Fixing what was broken
 |
 |
|
|
Can't get enough Darrell Waltrip? Check out his new "Oh, by the way" blog to get even more of DW's insights. | ||
 |
||
For the last couple of years, we have all complained about various things that a lot of people thought was just us whining about things and that we didn't like anything about NASCAR, that all we wanted to do was pick out all the bad things that were going on and never look for the good. At times, I know I have fallen into that trap as I think most of us have.
But following NASCAR's press conference on Monday afternoon, I have never been so pumped heading into a new year. I am so excited about the things that NASCAR said they will do differently in 2008.
I have a favorite expression, "The blind obvious." That phrase means that when you are surrounded by whatever you are doing, you become so focused on one goal that you can't see all the other things that are happening around you ... and that's the blind obvious.
I think that's what happened to NASCAR a little bit. They became so safety conscious and they got so wrapped into making the car, tracks and drivers safer — and that's good stuff, don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing them for that — but I think they go so involved in that aspect while trying to save the team owners money that they didn't realize they were hurting competition.
If you have a great race on Sunday, all these other things will take care of themselves. All these other things you can implement as you go along if the racing is good, but a lot of the rule changes hurt the competition.
The fact that NASCAR is going to allow teams to have 200 Goodyear tires to use during tests at non-sanctioned tracks is great. I never understood why NASCAR wanted to take the tires away from teams. The plan was that it would save teams money, but it didn't because teams went to other tire makers — Hoosier, BF Goodrich, etc — to get comparable tire compounds. I can recall going testing with my brother Michael's team a couple of times last year and they had five different kinds of tires that they scrounged around and got from different places. How did that save them money?
Not giving teams' official tires to test turned out to be a fiasco, and it cost them a lot of money because a lot of the data they were gathering at these tests was not accurate.
Giving the teams an allotment of tires to test on is good. That will allow teams to test better, and when your tests are better, you'll race better. I know that for a fact.
One of the things I harped and harped about is the rule of unintended consequences, and the tire rule was one place where NASCAR had unintended consequences for what they thought would be a good change.
Another example of unintended consequences is the top 35 owners points rule. It was supposed to save the top stars of the sport from missing a race when it was created, but now it is knocking quality drivers out of races that probably need to be in races, while at the same time it's locking people into races that probably don't need to be in races just based on how fast they are during race weekends.
With how qualifying was set up last season, it was really unfair for teams outside the top 35 threshold because the "go or go homers" had to rely on the luck of the draw most of the time as track conditions changed during qualifying and sometimes it was best to go out early and sometimes it was better to go out last. With so much at stake, it was really unfair.
If you are going to continue to have the top 35 rule in place, then you have to equal up the playing field for the other drivers fighting for those last spots. Putting them all together to qualify was a good idea. My brother talked about that last year and it was a good idea, so I was glad to see that NASCAR implemented it.
Another benefit of having the go or go home guys qualify last is that it will create a weekly "Bump Day" like they used to have for the Indianapolis 500 back when they sent a lot of cars home. Those qualifying sessions were tense as people tried to see if they would make the race or not. Granted, teams won't have multiple qualifying attempts to try to get back into a race, but I think this new rule is going to make qualifying a lot more exciting for everybody.
Fans are going to want to watch and see who will make it into the races and who doesn't.
The other thing I have harped about for years is the fine money. I always told NASCAR, "Please, stop giving it back to the teams. You are paying teams to cheat for Pete's sake!" Before this week's announcement, the way the fine money used to be handled was that it would be put into the points fund which was distributed to the teams at the end of the season.
That never made any sense to me.
Now, NASCAR is giving it back to the people that need it — charities. This is one of the greatest things that has happened since I've been in racing. It makes so much sense, and I'm glad somebody realized it. This has been one of my pet peeves and, by golly, somebody finally heard the old wheel squeaking and they are going to give it a little greasing.
And the other thing NASCAR announced this week was that they are going to focus again on their core fans.
