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Unfortunately This Is Your Grandmother’s NASCAR

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

March 24, 2011 6:34 am CDT 1 Comment

NASCAR’s Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams head back to the west coast for their now once a year trip to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California.

This race track like no other has mirrored what has become of the sport we love so much.  Like the trip to the grandmothers house that is too clean, too organized and too filled with treasures; the trip to many of NASCAR’s venues just isn’t very comfortable.

Places like Fontana, Kansas City, Iowa and Chicago have all the amenities that a fan would seem to want.  Everyone expects to have plenty of clean restrooms and lots of concession stands.  Those are givens.  Race tracks that don’t cater to those two basic needs will eventually fail.  But some tracks do a better job of making race fans feel welcome and a part of the action.

Unlike the grandmother’s house that is too clean and organized; race tracks that give the feeling of gramma’s house where the kids are on the floor, the toys are everywhere and the aunts and uncles are hanging around in the back yard, makes you want to stay and come back.

NASCAR has done a good job over the last couple of decades of making their racing seem more like a trip to grandmother’s house than a trip to gramma’s.  Going to grandmothers just isn’t as comfortable and fun as the trip to grammas.

Growing pains are always uncomfortable and NASCAR has had their share.  Some say they lost sight of their roots and abandoned their core fans for the glitz and glamor of big numbers and questionable venues. What NASCAR lost as it’s fan base exploded was the comfort and intimacy that its long time fans had grown up with; a comfort and intimacy that gramma knew how to cultivate.

NASCAR has so wanted their product to be eaten on the good china with the good silver; but all the fans want is a damn good dog on a fresh bun served on a paper plate with a cold one to wash it down.  NASCAR was ment to have some mustard dripped on the deck and hosed off; not worried about gravy on the table cloth.

Many reasons have been given for NASCAR’s decline in attendance and TV viewership over the past half-dozen years; but the most alarming sight was the lack of campers and the empty seats at Bristol this past week and the reason for it is quite simple.  NASCAR fans want to feel a part of the racing event.  They want to feel a connection to the sport and its participants; but that can’t happen as long as NASCAR continues to serve its product in a sanitized form.

The “good old days” have a short memory.  Nobody really wants to go back to the days of two or three lap lead finishes or 2×10 pine plank seats; just like no one would want gramma’s to have an outhouse.  What fans want is a connection with their sport and their heros that they feel they lost when NASCAR got rid of the back deck and built the dining room.

Lost somewhere in the growth of our sport was the realization that while the fans like to watch cars race and experience the on track show; what they really love more than anything else is their connection with their driver.  Today’s driver has been so marketed by their sponsors and PR companies that they have lost the ability to get down on the floor and play with the kids.

Making sure the sponsors are mentioned in every interview has become more important than sitting on the pit wall signing autographs and having your pictures taken with fans.  How did fans know in the seventies and eighties that Richard Petty was sponsored by STP?  There are thousands–maybe millions of pictures in fans homes of him in his STP firesuit signing autographs for everyone.

Those pictures, whether they be on paper and displayed, or just in a fans memory was what was right with NASCAR and was what made new fans fall in love with the sport.  Those memories of being down on the floor playing with the kids supercede polite conversation, using the proper fork and thanking a dizzying array of sponsors.

Sorry Grandmother–we’d rather hang out at Gramma’s this week.

Filed under: Auto Club Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, How to fix NASCAR, Iowa Speedway, NASCAR, Nascar Legends, Nationwide Series, Richard Petty Motorsports, The King 

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IndyCar Race Review: Iowa Corn Indy 250

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

June 20, 2010 6:54 pm CDT No Comments

Tony Kanaan ended a 34-race winless drought and Michael Andretti won his second race of the season after a winless 2009 as the IZOD IndyCar Series finished its first oval segment of the 2010 season with today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250.

It was the 15th career open-wheel win for Kanaan, his first since Richmond in 2008, and the first time that the Brazilian did not suffer a race-ending accident in an Iowa event. He led 62 laps, holding the point for the first time since Chicago last year.

