Well folks this post comes a lot later then expected. I for one am happy with the delays everything worked out for me but I am not the average viewer. This weekend was an example of how dedicated NASCAR fans are. The grandstands were full for the Daytona 500, and that should come to no surprise the fact that that was after 30 hours after it was supposed to start and 2 rescheduling. So not only did people wait around four hours on Sunday till they rescheduled for noon Monday but then Monday morning it was announced that the race would start at 6 because of rain concerns. I for one had nothing better to do from Sunday at noon until midnight Monday. My poor non Nascar loving fans had to deal with my constant talking about it all weekend and then my concerns and frustration when previous commitments interfered with the race only to find out I didn't miss anything.
Then to top it all off one of the scariest accidents I've seen ever happened on lap 2, and that wasn't the worst of it. I want to give Jimmie Johnson his time because he 2 hard hits one with a wall then he got creamed driver-side by passing traffic. He looked shook up at the least, but seemed to be okay. Then with about 40 to go as time was wearing down before a meeting I had to go to the craziest accident happened under caution. No i've seen pace cars get hit, but this was different. If you got 8 min to watch crazy accidents check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oIZUFmsqYU. But Juan Pablo's car just broke at the worst time, and smacked into a track dryer, with 200 gallons of jet fuel on it. Luckily Montoya and the truck driver would be okay. I preach safety all the time. So why don't the safety drivers wear more gear? It looked to me like the guy was in jeans, when every nascar official has a fireproof suit and a helmet why wasn't he in anything? He should at the least be in a fireproof suit and have a helmet and NASCAR will most likely address this quickly, but he got out just a few seconds before the whole thing went up in flames. Does he need to wear a HANS device maybe not.
Any way I loved this race but wonder how many people called in sick on Monday only for the race to get postponed
Monday, February 27, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Safer Barrier
I called Danica Patrick crashing at Daytona but this wasn't her fault, and this isn't about her its about the track. She took a hard lick on an inside wall, a wall that had the safer barrier. Daytona is one of the safer tracks that Nascar runs but there are several tracks where that hit would have been on a concrete wall, and that would have been a serious injury. I don't want to get into what if this crash or that crash wasn't on a safer barrier. What we do know is that the SAFER barrier is just that its safer, since its implementation in 2002 all ovals placed the technology in the corners, some have out fitted the whole exterior in it but few have covered every wall with it. The stuff costs about a cool mil a mile to put in, but its worth it. I think NASCAR should mandate full coverage of inside and outside walls, as well as the walls in pit lane, is it necessarily? probably not, but why not? sell out the walls to more ad space if you need the money or make an ad "This death free race was brought to you by (company name) and the SAFER Barrier."
I know how I commented on drivers feeling too safe well this is why they shouldn't. And what about the road courses. The Glen put some in at turn 11 but I think the wicked turn 5 might still be exposed. What would I rather hit a pile of good years after running through a gravel pit or a nice SAFER barrier. It might not be affordable to surround the whole course inside and out at the glen, aside from it being longer I think road courses bring in less money but maybe nascar could help them out. Atleast make sure every turn has them. There is no argument from the driver because it doesn't affect the race at all until someone hits one then it takes like 5 min to replace to insert on that section and it is safe again.
And to my Danica Patrick fans, although she wasn;t running great she was doing okay and I'll give her that.
I know how I commented on drivers feeling too safe well this is why they shouldn't. And what about the road courses. The Glen put some in at turn 11 but I think the wicked turn 5 might still be exposed. What would I rather hit a pile of good years after running through a gravel pit or a nice SAFER barrier. It might not be affordable to surround the whole course inside and out at the glen, aside from it being longer I think road courses bring in less money but maybe nascar could help them out. Atleast make sure every turn has them. There is no argument from the driver because it doesn't affect the race at all until someone hits one then it takes like 5 min to replace to insert on that section and it is safe again.
