Where is the Love? Trial and Tribulations of California

Well it sure was not there in California this weekend for both the Busch and Cup races. Did anyone happen to see how many empty seats there were for the Busch race? Reports say there were 40,000 fans but I seriously doubt it. The Cup race did have its lack of fan support at the track. One would think that with both of these races under the lights for the first time in California that the crowds would be higher in numbers. When compared to other night time races at the other tracks, looks like California is not keeping up with the numbers. Could it be the lack of fan support out in California? Perhaps it was because it was the holiday weekend, but that never seemed to be a problem when the race was in Darlington. Oh, that is right; NASCAR moved that race to California to bring in more revenue. Doesn’t look like California is holding up its end of the bargain. Perhaps NASCAR might show some chivalry and give the race back to “The Lady In Black.”

How about that Busch and Cup race, sure was exciting, NOT! Did anyone else notice that when the broadcast came on for the Busch race, the cars were getting ready to roll off of pit road? What happened to the National Anthem? The prerace show? Are NBC and NASCAR hurting that much for money that they have to start cutting the programming for the Busch race despite all the Nextel cup drivers that were entered? 7pm EST to start a race is great if you on the west coast but us poor east coast people have to suffer the anguish of this late start, coupled with the lack of excitement in the Busch race, I for one ended up falling asleep on the couch. Did I also mention that the first regular Busch series driver finished in 10th place (Jay Sauter) and then next in line was 14th place Burney Lamar? Seems like another night devoted to the Busch Whackers which brings me back to the lack of attendance for this race, with all that talent on the track one would think more people would be there to see them perform. We all know Bristol is the King of the Hill when it comes to night races and their Busch race brings in close to 100,000 fans for a half a mile track, maybe California might consider some sort of partnership with the marketing guys at Bristol. California has a seating capacity of 92,100 where Darlington has only 60,000 but after seeing the availability of seats at California for the two night races, NASCAR should look at bringing back the race to Darlington for the Labor day weekend.

Next up on the list of complaints is the NBC broadcasting team. What was going on between Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach during the Cup race? The absence of Benny Parsons, the mediator, was apparent due to the arguing amongst the two during the race; Benny seems to be the one that keeps peace in the booth. I say bring back Alan Bestwick. Take him off of pit row, put him in the booth and stick Bill Weber somewhere doing interviews with NBC/TNT and NASCAR executives. If it seems as though Bill is getting picked in, you are right. Sunday’s night race was a great example of the ignorance that they have for the sport. Up till the last 30 laps of the race, it was pretty uneventful as it is with all the California races and then we had the pit strategies from the various teams. All the focus for the entire race was on the drivers who are in contention for the Chase. If you do the math, that was about 14 cars, and they were the main focus of the broadcast team. How many times did we hear, oh he is in, nope he is out or he is on the bubble, nope he is in and the last one, the drivers in green are in and the drivers in yellow are on the bubble. How about the other 29 cars out there? Looks like the sponsors of those cars are not paying enough to be shown on TV. Even one of the Chase contenders, Mark Martin, driver of the AAA Ford, was rarely talked about during the race. Maybe AAA did not give Mike Helton his promotional discount or the left Brian France waiting too long for a tow. Was there any attention paid to Cling Bowyer who finished 3rd and Dale Jarrett finishing 10th? No. Here are two drivers that are not in the fight for the Chase with big time sponsors and do not get shown or talked about on TV. All Bill Weber said after showing the results from the race was And Dale Jarrett finishes in 10th. You would think that a veteran driver like Dale Jarrett and a rookie driver in Clint Bowyer would get some kind of recognition and how they finished in the Top 10. I did not find out until I read it on UPS Racing. It just shows that NBC/NASCAR have the blinders on when it comes to the other drivers in the field that are not in the Chase. Has the sport changed? Will the fans continue to pay the outrageous prices for tickets? Can NASCAR find a happy median for their broadcasting teams? How many more changes are in store for NASCAR in the 2007 and beyond seasons? One can only hope that one day someone will wake up in the front office of NASCAR, walk into the board room meeting and say; Hey, why not make this the sport for the fans.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this.