NASCAR holds closed-door meeting to discuss new car
Quote selected text Published June 13th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Sprint Cup Series drivers and team owners were called to a mandatory, closed-door meeting with NASCAR this morning before practice at Michigan International Speedway, one that drivers later characterized as a discussion of potential changes to the new model car.
The meeting with NASCAR President Mike Helton and other officials caught teams off-guard, forcing some to juggle their schedules and postpone media sessions scheduled for Friday morning. NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter said the meeting was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.
The unusual eight-minute meeting, which took place in a windowless garage room as NASCAR officials stood guard outside, was characterized by NASCAR as a reminder that drivers and NASCAR should focus on all the good things about the sport.
“We have more fans than ever before,” Hunter said. “We have more competitive teams than ever before. The racing is as good as it’s ever been. We have more drivers who can win on any given Sunday today than ever before. I think there are a lot of good things going on in the sport and sometimes they’re overshadowed.”
He characterized the conversation as being a reminder of what fans go through.
“We felt like this would be a good time to sit down, and [with] our ‘going-back-to-basics’ theme of the year, to remind them don’t forget the fans,” Hunter said. “The fans are really going through a lot of hardships with the price of gasoline and all the sorts of things they have to do to get to a race.”
Hendrick Motorsports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. said that the frank discussions made him think twice about some of the criticism he has made about the new car and helped him recognize the impact that can have beyond the garage.
“I was pretty critical and overly critical at times, and the only reason why the drivers are like that is because they want, we feel like our best avenue is through the media because it’s very effective. But at the same time, not only NASCAR reads those opinions, and it’s not good for the sport,” he said.
“If I enjoy what I do and I’m having fun and want to be here and want to be around for a while, I shouldn’t tell people not to buy tickets.”
He, like several other drivers, added that he felt good about the meeting and the things that were discussed.
Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said drivers were not told to stop criticizing the new car, which has been the target of numerous driver complaints over the past several weeks.
“No, they were simply reminded that we are a fan-friendly sport, and the participation of our fans affects them directly,” he said.
Bookmark to:
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in the end though tv pays the bills and not the fans. the fans can’t buy enough china made t shirts to baleout motorsports authentics from the annual debt of over 100 million dollars.
None of these drivers are hurting the sport. The good and bad will always coexist. That’s life. Trying to stay positive is one thing. But I personally don’t care to see people act so positive, that it comes off fake either. Granted I only speak for myself. (obviously) But after watching what these guys go through, I don’t blame them for getting cranky and upset. I feel for them, regardless of how privileged they are.
you are right jim. i wish i had something other than my issued nc department of corrections pin strips. bubba sure would like to be able to purchase some of those t shirts too. i wish we had cable in here!
Jim Hunter wrote:
actually MA is doin quite well this year they posted earnings well above what they thought the first quarter thanks to Dale and it will probadly get worst the 2nd half of the year because everyone will have it but they have a plan for next year too. they have met with Dupont, Jeff, and Hendrick and are changing everything on Jeffs car and uniform for next year to boost the sale next year . pretty smart of them.
Howie Motorsports Photography wrote:
They are changing everything on Jeffs Car next year because next year begins a new 8 year cycle. Rainbow for 8 years, flames for 8 years now its time to switch again
so jeffs a rainbow flamer….whats ur point fisha?….is his next car gonna be polka dotted?…probably so…
It looks like NASCAR needs to have meetings like this more often. I have been a NASCAR fan since I was two years old (1978) and I can honestly sat that the racing is as good as ever! The new cars are obviously not perfect but NASCAR and the teams/drivers will continue to work on them to make them better!!!!!
What happened to letting the drivers show some personality?
good publicity stunt by NASCAR
nothing will change
they just dont want the drivers knockin this car anymore. they feel that they are losin enough fans now due to the gas prices and the economy and they dont need the drivers adding to these rough times with negative comments about this new car. besides the meeting only lasted a total of 8 minutes. thats it.
the fact it lasted 8 minutes suggests it was one sided.
seems NASCAR wants drivers to speak
their minds as long as it doesn’t go against
Nascar
which sucks IMO
corp.. b.s. as usual : driver commentary >
yea I said the new car turned like a tank.. but now that nascar has imposed a ten thousand dollar fine and possible suspensions .. THe car just needed more testing.
Soon it will turn itself .. I am happy to be here and love flying in my leer jet helicopter and fishing with the greg biffle on his yahct in mexico . SO in political style . YEP I just love this car.. glad to be here and part of the team.
I would like to thank nascar for just allowing me to ride around and wave at the crowd with no emotion and no opinion .. Thank you john doe
Nascar needs to stop worrying about the cars image and just fix the pile of junk.
Exactly fix it…the new car is not all that great and it surely makes for a boring race at times….the drivers should be able to voice how they feel about the cars they drve after all they are driving them not Mike Helton ot the corp. ppl and or higher up’s….what was wrong wih the old car??? Does anyone really know??????
Other then new safety features, they really never filled in on why all the extra changes needed to be made. Not like it matters anymore. Looks like NASCAR is looking to have everything said about this car to be sugar-coated now. As for us, the fans, it’s just our job to sit and act stupid as if we don’t know any better. Even if these drivers had never said a word about the car, people can still see right through it. How blind do they think we are?
If Drivers/Teams don’t like the way the Cup car currently is and they liked the previous generations of cars, then go race ARCA, or Go race the Camping world series and stop crying and let drivers/teams that want to be here to race no matter what the vehicle is they have to race, Race in the cup series.
Junebug61767 wrote:
well they wanted to slow them down for one. and square em up on the front and back so the cannot lift each other to dump em.. They have accomplished all that . Now they can beat the sh*t out of each other . It is safer and maybe made the field a little more fair for now. The nationwide is converting next year so better get used to it. The new production cars have already filled suit.. My sister just showed up in the new dodge . I was sitting in the back seat and had 2 foot of head room. I am 5`10“ felt like kasey kane in there. If they kept getting faster they would have to re up the tracks to keep the fans safe.
opps the anonymous was craig different computer.. Glad jr won glad shrub hit the wall safely of coarse.. in nationwide .. thats all I gotta say bout that