And to my Danica Patrick fans, although she wasn;t running great she was doing okay and I'll give her that.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Bud Shootout
The first thing I noticed about the bud shootout was that Danica Patrick is all over NASCAR. As much as it pains me to say she is here to stay. That being said I hope the novelty of her wares off and she slips into the pack popularity wise but the truth is she is the next Dale Jr. Getting more publicity then deserved in a sport where past champs struggle to find rides someone that hasn't done anything note worthy for several years is having sponsors line up. That being said I'll cut Dale some slack he ran good last year and was a contender despite being win less.
The second thing I noticed is Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Partick, and Trevor Bayne will destroy their's and somebody else's ride. We so NASCAR vets struggling with the pack draft format, and these young drivers who have little to no experience will slide up behind someone and get them loose. I love Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor is a rising star who has won the big one, but this year hes more likely to be in the big one then victory lane. Stenhouse has had trouble finishing races in the past, but if he crashes on Sunday don't read too much into it. Although these racers may have the advantage over others as they get to run in the nationwide race and get a feel for the car and track before Sunday. Any way we will have crashes.
Which brings me to my next point safety. Do drivers think they are invincible? I have been watching early 90's races on youtube in some down time and man there was a different mentallity. Any time someone wreaked other drivers in thier car jumped out and rushed to the aid of other drivers, now they might walk over there but in no hurry. Also post race interviews with winners and in race interviews with drivers involved in wreaks always were Yeah im fine but i just hope ______ is okay. or It feels great to win but my prayers are with _________ i hope he's okay. I'm not saying drivers don't care but they just don't think they can DIE. You see the old mentality in drivers like Gordon who where on the track when guys died and I realize a lot of racers were around when Sr. died but what about J.D. McDuffie? All I'm saying is the young drivers race so hard all the time and are so competitive that they wreak guys hard. Some times its accidental sometimes well, Kyle Busch is well documented. What I'm trying to say is Nascar is deadly, don't forget it. I we never loose another driver but i feel we are stagnant in our safety advances and I know Nascar does its part and has a whole division for new safety equipment but there are still parts of some tracks without safer barriers. What about the end of walls that divide the other side of pit road from the track if a driver hits that right forget it.
A final thing I want to throw out there is what if there was an exhibition race of "Stock Cars". That's right make Carl Edwards run down to the dealer and get a Ford Fusion right off the lot, equip it with a role cage and all the safety equipment and let them have at it. I know that its stock as opposed to open wheel racing but i think it would be entertaining to watch and the pace car could be a ford Winstar mini van or something.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
GENTLEMEN Start your engines
NASCAR is male dominated everything about it is. Everything from sponsors that are dominated by the hard liquor and beer market, or car/tool based industry to the phrases that are commonly used are geared towards male spectators, male owners, and male drivers. I think women can drive. Some women can drive the wheels off of a race car, better then some men who remain in the pack despite poor performances for the better part of a decade. Am I glad a women is joining the field at the Daytona 500 in 2 weeks? YES! Do I think Danica Patrick is the right one? No.
Why is it even a big deal to have a women in the field? NASCAR is one of the few sports that men and women can compete at without there being an advantage to one or the other. Contact sports and any of the Major 4 plus soccer would only have limited specialized roles on a team. For example in Hockey and Soccer we may see the day when a female goalie comes into the league. Baseball could see a female pitcher. This is not to say that women athletes can't be better then men but despite how good they are the female game is often different and less physical. But in NASCAR its even, the true athletes are Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. Women can do anything in a car the same as men, but there are some fundemental blocks in NASCAR that need to change.
Despite female drivers gaining fame over the past few years, with the likes of Jennifer Jo Cobb, Johanna Long, and Danica Patrick Nascar is still only geared towards male drivers. "Gentlemen start your engines" and "Boys have at it" and "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, lets go racing boys" are just a few of the common phrases used around the sport that are insensitive to female drivers. If a father was watching the race on a sunday after noon at home and his daughter walked in and sat with him and watched it, is the race as it packaged now appealing to young girls to the point where they say "Daddy i want to do that when i grow up?". I'm not calling for pink race cars like that one in the toyota commercial from a few years ago. But, I think we need to reconsider a few things.
