If you’ve been watching NASCAR for twenty, thirty, or forty years, you’ve seen some of the greatest drivers, tracks, sponsors, and broadcasters that have made this sport unique. But in the last sixteen years, we’ve seen NASCAR fall off a mountain. Ratings are dropping, sponsors are leaving, drivers who do not have enough experience are moved up before they are ready, and big-name drivers retiring like Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, and many others we’ve come to love for so many years.
Recently, the ARCA Menards Series raced at Lebanon I-44 Speedway on Saturday night. NASCAR acquired ARCA two-years ago, and what you see is that this series is in trouble just like the big three series, along with the ARCA East and West Series. ARCA races used to be fun to watch, the series had drivers like Frank Kimmel, who won the ARCA championship ten times, and Bobby Gerhart, another good driver who spent the majority of his career in ARCA.
The reason why NASCAR’s national series are deteriorating is that no one has the patience to let drivers develop. In the ARCA Menards Series, drivers who are not 18 can only compete at specific tracks. They lack the skill necessary to compete full time. Currently, the ARCA Menards Series has two drivers Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs, both 17, who have combined for seven wins this year. While these young drivers develop the skills necessary before being able to race at all the tracks, they are unable to compete in this series for the championship.
NASCAR must implement age requirements for each division before they are moved up to enable the drivers to compete full time. Seeing just 14 cars on the track for a race with only 5 finishing shows the inexperience of these drivers and teams.
How NASCAR should change this is to continue to allow ages 15 to 17 compete in the ARCA East and West Series. Even if a person is set to turn 18 in the middle of the season, they must remain in the ARCA Menards Series until the following year. This would give a driver more time to further develop, gain experience, and understand the car in order to compete for a championship.
Once the season is over, then they can move up. Drivers competing in the ARCA Menards Series should have a mandated minimum age of 18 years old and must compete in the series for a minimum of three-years. This would give drivers more time to gain experience racing on all the tracks, such as Daytona, Talladega, Charlotte, and any other major NASCAR track. When they have completed their three years, they will be able to graduate from ARCA and move on to the Trucks or Xfinity Series.
I’m also curious as to why major NASCAR owners don’t invest in ARCA. Joe Gibbs Racing only has one car that his grandson Ty Gibbs drives. The rest, who are competing in the series are GMS Racing, Venturini Motorsports, a stable team that has been around since 2008, and DGR-Crosley. The rest of the teams that enter are either lapped quickly or out of the race after a couple of laps. This leaves the racing to less than ten cars.
So why haven’t teams like RCR, Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas Racing, and other top teams invested in the series? Better yet, why haven’t teams, especially small teams in both the Cup and Xfinity, not moved down. Several teams currently trying to compete in the Xfinity and Cup series are not on the same level as the big teams. Even those with alliances to the bigger teams, like Go Fas Racing, who has a partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing and still can’t perform well every week in the Cup Series.
These smaller teams have a limited crew because of the cost to enter a NASCAR race. One suggestion I have with smaller teams who do have alliances with the bigger teams is to consider becoming a developmental team and drop down to a smaller series. These teams would receive the cars, engines, and technology needed to compete in the lower series. This would allow for these teams to develop, gain experience, and build their companies. I think by moving down with an alliance on board, both teams could be in a win-win situation. It would also be a win for a series like ARCA, who need more teams in the series to compete every week.
Yesterday, NASCAR laid out a plan to reconfigure Auto Club Speedway into a short track. It’s one of many projects that NASCAR has planned with the hopes of bringing back fans to the races.
A look at the plan for Auto Club Speedway conversion to a half-mile. NASCAR hopeful to start construction after 2021 race for 2022 event. #nascar pic.twitter.com/l4pUg4MkGk — Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 8, 2020
Reconfiguring tracks are not going to bring fans back even with putting business stores around them. If they are going to focus on short tracks across the United States, there are plenty of short tracks around that used to host NASCAR races that could use a facelift. Short-track racing is fun, and I believe that’s why the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is popular among the fans.
Many would love to see North Wilkesboro Speedway come back to life. It would be a terrific track for a Modified Tour race. NASCAR should invest in these tracks that have gone silent. Fans want to see racing come back. It is not just about investing in the track, it is about what the track means, the history, and the drivers who once took the checkered flag.
The next issue NASCAR needs to fix is the season schedule. Due to the pandemic, NASCAR has had to redo the schedule with doubleheaders and midweek races. Some of these are great and should stay for the future. Some of these midweek races and doubleheader races like Pocono and Dover are enjoyable. Doubleheaders could mean a shorter season. Another possibility would be if NASCAR split the three series so that they all don’t compete on the same track at the same time except for Daytona and Talladega. What made each series unique was that they raced at different tracks. When the Truck Series started in 1995, they raced at short tracks like Flemington Speedway, I-70 Speedway, and other tracks that did not host a Cup or Xfinity race.
The same can be said for the Xfinity series who raced at tracks that didn’t host a Truck or Cup race like Myrtle Beach Speedway. These series felt different and independent from one another. Some tracks that the Xfinity raced were tracks that never held a Cup race. NASCAR should recapture the individuality of each series. This would allow the many tracks around the country to host a Trucks or Xfinity Series race. There is nothing better than giving the many racing fans a chance to see a race.
NASCAR should also ditch the playoffs. The playoffs are not fun nor exciting. They don’t bring anything to the table except for people turning the tv off. For the drivers who are not in the playoffs, why race your car knowing you don’t stand a chance to win a championship. The tv networks only focus on playoff drivers and not the rest of the field. The television concentrates only on those drivers and nothing else. The playoffs need to go, and the rules need to go as well.
The last thing NASCAR needs to do is get better cars. Right now, NASCAR is testing the Gen 7 car with the hopes of cutting the cost down for teams. I would love to see NASCAR bring back the real cars like the golden days. If you ever watch an IMSA race, the cars are real, and you can buy them from a dealership. Teams can modify the engines that come with the car, and you will see who are the better cars along with the drivers. When a car suffers damage to the bodywork, teams pop the pins out and put in a new front or back body on the car, and it looks like new again. Watching real cars race at Daytona and other tracks add extra excitement. Bringing back the real cars will draw people to the races, just like how NASCAR used to be. Just some of these changes could go a long way to helping NASCAR become elite again.
Comments