By Jarrod Breeze, NASCAR.COM
December 4, 2007
02:09 PM EST
I am a middle man. In fact, I am a man with a middle that is much bigger than it should. Shame on me. (Note to self, three words: New Year's resolution.)
As many fans of NASCAR have let it be known, I should be ashamed for my profession. All of us at NASCAR.COM should. We just spent the last week exalting the virtues of Jimmie Johnson, et al, and NASCAR during Champions Week.
Send Jarrod your thoughts
Yet not everyone is pleased that Johnson and the 48 team are champions, and NASCAR for what the fans perceive as a slap-on-the-wrist for a repeat offender of major rules violations. Crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for the second consecutive season.
'Cheat or go home'
• "It looks like NASCAR rewards cheating. Two years this team got busted for cheating and two years it won the championship. It's hard for me to tell my kids to do things the right way when people like Johnson, Knaus and Hendrick break the rules and get rewarded. It amazes me how you reporters can write all of this good stuff about these people."
• "Any infraction severe enough to warrant a penalty for which the primary car-preparer is fined and banned from the track for multiple events should automatically make that team ineligible for contending for a championship. So, by all means, laud the driving skills of Jimmie Johnson, he has the talent, no denying that. At the same time, recognize that cheating hurts the sport much more than helping it. He is a cheat, that is the clear and documented truth."
• "The subject of cheating is rarely mentioned let alone addressed by the media regarding the No. 48 team. Chad Knaus is NASCAR's most incessant and notorious cheater."
We didn't create the scene from New York City, we just reported on it. That's our job, and the responsibility of this Web site. We also encourage fans of NASCAR to interact through e-mails, polls, message boards, community forums, etc.
You have. The thoughts expressed by the aforementioned e-mailers are not of one dissenting voice. Rather, several have pause for concern regarding the current state of the sport.
'Shooting themselves in the foot once again'
• "I have a lot of questions which I really do need some answers ... what the heck is going on with NASCAR Cup racing?"
• "NASCAR seems to make the most-simplest thing the most hard."
• "NASCAR will start losing the battle if they continue with this crap."
I feel it is now my responsibility to pass along some of these thoughts to the governing body. I know they will read it. They always do, and when they see something they don't like they let our managing editor know about it. It happens more often than you might think. They are not going to like this.
But, remember, I am the middle man here. I'm merely taking some of the overwhelming thoughts some of the fans have expressed to me and presenting them in this open -- and surely debatable
Based on the structure of the current points system, Jimmie Johnson is champion. NASCAR wanted to put a greater reward on winning in 2007. Johnson won two more races than his nearest competitor in the 26-race "regular season." He also had two more victories than his closest pursuer in the 10-race "playoff."
Both times he bettered Jeff Gordon, whose record-setting consistency went by the wayside. It was the second time in the four years of the Chase that Gordon had a seemingly insurmountable lead erased.
'Gordon is a six-time champion'
• "Jimmie Johnson did not raise the bar [as I wrote]. It was lowered for him thanks to the Chase. If he would have been the dominant driver that most of you so-called experts say he is, he wouldn't have been 400 points behind Gordon after 26 races."
• "Jimmie only beat Jeff due to a flawed points system."
• "I'll tell you why winning does not reflect the best team or driver, because winning at NASCAR happens a lot of the time just because someone else has bad luck Only an entire season's performance can be used to crown a true winner. Thank you, Jeff, for the best overall team this year."
It seems apparent the Chase is about as popular as the BCS. Ask those in Norman, Okla., Blacksburg, Va., Athens, Ga., Columbia, Mo., Los Angeles or even Honolulu how they feel about college football's championship format. Of course, the BCS is not a playoff; NASCAR tends to label its Chase as such.
Perhaps fans didn't lobby for a Chase. But most everyone would agree that wins needed to account for something more than a, "Good job, buddy." It's a fine line -- or in this case groove on the track -- that NASCAR hasn't been able to find to appeal the masses.
'No one asked for the Chase'
• "What once was the NASCAR Cup championship has now become the NASCAR Cup Chase championship! What once was a season champion is now a playoff champion."
• "I think this playoff method that NASCAR came up with is garbage, go back to the old points system."
• "Points artificially conceived by NASCAR. How fair and exciting is that and how can you take the points seriously?"
A perusal of the differing opinions on NASCAR -- and no, not all were negative, just most -- got me to thinking. Auto racing unlike any other sport is a spectacle. The twists and turns during a Sunday afternoon or night under the lights should be enough for NASCAR and fans alike. It's not.
Instead of being a spectacle, NASCAR is increasingly making a spectacle of itself. The proverbial brain surgeon or rocket scientist couldn't interpret these rules, some of which seem to be made up as they go along.
'It's a joke'
• "NASCAR wonders why they are losing fans. One big reason why -- they do whatever they want. I think its time that us the fans get to see the real infractions. I want to see the template on the illegal car, I want to see the illegal intake manifold. I know what they look like. I don't need to see a replica ... we want to see what the infraction is. We want close-up pics and an explanation from NASCAR officials, not Rusty Wallace. These guys have to be accountable, on both sides."
• "It's dirty, every call is at NASCAR's discretion and the poster boy who is dominating is putting us all to sleep. If anyone thinks this is exciting you are as boring as J.J. and Chad combined."
• "I really do like Jimmie. I just like a sport that has real rules."
NASCAR, meet your fans. Listen to them, too. Some have good suggestions. They do this because they love what NASCAR throughout the years has come to represent, not what NASCAR has become.
Indeed, the natives are restless.
'I will give it one more year'
• "I am so pissed off about this whole thing that I am considering boycotting NASCAR altogether. I took my family, five of us, to all of the California and Vegas races for the last 5 years, but those days are over. I spent close to $25,000 on hotels, food, souvenirs, transportation, and feel betrayed for what they did to me, as a fan. NASCAR will feel the pain when I don't watch the races, when I don't spend my money. Why should I? Unless something is done to right this wrong, I am not going back."
• "With the races becoming less competitive each year and the ever increasing prices for tickets, hotels, food, etc., NASCAR is making it harder and harder for the normal Joe to attend the races. I for one can find a lot of other ways to spend my $10,000 a year I spend on NASCAR."
• "It appears as though we are losing sight of an American sport in stock-car racing. I hope not. I grew up at the track as my father was a driver and mostly an engine builder and it was all a big family ... now days it seems to be getting too big for comfort."
NASCAR too big for its britches? For those outside the Southeast, britches are pants. It's an old expression. Most of you, I know, have heard it and might even use it today.
To sum up things: NASCAR is big; the fans are little. And here I am, stuck in the middle.
'Maybe so in your eyes'
• "The love triangle between NASCAR, HMS and the media would be funny if it was not so pathetic."
• "You guys aren't going to be able to make the NASCAR fan base buy into the drivel you're trying to sell.
• "This NASCAR site and Hendrick's thing is like CNN reporting on politics ... they both require Alka Seltzer after ingesting."
Myself, I need something stronger than Alka Seltzer. I have already been accused of taking a drink of the "NASCAR Kool-Aid." Does anyone have the antidote? After all, don't blame the middle man.
Some of the opinions expressed are solely of the writer.
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