Hotmail
NASCAR insists on foisting Fontana on us
Around the track
 |
Follow the action:
Watch:
Picture perfect:
Read all about it:
Analysis:
And the argument that a fall date will offer less oppressive temperatures than the triple-digit hell fans usually deal with here in August does not hold water. True fans, such as the crowd in Montreal that braved hours of rain to watch stock cars, will withstand conditions to witness scintillating action. However, there was little action, if any, to be found in Sunday night's Pepsi 500.
Most of the passing that took place occurred on pit road or when race leaders cycled out of the lead for pit stops. With Jimmie Johnson's dominant car and the first pit stall, the No. 48 Chevrolet was nearly impossible to beat. Even with a mishap in the pits or when crew chief Chad Knaus called for a four-tire stop, within minutes Johnson was back at the point. Johnson, the defending race winner, held that position for all but 44 miles of the race.
That's not the quality of racing that fans pay to watch — which was evident in the stark spaces among the California crowd that was estimated at 70,000 — more than 20,000 short of a full house. And when the flag dropped, most of those fans must have been visiting Wolfgang Puck's restaurant out on the Midway.
Earlier in the week, SPEED Channel ran piece chronicling Southern California's decreasing support of NASCAR racing. Over three decades, Riverside International Raceway held 48 Cup events, including many of the tour's season openers. By 1992, RIR was home to a shopping mall. Ironically, a Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse was added to the property in 11 years later.
Ontario Motor Speedway was built as a 2.5-mile sister track to Indianapolis Motor Speedway that debuted in 1970 and closed 10 years later. The Big O or "Indianapolis of the West" held nine Winston Cup races from 1971 to 1980 before fans lost interest in that venue and the track went bankrupt. A Hilton now graces the pavement.
California Speedway, two miles west of OMS in Fontana, debuted 17 years later under the direction of Roger Penske, who subsequently sold the property to the France family's International Speedway Corp. The first seven years, the track held a single Cup event. In 2004, both lights and a second date were added. Open-wheel racing pulled out two years later and NASCAR attendance in Fontana has slipped as well.
Track promoters continue to convince themselves that Fontana is representative of the Los Angeles market 45 miles to west. To compare Fontana to the bright lights of L.A. is like saying Pocono is as cosmopolitan as the Big Apple. It just doesn't compute. Californians are participators not spectators. For many, navigating I-10 is enough to jumpstart their adrenaline.
Go ahead, move the California date to the fall. See if the network gives it precedence over the NFL. Heck, the Nationwide Series race played second fiddle to college football on Saturday night.
Better still, dump the second race altogether. Move Infineon Raceway into the Chase so there's a road course during the playoffs and offer a Cup date to a true international destination such as Montreal.
Well, we know that will never happen. ISC doesn't own Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Member Comments
kentucky speedway would be a good place to move the fontana races too bet they would sell outand the racing would be better.
superhowie559/4/2008 19:51:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
dkjones: Don't you remember Fontana in February. The heavy rains and the weeping seems in the track. That was the worst of all. Nascar should never have started that race.
budtrue729/4/2008 17:32:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Hey STP Fontana = ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....IRWINDALE!!! IRWINDALE!!!! IRWINDALE!!!!
9/4/2008 17:03:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
We need more tracks in Calif. we have less rain, Why not Palm Springs
9/4/2008 16:49:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
We need a track in Palm Springs and get rid of the white pride parade, racers bring in more money
9/4/2008 16:48:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
We need to keep racing in Fontana the reason low numbers is the races have gotten boring with all the new rules and the cot cars
9/4/2008 16:45:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
STP: I think we both know that Nascar is not going to abort the COT, so Nascar needs to allow the teams more leeway in the changes they can make to the car. Right now Nascar has them in too tight a box. One inch outside that box and you get a big points penalty. Too big a risk for the teams. Just ask Truex Jr. I can't agree with the suggestion to drop the chase format. It still needs work, but I don't believe it's good for the sport to have 2-3 drivers with a chance to win the championship with 1/3 of the season left. Some people suggest that the Chase format make the drivers on the outside irrelevant, I say without the chase you give even fewer drivers a chance. Clint Bowyer last season is a perfect example of the chase working. I also agree that road courses stink, but the short tracks should stay. I think they should bring back N. Wilkesboro and Rockingham. I understand what you say in relation to interest and attenadance, however there are statistics to support the argument for waning support at Fontana and other tracks as well.
budtrue729/4/2008 16:37:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
runwhatyabrung - the aero car worked. The short tracks and Watkins Glen are NEVER fun to watch.
