One Bad Apple Ruins It For Everyone
I think by now folks have figured out that I stick up for the little guys and have been trying to help out Sam Ard and his wife Jo. There are some people out there who really need to be taken out behind the woodshed and be straightened out. Jan, who is Sam’s nurse and a friend of the Ards, sent this to me:
Recently Jo had Sam sign some cards for a man who had mailed them to her stating that he only wanted it for his son's collection. Jo even sent him a patch. This man (E-Bay User ID: pit4nascar - me) paid her absolutely nothing. Now he has shown his appreciation by listing it for $25.00 or best offer on E-bay. Sam is not even in the photo. Because ...of this fraud Jo has requested that no signatures will be given except through me.
So for you real fans out there who have helped out Sam and have supported him in his fight against Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease, my thanks and my apologies on behalf of the Ards for having to take measures like this to protect Sam’s good name and to keep low lifes like this one from exploiting Sam’s medical condition.
Stuart Virginia Still Home to Wood Brothers
I had a chance to talk with Eddie Wood of Wood Brothers racing briefly at the autograph session at the old Wood Brother’s shop turned museum Last Friday night and asked him about the shop being in NC. Eddie said that he still lives in Stuart and commutes to the shop in Harrisburg. So even though they may have moved the shop to NC to be closer to the action, Eddie still has his roots firmly attached to Stuart.
Martinsville…The New Bristol?
Back before Bristol was reconfigured, it was THE track you had to go to at least once in your lifetime because of the intensity of the racing there. Since the track was reconfigured and the generic race vehicle was introduced, the 500 “parade laps” conducted there have lowered it’s stature from being a legendary, action-filled, knock-down, drag-out, bare-knuckle brawl to the same hum drum status as that of Fontucky and the cookie cutter 1.5 mile tracks . Martinsville on the other hand has elevated itself to THE Action Track as witnessed this past Sunday. Lots of beating, banging, trading paint, chrome horn use, and chess-like pit strategy. And while it wasn’t a sell-out, it had more fans there than I’ve seen in the last 3 years and folks weren’t falling asleep. They were cheering, booing, and applauding at what was happening on the track. So if you’re not happy with what Bristol has become, I suggest going to Martinsville.
No Tire Problems at Martinsville?
"Here's what we know: The tire is different than what it was last year. The tire's not failing. The tire has some different drivability characteristics that everybody is dealing with. But it's a combination of a tougher left side and softer ride side, so the cars feel different. It's hard to make a judgment either way right now. We'll see what 500 laps of racing does." - John Darby at Martinsville
I consider Darby’s statement pretty interesting considering a couple of “brave drivers” talked about how the tires were wearing down to the cord during the race in post-race comments. Are we going to have an entire season of tire problems?
Martinsville Live Versus Martinsville on TV
I got several e-mails and Facebook messages about how horrible the Focks coverage of the Martinsville race was. Here’s a sample. This is from Vince on Facebook:
We got the same ole Racertainment from Faux. Plenty of ultra tight shots, in-car cams, roof cams and bumper cams. Couldn't tell who was where on the track half of the time. The incidents on the track were continually missed live and shown in replay instead. DW was his usual obnoxious self. It's all about him after all.
This is from Joe on Facebook where we were originally discussing an article by Monte Dutton. As I was at Martinsville, I let Joe know what I saw and this was his response:
We don't ever get to see that stuff on TV. They always follow the lead cars. I know there is always good racing in the pack somewhere, but we are at the mercy of FOX. Wish they would put a camera inside Robby's car for a race, now that would be entertaining.
This is from an e-mail from Dave in Texas:
I just don't see how a new fan could get interested in this entertainment, err, sport. The TV "coverage" is of one car at a time. All the "action" is on replay (if at all). Blabbering, huge graphics and hundreds of commercials (usually the same ones over and over again - this week were even the same one back to back!?!). What a turn off.
Well, the end is here. Hope they like what they have done!
I sure hope the fine, feathered finks at Focks are reading these comments as well as those at The Daly Planet. I know exactly what the folks at home missed. Lots of good racing going on mid-pack on back. Clean passes in addition to the normal bumping and banging. I watched Busch the Elder, Robby Gordon, Paul Menard, and Trevor Bayne racing each other although some of it wasn’t for position. Bayne probably learned a thing or two following Robby around as long as he did. You didn’t get to see cars start out strong on the beginning of a run and fall back to where they started from at the beginning of the run. Instead, the home audience got the see the usual pre-prescripted “usual suspects” and maybe a couple of others because of blown tires or wrecks but not the rest of the racing going on mid-pack on back. It’s a shame really because to me, the best racing wasn’t what was happening up front.
Two Thumbs Up to Mr Happy’s Crew
After the Victory Lane celebration at Martinsville , Mr Happy’s crew pushed the car down the front straight and around Turns 1 & 2 to get it back to the garage area. When several fans were cheering about Mr Happy’s win and congratulating them, they stopped pushing the car and thanked the fans and held up one of the bottles of champagne they had with them. This is a lot better than some other crews do pushing the winning car back to the garage with their fans cheering. So to Mr Happy’s crew and their recognition of the cheering fans, two thumbs up.
Tim Richmond Lawsuit
If you have access to the PACER system, Tim Richmond's case # is C-C-88-0204-M, filed in the Western District Court of NC, Charlotte Division. Filed in 4/281988, Timothy L. Richmond versus National Association For Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc (NASCAR), et al .
A Real Anomaly
Here’s a real anomaly for you. Johnny Sauter, a Truck Series regular, actually won the Truck Series race at Martinsville. He’s the first Truck Series regular to win a race this season. 3 Cup drivers won the first 3 races even though they were said to be an anomaly by the Minster of Propaganda. What was that about anomalies Ramsey?
New Street Names Coming
At the site of the old Augusta International Raceway in Hephzibah Georgia, two new street names will be added when the next round of street names are approved for the housing area there. My good friend Rex White and Wendell Scott will be having streets named after them. They’ll join Fireball Roberts, Dave MacDonald, Frank Warren, and others in having streets named after them. Hopefully the Scott family can make it down there for the official ceremony when it happens. Rex is a fixture at the annual Augusta International Raceway drivers reunion and car show so you know he’ll be there.