It also marked the second race win at Iowa for Andretti Autosport, and their first since the inaugural event in 2007 with Dario Franchitti. However, neither Franchitti nor the other Andretti cars had quite the same amount of success as Kanaan; Franchitti’s transmission gave out late in the race, dropping him to 18th, while the other three Andretti cars of Ryan Hunter-Reay (8th), Danica Patrick (10th), and Marco Andretti (15th) fell off the lead lap.

Helio Castroneves held the lead with as few as a dozen laps to go, but Kanaan positioned himself perfectly for the victory, conserving 11 of his 24 allotted overtake assists for the final 11 laps. Castroneves had nine assists remaining, but they were not enough; with each assist lasting about halfway around the 7/8 mile track, Kanaan could run with extra horsepower for about the entire final segment of the race.

Castroneves had encountered issues with Kanaan earlier in the race, coming very close to his countryman on pit road early in the race. Castroneves was stuck between Kanaan and Scott Dixon racing out of the pits, overcorrected to avoid Kanaan’s left rear and careened into Dixon, giving both cars a little air. Kanaan also had a pit incident with Hunter-Reay as the American pulled into his pit.

E.J. Viso finished third, salvaging one solid finish for KV Racing Technology. Mario Moraes became a victim of Justin Wilson’s turn three spin at the beginning of the event, eliminating one of the three KV cars before anybody could even get into a rhythm. Takuma Sato, in the lead Lotus-sponsored KV car, had a fantastic run going before trailing Alex Lloyd too closely into the turns on lap 177, losing the air off his car, and sliding up into the wall.

Iowa also featured support races that went all the way down the Road to Indy ladder. In Firestone Indy Lights, former Andretti driver Sebastien Saavedra held off his replacement, Martin Plowman, for the victory. Conor Daly led all 100 laps of the Star Mazda race for his fourth consecutive victory in that series, and Sage Karam (also driving for Andretti) won his third US Formula 2000 event of the season.

Filed under: Indy Cars, Iowa Speedway 

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IndyCar Race Preview: Iowa Corn Indy 250

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by Chris Leone, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I do weekly Fantasy Pick'Em columns here at OPR, as well as the occasional opinion and analysis piece. I also provide the IZOD IndyCar Series coverage. For more on that, head to my site, OpenWheelAmerica.com. My Twitter handle is @christopherlion.

June 19, 2010 11:36 am CDT No Comments

First of all, a huge thank you to George Phillips over at Oil Pressure for the shout-out in his preview of this weekend’s race. George’s blog is one of the best and most insightful IndyCar blogs out there, and one of my personal favorites. Check out “Are Engine Failures Always a Bad Thing?” for an example of the high quality posts on the site.

Getting to the event at hand this weekend, the Iowa Corn Indy 250 will mark the fourth IZOD IndyCar Series event at the 7/8 mile Iowa Speedway. Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 10 Dallara-Honda has won the past two events, with Dan Wheldon taking the checkers in 2008 and Dario Franchitti last year. Points leader Franchitti, who also won the event in 2007, can use the weekend to open up a gap in points over second-place Will Power, whose only Iowa experience yielded a ninth-place finish. Meanwhile, teammate Scott Dixon has a solid average finish of 6.3 at the track with two top five finishes.

But Iowa has the potential to produce a surprise winner, even if it hasn’t happened yet in the race’s three-year history. In two races at the track, Hideki Mutoh has finishes of second and third place, respectively. His prowess at the track could lead to a bump for his Newman/Haas Racing team, as they are mired at 18th in points. But a strong finish for Mutoh, combined with some bad luck for his immediate leaders in points, could mathematically elevate him to as high as 12th.

While Ganassi usually takes the checkers, Andretti Autosport also knows its way around Iowa. Andretti cars finished 1-2 in 2007, had three drivers in the top six in 2008, and a best finish of third last year with Mutoh. Tony Kanaan led 48 laps last year before a crash took him out of the event, and Marco Andretti has challenged for the win at Iowa multiple times in the past. An Andretti car could feasibly end Ganassi’s streak of wins at the track come Sunday.

