The 'new' COT - hey good looking..?

[Osella]

Okay, so having just seen that the Phoenix TV rating were the highest ever for a Phoenix race, it got me wondering...

Why do I feel that this is about time, and why do I feel so much more excited just anticipating a race weekend than I have done for years!?
All this posturing and claims from NASCAR about the reasons for declining TV audiences, etc being 'normal' is basically understandable in claiming that they are in line with so many declines in world economies.. However, as anybody knows, in whichever country you are, things still ain't exactly great!

However.. just watching the cars on the racetrack now gives me more the sort of goosebumps I got when I first saw and heard NASCAR on the TV. . The thing is, I can never escape just how damn GOOD these cars actually look now.

Does anyone else feel that these cars look like a 'real' NASCAR, that they do actually now at least look different, and that it all just adds up to a feeling that 'hell yes, NASCAR is back where it's supposed to be'..?

Perhaps it's just me, but I really do think that the new-look car is a 'real' NASCAR, and I think that can only be helping to resuscitate the whole of NASCAR (and damn do those Nationwide Challengers look great!) and is perhaps one major reason why people now actually want to look at these cars on a racetrack again. .

Time will tell (re:audiences), and I'm sure there are many who have followed NASCAR for far longer than I have (since 1994) who may feel differently, but I just think that now the cars are 'back', it's far harder to miss any race this season.. Even the duels, which I nearly fell asleep in..

I'll admit I was diappointed in the short N/wide field at Phoenix, but even that series seems to be getting its identity back with the 'no Cup' rule, I just hope it continues this way, and I have a great racing season to look forward to..

Anyone feeling that the 'new' cars have actually helped to draw them back into and connect with NASCAR again, and feel a degree of probably misplaced and hopless optimism that this season could really turn out to be a great one?

[Sparky1329]

First of all, there's no such thing as "a NASCAR". NASCAR is an abbreviation for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The cars are either Chevrolets, Fords, Dodges or Toyotas which are only recognizable as such by the "emblems" affixed to them. Otherwise they are clones of each other or what I call Frankenstein cars. Tony Stewart once referred to them as "flying bricks". They look like nothing you can find in a dealership's showroom or being driven on the street even with the recent alterations. Automobile manufacturers who touted the motto, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.", aren't singing that song anymore. They are not "stock cars".

Yes, the first two races were pretty decent but two races do not a season make. Fans are present in person and in their living rooms but that's pretty typical early in the racing season. As the weather moderates after a grueling Winter and baseball kicks into gear that could change. The "simplified" points system has race fans more confused than they were before and the stupid Chase is still in place. I'll be cautiously optimistic if the numbers are still there after the first ten races.

[slorydn1]

I, too think the cars look better than they did last year, like this is what the natural progression of the car should have been from the "jelly bean" to the COT. I actually like the new Nationwide cars better than the cup cars, but I'm not complaining.

I think the ratings increase for Phoenix was because of the unknown who won the Daytona 500 in a legends car. I think the finish of the 500 was refreshing in so many ways, as was the fact that the driver that I used to boo so loudly finally won again at Phoenix. I actually find myself wanting Jeff Gordon to do well, perish the thought! :eek:

I am already not liking the new points system-or am I? Is it the system, or is it the fact that you have drivers not earning points so my guy finished p42 in the 500 but was 36th in points, and is now in the low 20's after going p4 at phoenix. Used to be if your guy was a full timer all ya had to do was look at his drivers points and know where he would start on a rainy day cause his owners points and drivers points were the same, and chances were that unless he was the perenniel back marker everyone around him would be in the same boat.....So much for easier to understand-Thanks so much, Bri-Bri.

I was watching Nascar Now on DSPN the other day and now they show the standings as Top 10 and then "Wild Card Contenders". Isn't it a little early to be cramming this down our throats? I mean, the wild cards Only come into play if there are drivers between p11-p20 in points who have won a race and we dont have anyone who fits that bill yet.

Even the arch-enemy NFL doesn't start discussiong Wild cards until week 14 or so (of a 17 week season) and we have 24 races until our "playoffs" start. Give us a break all ready.