Giving Credit Where Credit’s Due
Not many folks know this but North Wilkesboro Speedway, particularly Steve Wilson and his wife Ann Marie to be exact, pioneered the idea of using Twitter to provide race updates to fans who were following the races at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Twitter. At one point, North Wilkesboro was burying NA$CAR and their controlled media by providing these updates and passed them in popularity on Twitter as Tony Stewart remarked after the first race that North Wilkesboro used Twitter to update the race fans. Since then, you’ll notice a lot of NA$CAR’s controlled media types provide a constant barrage of Tweets for practice sessions and the races to update fans. But they’re just being copycats of the track that wouldn’t give up the ghost and is still a favorite in the hearts of many a race fan.
Somebody Finally Noticed Jeb Burton
If you’re a fan of Ward Burton, then you know his son has been trying his hand at racing the last few years. Somebody in the media finally discovered it and wrote about it. Day late and a dollar short?
New Race Fuel Stinks
The old unleaded race fuel use to have a somewhat nasty smell to it but the ethanol that’s being used now makes the old race fuel smell like Chanel #5. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but there’s something about the odor that really doesn’t settle right with the olfactory senses as I found out at Martinsville.
Ethanol Plant Files for Bankruptcy
And BZF went to ethanol for exactly what reason? Besides the obvious one of filling his bank account.
http://www.wxii12.com/r/27426377/detail.html?taf=gws
Ethanol Causing Problems with Motorcycles?
The Italian manufacturer Ducati is having to replace plastic fuel tanks because they are becoming distorted. Apparently, when the tanks have to be removed for maintenance, they've swollen so much they won't fit back on the bike! Removing the gas tank for some maintenance duties is common on motorcycles. Dealers are replacing the affected tanks as needed. Ducati and the regulatory agencies are investigating but won't divulge their findings yet. BMW motorcycles are also having a similar problem in America. Since the problem only exists in the USA, the thinking is the ethanol in the gas is causing the problem.
The AMA (American Motorcycle Association) is vigorously protesting the proposed increase in the amount of ethanol in our gasoline (to E-15).
Texas Doomed to Poor Attendance This Weekend
It seems that there’s not a heck of a lot being done to advertise this weekend’s race at TMS. Here’s an e-mail from a fan there:
The races are this weekend at TMS. Almost nothing in the Dallas paper about it. No one seems to care.
The track did the same thing they did last year. They raised ticket prices $5.00 this week, but put a $10.00 off coupon in Sunday's paper for the qualifying and Nationwide "race" (that Kyle Busch will "win"). So......I'm supposed to be too stoopid, again, to see that it's not a $10 coupon but a $5 coupon. I find that insulting. Boy, that Eddie Gossage is a genius, ain't he?
There will be a pre-race "concert" by 3 Doors Down. It is $79 (not including your ticket). For that you get to stand on the grass in front of the stage to hear them do 4 songs. Wow. At Indy a few years ago, 3 Doors Down sang all during the driver's introductions - no extra charge. Again, how 'bout that Eddie?
I’m not sure but I think I got a stomach bug or some bad hot dogs at Martinsville so I have to cut this one short folks. I’m beginning to think my toilet is my new lounge chair I’m spending so much time on it.
Keep an eye on the kids and God bless the troops.
Curtis Turner for 2016 HOF
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Mayfield Appeal, Twitter, & Excuses for the Weekend
Mayfield Appeal Filing
This is from Bob Pockrass regarding the appeal that Jeremy Mayfield filed:
NASCAR has denied all of Mayfield's claims in past filings, and NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston on Wednesday disputed a theme of the appeal that NASCAR didn't want Mayfield to compete with the SmallSponsor.com sponsorship.
“On the contrary, NASCAR wants more qualified competitors and sponsors involved in the sport, not less," Poston said. "The more involvement by drivers and sponsors, the better it is for the entire sport.”
The “new & improved” politically correct NA$CAR has denied it had anything to do with moonshine and yet its’ very roots come from moonshine. Bill France Sr. borrowed money from Raymond Parks Jr. on several occasions to keep NASCAR afloat and where did Parks get the majority of his money from? Selling moonshine. One of the tracks that Bill France Sr. was involved in had a still in the infield. So NA$CAR denying Mayfield’s claims is to be expected.
As to the deal with SmallSponsor.com, I’ve mentioned in the past how teams have had their sponsors “re-assigned” to teams other than the ones who originally signed them up or were “re-assigned” to NA$CAR itself. Remember when Jack Roush snagged Crown Royal and wasn‘t allowed to have them on his car for an entire year but they were the official liquor sponsor of some ISC tracks? Or how some sponsors have left because of the strong-armed tactics used by both NA$CAR and the networks to force them into a sponsorship and commercial deal?
And just what did the Propaganda Minister mean by “more qualified competitors and sponsors”? I’ve seen teams trying to get off the ground with very competent drivers and sponsors only to have their sponsorship snagged or "re-assigned" and were never able to get to the track to run their first race. I’ve also know of one incident where a sponsor’s color scheme was redesigned by NA$CAR itself to the point where it wasn’t recognizable by the sponsor causing the sponsor to cancel their sponsorship deal with the team. And who can forget about the Redneckjunk.com incident? A perfectly qualified sponsor but because Faux King Brian doesn’t like the word “redneck”, he wouldn’t allow the sponsorship to appear on the car. So don’t go trying to blow smoke up our tailpipes.
You Have to Wonder Twitter Statements
@Elliott_Sadler: FOX does a great job but it’s hard to show how fast and how banked Bristol is... that place is crazy in person
Does anyone else think this qualifies Sadler to be drug tested?
@AllWaltrip (Darrell Waltrip): Bristol now produces "good" racing, old Bristol produced "bad" racing, more side by side racing, you can pass someone without wrecking them!
If the racing is so good why are there so many empty seats and the TV ratings down 25% versus last season?
@AllWaltrip: Let's keep everything in perspective, the place holds 166,000 people, today there was probably 100,000 people there, still a huge crowd!
100,000? I think maybe it’s time to get your eyes checked. The official capacity is nowhere near 166,000. There may have been 90,000, maybe, and that’s being generous.
