They get an "A" for safety as we saw at Texas with Michael McDowell's horrific crash where he walked away to do morning shows for a week. We might not have had that same result had this happened a year ago.
There is a need for improvement but we need to give these cars a chance to work itself out. Until that time, we will still hear some fans say they are leaving the sport, disgusted with poor racing while others will watch anyways because racing is racing.
What NASCAR needs to do is lower ticket prices. With the economy faltering and no immediate end to the downturn, NASCAR has handed out it's checks to drivers now they need to give the fans a little gift.
The seats will continue to be empty if nothing is done. Everyone is hurting and to shell out $200 a ticket for a family of four, plus transportation, it becomes too expensive and simply something you can go without.
Lowering the ticket cost would open up this sport to fans who never were able to come to races. Also in a marketing sense they would be one of the first major sports to lower there ticket cost to accommodate the struggling fans.
Some races will simply sell out because of the prestige of those races.
But the true test will come when Bristol, generally a race which sells out every year, stuggles to fill it's seats.
I think NASCAR needs to let drivers be drivers. We are such a fan friendly sport. The drivers are so approachable that NASCAR doesn't want to offend the fans or the sponsors when a driver acts out.
But that's what made this sport so famous.
Don't you remember the 1979 Daytona where Cale Yarborough, and Bobby/Donnie Allison fought. It was all anyone could talk about. This put NASCAR on the national scene. They weren't fined and put on probation, they fought it out and came back and raced just as hard next week.
Now drivers are penalized for swearing and fighting. But these drivers are sitting in these 3400 lb. machines and they are getting bumped and battered, they are getting blocked on the track and pit road.
Other drivers become a variable. So when these drivers ram into another driver in retaliation, yes it's dangerous but do you think these guys are out there using these cars as weapons?
We need to let the drivers be themselves. We need to let them get ticked off and fight with each other in the infield and not be worried about sponsors and fines.
I know this is a long shot, I don't expect anyone to notice another article about NASCAR and what it needs to do. But I would hope as fans and NASCAR top executives we realize and understand that NASCAR is just about traditions as any sport and by wanting them to change those traditions, means we are stepping further away from what this sport once was.
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