The other thing is NASCAR needs a female role model bad! And that might be Danica Patrick but I doubt it. First of all she isn't good enough. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier the reason he was sucsesful in helping other black players follow in his footsteps is because he was great. He won the rookie of the year and was 5th in MVP voting by year 3 he won the award and the batting title. That being said Danica Patrick when she joins the Sprint Cup Boys in 2 weeks will be an average driver at best. The truth is she has only won one major racing event and that was in Japan in an Indy car. Shes coming from having raced 2 partial season for a total of 25 races at the nation wide level, with 3 top tens, one of which was a fourth place finish where she beat some sprint cup regulars such as Carl Edwards. But she will not have immediate success at the Sprint cup level. This year she gets a full season in the nation wide and 8-10 races in the sprint. All that I am saying here is she is not ready, sponsors are rushing her and for good reason she brings in money, but she is not ready.
Secondly, if I had a daughter I would not wont her to look to Danica as a role model. Yes she is doing things that people told her she can't, yes she is breaking ground where no women has gone before, but she has also sold her body to sponsors. She has posed for Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition in a bikini and has countless racy photos of her. Other women in nascar like Jennifer Jo Cobb and Johanna Long don't and would be better role models.
All this to say I don't know if she will ever be successful, I don't know if she will have a great following of women in her footsteps, and I don't know if NASCAR will change some ways to make the sport more gender neutral. But it wont be the first time someone will race who I don't think should be there, (Robbie Gordan).
Why is it even a big deal to have a women in the field? NASCAR is one of the few sports that men and women can compete at without there being an advantage to one or the other. Contact sports and any of the Major 4 plus soccer would only have limited specialized roles on a team. For example in Hockey and Soccer we may see the day when a female goalie comes into the league. Baseball could see a female pitcher. This is not to say that women athletes can't be better then men but despite how good they are the female game is often different and less physical. But in NASCAR its even, the true athletes are Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. Women can do anything in a car the same as men, but there are some fundemental blocks in NASCAR that need to change.
Despite female drivers gaining fame over the past few years, with the likes of Jennifer Jo Cobb, Johanna Long, and Danica Patrick Nascar is still only geared towards male drivers. "Gentlemen start your engines" and "Boys have at it" and "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, lets go racing boys" are just a few of the common phrases used around the sport that are insensitive to female drivers. If a father was watching the race on a sunday after noon at home and his daughter walked in and sat with him and watched it, is the race as it packaged now appealing to young girls to the point where they say "Daddy i want to do that when i grow up?". I'm not calling for pink race cars like that one in the toyota commercial from a few years ago. But, I think we need to reconsider a few things.
The other thing is NASCAR needs a female role model bad! And that might be Danica Patrick but I doubt it. First of all she isn't good enough. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier the reason he was sucsesful in helping other black players follow in his footsteps is because he was great. He won the rookie of the year and was 5th in MVP voting by year 3 he won the award and the batting title. That being said Danica Patrick when she joins the Sprint Cup Boys in 2 weeks will be an average driver at best. The truth is she has only won one major racing event and that was in Japan in an Indy car. Shes coming from having raced 2 partial season for a total of 25 races at the nation wide level, with 3 top tens, one of which was a fourth place finish where she beat some sprint cup regulars such as Carl Edwards. But she will not have immediate success at the Sprint cup level. This year she gets a full season in the nation wide and 8-10 races in the sprint. All that I am saying here is she is not ready, sponsors are rushing her and for good reason she brings in money, but she is not ready.
Secondly, if I had a daughter I would not wont her to look to Danica as a role model. Yes she is doing things that people told her she can't, yes she is breaking ground where no women has gone before, but she has also sold her body to sponsors. She has posed for Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition in a bikini and has countless racy photos of her. Other women in nascar like Jennifer Jo Cobb and Johanna Long don't and would be better role models.
All this to say I don't know if she will ever be successful, I don't know if she will have a great following of women in her footsteps, and I don't know if NASCAR will change some ways to make the sport more gender neutral. But it wont be the first time someone will race who I don't think should be there, (Robbie Gordan).
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Brand Loyalty
As the NASCAR season is one week away from the shootout it is time to know how is racing for what sponsor. This year like most years there are some shuffling of drivers and numbers and sponsors. Thinking of one of my favorite drivers Mark Martin and his new sponsor Aarons sponsor got me thinking about Brand Loyalty.
