France blames NASCAR’s downfall on Earnhardt
117 Comments Quote selected text Published November 29th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Overall NASCAR television ratings were down about 13 percent in 2007 as compared to 2006. But NASCAR chairman Brian France said during a Reuters Media Summit in New York Tuesday that he was not worried NASCAR’s popularity is slowing.
“The margin of error for all the sports to manage their business smarter is more narrow,” France said.
But France also pointed to the failure of NASCAR’s most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., to have a strong season hurt the sport’s television ratings.
“It would have helped if he would have been competitive,” said France. “He didn’t win an event and he certainly didn’t make our playoffs. And that’s unhelpful if you’re trying to build ratings.”
France said double champion Jimmie Johnson might be the NASCAR’s next star despite his laid-back personality.
“The storylines we talk about are driven by rivalries, driven by personalities, and they’re also driven by dominance. Dynasties are all not bad for sports.
“Jimmie’s in the early stages of what may be a dynasty. He’s back-to-back champion in the stiffest of competition.
“But has he gotten to the status of Dale Earnhardt Senior?” France said. “Of course not. It takes a long time and your personality has to come out there too.”
France called Johnson “the Tom Brady of NASCAR,” in reference to the clean-cut quarterback of the New England Patriots.
“He’s a California good-looking guy that does everything perfectly,” he said. “That’s his style.”
Thats the most funniest thing I’ve heard in a while… He needs to take a look at why the ratings Really dropped and I know It isn’t because of Jr.. What a well u know…
this dude is a blown out O ring!!
I dont see one driver hurting the rateings i see it as a hole when you have one or two drivers winning that does not make good racing when people are already thinking the two J,s are are going to win.Dont get me wrong if you have the best car and team with the best backing yes you are going to win….They are great drivers so not im not haiting them.I will be always a Tony fan.so maybe with Toyota Gibbs racing will show something next season.
Ratings will keep getting lower, many people hate the COT and the way the sport is going.
Even if Jr. does not do well i think his fans will still watch the races. Maybe it had something to do with the fact everytime you watch a race Jimmie or Jeff was winning and it got old for people. This dynasty might be bad for the sport. To me it sounds like France likes Jimmie a bit too much.
Also, i was not a big fan of the job ESPN did. That might just be me. I am a Martin fan so i know when he did not race i did not watch. With Fox i might of watched just to hear DW
brian france is a JOKE…yeah the ratings suck…but its not b.c of Dale Jr..dont blame on him..if anyone blame it on DEI…its not like its JR’s fault his engine blew up every 3-4 races…which is the ratio aint it??
“Maybe it had something to do with the fact everytime you watch a race Jimmie or Jeff was winning and it got old for people. This dynasty might be bad for the sport. To me it sounds like France likes Jimmie a bit too much.”
Amen, im an avid Dale Jr fan and although i was overly angered by the engine woes, i still watched….i never miss a lap..and this year i didnt watch bout 10 races cause i just knew who was gonna win and usually i was right..after Atlanta..i didnt watch any of the chase…
NASCAR better watch out..cause this COT is making stock car racing like F1…and i hate F1…so if they dont keep the races in the teams and drivers hands and not the cars hands thats where the ratings are gonna drop tremendously and mark my word…
Toyota coming in lost alot of fans to…nascar was based on beer drinking hillbillies am i wrong? and we dont like foriegn manufacturers period so why would we watch the sport we love if they are in it??
france just needs to pull his hand out of his pants and put it to good use for a change and start looking at the real world
Brian France is a complete idiot..the state of Nascar is in disarray and he wants to blame Dale jr. how about blame yourself and your lack of knowledge and leadership. 2008 was a lame year and thats the best he could come up with…i’m not even that big of a JR. fan.
That is great, I wonder if Jr will issue a response!
you have got to be kidding, i think every time someone goes to ny they open mouth and insert foot. like teresa did and now brian. i have known these 2 horses asses for about 15 years and for him to go to ny and say the declining audience for nascar is one driver is really upseting to me and makes me not even want to see this guy again . first of all you can blame the declining audience on boring competition, no one wants to watch a iroc race all year, then you have the top 35 in owners points, stupid rule, let the fastest cars in the show, isnt that what racing is all about, or is it who pays the most to put their name on the hood. then you have the open wheel drivers comin in to a sport that was bred with southern names like petty, pearson, allison, yarbourgh, not guys from bogota, columbia. you want diversity bring in some good old fashion women to mix it up alittle, not a foreigner. next dont give a single team the heads up to test a car that nobody else has because when you do you have a team like hendrick that has an advantage to win every race because they tested with it long before anyone else did. we all know about the hendrick chassis boys, remember jurrassic park, i do the chassis was so ahead of its time they banned it after the race. sorry rick your a good friend but your shop guys are just too good even with randy dorton r.i.p. gone. so if you want to blame someone brian blame yourself mr high and mighty who gets drunk and pays off the volusia sherrfifs dept. with a suite to the 500. you make me sick and your father bill jr. r.i.p. and your grandfather would black flag you before the start of the race for being stupid.
Johnson a dynasty??
HA!!!!
If France had compared Johnson to Jeff I would have been livid. It takes YEARS to accomplish what Jeff has done.
Johnson Dynasty?
Blaming ratings failure on Junior?
Is this guy serious?
we need to start an online petition to get
a new man at the head of NASCAR seriously.
Hey France. Dont be such an _______, if you call out the most popular driver, then you are really making sure that the people wont come back. All you are loosing is bandwagon fans so chill. Also, did you think about 1 team dominating this season. Thats more of it than Jr. Quit looking for an easy answer to a complicated problem.
I think this guy needs to take a good look in the mirror.
ESPN coverage was awful.
COT=bad idea….the list goes on and on.
What an idiot!!! That’s all I can say.
Couple of things:
1) Brian France is a moron. The fact that he tried to blame his incompetence and mismanagement of NASCAR on Dale JR having an off year is pathetic. It’s okay to think it, but don’t say it for gosh sakes!
