TV Ratings Down Again, Will NASCAR Survive on National Television?

NASCAR was once known as America's Fastest Growing Sport. Those days are long gone!

The last three seasons the TV ratings for NASCAR events have been in the toilet. This year has been no different.

Last week's Subway Fresh Fit 500 was down 13 percent from last year's totals—which is a high amount.

Last year, there was rumblings that if the TV ratings didn't pick up, Fox would most likely not pick up the tab after 2010.

Now it is almost a lock.

NASCAR had to have seen this coming though.

In the last three years, NASCAR has done some crazy things.

First was the starting times. Back when NASCAR was America's fastest growing sport, races would start at 1 PM on the east coast. Now, they start at two, sometimes three o'clock in the afternoon.

Who on a Sunday afternoon, in the seventh inning of a baseball game or fourth quarter of a football game, would flip to Fox or ESPN to watch NASCAR?

That just doesn't make any sense.

If that isn't enough, most people go out for dinner around six or seven o'clock on a Sunday and don't want to watch anything on TV—not even a finish of a NASCAR race!

There are reasons other sports start games or their events at one o'clock—because it is easier. People are up then, or just getting in from their lawn work or church.

They want to turn on a sporting event and at one o'clock now, they have the option of baseball or football—it used to be NASCAR.

This is insane, 80 percent of NASCAR's fan base is in the eastern part of the country and starting it at such an asinine time is insane. For the west coast really?

Last weeks race was down 13 percent. Gee I wonder why. The race didn't start until 8:30 PM on the east coast!

The race didn't end until after 11 PM. Most people who watch NASCAR have church in the morning and need to be up by seven.

Then there's these tracks that are boring. Yesterday, I watched the ARCA Re/Max race at Rockingham Speedway and was amazed by the racing. Three different grooves out on the track and they were three wide nearly all day.

It was entertaining. I turned from my daily routine of the Mets game to turn on...an ARCA race?

The sad part is that it is an ARCA race. No disrespect to those drivers, but they are not nearly as talented as some Cup drivers are. I was more entertained by the ARCA race then most cup races this season.

In 2003, NASCAR had one of the best finishes it may have ever seen.

Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven battled the last 10 laps together at the famed Darlington Raceway.

Busch and Craven slammed each other. Rammed each other. On the final lap, they came off of Turn Four and Craven and Busch were door-to-door...literately.

Craven's car just nipped Busch's at the line for Craven's second and final career win. The finish left the booth stunned and speechless.

Mike Joy said: "Have you ever?"

Darrell Waltrip responded: "No I've Never!"

Waltrip has been watching races since the '70s, and he was stunned.

It was just another memory in the track that had brought us so many in the past years.

As a follow up story to that race, Terry Labonte won his first race in nearly four years in the Southern 500 that year. It was a great story and the feel good story of the year and again, it came at Darlington Raceway.

So what does NASCAR do? They remove a date from that track and give it to California! Really? Why?

Because Fontana is in a better market!

This isn't an advertising company! This is a racing series!

You attract your fans by good racing—Darlington brings you that, every race. Rockingham brings you that every race. North Wilkesboro brings you that, every race!!

I love NASCAR and watch every single race. I go to the Daytona 500 every year, but I can't blame fans for not watching.

The times are stupid! The tracks are boring as hell, and frankly NASCAR deserves to get smacked in the face!