

and all these years later, you still believe that they stared because you resembled Dale Earnhardt....;)

[adkindo]

NASCAR says noose found in Bubba Wallace's garage at Talladega (https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/29345568/nascar-says-noose-found-bubba-wallace-garage-talladega)

NASCAR better produce a guilty party because every inch of the garage area has security camera's inside and out. There really should not be a reason they have not already identified the guilty party.

[Boston Red]

It will be very interesting to find out who is responsible for that. The FBI and DOJ are now involved as well.

[Boston Red]

LOL. 2020 moral panic in a nutshell.

[BuckeyeRed27]

So there’s been a rope tied in a noose for maybe 9 months that was already there, and the only black driver was assigned that garage. There weren’t any other nooses in any of the other garages. That seems like awfully bad luck.

[Boston Red]

LOL

[Reds Freak]

LOL

What exactly are you laughing at?

Something smells funny about the noose situation, but let's say that was completely innocent. Take a look at all the social media comments to NASCAR's recent posts about the confederate flag and Bubba Wallace and tell us there's no racism issue to be addressed in the NASCAR culture and fan base.

[Boston Red]

I'm laughing at the ridiculous circus over this non-event.

[adkindo]

not sure if legit, but the image going around allegedly of the "noose".....was never a "noose" to begin with, unless it was going to be used on a GI Joe. It was likely a rope someone rigged up to hold something specific at some point. This is actually the best possible ending in my opinion because I knew there was about a 0.0001% chance anyone within the actual teams had hung a noose in his garage, I had very strong doubts anyone with Wallace's team would have did it to seek attention for Wallace....but I really did not trust NASCAR as they are desperate for attention and attracting non-traditional fans.

[Boston Red]

Of course nobody doing this absurd act is the best possible outcome.

[JaxRed]

So there’s been a rope tied in a noose for maybe 9 months that was already there, and the only black driver was assigned that garage. There weren’t any other nooses in any of the other garages. That seems like awfully bad luck.

No, there is a rope tied to all garage doors as a way to open and close then. Someone put a loop in it that one (and maybe others) at some point to make it easier to grab. When that garage was assigned to Wallace, someone's imagination went crazy.

[Sea Ray]

not sure if legit, but the image going around allegedly of the "noose".....was never a "noose" to begin with, unless it was going to be used on a GI Joe. It was likely a rope someone rigged up to hold something specific at some point. This is actually the best possible ending in my opinion because I knew there was about a 0.0001% chance anyone within the actual teams had hung a noose in his garage, I had very strong doubts anyone with Wallace's team would have did it to seek attention for Wallace....but I really did not trust NASCAR as they are desperate for attention and attracting non-traditional fans.

It's a big nothing burger. It's sad that the press needed the FBI to sort this one out. Investigative journalism is dead

[Sea Ray]

So there’s been a rope tied in a noose for maybe 9 months that was already there, and the only black driver was assigned that garage. There weren’t any other nooses in any of the other garages. That seems like awfully bad luck.

Some of this still doesn't add up. Why didn't anyone notice this for the past nine months?

[Danny Serafini]

Because there's been no races there

[goreds2]

Here's how NASCAR's Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum works
Heat races lead to the main event

https://www.foxnews.com/auto/heres-how-nascars-busch-light-clash-at-the-coliseum-works

[Stray]

Wasn't sure about the idea when I heard the Coliseum Clash, but in practice and quals it looks like it works. Oh and the new gen car looks great, but I freaking hate the number placement. Makes the cars look lopsided or something.

[GAC]

When my younger brother, now in his early 60s, stops following Nascar, tells them to go you know where - the only "sport" that ever really existed for him since childhod. Huge passion - then there is something seriously wrong with Nascar. Myself? I quit following Nascar in the mid-80s. I enjoyed going to the races, but not watching them on TV (lol). My "passion" wasn't that great. I was a Petty guy, and my brother Pearson (Wood Brothers).

But they've changed the "structure" of Nascar racing so much over the years I probably wouldn't recognize it anyway (lol).

[bm1475]

They've been trying to listen to what vocal online fans say they want. People said there should be more road courses, there were 7 road races last year (which IMO was a little too many - there's six on the schedule this year). They said they wanted fewer 1.5 mile cookie cutters, they've done that. They gave Atlanta a second date, they gave Darlington a second date, they turned Bristol spring (normally a dead gate that got rained out half the time) into a dirt race that was a spectacle last year. California is turning into a short track after this season, and Nashville Fairgrounds is probably going to turn into a short track, as well.

There's three things they have absolutely not budged on: they refuse to get rid of the sham playoffs, they refuse to shorten the schedule, and they have kept the stage racing that's been very divisive.

Another thing that I think has really hurt them is that as guys like Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon have retired, there haven't been long-time stalwarts to take their place. Once Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick call it quits, there will be zero name recognition on the circuit. Teams have started "Moneyballing" drivers and replacing them with the same white-bread 22-year-olds, and the personalities of the drivers are nonexistent anymore. I don't know the difference between William Byron and Austin Cindric, and I don't really care that much, either.

I think it also hurts that hardly anyone has a full-season sponsor anymore. You don't know what the cars are going to look like from week to week.. imagine if the Reds wore neon green and orange one week, blue and white the next, and red and black the third week. There's that famous joke that sports fans are rooting for laundry... it's hard to even figure out who's wearing what laundry in NASCAR now. What's worse, if companies don't see an ROI on sponsorships, I don't even know what the fix would be.

[Stray]

Today's Clash was phenomenal. Nascar did a great job with this.

[bm1475]

I just got done watching it and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the duels!