2) He’s somewhat right. I’m certain that Jr’s bad year and Hendrick’s dominance led to some of the ratings slip, but it’s a contributing factor, and a small one at that. The lack of good racing and predictable finishes helped more than anything Jr was doing, I’m sure.
3) Hard to have a 2 year dynasty, IMO. Now, Hendrick Motorsports may have something of a dynasty going, but you’ve got to do a LOT better than back-to-back championships to be considered a dynasty.
If it had not been for Jr and his fans the ratings would have been worse. JJ is a great driver but he is not close to a RP or DEsr.
The only reason that the ratings decline is Nascar wouldn’t let Jr take the #8 with him to Hendricks…. It’s not jr’s fault that his engine kept failing. The ratings would have been a lot higher if someone other than Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon wasn’t winning races. Hopefully this year Jr will win some races and be in the chase this year. I think that this is Jr’s year to win the cup GO Jr!!!!!!!!!!!!
He just admitted a lot of things by saying their ratings are truly affected by Dale Jr.
ok yes nascars ratings are falling and yes jr did have a horrible year but how the two are cause and effect i dont see it…the real ratings drop may be caused by the new “improved” cot can almost drive itself and at the big tracks where most of the action happens what did the cots do at talladega most of the race was follow the leader…im sorry im a die hard nascar fan and yes jr fan as well but if its not three wide or at least god forbid two wide at dega i really dont want to watch it…i was there in person to watch the childish follow the leader game…if this happens at daytona in feb. something needs to be done…hell go buy 43 cars off the showroom floor divide it up chevys,fords,dodges,toyotas, and hey put a couple of pontiacs in the field strip the cars gut em put roll cages in them and big motors throw them out on the track with the best drivers behind the wheels and lets see who can win…im all for the old days of racing not the new cots which are all identical EXCEPT for the sticker lights grills and the name of their “manufacturer” i think every car should say NASCAR as the manufacturer because thats pretty much who makes them nowadays…lets get some old school racing back in the mix….and im 18 years old so dont think i come from back in the day
The only thing that is killing NASCAR is that the same drivers are winning every week. People are tired of that. It is not so much that Dale Jr. had a bad year, it is that NASCAR seems to help these drivers win. How many races did Jimmie Johnson win under caution? How about Jeff Gordon? That is what the problem is. Stop helping the drivers win!!!!! No cautions for no reason. Think about that one!!!!
Teresa wrote:
Please explain?
Thats the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard… OO and Jimmies laid back personality?? What laid back personality? If you call having NO PERSONALITY laid back? I wonder what you think someone with No personality is.
Is he INSANE?!
That is just rediculous. You cannot blame a single driver for a drop in ratings. I’d be very upset if I was Dale Jr. and I read this. And to then switch over and bring of Johnson? That’s just low. And I’m a Jeff/Jimmie/Dale Jr. fan myself so this is really stupid what he said. If he’s going to blame a driver, no wait, he should NEVER blame a driver for the ratings dropping – that’s their fault, especially for making the format of the Chase so friggin retarded. Fance is the real person who is making the ratings drop
Okay, so I realize that NASCAR depends on these popular drivers to help ratings, but I do not believe that one driver not making the chase makes that much of a difference. Yes, Dale Jr. is very popular, and as much as I am a fan of his, I do not think that he is the reason for this and I do not think he has that many fans. Come on France, wake up and smell the hot coco! There are way more important reasons for your rating drops! Like stupid penalties! This guy needs to get a clue!
In my opinion Bill France is a desperate man. My guess is that he is being held accountable for the lackluster ratings and is trying to blame HIS shortcomings as a so-called leader on the most recognizable figure in the sport. This would be like Roger Goodell blaming Brett Favre (with an hypothetical injury) for low attendance levels at all games. It is complete BS. It couldn’t POSSIBLY have abything to
do with the fact that the current regime has regulated the ever-loving hell out of the sport, could it??? Noooooooo.
What happened to him leaving??? Didn’t I hear that somewhere?
Are you serious?! I can’t believe that France claims that it’s Junior’s fault for the decline in ratings! Yes, he had a very unfortunate season, but I think everyone was hoping he could at least get his dad’s company one win before he hung up his helmet there. If anything was to blame, maybe good ol’ Brian should take a good hard look back on the season, and revisit the ridiculous penalties and procedures, fines and lawsuits, rule changes and petty bickering. This season was a complete joke when it came to NASCAR’s “sanctioning body.” Maybe they should re-evaluate what they are doing FROM THE TOP DOWN. People still love the sport and the drivers…it the politics and the governing agencies that we can’t stand!
You gotta be kidding me!! Im 38 and Ive been around race tracks since I can breathe. First off Brian France is a pompass ass. I could write a book on whats screwin up the ratings. But I wont. Lets look at the most important things. First off there are alot of high paid engines builders out there in the Nascar world. Are you telling me they cant find the horsepower that Hendrick has? Especially if everyone has to play by the same rule book. Gimme a break. Nascar caters to certain high dollar teams. What would you expect. They drove the ratings down themselves over the past few years. Its too commercialized. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Fox “the family channel” lmao. Racing should be on SPEED soley. But lets get back to Hendrick. He bought himself out of felony mail fraud charges so of course he buys officials who overlook modifications that the Hendrick organization get away with. If theres only so much you can do with shocks and spring combinations then I guess your telling me no one else in Nascar can figure that out? What about the tires? There are supposively different tires manufactured for different tracks. Does anybody police if a team uses a left over tire from a test session or a different track during any given race considering the compounds are different. If not theres an advantage. Look Hendrick and their teams are all top notch, you cant take anything away from that but loop holes are loop holes. My main complaint is they are definetly doing something, and its hard to believe the other teams wouldn’t have hit on unless its a shady deal.
