Comments for Sledgehammer!

Comment on A new year… by Jay Young

Jay Young — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 17:02:26 +0000

looking forward to your observations and opinions

Comment on About Me by Judy Morrow

Judy Morrow — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 17:28:32 +0000

Hi Bob, I have been catching up on your blog and truely enjoy it! Thanks for the insight into the world of nascar.
Judy Morrow (the cookie guard from Atlanta)

Comment on I remember my friend Denny Darnell by Mark DeCotis

Mark DeCotis — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 16:52:10 +0000

Great job as usual my friend. Denny and Ray Cooper who worked with Denny for Dodge were class.

Mark DeCotis

Comment on The Truth Part II by jaysin2012

jaysin2012 — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 18:53:21 +0000

Just read your MSN article titled “Sponsors giving NASCAR the Business” I wont be one of those people that cut and paste a response that I already typed over there but holy hell please do some research before you write your next NASCAR article. Maybe that puff piece was due to it being on a FOX website, and they cover NASCAR I dont know. But you said the “product is best its ever been.”.. Are you kidding? Best compared to what? And to quote a loon at Best Buy that says empty seats are good because that means they are home watching it on a big screen tv that they got at Best Buy. That sounds like something that you would hear at a Brian France or Bruton Smith press conference. Come on, do a real article next time.. please :)

Comment on The Truth Part II by eric

eric — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 00:38:27 +0000

45 year old white male with 3 kids under 10 here. NASCAR fan since 1985 but grew up with Camel GT/IMSA stuff first then CART. (lost interest after the split). Can no longer justify the $$ required to attend Cup races, don’t care about the soap opera stuff. I don’t care about the Chase and am bored with the stale schedule. The COT was a huge disappointment for me and 1.5 mile tracks don’t provide good racing. I seem to only watch the last 30 or so laps of any Cup race anymore.

My main racing interest now is Off Road trucks (Lucas Oil, TORC and SST). My kids love it too, cool jumps, shorter races and better/closer access to drivers and cars.

Comment on The Truth Part II by GinaV24

GinaV24 — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 21:21:06 +0000

well, I’m a female NASCAR fan so I guess I miss at least part of your current expected demographic. I also pay for raceview – mainly because the TV broadcasts are so worthless that if I want to actually follow the race, I have to use my computer. I’ve used raceview for about 5 years now and having access not only to the drivers scanners but also to whatever radio network is broadcasting the race is worth the price because certainly the cartoon cars shown on raceview are silly at best. Most video games are more well done than the visuals on raceview, but at least I can follow most of the action w/o having to listen to the idiots in the booth say the same inane things over and over – yes, Fox, I’m talking to you. TNT is better, other than their PXP guy is useless. ESPN? Well, all they care about is “the chase”, not what race they are showing.

I also use twitter to follow quite a bit of NASCAR information for whatever it is worth, at least it is somewhat entertaining and once in a while you actually get a glimpse of the real people behind the corporate facade.

The racing – at least early in the season – when Goodyear was bringing a tire that wore out and the drivers had to MANAGE the tires for a race (gasp) instead of being able to just go from fuel run to fuel run, was reasonably interesting. I happen to like road courses so that’s good but the middle part of the season when they mostly run on the dull D’s on rock hard tires is far less interesting to watch.

I agree with you that for the most part, the current NASCAR media, is all about soft questions and making sure they don’t upset anyone “important”. When I was going to a lot of races, part of the fun was talking about the drivers AND the brand they drove. Since the advent of the kit car/COT, that has conversation has mostly gone away.

Plus IMO, the “chase” may make Brian France happy but there is a pretty strong segment of the fans who don’t care as much about any of it. France wanted to bring in the casual fans, I don’t think he has succeeded in that, but he has done a fine job of driving away many of the fans the sport once had.

Comment on The Truth? You Can’t Handle the Truth by Joan

Joan — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 20:12:02 +0000

Bob – Yes I am. I miss journalists like David Poole and Jack Flowers. Mike Mulhern who is now retired. I want the truth and not fluff.

Comment on The Truth? You Can’t Handle the Truth by Bob Margolis

Bob Margolis — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:40:13 +0000

Alan, thank you for your very kind words. I believe that everything changes and this too shall change. Corrections will be made. The people involved in NASCAR are just and righteous in their determination to keep the sport viable and significant in a world that has dramatically shifted. The disappearance of local motorsports beat writers was the loss of an essential connection between the fans across the country and the sport. While the large news organizations do a wonderful job of coverage, it isn’t and never will be enough. The problem is simple. It’s called RESPECT. The sport suffers from a lack of it. Who’s to blame?

Comment on The Truth? You Can’t Handle the Truth by Bob Margolis

Bob Margolis — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:25:59 +0000

Joan, I hope your comment about my becoming extinct means that I’m the last of a dying breed. I’ve always found that when you wipe away the dirt, you can read the gauges on the dashboard a whole lot better.

Comment on The Truth? You Can’t Handle the Truth by Big Al

Big Al — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:57:34 +0000

Bob, you are the center of the no-BS zone, you have been for years and I have enjoyed your perspective for years and the insider news you always provided. The type of news that Nascar always wants to surpress, but runs rampant in the garage, as you and I know.

You are correct about what Nascar is trying to do and the whole sport suffers because of it.

Hope you are feeling well and keep ’em coming!