I'll tell you a quick story, and I've shared this with NASCAR President Mike Helton: I have a friend who suffers from Multiple Sclerosis, and she was using a walker and a cane because she could barely get around. Before MS struck her, she was healthy and vibrant. She was an athlete, but MS had taken its toll on her. She had tried everything to get back to how she was, different physical therapists, different this, different that, but nothing was helping.
Then she found a trainer and she started to work with him. The trainer told her "Your problem ma'am is that your core is weak. If you strengthened your core, the rest of your extremities would do what they are supposed to. If we can get your core strong, then the rest of your body will work like it's supposed to."
| Ask DW |
|---|
|
|
Lo and behold, she went to work on her core and now she walks without a walker or a cane and she is running in a 5K.
That's what happens when you take care of the core. And that's what will happen to NASCAR when they take care of their core fans.
The core fans are the ones who buy the products, the tickets, show up to the races ... I love perimeter fans, you gotta have them, just like you have to have and develop new fans all the time, but you better take care of that core fan first. The others will follow.
I'm glad to hear NASCAR say that they are going to make this the NASCAR we fell in love with.
There's no one that loves this sport more than me, I'd do anything for this sport — I have done anything for this sport. I want to see it flourish and become the most popular sport in the world ... and I want to be a part of all that. Now that we are on the right track with the new attitude there seems to be in Daytona, I think we are all going to benefit greatly from it this year.
Another thing NASCAR officials mentioned is that they were going to lighten up on the drivers. Look, you can't have riots in the garage nor have fights out on the track, but I've said it over and over again; let the drivers be the drivers. If they want to get in each other's faces, I'm OK with that. I told you all a few weeks ago, as long as they don't use the race car, I don't really care. If they want to knock the fire out of one another after a race is over with, and it doesn't hurt anybody but those two guys, then so be it.
It can't get out of hand, I know there has to be some limits and there has to be some control. Drivers have to use common sense. But let the guys be themselves, let them show some emotions. I think that will help the drivers know that they have the freedom to express themselves. These are smart drivers; they are not a bunch of dummies. They know what their limits are, and they just have to maintain those limits. But the competitors also have to vent themselves when they want to and know that they aren't going to get a fine slapped on them. That'll make it fun for all of us to watch.
That's what I am most excited about. All of the things NASCAR talked about are going to make the show on television much better. If the television race is better, the ratings will go up. If the racing is better, then the guys are going to be happier with the cars.
And that's the other thing that NASCAR really has to think real hard about — tweaking the Car of Tomorrow. There are a few little odds and ends that guys keep complaining about. After a few races, if this car doesn't perform like it should, NASCAR should not wait any longer and tweak the car. Don't drag your feet and have bad racing, tweak the car to where the race is good.
If the competition on the track is good, everything else will follow.
You have to have good racing on Sunday. I've said it my whole career — sponsors, fans, everybody is happy if you have a good competitive race and we haven't had good competitive races. We've had good competitive finishes, but we need some good competitive races.
Five-hundred mile races are not too long, that's what we are known for and that's what the core fan enjoys. Start the races at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday afternoon, they'll be over by 5 p.m. ET and you can get on home. Start these races like they used to, don't do this West Coast time in an effort to try to get better ratings on TV. Start the races at the time they are supposed to and the guy on the West Coast will get a chance to watch it and then go out and do what he has to do afterward. It'll be a win-win for everybody.
I like everything that NASCAR announced on Monday, it's all for the good of the sport. I love the fact that NASCAR Chairman Brian France, President Mike Helton and all those guys sat down and said "We've got some issues, let's get them out on the table and address them so we can correct them and get this sport back on track."
I think they have done that, and some of the things they are going to do beyond today, that we don't even know about, are going to make this sport exciting and fun to watch like it used to be and how we want it to be again.
Heck, who knows, they may even bring the Southern 500 back home to where it belongs. Gosh, maybe they'll also get Brooks & Dunn to sing the national anthem at a race ... we've already got Garth Brooks back, so who knows.
Country music, racing, fun on television, excitement, passion and thrills ... Golly gee, I can't wait for 2008 to get started. I'm chomping at the bit and I hope you are too.
Congratulations NASCAR, you are back on track.
advertisement
