1st rat off the sinking ship of NASCAR

[jmshepard]

Reports are that Chip Ganassi has quietly put his NASCAR team up for sale.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/robin-millers-mailbag-for-july-30//P3/

Robin Miller’s Mailbag for July 30

"RM: I told Chip he should shut down his NASCAR team and bring Texaco back to Indy cars but I don't think he liked that suggestion (although I hear his NASCAR team is for sale so that would make good sense). Kanaan to Tony George would be cool and spread the talent pool while Tracy use to drive for Barry Green so why not Kim Green?"

[Jeff Higgins]

Not entirely sure that NASCAR is sinking. Even if it was, going to Indy cars is like jumping into a burning lifeboat. It would be cool to see that big of a team in ALMS...

[Zeke]

"Going to Indy cars" ?? Isn't Ganassi one of the defectors from Champ car to IRL along with Penske some time back? Methinks so. I don't know why CG went to Nascar to begin with.

[scottmandue]

I'm not a NASCAR fan but if I were a betting man I would bet on them going strong for a long time to come.

The race I went to in Fontana the fans were mostly middle to upper middle class families, mostly festooned with hundreds of dollars of NASCAR paraphernalia (hats, jackets, radio scanners) the seat were expensive and the stands were packed.

I wish I had a piece of that pie.

[widgeon13]

NASCAR ain't going nowhere but up, it's probably one of the strongest marketing concepts in NA and it has an unbelievably loyal following.

These people don't give a rats azz about one race.

[jmshepard]

My sinking ship analogy is along the lines of the big three pulling back from this form of entertainment.

Ganassi w/Felix Sabates has been a perennial back marker. JPM has had a brief moment of brilliance, but aside from that the entire team has been poor performers and in disarray. In addition, following GM's re-evaluation of it's racing program and hard look at series that don't afford a venue that showcases technology...and then applying that same philosophy to Chrysler, the weakest of the 3 sisters, Dodge may be pulling out from NASCAR. Maybe Chip is looking at the writing on the wall (or has insights that mere mortals don't have) and is beating everyone to the punch. Finally, Sabates reportedly has said that he was out in 2010.

Most people say that NASCAR is here to say, that is probably true, but at what level? In my mind, looking at the meteoric rise of the series and the decreasing market share of the big 3 over the same time frame, the bean-counters in Detroit must be wondering what is the point..

[jmshepard]

My sinking ship analogy is along the lines of the big three pulling back from this form of entertainment. Ganassi w/Felix Sabates has been a perennial back marker. JPM has had a brief moment of brilliance, but aside from that the entire team has been poor performers and in disarray. In addition, following GM's re-evaluation of it's racing program and hard look at series that don't afford a venue that showcases technology...and then applying that same philosophy to Chrysler, the weakest of the 3 sisters, Dodge may be pulling out from NASCAR. Maybe Chip is looking at the writing on the wall (or has insights that mere mortals don't have) and is beating everyone to the punch. Finally, Sabates reportadly has said that he was out in 2010.

Most people say that NASCAR is here to say, that is probably true, but at what level? In mind, looking at the meteoric rise of the series and the decreasing market share of the big 3 over the same time frame, the bean-counters in Detroit must be wondering what is the point..

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by jmshepard

Most people say that NASCAR is here to say, that is probably true, but at what level? In my mind, looking at the meteoric rise of the series and the decreasing market share of the big 3 over the same time frame, the bean-counters in Detroit must be wondering what is the point..

Pfft... just wait till Nissan and Honda get their NASCAR teams together.

Once the Porsche sedan hits that market could they be far behind?

[dd74]

Seriously, I wouldn't doubt Nissan, M-B, Audi, and whomever else could afford NASCAR, would love to get into the sport. Toyota's making a large impression, and I'm sure others would like to do the same.

NASCAR will be the last race series standing in North America, which includes the Mexico and Canada.

[Red Baron]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Not entirely sure that NASCAR is sinking. Even if it was, going to Indy cars is like jumping into a burning lifeboat. It would be cool to see that big of a team in ALMS...

ALMS needs to get their chit together before they start losing teams like Penske. Ganassi is so dominant in Rolex GT and does so well in NASCAR it's hard to imagine he'd pull out of there to go into a series that is is so much turmoil.

[David]

I doubt NASCAR is going anywhere.

