Fan's Eye View ~ Would You Notice, And Would You Care?
12/11/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
Good Day to you, friends of Race Fans Forever! Let us get this started with a quick survey. Ready? Who loves the off-season?
Yep, that’s what I thought.
I’m not a big fan of it myself, but it is an unfortunate necessity. We do get a few little goodies in the off-season to keep us going, though, right? We have the Sprint Cup Series Awards Banquet this Friday night that all of us watched. Oh, wait, what? It wasn’t on network TV? OK, I guess only most of us saw it. I’m sorry, say again? It was on Fox Sports 2? OH…Then I guess that only a few saw it. Oh…Jay Mohr was the host again? Musical acts? So, I guess I wasn’t alone in not watching it.
At least there is off-season testing! Yeah, let’s get into that!
So, during this off-season, NASCAR holds a test to “tweak” the cars. That’s the word I keep hearing. “TWEAK.” This tweak will be done to try to improve the racing product on the mile-and-a-half tracks which the fans have grown to love to hate.
You’ll also find some drivers differing in opinion of what should be done. Some want to make the cars easier to drive, while others want to put everything right into the driver’s hands and make the talent rise to the top. The suggested tweaks, from sources too numerous to name, include shifting body panels, adding parts to the car, removing down force, lowering horsepower, and using a softer tire, and I’m hearing that NASCAR is going to eliminate the minimum height rules. I foresee a decrease in six-point penalties…
One of the biggest uproars I have heard about this test, the possible results, and especially one of the tweaks listed above was, “why change a good thing?”
There are two reasons I can think of to try to change a good thing. One, good is subjective, so whatever I considered “good” racing, you may have considered a snooze fest. The second reason is that you’re trying to turn something from good into something great. Now, I’ll be honest with you, if you’ll be honest with me. I’m not that big of “bash the cookie-cutter tracks” type of guy. Sure, I love short tracks, and I love the speedways, and I love the intermediate tracks, and I love the road courses. I like some more than others, for sure. Now, it’s your turn. If you had the option this weekend to watch a NASCAR Cup Series race, and it was staged at one of the “cookie-cutter” tracks, would you pass on it, or would you watch it. I’m guessing that since the season is over and we haven’t seen a race in a few weeks, more would choose to watch the race than to ignore it. But that’s a different story.
Back to “why change a good thing?” The big thing I’m hearing these days is that some are afraid that the tweak that will be made will be to lower the horsepower on the cars. This is, of course, designed to lower the speed. But wait…this is racing. Isn’t the idea of racing to go fast? As fast as you possibly can? To get to a destination before anyone else, therefore being the fastest?
Sure is, but let me ask a question. Let’s say they lower the horsepower, and cars slow down on the mile-and-a-half tracks. They stop going into the turns at 185 MPH, and instead go into the turns at 175 MPH.
Would you really notice?
When I was watching the 1993 Daytona 500, there was a little spot done by Ned Jarrett during one of the cautions. It was pre-recorded. It featured Ned in a convertible car, driving down the apron on the back stretch at Daytona. He was saying how he was traveling at normal highway speed. Then, the No. 18 Interstate Batteries LUMINA, driven by Dale Jarrett, zoomed by on a warm up lap coming off of the pit lane. Ned continued to talk about the difference in speeds between the personal car and the race car. After another minute or so, and while Ned was still on the backstretch, Dale zoomed by again, this time at near full speed. It was as if someone hit the Hyperspace (or Warp Drive, depending on your sci-fi preferences) and Dale was a pinpoint in the distance right quickly. Of course, Ned flashed his smile to the camera, and ended the segment saying, “No wonder his Mama says he drives too fast!”
What if Dale Jarrett were going ten miles per hour slower? Would you notice? And would you care? When it all comes down to it, speed is speed, and anything faster than you is faster. How fast is too fast? Who knows, but maybe the speed has outperformed the product, and the best thing we can do is slow it down, just a bit, just for now.
I have to tell you, I’m a fan of speed, probably as much or more than anyone else. I get a silly little quiver when I hear the term “new track record.” Why? Who knows? I know for damn sure that I cannot tell the difference between 191.203 miles per hour and 192.685 miles per hour. So, do I care if I never get to hear “new track record” for a while? Honestly, probably not. Once I have heard “new track record,” I usually get over it, and probably don’t even think about it until someone else brings it up.
Now, the main question: Would I be willing to give up hearing the term “new track record” every now and then in exchange for a better racing product?
Oh, hell yeah. Without question. Do it. Twice.
Fans, I’m sure we’re all going to have differing opinions, and that’s fine. I think it would be rather boring if we all sat in a room and agreed with each other all the time. The good thing about this is that NASCAR is listening. They have heard the cries, and are reacting, trying to create a better product for the fans.
Now, if only we could get rid of The Chase…
Are you still listening, NASCAR?
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