NASCAR

[gator8_24]

Good Night Junior

[Homer]

GO JEFFY GO!!! 

[swamp]

GO JEFFY GO 

[gator8_24]

I'ld reply but my momma told me not to talk to strangers LOL

[Homer]

I'ld reply but my momma told me not to talk to strangers LOL

I like your new name 

[gator8_24]

I like your new name 

LOL gee, I wonder who gave me that new name?

[swamp]

LOL gee, I wonder who gave me that new name?

she wears it well dont she boss.she just told me on twitter so i had to come and see 

[Homer]

she wears it well dont she boss.she just told me on twitter so i had to come and see 

[swamp]

gatorfox would make a great name 

[gator8_24]

Hey, Homer, here are a couple remarks from Marty Smith re the # 88 it is interesting and telling, Junior needs to know what it's like to be let go from a ride!

"Hendrick said they've made no decisions on changes to the 88 yet, but they plan to meet and work on things.
about 9 hours ago from txt   
  Interesting comments from Rick Hendrick about the 88. He didn't call the 600 rock bottom, but his body language said it was awful bad."

Did I make your day? lol

[Homer]

Hendrick doesn't like losers. I bet he wishes he didn't dump Kyle for Junior

[gator8_24]

I think you would win that bet! I don't even pay attention to where Jr is in a race anylonger.  Don't like looking up the tail pipes in front of me LOL

[Homer]

Sounds like Junior is gonna have to dump crew chiefs. Bad news is Hendrick wants him to have Mark Martin's crew chief

[gator8_24]

Oh Oh, that is not good news for Mark, but bet Rick has more $$ invested in Jr than Mark so willing to try the swap. Plus no matter how lousy Jr is doing for some reason he's stil the most popular driver.  It will be interesting come banquet time to see who wins the MPD award!

[Homer]

Oh Oh, that is not good news for Mark, but bet Rick has more $$ invested in Jr than Mark so willing to try the swap. Plus no matter how lousy Jr is doing for some reason he's stil the most popular driver.  It will be interesting come banquet time to see who wins the MPD award!

His fans can't read. They just look for "Jr." on the ballot and hope it's him. 

[swamp]

His fans can't read. They just look for "Jr." on the ballot and hope it's him. 

they otta get him a burger job in north fl 

[gator8_24]

His fans can't read. They just look for "Jr." on the ballot and hope it's him. 

You won't get any arguement from me on that one!

[gator8_24]

they otta get him a burger job in north fl 

Hey Swamp can you read this cutjanctekoguys ? 

[swamp]

Hey Swamp can you read this cutjanctekoguys ? 

[gator8_24]

Voices From the Heartland: Studies Have Shown, NASCAR Is 'Full Of It'
Jeff Meyer · Thursday June 4, 2009


Over the last couple of weeks, ever since the rumors started flying about the demise of Tony Eury, Jr. as Dale, Jr.'s crew chief, the 'media' has reported several times, in various ways, that "studies have shown that when Jr. isn't running well, NASCAR's ratings are down."

NASCAR of course, actually likes to hear that because it shifts the blame from where it really lies; Brian France. As much as the media (with the exception of this media) and NASCAR would like you to believe their standard party line, I've done some 'studies' of my own which point to the fact that, believe it or not, NASCAR is full of it, and we all know what 'it' is. (For those more sheltered readers out there, here is a hint: it rhymes with 'scoop' which, oddly enough, is what you need to dig yourself out of 'it' whenever Brian France starts slinging 'it'!)

First of all, NASCAR has always said that 'no one man is bigger than the sport itself' so why, all of a sudden, is the recent demise and the apparent future of NASCAR so dependant upon Dale, Jr.? The truth is it is NOT. Yes, Jr. is the 'most popular' driver and he has millions upon millions of followers, to the point that they have seceded from the Union and formed their own 'nation' but they are not culprits here. Let's face it, most of this 'nation's' populace would tune in to see their leader take a crap, which as fate would have it, is exactly what they have been seeing most Sunday afternoons anyway. No, the Jr. Nation is not the problem as NASCAR would like you to believe. Let's look at some other cold, hard facts.