@AllWaltrip: Appreciate this sport and the people that support it so we can have racing, at least we don't have millionaires fighting with billionaires!
As it’s sports entertainment, why should it be appreciated? And do we really having racing? On TV it’s hard to tell if it’s racing, practice sessions, or highlight reels. And there are millionaires fighting billionaires. Roger Penske is a billionaire. Richard Childress, Jack Roush, and Rick Hendrick are millionaires. And they’re al fighting for the same thing. A championship.
@mw55 (Michael Waltrip): Why must we focus on the empty seats? There were a whole lot of full ones. I watched basketball game after game that had empty seats.
When you have a race that sold out for decades and there are massive amounts of empty seats, that’s a sure sign that’s something is really wrong. We’ve seen more and more empty seats the last few years. And don’t try to change the subject to basketball. We’re talking NA$CAR here.
@AllWaltrip: Gas is $3.75 a gal. We don't have the extra cash laying around to spend on attending a race, it's not the racing, it's not Nascar, it's the economy.
Even with gas at $3.75 a gallon, folks would actually go to Bristol if it hadn’t been reconfigured and the COT wasn’t being run. The combination of the two really killed off what use to be the two most exciting races of the year and placed it into the same status as Otto Klubb Speedway in Fontucky.
@AllWaltrip: Bristol was short track drama, Cali. will be high speed suspense,2-0-10 off into the corner this week, that'll get your attention !
Drama? What drama? It can’t be drama because it’s not on TNT. After all, TNT knows drama. They say so in their commercials. I’ve read so many fans complaints about how boring the Bristol race was it’s not even funny. Fontucky is a high speed cure for insomnia laughingly passed off as a race. Going shopping under the grandstands before the race Jabber Jaws?
This came out on Thursday, March 24th, on Twitter:
Crash Gladys
I live in Los Angeles, but I'm not hearing any promos 4 NASCAR @ Cali Spdwy this wknd. Hearing a ton more about IndyCar
And they wonder why they can’t fill the grandstands or even get the grandstands half full.
Excuses for the Weekend
The grandstands were empty because of the economy.
The grandstands were empty because of high gasoline prices.
The grandstands were empty because of radiation from Japan.
The TV ratings were down because of the economy.
The TV ratings were down because of F-1, IndyCar, and the Sweet 16 being broadcast.
Bristol Attendance Update
According to the local law enforcement folks at Bristol, there were maybe 75,000-80,000 people in attendance. That’s a far cry from the 120,000 NA$CAR claims were there and closer to my generous estimate of 90,000. So, if NA$CAR over-estimates by 40,000 people, that makes the attendance figures for most other races very suspect, which most of us pretty much have guessed anyways.
This is from Bob Pockrass regarding the appeal that Jeremy Mayfield filed:
NASCAR has denied all of Mayfield's claims in past filings, and NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston on Wednesday disputed a theme of the appeal that NASCAR didn't want Mayfield to compete with the SmallSponsor.com sponsorship.
“On the contrary, NASCAR wants more qualified competitors and sponsors involved in the sport, not less," Poston said. "The more involvement by drivers and sponsors, the better it is for the entire sport.”
The “new & improved” politically correct NA$CAR has denied it had anything to do with moonshine and yet its’ very roots come from moonshine. Bill France Sr. borrowed money from Raymond Parks Jr. on several occasions to keep NASCAR afloat and where did Parks get the majority of his money from? Selling moonshine. One of the tracks that Bill France Sr. was involved in had a still in the infield. So NA$CAR denying Mayfield’s claims is to be expected.
As to the deal with SmallSponsor.com, I’ve mentioned in the past how teams have had their sponsors “re-assigned” to teams other than the ones who originally signed them up or were “re-assigned” to NA$CAR itself. Remember when Jack Roush snagged Crown Royal and wasn‘t allowed to have them on his car for an entire year but they were the official liquor sponsor of some ISC tracks? Or how some sponsors have left because of the strong-armed tactics used by both NA$CAR and the networks to force them into a sponsorship and commercial deal?
And just what did the Propaganda Minister mean by “more qualified competitors and sponsors”? I’ve seen teams trying to get off the ground with very competent drivers and sponsors only to have their sponsorship snagged or "re-assigned" and were never able to get to the track to run their first race. I’ve also know of one incident where a sponsor’s color scheme was redesigned by NA$CAR itself to the point where it wasn’t recognizable by the sponsor causing the sponsor to cancel their sponsorship deal with the team. And who can forget about the Redneckjunk.com incident? A perfectly qualified sponsor but because Faux King Brian doesn’t like the word “redneck”, he wouldn’t allow the sponsorship to appear on the car. So don’t go trying to blow smoke up our tailpipes.
You Have to Wonder Twitter Statements
@Elliott_Sadler: FOX does a great job but it’s hard to show how fast and how banked Bristol is... that place is crazy in person
Does anyone else think this qualifies Sadler to be drug tested?
@AllWaltrip (Darrell Waltrip): Bristol now produces "good" racing, old Bristol produced "bad" racing, more side by side racing, you can pass someone without wrecking them!
If the racing is so good why are there so many empty seats and the TV ratings down 25% versus last season?
@AllWaltrip: Let's keep everything in perspective, the place holds 166,000 people, today there was probably 100,000 people there, still a huge crowd!
100,000? I think maybe it’s time to get your eyes checked. The official capacity is nowhere near 166,000. There may have been 90,000, maybe, and that’s being generous.
@AllWaltrip: Appreciate this sport and the people that support it so we can have racing, at least we don't have millionaires fighting with billionaires!
As it’s sports entertainment, why should it be appreciated? And do we really having racing? On TV it’s hard to tell if it’s racing, practice sessions, or highlight reels. And there are millionaires fighting billionaires. Roger Penske is a billionaire. Richard Childress, Jack Roush, and Rick Hendrick are millionaires. And they’re al fighting for the same thing. A championship.
@mw55 (Michael Waltrip): Why must we focus on the empty seats? There were a whole lot of full ones. I watched basketball game after game that had empty seats.
When you have a race that sold out for decades and there are massive amounts of empty seats, that’s a sure sign that’s something is really wrong. We’ve seen more and more empty seats the last few years. And don’t try to change the subject to basketball. We’re talking NA$CAR here.
