Tough
year for NASCAR continues after scoring flap
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[November 04, 2016]
By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange
This year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint
Cup may end up with Jimmie Johnson winning a record-tying seventh
championship or former NFL Super Bowl-winning team owner Joe Gibbs
scoring a fifth title.
Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch are still in the running for a second
championship, as are defending title holder Kyle Busch and Matt
Kenseth.
Potential breakthrough champions Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Carl
Edwards are still in the hunt, although Edwards needs a victory to
advance.
Any of these outcomes would be a plus for NASCAR, which has had a
tough year when it comes to the business of promoting and
sanctioning races.
Beyond who wins the championship, there's another big question
looming: who will sponsor the championship in 2017? That's a process
that continues to chug along with no apparent outcome. In addition,
the television ratings are falling and there have been problems in
the conduct of races.
Three times during the Chase officials have left an event with some
egg on their face due to scoring and rules controversies.
The 29-lap caution period at the Martinsville Speedway on Sunday was
the latest. An unusual situation among leaders caused the extended
caution and all indications are that the sanctioning body got the
order of cars correct for what turned out to be the final restart.
But at least one driver thought the outcome was affected by the
reduction in green flag laps.
The week before at the Talladega Superspeedway, the slippery concept
of competing at "100 percent," a holdover from the Chase scandal at
the Richmond International Raceway in 2013, raised its ugly head.
Clearly all the teams of JGR and Stewart-Haas Racing did not try
their best to compete at the front of the field in the interest of
helping their teammates in the Chase.
Running for points instead of a victory is as old as racing
championships and there's not much a sanctioning body can do about
it. But fans didn't see all the sport's stars compete fully for a
victory, which is disrespectful at best to them. The situation
results from the elimination format of the Chase, a format that has
otherwise worked very well for NASCAR and to its credit the
sanctioning body has already put in place a likely remedy by moving
Talladega to the second of three events in the Round of 12 in 2017.
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The biggest issue in officiating occurred in the first race of the
Chase, which could very well affect its outcome. After the opening
round in Chicago, officials declared the cars of race winner Martin
Truex, Jr. and Johnson to be illegal. They later reversed themselves
and let both drivers continue without penalty despite measurements
of rear axles that fell outside the rules.
That's not all. This year's Sprint All-Star race, where half the
field was lapped due to wonky rules, might have been totally
disastrous for teams and fans were it not an exhibition event. As it
was, the sponsor could not have been happy.
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In some respects, these types of controversies are typical of motor
racing and underscore the difficulty of running a major-league
series full of talented drivers, teams and well-financed team
owners. Often, controversies help generate more publicity and
interest by fans. But that hasn't happened this year, highlighting
NASCAR's ongoing difficulties with TV ratings.
Only eight of the 34 races - including the All-Star race - have
resulted in TV ratings that have gone up or stayed even. This comes
in the second year of a 10-year agreement with Fox and NBC, meaning
that the comparisons are apples to apples. Both networks are
committed to developing all-sports channels, which is one reason why
they can't match the numbers of ESPN in 2014 or, in the case of Fox,
its own network telecasts versus Fox Sports 1.
Still the comparisons do not look good. In five of the cases where
there's been improvement this year, the ratings of the previous
year's event were influenced by rain delays or postponements.
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At least a decrease in the ratings of the powerhouse NFL this year
has finally given NASCAR some protective cover when it comes to
changing viewing habits in the U.S. And the number of NASCAR viewers
is still significant on a time slot basis. But the ratings are bound
to influence the current discussions with potential new title
sponsors.
Ideally, NASCAR would be able to say goodbye and thanks to Sprint
and hello to its new sponsor at the season-ending banquet. But
discussions have dragged on. NASCAR executive Brent Dewar, the chief
operating officer, has said talks are still in advanced stages with
potential sponsors. But he's also said there's more emphasis on
getting the right fit than on a specific timeline.
The specter of starting the 2017 season without a major title
sponsor in place for the first time since the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Company came on board in 1972 is certainly an unpleasant prospect
for the sport. In any event, there will likely be less investment
due to those tepid TV numbers.
All's well that ends well and especially at the checkered flag in
motor sports. NASCAR has much to look forward to in that respect.
This year's Chase has all four of the major powerhouse teams
involved, all three of the automotive brands and only two of the
sport's established stars - Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski -
eliminated prior to the current Round of 8. (This assumes Truex, Jr.
is a new star and that Danica Patrick has star power but is not a
star driver.)
Judging from his public appearances, there's reason to be confident
that Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will return to his Hendrick Motorsports
Chevy in 2017. And this year's rookie class of Chase Elliott, Ryan
Blaney and Chris Buescher is the strongest since Earnhardt, Jr. and
Kenseth arrived in 2000.
For now, it's on to the Texas Motor Speedway Sunday for the second
race of the Round of 8 with a six-time champion, Johnson, currently
leading the charge after a victory at Martinsville. It's the Chase,
where anything can happen and often does. One hopes it doesn't
involve another controversy over rules and officiating.
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