|
Good article with a lot of truth about the state of racing in general. Its sad to see things come to this. It pains me to think that less than 10 years
ago car counts were fairly strong with full fields and even B-mains at some
tracks. Now, full fields are hard to find and B-mains are a rarity at even the best tracks. The A-mains at many tracks today are consisting of little more than what we would
have considered a large heat race back in the early to mid 2000's. Its crazy how quickly things have gone downhill.
Times are rapidly changing and the sport is not changing with it; at least not fast enough. I'm afraid if it doesn't find ways to adapt quickly it is going to find itself wearing the same pair shoes that AOL, Blockbuster, and the major record labels are after failing to see the writing on the wall and being unwilling to make necessary changes. Its easy to see all the problems and sad to watch our beloved sport fighting
for its life in this era of poor promotion and a terrible economy. The problems facing racing today are multifaceted, but since the article dealt with car counts and the cost of racing I'll stick to that.
You would think with the economy being the way it is the "economy" and stock classes
would be booming yet in most cases their counts are suffering just the same as the more expensive ones. It seems
many teams and drivers rather sell out than drop down. Have these drivers and teams just lost the passion to race? In some cases I think the answer is yes, but in others I assume its
because these "economic classes" are suffering the same or similar cost
to payout ratio that the more expensive classes are. Nobody races to make themselves rich, but the economics have to make enough sense for it to be somewhat sustainable.
Massive rule overhauls and restrictive packages sound great in theory, but in order for it to work you need consensus across the area. (I personally don't see that happening.) Plus, will drivers and a fan base that have been spoiled by the speeds and quality of racing that is/was provided by the current rules packages be willing to accept the new toned down versions of their favorite class? They may have enjoyed them at that level years ago but they gradually (and that's the keyword) grew into the fantastic dirt slinging monsters we have today. Taking rules back 10 to 20 years in a single off season... well, I think it would take some major adjustments for everyone involved. I guess what I'm saying is it is difficult to go back to eating bologna sandwiches when you have been gobbling up increasingly tastier stake and lobster every weekend for the past several years.
I wish I had answers, but alas I have none. I just hope our sport manages
to find a way to survive.
I like dirt!
|
