What can NASCAR do to draw the casual fan in?

[pstall]

I'm on the outer edge but not rabid. Saw part of a blurb in the paper on this.

Ratings are down. Not sure if a down economy hurts or not but the sport translates well on tv.

Maybe too many races or like other sports, has gotten TOO corporate.

[Davidson Deac II]

The majority of the races are boring now. IMO, its mainly due to the tracks themselves. They replaced great venues like North Wilkesboro and Rockingham with boring races in LA and Kansas City. Need to redesign the tracks, to make them more conducive to side by side racing. Nowadays the only good races are Bristol, Richmond, Martinsville, the road courses and the restrictor plate races. And even the restrictor plate races were a little boring this year.

Also there is no polarizing figure like Earnhardt. He was either loved or hated by almost all fans. Jimmy Johnson just doesn't get the same response, positive or negative. Kyle Busch might get there, if he whines less and wins more.

[Jase]

As an outsider, I would say more T&A

[Bobby]

I can't watch a race at California Speedway at all. It's awful. I don't care how many seats it has, Rockingham was miles better.

[Dilla]

I actually think that those new COTs debuting next year would help a lot, since they look much like what's bout at the dealships, and I think seeing those go around the track would gather the interests of someone flicking through channels if only for a second, but those are just going to be for the Nationwide series.

Tracks are a given. The main mockings I get for watching NASCAR are because 1.) it's for rednecks and 2.) all they are doing is going in circles. So of course, I think that cutting out some of the cookie cutters in favor of road courses or short tracks would help a lot. The racing at Iowa and O'Reilly Racing Park was the best racing of the year to me. Are those venues too small for the Sprint Cup?

More diversity in victory lane would help as well, a new veiwer probably wouldn't stick around long if Hendrick Motorsports are in Victory Lane every week. And not including satellite teams, because I think those are necessary at this point in time.

[Speed]

Do away with restricter plates.

[Bobby]

LA itself wasn't a bad idea, the old track there was actually entertaining.

[Scrumtrilescent]

Break up both ISC/the France family and SMI.

[Bobby]

I'd keep the "big" tracks. Daytona, Charlotte, Bristol, Darlington, ect. and then rotate the rest of the dates around. It'd make it impossible for anyone to master part of the schedule.

[Panthro]

Viewership is down? Whose showing them shiny objects and jingling keys to draw their attention away?

[Darth Biscuit]

DD and Jase make excellent points, (esp. Jase :ihih:)...

I consider myself a "former" NASCAR fan... in the late 90's thru about 2002, I watched a lot... NASCAR has always been very "commercial" but it got worse and worse... with the boring ass tracks like California, Kansas, Chicago and Miami and the "chase" being the center of attention, they've lost the meaning of what NASCAR once was. It's a shame that the best race of the year is the Bud Shootout, a race with no point implications... that should tell them something, but they're too dumb to see it.

[shinner]

I'm on the outer edge but not rabid. Saw part of a blurb in the paper on this.

Ratings are down. Not sure if a down economy hurts or not but the sport translates well on tv.

Maybe too many races or like other sports, has gotten TOO corporate.

mufflers...that poo is too loud!

[Scrumtrilescent]

They need sort of a salary cap, like an R&D cap. It'd be hard to regulate but it'd also bring back some more creativity.

[Delhommey]

Fewer, shorter races.