NASCAR may not be at the cutting edge of technology like F1, but what they do have is the cutting edge of preparation. The cars are so similar these days that they must be virtually perfect to run at the front and too many are not.

A visit to Hendrick's facility reveals they're more like NASA than NASA.

[strupgolf]

I think when all is said and done, maybe by the end of the season, all the NASCAR teams will be re-thinking their future. Why, because all the big players (GM FORD CHRYSLER ) will be cutting budgets big time. I think GM is on the hook for over 32 million to their teams and they cant afford it anymore. The little money will only go so far. Just my 2c

[Brew 66]

NASCAR is certainly not going to fold any day soon, but their growth has certainly slowed.

Sponsorship deals also have begun to shrink.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by Red Baron

ALMS needs to get their chit together before they start losing teams like Penske.

?????????????????? what's their problem?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Not entirely sure that NASCAR is sinking. Even if it was, going to Indy cars is like jumping into a burning lifeboat. It would be cool to see that big of a team in ALMS...

+1

I have no love in my heart for Tony George and his open-wheel-racing-destroying ego-trip.

[Red Baron]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

?????????????????? what's their problem?

The LMP2 beating the LMP1 class has been a sore subject and the LMP2 owner group is up in arms about the added weight etc. There's been rumor Penske is pulling out.

Don't get me wrong, I like the series a lot. However if I were an owner, I'd look to Rolex Grand Am series because of the great DP class in addition to the GT series. It seems to me that the Grand Am series is getting more TV revenue also.

YMMV

[URY914]

You do realize that Grand Am is NASCAR for roadracing don't you?

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Buckterrier

?????????????????? what's their problem?

Uh...ALMS has terrible color guys...they break for ads often, and the casual viewer doesn't have a clue what's going on with the various classes...only true car junkies understand what's being televised. That's the ALMS problem, IMHO...

[Noah930]

To add to the ALMS/Grand Am debate: why are the Daytona Prototypes so hideously ugly? Yes, I realize that there are mandatory cockpit dimensions around which the car must be packaged. I understand that NASCAR (and it's love for aerodynamic, yet still brickish racing cars and pickup trucks) is running the show. And I realize that a racing purist would judge the racing purely on that point--the on-track racing--versus how pretty the cars look.

But, man, those DP cars just don't excite me in any form or fashion. They're just not sexy. At all. ALMS prototypes are exotic, sleek supermodels, in comparison. They look fast even standing still, and that's a major part of the attraction for most sportscar fans (as well as non-blind people, I'd think). If you're going to the effort of writing the rules for a racing series (that you're trying to market and sell), at least write the rules so that the cars aren't mandatorily butt ugly.

[Buckterrier]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Uh...ALMS has terrible color guys...they break for ads often, and the casual viewer doesn't have a clue what's going on with the various classes...only true car junkies understand what's being televised. That's the ALMS problem, IMHO...

I agree it's hard to follow the races. But to me that's a marketing issue not a fundamental series problem. Some marketing a-hole should be able to figure out how to make it more viewer friendly. Look at Starbucks using a bunch of bull****e and they well come... "May I have a 'tall', (small), 'mocha', (chocolate), 'cafe', (coffee), vente el-grande steamed cream latee el-porko" What the hell, all I want is a friggin' cup of joe!!!!!! oops excuse my rant.

Originally Posted by Noah930

To add to the ALMS/Grand Am debate: why are the Daytona Prototypes so hideously ugly? Yes, I realize that there are mandatory cockpit dimensions around which the car must be packaged. I understand that NASCAR (and it's love for aerodynamic, yet still brickish racing cars and pickup trucks) is running the show. And I realize that a racing purist would judge the racing purely on that point--the on-track racing--versus how pretty the cars look.

But, man, those DP cars just don't excite me in any form or fashion. They're just not sexy. At all. ALMS prototypes are exotic, sleek supermodels, in comparison. They look fast even standing still, and that's a major part of the attraction for most sportscar fans (as well as non-blind people, I'd think). If you're going to the effort of writing the rules for a racing series (that you're trying to market and sell), at least write the rules so that the cars aren't mandatorily butt ugly.

Yes the Rolex DP cars are hideous.
As I stated in another post, the GT2 class of ALMS is the best on the planet. 6, soon to be 7 manufacturers and beautiful cars that you can actually tell what they are. The series has it's problems but again nothing that can't be fixed.