NASCAR is tired of hearing the negative message some of the stock car sport’s driving stars have been sending to fans lately. Too many complaints about the new generation car, bumpy race tracks and numerous other things, and not enough positive reinforcement for fans.
NASCAR president Mike Helton held a “mandatory” meeting Friday morning for drivers and the team owners who already were on hand at Michigan International Speedway. Things apparently reached a critical mass last week at Pocono, where it appeared nobody was happy about the rough track or the so-called “Car of Tomorrow” that is still being developed, or the intense heat that had many drivers near exhaustion after a 500-mile race most of them believe should be no longer than 400 miles.
Apparently, the main bone of contention is the almost constant grumbling over the new car, a more uniform construction intended to cut costs for the teams and enhance competition on track. It was introduced last season, after seven years of development by NASCAR and the teams, with a 16-race schedule before running for the full season in 2008.
The complaint level hit a season high in the wake of Pocono, and Helton reacted.
“He wanted to remind our drivers about their responsibility to the fans,” said NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter. “He felt it has become a negative environment and reminded them to think about the fans, what they are facing, the rising cost of gas and the hardships, particularly in an area like this that has been hit so hard by the economy.”
I agree. There entirely too many complaints about the cars. They are only in their second year of driving the cars. They need to giv it time for the engineers to fix the problems. Some of these tracks haven't been run by the Car of Tomorrow yet. After this season, they will have done some changes that might make the drivers happy.
They complain that the tracks are too bumpy. Well, not everything can be perfect! Right? I don't know what they expect when they are running 200 mph with almost no springs (because they want the car close to the ground) to make it a smooth ride. If the rough spots were throwing the cars all over the place, I could see the complaints.
I know they're complaining about the heat and I'm sure NASCAR is going to figure out how to help keep the drivers cooler. Like they are doing some plastic style seats (I can't remember the name of it) that will help a lot. IF they can figure out a way to keep the heat coming from the floor down, that would be a big plus.
I think the drivers need to just settle down and let them figure out what is needed and how to deliver it. They will get it as close to perfect as they can, but be patient. The fans aren't going anywhere. We will be there no matter what.
Here's some quotes from some of the drivers:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“My interpretation was the drivers should be thankful for the position they’re in and should be more positive about where this car is going to be in a year or two.I was pretty critical, overly critical at times. The only reason drivers are like that is we feel like our best avenue is through the media because it’s very effective."
Greg Biffle
“I think it was (NASCAR) saying, ‘Hey, we haven’t raced this car at all the tracks yet’ was the message.We haven’t been to Michigan with it, we haven’t been to Chicago and all these other places with the car yet. So don’t jump to conclusions prior to actually seeing what it’s going to be like. So, I think it was more like, ‘Hey, let’s wait and see.’ This is our first year with this car. Like they said, they’re making a commitment to keep working on the car or working with the teams to make the racing better. If we need to make an adjustment, I don’t think they’re against making adjustments as we go with this car.”
Denny Hamlin
“I took that they are just frustrated that they’re not getting a fair shake from us drivers. We’re jumping to conclusions a little too soon and not giving this car enough time to develop.”
What do y'all think?