The 2022 running NASCAR, IMSA & other racing things thread

This has all been out there, but I'm curious about the timing behind the story and the push for a new agreement now.

NASCAR teams decry 'broken' economic model

 

The France family is greedy, part infinity ...

 

You would think the Frances could part with a little bit more of that $6 billion they split with the other track owners, especially since they need cars and drivers to make the sport work. But since 1948, enough people have put their own money (or sponsors' money) on the line that NASCAR just doesn't care. There's a racing team sucker born every minute. And Lesa France Kennedy's mansion isn't going to pay for itself.

(She's actually a very smart and shrewd businesswoman, much like Junior's sister, Kelley. She impressed the hell out of me at a International Speedway Corp. get together one time. Had Little Bill put her in charge instead of Snortin' Brian, NASCAR probably wouldn't be nearly as stupidly run as it is right now.)

 

Ben needs one, too.

The RTA could take their teams and sponsors in whole to a new series. They'd have options for tracks: SMI, Indy, Pocono/South Boston. This is different than any time in the past, with the owners fighting together. If the RTA went to ESPN today, they'd probably have a deal tomorrow — that's all sponsors care about. The drivers are going to go where the teams and sponsors tell them to go. The fans are going to go where the drivers go. The only leverage NASCAR has is that any series without a Daytona 500 would have little credibility.

 

Hey, Tony George says "hold my beer."

There had been rumors for years that Bruton would break away the SMI tracks but I don't think he ever seriously entertained the thought of having to foot his own bills. He just enjoyed having that leverage over the Frances. I've said it three times and have been proven wrong, but sooner or later, FOX/NBC are going to look around at the cratering ratings and wonder why they're paying premium prices for tube steak racing.

The teams used to have sponsors lined up at the door just for the doorposts. Now they're lucky to cobble together a handful for the sidepanel and hood. Hendrick has his own dealership on one and doesn't Haas run his company as well?

Yeah, that's still 4 million viewers on average, but I seriously doubt they got back anything close to $6 billion in advertising revenue. I know the TNT deal didn't make sense once the beancounters tallied the bottom line, which is why Turner was pleased NASCAR wanted the website back. (That allowed them to buy Bleacher, which is another money pit...)

 

I think this is different. Tony George didn't control the product. He controlled one track, albeit the most important one, but just one, and just one race.

In 1969 the drivers only had the drivers so the strike was doomed.

The RTA controls the product. They can field the cars on their own. They can get a TV deal on their own. They tell the sponsors "we have a TV deal with [X network] and we'll equal your exposure from the Cup Series," you know what happens? The sponsors jump. The owners sign the drivers' checks. If Roger Penske tells Joey Logano he's racing in a soapbox derby on an unlit street at midnight, Logano's racing in a soapbox derby on an unlit street at midnight. Oh, yeah, one of the RTA members now owns that track Tony George used to run, so they have at least one race on the schedule, probably two. Add two at Pocono and one at South Boston and you're at five. Wait for Rockingham to get fixed, then you're at six or seven. I'm sure they can fill 18-20 other dates easily enough, especially if SMI tacitly supports the idea.

TRAC was pure nonsense, never was going to go anywhere, especially since everyone had just gotten their first taste of the TV money.

 

Actually, the punch line should have probably read "The U.S. 500 says hold my beer."

Could an RTA series avoid the mistakes made by CART? It's taken open-wheel racing 25 years to get the tiniest bit of positive momentum after that fiasco.

What you're describing almost perfectly matches Dan Gurney's "White Paper" and CART's business model to a T after they split from USAC in 1979. While ratings, sponsorship and exposure increased substantially until the "true split," CART struggled to maintain costs, get a TV deal that wasn't a time buy and stop the infighting between big money teams and the independents. And then it all blew up in their faces in 1996.

Wikipedia spells it out pretty nicely.

"Despite the split, CART saw its annual revenues increase from $38,000,000 in 1995 to $68,800,000 by 1999, street races remained lucrative, and teams were able to make some gains on sponsorship revenues.[21] The success was uneven, as the series' traditional oval races in Michigan and Nazareth began to see dramatic attendance declines,[22] which CART blamed on substandard marketing.[23] Television ratings and revenue were anemic, with the series receiving $5,000,000 annually for the entirety of its television package, less than the rate for some individual NASCAR races.[24] While CART's stock was generally considered healthy, investors noted that the company's valuation tended to fluctuate with the perceived success or failure of IRL merger talks.[25]

"CART's championship battle in 1999 between young stars Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti was overshadowed by the deaths of drivers Gonzalo Rodríguez and Greg Moore within two months of each other. Moore's death at the 1999 Marlboro 500 especially raised serious concerns about safety in the 500 mile races conducted in Fontana and Michigan that saw Champ Cars average speeds of near 240 mph (390 km/h).

"In 2000, after years of frustration building behind the scenes, CART owners forced Andrew Craig to resign as CEO, and popular driver/owner Bobby Rahal stepped in as his interim replacement. Seeing the continued success of street racing and the decline of the series' oval dates, the board announced an intention of moving away from traditional venues toward overseas ovals and more street races to generate sanctioning fees, to the frustration of some of the traditional owners and United States based sponsors.

"Chip Ganassi, under pressure from his main sponsors, also persuaded the board to leave Memorial Day open on the schedule and returned to the Indy 500 with Vasser and Montoya. Montoya put on a dominating performance at Indy, leading 167 of the 200 laps to win. The Ganassi team's primary advantage was the greater engineering put into their IRL-spec car. 2000 would see Team Penske's return to prominence as Gil de Ferran won the driver's title."

Then it was public relations disaster after disaster in 2001. Brazil was canceled when the promoters defaulted. Texas was considered too dangerous the weekend of the race and canceled. And Zanardi lost his legs in Germany right after 9/11. By then, Team Penske had decided to jump to the IRL and CART was toast.

 

Can't wait for somebody to come in here and claim that Marcus Smith had some sort of a remote control setup on the steel curbing piece that came loose and slid into the middle of the racing line to force the caution flag in overtime.

 

I'm convinced Marcus Smith had some sort of a remote control setup on the steel curbing piece that came loose and slid into the middle of the racing line to force the caution flag in overtime.

They probably should've called the caution when part of the wall was sitting on the edge of the groove.

 

"I'm glad I won last week." — Chase Elliott, probably

 

I am not a fan of the playoff system.
If you're going to have a playoff elimination race, though, that was a blast.

 

NASCAR is reviewing data, video and radio from the 41 after its incident on the backstretch on the final lap, is what everyone on Twitter is telling you right now.