Attendance and Bristol dropped off after they redid the track. The progressive banking produced more side by side racing but that is not what fans want out of Bristol. They want the bump and run. NASCAR attendance in general really took a hit during the recession. I go to Talladega every year and noticed a sudden drop off around 2008. So I think a combination of high prices and the recession has a lot to do with it.

While I agree NASCAR races are boring, today's generation is about instant gratification. Vidio games, X games, etc. And today's generation, for the most part, is not interested in auto racing or cars in general. I, like many of you, grew up in a Motörhead environment that does not exist in the young people of today. Time marches on.

One thing that has not been mentioned is that the popularity of NASCAR exploded for a while and became something it had never been. There was a confluence of events which drove growth outside of its traditional fan base. However, that is over just like many other fads. The base is probably larger now than before the boom but NASCAR has come back to earth.

1- No heroes and villains..... There has to be a routing interest, as simple as that!! Heroes are easy but villains are the problem....Nascar and Corporate America have taken away the villains. They do not want their person representing them to be the center of any negative press. I, like most of you, am sick of watching drivers with their drink bottles have to take a drink before each interview, they actually accumulate points for each time they get their drink on tv and get bonus pay.

Last year after Kenseth took out Joey the interest was at a season high, not so much from the crash but the anticipation of what was to come next...There was a Hero and a Villain!!! The only real villain right now might be Joey (actually my favorites are Joey and Stewart)?

Find me a season when the interest level was high and there will be a routing interest involved. There doesn't have to be crashes, just someone the fan wants to see win, or the fan wants to see lose!

Today the drivers are like the cars, cookie cutter, I have a few from the midget/sprint days I still route for but if all the midget/sprint fans would have been at Bristol yesterday the place would have still been 1/2 empty.Tony Stewart is the last of the "tell it his way" drivers! When NASCAR was King the sound bites were stellar, there was controversy, there were Heroes and Villains!! There was a reason to go, to watch, to route for those you liked and boo those you did not. Today they all say the same thing, they all stay on script! AND on SCRIPT is boring and there is no interest.

2- First understand that if promoters did not open the stands they would still make money!! Yes, the purse is more than paid for by the TV money...BUT, that TV money is based off contracts that were written when vewing ratins were high...new contract are a coming and ?

Fans attending events....the cost is just to much for the watered down product!

Side note about cost : Local track here in Indy (Speedrome) had there season opener Saturday with throw back prices ($7.50 at the gate and $1 hot dogs) Without a doubt the biggest crowd they have had there in years for their weekly show. This week back to normal pricing and 70% of those fans will not be back! Because of the $1 dollar hot dog the concession lines were long all night, but things that make you go hmmm, those buying the $1 hot dog also had $3 cokes $3 french fries $5 tenderloins, ect... This week there will be the normal 800 fans at $12 each for a gate of $9600 and the concession will be down drastically! This past Saturday there were about 1800 spectators at a front gate of $13,500...and you do not need a calculator to figure out more people, more merchandise, more concessions, more SPONSOR interest, all equal more money...THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!

NASCAR became trendy in the mid 90's. It was the old "nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd" mentality. The Brain Trust if you want to be nice and believe Brian France is using his. Thought NASCAR was on an NFL trajectory and they started messing with what got NASCAR to where it was. They turned the cars into IROC prototypes were aero was more a key then a driver. The drivers became sponsor spouting puppets and the on track racing really started to look pretty bland.

I used to do about 4 to 6 cup/bgn races a year from the late 1970's until about 1998. I've not been to a NASCAR race other than the Modifieds since 1999 and see nothing today that would entice me to go back.

Not any more. Not since the track reconfiguration. You can buy a ticket for the night race the day of the race.

It is no longer racing, it is now a show. The chase, green white checker, the lucky dog, the charter, double file restarts. The one that did the best the whole season used to be the champion, 500 miles used to mean 500 miles, if you wanted your lap back you raced for it. I stopped watching Nascar a few years back.

When drivers complain about being "raced too hard "that pretty much says it all!

David, I think you nailed it with the "trendy" comment, people had to have something to talk about at the water cooler at work on Monday, and if you fit, you fit, motor home, hats, T shirts, jackets, banners, plus, there seemed to be a lot more folks willing to spend their butts off to go, now they got kids that have to be "involved", trips over a weekend to play some sort of "game", is the trendy thing now, still costs money, but it's the "in" thing now. Times they have changed. Just sayin! Bob

NASCAR has abandoned the Walmart crowd in favor of yuppy money, there's fewer yuppy's. It's that simple.