How do you feel about what NASCAR has become?

Question

I love stock car racing, but I've been thinking more and more that I dislike what NASCAR has become. Here's my top 5 dislikes of the series:
1. The absence of a clearly defined rulebook with clearly defined penalties.
2. The lucky dog.
3. The top 35 in owners points.
4. The entire chase concept.
5. Phantom debris.

I'm still a NASCAR fan, but growing more and more frustrated with it each year.

celtic_tiger9700 - I don't disagree, but I think a lot of the soap opera stuff would go away with a clearly defined rulebook.

larry s - I do have to admit that I wish those days still existed!

srjrfan - I wish I knew of a place/forum where fans could voice concerns to Nascar.

Birdy - we obviously disagree, but there's not wrong answer to how you feel. Thx for your input.

David G - always to the point. No shock here.

Dina M - I wouldn't say we disagree about provisionals. I'm with you on that one. Free rides gotta go.

Answer 1

Your dead on, I'm glad to see more fans voice these opinions. I just hope that NA$CAR will listen to us 1 day.

Answer 2

I think NASCAR is becoming what Indy racing used to be before the IRL/CART split. I think NASCAR is getting too big for its britches and it seems that they are telling the fans what the fans want to see rather than listening to the fans say what they want to see in a racing league.

1. The absence of a clearly defined rulebook with clearly defined penalties: It seems that the severity of a penalty is inversely related to the popularity of a driver and their position in point. The more popular a driver is and the more points they have, the less severe the penalty is. If one if the Busch brothers wreck half the field on purpose, it is racing. If Kenny Wallace taps someone from behind, he would probably get thrown out of the race.

2. The lucky dog: I have mixed feelings on this. I think that not racing back to the line on yellow flags is one of the best things NASCAR could have done (but between the phantom debris and the Martin/Harvick Daytona 500 finish, I don't think that NASCAR can even throw the yellow and the appropriate times). However, if you are a lap down, does anyone deserve to get their lap back? It keeps it more exciting I guess.

3. Owners Points: Say so long to the little guy.

4. The Chase: ummm....yeah. A driver does good all year can lose the title if s/he has a few bad races in the last 10 races...seems like kind of a crappy deal to me. However, the alternative was a driver 300+ points in the lead coasting the last few races and not trying for the win... The whole concept of the chase doesn't make sense to me, but hey...

5. Phantom debris: Related to the lucky dog section...they throw the flag for a seemingly non-existant piece of debris yet they don't throw the flag when half the field is wrecking in the Daytona 500....

Personally, I've always liked to watch clean racing and watched CART until they lost all their good drivers to the IRL (don't watch IRL as the cars seem like glorified go-karts).

NASCAR has turned into a bumper car rink where only the favorites are assured to win. Besides that, the ticket prices have gotten outrageous. I won't even go see a race live anymore.

I married into a NASCAR family and used to be a die-hard fan after CART when to sh*t. Now, I haven't watched a full race since the Daytona 500 fiasco.

Personally, I would like to see some of the big teams disolved and help more one and two car teams get back into the race. I think times were more exciting back then. I would like to see drivers who wreck others intentionally be thrown out of the race and dismissed from the race after that. You hit it right on the head with the well defined rules and consistant penalties.

I'm sure a lot of other people will disagree with me, but it's just my 2 cents.

Answer 3

1. The absence of a clearly defined rulebook with clearly defined penalties.

They definitely need to work on this, or at least better explain why they give the penalties out the way that they do.

2. The lucky dog.

I actually like this rule. It creates racing amongst the lap cars, and doesn't allow the leaders to totally run away with the race. My biggest complaint is that the lap cars get the inside lane on restarts. Move them to the outside lane and let them fight it out from there.

3. The top 35 in owners points.

This definitely keeps the the smaller teams from ever having a chance.

4. The entire chase concept.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It makes the end of the season more exciting, but it's very unfair to the points leader after 26 races. A person who was 400 points out of the running gets put within 60 or so points? At least they're tweaking on it to give more credit for wins. They should also consider giving credit for amount of laps led.

5. Phantom debris.

I think that NASCAR should send an official onto the track during these cautions to retrieve the actual debris. That way they could show the fans what they saw.

Answer 4

The one thing I really disagree with is all the Championship provisionals & the owner points guarantee's. I believe you should have to either qualify into the race or race your way into it! Plain and simple! And the 43 spots should be open to anyone who qualifies and 25 spots filled are filled by the top 25 qualifiers & the remaining starting possitions are filled by racing into them. Provisionals are for the birds!

