Many people today would argue that the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series is North America’s premier racing series. The only real competition in the U.S. is IndyCar NASCAR and IndyCar are the two big dogs when it comes to racing in North America. So why has NASCAR seen a huge drop in tv ratings and attendance?
Many people would argue that it is because many biggest stars have retired. I do agree that it is a component of the drop off. In the past few years Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, and Carl Edwards have all retired, While that is going to hurt the sport, I also think that that is an excuse for NASCAR fans to why their motorsport that they love is struggling. You do not see ratings drop like this in other sports if stars retire. To me, the biggest reason why NASCAR is struggling is the constant need by the NASCAR higher ups to change the rules. The biggest and most controversial change in the last couple years was implemented before the 2017 season in which stage racing was announced. Stage racing splits the race into three segments and placing in the top 10 in a stage would give a driver points. Winning a stage would give you one playoff point. This was a very controversial rule because a lot of people believed that it took the natural progression out of a race. To be honest, stage racing is not natural racing. It forces cars to be bunched up again for a restart after a certain amount of laps and takes away a fair amount of strategy and what many racing fans believe to be one of the more exciting aspects of racing, fuel millage racing. I was one who gave stage racing a shot at the beginning. At first I did not mind it, but I have grown to really dislike it. The higher ups of NASCAR are trying to make NASCAR into something it’s not, a typical sport. Motorsports are not “typical” sports. These stages seem too much like quarters or periods and for racing, that is not right.
One of the other most controversial changes made was the playoff format. Once again, what motorsports series other than NASCAR has playoffs? I mean really? Once again the heads of NASCAR are trying to make racing like basketball or football. The playoffs start with 16 drivers. IF a driver wins a race in the playoffs they automatically advance to the next round. They race until the top four drivers are remaining and then the finale is held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The issue with this format is that if a driver the first 35 races, but had an engine problem at Homestead, they would NOT be the Champion, To me, that is absolute garbage. The most dominant driver all year deserves to be the Champion. The playoffs should be gone from NASCAR. NASCAR should develop a points system like F1. In NASCAR there are around 40 cars in the field so I would say the top 20 should get points. First place gets around 40-50, second place around 5 less, and then keep lowering the amounts. Then 15-20 should get one point. There should also be bonus points given out to the driver with the most laps led. The driver with the most points and the end of the season wins the Championship. Boom. The champion does not need to be crowned at Homestead! Homestead should be a celebration of the season and if takes until the last race to crown a champion, that’s awesome, but if not, that’s racing. Sometimes guys are just really good some years. My issue with NASCAR is that they are going away from what racing should be. I know what NASCAR could be. Going to races is one of my favorite things to do, but the bosses of NASCAR who think they know what the fans want truly have no idea.
The last main issue with NASCAR are the cars themselves. This sentiment was acknowledged by Brad Keselowski, who has been a full time driver in the highest series of NASCAR since 2010. He said “It is time for this sport to design a new car that is worthy of where this sport deserves to be and the show it deserves to put on for its fans.” The issue with these cars is that clean air is everything. Clean air means that once a driver get up to the front they can practically check out. If they are the fastest car on the track its fine, the issue is when there are faster cars that get caught up in dirty air and because of dirty air and aero alone, they are not able to challenge for the lead. An issue the aerodynamics of the car is aero push. There have been numerous times in which a car has not even touched another car, but because of the aerodynamics of the car it has spun out and wrecked. Another issue with the cars is the lack of off throttle time, This is the biggest change that needs to be made. Off throttle time leads to better racing because that puts more emphasis on the abilities on the drivers, not how fast your car is. Sure slow cars can’t go fast, but fast cars can sure be slowed down my drivers, Like Keselowski said, “it is time for NASCAR to reevaluate the cars that they are putting on the track and make a better car that provides better racing.”
While NASCAR has a lot of work to do to make NASCAR’s product better, it is possible. The changes that need to be made in terms of format are getting rid of the playoff system and making the points system simpler, very much like the F1 system. Getting rid of stage racing is also a must. That would make the points being given out much easier to understand and help fans understand what is going on. In terms of the cars, the cars need to be redesigned. That will take time and money, but in the end it will be worth it. If NASCAR and their engineers can build a package that gives the drivers more off throttle time and puts the racing more in the hands of the driver and not in clean air, then the racing will improve. If NASCAR can implement these changes or some form of them the sport will not only become more exciting, but can bring fans that have left back, and who knows, maybe bring more fans in.
Michael's Sports Blog 