Does Nascar seize engines for complete tear downs? If they do you never hear of it. ( Other than at Daytona RE: Waltrips ) Are you telling me that its all setup? Your either loose in or off, tight in or of or tigtin in loose off or loose in tight off. Im a race car driver too and thats pretty easy to fix with homework and notes. So its all BS. Knaus is junk until it counts. Why because Nascar talked to them and said stop stinking up the shows. Nothing against any one of these guys its all NASCAR and their money.
Just my opinion.
wheres my post!!
I must have hit the nail on the head because my post wasnt published and Im not writing it again.
I didnt curse. I guess France has the power to decide what goes on this board! What a joke.
I’M SORRY I FEEL ITS NOT DALE JR’S FAULT THAT DEI GAVE HIM BAD CARS TO RACE WITH HELL HE RACED HIS HEART OUT ONLY TO HAVE PROBLEMS WITH HIS CARS. IT ALL STARTED WHEN HE SAID HE WAS LEAVING DEI AND HE TRYED SO GARD TO BRING THE NUMBER 8 TO VICTORY LANE FOR US FANS SO IF ANYTHING BLAME IT ON DEI ITS THERE FAULT NOT DALE JR’S. BUT NOW IN 08 DALE JR WILL KICK @SS AND HE SHOULD PUT ON THE BACK OF HIS CAR KISS THIS. I SEE A CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MY JUNE BUG. GO #88 AND GO JUNE BUG I LOVE YOU BABY ALWAYS A DALE JR FAN. http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KATANALADY2
GOD BLESS ALL
UNBELIEVABLE! That guy really needs to get his head out of his own behind! Its because of the same people winning all year long! NASCAR is no longer about racing its all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
How is that Dale Jr.’s fault? If anything i would place the blame on DEI! After he announced that he would not sign is when everything started to go wrong for him. They were prolly setting his car up for a failing run, Truex, and Menard did not seem to have any issues not finishing races. He is still the best driver they have right now PERIOD! To me his dad Dale Sr. was the best they ever had, and Petty is second. He knows how to get the job done, if they would have given him the car to do it with.
idc what france say the rating didn’t go down b/c of jr it the way Nascar
handles stuff i mean it look like every time Johnson or gordon gets in trouble
Nascar does somethin to help them so that why the rating went down casue we
know that nascar goin to give johnson or gordon the win so
I think he had way too many bottles of bubbly
Rating dropped because its the same outcome every race…JJ wins or Jeff Gordan wins…plus people only watch when its on fox…nbc coverege sucks… abc is okay…everyone wants the underdog to come out on top…hendrick motorsports has an unlimited supply of money in its program…they have that same for the COT…i believe people want to see someone else in the winners circle…thats just my thought…
If Dale Jr would have half of the driving talent his sister has he would have a cup championship allready.
Why dose he only think that it is only all Jr.’s fault? It’s not!! What about the rest of the drivers that didn’t have a good season. You don’t see him blaming them. If nothing all that comment will hurt the ratings even more. Cause I think most of the people that watch the races on T.V. are Jr. fans adn that will hurt the ratings too.
This is a challenge for Brian France and the rest of corporate NASCAR. For once, just for once, admit that ratings are down, fans are less interested because of what your doing. Admit that the problem lyes with you. Your stupid new rules, your dumb money making schemes, it’s all hurting the sport, hurting the drivers, hurting the teams, and yes, hurting the fans. Just admit your guilt and freaking take it like a man. I’m sick of always hearing you blame crap on others just so you can try to save face. Well, I see through you and I don’t believe a word you have to say. You know damn well that Earnhardt Jr. had nothing to do with the ratings being low. Yes, I will admit, maybe it did have some effect, but not enough to make a difference. As an Earnhardt Jr. fan, I can tell you that I am not only a Jr. fan, but a fan of many. And I don’t watch the sport just because of Earnhardt, and niether does anybody else. NASCAR fans are race fans. That’s what we want to see, racing. We are not watching to see cars drive around for 499 laps and race for one lap. But under your rules and regulations, that’s what we have to deal with. So, take some time to just admit that you guys are the problem and try to fix that. Quit blaming others who have little or nothing to do with it. Be a Man.
YA KNOW IF IT WAS NOT FOR DALE JR HOW MANY FANS WOULD NASCAR HAVE? ITS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY AND HE HAS TO BLAME SOMEONE FOR IT BUT AS AFR AS I AM CONCERNED NASCAR IS NOT THE SAME WITH ALL THE SAME WITH ALL THE SAME DRIVERS WINNING EVERY WEEK. I STILL BLAME DEI FOR IT ALL. YOU GO JUNE BUG YOU WILL GET THEM NEXT YEAR LOVE YA BABY ALWAYS GO #88
Wow just like management to blame all it’s problems on a single person. Way to go it seems like NASCAR picked the right person to lead the sport into the future. NASCAR’s problem is that it caters to the masses and not the fans. And if NASCAR wants to solve some real problems it needs to stop treating the truck series as a red headed step child. Get stars to anchor the now Nationwide Series and not have NASCAR’s elite work double duty to people in the seats.
