Worst change NASCAR has made in recent years is…
After learning that I worked in the NASCAR business, a fan asked me point blank: What’s the worst change NASCAR has made to the sport in the last few years?
“How much time do you have?” I asked, as we stood facing each other.
It was a joke, as I stalled for time searching for an answer. There were too many choices. Luckily, I’ve spent plenty of time pondering the pros and cons of all of NASCAR’s decisions in the past few years, so I quickly considered and discarded some possible answers, thinking out loud (not a pretty sight).
Car of tomorrow? No, as much as I dislike the aesthetics of the car and the fact that all four manufacturers’ models now look alike, I believe it puts the racing more in the drivers’ hands, instead of yielding results to the team with the best engineers and biggest wind-tunnel budget. The car is much safer and with time, hopefully, the racing will improve.
“OK,” said the fan who posed the question.
I know some fans hate the championship format known as the Chase For The Sprint Cup, but I think it makes the end of the season more exciting and unpredictable. I can understand fans who argue that in resetting the points for the final 10 races, the season’s most consistent driver may not be crowned champion. But almost every other sport resets its system late in the season for playoffs. As I recall, I was a Chase basher when the new format was first introduced, but it has grown on me.
“Um, OK,” said the fan.
Let’s see, worst change … worst change. I don’t care for later starting times for races, but NASCAR and the networks believe more fans will watch later in the day, so I can rationalize them.
By now, I was talking non-stop, thinking out loud, and I sensed the person who asked the question had begun edging away, the way you’d back away from a snarling dog that was foaming at the mouth.
Ah, I said, the lucky dog rule. Worst change in the sport in recent years. You’re giving something to someone who has not earned it. Before the lucky dog, remember those tough battles as drivers fought to stay ahead of the leaders? Cars that fall a lap down go a lap down for a reason, and they shouldn’t be rewarded with a free pass. NASCAR initiated the rule partly for safety, but also to help ensure that if a fan favorite such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon loses a lap as the result of a fluke incident, they can more easily get back on the lead lap and contend for the win. Obviously, that helps keep fans in front of the TV and in the grandstands. But it’s a bad rule. So, I’m not a fan of the lucky dog rule.
“Oh,” said the fan, who was probably in his early 50s. “I thought you’d say NASCAR’s new car. I hate it. I remember back in the day, when I had a Ford, that looked like the cars they raced on the track, and …”
Five minutes later, after politely nodding at the fan’s lengthy reminiscence of how great NASCAR was in the 1970s and ’80s, I was the one who politely begged out of the conversation and walked away. Hey, we all have our likes and dislikes about the sport, and it’s fun to talk about them. To a point.
