Which NASCAR Sprint Cup race did you watch on Saturday night?
The much too-long, boring, single-file, no passing “snoozefest” that featured what some fans and media described as a mysterious late race caution? The one that was hammered on social media by both fans and media with words like “stinker” and much worse?
Or did you watch a 334 lap “save your stuff” challenge on a 1.5-mile track? The kind of race that we’ve come to expect this first year out with the new generation car? The car that even crew chief geniuses like Chad Knaus and Paul Wolfe are struggling to figure out? And veteran drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick have to fight to keep pointed in the right direction?
It was both embarrassing and ridiculous that so many NASCAR fans and media slammed the race on Twitter for its apparent lack of excitement. I’m not even sure if the word jaded applies here when describing their relentless negativity about the race, the not completely full grandstands and anything else they could comment about with their little minds.
I wonder if any of the 43 drivers who took the green flag would describe the race as a “stinker” or a “snoozefest.” Or any of the crew chiefs or any of the over-the-wall pit crew?
I admit that not every NASCAR Sprint Cup race holds the kind of edge of your seat excitement like we’ll see next week when the series races at Talladega. Or the kind of excitement we’ve come to expect at a short track like Bristol, Martinsville or Richmond.
Look, those of you who know me, know that I’ve never drunk the Kool Aid.
So when I say that those fans and others who thought Saturday night’s race was boring and made a point of expressing that opinion over and over again on social media simply don’t understand the sport and apparently don’t want to understand it.
Especially the races run on the so-called 1.5-mile “cookie cutter” tracks.
I see them as perhaps the toughest races of all to win. They’re usually 400 or 500 miles long and they feature such demanding challenges to both the driver and the crew that their importance to the sport and to The Chase can not be understated.
While some of you see only a parade of single-file racing, with little passing and little side-by-side racing, I see a race that presents many different challenges on several levels.
First off, every driver understands that the only way to win these three hour long races is to save your stuff. And that’s just one part of the equation, but it’s the most important one. If you tear up your equipment, over work your brakes or your engine, your not going to be able to step it up for the final 20 miles. And you can’t just hang out, either. That’s not in the DNA of a NASCAR Cup driver. You want and need to run hard to keep up with the leaders, which means that every lap you have to focus on hitting your marks while avoiding anything that might put you out of the race.
Then there’s the crew chief, whose job for those three plus hours is to do the impossible. That is, make the race car comfortable enough at nearly 200 miles per hour so that his driver can make the kind of moves on the track that he or she needs to make. Moves like taking it into the corners harder than the competition and being able to get back onto the gas quickly while exiting the corner. If you follow this sport at all, you know that being able to do this doesn’t happen that often. And as a result, for much of the race, you’ll hear drivers complain about his or her race car.
And if you follow the sport you also know that complaining about the car is also in a driver’s DNA.
If you think you understand this sport, then instead of complaining about the lack of passing and boring single file racing, be focused on how each team is meeting their set of challenges, whether it be moving up in the field because of a poor qualifying effort, or dealing with a car that the driver says is “wicked” or worse. There’s a lot going on during a Cup race, even when the racing is single file and no one is passing and the laps are winding down.
At times it may seem like the drivers are just out there cruising around. (And I’ll admit that maybe there are a few out there doing just that and making a good living.) But believe me, most of the field is trying to figure out how to go faster into the corner and get back on the gas quicker.
This new car is still a huge puzzle to each teams. Even the well financed ones. That is why they all employ an army of engineers, spend hours working on computer simulations and pour over every inch of the car trying to figure out how to pull even a small advantage out of it — one that won’t be considered illegal.
If you haven’t noticed, this new car is a lot faster and it’s not easy to drive.
Ask Matt Kenseth if he was bored on Saturday night? Or Jimmie Johnson, or Kasey Kahne or Kevin Harvick or Jeff Gordon? Those guys were working their asses off. And so did their teammates in the pits, who knew that when the time came for them to get their job done, they had less than 14 seconds to perform a perfect ballet that offered plenty of opportunities for a major screw up.