Brian France became Brian France became the head of NASCAR in 2003. In 2004, he instituted his brilliant idea of The Chase 'playoff' system because well, other major sports had that type of system and he wanted to go head to head against the NFL on any given Sunday.


Instead of blaming Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for the dramatic drop in ratings, NASCAR should be thanking him; without the support of 'Junior Nation', the numbers would be much lower.
During the 2004 season two things happened that are purely coincidental and independent of one another. The first is NASCAR's ratings did in fact rise, partly because fans wanted to see how this new system would work, and partly because they already had been rising at an almost exponential rate since the tragic season of 2001. The second thing that happened was that 2004 was Dale, Jr.'s 'breakout' season of his career where he scored 6 wins, 16 top 5s and 21 top 10s.

Technically speaking, I will say that 2004 was the zenith for both NASCAR and Dale, Jr. and that is probably where most of the recent 'studies' have stopped. My study does not. Let's look a little deeper.

Up until the year 2000, television coverage of the races was brokered by deals between the networks and the owners of individual tracks. Despite this unruly, hodge-podge system, all the races were being televised and NASCAR's popularity was growing. In December of 1999 however, NASCAR, sensing a dollar to be made, allowed their then head of marketing genius, Brian France, to negotiate a centralized, six year television deal between NASCAR, FOX Sports, FX, NBC and TNT, which he did to the tune of 2.4 BILLION dollars!

As we all know, since Brian successfully brokered that colossal deal, other major changes included naming Brian as the head of NASCAR and a Cup Series name change (from Winston to Nextel/Sprint) which resulted in yet even more BILLIONS pouring into the sanctioning body's coffers.

As a result of that first 'centralized' TV deal, long time fans began to become disenfranchised from the sport mainly because of an increase in commercial breaks, emphasis on the more popular drivers and teams to the total and blatant exclusion of others, and the de-emphasis of actual racing coverage in exchange for an increase of hype, fluff and general BS!

Late in 2005, with first deal's expiration looming and the announcement of NBC's desire to 'get the hell out', France was able to fleece a whopping 4.8 BILLION dollar, eight year contract out of FOX, Speed Channel, ABC/ESPN and TNT! As one might expect and we all have had to endure, with a price like that to pay, the networks have relied on even more commercials, more fluff, more hype and all around bigger heapings of non-race related BS the likes of which would make a billy goat puke!

Other unpopular contributions that Brian has brought to the sport include (but are not limited to) the SPECtacular and hated Car of Tomorrow, the quest for the 'casual fan' and the insistance of two races a year in Fontana, CA! I could go on but
don't think I have to. The point is that since its peak in 2004, NASCAR ratings and fan satisfaction have been dropping in almost the same exponential way they rose.

Meanwhile, what has Jr. been doing since his peak in '04? In the last 5 years, he has amassed (to date) 3 wins, 35 top 5s and 61 top 10s. No, it's not what I would call lighting the racing world on fire, but there are guys out there that never reach those numbers during their whole career.

When you lay it side by side, I defy anyone to logically tell me that Jr's less than stellar performance is more responsible for the drop in ratings than the dealings of Brian France. If anything, NASCAR should be grateful for the fanatical tenacity of the Jr. Nation, without which the ratings would be even lower.

I have never personally heard a die hard 88 fan say that they are not going to watch the race because Jr. has been sucking as of late. I HAVE heard numerous once die hard NASCAR fans, myself included, say they don't care if they see the race because NASCAR in general has been sucking (for various reasons) of late!

The truth of the matter is is that there IS one man bigger than the sport itself, but it is NOT Dale Earnhardt, Jr. That honor squarely belongs to the man that sits behind the CEO's desk in Daytona, FL. A desk upon which you will NEVER see a 'The buck stops here!' sign!

Stay off the wall,

Jeff Meyer