Reason To Believe

NASCAR’s been on a mini-roll the past couple of weeks as far as the races themselves have been concerned.  Good action, genuine excitement; the reasons we’uns of the NASCAR Nation watch.  Well, most of us.  There’s always the contingent who watch because of how assorted drivers fill out their racing uniform.  But to each their own.

That said, I’m still more than a little reticent to fully embrace the sport this year.  The fact that races such as the two most recent have been the exception and not the norm has much to do with this.  Dull is dull, and follow the leader is dull.  However, this isn’t the primary reason.

I was only half-joking in yesterday’s post about the way things will be going in the near future.  Chrysler is already in bankruptcy, and GM is standing at its door.  Unless the current administration deems it beneficial for the UAW to maintain manufacturer support for NASCAR, it’s going to go bye-bye for all Chevrolet and Dodge teams.  That’s bad in an era where everything comes with a massive price tag.

I’m still looking for a reason to believe that things will work out and NASCAR will continue to thrive.  It’s strange to think of a sport where television ratings and attendance are noticeably lower than before as thriving, but in today’s economy any entity that’s still making money is thriving and I have yet to hear anyone say that NASCAR is bleeding red ink.  As to why the ratings and attendance have dropped, the reasons are clear: dull races and the dismal performance thus far of Dale Earnhardt Jr.  A cookie cutter snoozefest ending with the #88 in Victory Lane will find the former immediately forgotten as the latter is celebrated.  Bank on it.

So yes, I’m rather reluctant to get all that fired up about NASCAR right now.  Hopefully things will work out.  In the meanwhile, nothing to do but hope the next race is as good as the last two.  And wonder what’s next.