In Major League baseball, when its a battle between two talented rosters, each one featuring a master in the art of throwing strike outs and the final score is 1-0, its described as a tough pitching duel, not boring or a stinker. That’s because every inning you’re waiting for the pitcher to lose his edge or for someone to make a mistake that allows the other team to take advantage.
The same goes for the NFL. When its a tough battle between two defenses that won’t allow either offense to score and the game ends up being 9-7, it’s described as a defensive battle, not boring or a stinker.
Have a number of NASCAR’s fans and media become jaded and cynical about the sport? I’m afraid so.
This sport has changed and regrettably many of its fans and those who write about it have not changed with it. I’m not sure what these cynics who find boredom in Cup racing are looking for from NASCAR. And if any of the fans are still coming to see wrecks at a Cup race, well, they still can happen, but not as often. The drivers are better than ever and the tracks are safer.
Here’s where NASCAR and the broadcast media hasn’t been able to connect to both the hardcore and the casual race fan. Or even the guy at home who just changed the channel from the NFL game during a commercial to check out the race.
NASCAR is much more than racing cars. It is a complex story of who is smarter than the other guy. Who has done a better job of finding those small changes while setting up the car? Who has done the better job at figuring out how to make the new car go fast, yet still be comfortable and drivable? Who can make the best decisions under pressure, when the laps are winding down and it is close to go time and you’ve got a driver who is telling you that he or she is doing the best that they can but the car is still shit?
And believe me, this last part pretty much speaks for much of the field during a Cup race.
If you think the racing is boring, then I’m afraid that you simply don’t get it. But, then again, that’s your prerogative.
For me, the racing is better than ever. Because the stakes are higher and unfortunately, costs are too. There’s constant pressure from all sides to keep pushing the envelope.
Of course, that’s my opinion.
Thanks for stopping by.
While I appreciate your “opinion” I have my opinion! I have been following Nascar and am a fan since the sixties, I am female, in my fifties and live in So Calif (all my life). I have subscribed to Raceview since it used to be Trackpass. I have no cable. I follow the races on my pc with the exception of yesterday. I fell asleep and was asleep for most of the race! Maybe it was the steady non-hyped out voices that I’m used to hearing with MRN or PRN, maybe it was the repetitive sound of the single file cars going round the track. I don’t know, but what I do know is I woke up with fifty to go and was hyped when the “debris thank God” caution came out!
Yes I blame the car, tires and yes even the tv announcers. Why is it the tv announcers are so boring, how come there is such a difference between tv and MRN/PRN? I don’t have a solution, I’m not an expert, but please shorten the race, make smaller fuel cell making them come in more often during a green flag for a pit stop or make the race into divided segments.
While I appreciate and understand the drivers are struggling with car (I do listen to scanners every week) I also know that with out fans and a alert viewing audience those drivers/team will not be making any money!
I am on both sides of the fence…I watch the races intently..but there are stretches of a race I get bored and my mind and the TV remote wander. It does bother me alot of fans and the media spend SO much time and effort tearing down the sport and NASCAR. I can’t say I always agree with the choices made on or off the track…but the sport in its entirety means more to me then knit picking every move made by drivers or NASCAR. Things change..every sport everything in life changes and grows. It is up to us to evolve with situations and it seems too many folks want to hang on to the good old days…come on now …were they all really that good? I don’t believe so…
Josie, I always like to refer to the comments by the former VP of Communications for NASCAR, the late Jim Hunter. He had been involved with the sport from its earliest days, first as a journalist and then later as one of the key players in the organization. He told me that it was a false reference to talk about how great it was in NASCAR’s “good old days.” He said that NASCAR wasn’t so great in those so-called “good old days” when drivers were winning races by margins of multiple laps, not by seconds or fractions of seconds as it is today. And that back then, the sport was dominated by just a few drivers. “The good old days are today,” was one of Hunter’s favorite lines.