STP43FAN9/4/2008 15:59:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Stp43.. get rid of the 43 iroc field ..yes..no way they should go back to the but ugly areo car..thats when na$$car started on their way to the COT... sorry but some of the short tracks and watkins glen are fun to watch..change California ooohhhyea.. and the chase needs tweeked..to many teams are points racin, takes away from the sport...race to win
runwhatyabrung9/4/2008 15:25:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
One more -<br /><br />5 - Drop the Chase format; go back to the Latford System but with 300 points for the race winner and 100 bonus points for most laps led.
STP43FAN9/4/2008 13:27:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
budtrue - here are the changes NASCAR needs to make -<br /><br />1 - Abort the COT.<br /><br />2 - Go back to the old car, but with 7.5-inch rear spoiler, roof wicker, hard tires with more stagger to allow better turning, and restrictor plated engines.<br /><br />3 - Drop the short tracks and the road courses.<br /><br />4 - Replace them with 2.5-mile superovals in the Hanford-San Joaquin area and the Houston/San Antonio area.<br /><br />5 - Make existing ovals a la Fontana plate tracks per the recommendation of Gillian Zucker.
STP43FAN9/4/2008 13:25:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
WrenchWizard - a six second lead at Bristol is a six second lead, period. It is impossible to overcome at Bristol.<br /><br />Lead changes mean EVERYTHING because it is the only accurate gauge of a race's competitiveness. The chrome horn is roughing, and roughing IS NOT RACING. Having just two grooves effectively paralyzes drivers in ability to pass because it's far easier to impede an attempt to pass. <br /><br />"NASCAR and Speedway Corp. eliminated races that the fans loved for the type of racing you claim to be the best." The three races/tracks that were eliminated - North Wilkesboro never exceeded 40,000 in attendence or waiting period; Darlington only started selling out again AFTER it lost one date and the racing there isn't competitive; Rockingham stopped selling out and when it was reopened NO ONE SHOWED UP, plus it lacked competitive racing. Your "eliminated races the fans love" argument is not backed by facts. That there has been speedway fratricide is true enough, but to say the sport somehow misses those three tracks is absurd.<br /><br />You mention TV ratings, they are not higher for ANY short track than a superspeedway, and the consistently best ratings are for the plate races - the biggest of the superspeedways. <br /><br />Superspeedways absolutely draw better ratings.<br /><br />Bristol is in a superb racing demographic and SMI is able to pad some of its attendence like it does at its other tracks - it doesn't sell out because of the quality of its racing, which is consistently among the worst in the sport.
STP43FAN9/4/2008 13:21:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
STP43fan......The biggest difference is a 6 second lead at Bristol doesn't look impossible to overcome, where a 6 second lead at the big tracks.......thats BORING.<br /><br />Nascar isn't about lead changes for some of us fans, that doesn't mean ****...to me, I like to watch a race where there are two grooves, not three or more, where a driver can use the chrome horn because the "clean air" advantage isn't that big a deal. If my driver falls behind, I don't want to have to rely on a caution so he can get back to the lead pack.<br />Nascar and Speedway Corp. already did it your way, eliminated races that the fans loved for the typ of racing you claim to be the best, the ****....ing TV ratings proove that a MAJORITY of fans DON'T tune in to watch it. FACT is the the TV money makes the Nascar wheels go around, TV ratings drop because of boring races and someone will be held accountable, FACT: TV ratings are DOWN and I don't think super speedways will draw more ratings. FACT: Bristol is and always has been drawing a strong rating.
WrenchWizzard9/3/2008 20:25:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
STP: You say no more short tracks because the racing is boring. I say there is nothing exciting about 3 wide racing for 30th place like we see on the "cookie-cutters". FACT is that the racing is boring on every track on the circuit. One solution I can think of is to make every track over 1.5 miles a plate race. As far as Nascar allowing the teams to work on the new cars they aren't going far enough or giving enough leeway for experimentation. If you are the expert then quit putting people down and bless us with your wisdom as to what changes you think Nascar should make.
budtrue729/3/2008 15:28:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Hey, I went to that mixedcupid site,..............<br /><br />Not really racing, there, eh?<br /><br />Just a lot of races.......
letsro119/3/2008 13:07:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
As far as I see almost every race this year has been boring, not just Fontana. Plus the fact that the price of tickets and gas have gone up. And it's not fun to pay 3times as much for a room to spend the night in a motel that has nothing but a bed and TV in the room.
Annette24489/3/2008 13:04:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
stangdrvr4life - Richmond has not had a good race in over a decade, longer even.
STP43FAN9/3/2008 12:09:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
peace6 you disagree with the truth - grow the hell up. Capiche?
STP43FAN9/3/2008 12:08:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
NEWMAN - no, no no. <br /><br />papajoe65 - the teams can work all they want on it and they will never make it work - the more they've worked on it the worse the racing got.<br /><br />stangdrvr4life - get over it. Darlington is a relic and Rockingham is dead.
STP43FAN9/3/2008 12:07:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
advertisement
