Forum: HoseHeads Sprint Car General Forum (go)
Moderators: dirtonly  /  dmantx  /  hosehead

Oops Nascar.  And we thought our little tiff in sprint car racing between HL and WoO was ruffling feathers...wow!  For those that missed it, texts have surfaced from NASCAR president Steve Phelps.  He made the comments "Unfortunately, most our fans are not exactly top readers."  It appeared Nascar had actually stopped the bleeding over the past 5 years and had leveled out with some decent crowds and some renewed interest.  Then Steve Phelps says "hold my beer!"  

They can't get out of their own way.  

Last nascar race I watched was for larsons 1st championship, only reason I watched. Nascar was going downhill when covid hit and we all know how 2020 went, that sealed the deal for me watching. 

Off topic but I watched the vegas grand prix Saturday night since I had nothing better to do. 1st time I have watched F1 and that crap is horrible to watch. 

The worst sprint car race ever blows both nascar and f1 out of the water. 

Obviously not a good look insulting your fanbase, but I've been to a couple of Nascar races and it's an accurate statement. Lol

Maybe Spire Motorsorts see's whats coming and has jumped into High Limit sprint cars.

It makes you wonder what demographic their trying to target anymore. IMO they lost touch with their fanbase a couple decades ago.

I never said he was wrong...just not very smart for putting it to text...lol     

You are correct.  I have tried F1 multiple times, and I have friends who get up early on Sunday mornings to watch it.  I don't get it at all.  The F1 fans make fun of sprint cars and Nascar.  Nascar is FAR more exciting than F1, and neither of those 2 even hold a candle to sprint cars on their worst night just like you say.  

Yep, kinda like Larson's microphone mistake a few years ago...

Haven't watched a race since Noosegate, and I was down to only watching a handful of races each season at that.  I don't see myself ever watching it again no matter where it goes from here.   And I have no issues being a top reader....

Hell, I haven't watched NASCAR since the Fireball Roberts Era... Pontiacs ruled. The cars were based on stuff you could buy at any showroom, people rooted for "their" brand

Actually, thats a lie. I watched PART of a FEW races when Larson was starting out

But you get my point....

Something like when Dan Dietrich said race fans opinions are irrelevant?

Ever since about 2001 they have said they are trying to get more people in the 18-39yr old demographic. I was 15 at that point and watched all 3 series, practices, qualifying, Arca, ASA at that time, and any sprint car races that might be televised. I am now nearly 40, and can barely make it through a highlight. I have tried multiple times maybe out of nostalgia. Even tried going to a couple races at Michigan and I can say the fan experience is horrible now. Everything feels like a cash grab. My parents use to take us there and Pocono (2 snoozer tracks today mind you) in the late 90s early 00's and we always left feeling like we got our moneys worth and then some. Now the fan experience is garbage. They can always say they are trying to appeal to a younger demographic but the truth is that they (and a lot of companies) only do what THEY think younger demographic people want and they are usually wrong. 

As for the texts and documents that have come out, none of it truely surprises me. All of the interviews that I have seen or listened to from some of these people you can almost hear in there tone that they somewhat feel embarrased that they work for Nascar. That they wish that they had the type of demographics or people that F1 has or the NFL has because that is what they view as success. They want business people, high level executives, celebrities, etc. The couple who works 40-60+ hours a week working construction, warehouses, workshops, classrooms, even the low to mid level office people who probably make below the avg income range and only get 2wks vacation if it gets approved but save their money up to take their family to a race are no longer the people that Nascar cares about. They even paid a marketing firm this year to try to figure out what the avg "blue collar" worker wants and how they spend their money because they do not know anymore. 

Kinda, but one rogue driver's remarks are not the same as the president of an entire organizations remarks.