My good friend and great American, Thomas Pope, sent me a link to this tongue-in-cheek solution to NASCAR’s problems, written by SpeedTV.com’s Editor in Chief, Tom Jensen.
I get that Mr. Jensen’s article is satirical. Still, it made me think about the not-so-satirical talk I’ve heard by the talking heads of various sorts about “fixing” NASCAR. Folks love to wring their hands and get “wee-wee’d up” over how things are. Specifically, how dare Jimmie Johnson be on the verge of winning a fourth straight NASCAR Sprint Cup title.
The thing I hate about this is that there will likely be rule changes, schedule changes… something…. that will in effect punish Johnson/Knaus for succeeding in the system NASCAR created. The Chase schedule has essentially been what it is since its inception in 2004- and Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart won under that format. And if I recall correctly, pundits were saying that Johnson would have won in 2003 if they had been under the new system, and also in 2004, if it had been under the old system. (And many declared, at the time, that was unfair to Johnson- probably the same ones declaring this wrong!)
The problem isn’t Jimmie Johnson or Hendrick Racing. It’s the simple fact that NASCAR has lost focus on the single thing that they exist for- racing competition. Their desire is for no one to stand out too much, or stink too bad. It’s about sponsorships and money. But what they have lost is the simple notion that good racing, more than anything else, will put butts in seats.
NASCAR seems to think that old-fashioned racing is to low-brow for audiences outside of the South. So they take away rivalries, traditional tracks, affordability, personalities, and everything else you expect in a sporting environment. They even take away competition by trying to “level the playing field”. It’s like the NFL declaring that all linemen must be 6-4, 300 lbs, and not run anything other than a 4.9 forty. Or the NBA setting a minimum and maximum height for forwards, or a cap on free-throw percentages.
So they’ve got what they wished for- a level, one-size-fits-all system where the only thing left to complain about is if anyone succeeds!
I think if Bill France, senior and junior, were alive today, they wouldn’t call Brian France to the white trailer to discuss the state of things. They’d grab him by the nape of his luck-of-birth neck and haul him out behind it for a good old fashioned tail-whuppin’ with a switch. And the whole time they’d be swinging away, saying “It’s about the racing, son. The racing!”
They want to change the rules? How about this? You get in the race based on your qualifying time. Period. You win the race by being the first over the finish line at the end. Period. You win the championship through winning and/or consistency. The teams that win the most get the most money. Don’t like that? Well, then figure out how to do better and you win the most money. If your driver can’t hack it- fire him and hire a wheel man who will hustle that thing around.
NASCAR recently inducted some great legends into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Of those drivers- Richard Petty, Junior Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Sr., I don’t think any of them would have stood up under the new system. (Just look at the state of the remnants of those folk’s teams as owners….) They became legends on the track racing under the simple notion that winners win and losers lose. Bring a car to the track that’s better than everyone else’s and drive hard and get there “the fustest with the mostest”. Period.
It’s called competition, NASCAR. Look it up.
Posted by Jon Bius 
