[Mr. Ford95]

Yes, I try to look at doing a vacation and hitting up a race instead of making 2 trips. Like if I'm at my in-laws, they are an hour-ish from Kentucky Speedway, so if the races are in town I would like to try to get there for it. Or even hit up Indy for either the 500 or the 400 later, it's only a 2 hour ride away. Looking at doing a 'Dega/Miss State Football weekend like I did a UNC Football/Martinsville weekend back in 2007. Drive in Thursday into Friday morning, go to the game on Saturday, check out of the hotel early Sunday morning, drive 2.5-3 hours over to 'Dega and then have a hotel further North for after the race and then drive on back home on Monday. Schedules haven't worked out the past few years though. The 1 year it did work out neither my wife or I could get off work for it.

The market isn't over saturated, heck they lasted for how many years mainly running the SE? Fans want drama, drama is gone for the most part. It comes down to the tracks on one hand, most aren't conducive to good close quarters racing which leads to disagreements. Yes I'm singling out the gosh darn 1.5 mile "cookie-cutters." The other hand is that the cars have so much downforce they are very close to being able to drive them upside down in a tunnel, a la F1 and Indy Car. Drivers aren't so willing to wrinkle the fender or nose. Take away the majority of that downforce, take it back to like it was in the 80's and early 90's with the flat and short spoilers. How big a pair you got downstairs to drive that thing off into the corner with no rear grip now? Look at F1, they introduced a ton of changes this year, the cars are incredibly squirrelly but the racing looks like it's going to be awesome this year. They don't have the downforce they had in previous years. The other problem is the drivers themselves. You no longer have 5-6 drivers who could win a race and fight for the title, you've got 25-30 contenders. It's become more serious, the drivers as I said aren't so willing to wrinkle a fender if they are angry with another driver because they are more focused on the bigger picture now. NASCAR has tried to change that mentality this year with the new championship system.

I'd really like to see them go to a 25 race season. Only have 23 race tracks on the current schedule, have to add 2 more tracks. Gateway, Iowa and Rockingham are possibilities or a whole new track in the NW. Run all tracks just 1 time for points. The exceptions would be Daytona for the Shootout and Charlotte for the All-Star, keep those going. Both SMI and NASCAR are happy as each gets a special event still. Run 10 points races, take a week off then run 10 more races and get a week off. That 20th race is the cutoff for the "playoffs." Run 5 races for the title at 5 different tracks. 1 short track, 1 1.5 mile, 1 Plate, 1 Road Course and then take your pick from the 1 mile tracks to Indy to Pocono or the 2 milers. Season ends at the 1.5 mile Vegas Speedway followed by Champions Week which is now done in Vegas every year. The schedule could fit between the first weekend of March and first of Sept, right as football season starts up.

[Scottt]

Nascar died when the Car of Tomorrow emerged.

I was a season ticket holder at Bristol for 10 years when you couldn't get a ticket to a race there without paying a arm and a leg. I had 4 season tickets and would use 2 and sell the other 2 and almost pay for my trip down there by selling the other 2. You can now walk up to the ticket window and buy your tickets on race morning.

I use to attend 5 or 6 races a year and have been to 10 different tracks. I hadn't been to a race in 4 years until last year and I went to the race in Kansas City and soon realized why I quit going. The COT makes the races BORING.

[Mr. Ford95]

buttttttttt.........they don't race the COT anymore. They have a car that looks better and is lightning fast. I think I understand what your saying though, the common templates where every car is the same. I wish they'd get rid of that, I like what Nationwide has gone to, individual bodies and front ends. Those aren't just stickers, the cut-outs are real. The racing is also improving as Goodyear is starting to bring out a tire that wears but doesn't just up and fail.....well....unless your JJ that is! That helps create more passing and racing. To really bring it back and find out who the real drivers are, cut the downforce in half.

As for Kansas, welcome to the cookie-cutter experience. They(track owners) built those tracks with the thought of opening their schedule up. They could not only do NASCAR but also Open Wheel. Open Wheel works on those tracks, not NASCAR. There are way too many races on'em that are not interesting. They are also very wide which leads to not close quarter racing battles. Remember Rockingham back in like '84 maybe? Cale and Darrell battling hard at the front, they'd dive off into Turn 1 like scalded cat's, slippin and slidin, side by side, lap after lap. Or the famous Wilkesboro races? Those tracks weren't very wide compared to today's cookie cutters. Why do they think Ontario and Texas World failed, too big and too wide. Remember the first race at Vegas, good brotherly battle but it wasn't close quarters. Ward and Jeff Burton raced side by side for what, the last 25 laps before Jeff made the pass for the win. Truth be told, Indy isn't a good track for NASCAR, the racing hasn't been good and exciting side by side. They can't race side by side there like Open Wheel can.

Bristol looked horrible for attendance but a lot of that had to do with the weather. It was cold and rainy and forecasts were calling for rain all day and night thru Monday night. It was seriously looking like a Tuesday race by most forecasts so I suspect many fans chose not to waste time going to it expecting the rain like that. I don't believe it would have been a sell-out but it wouldn't have been as bad as it was with no rain. Looked like maybe 40K in a 160K place.

[Scottt]

I'm friends with a VP at Bristol and they are so fed up with Nascar. They have been trying for years to move the spring race to at least late April to have more predictable weather.

[Mr. Ford95]

Wait, Nascar will allow it. It's an SMI track, trade the date with another SMI track and I'm certain Nascar will allow it. They certainly aren't going to want to switch dates between an SMI and ISC track. So they need to get on Bruton to see if they can swap with Texas or Kansas. Texas is next weekend and Kansas is right before the All-Star. Have they tried that and been shot down?

If they went to the schedule I posted above the lone Bristol date could be in Aug. when the night race already takes place as part of the Chase.

[Mr. Ford95]

Great crowd at Dega! Yeah yeah they took out the backstretch stand but the joint looked completely full out front and in the infield. Last couple years the front stands were maybe half full............last few races have had great crowds. Richmond looked good, Martinsville looked normal, Darlington looked full, and Texas looked pretty well full. The racing has gotten better. I don't believe a reduction in power is needed. Will I go to a race now? Nah, not exactly but its not because the racing is boring. I remember going to Richmond back in the early 90's, one of those was a race that had 3 cautions and came down to Elliott just barely holding off Kulwicki at the flag. Fans today might say it was boring, in reality it wasn't to me. I just love being at the track seeing the speed. So much that the TV cameras don't show. All the races I have been to have been exciting and not boring.