France has the audacity to blame ratings on Dale Jr…Hey feel that
it’s reality punching you in the face. You blame…Dale Jr? Blame your greedy
pockets and 100 commercials every ten minutes. Go screw yourself France
I quit watching NASCAR due to all the BS and drama….and yes…it did not help that Jr. was not doing well this year. I honestly think that his wicked stepmother gave him bad engines on purpose!! But that is just my story.
wat a retard. i wish bill france jr was still alive and in charge. he wouldnt have let nascar stoop to this level of blaming one driver for the ratings drop. bring back the old car an put foam in the doors an a solid loop around the driveshaft and move the driver closer to the center. there was no need to screw up the racing. it was great racing. yea some events were boring at times. drop the second cali race. it sucked. atlanta was strung out but the final laps usually make up for it. bristol was actually good. but that wont the cot. that was jus bristol. werent as many cautions but the three wide racing was great. toyato comin in was ok. not a bad thing but no more than 4 manufacturers. but bringin this new car in was a bad move. its safer yes BUT we coulda put those same safety features in the old car. its startin to turn into formula 1. an formula one is fast but there is no racing. its a parade. nascar will dissolve if it keeps this mess up. heres wat should happen. bring the old car back. put in the most up to date safety features, make a rule about suspensions front springs: 400lbs-1200lbs. rear springs:200-600lbs. no bigger than a 2 inch sway bar. make a shock rule along the same lines. make body templates that are very strict but leave a little room for creativity. bring back the provisional rule. no more top 35 crap. if you dont pass tech after the race: YOU ARE THROWN OUT LIKE U WERE NEVER THERE!! NO POINTS NO MONEY NO NOTHING!! the person that runs a racing series under those guidlines will be sucessful and fair. AND ANY TITLE SPONSOR WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO KEEP ANY OTHER SPONSOR FROM SPONSORING A RACETEAM. YOU CANT BE SCARED OF A LITTLE COMPETITION. IF YOU ARE THEN YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
All I can say about this one, is that it makes absolutely no sense. Regardless of Junior’s problems this year, he still managed to pull off a award for most popular driver. How does the most popular driver bring down ratings? That makes it pretty obvious Junior’s fans are still out there and paying attention!! Apparently France was not!!!
This is just a corny comment, that the elder frances would not had been dumb enough to say. So the rest of the drivers don’t have enough fans all together to watch the sport and keep ratings up? What a line of crap! Maybe it was the lopsided chevy season and if Hendricks keeps their dynasty up, I’ll be finished with wasting that 3 ring circus
This isn’t just a corny comment, and its not that far fetched. I think were he got the basis for this comment was the fact that Dale Jr merchandise outsells other drivers merchandise 50 to 1. I am 99% certain that is what he is basing this comment off of.
That is ridiculous. If anything, Jimmie Johnson is the reason ratings went down!! That’s why I quit watching, it was the same race over and over again!
Fisha695 wrote:
Man, stay on the topic
!
Brian France is an idiot and is too stupid to realize it. Back in 2000, NASCAR got jillions of dollars for their new T.V. contract. They screwed over ESPN. ESPN was a big part of NASCAR’s expansion in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The races didn’t even have 35 car counts when ESPN hopped in. Look up the stats. They don’t lie. I can remember going to the Bristol spring race and seeing 35 cars and less than 40,000 people in the stands. Then Bruton and ESPN figured things out. The rest is history. The France family monopolized racing. The oil companies are monopolies too, but we know right up front they’re screwing us. The France’s even screwed up the die cast deal. How much money and power does one family need? Now they’re blaming Junior because their ratings are low. The jury is still out on The Chase format Bri. I want to know how you expand it to 12 drivers from 10 but only 10 get the stage and the glory at the banquet? I’m surprised a desperate man like Brian didn’t blame his dead brother in law for the decline in ratings. He blamed everyone else.
Brian France “Who ya crappin’?”
Sam wrote:
That is on topic. He had won the championship the ratings would be up.
And gigolo george the 2 extra teams in the chase.. the best I can figure iit out they are like the wild card teams in the NFL.
So let me get this straight Fisha695…… You’re saying if Dale Jr had won the Championship, the ratings would be up. But since he didn’t, they are down…… So hypathetically, what would happen if Dale Jr stopped racing altogether?……Does NASCAR come to a screeching hault and fall off the face of the earth?? LOL……..Kind of a lot to be putting on one persons shoulders, don’t you think? I love Dale Jr, but think there is a lot more to it then just him.
I dont understand how france can blame the most popular driver for ratings declining. I pretty much agree with everyone else. The COT was the worst idea ever. this is racing if ur fast ur in the show plain and simple not because you are so high in the standings that rule is dumb as everything. Then you have brian france himself trying to “improve” NASCAR and all it is doing is letting his greddy drunk A$$ letting him slowly fix the sport into letting who he wants to be in the race in. It’s his own little way of trying to bring the ratings back up. ESPN had the worst coverage ever. SUZY KOLBER GO BACK TO THE NFL AND THE X GAMES. she shouldn’t be allowed 100 miles near a race car. all espn did was talk nonsense. this was the worst year for racing and i have been a life long fan. I’ll always love nascar and always hate brian france. They need to go back to the good ole days of racing. That was real raw and in your face racin
Scholl…….I 100% agree with you!! I’m all for driver safety, but they have a lot of work to polish out on the COT. And yes, ESPN shredded the coverage this season.
It has been well documented that Brian France is the most inept CEO in the history of Nascar.
It has been said that he couldn’t find his rear end with both hands tied behind his back but in this case he found it. Not only did he find it he turned himself into one with the single largest blunder of his pathetic career by blaming the most popular driver 5 times over for hurting the sports ratings.
This type of comment from Brian only shows once again that a fathers love is not the requirements it takes to run a company. It takes something Brian never had. A modicum of class and large dose of business aptitude.
He really needs to take his sisters advise and “just shut up and let the professionals do the thinking and talking”.
Roxanne wrote:
Using Mr Frances way of thinking, yes. Personally I feel he is only part of the reason, with the other parts being Two car types instead of just the COT, the amount of tracks over a mile in length (it takes more skill to race on short tracks, plus they are more fun to watch), the lack of road courses (It takes more skill to win on a road course then it does one of those 1.5 milers), along with many other things. But by far Jr and all his whiny bandwagon fans are a big part of it.
But here is what I want to know, what if the Nielsen Media Research family’s just aren’t NASCAR fans? I mean if they aren’t, then they wont watch NASCAR, which means the ratings will go down. And no matter what you do if somebody doesn’t like a certain sport like racing, you cant force them to like and watch it.