Perhaps it would be easier for fans watching on TV to stay engaged with the racing if the networks spent more time relaying information about more than the standard 10 or 12 drivers and teams? Concentrating on only the ‘contenders’ not only deprives teams of TV time that would help keep or attract sponsors, but can certainly lead to fan ‘overload’ about those chosen drivers. As good a driver as Jimmie Johnson is, he has not connected with many fans commensurate to his skill as a driver. Perhaps overexposure is a part of the problem? Chase or not, there are still 43 cars on the track each week, and most of them vanish before the season even begins. Often, that’s where the ‘excitement’ is, not at the front of the field.
I agree, Sal. After years of covering NASCAR events in person and being able to watch ALL the action taking place during a race from the vantage point of the press box, it’s very difficult for me to watch television coverage of the race. Although coverage of the action taking place mid-pack, which is often more entertaining, has gotten better, the focus of the television broadcast every week remains on the front runners. Race Buddy has been a real help, but it has its own set of limitations. As much as we’d like things to be different with the television version of a NASCAR event, the bottom line is that there’s nothing that compares to seeing a race in person.
Seriously..TV coverage is a HUGE part of the problem with how our sport is perceived..do the brass at the networks NOT read fans complaints..do they not care what viewers would like to see and hear during a broadcast? Or do they just think fans don’t know what we’re talking about?? With TV viewership down I would think just even for a few weeks they may want to try broadcasting a race as fans wish..what the heck..what have they got to lose?? All teams deserve TV time..all competitors have their own race going on within a race…as fans we want to pick our own teams to follow..NOT just the teams a Broadcast station feels we should care about.
I agree with you that the NASCAR television broadcast leaves a great deal to be desired, especially if you regularly attend even one event a year or have seen just one race in your lifetime. Race Buddy, the online viewing companion, is a step in the right direction. I understand that there will be even more online viewing options in the coming years. Keep in mind, that the television networks have their own agenda — that is to make money. NASCAR tries its best to get them to help grow the sport and network executives will often throw out the BS saying that they too want to help. But until NASCAR has its own network (which should have happened years ago) this formula will remain the status quo.
We’ve been watching this ‘save your stuff’ racing for years, not just THIS year with the new gen 6. Where have you been?
Sorry Bob, you’re the one who doesn’t understand what’s happening. If you did, you would see that’s it’s roll around momentum, don’t touch and bend my aero machine, aero push racing too often decided by something we can’t see (air) that is the problem.
Once again, it was last run excitement that was the must see part of the telecast that saved the day.
Fenderbumper…don’t you think a change in the way a race is presented on TV would help a fans view of a race? On track activity when you are forced to watch the lead car..and one or two cars chasing him..can be pretty boring. But..I believe at that point it should be the job of the broadcast crew to find stories..races within the race..to keep the fans engaged. Go through ALL positions a few times during the race…tell us whats going on with ALL drivers in ALL positions during the race. Give us constant updates and camera time for 1st, 12th, 23rd, and 40th positions…it might be our favorite driver. Watching the top car go round and round and round is boring…and to me that’s inexcusable when there are so many other cars on track with there own interesting race stories….
Yes, the TV coverage is pathetic. As long as Brian sells to the highest bidder without demanding innovation, we’ll be treated to uninspired coverage. What nascar really needs is one station dedicated to growing interest in the sport, not just watering down their competitions stick and ball viewership on Sunday.
this is why we have the chase. TV wanted it to compete with S&B broadcasts, and offered extra cash to get it.
There is too much wrong with the leadership to talk about here. Why was expanding the sport left at the cheapest thing to do, build 1.5′s at the expense of short tracks and put in more seats? Why have so many double dates, rather than go to the expense of building more tracks in new markets?
The whole thing is a mess. Thanks to Brian and Liza competing to bring in the most cash to the France coffers, decisions weren’t made to foster growth of the sport.
