NASCAR wire service debut

Kind of sounds like NASCAR would like to do what Major League Baseball did with MLB.com?

There aren't many people who work as hard in the garage area as Lee Spencer does, and her husband, Reid, is a good writer. I don't know anything about the other dude.

It amazes me when I see the volume of NASCAR copy in USA Today, but then I double back and realize that tons of that comes from advertisers feeding USA Today's pockets with SO much cash.

Sometimes I wish Champ Car and the IRL could make a serious run at NASCAR. There are some interesting stories in those series (besides Danica Patrick and the Indy 500).

 

Are you serious?

 

Sorry, but that's the same kind of big-time bullshit attitude that has led NASCAR from its roots into corporate America crapola that people are rebelling about.
So circulation size should dictate whether or not someone gets a seat during a local race? Is it the Daily Home's fault that its not big enough to staff a season, but can staff Talladega twice a year -- a race that brings in millions of dollars to the area? Should the Birmingham News not be allowed to staff races because it's auto writer goes to less than 25 percent of the races?
It's taken you years to "mold" yourself? Into what? Someone who forgets his roots/ (Or did you skip steps along the way?)
Yes, you are being holier than thou, in addition to being a condescending namedropper...

 

Yeah I'm serious. There aren't a ton of reporters who roam around the garage area much on that circuit. That sit on their butts and let PR folks feed releases to them. All I'm saying is that Lee spends more time than most talking with car owners, drivers and crew members. That's what I've seen and I'm offering my opinion.

 

Sorry, there's a difference between walking around the garage and chatting with people and doing actual reporting.
I have never seen anybody do less with more.

If I want to read somebody that truly works the garage, I'll pick up Mulhern.
If I want to read that Matt Kenseth isn't flashy or flamboyant, or a recap of what's already been in other papers, I'll grab the Sporting News.

 

Just curious, how is this stuff being made available?
Through email? A website? Do newspapers need special software?
In this day and age -- especially considering newspaper budgets -- I'd think this would be a hard sell. Especially with AP copy already available.
If you care enough to spend the money, you'd have your own reporter. And if you don't, you'd just use AP.
Where is the selling point?

 

First of all, you elitist prick, where I live has no reflection on my understanding the English language., nor how I dress. But it's professional and quite openminded of you to foster a myth.
Not only did I cover NASCAR for the better part of two seasons, but have worked at large papers and small as well as writing and editing for an autoracing website. And I'm here by choice, not because I'm stuck here as you so kindly alluded to.
If you must brag how you helped those on the way up, perhaps you might take the time to pull those you look down your nose at because they aren't dressed to your high standards and give them a piece of advice on decorum -- before you go scurry into the corner with your beat buddies and laugh at them; much like the high school cheerleaders laughing at the unpopular girls in the lunchroom.
Could NASCAR tighten its credentialling? Sure. All sports could. But some weekly papers deserve it just as some larger daily papers don't. And regular beat guys are just as capable of asking stupid questions and not sucking up like you pissing off the drivers.
You say you won't forget your roots and I believe you. I'm sure it's easy when they are shallow.

 

This turned out well.

 

Unlike, say, about 1,000 other threads here that began with an interesting premise and then degenerated into pointless shrieking and vituperative personal attacks?

Seriously, Jeff, you are correct. I wish you weren't, but that seems to be how a lot of people roll here.

Not pointing fingers, just sayin' ...

 

I don't know espnguy and have never traded posts with him before. He has a valid point about cleaning up credentials, but all sports do. But his attitude of how little papers dont deserve to be credentials because they annoy the drivers with stupid questions and irk the regular beat guys is bullshit.
If NASCAR doesnt credential the little guys, who's to say it wont work its way up the food chain and the only reporters will be the asskissers and NASCAR-sanctioned mouthpieces?
I'm not attacking the writing ability of anyone. I feel his "Im a big guy and little guys need to go and all my beat buddies are with me" touched a nerve. It would if it was the NFL, MLB or a D3 school...

 

Sorry, Bogie, the following begs for a response.

So what you're saying is that a reporter asked a question Stewart didn't like and it prevented you from being able to ask suck-up questions Stewart would tacitly "approve"?

A) EVERY BIT of onus is on Stewart for being a cocksucker. Which he is ... in spades.
B) Your "relationship", and every other NASCAR regular, with Stewart must be tenuous at best if one question sends him into snit mode.
C) What makes your "relationship" any more vital than whatever the reporter you ripped on was trying to achieve that day?
D) This goes on IN EVERY OTHER MAJOR SPORT JOURNALISTS COVER. Ask anyone who covered Bob Knight. Some of the visiting media and parachuters practically delighted in asking questions that would get Knight going, and the beat guys pay the price. It's happens all the time.

So sack up.

I'll throw you one bone, there are a lot of sychophantic folks in the racing media centers. Many, however, come from websites, blogs, or very sadly, are occasionally local race promoters the big track is doing a favor for. I've seen all of the above.

And then there is a too-large group of national writers, broadcasters and radio people who allow themselves to get dragged by the France-family dog collar to one NASCAR race after another, never writing anything but sycophantic PR crap on a weekly basis, never asking tough questions, never putting one bit of heat on NASCAR, its drivers or its teams when warranted. It's no wonder jag offs like Stewart think they can get away with murder when it comes to the media, because they do.

Then there's a few racing guys who spend every waking hour disrupting the media center with their dumb-ass inside jokes, loud interruptions, and inane chatter.

Frankly, as a group, the NASCAR writing community is one of the more unprofessional I've ever been around when it comes to the major sports. Since more papers are seeing the value of covering the series, it's getting better, but it's a long ways from being any kind of watchdog group -- Ed Hinton being a great and notable exception.

THOSE are the people the legit racing writers should be ashamed of, not the small group who infringes on the idiotic fraternal bullshit many of these sycophantic and non-sycophantic national writers so cherish.

 

I don't disagree with most of your post, but I would like to point out there are some writers such as Dustin Long and Nate Ryan who do a great job and are very professional.