An idea whose time has not come
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Saturday night is one of the coolest nights of the Sprint Cup season, although it will be a hot August night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Forty-three drivers will hurtle around a half-mile track at about 15 seconds per lap and occasionally slam into each other. It is the motorsports definition of chaos and mayhem.
The Sharpie 500 is an event that needs no self-promotion, no gimmicks, no carnival barkers. You’d have about as much luck trying to subdue the excitement here Saturday night as if you attempted to drown Michael Phelps.
The speedway, which will make an insane amount of money from the race (easily enough to open its own mortgage bank on site if officials decided to move in that direction), typically does a great job with the buildup to one of the season’s best events. Among the highlights of past races have been some sensational card stunts involving virtually everybody within the facility.
Unfortunately, Saturday night’s race will be preceded by one of the goofiest and most time-worn attention-grabbers in all of sports. The speedway will attempt to set a world record for the largest audience wave.
The guy who started the wave 20 or 30 or 40 years ago has been in prison – and rightfully so – ever since. Now it is mostly seen at baseball or football games where the on-field action is boring and the fans want something else to amuse themselves.
Such an approach is not needed at Bristol. And, if one of the 170,000-plus fans on hand refuses to participate or is absent buying a $6 cheesburger, isn’t that going to mess up the world-record attempt? That could be critical.