The only real racing Saturday night was shown by Brad and Kasey in the last few laps. Neither had any quit in them. They raced hard, bumping and banging, yet without taking each other out. Neither cried about tires, the track, the new car, they took everything their machines had along with all the heart and desire they had, what you saw in that brief period were two RACERS doing what the fans are begging for. That was a demonstration of “old school” racing. That’s what built NASCAR. There is far too much of that missing today and that’s why the fan complaints.
More and more I see drivers, the media, complaining about the fan complaints. That’s akin to biting the hand that feeds you ,IMO. There is far too much emphasis put on the sponsors and million dollar owners. The backbone of NASCAR is the fans. Without us there are no 20 million dollar sponsors, no million dollar owners, no NASCAR, there is nothing! So it seems to me it’s pretty simple to understand that the “show” should be directed at the fans. But, it ain’t thataway! Instead of aiming criticism at the fan complaints, accept them for what they are and set a path to eliminate the fan complaints instead of the fans. Beating up on the fans and their legitimate (to them) complaints is like taking a sledgehammer to the one thing the sport can’t lose.
Well, I think there is just too much going on in a race for TV to give it a fair exposure. Instead of 2 coaches directing the tams there is 43 coaches. How does TV cover that? Instead of a few top players to focus on for each team, there are a few top players for every team. How do you move up and down pit row all day long and report on the activities of all of these guys and gals? Instead of a court or field that is completely uniform, the track itself is a huge part of the game. Much more time needs to be devoted to the variables created by the track and its current conditions. The smallest venue on the NASCAR circuit is more than twice the size of any other sport. How do you keep track of all the goings on around a facility that covers hundreds of acres? Auto racing is, by far the most difficult sport to try to cover and the most expensive to cover if you want to do the sport some justice. So far, it can’t be done.
If you want a different experience than the one you get from the TV, get off your butts and attend a race at you local tracks. You get to watch whatever you want to focus on there for about $10 bucks and the high cost of a snow cone. The racing is great, even if the drivers and teams are not so great.
I’m been attending 1-3 races a year for the last 15 years, I’m likely not to do so this year simply because of economics not related to racing.
But, I can definite see that sometimes (most of the time) TV doesn’t and possibly can’t do it justice. I’ve been to a few Bristol races in recent years where the people who watched in on TV said that it was boring. Well, it was true that there was little contention for the lead in those races. However, there was still plenty of action going on out on the track and those of in the stands say a much different (read better) race than those on TV did.
Mr. M,
Great article, chock full of talking points. Did you read Amy’s story about the same subject? Apparently most social media bashers haven’t seen a Cup race up close and in person, therein lies the disconnect. I went to the Glen a few years ago, perched behind the pits and I was taken aback by how hard these folks race! Stick and ball sports might translate more favorably on the tube, but the flood of commercials (Lowe’s, Home Depot- wink, wink) dilute NASCAR events into a running info-mercial. Meanwhile, every team, driver, crew member and ‘the guys back at the shop’ pour their hearts and souls into it, every day of their lives-It’s best understood and enjoyed once seen trackside. Shut up, haters, go see it for what it really is!
Agreed.
There are so many problems with the racing compared to the 70′s when I first started watching. Aero-push, for me, is the single biggest. Having many different primary sponsors during the year also makes it difficult to tell at a glance who is racing whom. Cars that look nothing like what is offered in the showroom, radial tires that suddenly break loose rather than the sliding that the bias-ply tires offered, cookie cutter tracks, phony cautions to bunch up the field, TV coverage that consists of a bunch of tight shots of one or two cars at a time, etc. etc. etc..
I don’t mind a car or a few cars dominating if they’ve got a great setup under them. It’s still no guarantee that they’ll win. They can break or get caught up in an accident. Or their adjustments may not keep up with the ever changing track.
Give me cars that rely primarily on mechanical grip. I don’t care if they go slower than they do now. It’s better racing for me.