July 3, 2009
By Rebecca Gladden
Has this ever happened to you? You finally get to see that big blockbuster movie you've been waiting all year for or the new TV series that's been advertised for months. Or maybe you try a new restaurant in town that's everyone's talking about -- and you end up totally disappointed when the experience fails to live up to the hype.
That's the way it's been with NASCAR lately, and that's a problem. In fact, it might be the biggest problem facing the sport today.
Every week, NASCAR PR rolls out a new press release for the media telling us why the upcoming race will be the most exciting one yet and why the Chase for the Championship is ever so gripping. TV commercials air throughout the week, both on NASCAR and non-NASCAR programming, with heart-pounding music and excited announcers shouting about the thrill of racing, as video rolls of the biggest crashes from seasons past.
Then come the pre-race shows, featuring highly-caffeinated TV hosts devoting two or three hours to building up the race, recollecting the best-ever finishes at the venue, and highlighting (if not manufacturing) as much drama and controversy as possible.
It's a whole lot of hype to live up to.
And therein lies the rub. Because these days the races simply aren't rising to their propagandized level.
When you have events like this year's Bristol - a track once billed as the "toughest ticket in motorsports" - running parade-style races, you know there's a problem. Kyle Busch led 378 of 503 laps at Bristol this year (75%) and eight of 13 'passes' for the lead occurred under caution as cars stayed out to lead a lap before pitting.
Much of this situation has been created by NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, which has shown an aversion to passing in traffic and a proclivity for staying out front once it has clean air on the nose - especially at the intermediate tracks that comprise a majority of the Cup circuit.
In addition, NASCAR has had bad luck this year weather-wise, with several qualifying sessions and races adversely affected by rain - a huge letdown for fans, although many argue that NASCAR is too quick to pull the rain-out trigger on qualifying.
Other conditions impacting the excitement level of the races have been building for several years, including the Chase for the Championship format, which creates artificially-generated suspense during the last ten races of the year, while simultaneously discounting accomplishments in the first 26 races. The stress of not making a mistake in the Chase has many drivers racing too cautiously, while others fall victim to costly mishaps and errors.
Even more concerning is the pressure exerted on drivers by NASCAR and its corporate partners to limit outward displays of anger and aggression in favor of gooey good sportsmanship. Instead of breaking out in a fight after an on-track clash, drivers today are more likely to break out their cell phones for a session of polite text-messaged apologizing.
NASCAR is losing its TV audience as well as the fans in the stands and can't seem to understand why. While the bad economy is a factor, the downward trend actually preceded the current economic trouble.
Fans are much more astute than NASCAR gives them credit for. They know when they're being sold a bill of goods.
Watching the sport travel down what many perceive to be the wrong road is disappointing. But getting whipped into a frenzy of anticipation every week only to be let down time and again is heart-wrenching.
Until NASCAR's product improves, they ought to seriously consider withholding all the hype.
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