Now I know when I mention talking turkey, you probably are thinking
about a big ol' Butterball on the dining room table ready to be
carved up. That's not it this time. I am talking about NASCAR
turkey.
Talking turkey means you speak plainly about difficult NASCAR
subjects or issues.
To me, that is where we are as far as next year is concerned.
I still like the concept of town hall meetings. However, my vision
is to have them not just with the elite but with a cross-section of
people all having a vested interest in the health of the sport. I
think it would help to get their opinions of what they are seeing
and hearing that is outside the bubble. Sometimes being inside the
bubble prevents you from seeing and hearing all sides of an issue.
Talking turkey to me means reaching out and listening. Stop
telling me that the racing, the competition, the Car of Tomorrow,
the TV ratings, the attendance, the economy and the Chase for the
Sprint Cup are great.
The problem as I see it is that the message and reality don't
match up. There are areas in this sport that have to have
leadership. We need someone to stand up and say we know there are
problem areas and here's what we are going to do about them:
I still believe the car needs to be tweaked. Trust me, the
first thing I would do is get rid of that wing. I have said it
since Day 1; a wing simply doesn't belong on a stock car. The COT
also needs a nose job. I have mentioned before that what I have
seen and heard from drivers is the Nationwide Series COT is a thing
of beauty. It's like they took everything that is wrong on the Cup
car and fixed it on the Nationwide car.
Folks, it's pretty simple. If the drivers have a car they are
comfortable with and have trust in, plus it drives really well,
then they are going to put on a better race. The Cup car we have
today is too finicky. They are just too evil to drive. So let's
tweak the car. It doesn't need a major overhaul, but it does need
tweaking.
For the life of me, I still do not understand why they won't
listen and accept the fact that the Chase needs changes to it. We
have to quit trying to act like the NFL. We aren't the NFL. NASCAR
has thrived and grown for 61 years being different.
It wasn't that long ago, maybe 15 to 20 years, that all the
other sports laughed at us because of the logos we wore or had on
the cars. They thought we were a bunch of hillbillies. But look
around. What are they all doing today? They are trying to implement
the same strategy. They are trying to be more like us and we need
to quit trying to be more like them.
One of the major problems with the Chase is that when it
starts, the last 10 races quit being about the racing and start
being about the Chase. You've taken 12 guys and separated them from
the other 31 guys out there. It's made it into a show in of itself.
If that's the course they are set on then they have to make changes
to make the Chase more exciting.
I have always said there should be elimination. If you are in
the top 12 you are locked in. You can't be knocked out. That means
you can finish 43rd in all of the last 10 races and guess what? You
are going to finish 12th for the season. Huh? I am sorry, but that
is just not right. There's no elimination or even brackets like
there are in college basketball or drag racing.
You also can't use the same point system in the Chase that
you used to get into the Chase. They have to come up with a better
scenario for those 12 guys.
Now I can sit here and point out a handful of things that
need to be different, but you know what? It doesn't matter what I
say.
What does matter is the folks in charge have to step up and
say they are going to do things differently. This isn't about me.
When I am either in the TV booth or at home on the couch, I can
clearly see the car and the Chase needs to be worked on. I see the
empty grandstands just like you. What's being done about it? I
dunno.
We've also become predictable with debris cautions to bunch
the field up or stopping the race with those red flags. If you know
who is going to win or be in the top 10 every week, isn't it common
sense that folks are going to lose interest and find something else
that excites them?
We have to get back to the place where we were so
unpredictable. Remember how it was when you couldn't wait for the
race to start because you didn't know what was going to happen?
That is what our sport dearly misses.
Ronald Reagan once said, "Just because I disagree with you
some of the time, doesn't mean I am your enemy all of the time." I
have always been an advocate for constructive criticism. I have
never been one to complain simply to complain. I have always tried
to point out things that I didn't like but, at the same time, offer
an option to consider fixing it.
All this isn't trying to hurt anyone. It's trying to help
everyone. Look at the positive impact from something as simple as
implementing the double file restarts had on racing. Everyone says
it was probably the best thing NASCAR has done in years, but it
about took an act of Congress to make it happen.
Collectively we need to blow life into areas of our sport
that have gone stale and not going anywhere. Let's be proactive and
blow some excitement into it again. Let's liven it up. Go back to
February of this year. When NASCAR eliminated testing and took the
teams off the road, everyone couldn't wait to get to Daytona. They
were pumped up and excited to get there and get going. They weren't
already burnt out from testing so much.
Again, this isn't about me telling NASCAR about all the
things they are doing wrong. This is about me as a race fan
pointing out areas that need looked at and worked on. I am no
different than any other fan that is screaming for change. What's
wrong with wanting to make the sport better when there are some
pretty simple things that will accomplish that? Nothing, in my
book.
I just don't want to continue to be told that everything is
rosy. It's not. You see it and I see it. We have to make this sport
more affordable. Fix the Chase. Fix the car. That's a great start.
Also, just don't say you are going to go do something. Show me by
going and doing it. Make the event worth the buck. Some of these
tracks need to seriously work on making it easier for fans to get
in and out of the event.
The one thing that used to be said about our sport was dollar
for dollar, it was the best buy in all of sports. Collectively we
have to make sure it is and if it isn't then we have to do whatever
it takes to get it back to that.
This isn't some kind of Thanksgiving hangover. This is simply
talking turkey. Right now, today, our sport needs to start talking
turkey.
