November 8, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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A week like we have had this past week since Talladega shows that there can be a pretty good sized disconnect between fan reaction and race reality.
I don’t usually reach back a full seven days to talk about something that happened in NASCAR -- usually there is plenty going on during the week and race weekend for me to select a topic from -- but this has been a heated issue all week, and I have decided that adding my two-cents worth is a good use of this space this week.
I will admit the race at Talladega a week ago wasn’t as exciting as you might expect from a 500 mile race at the sports largest venue. A lot of fans were quick to react that the rules change during the drivers’ meeting Sunday about an hour before the race was the cause of the lack of excitement.
"All of the way through Turns 1 and 2, and all of the way through Turns 3 and 4, you will not be allowed to push someone, to bump-draft them or to shove them through the turns," NASCAR President Mike Helton told the drivers a week ago in the weekly driver's meeting.
Many fans, and a hand full of drivers, were quick to use that new rule as an excuse for the “bad racing” at Talladega a week ago. Denny Hamlin was quite vocal about it because he had already laid out a plan where he was going to hook up with someone and push them, or be pushed, all day.
“Let us race,” Hamlin commented after saying his plan for the day was going to have to change. “They gave us the car to race. Now let (us) handle it.”
Ryan Newman, who had the most horrific crash of the day, was very vocal immediately after being released from the infield care center about his issues at ‘Dega.
"They created a lot of the boredom," Newman said to the gathered media. "We couldn't race. It was survival. The race could have been a hundred laps long and we would have had a great race. It's unfortunate. I just hate it for the fans."
Then, Newman turned the issue on the drivers.
"We should be able to race the race cars how we need to race them as drivers," he added. "If drivers can't respect each other then we'll go -- out in the back parking lot and talk about it.”
There was one point in the race when the drivers lined up in single file and ran that way for about 30 laps.
The anchors in the booth, Andy Petree, Dale Jarrett and Dr. Jerry Punch, were vocal about the fact the race was not exciting and even hinted that the drivers might be running around single file as a protest to the rules change.
Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of Corporate Communications, took umbrage with those comments, and posted his thoughts in a blog on NASCAR.com earlier this week.
“The ABC broadcasters certainly weren't happy with the race and they felt compelled to remind viewers of that virtually every lap," said Posten. "They seemed to blame NASCAR's enforcement of the rule prohibiting bump-drafting in the corners for every moment they didn't like. Along the way ABC missed a lot of very good racing. That's not to say that every lap was a barn-burner, but there was some seriously intense racing as well. Interestingly, a caller on Sirius NASCAR Satellite Radio this morning said that he first watched the race on ABC then listened to the MRN rebroadcast and said, 'It was like two different races,' referring to the excitement and action portrayed on the radio broadcast.”
As for the alleged “protest” by the drivers, the drivers themselves laughed at the idea. Jeff Burton said on Sirius Monday morning that it was “nonsense” that they would organize a protest in the middle of the race.
"The reason it stays (in single file) is because no one wants to pull out and fall back, unless you get three of four guys to go with you and push. It makes it difficult for the guy who decides to go there. It's happened at Daytona, it's happened here," was Kasey Kahne’s explanation post race.
"People just know that you shouldn't race yet, there is no need to, so we just log miles. I know it's boring for everyone else, but we all breathe a lot easier just single file around the top. Because we know at the end everyone will bunch up and race. It's boring and relieving at the same time, because you can run 497 miles here and it doesn't matter -- it's just that last lap,” was Jimmie Johnson’s explanation post race. "We go through this every year, and you try to have us answer the same question about the restrictor plate every year. Until you have a chance to sit behind the wheel and understand how tough it is, it is easier to say these things from the outside. There is not a new angle. The only way to avoid this and the big wrecks, and the only way to do that is to eliminate the need for a restrictor plate. Go out and tear down the banking. But until then, we are a product of what the fans want to see."
When Johnson, Kahne, and Joey Logano were asked about being told only an hour before the race that they would have to change HOW they race, they responded that it wasn’t as big of a deal as Hamlin made it out to be.
"It didn't affect my race at all because I can't push that hard. I'm just out there cruising. I need to get in the middle of the pack and hope someone pushes me. But it doesn't affect what I was doing at all," said Kahne.
Johnson’s response was, "I have to agree (with Kasey). The rule change they made didn't make the racing any more dangerous at the start of the race -- there was nothing there from a fear factor or a concern factor, they tried to take AWAY an opportunity for us to wreck. We all knew it was coming. They put out feelers on Friday. And in the truck race there were more opinions on what could and couldn’t happen -- and I think we all knew about it -- so we weren't blindsided."
