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2022 NASCAR Season Thread

I'll be there tomorrow night.

This will be the first night race that I have been to since they installed the lights. The Fall Race in 2015 essentially turned into a night race for the last 150 laps, as the clock had been set back for daylight savings time the night before (the race was on November 1) and the race was red-flagged for a good period of time while they cleaned up the carnage after Matt Kenseth intentionally wrecked Joey Logano (which was just about the greatest incident in sports that I have ever seen in person). It got quite dark at the end, so much so that we could easily see the glow of the brake rotors as they slowed down going into Turn 3.

I am a little annoyed that even though they have shortened the race by 100 laps, the price of my ticket remains the same. Just another symptom of inflation I guess.
 
Awful racing. Awful weather. Still a relatively good time though.
 
deacdixieboy said:
Awful racing. Awful weather. Still a relatively good time though.
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I could not agree more with tsywake's and deacdixieboy's assessment of the poor quality of the racing last night. I have been to at least 15 races at Martinsville since 2012. Some of them have been absolutely unforgettable, while others less so. Regardless, last night was absolute garbage. Another race or two like that at Martinsville, and the stands will be empty. No suspense, no drama, hardly any opportunity for strategy.

I'm not calling for Tony Stewart style carnage, but when every single car but one comes away from a race at Martinsville virtually pristine, it wasn't Martinsville racing. I listened to the radio broadcast during the entire race, and Rusty Wallace kept commenting on how the downforce on these new cars is coming almost entirely from the splitter and from under the car itself, and very little from the rear spoiler. He noted that you couldn't get someone loose by getting on their back bumper. Every driver interviewed commented on how difficult it was to pass.

The racing was so boring that I was actually glad they had shortened the race by 100 laps. By the end, I was long since ready to go home and get out of that bonechiling weather. At one point, I thought my buddy sitting on my right had started a vaping habit without my knowledge, then realized it was just his breath in the cold air.

"Awful racing, awful weather" is spot on. Not sure that scheduling a night race in Virginia in the early Spring is a good idea.
 
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My wife was a trooper even though she was bored out of her mind and turned into an ice cube.
Several made some interesting comments today that, aside from some aero difficulties when cars got close, the main issue was the gear ratios because people were shifting 4-6 times per lap.
 
Sounds like we are getting a North Wilkesboro announcement tomorrow.
 
Waltrip mentioned Wilksboro during the prerace. Racing on Easter at Bristol for the first time since 1970. Dirt. Not a great turnout from the looks of the stands.
 
Yeah I’d think Bristol is at risk of losing their Spring date tbh. This turnout is atrocious and it always rains.
 
Looking forward to heading to NW in the fall for a race or two.

The attendance looks awful, but remember Bristol seats 160k. The attendance number is comparable to most other Cup races so far this season.
 
tsywake said:
Looking forward to heading to NW in the fall for a race or two.

The attendance looks awful, but remember Bristol seats 160k. The attendance number is comparable to most other Cup races so far this season.
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I may try to head over for one of the dirt events in October after a football game.

Re: Bristol - I think I’m done with the dirt experiment.
 
I’ve never been a NASCAR fan, but I usually knew the drivers and heard frequently about the races. These days, it seems that NASCAR has almost disappeared, or at least its profile is significantly reduced. For you fans and followers, what do you think?
 
That’s definitely true. Lots of bland personalities and no hugely marketable people outside of the NASCAR world. Attendance and viewership are way down. NASCAR has made some bad decisions and continues to make some questionable ones.
 
I concur with deacdixieboy regarding the lack of known/marketable drivers these days. In my mind, none of the younger (30 years or younger) drivers are particularly interesting, at least to me. So many of the well known, charismatic and popular drivers left the sport within about a 4 year window of time between 2014-2018 (such as Tony Stewart, Dale Junior, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth to name a few) leaving a huge black hole. There are a few holdovers from those years (the Busch brothers, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex, Jr.), but nowhere near as popular, and certainly not enough to pick up the slack.

I was a huge (and long suffering) Dale Junior fan who made it a point to watch every race if at all possible. The Sunday afternoon race was my "leave Daddy alone" time. Since Junior's retirement in 2017, I could not care less who wins or loses (as long as that assclown Joey Logano doesn't win -- I actively root against him).

I am probably typical of many fans. The only race I have actively watched this season was the Martinsville race, because I was there in person. However, the product on the track was so bad, I'm not sure I want to go back. Sponsorship is declining heavily due to diminishing viewership. I'm not sure what NASCAR can do to right the ship.
 
It's still the #1 or 2 rated sport on TV every single weekend. Just read yesterday that TV ratings are up 17% for the year and even greater over 2019 (pre covid). Other than Martinsville the racing has been great this year. I imagine the package/tire will be tweaked for the the next race there and the Playoffs will add back the drama.
 
It truly is a shame that the Martinsville race was so bad, I had high hopes.

Growing up in the Triad in the 80s and 90s was great as a NASCAR fan. We has the Winston-Cup preview every year at the Benton Convention Center, and all qualifying and races were broadcast on 104.1. We used to watch the live feeds on our old rotating satellite dish. I think Ben Kennedy being in the front office will help in the future, but as others have mentioned, NASCAR made a ton of blaring mistakes over the years that has turned fans away.
 
A black RCR #3 driven by an Earnhardt and crew chiefed by Larry McReynolds is on the pole at Talladega today.
 
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