It has long been said that NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal people around, and since the late 90's more companies have joined the ranks. NASCAR fans can still be loyal but i think the sponsor's in some cases are advertising in a market that isn't their consumer base. Case in point DuPont, Gordon's primary sponsor for 18 years and still 12 race sponsor. Who knows what they do? They are a chemical company, and they have used their sponsorship to get their name out their, but they don't make consumer goods so they don't benefit from the brand loyalty of Gordon's fans. It is good advertisement but are they getting their monies worth out of it. At about $500,000 a race Dupont has dumped $20 mil a year into advertising a company that the average viewer has no idea what they do.
Comparing a Driver of similar fame tony Stewart who has sponsors that are more at the fans level. When Driving for the #20 Home Depot you bet that many of his fans would only use that as their hardware store, especially when the other option is Johnson's Lowe's or Menard's Menards. But the case seems to me at least that many of the sponsor are not in touch with their fan base. Now that being said i realize I don't fit the historical fan base of NASCAR but living within 30min of Chicagoland speedway I m at least kind of in the geographical range, and as a 20 year old male i represent a demographic NASCAR is desperately trying to reach. And have done so with the adding of sponsors like AMP, Monster, and such.
But still major sponsors such as Sunoco (I have never even seen a sunoco gas station, as they are only in 26 states), and Mark Martin's former GoDaddy, along with many other sponsors I would never have the need for their product.
Point of all of this is as a guy that chose Amp over Monster because of Dale Jr. and prefers to shop at a Home Depot because of Tony Stewart, and will take a Coke the official non-alcoholic beverage of NASCAR over a Pepsi any day, and a proud user of Gillette thanks to Busch and Edwards and other NASCAR "young guns", and would never put anything but goodyears on my car even if it is a VW, I feel that some sponsors just don't fit in. That being said I realize there aren't enough beer companies to sponsor every car and some race fans do need Viagra, but if we don't stop some where we will have "Maxipad the offical tampon of NASCAR Drivers"
It has long been said that NASCAR fans are the most brand loyal people around, and since the late 90's more companies have joined the ranks. NASCAR fans can still be loyal but i think the sponsor's in some cases are advertising in a market that isn't their consumer base. Case in point DuPont, Gordon's primary sponsor for 18 years and still 12 race sponsor. Who knows what they do? They are a chemical company, and they have used their sponsorship to get their name out their, but they don't make consumer goods so they don't benefit from the brand loyalty of Gordon's fans. It is good advertisement but are they getting their monies worth out of it. At about $500,000 a race Dupont has dumped $20 mil a year into advertising a company that the average viewer has no idea what they do.
Comparing a Driver of similar fame tony Stewart who has sponsors that are more at the fans level. When Driving for the #20 Home Depot you bet that many of his fans would only use that as their hardware store, especially when the other option is Johnson's Lowe's or Menard's Menards. But the case seems to me at least that many of the sponsor are not in touch with their fan base. Now that being said i realize I don't fit the historical fan base of NASCAR but living within 30min of Chicagoland speedway I m at least kind of in the geographical range, and as a 20 year old male i represent a demographic NASCAR is desperately trying to reach. And have done so with the adding of sponsors like AMP, Monster, and such.
But still major sponsors such as Sunoco (I have never even seen a sunoco gas station, as they are only in 26 states), and Mark Martin's former GoDaddy, along with many other sponsors I would never have the need for their product.
Point of all of this is as a guy that chose Amp over Monster because of Dale Jr. and prefers to shop at a Home Depot because of Tony Stewart, and will take a Coke the official non-alcoholic beverage of NASCAR over a Pepsi any day, and a proud user of Gillette thanks to Busch and Edwards and other NASCAR "young guns", and would never put anything but goodyears on my car even if it is a VW, I feel that some sponsors just don't fit in. That being said I realize there aren't enough beer companies to sponsor every car and some race fans do need Viagra, but if we don't stop some where we will have "Maxipad the offical tampon of NASCAR Drivers"
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