@AllWaltrip: Gas is $3.75 a gal. We don't have the extra cash laying around to spend on attending a race, it's not the racing, it's not Nascar, it's the economy.
Even with gas at $3.75 a gallon, folks would actually go to Bristol if it hadn’t been reconfigured and the COT wasn’t being run. The combination of the two really killed off what use to be the two most exciting races of the year and placed it into the same status as Otto Klubb Speedway in Fontucky.
@AllWaltrip: Bristol was short track drama, Cali. will be high speed suspense,2-0-10 off into the corner this week, that'll get your attention !
Drama? What drama? It can’t be drama because it’s not on TNT. After all, TNT knows drama. They say so in their commercials. I’ve read so many fans complaints about how boring the Bristol race was it’s not even funny. Fontucky is a high speed cure for insomnia laughingly passed off as a race. Going shopping under the grandstands before the race Jabber Jaws?
This came out on Thursday, March 24th, on Twitter:
Crash Gladys
I live in Los Angeles, but I'm not hearing any promos 4 NASCAR @ Cali Spdwy this wknd. Hearing a ton more about IndyCar
And they wonder why they can’t fill the grandstands or even get the grandstands half full.
Excuses for the Weekend
The grandstands were empty because of the economy.
The grandstands were empty because of high gasoline prices.
The grandstands were empty because of radiation from Japan.
The TV ratings were down because of the economy.
The TV ratings were down because of F-1, IndyCar, and the Sweet 16 being broadcast.
Bristol Attendance Update
According to the local law enforcement folks at Bristol, there were maybe 75,000-80,000 people in attendance. That’s a far cry from the 120,000 NA$CAR claims were there and closer to my generous estimate of 90,000. So, if NA$CAR over-estimates by 40,000 people, that makes the attendance figures for most other races very suspect, which most of us pretty much have guessed anyways.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Teleconference
Several things I gathered from Faux King Brian’s teleconference last week. One is to expect the broadcast portion to be “dumbed down” even more than it has been. Why? Remember the last time Faux King Brian talked about creating new fans? We got the massive invasion of the Short Attention Span Crowd.
“I look at the interest level of the sport, and that's growing after having peaked and maybe dropped back a little bit for some reasons a couple years ago. The general interest level is going up and that's what we're going to be working on, is creating new fans”.
And last year when he admitted that the “fans” have a shorter attention span than they use to. Gee, I wonder why? Expect to see more things aimed directly at the Short Attention Span Crowd, like repeating the same garbage over and over and over even more than they do now. A good example would be how many times per race we get an explanation of aero tight and aero loose.
Read the question carefully and then the answer.
Q. You have the races where you grow ratings and attendance, then you have the off week. Can you detail the reasons why you have this off week so early in the season? Are you going to change that for next year?
BRIAN FRANCE: Well, it's historically how many events in the calendar we want to run, regardless when they ran. Historically it has been around this time where we do have an off weekend. Arguably you would like to have that come down eight or ten races later. But that's just how the schedule and the climate issues that we face with certain markets and everything else has played out. The reason for changing it is mostly driven that the other sports calendars are going to change on us - not just the NFL, but maybe some other things. So we're trying to get into the right date. It also does accomplish, when we change next year, moving back the 500 a week, we'll eliminate the early schedule gap here. That will probably be a good thing.
The answer doesn’t answer the question. It’s like a politician speaking. Lots of hot air and words that mean nothing.
Q. Brian, a lot of feedback that we in the media get from fans is about the post-race show or the lack of a post-race show. There seems to be a sense of frustration that fans invest so many hours into an event, then they get under 10 minutes of reaction after from the drivers that they've been watching. Is that something that NASCAR is hearing from your fan council? Do you have any input with FOX to try to solve this dilemma fans are faced with?
BRIAN FRANCE: We do have a fair amount of programming that happens with the SPEED Channel throughout the post race, even into the evening typically. But, yeah, I think generally speaking we would agree, that it would be nicer to have a longer post-race. But if you think about it, most sports don't have a particularly long post end of a game, whatever else. The networks don't stick around for an additional half hour. It's not something FOX should be thinking about because, after all, that's just not the norm with network or even cable television. Once the game is over, there's typically a short post-race. You hope the rest of it, social media, NASCAR online, places to digest good post-race information is where they go.
Considering who really calls the shots on what will and won’t be shown, I’m rather surprised that Faux King Brian doesn’t appear to really care about putting the NA$CAR brand on the winner even more with more post-race exposure of the winner and getting in as many post-race interviews as possible to help extend the NA$CAR "branding" of his brand of racer-tainment. Plus he seems to forget that not everyone gets Speed TV. Folks who don’t have cable or satellite can’t watch it. And even some folks with cable or satellite don’t have it because it’s not included in their package or is considered an extra that cost them through the nose. So they can’t watch the post-race coverage Speed TV offers.
Q. What do you see as the biggest impact on television ratings? Sponsorship revenues you and the tracks can earn or how are they becoming more critical on the rights fees as you start negotiating in the next couple years?
BRIAN FRANCE: We spend a lot of time looking at obviously traditional broadcast television. Our cable partners are critically important. We spent a lot of time recently looking at the other media, which is social and digital media, where that's all going, where people are getting information, content and everything else. We have a plan. We have a robust plan in the long run. We'll try to capture both. But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them.
If Faux King Brian and his cronies actually spent a lot of time watching the races on TV, they’d see what the fans are complaining about with poor commentary, poor coverage, and too many commercials and the need for split-screen coverage like IndyCar uses to show both the race and commercials at the same time instead of the current running of commercials being briefly interrupted by a lap or two of racer-tainment. “We have a plan”. I seem to remember Richard Nixon saying the same thing when it came to Vietnam only we never found out what the plan was.
“But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them”.