I’d call Brian France an a**hole, but an a**hole has a purpose. France’s only purpose seems to be the complete and utter destruction of NASCAR. It u$ed to be about the driver$ and crew, now it is all about $pon$ors and the almighty dollar.
Dale Sr. is probably looking down on this situation and getting madder by the minute.
Bring in Richard Petty or someone who actually can tell their a** from a hole in the ground….and let him run the show.
B France needs to stop smoking drugs,and or drinking.
ESPN is the main reason,
a lot of people do not have cable, for those who do ESPN is dang
BORING!!!!! a commerical every 5 seconds, they don’t show a lot of the action
COT a safer car, but so boring to watch
Jimmie & Jeff winning under cautions, was plain boring, I watched each & every race
with the exception of CA Speedway, I was there, much better than tv lol
Yeah I am a JR fan, however when JR was out of the race, I still watched my other
fave drivers
Brian inserts foot in mouth so far down he kicked his self in the butt
sounds like a complete idiot what a dumb comment for him to make
Put the races back on ABC, NBC or Speed,
Fisha695…….
Jr. and his whiny bandwagon fans?……Speak for yourself….So far, I think you’ve done enough whinning for everyone on here, with all your “anti-Jr” bit on all of his articles.
Secondly, anyone using Frances way of thinking should seriously consider taking their head out of Frances a$$…….
And now we have drug the Nielsen Media Research into this. Which may I remind you, has nothing to do with Frances pointing his finger at Jr. “and only Jr.”
My point is, there are numerous reasons for the ratings being the way they were. But yet he didn’t mention them. These were not wise words to be thrown out to the public by a CEO. Anyone with a grain of intellegence would know better. To single out 1 driver, REGARDLESS OF HIS NAME, shows a huge lack of professionalism. This does not reflect well on the board itself, and it will most likely come back to bite him in the a$$. (And I for one will laugh)
Nielsen was brought into this because they are the organization that collects the ratings data.
Also another thing, did we see tape of this interview? Do we know that he only mentioned Jr? For all we know the article could only be a small part of a a larger interview that Mr. France had.
NASCAR has allot of problems right now and one of those problems are the bandwagon Jr fans (which Jr has admitted he has a lot of). I know people that didn’t watch the chase because Jr wasn’t in it. Yes that is their prerogative, but a true NASCAR fan, and a true Racing fan would still watch a race even if their favorite driver wasn’t in the hunt for title, especially when said driver is still racing.
As far as the article posted above, I have not seen one mention of Jr being the only reason for the ratings slump like so many are suggesting that Mr. France said. So I think all of you who who have suggested that Mr. France is pointing a finger at Ralph Jr need to take a look in the mirror and point a finger at yourself for not reading and comprehending the article.
B screwed up and blew when he should have sucked. Or is it that he just sucks???? Anyway, I agree, out with the 35, qualify to run, or go home. give each driver a point for each position they are in for each lap, leader gets 1, 10th gets 10, 20th gets 20 and so on. That way you would be having everybody racing for the front, ALL race long, not just the last two laps. The driver with the fewest points at the end of the year, hey, guess what, they are the champ because they ran up front the most….And if you DNF, you get 1000 points, if you wreck someone on purpose, 2000 points. Get my drift???? make them want to be in front and RACE, not play twinkle toes…… And by the way, I am not a JR fan, still old school and 43….. I also like Jeff Burton’s NO BURN OUT win and straight to winners circle…….That’s Class……
My comment is awaiting moderation, censored again…..
See, this is why NASCAR is failing!!!!!!! Let people say what they want, as long as they are civil about it. But when you try to control what they write, which is what they are thinking, then you will just make them leave the building that much faster……. This year I watched very few races live, and fast forwarded thru the commericals, strange how much shorter the race is without 500 commericals to watch, and I really didn’t miss it all that much….Maybe next year with the COT, I’ll get more done around the house and the wife won’t be near as mad when I do get a day or two at home……
Bill France is a smart smart man.
Junior not being dominant has brushed people away. That’s a simple fact. Duh, the hardcore Jr. fans are still going to watch nascar, but the casual fans aren’t if their driver isn’t winning.
And as much as all of you hate to admit it… The 48 team and Jimmie Johnson is quickly turning into one of the greatest dynasties in the history of Nascar. Love him or hate him. Jimmie Johnson is the man.
Who will Brain blame next year for the continuing downslide of the ratings????
Fisha695 wrote:
Well fishy if Jr. had his father still overseeing the cars he got to drive this year you might have a point but as most of us all know what he got for cars was crap and that is what he has had to drive for a couple of years now.
I for one watched the racing because I enjoy racing not because I needed to see my driver (Dale Jr.) in the chase or I would turn off the TV, so your Idea on that one is as skewed as most all of what pops out of your mouth.
You seem to always be standing up for and feeling the need to protect Brian (I’m a idiot) France, whats up with that. I know he needs all the PR he can get but leave it to the pros fishy…
That is unless you are on his payroll ????
What an A$$!!!
NASCAR TV popularity has dropped, I believe, due to the OVER commercialization of it all, and the fact that the networks all want to ride the NASCAR wave of popularity.
We DON’T need Brent Mussberger, or a tennis jockey, announcing NASCAR events, dumbing down the lingo, for us dumb watchers (supposedly).
Less talk is better.
We don’t need EVERY flashy graphic trick and “cool” sound effect that the production techies can think of.
We don’t NEED advertiser graphics covering every inch of the screen, shrinking the view of the race.
We DO want to HEAR THE RACE, and every noise the cars make, not a bunch of bloated commentators kissing advertisers a$$es.
We want to SEE the race – not advertisers logos – there are MORE than enough logos ON THE CARS, the people, and the TRACK WALLS!!!! (etc.)
When cable was first proposed, we were asked to pay for the “priveledge” of seeing the programs, supposedly with less commercials needed, because WE were paying instead of advertisers. Now they have their cake and are eating it too.
