At 70, NASCAR has lost some luster, but still kicking
Born in 1948 as a confederation of moonshiners and roughnecks, NASCAR turns 70 at the drop of a white flag at Daytona on Sunday.
The drivers who turned laps on the hard sand of Daytona Beach in February 1948 would scarcely recognize the grand sweep of the modern Daytona 500.
But today’s drivers — a more buttoned-down, geographically diverse class — also have reason to wonder about the relative health of their septuagenarian sport.
From a peak at the beginning of this century, when Forbes hailed NASCAR as “America’s fastest-growing professional sport,” stock-car racing recently has endured eroding television ratings, declining attendance and a drain of marketable stars.
NASCAR’s biggest series opens its season with uncertainty in its title: The Monster Energy company has remained mum on whether it will underwrite the series beyond this year.
And, despite the denials of the founding France family, rumors of a potential NASCAR sale will not go away. “Many believe a sale or major consolidation is the best hope for a sport in dire need of reimagining and innovation,” Sports Business Daily reported last week.
Asked about the state of their sport, drivers have offered the kind of stubborn commentary common to any 70-year-old: We might not be what we used to be, but we’re still here, still kicking, and that’s a major accomplishment.
“The sport’s not going away tomorrow,” said 2012 series-champion winner Brad Keselowski. “We’re still on the airplane; we just might not be sitting in first-class seats. I’m thankful for that.”
Added Kasey Kahne, who was shuffled to a lesser team this season amid shrinking sponsorships, “When I first came into it, you’d go to any racetrack, and the grandstands would be packed. We don’t have as many of those anymore. I wish we could get back to that for that excitement level. But I still think the racing is very good.”
Brian France, NASCAR’s CEO, remains optimistic, touting fairly recent format changes such as the evolution of the chase to the championship playoffs and building stage racing into events to goose competition. He pointed to the potential of a new wave of young drivers, including a dash of diversity, as a remedy for the retirement of stars such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon.
“We like where we’re at, and we like where we’re going,” France said.
In the alternative universe of racing, the biggest event happens at the start of the season. And Sunday’s Daytona 500 highlights the changes that NASCAR is undergoing at age 70.
The popular No. 88 car is on the pole, but instead of Earnhardt at the wheel, it will be his 24-year-old replacement, Alex Bowman. Dale Jr.’s presence will be merely ceremonial, as the race’s grand marshal.
The No. 43 car made famous by Richard Petty will be driven by Bubba Wallace, the Cup series’ only black driver.
As Danica Patrick makes what is presumed to be her final NASCAR run Sunday, Mexico’s Daniel Suarez, after compiling more top-10 finishes last year (12) than Patrick did in six years (seven), will start his second 500.
The turnover of drivers has left the sport hungry for a new star on which to anchor. Chase Elliott, the son of legend Bill Elliott, is being groomed for that position. His ascension awaits one little detail: winning his first race.
Even as the sport sought its bright new face, it was a 37-yearold journeyman, Martin Truex Jr., who won the series championship in 2017.
“We all have different pressure that’s put on us. This new generation, there is different pressure,” said seven-time series champion Jimmie Johnson. “There are a lot of big names that have stepped down, some shoes to fill, a fan base to kind of feed into.”
In the meantime, ideas for other changes that might jump-start NASCAR are not in short supply.
■ Shorter races: “I think that’s common among fans and drivers — some of these races that are 4½ hours are just too long,” said 2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray.
■ A shorter season: The 2018 schedule runs from Feb. 18 to Nov. 18. “If we raced twice in a week in the summer months — when the weather’s great and kids are out of school — I think that’s a great opportunity,” Keselowski said. “There’s no reason for us to compete so frequently with the NFL in the fall months.”
■ A willingness to shake up things: “We need to create events. We need to create moments,” 2014 series champion Kevin Harvick said. “For example, I think there needs to be a rotation of the championship race. I don’t think that we should go to Homestead/Miami every year. I think it gets stale.”
■ Better leadership: “What would I change? I would change it to where the leader of the sport was at the racetrack every weekend,” said Keselowski, who’s not the first to criticize France’s frequent absences.
What sprang from a three-day meeting at Daytona Beach’s Streamline Hotel between Bill France Sr. and other racing figures more than 70 years ago is in a continuing state of flux.
Racing is “not as big as it was in 2006, but it’s always really big,” Harvick said. “You’re going to go to the Daytona 500, and you’re still going to have 100,000 people (if not more) in the grandstands. It’s all relative.”