I think NASCAR has ruined our type of racing. The whole "all they do is drive in circles" criticism has really permeated public opinion. As has the "redneck" perception and the whole perception of tiers where NASCAR is the "major leagues" and everything else is amateur.
Lots of competition for the few entertainment dollars we have left. Can't blame the promoters much, they can only use the available money we bring to them. It is up to us fans to bring new people into the sport. I never would have gone to my first sprint race had I not been invited by a friend that was already hooked in 1983.
Originally Posted by racer-x:
When i was a kid I thought the future would be like the jetsons but after reading this i think we are heading back to the Flinstones!
Yeah, I still am looking for my flying car that we should have by now, LOL.
Originally Posted by nowings4me:
Lots of competition for the few entertainment dollars we have left. Can't blame the promoters much, they can only use the available money we bring to them. It is up to us fans to bring new people into the sport. I never would have gone to my first sprint race had I not been invited by a friend that was already hooked in 1983.
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I agree. I would have never went if it wasnt for a friend taking me to a race at Kokomo..a KISS race and after one race I was hooked. The rest is history. Word of mouth is the best way to spread the word so if we don't bring along skeptics, they'll always be skeptics
Start with not charging 10 -12 years old adult prices? Give kids a break, students half price till they get out of school... 13 and under free..Some place to start???
There's no singular reason for sure. I think you can point to the declining fascination with the automobile as one reason. I think the whole misconception about it just being cars going in circles is more of a function of the fact that driving a passenger car is the only relatable experience the bulk of a society has to compare it to. Most all of us have played football, basketball, baseball etc. at some point in our lives. We understand the difficulty and realize most of us aren't good enough to be professionals. With auto racing people seem to think anybody can do it, when the reality is they're in cars that are engineered to be easy to drive. They're predictable unless something fails or conditions like rain and snow cause loss of traction.
I'd also say that the tremendous increase in entertainment options seems to have also caused a huge decline in the attention span of people. Racing takes time to develop. The NFL really only requires the viewer to pay attention in about 10 second intervals at a time. MMA has short violent rounds.
Finally, I'd say the NASCAR or NAPCAR factor is huge. Its really the only option on mainstream tv consistently. They run far too many tracks ill suited for the cars in my opinion leading to really strung out boring races. Like it or not, they're the face of racing and what people think of first and probably as the only thing.
When I was a young kid I used to stand by the mailbox every Friday waiting for the National Speed Sport News. I think I learned to read by reading and re-reading the NSSN stories. Then work on my mom and dad explain I just had to be at the next IMCA race, to see if Jerry Blundy could hold off Jim Moughan, some times they would give in and we would go.
No online updates back then...had to wait till Friday.
No Video games then or 500 channels of TV, No One to text, no going to a major university basketball or football camps...as a kid it gave me time to be interested in something.
Seems todays kids could be more in touch than ever with racing if they wanted to be.
Originally Posted by PAW:
Start with not charging 10 -12 years old adult prices? Give kids a break, students half price till they get out of school... 13 and under free..Some place to start???
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Agree! Rarely if ever have I seen a track that is "standing room only" and there are quite a few tracks that charge for kids...even though the kids always want to go watch Robert there are certain tracks that I won't take the kids to or avoid it because they charge so much. Track ends up losing even more money because then I don't have to buy cheeseburgers, sodas, pizza, candy bars, etc for kids that aren't there!
We will hopefully have at least 1 new fan by sprint week..got a buddy coming down from south bend..he hears me talking about sprint cars and how great of racing they produce and all he knows is nascar..so he wants to see what i enjoy..i have turned a few ppl into open wheel fans..and hope to continue with time
