For good and for bad, NASCAR, in the minds of many, has gone out of its way to mimic the NFL’s success. While that has led to some unprecedented gains in popularity, the two also share in one area of disappointment : All-Star events that frequently fail to live up to expectations.
Ironically, both the NFL and NASCAR have had their showcase exhibitions in the same place for more than 20 years: The NFL in Hawaii and NASCAR’s in Charlotte. However, with that stagnancy in location has come criticism that the All-Star events these cities represent frequently become meaningless, more about show than actual substance.
Well, for NASCAR, it’s time for that mentality to change, and the best way to do that is to propose a solution as unpopular for the teams as it is practical for the fans watching at home. It’s time for the race to leave Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Forget Daytona or Bristol, Charlotte used to be the place where you saw some of the most exciting finishes of the year. Who can forget Davey Allison spinning across the finish line in ‘92, winning the All-Star race sideways as Kyle Petty sent him hard into the outside wall? Or the race in ‘95 that saw legends Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip crash each other in the final laps, opening the door for a young man named Jeff Gordon to burst onto the scene and win his first All-Star competition at 23.
In recent years, though, the race simply has lost its luster. The track itself has struggled since a “levigation” and subsequent repaving in 2005 have left drivers scrambling to find a second groove at a facility that used to have three or four. Add in the dreaded “aero push” that seems to affect racing at intermediate tracks, and it’s no wonder the side-by-side racing fans crave at an All-Star race has been increasingly rare.
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They should move it to Darlington or Rockingham.
It should be some where different each year, that way fans all over the country could get a chance to see it with traveling too far
they should have tracks make a bid at the all star race even tracks that dont hold a cup date but can hold the fans that would attend the event what they need to do is move the coke 600 to a different track like Texas or Atlanta where some of the best racing and finishes happen every time they go there because as a fan if i wanna watch 600 miles of racing i want to see side by side racing and a good finish but theat dont matter ne more the cot screwed up racing as we know it what ever happened to the teams being able to choose if the wanted he wing or the spoiler for a particular event
I love the allstar race however BFD has a good point. They should switch it up each year.
The all-star race isnt the only thing thats going to lose something.. Nascar in general is going to lose fans if they keep playing god and let hendrick win all the time.
Hendrick does have 2 great drivers (not kyle busch, hes an accident waiting to happen) and they have 3 great cars (mears is almost there.. it was in talladega but jimmie johnson had the final word on that car). But theres no way that you can win that many races already with Stewart, Hamlin, Martin, Ku. Busch, Newman, and a bunch of other great cars running so well to.
Im stepping off my soapbox now.
-Chris
Yep…its lost its luster ! Nascar needs to get back to racin’ ! I’m tired of seeing the entertainment side of it overshadowing what it really suppose to be all about ! If we have to listen to what the wives and girlfriends are wearing and who the designers are….I’m going to puke ! Like WHO cares ! The awards ceromony in N.Y. was a JOKE ! Whose bright idea was that ? No wonder Nascar is losing fans and the t.v. ratings are low !