Notice the word “fix”. Faux King Brian is making it sound like race fans are a bunch of junkies in desperate need of drugs. A Freudian slip on his part? As the TV coverage and commentary is God awful, fans who have the means use things like Track Pass or Race Buddy to actually watch the races and supplement that with radio coverage by PRN or MRN to help eliminate the highly biased commentators and shills. I don’t know how many folks have noticed it but a lot of effort is being put into advertising the sanctioning body’s official web site. They’ve sponsored a couple of trucks and if you look at the tracks you’ll see the web site’s name painted on the asphalt or on the grass. Of course, after the latest changes to that web site and how badly they screwed it up, I can see why they’re trying to lure fans in and advertise it. If they really wanted to get fans to that web site, they’d make it easy to navigate and use. Instead, they make it more complicated than trying to assemble an engine while blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back. Fans use Twitter, Facebook, and various blogs to stay up to date and to get reliable info which isn’t in the same cookie-cutter mold as is presented by the lamestream journalists.
Q. Brian, can you address the ethanol situation and what challenges have you faced with the implementation to the new fuel in the three top series?
BRIAN FRANCE: Well, the fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working. We couldn't be happier with it. From the early testing, we got good performance numbers. The teams certainly think it's working well. It obviously takes us another step. Especially now that you see energy prices going where they're going, it takes us a way down the road with a real biofuel that we're using in the car. They've just been a really good partner so far and it's going well.
“The fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working”. Obviously you didn’t hear the profanity-laced dialogue between Biffle and his crew chief at Vegas regarding the new fuel and the fueling system. It isn’t working well. You might be happy but that’s only because you’re getting paid to be happy about it. Just what are you going to do when Congress cuts off the funding for ethanol because it’s actually a farce? You want a real bio-fuel? Try running the algae-based gasoline. Or convert to diesel and have the teams run oil from some hamburger or chicken joints and fill the stands with the smell of French Fries or fried chicken. That’s true bio-fuel.
Q. What do you think of Danica's run last week, historically what that did, the highest finish by a female in any NASCAR national series?
BRIAN FRANCE: I think that elevated her. There was some discussion, did she have the right stuff to compete in the Nationwide Series. You know, I think she dispelled a lot of that. There's always circumstances in the start of a new career. But sometimes things are out of your control, people can crash in front of you, a hundred other things. I think she elevated herself quite nicely. That's nice to see. She's a very competitive person. She's always said she's here to compete, not just happy to be here. That fits my criteria.
Anything that makes you a buck fits your criteria. Danica’s finish is not the highest finish by a female driver in NA$CAR. She finished 4th in a fuel mileage race in NA$CAR’s AAA series equivalent. Sara Christian finished 5th in NA$CAR’s top series in 1949 at Pittsburgh. Janet Guthrie finished 6th at Bristol in 1977 in NA$CAR’s top series. So until she runs in the Cup Series and gets a 4th place finish she isn’t the highest female finisher in NA$CAR.
There were more questions asked and Jayski's got the transcript posted for all to read. Check it out, read it very carefully, read what's said, what's omitted, and how the questions are really answered versus what the question asked.
“I look at the interest level of the sport, and that's growing after having peaked and maybe dropped back a little bit for some reasons a couple years ago. The general interest level is going up and that's what we're going to be working on, is creating new fans”.
And last year when he admitted that the “fans” have a shorter attention span than they use to. Gee, I wonder why? Expect to see more things aimed directly at the Short Attention Span Crowd, like repeating the same garbage over and over and over even more than they do now. A good example would be how many times per race we get an explanation of aero tight and aero loose.
Read the question carefully and then the answer.
Q. You have the races where you grow ratings and attendance, then you have the off week. Can you detail the reasons why you have this off week so early in the season? Are you going to change that for next year?
BRIAN FRANCE: Well, it's historically how many events in the calendar we want to run, regardless when they ran. Historically it has been around this time where we do have an off weekend. Arguably you would like to have that come down eight or ten races later. But that's just how the schedule and the climate issues that we face with certain markets and everything else has played out. The reason for changing it is mostly driven that the other sports calendars are going to change on us - not just the NFL, but maybe some other things. So we're trying to get into the right date. It also does accomplish, when we change next year, moving back the 500 a week, we'll eliminate the early schedule gap here. That will probably be a good thing.
The answer doesn’t answer the question. It’s like a politician speaking. Lots of hot air and words that mean nothing.
Q. Brian, a lot of feedback that we in the media get from fans is about the post-race show or the lack of a post-race show. There seems to be a sense of frustration that fans invest so many hours into an event, then they get under 10 minutes of reaction after from the drivers that they've been watching. Is that something that NASCAR is hearing from your fan council? Do you have any input with FOX to try to solve this dilemma fans are faced with?
BRIAN FRANCE: We do have a fair amount of programming that happens with the SPEED Channel throughout the post race, even into the evening typically. But, yeah, I think generally speaking we would agree, that it would be nicer to have a longer post-race. But if you think about it, most sports don't have a particularly long post end of a game, whatever else. The networks don't stick around for an additional half hour. It's not something FOX should be thinking about because, after all, that's just not the norm with network or even cable television. Once the game is over, there's typically a short post-race. You hope the rest of it, social media, NASCAR online, places to digest good post-race information is where they go.
Considering who really calls the shots on what will and won’t be shown, I’m rather surprised that Faux King Brian doesn’t appear to really care about putting the NA$CAR brand on the winner even more with more post-race exposure of the winner and getting in as many post-race interviews as possible to help extend the NA$CAR "branding" of his brand of racer-tainment. Plus he seems to forget that not everyone gets Speed TV. Folks who don’t have cable or satellite can’t watch it. And even some folks with cable or satellite don’t have it because it’s not included in their package or is considered an extra that cost them through the nose. So they can’t watch the post-race coverage Speed TV offers.
Q. What do you see as the biggest impact on television ratings? Sponsorship revenues you and the tracks can earn or how are they becoming more critical on the rights fees as you start negotiating in the next couple years?
BRIAN FRANCE: We spend a lot of time looking at obviously traditional broadcast television. Our cable partners are critically important. We spent a lot of time recently looking at the other media, which is social and digital media, where that's all going, where people are getting information, content and everything else. We have a plan. We have a robust plan in the long run. We'll try to capture both. But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them.
If Faux King Brian and his cronies actually spent a lot of time watching the races on TV, they’d see what the fans are complaining about with poor commentary, poor coverage, and too many commercials and the need for split-screen coverage like IndyCar uses to show both the race and commercials at the same time instead of the current running of commercials being briefly interrupted by a lap or two of racer-tainment. “We have a plan”. I seem to remember Richard Nixon saying the same thing when it came to Vietnam only we never found out what the plan was.
