Today’s NASCAR Sucks

Is a New Trend Emerging?

About a week ago I posted some photos and videos of the Racers’ Reunion event at Music City Speedway in Nashville. Katrina and I had a great time and wanted to share this experience with others who could not make it. I have never had such a great response to one post. I have had a lot more hits on other pages and posts but this one brought out more comments and emails than any other to date.

Thank you for that. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading what is printed here. It is nice to know that you are out there and are reading it.

However, your responses got me to thinking about what is happening in our car hobby and suddenly some things started to pop into focus. Let me list some of what I have witnessed over the last few years.

• NASCAR has grown substantially over the past 10 years or so. There are more fans in the stands than when David Pearson and Richard Petty dueled on the super speedways but the growth has slowed. In the old days the fans were excited and loved the racing and the drivers and their favorite make of car on the track. Today, I and many other diehard NASCAR fans are not happy. We still tune in to the race but don’t watch it like we used to, we don’t go to as many races as we use to and we don’t get overly excited about anyone driver. The young guys come in too quickly; the old guys are at the back of the pack or retired. As for the cars; they aren’t stock cars, just Plain Jane race cars with different decals and that don’t even resemble anything in a showroom. A Toyota decal doesn’t get the heat pumping like a winged Dodge Daytona or a Ford Talladega or a Monte Carlo Aero Coupe!

• When you go to a car show there maybe several cars or hot rods that cost $100,000 and up to build or restore; there may be rows of them; they are beautiful but the crowds are around the rat rods. These things are cheap to build and remind us of when hot rodding was a “bad boy” thing and not something for the rich. Most of these Rat Rods remind me of the old dirt track cars of the 50s and 60s.

• They are old bodies that are cut up and sit low on the frame, with big motors and nothing extra. They are just like the old race cars but without the numbers.

• Vintage racing is growing, whether it is in Monterey or your local dirt track. People want to see the old cars run. I don’t know if it is all the baby boomers getting older or the overall dissatisfaction with today’s racing. I have been to more than one local cruise night where old restored dirt track cars are showing up. Some are just like they came from the track and some are converted to street legal. They always draw a crowd.
• The entire Muscle Car resurgence is another sign of the desire for not forgetting the past. The primary reason Katrina and I started collecting Ford Talladegas and Mercury Cyclones is because of their NASCAR racing heritage and they were affordable.
• Everyone of the Big 3 in Detroit has a retro pony car on the market or soon to hit the market. The Mustang never left but now we have a new Challenger and the new Camaro goes into production in February.

What does all of this indicate? To me it says we, as car enthusiasts and fans of racing are ready for a return of sanity in our hobby. We want continuity. We don’t want to forget our roots and where we have come from. Last week at Nashville’s Racers’ Reunion I smiled more during that event and race than I have at any other car event in decades. Why?

Because it was real; it had a handful or our heroes doing what they liked and having fun. It wasn’t about the money, it wasn’t about sponsors, it was for the fans, it was for the drivers, it was about racing. How much fun would it be to see drivers you haven’t seen in years?

Here is what I propose: Get these drives out of their rocking chairs and out from behind the microphones and put them into race cars. Make them safe but make them look like STOCK CARS and use numbers we remember from their day. Run on short tracks; run short heats to determine starting order; run a consolation B main; run a main event; let folks on the track to meet and great after the race. Racers Reunion is on the right track but needs help and support and some guidance about promoting their event.

When we were at the Nashville show there were car license plates from all over the SE but I never heard a single advertisement locally. Sterling Marlin did get the biggest cheers though. (He does live just outside Nashville.)

The same thing is true at car shows. Fans are tired of the over chromed, over polished, never driven “life savings” on wheels. Parts of our world have become over complicated, high tech and geared to the newest and brightest. I don’t suggest doing away with these cars. They are important parts of the hobby but let’s be fair to the working stiff with imagination and talent not deep pockets. People’s choice is not the answer. These are usually won by which ever club gets together and votes for one of their own. Why not just divide the cars up into drivers and show cars and pick a Best in Show from both? I know it is a challenge to divide these up and there will always be the guy who thinks street driven means he backed it off the trailer at Wal-Mart and then drove to the show a block away. Its not perfect but neither is a show where the class winners pack up and leave before Best In Show is announced because their car is a driver not a trailer queen. If our cruise and show hobby is to survive we need younger people in the hobby and we need to recognize less expensive vehicles.

I believe many of us want to share our memories, talk cars, meet new friends and remember our heroes. We want to share these with those who are too young to have been there.

It is important that Old School Racing, Racers’ Reunion, Vintage Racing, Vintage Drag Racing and other historic aspects of our hobby be supported before they are gone forever.

NASCAR sucks right now. How about putting on a Racers’ Reunion Race in conjunction with one of the CUP or even a Truck race? Why doesn’t Speed Channel or even ESPN televise one of these races? Why not start a new Tans Am series featuring Mustangs, Challengers and Camaros? Trans Am was bigger than NASCAR in its day.

If you agree with some of what I have stated here, please let the folks in charge of your local shows know how you feel. Let NASCAR know, let Racers Reunion know. Tell them to check out this Blog and ask them to please continue to support  and promote our hobby’s heritage and bring back some of the old drivers from NASCAR, Trans Am, NHRA, USAC and all the other racing events. I want to see more of our Legends before we loose them all. We have a glimpse of hope that the Old School Racers’ Reunion will return bigger and better next year. Let everyone know you want it too.

Here is another example provided by one of you readers, Mark Keever. Hero cards of our heros! Check this out. If you are interested contact Mark C. Keever markckeever@yahoo.com

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