Typical greedy ’stards taking over a good thing and ruining it. I turned the channel away many times to get away from the sickening politically correct announcers and their “Nextel” this and “Nextel” that jargon. They have even forced the drivers to follow the BS jargon rules. Sick. Saying someone has “62 Nextel Cup wins” (or whatever the number) doesn’t make it so, just call it Cup wins, OK???
What a crock! Maybe the ratings are going down, because France is taking all of the fun out of NASCAR!!
Let the drivers argue and fight without getting penalized! What happened to good ole rubs just because!
The drivers are too afraid to do anything anymore because of the harsh rules!
Bring back the old NASCAR, you know when it was interesting to watch!
WHAT!!!!!!?? Is he drunk AGAIN? what a loser, get someone competent in the position and NASCAR will be fine.
Dave, you were right on target and every point you made was true.
Great post with lots of good insight, just hope they listen to it…
Ah for the good old days when rubbing was just racing and the announcers had insightful comments and kept quite the rest of the time. I saw more on my 19″ screen than I do now with ESPN on my 42″ TV.
Fisha695 wrote:
What data do you have to support your claim?
Overall NASCAR television ratings were down about 13 percent in 2007 as compared to 2006.
1. Did Jr win the championship in 2006? Fisha?
Fisha695 wrote:
I did read it and I watched the chase. I am a JR fan.
I guess you are a Mr France fan. Personally I liked his dad much better.
Would you please tell Mr France to man up the way Jr does, and admit that the drop in ratings is due to your mismanagement of Nascar. Trying to blame someone else for your mistakes is childish at best and irresponsible at worst. If you want to be the leader of this sport, stop thinking about how much money you can make, and think about how to satisfy the needs of the fans and drivers.
fault I don’t think so I’ve been watching racing and even raced stockcars for 10 years and I say its nascars fault for not being to smart about the whole thing. I do know when Jr takes the lead at any of the races you can hear the crowd go wild.
FOREVER3GOjr.!!!Brian screws up NASCAR and blames Jr.What a jerk!!!
Its auto racing not football , baseball or hockey . run as its called auto racing. dont try to compete with other pro sports you dont have to.
That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard…..He is blaming Jr.!!!!! He needs to blame Nascar and himself. He and his “nascar people” need to look at themselves for blame of bad ratings. They need to be more consistent giving fines for one thing. How dare he put the blame on Jr. What a joke!!!!!!!!!!
Sam wrote:
The fact that when they raced street stocks and go karts Kelly was better then Jr. The only reason that Jr is where he is, is because of his name, and if you cant see that then you need to go get that laser eye surgery.
Also Like I said before I never seen anywhere, where he blamed Jr 100% for the ratings, so you all need to stop acting like he did.
Sam wrote:
Funny how blind you are that you don’t see where I mention BANDWAGON FANS. If you are a true Jr fan then good for you, but its the bandwagon fans that are ruining the sport. Also Nowhere did I say 100% of his Bandwagon fans didn’t watch… did I?
Fisha695 wrote:
????? Have you been hitting Bryan’s stash or what, How does JR,s merchandise sales effect NASCAR,s ratings?
GKIRB2 wrote:
What I was implying there was the fact that Jr has more fans then all the other drivers in the top 3 NASCAR series combined. Some of those fans (Bandwagon or true fans) have to be part of the NMR group of family’s. Therefore if allot of the Jr fans decide not to watch the race, there is more of a chance the ratings will take a hit, more so then if allot of Carl Long fans don’t watch a race.
Brian France playing the “Blame Game” and all the joker has
to do to bring back the fans to the stands and regain the
television audience is bar yellow flag pit stops. Only allow
a car in the pits under a yellow if it was involved in the
yellow flag incident and make sure all those who stop under
the yellow go at least one lap down. Then the people will
once again become interested in watching Cup racing. I can
remember the days when some drivers drove their cars to the
track and taped over the glassware and raced ‘em.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make NASCAR interesting
once again.
Have a Merry Christmas everyone.
I Can’t think of how that would help, I think giving the teams like roush, penske, etc… more time to practice because of course they followed the rules and go burned by Nascar for doing it. Yeah Hendrick is out the to win every race but so is everyone else. This Hendrick found the opps in the rules first and started winning because of it. After that point they never looked back. No body else could step up in the chase until the end when it was to late. Hendrick just had the team this year, 3 years ago it was Roush with the top drivers. and team. The point is that’s part of the racing. Don’t take the racing out of racing and F1 go over 200 if only they would let nascar do that at the super speedways again.
You can not blame the low rating on dale jr. I enjoy watch the races when the playing feild is equal When the announcers only talk about the top three drivers it get very boring. There are 40 other drivers that we would like to here about.
Yes Dale Jr. had a bad year but we can not put the blame on him. If he would have had half the equipment that Martin had he would have had a better year.
Brain needs to take a long look at himself before he starts blaming other people. Remember its starts at the top. If they don’t have there stuff together it going to show up on how thet handle things. SO GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND QUIT BLAMEING IT ON DALE JR .
Racer, F1 cars can go as fast as about 350 Kph which is roughly 217 Mph, however on most tracks they do not reach that speed during the race.
Looks like brians been hitting the bottle again go get some rehab dude seriously.
What the hell??? What is he on? THE RATINGS ARE DOWN BECAUSE OF ALL THE DAMN TIMES JIMMIE AND JEFF HAVE WON. Jeeze at the end of the season, you could predict who was going to win. It got BORING.
And don’t even get me started on the ESPN coverage. OH MY GOD you couldn’t even watch the damn race…you were watching friggen commercials the entire time! They’re always talking about the top 3 guys (and Jimmie and Jeff…no matter where they are…they could be wrecked and they’d still talk about them!).
There really was no “Chase”…Jimmie locked it up pretty much right away. There was no exciting battle for the top spot or anything.
Blaming the ratings on Junior is RETARDED. Whatever, Brian France. Whatever.