“But one of the ratings impact is people are getting their news, updates, their fix, if you will, in lots of different ways today. We're going to want to, as a sport, make sure that we're taking advantage of all of them”.
Notice the word “fix”. Faux King Brian is making it sound like race fans are a bunch of junkies in desperate need of drugs. A Freudian slip on his part? As the TV coverage and commentary is God awful, fans who have the means use things like Track Pass or Race Buddy to actually watch the races and supplement that with radio coverage by PRN or MRN to help eliminate the highly biased commentators and shills. I don’t know how many folks have noticed it but a lot of effort is being put into advertising the sanctioning body’s official web site. They’ve sponsored a couple of trucks and if you look at the tracks you’ll see the web site’s name painted on the asphalt or on the grass. Of course, after the latest changes to that web site and how badly they screwed it up, I can see why they’re trying to lure fans in and advertise it. If they really wanted to get fans to that web site, they’d make it easy to navigate and use. Instead, they make it more complicated than trying to assemble an engine while blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back. Fans use Twitter, Facebook, and various blogs to stay up to date and to get reliable info which isn’t in the same cookie-cutter mold as is presented by the lamestream journalists.
Q. Brian, can you address the ethanol situation and what challenges have you faced with the implementation to the new fuel in the three top series?
BRIAN FRANCE: Well, the fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working. We couldn't be happier with it. From the early testing, we got good performance numbers. The teams certainly think it's working well. It obviously takes us another step. Especially now that you see energy prices going where they're going, it takes us a way down the road with a real biofuel that we're using in the car. They've just been a really good partner so far and it's going well.
“The fact that we haven't had a discussion is evidentiary proof of how well it's working”. Obviously you didn’t hear the profanity-laced dialogue between Biffle and his crew chief at Vegas regarding the new fuel and the fueling system. It isn’t working well. You might be happy but that’s only because you’re getting paid to be happy about it. Just what are you going to do when Congress cuts off the funding for ethanol because it’s actually a farce? You want a real bio-fuel? Try running the algae-based gasoline. Or convert to diesel and have the teams run oil from some hamburger or chicken joints and fill the stands with the smell of French Fries or fried chicken. That’s true bio-fuel.
Q. What do you think of Danica's run last week, historically what that did, the highest finish by a female in any NASCAR national series?
BRIAN FRANCE: I think that elevated her. There was some discussion, did she have the right stuff to compete in the Nationwide Series. You know, I think she dispelled a lot of that. There's always circumstances in the start of a new career. But sometimes things are out of your control, people can crash in front of you, a hundred other things. I think she elevated herself quite nicely. That's nice to see. She's a very competitive person. She's always said she's here to compete, not just happy to be here. That fits my criteria.
Anything that makes you a buck fits your criteria. Danica’s finish is not the highest finish by a female driver in NA$CAR. She finished 4th in a fuel mileage race in NA$CAR’s AAA series equivalent. Sara Christian finished 5th in NA$CAR’s top series in 1949 at Pittsburgh. Janet Guthrie finished 6th at Bristol in 1977 in NA$CAR’s top series. So until she runs in the Cup Series and gets a 4th place finish she isn’t the highest female finisher in NA$CAR.
There were more questions asked and Jayski's got the transcript posted for all to read. Check it out, read it very carefully, read what's said, what's omitted, and how the questions are really answered versus what the question asked.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thank You, What's Ahead, Rose Colored Glasses, and More
Many Thanks
I want to send out a big THANK YOU to FW Rogers and William Horrall for their donations in helping out Sam and Jo Ard. These 2 fans really came through for the Ards at a time when they can really use the help. Their donations are more than what NA$CAR, the NA$CAR Foundation, and the France family have contributed in helping Sam out. So my thanks and the thanks of Sam and Jo Ard once again to FW Rogers and William Horrall for stepping forward and helping out one of the legends who helped build the sport.
If any fans still want to contribute during the year, you can either go to Sam’s web site and donate through there or you can send it directly to
Sam Ard
1237 Bass Road
Pamplico SC 29583
What’s Ahead on Focks This Season
I don’t know how many folks watched the pre-race stuff on Speed or the Shootout on Focks, but here are some good examples of what we get to look forward to from the Focks Booth Bozos:
DW Calls Kurt Bush, Harvick
DW Says they are at "Dover" twice
Jamie McMurray wrecked the car he raced there last year (I thought that car was in Daytona USA)
Larry MacReynolds "McMurray won the Brickyard 400 at Charlotte last year"
Yeah, they’re real professional broadcasters alrighty. These sort of mistakes make Benny Parson’s “McMary” look great in comparison. Not to mention the fact that the green flag for the Shootout hadn’t even dropped and good old Jabber Jaws was already shilling and cheerleading for his favorite make of car and drivers.
And one thing that has been missing the last couple of years was the vote on the dreaded and accursed 3 B’s. After the fans voted to end it a couple of years ago, Jabber Jaws said there was some irregularities with the voting and hasn’t run a vote since. Just like Faux King Brian and NA$CAR, Jabber Jaws ignores what the fans have to say and want.
Double Secret Probation Coming?
You can bet that some sort of fine is coming for Shrubbery for this remark about the Shootout:
"It sucked," Busch said. "You're watching four cars and then you have another two there and another two there. To me, it sucked."
Now, will it be the traditional actions detrimental or will it be a double secret probation fine like with Twitter?
Rose Colored Glasses and the Kool Aid Brigade
I’m sure by now folks took in what Larry Mac had to say at Charlotte during the Magical Media Tour about only reporting positive things. It reminds me of a directive that Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, issued regarding photography and movie footage. Everything would be shot in such a way that it appeared that the German Army was on the attack. Even in the last days of the Third Reich, they were still following the directive. It didn’t save them or change the outcome of the war. This goes back to what I’ve said before about those not learning the lessons of history are doomed to repeat their mistakes. Trying to control the message the media is sending out isn’t going to change things. Fans will still notice the grandstands, poor quality of the broadcast, races that are boring, and the smoke and mirrors being used. You can’t polish a turd, plain and simple.
