A Few Quick Questions For You

I buy it completely and my father is the perfect example.

He was a HUGE Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan. And like many, he went to Jr’s side after the accident.

My dad would quit watching races during the 2007 season. Not coincidentally, that was the worst DEI season of Jr’s career. He has not improved since joining Hendrick Motorsports and my father has stayed away ever since..

NASCAR needs Dale Jr to succeed if TV ratings are to improve. There are no other ways about it.

1) Doubtful, but that’s more due to being busy than last season’s tire fiasco.
2) I don’t think NASCAR’s TV popularity is necessarily tied to Dale Jr’s performance. If that were the case, it never would have been THAT popular to begin with. ;) It probably has more to do with a declining casual interest in sports fans (not necessarily NASCAR fans). Having races on 3 different channels, in any number of time slots can make it difficult to keep up with.
3) Huge issue…that I’m sure will be done away with ASAP. That’s a very expensive proposition if you want to go to one race. Plus there would be empty seats for those that bought packages only for the Indy series.
4) Personally I like the new restarts. A 6th place car isn’t lining up in a 12th place position any longer, and this way you know who you’re racing for position, instead of wasting your car trying to get around a bunch of laps down traffic.
5) Why wouldn’t he be? Red Bull is finally coming into it’s own, and if they do go to Chevy, will be running Hendrick equipment by the sounds of it. Hasn’t worked out too badly for Tony/Ryan. I can’t see Vickers jumping to another team…although Red Bull was dumb enough to dump AJ, so who knows what their take is.

1. I watch most of them anyway, and my driver, Tony Stewart, does well on Brickyard. So yeah, I’m watching. But I hope this year’s race is much, much better.

2. I think things like the shifting around of channels are more of a factor than Junior. We have other very marketable drivers. This may perhaps seem too serious, but I think car manufacturers’ problems and more environmental consciousness may be factors, too. (Hockey and all those ball sports are just as bad for the environment, not to mention morning commutes, but NASCAR is an easy target.)

3. That is probably the stupidest ticket-selling policy I ever heard of in my life, ever. Who has the time?!

4. That good! How annoying is it when a second or third place driver is being bottled up by someone in 40th place who is desperately trying to get his lap back? And you can’t blame that 40th place driver, really, but there goes the driver in first place sailing off in clean air. Once the drivers all get used to double-file restarts, it’ll work nicely.

5. I think Scott Speed’s future is more doubtful. Vickers has been more of a contender this year. Speed is becoming just a wrecking ball.

6. Doesn’t everyone know that one by now? Drivers time their drinking, and sweat a lot, and occasionally, well, do need to sprint to the shower afterwards. Drivers look good in their fireproof suits after the race, but don’t smell that great!

2. No, I don’t think its Dale Jr. There’s a lot of other reasons why, but I’m not going to sit down through one siting and tell you that. I think most of the people know what it is. I hope.

3. Yeah, Cypress Gardens did that to my family once, we went down to spend a nice Saturday afternoon there and the only admission they had was for 2 days, no one day admission. Haven’t been back there since and there still in financial troubles. Chicagoland should take heed from this lesson and knock off the track pack crap.

4. I was skeptical of it at first mainly because of the race at Somona I thought it would cause problems, but things went smoothly and I’m a big fan of it. Can’t wait to see what happens at Bristol here in a few weeks.

5. Don’t really know, with Scott Speed’s problems I think Red Bull will be focusing more on that problem.

6. See what Lilo said.

1. I’ll be watching. If Smoke said that Goodyear has improved, I believe him. Smoke shoots straight.

2. I’m still a Dale Jr. fan. My commitment to NASCAR is less fervent this season not because of Dale Jr.‘s weak performance but because I’m weary of the long season and how long the races are, and Jimmie Johnson is a boring Cup champion. Give me someone with personality like Smoke or Mark Martin.

Fox’s coverage focuses too much on the leaders, when the real racing might take place deeper in the pack. Watching the 48 or 18 lead for 100 laps is not very interesting to me. If the 48 wins Cup again, next season, I think I may watch only Daytona, Dega, Charlotte, and maybe a couple of others. If Mark Martin wins, then I’ll probably be interested again. I’ll also be interested if Danica comes over.

3. I can’t foresee attending any races for the next few years, so this makes no difference to me.

4. I like the double-file restarts. I wonder why so many fans hate the term, “Shoot-Out Style,” because I think it’s colorful, and I think NASCAR needs color.

5. I never cared about Vickers one way or the other.

West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California