FUMES

October 24, 2012

An open letter to Mike Helton.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 10/22, 10:00 a.m.) Detroit. Mike Helton, NASCAR's president, has been leading the organization since 1999, some of the most tumultuous years for the largest and most visibly popular form of motorsport in the United States. He has experienced the depths of tragedy with the death of Dale Earnhardt and the elation of triumph as NASCAR achieved unheard of national popularity in its heyday, roughly from 2003 to 2007. NASCAR continues to be the most popular form of motorsport by far in this country, and by a wide margin. I find Mike to be personable and a real gentleman, and he is an eloquent representative for NASCAR. The man genuinely cares about the sport and the people in it. So I thought it might be a good time to reach out to Mike and share a few thoughts with him on the current state of NASCAR and the future possibilities for the sport.

Dear Mike,

I first want to congratulate you and extend my best wishes to your team on the dramatic change to the look and feel of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars coming for next season. The new cars are sensational looking and they will go a long way to rekindle the interest of some of the sport's most ardent supporters who have wandered off in recent years because of the visually lackluster Car of Tomorrow. The pictures and video of the new cars only convey part of the story because the in-person look and feel will catch race fans by surprise, and in a good way.

With the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt, it was to be expected that NASCAR would react to make the cars - and tracks - as safe as possible, and your organization did a superb job in addressing the safety issues. But it's also no secret that by embracing the CoT, a good bit of appeal and brand character were lost from the sport. Now that you have addressed that (and with remarkable cooperation and coordination among the manufacturers), I think the look and feel of the Sprint Cup series next year will definitely be stronger, more viable and more appealing.

As for the current state of NASCAR, some positives can be pointed to. The new TV contract is certainly one of them. The insatiable need for programming by these networks has served to bolster NASCAR's standing, even though the TV viewing numbers and in-person race attendance are down from your glory days. And to the traditional stick-and-ball media outlets in this country NASCAR is the only racing that matters, with the Indianapolis 500 being the one true exception to that rule. How the new F1 race in Austin will be received remains to be seen, but day-in and day-out, NASCAR equals racing in this country.

As for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, I know you can point to it as something that's still overwhelmingly positive, but personally I'm not so sure. Is there a better way to go about it? I would think you and your team have investigated any number of ways to improve the year-end quest for the Sprint Cup. I would keep striving to improve it, but then, I have some thoughts on other ways to improve NASCAR as well.

1. The Restrictor Plate Thing. Even the most casual race fans out there understand the need for the use of restrictor plates on the "big" tracks. No one wants to see a car go into a grandstand and frankly, this sport couldn't survive a tragedy on the scale of the disastrous incident at Le Mans in 1955. When Bobby Allison went into the catch fencing at Talladega years ago, everyone involved in the sport knew right then and there that an incident like that could never be repeated. You've come close with a few incidents since, but thank goodness a major incident hasn't occurred. But that doesn't mean that one won't occur, or that restrictor plate racing is good, or acceptable, or even racing for that matter.

I keep hearing from the NASCAR camp that "it's what the fans want." Really? I'm not buying that. I don't believe for one second that driving around in packs at 200 mph for 490 miles and then wrecking half the field is what fans want or what constitutes as a "race." NASCAR must fix this once and for all. The teams have specific cars for every track configuration, so why not radically change the specs of your super speedway cars? Why not enlist the manufacturers to come up with a package using smaller displacement engines that would also serve to showcase their advanced production technologies? You worked with the manufacturers closely to come up with the new bodywork for 2013, why not continue that working relationship and come up with a solution for the big tracks? Maybe this formula just might work: Smaller Displacement + Advanced Production Technologies + Full Throttle Control = Real (and Better) Racing on the super speedways. I view this is the single highest priority on NASCAR's "to-do" list, Mike. Just doing it the way it has always been done is a recipe for disaster and a future tragedy. And no one wants to see that.

