ESPN The Death Of NASCAR

Sitting on my laptop the other day I noticed something that I was ashamed I didn’t notice before. It was Monday, two days after the Sam's Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I was doing my weekly scroll through the point standings when something jumped out at me. “Wow,” I said to myself. "Scott Riggs is tenth in the point standings."

I was so disappointed in myself, I almost thought of turning in my spot as a NASCAR journalist.

How could I not realize that the No. 09 RAB Racing team with driver Scott Riggs was sitting tenth in the points? What a great story! Riggs in the top ten with guys like Edwards, Busch, Biffle, Harvick, Vickers and Keselowski. An unaffiliated team in the top ten with the likes of Roush Fenway, Penske, and Joe Gibbs Racing. An unsponsored team beating out sponsors like Great Clips, Zaxby’s, Pilot Travel Centers, and Go Daddy.com.

Then I remembered I watched those races on ESPN.  Maybe ESPN was more focused on showing some unsuccessful fully funded race team putt around in 30th than worry about Scott Riggs. Can someone tell me how Danica is more of a story than Scott Rigss? 

It’s no wonder the tv ratings have gone down the past couple of seasons.

Last season on ESPN it was the Dale Earnhardt Jr show. Earnhardt’s struggles were shown more times than Brian Vickers who was a chase contender and showing everyone that he was a force to be reckoned with.  Little people knew where Brian Vickers finished at the end of the race, but you can bet your behind everyone and their brothers knew where Earnhardt ran every ten laps.

Danica Patrick was a great story for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, but let me ask you, how many of her fans will watch the Nationwide Series race at Bristol, where she will be absent from the starting lineup?

It’s not because the racing at Las Vegas, California and Daytona is better than the racing at Bristol. If you tell a NASCAR fan that they will go crazy. It’s because ESPN made the NASCAR Nationwide Series look like a reality tv show about Danica Patrick's life and not on actual racing itself.

If they focused on racing, who knows maybe some sponsor would realize the story of Scott Riggs and the RAB Racing team and see just how great it is. RAB Racing wasn’t even in the top 30 last year with driver John Wes Townly and now find themselves just 146 points behind points leader Carl Edwards.

In this economy it’s hard enough to find sponsorship week in and week out. Scott Riggs and his team want to compete full time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and don’t have the funding to do so, even though they have been the tenth best car out on the track so far this year.

Is it their fault they haven’t been shown on tv at all? Or is it ESPN’s? ESPN has a duty of coverage the race and let the racing do the talking. However, it's been nothing like that at all. It’s been all about story lines and trying to make NASCAR look like some reality tv show. Many fans were excited to see the network return to NASCAR after an eight year hiatus from the sport.

Now ESPN has made many fans wish that NASCAR would be shown on the SPEED Network, a network that cares about racing more than ratings.

Scott Riggs and the RAB Racing team might not show up to Bristol due to lack of funding. Thank you ESPN! Your doing a great job promoting the sport of NASCAR!!!!