Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream As New NASCAR Title Sponsor??

By Ron Meyer

The NASCAR Sprint Cup season finally ended on Sunday.  Inevitable, anti-climatic, ended with a whimper not a bang are all fair descriptions of the season finale.  There have been years I hated to see the season end, though the last time that was true Bill France was still the head of NASCAR, and the series was called Winston Cup. 

I received an email from a rabid fan asking me which was the worst President, George Bush or Brian France.  Well, I am keeping out of politics, but if Brian France was able to do to the country what he has done to NASCAR’s spotlight division, people would be looking at what the country has suffered the past few years as “the good old days.”

NASCAR spin doctors can say what they want about empty seats and plummeting TV ratings, but the truth is core fans are pissed over changes made to supposedly make the sport more exciting for new fans, and the core fans are ignoring the sport in droves.  New fans are not signing on fast enough to make up for old ones dropping out. The product is boring.  Anyone suffering from sleep deprivation should tape the races at Chicago or Fontana and watch them before going to bed.  Maybe NASCAR can market such tapes under the NAPCAR banner.

Changes that I would like to see that will not happen:

1.  Get rid of Brian France.  He is the Tony George (IRL) of the South, and I do not mean that as a compliment.  Replace him with Leesa France Kennedy-you know leadership is not going to anyone without the same last name.

2.  Get rid of The Chase, aka Jimmy Johnson Coronation Tour.  Tony Stewart would have trailed Johnson by only 13 points heading into the Homestead race.  Do you think Stewart would have been involved in a “dancing with the cars” tango with Juan Pablo Montoya last weekend if he was a mere baker’s dozen points from a championship?  I don’t think so.  Jeff Gordon would have been 56 points out when the race started a far cry from being eliminated as soon as Johnson flipped the starter switch on the 48 on Sunday.  The race would have meant something. And yes, I have hated the Chase from its inception.

3.  Make changes on the COT –Car of tomorrow/today/turmoil, based on input from drivers, crew chiefs, and owners.

4.  Shorten races.  The raciest NASCAR series is the trucks, all with fairly short races.  Only traditional races at forever NASCAR venues should go 500 miles.  Make the rest 300 miles or 300 laps, whichever is the shorter distance. 

5.  Either re-do the tracks at Chicago and Fontana, or kick them out of the series.  Yeah, fat chance, given the same family owns NASCAR and those tracks.

6.  Start mending fences with core fans.  Yes, the common starting time for events in 2010 is a baby step in the right direction.  Bristol in August as the only Saturday night race in the season would be nice.  And for the traditionalists, put the Southern 500 back in Darlington on Labor Day weekend.

7. TV coverage.  I don’t even know where to begin.  Get rid of all furry creatures on Fox coverage-well, keep Digger, but get rid of Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip, and Mike Joy.  Wally Dallenbach, don’t get me started.  I do like Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree, but fire the producer of the ABC/ESPN coverage.

Will that be enough change?  I hope no network ever pulls another AJC stunt like ESPN on Sunday.  AJC being All Johnson Coverage, from the prerace show to the post race it was wall to wall Johnson, with nary a minute of the 48 not being plastered on the TV screen or his name being mentioned in reverent tones. Gimme a break.  I really wish the networks would stop treating fans like little children and produce an intelligent afternoon of sports programming.  OK, NASCAR is more likely to shut down Chicago than for that to happen.

If the sport is going to regain its intrigue or mystic, other teams need to step up.  When motor head analysts suggest that the 48 can win five, six, seven, or even eight championships in a row I think “you gotta be kidding me.” Johnson is not the second coming of Richard Petty as a driver.  Knaus-the arrogant and self-admitted “not nice guy,” is the best crew chief, and the Hendrick teams seem to have the best of everything.  Does this mean there are no resources at other mega-teams?  There are no talented crew chiefs in any other shop?  That Johnson can make a car do things Stewart and Gordon can’t?  I just don’t see it.

So, who might challenge the tag team duo of Johnson and Knaus in 2010?  Well, Mark Martin’s team knows what it tastes like to be close and not to win a championship.  Denny Hamlin’s team won four races, though they need to learn how to finish every race.  Tony Stewart is the most talented driver and has a good team, but Stewart never seems to be able to run good for an entire season.  If Joe Gibbs could harness Kyle Busch, cool his jets a little, change the personality from being a total jerk to something less (hey, his brother Kurt was a total jerk, and he isn’t totally a jerk anymore), the 18 car could be a contender. Richard Childress Racing had a good end of the season, and has momentum going into the 2010 season.  Even with two drivers in the Chase, Jack Roush would hardly call 2009 a stellar year for Roush/Fenway.

What does it all mean?  God help us all, probably another boring season. I read that Sprint lost a lot of money this year-not just because of NASCAR.  Maybe Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream can become the new title sponsor and they can call the series The Vanilla Cup.