12/22/24
May 23, 2007
Tomorrow is Today for Nextel Cup...: NASCAR announces that the Car of Tomorrow will be the only car run on the Nextel Cup circuit in 2008. The implementation is one year ahead of the original plan, and was driven by team economics. Also, in the fallout of Dale Earnhardt Junior's announcement that he's leaving Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated, DEI announces an engine-building partnership with Richard Childress Racing.
posted by The_Black_Hand to auto racing at 07:44 AM - 14 comments
Not to offend everyone but racing has become a joke. A couple years ago when it was a bunch of good ol boys racin it was fun to watch. There was a storyline and rivals for most people and it was worth paying attention too. NASCAR has sold out and become a rich mans game. It is run by corporate sponsors that want to sell tickets and get people to watch. They put on restrictor plates to keep races close and throw a few unneeded cautions to give us a race in the last few laps. No one wants to watch a race that isnt close. I am definatly not saying it is right but thats what happens when money takes over. They want to keep a race close and keep viewers in their seats. The car of tomorrow is just the next step in the death of NASCAR. Blame Nextel. Once it was no longer the Winston Cup, it died. They have ruined the sport. It is about $$$$ now and not racing anymore.
posted by Debo270 at 10:13 AM on May 23, 2007
Next thing you know they'll change the name NASCAR.
posted by TelamarketersBeware at 10:26 AM on May 23, 2007
Every pro sport is a "rich mans game" today. Corporate boxes don't pay for themselves. I might pine for the good ol' days of NASCAR if they weren't also the period in which a black driver won a race at Jacksonville and wasn't allowed to take the trophy because of his skin color. Give me the bad new days any time over that BS. Does any driver like the "car of tomorrow"? I've read a few stories about it here in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which you'd expect to be on top of such matters, and they all hate it.
posted by rcade at 12:10 PM on May 23, 2007
Nascar is dying? Attendence and ratings are down? I'd like to see numbers backing that statement. Could very well be true and probably is. Just because people don't like Gordon or Jimmy Johnson, the two of which happen to be dominating in the recent past does not mean the ratings have been down.
posted by sgtcookzane at 12:39 PM on May 23, 2007
Does any driver like the "car of tomorrow"? Is there any difference between the CoT and the old IROC series? Same premise right; One chassis, one body, one suspension set up for everyone. Drivers and fans hated those IROC cars and were forced by contract to participate in the races. Eventually they watered down the series to a few 25-50 lap races each year in purple, orange, and yellow cars during the off days at big tracks. It was a bust on and off the track, unless you wore a mullet, listened to Poison too loudly, and thought that 'iroc' stencil on the door of your 6-cylinder Camaro was kewl. I realise "stock" was thrown out of stock car racing long ago, but the CoT kills the idea that big three (now big four) auto manufacturers make a difference in who wins and who loses. NASCAR is dieing, the ratings and attendence prove it. I haven't seen the numbers but I contend they don't even matter. NASCAR fans don't seem to abide by conventional sport-fan wisdom. The most popular driver is terrible, rarely finishes races, and can't make the 'playoff' cut. The second most popular driver......he's dead. The best driver gets pelted by budweiser cans after he wins. And everyone else jumps from team to team, changing sponsors, colors, manufactures, and numbers every two or three years. The only thing that seems to really matter in NASCAR is brand loyalty, which is so high marketers can't measure it. NASCAR fans really support the products advertised on their drivers car, even to their detriment. They will buy circa 1982 jeans, stale beer, and cheap Chinese power tools because 'Dale told 'em to'. As long as that continues, NASCAR will survive.
posted by r8rh8r27 at 12:59 PM on May 23, 2007
Does any driver like the "car of tomorrow"? I did a link on that a while back. The answer is "No". I can't post the link from here because my computer won't let me.
posted by TelamarketersBeware at 02:13 PM on May 23, 2007
Im a new fan and im hooked...
posted by shaykeno at 02:59 PM on May 23, 2007
While the drivers complained about the Car of Tomorrow originally, that has died down somewhat. Damn near everybody resists change at first; it's human nature. The drivers and teams are adjusting, and as they do, the complaints about the CoT get quieter and quieter. And for all you "fans" who blame Nextel for the Car of Tomorrow and some of the other changes you see on race day, it's not really their fault. Nextel doesn't own NASCAR; they're the title sponsor. Big difference there. You want to blame somebody for racing on Easter? Blame Nextel. You want to blame somebody for the CoT? Blame the France family and NASCAR, because they've been kicking the idea around for nearly ten years now. In case you've forgotten, that predates Nextel. Much like Winston before it, Nextel has minimal impact on the decision-making process when it comes to actual racing, including specs, paint schemes, inspections, track conditions, etc. Nextel's power shows itself in marketing, sponsorship deals, and other places. Nextel didn't invent the Car of Tomorrow, so you'll have to direct your hate someplace else. r8rh8r, something you might not have seen: for the past three years, the most popular driver in NASCAR has been Dale Earnhardt Junior; the second most popular driver has been Jeff Gordon. During that same time span, Jeff Gordon has simultaneously been the most hated driver in NASCAR, followed by closely by...Driver 8. As far as NASCAR "dieing," don't go out and buy flowers just yet. The sport is flush with cash, and the fanbase, while not universally expanding, is picking up more people in the money demos (men 18 - 34, women 25 - 54) every year. The rumors of NASCAR's demise are greatly exaggerated. Just because you don't like it as much as you used to doesn't mean you speak for everybody else.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:45 PM on May 23, 2007
The drivers my not like the car of tomorrow but did they like all the safety features they have added over the years. NO but they sure are thankful for them when they hit the wall now aren't they
posted by nuthut8 at 06:45 PM on May 23, 2007
Let's reach up there and pull em tight one more time and Boggity Boggity, let's go racing boys gets my adrenaline pumping and I am ready for the race to get going. I may be an oddity, but I don't give a rats ass who likes or dislikes the car he has been hired to drive. If he doesn't want to drive it, I am sure there are three or four hundred people who do. They just need to stop complaining and do the job they were hired for. Drive the damn car and, oh, yeah, win the race!!!
posted by terribleteddy at 08:23 PM on May 23, 2007
They should have rolled the damned thing out at Daytona this year and been done with it. That car is no less related to an Impala than the current car is to a Monte Carlo.
posted by hoytie at 10:09 PM on May 23, 2007
The new Toyota Corolla looks a lot like the Corolla we see everyday on the way to work.
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:23 AM on May 24, 2007
The new Toyota Corolla looks a lot like the Corolla we see everyday on the way to work. And well it should, but Toyota races the Camry in Nascar.
posted by tommybiden at 06:08 PM on June 02, 2007
NASCAR is dieing, the ratings and attendence prove it.