It will also be interesting to see how a handful of drivers will approach the Iowa event this weekend. What will Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal do with their one-week reprieves to get back in the series? Hunter-Reay has sponsorship from the American ethanol industry once again, a partnership that paid dividends in the past, and Rahal will replace the injured Mike Conway at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Both drivers will want solid finishes to secure rides as early as possible for Watkins Glen.

How will Simona de Silvestro handle her first race after the Texas wreck? This has nothing to do with the fact that de Silvestro was cleared to drive just a couple of days after the incident. A bad crash like that can alter a driver’s psyche, and make them less willing to engage in daring maneuvers on the track. If de Silvestro begins to fear another fiery wreck - as most of us would - she might be slow on this, one of the trickier tracks in the IZOD IndyCar Series. It will be interesting to see how she runs this weekend.

Finally, will there be a breakout rookie at Iowa? Mutoh sure was in 2008, finishing second, but more often than not, rookies populate the bottom of the results. Iowa’s unconventional length and layout prove tricky for the series’ less experienced drivers and veterans alike, but the added caveat of Iowa being the only short track on the schedule could cause plenty of headaches for inexperienced drivers who haven’t handled the Dallaras on smaller tracks. Expect about half of this year’s rookie class to tear up some equipment.

Filed under: Indy Cars, Iowa Speedway 

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Countdown to J-Day at Dover

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by Matt Mercer, Special To NASCAR commentary and driver pictures, 2011 NASCAR schedule, video, Bench Racing With Steve and Charlie

I'm the former blogger of The Catfish Show NASCAR Blog and a contributor to On Pit Row. Follow me on Twitter: @mattmercer

May 29, 2008 1:14 pm CDT 3 Comments

The countdown to Joey Logano’s debut at Dover can be counted in hours now. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won all he can in lower levels, including Hooters ProCup at the age of 15, outdueling Kevin Harvick in an East-West Touring Series showdown in Iowa at the age of 16, winning the Busch East championship (and 6 races in the process) at the age of 17, and a dominant performance in his ARCA debut earlier this month at Rockingham, all the while testing Gibbs cars across the country. The hype machine has been in overdrive for Logano for a while now, and his debut will come at a challenging track, Dover’s 1-mile concrete oval.

For a lot of fans that pay attention to the lower series and have their eye on the next big driver, Logano has been on the radar for a few years now. When Mark Martin made his first of many retirement announcements, he proclaimed the driver he wanted to see take over his car – in 2005, mind you – was then-15 year-old Joey Logano. That was heady praise for someone few had heard of, and set off a bidding war for his services. (A bit of an aside: Logano had signed a deal with Roush in 2005 to become a development driver, and used an old Martin car to test. Then, Joe Gibbs Racing stepped in and signed a contract with his father, and in effect “stole” Logano from the Roush camp.) In every series and every car he has strapped himself into, this kid has only gotten better. The true test will come, and it will come soon. It seems that every few years the storyline shifts to a new “phenom” making their debut in the #2 series as soon as they turn 18. The first of these was Kyle Busch’s 2003 debut at Charlotte in May, a race in which he ran impressively and led a good portion of the race before recording a strong finish. Fast forward a year or two later, and that phenom was Reed Sorenson making his debut in the #41 at Atlanta, and running in the top 5 most of the day. In those cases, the youngsters ran extremely well.

From everything that I’ve seen about his schedule, he is slated for 18 races from now until the end of the season. In my estimation, he’ll be making a Sprint Cup start before the Chase begins. But it all begins this weekend.

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Busch Series, Chase for the Cup, Iowa Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Lowes Motor Speedway, Mark Martin, NASCAR, Nationwide Series, Roush Racing, Sprint Cup Series 

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ARCA Young Guns are connected to NASCAR Teams

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

April 19, 2008 9:22 pm CDT No Comments

Twenty year old Matt Hawkins wins in his ARCA ReMax Series debut at Iowa Speedway.