Now we hear that Bri-Bri is moving the hall of fame ceremony starting in 2012 to January form May. Oh, now THAT makes a lot of sense, seeing that Charlotte is only slighty more balmy than Chicago in freakin January, and it rains a cold icy rain almost everyday of the month there. All this so we can be even MORE like the NFL and have OUR HOF induction 5 weeks before the start of the season. Oh yeah, and that elephant in the room that week will be the NFL and their playoffs beating our tails into the ground for attendance. All the pundits are going to be whining "The attendace for the HOF ceremony is way down this year, I wonder why? No one seems to care anymore (etc etc etc)." Thanks again, Bri-Bri for giving the sport you are charged with taking care of another kick in the crotch.

But for all of that, I can't help feeling that the on track action, the real reason we watch, that not even all the Danica Patricks of the world can sour, feels so much better this year so far than in years past. Because of that, I am willing to put up with all that Bri-Bri has screwed up in our sport.

Yeah, I long for the day when winning a championship meant something special, that everything you did over the entire season counted towards that trophy and big check at the end of the season. But now, for me, its all about the next race, and the trophy for winning that race. Let the press have their season champion, whoever that may be. As long as Harv can win a few races in a year, I'm happy.

Sorry I got so long winded and sounded so negative, that was not my intent when I started typing this post. It's a symptom of the Love/Hate relationship I have with Nascar and the idiots who run it now. I love the sport, and hate the morons.

[Osella]

First of all, there's no such thing as "a NASCAR". The cars are either Chevrolets, Fords, Dodges or Toyotas which are only recognizable as such by the "emblems" affixed to them...
They look like nothing you can find in a dealership's showroom or being driven on the street even with the recent alterations. Automobile manufacturers who touted the motto, "Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.", aren't singing that song anymore. They are not "stock cars"...
The "simplified" points system has race fans more confused than they were before and the stupid Chase is still in place. I'll be cautiously optimistic if the numbers are still there after the first ten races.

Well, there I have to disagree.. To me, there IS such a thing as 'a NASCAR', it's what the general shape and design of all the cars looks like. This is as opposed to 'an F1 car' 'an Indycar' 'A World Rally Car'.
Yes they are all stickered up (and in some cases sheet-metalled) differently, but they are all emphatically 'NASCAR' cars, easily - and my point was, much more so now! - recognisable as such; even if you can't tell a Cup Camry from a Cup Impala with all the decals stripped off.
But there is 'a NASCAR', it's what the (mythical) rulebook specs the cars to be built to, and nowadays is the same underlying chassis for both the Cup and Nationwide cars, which cartainly DO look different, and look (more) like showroom cars.. (particularly the Challenger)
Of course there's nothing 'stock' in them, I don't care about that one bit.. it's racing.. If I want to see 'stock' cars I can sit by a motorway (US: highway) ;) - okay, no jokes about going and playing in the road, alright..? =P

Yeah, in ref to the chase.. it sucks.. We all know it and it always will.. As I said, for sure time will tell, and I am also cautiously optimistic, but I do think that if the cars look good, and more like they 'belong' in NASCAR people want to watch more.

Slorydn1,
I actually like the new Nationwide cars better than the cup cars
I am already not liking the new points system-or am I?
"Wild Card Contenders". Isn't it a little early to be cramming this down our throats?
...I can't help feeling that the on track action, the real reason we watch, that not even all the Danica Patricks of the world can sour, feels so much better this year so far than in years past. Because of that, I am willing to put up with all that Bri-Bri has screwed up in our sport.

I can't agree more with everything you said here. . I was totally shocked when I saw Danica in 4th place in the N/wide driver's standings for example!! Having said that though, if that is the result of a stronger series for up-and-comers, and means that guys like Landon Cassill, Bryan Clauson, Scott Lagasse Jr, Trevor Bayne, Brian Ickler get full-time rides so that they can actually develop and show more of their potential, then cutting out the Cup interlopers from points has to be a good thing..

Still not a fan of the 46-1 points though, was nothing wrong with the old system.. (which, given all we were reminded of in the runup to Daytona) there were things wrong with the old car..
Hence, now the 'new' car looks more like it belongs in NASCAR, to me, NASCAR feels like it deserves to be watched..