2. The Schedule Thing. I understand that the relationships with track owners and promoters in NASCAR go way back and are part of the fabric of the sport. And I respect that. NASCAR was built on these relationships. But come on, we now live in an era when International Speedway Corporation and Speedway Motorsports control the majority of the tracks that NASCAR races on, and the NASCAR schedule is unwieldy, repetitive and far too predictable. Back when the sport was being built in the southeast, NASCAR raced two and sometimes three times a week, at the same tracks week in and week out. And I get that too. But times are radically different today.

Like every other sport, NASCAR is competing for the entertainment dollar. And the sport has gotten frightfully expensive for the average fan. Cheap motels with jacked-up rates and three-day minimums have left a bad taste in people's mouths. Your attendance is lagging everywhere, with the most glaring examples of that being Charlotte a few weeks ago - in the heart of the NASCAR industry no less - and Talladega. What does that suggest to you? That it was just a couple of bad patches and things will turn around? Wrong. It can't even be written off as an annoying short-lived trend either, for it's clearly the new reality for NASCAR.

What can be done about it? Well, for one thing, by having too many races with repeat visits at the same tracks you have diluted your product, plain and simple. You have taken the specialness of attending a NASCAR race away. I suggest a new axiom to live by: "Give the people what they want, just don't give them too much of it." Because in this case too much of a good thing is not a good thing. What does that mean? Reduce the number of races by 20 percent. Reduce the double visits to tracks. Start being smarter about your product. Yes, for all intents and purposes NASCAR is the only motorsports game in town but you have reached the point of oversaturation. NASCAR marketers seem to operate with the conviction that they're the smartest guys in the room. Well, then be smart. What is the number one problem with the NHL and the NBA? Ridiculous, meaningless schedules that are too long and that render their regular seasons completely meaningless.

If NASCAR and its marketing team really want to appear smart, start looking at a 30-race schedule, or even a 25-race schedule. Make attending a NASCAR race special again. Make fans realize that you won't be back in six weeks and that they better book their reservations and tickets now because it's their only chance to see the Sprint Cup circus this year. It's simply exploiting the fundamental laws of supply and demand. And by addressing this death march of a schedule currently in place you'll be doing wonders for your sport in the long haul.

3. The Racing Thing. I have to hand it to you and your team again, because the competition has never been closer. I know you and your team have worked very hard on that, and it shows. And you're to be commended for that. But the racing, much like the schedule, is lackluster and boring. Part of that is due to the sameness of the tracks. The NASCAR track build frenzy seemed to be needed at the time, but when you finally stopped to think about it, what did you accomplish?  Too many tracks with similar configurations, which resulted in predictably boring racing. And there's nothing good about it.

My solution? First of all, you need more road races. This just in: It's the best racing on your schedule. Period. I would add three road races to the two you already have at Sears Point and Watkins Glen, without adding to the number of races. Where to start? Eliminate the double visits to Pocono and Michigan. With NASCAR's purchase of the ALMS by Grand-Am to form ISCAR you already have Road Atlanta in the fold, so why not race there? And your Nationwide competitors rave about running at Road America, so why not race there as part of The Chase? Why not two road races in The Chase for that matter, eliminating the dreaded 1.5-mile cookie-cutter speedways wherever possible? One of my problems with The Chase is that it just drones on, a numbing repeat of the regular season. How to fix that? Shake things up. Walk away from the status quo and inject life into your sport. Remove the predictability and you will increase fan and media interest exponentially.

Speaking of shaking things up, NASCAR qualifying is the most boring thing in all of motorsport. That's not even an arguable point. It is, and you and your team and the racing teams know it. So why not change things up a little, or, make that a lot? Here's an experiment for you to contemplate. Pick one of your 1.5-mile races next year and first of all, utilizing a two-day weekend schedule, have practice as usual on Saturday, but instead of qualifying that day, Sunday becomes the day. On Sunday, you have two 125-mile qualifying heat races (with one mandatory pit stop), one for odd numbered cars, the other for even numbered cars. Then, after a half-hour break and based on the finishes in the qualifying races, the field lines up for a 125-mile sprint race (again with one mandatory pit stop) for points toward the Sprint Cup. You could award some points for the top finishers in the qualifying races and a lot of details would have to be worked out in terms of the use of back-up cars, etc., but I will guarantee you that it will ratchet-up fan interest by a bunch.

