Quote:
Originally Posted by Number4
I would have thought that Daytona or Indianapolis would have been better candidates for road course races, and they could have moved the All Star race to some where else.
With regards to NASCAR's fan consultations, I read an article that suggested the fans chosen were likely to be "YES" men, and unlikely to commit "actions detrimental to stock car racing"; and that the questions they were asked were highly loaded along the lines of "if you had to be shot in the legs, would you prefer the right leg, left leg, or both legs?"
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Daytona should not ever move a race off of the tri-oval, period! It is NASCAR'S Flagship track! Restrictor plates and the bumbling IDIOT, Brian France, have RUINED racing at Daytona (and Talladega) What they need to do is figure out a way to either get rid of the restrictor plates or at least return throttle response back to these cars! The accident, where Bobby Allison tore down the fence, at Talladega (ironically shown, last night during the rain delay) is credited with the reason why restrictor plates had to be used. People forget NASCAR history. That was not the first time that restrictor plates were used. The first time was at the end of the "aero wars" and in reality was used to drive cars like the Charger Daytona, Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird, Torino Talladega and Mercury Cyclone Spoiler as well as engines like the 426 "Hemi" and 429 "Boss" out of the series. Speeds had gotten too high for the tire technology of the day to keep up. These cars were lapping Talladega at 200 mph and coming just a tick shout of doing the same at Daytona. The tires just could not keep up. NASCAR mandated a plate in the carburetor to cut the lap speeds. It worked. The cars were slower coming out of the turns and that cot the lap speeds. What it did not do was rob the cars of throttle response. The huge freight train packs did not form, because the cars still had enough throttle response to accelerate away from each other. There was none off this "have to have a dancing partner to be able to pass a car"! The traditional "slingshot" pass was still an effective method or passing cars. With the 1987 version or the restrictor plate, all of that was taken away and what was left is this current "follow the leader", high speed, freight train packs, where the cars do not have enough throttle response to accelerate enough to get out of their own way! The result. Little ability to pass, NO throttle response, huge packs that can do little other than circle the track, awaiting "the big one"! For God's Sake -- since the 1978 version of the restrictor plate has been used, it takes a lap or more just to get up to top running/racing speed! THAT is just WRONG! But it is what the bumbling IDIOT, Brian France wants, big packs and big wrecks! There are ways to keep the speeds that they are running now and return throttle response/acceleration to the cars, so that they don't have to be held hostage to this disgusting, loathsome "pack racing!" The problem is, there is NO DESIRE, on the part of Brian France to do it! Running stock cars on the infield road-course at Daytona and Talladega would effectively kill the sport of stock car racing, as it would drive off the few hardcore/life-long fans that have not already been driven off by Brian France's BUMBLING, IDIOTIC gimmicks and rule changes!
As or that track in Indiana. that is the absolute worst track on the schedule! It is totally unsuitable for stock car racing! The sight lines are the WORST of any track that these cars run on. Sight lines on a road-course are better than at that track! Simple fact, the owners/management of that place have always hated NASCAR and have not ever wanted NASCAR there! in 1955 (I believe it was the year) Bill France Sr. was thrown off of the grounds, for simply asking if a NASCAR race could be run there! He vowed, as he left the track, "One day I will OWN this damned place" In the early/mid 90s, when Tony George had his much publicized war with his competitors and they split their series in have, he wanted to start his own series. He did not have the funds to do that, without breaking the bank, with regards to his family's fortune. Though he had the same feelings that the rest of his family had, with regards to NASCAR, he had no choice. He knew that a NASCAR race would bring a flood of money into his coffers and that he could finance his series with it. Thus NASCAR came to that track to race in 1995 (that is the year, if I remember correctly) The funny this is, he wanted all the money that he could drain out of a NASCAR race, but he placed an artificial cap on attendance for the NASCAR race. There were NO infield tickets sold. It was not allowed! Had infield tickets been sold, there would have been that much more profit for him, but the fact, that he and they could not face, was that the crowd that they would have drawn would have been the largest in the history of that track! They could NOT stand for that! Regardless, I was all for that first race, it was vindication for "Big Bill" France! But after a couple of years, they should have just told the management of that place, "thank you for hosting the NASCAR race here. We will not be returning next year. The track was not designed for stock car racing and though crowds have been good, we feel that we can better serve our fans, by racing on a track more suitable to stock cars. Again, thank you for the races that we were able to run here." This race is a DUD! It is the worst race on the schedule. The track is too narrow, too flat, there are very few places on the track that afford opportunities to pass. Most of the passing comes during pit stops --it is basically a parade. Plus again, the sight lines allow practically no view of the track! Basically, you can see the cars when they are in front of you, maybe on the straightaway and in the pits, if you happen to be sitting on the front straightaway and that is it! Running a raced on the infield road-course of this track will not improve things! The cars will be out of view even more than they are on the oval! The ONLY remedy is to drop this track from the schedule and move this race date to a more suitable track, simple fact, you cannot fix what is broken beyond repair! Iowa Speedway would be the track to go to! Far more suitable for stock cars!
There is no need for another road-course on the schedule, two is more than enough! But, if there has to be another one on the schedule, I guess to keep the sun rising in the sky each morning and to prevent the world from exploding, NASCAR should schedule it at Road Atlanta. The reason, NASCAR owns that track, so they would not have to deal with other track owners/groups. Now living in the area, I still believe that, that track cannot handle a Cup size crowd. The infrastructure just isn't there! Most of roads in the area are two lane roads. Traffic would be a nightmare! Think Kentucky Motor Speedway's first Cup race! I do not think a race there would draw as many as they believe. Maybe a decent crowd for the first, maybe the second race, but as soon as the novelty wears off, the crowds will suffer. Long time/hardcore (the ones left, many have been run off, see above) stock car racing fans are NOT the ones crying for more road-racing!!! We know that stock cars belong on ovals, that they are oval track animals! It is the casual fans that are the ones calling for more. The ones that have basically been around since the late 90s or so. They really do not know stock car racing and have little appreciation for it's past, it's history. The problem is, with most casual fans, they are only temporary! Sooner or later they will get bored and move on to the "next cool thing"! Those fans are not the fans that you want your series to have to depend on, because they will not be in it for the long haul!
Finally, you are correct about the fans that they have selected for these questions, they ARE "yes men"! Same with that so called "Fan Counsel". It is a JOKE. Brian France keeps saying, about every one of his idiotic gimmicks and schemes, "our date/information indicates that it is what our fans want". I'm running up the B.S. flag on that one. He doesn't pay a bit of attention to what the fans say or want, unless the answers come from his hand-picked "yes-men". He does and continues to do what HE wants to do, REGARDLESS of what the Fans want and will continue to do so, until he runs the sport directly into the ground! The old saying goes and is absolutely true - The 1st generation ("Big Bill France, in this case) starts the business and builds it. The 2nd generation (Bill France Jr.) builds the business to it's height. Then the 3rd generation (Brian France) runs the business into the ground and destroys it! That is unless someone can wrestle control of it from him and rights the sinking ship!