When I first read the headline I was livid. I thought to myself, “Is this man on GLUE?” Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks France is an idiot. What happened to him stepping down, anyway? Jr’s certainly not to blame for the drop in ratings. ESPN coverage sucks. I’d much rather stay with FOX/FX for the entire season, or even SPEED-TV
Ah the commercials. The other channels are careful where they put the commercials. ESPN PUTS THEM IN THE BEST PART OF THE RACE. You never see drivers racing, just one car going around the track. That is not a race.
As for Dale Jr being the favorite driver then why are people I know switching to Kasey with the comment “where Bud goes so do I”
I never miss a race in spite of France, although he has spoiled it. Let drivers decide how a car should be designed.
By the way I’m a Jeff Gordon fan and always will be.
GO24GOOOOOOO
You do realize that without the commercials the race would not be broadcast on tv, because of the cost. When a company signs a contract with said broadcast station they have the opportunity to say when they want their commercials (either in time frames or int he case of racing, in between certain laps). If ESPN would not take those commercials then, that is a breach of contract.
I agree that the TV coverage has been pretty bad, with too many commercials, but otherwise I think France is exactly right. So many groupie-fans came into the sport to follow Jr the great, after all the hype about him in the early 2000’s and after Sr. was killed. Jr hasn’t delivered . It only makes sense that some of these people are going to get bored and go back to watching American idol or Wrestling or whatever. IT’s got to be affecting ratings, makes perfect sense to me. Jr fans are always the most disgusted and the loudest complainers. Look at this site….anything Jr related gets tons of comments….anything not Jr related gets next to nothing. That pretty much sums it up right there, proves France’s point. Bleh. Personally I’m OK with them leaving. Jr breaks wind and people go nutso. For them, it ain’t about racing. Complainers, just go find something else to do
The other thing you people don’t much understand is that almost ALL TV ratings are down this year, for sports, news, just about everything. People are watching less TV. Period. Do the research.
ShowMeDon’tTellMe wrote:
No, you go find something else to do COMPLAINER!
No can do, Sammy. I’m a race fan, son. Thick or thin. Jr or no Junior. Groupies or no groupies.
ShowMeDon’tTellMe wrote:
Then you need to accept that JR is the most popular driver and I think his fans are some of the most active race fans as well. Now, if I am correct it would explain why so many fans comment on topics that involve jr. If you do not like JR why do you read and respond on his topics? I am a race fan as are most of jrs fans. I am not a groupie and never have been. Get used to us we are real fans who will not stand to the side.
ShowMeDon’tTellMe wrote:
You may watch TV but that does’t make you a race fan bubba… you and the Fishy should go complain to each other. You have a problem with people talking about JR. then go somewhere else. As always this is said with the utmost respect for your point of view… yea
win or lose i’m with Jr . to blame one person for the drop in the ratings is insane . if not for Jr you would have less watching. jefffy and his shadow are BORING on or off the track. do not care how many races they win Jr’s losing started when he said bye to d.e.i can’t give the junk to martin he is next year’s fair head boy soooooooo give it to Jr . thank teresa put the blame on yourself boring races fines for nothing and cautions for jeffy and jimmie chad has been caught cheating 8 times and your nascar inspectors can’t catch him now why no one can tell me that hendrick is that far ahead of everybody else and still legal lol blame it on france they never have taken a stand on any thing
THIS IS SO BAD THAT HE WOULD BLAME DALE JR….THE MOST POPULAR DRIVER IN NASCAR FOR THE 5TH TIME….IF ANYTHING HE BRINGS PEOPLE TO THE TRACK….BLAME TEI ………..I CAN NOT BELIEVE HE WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE THIS….WHAT ABOUT ALL THE OTHER DRIVERS THAT DID NOT WIN A RACE…HOW ABOUT THE OTHER DRIVER THAT GOT IN TROUBLE DOING THINGS LIKE STEWART, KHANE OR ALL THE OTHERS YOU NEVER HEAR ABOUT DALE JR DOING ANY OF THAT STUFF…AND THE AWARD SHOW WAS AWFUL………………….YOU PUT RACES ON A CHANNEL WHERE ALL YOU SEE IS COMMERICALS AND YOU DO NOT GET TO SEE THE RACE. THAT JUST IS SO WRONG…..
DALE JR IS THE MOST POPULAR AND MOST DOWN TO EARTH DRIVER.
JR NATION ITS TIME TO STAND UP AND BE HEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DALE JR FAN FROM GAINESVILLE, VIRGINIA
France is so fare off.
Nascar raitings are down because.
ALL networks SUCK!!! FOX, TNT, NBC, FX totallt screwed up Nascars coverage when they came in, in 2001 and since then it hasn’t gotten better. They have these stupid gimmicks like the pointer.
Not very much incar cams anymore, not talking about all the drivers just he top 10 for pretty much ever race.
and ESPN dissapointed me when they cared on with the HORRIBLE junk those morons at FOX, NBC, TNT started.
Also the fact Nascar is killing it’s history by taking races away from the historic tracks for these new stupid western ones.
Want ratings back.
Stop the garbage, stop the stupid gimmick junk, stop the lame Chase.
Go back to the Coverge ESPN did for 20 years, and stop doing all the crap FOX and company started in 2001.
Wow!! How about the horrific coverage on ABC/ESPN or the fact that Jr. is not the only driver out there,
Fisha695 wrote:
they are also very light with wide tires and lots of downforce and traction control.
Fisha695 wrote:
What is keeping kelly from racing?
That is the most ridiculous article I’ve read in a long time. Typical of Brian France to blame others for his mismanagement and ignorance. Blame the COT and France, not Jr. If anything, Jr. fans were watching to see what would happen next!! Johnson a dynasty — give me a break. NASCAR needs help!