4. The Technology Thing. It's no secret that NASCAR has been dragged into the future reluctantly and at almost every turn. Before you got on board with ethanol, you were a decade late in embracing unleaded fuel, and you viewed any sort of push for new technology (fuel-injection, just to name one thing) as anathema to everything NASCAR stands for. Fortunately, you've changed. In your quest to build safer cars and safer tracks your organization has embraced some of the leading safety technologies available, and you're to be applauded for doing so. But it isn't enough. Take a good look at the technology solution for the big tracks that I proposed in Point 1 (above), and you and your team should use that as a thought starter for NASCAR as a whole. Finally adding electronic fuel injection was a minute step but now, take a look at what your manufacturers are doing for their production cars and start working on the inclusion of Direct Fuel-Injection as your next bit of technology. It's one way to keep the manufacturers interested and it's another way to keep NASCAR relevant. The other critical piece of technology that I believe NASCAR should embrace ASAP is on-board telemetry. It's silly to pretend that this piece of technology doesn't exist or that it would be too expensive, because those aren't good enough reasons not to include it. On-board telemetry would be interesting to the race fans viewing on TV and the Internet, and again, it would keep NASCAR relevant to the manufacturers. NASCAR could do itself a giant favor by embracing the technological future. (As an aside, I would switch to on-board jacking systems and fueling rigs for greater pit lane safety, too, while we're at it.)

Mike, I think that NASCAR has been given a giant reprieve with the new television contracts. Your fan base has been eroding, the TV viewing numbers are down, and your in-person attendance has become a glaring negative and an embarrassment. So why not take some risks? Why not investigate some new solutions and embrace new technologies? Why not change things up with the way you go about your racing? Why not purge the predictability and the boring racing from your race weekends? Why do you have to do things the way you've always done them? If it's not working - and it most assuredly is not - why not refocus on making the racing as good as it can be and frankly, shake things up?

I view NASCAR as a blank canvas right now. We've seen the boom, experienced the long slide back, and now we're at a crossroads. You have slick-looking cars coming in 2013 but beyond that, which direction will NASCAR go, Mike?

Will NASCAR re-up for another bout of "because we've always done it that way" sameness that most likely will accelerate the downward spiral? Or will NASCAR vigorously embrace change and The Future and transform itself into one of the most relevant racing entities in the world?

I get it, Mike. I really do. As a longtime racing enthusiast and active participant in the backroom deals that keep this sport percolating, I understand that by sheer force of will NASCAR has become what most people consider to be racing in the U.S. And I acknowledge - at least to some degree anyway - that there is plenty to like about NASCAR, especially when you happen to get things right. But that's not always the case and it doesn't happen frequently enough.

And you're the one guy who can push for relevant changes and make things really exciting again.

I wish you the best of luck, but please do something.

Thanks for listening.

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Dave Friedman, courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives and Wieck Media)
Riverside, California, January 16, 1977. David Pearson (No. 21 Wood Brothers Purolator Mercury) heading for the win in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway on the 2.62-mile road course. Cale Yarborough (No. 11 Junior Johnson Holly Farms Chevrolet) was second, and Richard Petty (No. 43 Petty Enterprises STP Dodge) finished third. Pearson averaged 107.038 mph over the 311.8-mile race distance, and there were no full course cautions. The David Pearson/Wood Brothers combination was one of the most successful in NASCAR history. Pearson, a NASCAR Hall of Fame driver, drove for the team from 1972 to 1979. In only seven years together Pearson and the Wood Brothers entered 143 races, winning 43 races and 51 poles. The Wood Brothers have fielded only Ford Motor Company products since 1950, which is the longest association of any motorsports team with a single manufacturer. The Wood Brothers also have won at least one race in every decade for the last six decades, an unprecedented feat. Glen and Leonard Wood are both in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

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