Joey Logano wrapped it up. "I agree. I don't think it changed much of what I was going to do. I'm not much of a pusher either. You still saw the same benefit in the straight-away. There were fewer wrecks today overall. So I think it was good."
That said, a fellow fan made the following statement. “My thing with the rules is that they didn't prevent wrecks or prevent cars from flipping and flying -- but they seemed to have made for a pretty boring race,” was Lin’s point of view. “The only time the fans seemed happy today was when they were all on their feet waving and cheering whenever Junior took the lead.”
Yes, some drivers commented over their in-car radio’s that they were bored during the race. Tony Stewart asked if his crew chief had anything to keep him awake.
“I think I have a few no-doze,” was Stewart's response. "But this happens every year, and happens at some point at almost every long-distance race. When you are going at 200 mph for 500 miles, you need a break, both mentally and physically. It was a 188 lap race, and the single file racing lasted for about 30 laps, yet it was either an organized protest or just boring racing."
So why are the fans having such fits when the majority of drivers apparently aren't? Isn't it their career, and their lives that the fans are allegedly complaining about?
Maybe the drivers are getting soft compared to the good old days of racing, but is that the sport's fault, or the generation? The guys who were born in the 20's and 30's and 40's and 50's were used to being spanked or whipped by a switch or a belt and working hard and scraping by and barely getting out of school and instead dropping out and working on cars because it was one of the few uneducated jobs that guys in the rural areas could get besides working in the mines or factories.
Now, you have Newman complaining that NASCAR isn't taking him seriously and asking him questions because he has an engineering degree from Purdue, and are living in an era where if you spank a kid, you have Child Protective Services knocking at your front door to charge you with child abuse, and guys who have only seen factories because they go there because it is someplace that is run by their sponsors.
You have these mega tracks with concession stands and full bathrooms and air conditioned suites and seats with backs and cup holders compared to concrete or wood benches, little to no covering for shade, bathrooms that consisted of troughs or just over the back fence, and no radios to listen in on the drivers and crew chiefs; you didn’t have the internet to get up to the moment stats and information, or twitter for me to share "discussions" between drivers as they are on their planes heading for home after the race.
Back in the day, fans were just happy to have the "race" -- in today's generation, it isn't just the race, but the entire "experience" that many fans demand. Hence, the whole "show" thing. If you took away the "show", yes, you might make the die hard old school fans happy -- but how many of those are left, and how long would that last? Might as well shut NASCAR down and just rely on the local short tracks, because somehow I don't think the sport would last.
Talladega is a race that relies on a show to make fans happy. It doesn’t matter that there were 58 lead changes among 25 drivers, and 13,438 passes among the 43 drivers over the course of the race. Because there weren’t four wide packs from the drop of the green to the drop of the checkered, it was a boring race. Because the drivers took 30 laps to regain some energy and rest in the form of a single file line, it was a planned protest against a last minute rules change instead of just what it was -- a break in the chaos that can be racing at Talladega.
Fans have to decide whether they are watching for the actual race or the show. In my opinion, if the majority of drivers are fine with the way the race is presented because it is the only safe way for it to be presented, then who am I to tell them I think they need to mix it up even more just to entertain me?
I’m not saying that it doesn’t need to be fixed at Talladega, but that would include doing what Jimmie suggested -- tearing down the banking -- and I just don’t see that happening any time soon. NASCAR is a sport, and as such, it is imperfect. There is no perfection in any sport -- if there was, there would be no smack talk by fans, rivalries on the field, or really any reason to watch. I don’t expect NASCAR to be able to fix everything the fans complain about, because if they tried to, it would only open a whole new can of worms and things for fans to complain about.
In the mean-time, I will let the drivers be the best judge of how they race. They are the ones getting paid to be out there, not me.
Finally, a side note. I was in El Paso, Texas this week for work when the news of the massacre at Fort Hood came out. Shock and sadness are understatements for the feelings that were felt by myself and my co-workers. It is ironic that this weekend, we are racing just two hours away from Fort Hood, and that while we have been debating Talladega all week, reality is that life is short, and you never know what is going to happen next.
When you watch the pre-race ceremonies today, take a moment and think not only of those who lost their lives at the hand of a gunman this week, but of those who are overseas fighting for our freedom -- and for our ability and right to debate NASCAR and all it's issues on a daily basis.
God Bless our Troops.
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