Young drivers touted as cure to what ails NASCAR
Worried about declining numbers, NASCAR stopped providing attendance estimates at its races a half-decade ago.
According to SportsMediaWatch.com, 11 of NASCAR’s 13 points races this season have tied or established either decade-low or all-time-low TV ratings.
Considering that doublebarreled blast of bad news, there might not be a worse time for one of the most popular drivers in the history of the sport to hang up his fireproof suit and helmet.
Not so, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who says an emerging youth movement may be the cure for the organization founded in 1948.
“There’s no hiding from the numbers,” said Earnhardt. “But I feel like personalities have always driven the popularity of the sport and we’ve got some guys coming up who are not afraid to be themselves, to be genuine, and it shows in their interaction with the fans.”
Earnhardt certainly brings to the debate an unmatched level of credibility.
Though he’ll almost certainly retire at the end of this season as one of the most successful drivers (26 career wins) to have never won a season championship, the public’s devotion to Earnhardt, 42, has never wavered. Fans have voted him NASCAR’s most popular driver each of the past 14 years — second only to Bill Elliott’s record 16 popularity awards.
And while Earnhardt’s tradition-rich — and tragedy-touched — surname no doubt factors into the equation, he thinks the Elliott name may soon return to the top of NASCAR popularity polls.
“I bet his son (Chase) does,” Earnhardt said. “I think Chase will be the guy, but (Ryan) Blaney is pulling together quite the fan base, too.
“I really like Chase (21 years old) and Blaney (23) and Erik Jones (21) and Daniel Suarez (25). And that’s just the young guys. You’ve also got Brad Keselowski (33) and Joey Logano (27), a lot of guys in their late 20s, early 30s who are going to be around another 10 years.”
Just the fact that Earnhardt can rattle off that many names represents progress.
“It was thin there for a while, maybe one new driver a year, but in the last couple years a lot have come in,” he said. “They have a different type of attitude and personality and are a lot more clever with social media, which is a major way to build the fan base and interact — especially with the younger demographic, which we’re missing out on.”
Earnhardt doesn’t excuse himself from bearing some of the blame for the diminished interest.
“Blaney, for example, if they need him to go to New York and do ‘Good Morning America,’ these shows that are outside the box, he’s not going to complain. Me and other guys, we didn’t want to do that, we just want to race. But he’s the kind of guy who says, ‘You want me to do that, I’ll do that.’ Fans then see his personality and that can only help us.”