NASCAR's Rule Changes A Positive Step In The Right Direction

Writer Says NASCAR's Announcement It Will Give Drivers More Freedom A "Positive Step"

NASCAR last week announced it will give more freedom to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers and the move is a "positive step in changing perception the series has gone overzealous in rules enforcement," according to Tom Bowles of SI.com. Early reaction to a "week's worth of change seems to be one of guarded optimism, with officials taking an unprecedented step of town hall meetings with each individual driver and team in the series during this process." It is the "type of 'working together' attitude the Frances ... have been reluctant to forge in the past." But there are "still valid concerns going forward." No car "will drive more aggressively without a driver willing to push the envelope, and there's widespread debate on whether they'll do just that." NASCAR's company line of "'loosening up' the rules has actually been in place for several years, but sponsors focused on political correctness -- along with lingering fears of punishment -- leave drivers hesitant to change." However, there "seems to be a universal pulling together of everyone involved in the sport to try to right the ship." Meanwhile, Bowles noted NASCAR is also "bouncing back economically, with all four manufacturers recovering well and able to remain in the sport" (SI.com, 1/23).

ARE RULE CHANGES IN SPORT'S BEST INTEREST? In Daytona Beach, Godwin Kelly wrote, "Let me be the first to congratulate NASCAR's brass for loosening the leash on some of the best race drivers in the world. ... If they do as they say, this season could turn into one of the most entertaining in many, many years" (NEWS-JOURNALONLINE.com, 1/22). Denver Post columnist Woody Paige said NASCAR is "taking a big risk" with the rule changes "because fans want a big risk." He added, "They want to return to high drama, high speed." But L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said, "I'd yellow flag NASCAR for this. ... This is a sport that's lost some of its brightest stars to death on the track. This is a sport where fans are in danger with flying cars and they want to make it more dangerous because they're not getting TV ratings" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 1/22). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said NASCAR will "devolve into UFC because their ratings are sinking. Why else would you do this?" Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard said, "They're doing it because they're listening to their fan base. Leagues don't very often do this" ("PTI," ESPN, 1/22).

THINGS BECOMING TOO NEGATIVE: NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth addressed the sport's popularity and said, “I got in the Cup series when it was really starting to grow and through all those great years you couldn’t do anything wrong. Everything was great." But he added, "Then you get more and more coverage and get new fans coming in and everybody’s looking at it and then, all of sudden, everything’s negative. It seems like the last four years, nothing was right -- the races are too long, the races are boring. I mean, it turned from everything positive to everything negative. I think things are a lot more positive than they are negative.” Kenseth did admit that an “argument could be made for shorter races.” He said if a race could consistently be three-and-a-half-hours long, it “would be a little better for the television viewer.” Kenseth: “Some of our races are pretty long to sit through, like Pocono" (THESTAR.com, 1/24).

CALLING FOR RADICAL CHANGES: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing co-Owner Felix Sabates said that NASCAR is “supplying more than fans demand right now.” Sabates: “We grew too fast. Some of these race tracks put in 140,000 seats, 120,000. That’s crazy. We had no business increasing those seats.” He said there is “always tickets for sale” at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and if he were SMI Chair & CEO Bruton Smith, he “would cut the two top rows off” at Bristol Motor Speedway. He added that there also are “too many NASCAR television shows.” Sabates also indicated that there are “too many races,” and on his “list of the expendable events” are Pocono Raceway, Michigan Int’l Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Phoenix Int’l Speedway (Brant James, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/26).

MONEY TALKS: Smith said that NASCAR "could help him out in one big way" as his tracks "try to sell tickets to races." Smith "intensified his lobbying efforts for NASCAR to pay more for wins, asking for a $400,000 difference between the payout for first and second place." Smith: "Let's make winning more important. I'm not impressed with a driver when he gets out of the car and he's talking about points. We're not interested in that. The race fans aren't interested in points." Smith also "questioned whether having the first Chase For The Sprint Cup race at New Hampshire is a benefit for the track." Smith: "I'm not as sold on the Chase races as I should be. Maybe that was overused. In New Hampshire, we have the first race of the Chase. I don't know that it does a thing for us. I think maybe we have overused it and we should move on to something else" (SCENEDAILY.com, 1/23).