Untitled PostARCA’s premier series is perfectly suited to NASCAR owners for the development of their younger talent. Roush-Fenway Racing is using the series to develop #99 Ricky Stenhouse Bill Davis Racing has two drivers using the unique series to give #28 Michael Annett and #02 Bobby Santos some much needed heavy-car experience.

Chase Austin is a Rusty Wallace Inc. driver. Also running the ARCA series is Landon Cassill, driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Michael Waltrip Racing has Ken Butler III running #22 Toyota’s for Eddie Sharp Racing. Also in a ESR Camry is former F1 driver #2 Scott Speed with his ties to Red Bull Racing.

Not all drivers listed are running a full ARCA schedule and some NASCAR teams may add or change drivers at a later date. Be sure to check out arcaracing.com to get a look into all the drivers, developmental or not, in the ARCA ReMax Series.

photo credit: arcaracing.com

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Eddie Sharp Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Inside ARCA, Iowa Speedway, Red Bull Racing, Roush Racing, Rusty Wallace, The Waltrips 

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It’s an Off Week with Plenty of Racing Action.

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

April 17, 2008 11:16 pm CDT 4 Comments

This weekend has the potential for being one of my favorite race weekends of the year–even without a Sprint Cup race.

ARCA tech from IowaThe racing will be hot and heavy this Saturday as the ARCA Remax Series heads to Iowa Speedway. Iowa has become one of race drivers favorite tracks in its short history. ARCA Remax Series points leader Justin Allgaier was this weeks guest on INSIDE ARCA, fresh off his win at Salem Speedway at the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 presented by Federated Auto Parts. Allgaier is looking forward to racing at the .875 mile progressively banked oval.

Allgaier will face stiff competition from Michael Annett, as he looks for his third consecutive win. Annett has won the last two races he has entered in the ARCA Remax Series at Talladega in 2007 and the season opener at Daytona this year. Annett is a DeMoines, IA native and thus feels he has a home town advantage.

“I expect to run up front,” said Annett. “I have a lot of confidence in myself and the equipment I’m in. As competitive as the ARCA RE/MAX Series is, to run up front you’ve got to be with a good team. I ran my first three ARCA races with Country Joe Racing, and now with Bill Davis Racing, so I’ve always been with really good teams. I put pressure on myself. I’m with an excellent team now; everything’s in place. It’s up to me from here.”

Also looking to get back on track, both literally and figuratively, is 19 year old Ali Owens who suffered several broken bones in a motorcycle accident in March.

“When the doctor told me that I might miss Iowa I thought no way,” said Owens, driver of the No. 12 ElectrifyingCareers.com Chevrolet. “I focused all my energy on recovery. I worked as hard as I could with my trainer and followed my doctor’s orders and everything worked out. I feel great.”

Great racing and interesting personalities is what ARCA is all about. Combine those with a terrific race track and the 1:30pm ET start time on SPEED with INSIDE ARCA’s insider, Phil Parsons, can’t be missed.

Sunday’s action shifts south of the border to the Mexico City race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Joining the usual cast of Nationwide characters will be Scott Pruett, Boris Said, Patrick Carpentier, Sam Hornish, Jr., and Max Papis. Last year’s last lap shunt involving Pruett and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya had fans talking for weeks. While Montoya will not race in Mexico City in 2008, fans can expect similar thrills as veteran Australian road racer Marcos Ambrose is one of the Nationwide Series regulars to watch.

No Cup race–but this is going to be a fun weekend. I predict no fuel mileage runs in these races. Chances are there will be some good hard nose racing.

photo credit: arcaracing.com

Filed under: ARCA Remax Series, Boris Said, Inside ARCA, Iowa Speedway, Marcos Ambrose, Nationwide Series, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio, Sam Hornish Jr 

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