The other thing that has gotten under my skin with NASCAR lately is that they are running more & more of the Cup races on Saturday nights! This takes away for the entire country's local short track racing! Because of low attendance on the nights that the Cup cars are racing many of them are not having there local weekly races.

As for 1. on your list your going to find that with any form of organized sports weather it be NASCAR racing, local track racing, Football, Baseball etc...

I am a fan of the Lucky Dog

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the chase but I understand why they are doing it!

I don't like the phantom debris calls because they seem to be selective on who they throw thows kind of cautions for! It is unfortunate that NASCAR officials aren't able to keep an open and unbiased out look! They seem to favor some over others! Which is a problem!

What I don't understand is why NASCAR would be so lieniate on the punishment for Kurt Bush's behavior. NOBODY cares what happens to Kurt Bush so, in there turning a blind eye and not following through with there Pre Season announcement on how they will make the punishment fit the situation has really gotten a lot of fans inraged! If they threw the book at him they would have made the fans happy! And kept there integrity!

Answer 5

I love it... I think the sport is one of a kind and something that no other racing will ever accomplish. However stuff can always be inproved, but I do not think phantom debris exist. Just because the TV cameras cannot find whatever it is that has caused it, does not mean there isnt anything out there. Whatever it was could have been picked up by a car's hot tires, or just blown somewhere else... who knows, but as big as nascar is, its not going to risk anything by throwing cautions just to let people win... I cant believe people think that is the case.

I love the chase, it keeps it interesting for the top 12 not just the top 2 or 3 with 10 races to go. I like the lucky dog, but you should only be allowed 2 per race if not 1.

Keep in mind that every sport has their own issues... baseball its the issue of steroids, small markets, and big markets, national league, american league, interleague play (some say its not fair). In Football you have instant replay, should we have it or not, the inconsistancy of pass interferance, the "dont touch the quarterback on his head or his legs, and dont hit him too hard anywhere else. NBA has... well no ratings so apperatly nobody watches that. NHL has... the same no ratings! lol

Every rule book has grey areas too, keep that in mind. Also if the rule book was clearly defined saying "X has to be X, and B has to be B" then it was be like restrictor plate racing every weekend, with cars all in big groups... People get caught cheating because they get out of the grey areas... if they are not sure all they have to do is ask an official.

I think Nascar is perfect!

Answer 6

I love your question... to me NASCAR changed when it (1) Changed from Winston Cup to NEXTEL (2) Davey Allison, Neal Bonnett & of course Earnhardt left us. I remember the day when I would watch a race from start to finish - now I (depending on where they are racing) watch the first & last 25 -30 laps. Keep in mind, I remember the days when Petty, David Pierson, Bobby Allison & Cale Yarbrough were the young guns. Not to take away from Tony Stewart climbing a fence or Carl Edwards doing a backwards flip, but to me it will never be the same........too many rules & regulations. I have NASCAR memoribilia that is priceless. I hold on to it to teach my younger nephews how the sport use to be.
I have had the privilage on being in the pits, garages & suites
I guess all I really have to say is, never let the sport leave your heart. Please.

Answer 7

The changes are unbeleivable.I mean rules are changed to help teams,Cautions come out for phantom debris,and I want to see NASCAR get back on DIRT tracks once or twice a year..These dayyam cookie cutter tracks are making a joke of the sport.
AND lets get back to the FASTEST 43 quailify,no more free rides.

Answer 8

NASCAR HAS BECOME A SPORT FOR THE SUPER RICH. THE OLD DAYS WHEN YOU SAW THE LIKES OF ALAN KULWICKI RACE WITHOUT A SPONSOR ARE GONE. SO ARE THE BUY IT OFF THE SHOWROOM FLOOR DAYS. SO MUCH FOR STOCK CAR RACING! A NAME CHANGE FOR THE SPORT WOULD BE IN ORDER, WHICH MIGHT BE GOOD QUESTION TO POSE ON THIS FORUM.

Answer 9

Well, I'm a bit frustrated for another reason. I don't like the WWE hype it's grown to have. I remember when racing was racing, not a darned soap opera.

Answer 10

Those are all complaint's I have.I'm just happy someone ask a question without crying about Kurt Busch.I mean lets get over it already and talk about something else.