The media has a job to do. They’re supposed to ask who, what, when, where, why, and how in order to keep the race fans posted on what’s going on and let them make their own decisions. When the fans want to know why the TV ratings are falling, it’s the media’s job to find out the facts and report them. When the fans want to know why the grandstands are half-full/half-empty, it’s the media’s job to ask and even report that the grandstands are half-full/half-empty. When the media reports on a decision from the Ivory Towers of Daytona and the fans reply that it’s a stupid or unpopular decision, it’s the media’s job to report the fan reaction. So to say that everything is just peachy keen and nothing’s wrong as Faux King Brian and company keep re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic even though it’s sinking, they’re deceiving themselves and doing a disservice to the fans thinking that if they too drink the Kool Aid and put on the rose colored glasses that everything will be fine.
Shootout Practice Speeds
Drivers were hitting over 203 mph during practice for the Shootout, which is faster than what they were doing during testing. The big question is, will NA$CAR go to a smaller restrictor plate before the 500? Naw, they'll tinker with the cooling system instead. I’m sure the insurance company who wrote the policy for the race is asking that same question too. Will they make a last minute change on the restrictor plate despite comments to the contrary?
Mayfield Apology
I got a few e-mails about this asking why would Jeremy Mayfield apologize to the Wicked Witch of the East. In simple terms, he’s got a much bigger fish to fry. An oversized sewer trout called NA$CAR. By issuing the apology, he’s cutting away some dead wood so he and his legal team can better concentrate on the much bigger task that’s coming up in the appeals courts.
Twitter, Media, and Daytona
For those of you not on Twitter, a lot of media folks have been busy sending out messages on Twitter during Media Week at Daytona and the practice sessions for the Shootout. A lot of them say basically the same thing and you can clearly identify the Kool Aid drinkers among the media members in Daytona. One good thing was Kenny “You’re Not a Real Race Fan” Wallace sending out a Twitter saying what time he’d be on Speed for the position selection show for the Shootout. That allowed me and countless others to change channels so we didn’t have to see and hear him. Obviously he hasn’t figured it out yet that he’s one of the reasons why folks aren’t watching any Speed TV shows that he’s on after the way he has insulted the intelligence of numerous fans.
Ford Wants to Run the Mustang in 2013
Ford has requested to run the Mustang in the Cup Series as their car of choice in 2013 replacing the current generic bodied car with the Fusion decals. Ford is pressing for identifiable bodylines to give some definitive branding back to their model of car. No word yet on what GM and Chrysler will do. In last February’s meeting between the Big 3 and Faux King Brian, the Big 3 clearly laid down the law regarding identifiable bodylines and branding. All 3 were tired of the generic looking race vehicle that looks the same no matter what “make” it’s supposed to be. If Faux King Brian doesn’t get off his duff and return the bodylines and incorporate current technology, he may find himself with only one manufacturer in NA$CAR. The one who originally developed the generic car in the first place because they didn’t want to spend the R&D money on building their own cars.
Not Quite a Paul Harvey Moment
Jabber Jaws was going on Saturday night during the first segment of the Shootout that they were going 203, 204, 206 MPH. Well why was the average speed only 194? Something’s wrong with the math there. Maybe Jabber Jaws couldn’t get his shoes off to count properly?
Jabber Jaws was talking about how the cars look more like racecars, but not really saying they look like their street counterparts. He mentioned that Ford has petitioned NASCAR to run the Mustang, but failed to state that Ford wants it to resemble the street version, not the Car of Sorrow with the words Mustang on it. He mentioned that Dodge is looking at the Challenger and GM should campaign the Camaro. Again, no mention of what the manufacturer’s wanting the cars to have street credibility.
Jabber Jaws and Jimmy Spencer talked about how the E15 has less mileage, but provides more horsepower. Everything I have read indicates that besides lower mileage, it also produces less power. On corn ethanol, one study I read stated it takes roughly twice the amount of energy to produce ethanol than ethanol provides. What is not mentioned is the octane rating of the E15, which would be the contributing factor for any increase in power. E-15 means 15% ethanol. Normal racing fuel runs at 100 octane or higher. And I’ve been trying to find info on just what octane the fuel that’s being run actually is because we could be looking at another case of smoke and mirrors. If they’re using a 120 octane race fuel to make up for the power loss of the ethanol, then it could be yet another in a long line of NA$CAR’s stretching the truth.
Another thing has to do with the last minute rule changing before the 500 is run. Because of the two car racing fiasco we had during the Shootout, NA$CAR changed the openings of the grills from 50-100 square inches smaller. But they didn’t say which makes were getting the largest openings and who got the smallest. Jimmy Spencer may have unintentionally let the cat out of the bag when he said the engines of the Japanese manufacturer’s cars ran hot. That means they’ll have the largest opening. As the new Ford and Chevy engines run cool, they’ll have the smallest opening. Could we already be seeing the deck being stacked this season against both Ford and Chevy?
I want to send out a big THANK YOU to FW Rogers and William Horrall for their donations in helping out Sam and Jo Ard. These 2 fans really came through for the Ards at a time when they can really use the help. Their donations are more than what NA$CAR, the NA$CAR Foundation, and the France family have contributed in helping Sam out. So my thanks and the thanks of Sam and Jo Ard once again to FW Rogers and William Horrall for stepping forward and helping out one of the legends who helped build the sport.
If any fans still want to contribute during the year, you can either go to Sam’s web site and donate through there or you can send it directly to
Sam Ard
1237 Bass Road
Pamplico SC 29583
What’s Ahead on Focks This Season
I don’t know how many folks watched the pre-race stuff on Speed or the Shootout on Focks, but here are some good examples of what we get to look forward to from the Focks Booth Bozos:
DW Calls Kurt Bush, Harvick
DW Says they are at "Dover" twice
Jamie McMurray wrecked the car he raced there last year (I thought that car was in Daytona USA)
Larry MacReynolds "McMurray won the Brickyard 400 at Charlotte last year"
Yeah, they’re real professional broadcasters alrighty. These sort of mistakes make Benny Parson’s “McMary” look great in comparison. Not to mention the fact that the green flag for the Shootout hadn’t even dropped and good old Jabber Jaws was already shilling and cheerleading for his favorite make of car and drivers.
