If it ain't broke, fix it anyway: NASCAR 2017 Thread

Really happy for Truex. Probably the closest thing to being an "underdog champ" since Alan Kulwicki.

 

Is Furniture Row a one-car team? Kulwicki was the last to do so.

 

Yes - one car.

 

They had been running a second car at least part time.

 

Dale Jr. on Dan Patrick's show today. Went places I didn't see coming:

 

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. Knew K. Lee had been let go by ESPN, but NASCAR deserves to suck a bag of dicks for dumping Holly and Kenny.

 

Are the Frances that much in the hock that they can't afford $300,000 (being very generous... including travel costs in there) for a pair of NASCAR writers? I wonder how NASCAR.com's traffic is faring nowadays.

 

From 2001 to 2012, Turner was PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR to have its editorial staff get abused by NASCAR PR over every piddling story that came close to being controversial or "not in the best interest of our media partners." No matter that .com was one of the top 10 sports sites by uniques because the content was interesting and informative, instead of parroting the company line, or that Turner created live leaderboards and race streaming (two Sports Emmys) and sold a load of diecasts and T-shirts.

NASCAR has to have complete control of everything. They screwed up the Motorsports Authenics cash cow, for example, because the idea of allowing someone else to take a cut of the souvenir sales was killing them.

So even after renewing the deal twice, a major shakeup in NASCAR's media/PR team caused them to get greedy after the 2011 season because they finally realized the value of online video highlights, which were under Turner control. There was a clause allowing them to take back the site, which put me and some good people out of work on Dec. 31, 2012, and they promptly sold Turner's online video exclusivity to Fox.

But the sanctioning body can barely run a race series, let alone worry about the website. They moved .com to Charlotte and tried to run it on the cheap, just like they did with NASCAR Online back before ESPN somehow got stuck with it. David Caraviello was the only Turner editorial staffer to survive, and he was gone one season in.

The last laugh? Turner was getting a check from NASCAR because the "new" .com wasn't hitting projected numbers. Unfortunately, Turner got stupid and decided to buy Bleacher Report with the money they were paying NASCAR (and PGA Tour, which also pulled back their rights about the same time).

So the answer to wicked's questions: The Frances refuse to spend a nickel on any technology they don't understand (which is why they spent advertorial dollars with USA Today all those years, because you can hold a newspaper), and traffic is doing just as poorly as the TV ratings, if not worse.

My idiotic Power Rankings used to average upwards of 3-4 million uniques every week. I'd be surprised if the current .com gets that in an entire month now.

EDIT: They're not on the top 15 on this list from July. Top 15 Most Popular Sports Websites | July 2017

And nowhere to be found on this list from last year. ESPN Tops Sports Sites In July Unique Visitors, But MLB.com Leads In Avg. Time Per User

 

The King's team is circling the drain. Lee's rolling over in his grave. CHEVROLETS?

Report: Richard Petty Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing to align

 

Danica's deal with Ganassi for the 500? Not so fast, according to Chip.

Danica Patrick talks break down at Chip Ganassi Racing