I could not believe what I read. I have not been watcing Nascar since the chase started a couple of years ago. I do read everything and follow it on Speed. At one time I purchased all Diecast of JR and Sr. Since the price has gone so high and Nascar now dictates everying Nascar I have sooo much more money in my account. I remember Nascar when it was racing, now with Espn and NBC it turned into a blah. I will follow Jr. In the press and hope for the best for him.
I think the ratings are low because you never know which channel to watch the race on. FOX, FX, TNT, ABC, NBC or ESPN. Is there any channel I left out? What about the fans that don’t have cable or satalite? I think they should leave it on a channel that everyone gets instead of mostly channels you have to pay for. Keep the same announcers all season long. There are just too many channel changes through out the season that it is rediculous.
Everybody I know has Cable, and all of the channels NASCAR is on are on basic cable for them (and that is people in multiple states)
Talk about the stupidest thing to ever come out of someone’s stupid mouth! Are you kidding me France? Dale Jr’s fans stuck by him and watched every race because they have faith in his abilities. We watched because we want to see him win…and him blowing an engine isn’t enough to make us stop watching. His not winning a race this year isn’t going to make us NOT WATCH next year.He had some bad luck this year yes, but you are the cause of the downfall of Nascar! The one’s who left are the ones who just couldn’t take what YOU have done to this sport. The one’s who ahve watched for many many years and just can’t sit by and watch it fall like the Indy cars have. You are pathetic. We don’t want a rich man’s sport. We want to see ability shine…not money! Blaming Jr is nothing more than the way a 6 year old would blame his little brother for something he did. Get a brain Brian!
The reasons NASCAR is loosing viewers:
1) The “chase”
2) Toyota
3) COT
4) Lucky Dog
5) Huge multi-car teams
6) Meddling with sponsorships (no AT&T logos on the 31 car)
7) Taking race dates away from tracks that aren’t 1.5 miles or longer.
I don’t see “Dale Jr can’t drive” in there It’s gotten so bad, I’ve found myself actually hoping Jeff Gordon wins. The last race I watched was sometime in 2001…
John, You need to do some research on number 6. Winston did the same thing and so did Busch and Craftsman. Also there have always been 4 and 5 car teams, sure not as many as there are today, but What team your on doesn’t matter because if your “teammate” wins you don’t.
As far as number 7, everybody has their own preference, but it takes more skill to race at short tracks and roadcourses then it does all these big tracks.
Oh for god’s sake. The ratings are down because Brian France can run Nascar about as well as a monkey. Well, no, not even that well. I myself was a gung-ho Nascar fan. And then he really started sticking his nose into the sport, and now I can’t stand to watch a race at all. It’s repetitive, un-competitive, and predictable.
Perhaps it is time to have “Pay TV” for auto racing. Heck,
I went for the Dish Network to obtain the Speed Channel a few
years ago and look at it today. The Speed Channel used to
have sprint car races on from twenty or more years ago, now
it “Pinks”. NASCAR may as well go for Pay TV, dump 90% of
the commercials, hire Dale Jarrett and get it on.
Oh yea, one more thing about the blame game with Mr. Brian
France. He is to blame for the beer can tossing at
Talladega ’cause neither he, nor the management of the
speedway have the guts to single out the tossers of the cans
and have them prosecuted.
And say what you want about Dale Jr., at least he doesn’t get
caught up in some of the items we see today.
I cheer for all the drivers!
IS FRANCE SERIOUS? IS ANYONE TAKING HIM SERIOUS? HOW LAUGHABLE!
JIMMY JOHNSON THE NEXT DALE JR? AGAIN, LAUGHABLE. NOT LIKELY. ONLY IN FRANCE’S DREAMS.
I HEAR A MAN (FRANCE) WHO WISHES JIMMY JOHNSON OR ANY OTHER DRIVER COULD BE VIEWED AS THE FANS FAVORITE. IS IT 5 YEARS IN A ROW?
SOME OF THE PROBLEM COULD BE:
TRYING TO FIND WHO WOULD BE BROADCASTING THE RACE. ESPN? FOX CHANNEL? ABC? FOX DID THE BEST COVERAGE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE RACE. ABC WAS ANXIOUS TO RESUME REGULAR BROADCASTING (AND NO ESPN DIDN’T ALWAYS PICKUP THE POST RACE INTERVIEWS).
Hey ShowMeDon’tTellMe: Apparently you were lacking for something to do also. Bored? Maybe not, but definately pompous is some of your remarks. What are you doing on a NASCAR site? Your remarks give the impression you think NASCAR fans are beer drinking, butt scratching, bar fighting, brainless morons. Jr fans are ALWAYS the most disgusted, loudest complainers. WOW! How many people did you have the interview to gain that wealth of knowledge.
Just a suggestion… try a new hobby.
If anything Dale Jr helps the ratings. Frances’ assumption seems ridicules. I would take a good long look at the COT. It’s a turn-off, what’s with the spoiler? It’s turned NASCAR towards a reality-TV version of Grand Theft Auto, and the racing is not as exciting. Add in the mystery debris cautions at the beginning of the year leaving NASCAR with all the believability of professional wrestling and you may be on your way to an explanation of the ratings decline. Jr. only brings fans to the TV.
I think Brian France is trying to lay the blame somewhere other than his own doorstep. My declining interest has nothing to do with Dale Jr. He needs to quit making changes to the rules. MAYBE, and that’s a BIG MAYBE the rules could have been tweeked. very slightly. Possibly give 10 points vs. 5 for a win. This playoff scenerio (I don’t care how many times NASCAR denies it’s a playoff, it is) is responsible for most of my diminished interest. Those last 10 races don’t mean diddly to me. I guess part of the reason he blames Jr. is that NASCAR keeps changing the number of positions that get into the playoff hoping Jr. will make it. They should just make the rule that Stewart, Gordon, Jr., Johnson, the Bush brothers, Montoya (did I forget anyone) AND the top ?? drivers compete for the championship.
Nascar has gone down hill since Dale Earnhardt Sr. passed away.
I don’t like the chase for the cup. Get rid of the cot car.