And one thing that has been missing the last couple of years was the vote on the dreaded and accursed 3 B’s. After the fans voted to end it a couple of years ago, Jabber Jaws said there was some irregularities with the voting and hasn’t run a vote since. Just like Faux King Brian and NA$CAR, Jabber Jaws ignores what the fans have to say and want.
Double Secret Probation Coming?
You can bet that some sort of fine is coming for Shrubbery for this remark about the Shootout:
"It sucked," Busch said. "You're watching four cars and then you have another two there and another two there. To me, it sucked."
Now, will it be the traditional actions detrimental or will it be a double secret probation fine like with Twitter?
Rose Colored Glasses and the Kool Aid Brigade
I’m sure by now folks took in what Larry Mac had to say at Charlotte during the Magical Media Tour about only reporting positive things. It reminds me of a directive that Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, issued regarding photography and movie footage. Everything would be shot in such a way that it appeared that the German Army was on the attack. Even in the last days of the Third Reich, they were still following the directive. It didn’t save them or change the outcome of the war. This goes back to what I’ve said before about those not learning the lessons of history are doomed to repeat their mistakes. Trying to control the message the media is sending out isn’t going to change things. Fans will still notice the grandstands, poor quality of the broadcast, races that are boring, and the smoke and mirrors being used. You can’t polish a turd, plain and simple.
The media has a job to do. They’re supposed to ask who, what, when, where, why, and how in order to keep the race fans posted on what’s going on and let them make their own decisions. When the fans want to know why the TV ratings are falling, it’s the media’s job to find out the facts and report them. When the fans want to know why the grandstands are half-full/half-empty, it’s the media’s job to ask and even report that the grandstands are half-full/half-empty. When the media reports on a decision from the Ivory Towers of Daytona and the fans reply that it’s a stupid or unpopular decision, it’s the media’s job to report the fan reaction. So to say that everything is just peachy keen and nothing’s wrong as Faux King Brian and company keep re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic even though it’s sinking, they’re deceiving themselves and doing a disservice to the fans thinking that if they too drink the Kool Aid and put on the rose colored glasses that everything will be fine.
Shootout Practice Speeds
Drivers were hitting over 203 mph during practice for the Shootout, which is faster than what they were doing during testing. The big question is, will NA$CAR go to a smaller restrictor plate before the 500? Naw, they'll tinker with the cooling system instead. I’m sure the insurance company who wrote the policy for the race is asking that same question too. Will they make a last minute change on the restrictor plate despite comments to the contrary?
Mayfield Apology
I got a few e-mails about this asking why would Jeremy Mayfield apologize to the Wicked Witch of the East. In simple terms, he’s got a much bigger fish to fry. An oversized sewer trout called NA$CAR. By issuing the apology, he’s cutting away some dead wood so he and his legal team can better concentrate on the much bigger task that’s coming up in the appeals courts.
Twitter, Media, and Daytona
For those of you not on Twitter, a lot of media folks have been busy sending out messages on Twitter during Media Week at Daytona and the practice sessions for the Shootout. A lot of them say basically the same thing and you can clearly identify the Kool Aid drinkers among the media members in Daytona. One good thing was Kenny “You’re Not a Real Race Fan” Wallace sending out a Twitter saying what time he’d be on Speed for the position selection show for the Shootout. That allowed me and countless others to change channels so we didn’t have to see and hear him. Obviously he hasn’t figured it out yet that he’s one of the reasons why folks aren’t watching any Speed TV shows that he’s on after the way he has insulted the intelligence of numerous fans.
Ford Wants to Run the Mustang in 2013
Ford has requested to run the Mustang in the Cup Series as their car of choice in 2013 replacing the current generic bodied car with the Fusion decals. Ford is pressing for identifiable bodylines to give some definitive branding back to their model of car. No word yet on what GM and Chrysler will do. In last February’s meeting between the Big 3 and Faux King Brian, the Big 3 clearly laid down the law regarding identifiable bodylines and branding. All 3 were tired of the generic looking race vehicle that looks the same no matter what “make” it’s supposed to be. If Faux King Brian doesn’t get off his duff and return the bodylines and incorporate current technology, he may find himself with only one manufacturer in NA$CAR. The one who originally developed the generic car in the first place because they didn’t want to spend the R&D money on building their own cars.
Not Quite a Paul Harvey Moment
Jabber Jaws was going on Saturday night during the first segment of the Shootout that they were going 203, 204, 206 MPH. Well why was the average speed only 194? Something’s wrong with the math there. Maybe Jabber Jaws couldn’t get his shoes off to count properly?
Jabber Jaws was talking about how the cars look more like racecars, but not really saying they look like their street counterparts. He mentioned that Ford has petitioned NASCAR to run the Mustang, but failed to state that Ford wants it to resemble the street version, not the Car of Sorrow with the words Mustang on it. He mentioned that Dodge is looking at the Challenger and GM should campaign the Camaro. Again, no mention of what the manufacturer’s wanting the cars to have street credibility.
Jabber Jaws and Jimmy Spencer talked about how the E15 has less mileage, but provides more horsepower. Everything I have read indicates that besides lower mileage, it also produces less power. On corn ethanol, one study I read stated it takes roughly twice the amount of energy to produce ethanol than ethanol provides. What is not mentioned is the octane rating of the E15, which would be the contributing factor for any increase in power. E-15 means 15% ethanol. Normal racing fuel runs at 100 octane or higher. And I’ve been trying to find info on just what octane the fuel that’s being run actually is because we could be looking at another case of smoke and mirrors. If they’re using a 120 octane race fuel to make up for the power loss of the ethanol, then it could be yet another in a long line of NA$CAR’s stretching the truth.
Another thing has to do with the last minute rule changing before the 500 is run. Because of the two car racing fiasco we had during the Shootout, NA$CAR changed the openings of the grills from 50-100 square inches smaller. But they didn’t say which makes were getting the largest openings and who got the smallest. Jimmy Spencer may have unintentionally let the cat out of the bag when he said the engines of the Japanese manufacturer’s cars ran hot. That means they’ll have the largest opening. As the new Ford and Chevy engines run cool, they’ll have the smallest opening. Could we already be seeing the deck being stacked this season against both Ford and Chevy?
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