Wow 2 Entries Today

Must be your lucky day. I wasn't going to, I could have added on to my first but stewartfan left a comment on yesterday's post that I wanted to address. It spins off from my chagrin about Jr. saying he thought new NASCAR fans weren't bombarding the sport in hordes because the races and seasons are too long. I disagreed.

I gotta plan. NASCAR, the France's et al, should love it, in fact I'm sure they've already thought of this. They are proposing new tracks in various places, Seattle, Portland, OR., etc. As it is now, they usually race each track in the circuit twice a year. I kind of like that scenario, everyone has their favorite and least favorite track where they do better and worse. This way a driver can redeem himself if he has a mishap or needs points he knows he can regain some at his favorite track. Least fav tracks are good to help them hone up on their skills for whatever it is that is holding them back at those tracks. Now, on to the dessert...

I think once there are more tracks, or racers, or both, they should have east coast/west coast franchises or something (like pro football has where teams play against their leagues), then at some point, the best racers merge into racing eachother. The race for the cup is already somewhat like that, but why not give more people a chance to race, more tracks to race on and more fan events to go to? This would make NASCAR affiliates a load more cash, which is what it's all about to those guys anyway, and it would create more rivalry, spirit and excitement for the fans.

Quite honestly there are enough tracks out there, the one in Daytona sits unused the majority of the year, though I would like to see them more regional, the closest track to where I am right now is probably Las Vegas or Corona, both are 1250 miles away. These tracks make the cities and states lots of tax money, fans are great revenue generators. Ok, I'm undecided on the tracks, it's not something I've been terribly concerned with, but the Red Team/Blue Team concept is something I'd like to see given a whirl.

Pro's and con's are encouraged on this topic. stewartfan made a good point about driver fatigue with the long season, and that is true, though if you are realistic about it, they are getting a 2 month vacation every year, make stupid money for what they do, and are very fortunate that the sport today has accorded them the wealth they have. I believe NASCAR has promoted the sport and drivers to the best of their ability in the past several years, a win-win situation for both, as driver recognition has catapulted them into stardom, and with that comes licensing, sponsor and product promotion dollars. More visibility and recognition equals more fans, race ticket sales, NASCAR sanctioned memorabilia, etc. I'm not sure exactly how many hours per week they work, I know some carry a pretty heavy workload, especially the more popular drivers, but compare what you do, how much you make and how much vacation time you get per year and I think you'll see they have it pretty good. Yeah, maybe pro football, baseball and basketball luminaries have more time off, if Jeff Gordon wants to play football, go for it, let someone else who has the fever drive the 24. Ya know what I'm sayin?