[MikeNoun]

After seeing the weak turnouts at many events this year, and the embarrassing turnout at last year's Brickyard 400, where Jeff Gordon had to make a comment about all the empty grandstands, NASCAR continues to slip.

According to Forbes.com and its valuations of NASCAR's top nine teams, the current value of Hendrick Motorsports ($348 million) is relatively unchanged since 2010 ($350 million). However, the average team has seen a 31.1% drop in profit since 2010 which has translated into an average team value of $139.7 million, down 16.4% during the same span.

NASCAR's popularity surged up until 2007, but then the bubble burst. Forbes blames the recent decline in values on plummeting attendance and TV ratings.

What is particularly interesting is that the last decade has seen the number of teams reduced through mergers and acquisitions, which you would think would increase the value of larger teams. But that is not happening.

[72projectbird]

Good. I want the Nascar from the 60's - 80's back. But we know that's not gonna happen.

[zephyrracer]

What big event happened November 2007, everything is effected, some shot themselves in the foot making things worse NASCAR be one it is.

Gregg

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by zephyrracer

What big event happened November 2007, everything is effected, some shot themselves in the foot making things worse NASCAR be one it is.

Gregg

I may not be following you, but the financial turmoil of 2008 may be it....

[bossbirdta]

NASCAR today?....
the good; Penske South...

the bad; ALL thing's toyota!

[2002Z4CSS]

Originally Posted by bossbirdta

NASCAR today?....
the good; Penske South...

the bad; ALL thing's toyota!

Ditto that!

[77 TRASHCAN]

You're preach'n to the choir, here....

So ironic, Smokey Yunick railed on, in his book about these days (as in since 2007...) could be com'n.

His concern for the sport was about the common working folks that supported this sport from the very earliest days. Promoters charging way to much for everything. Hotels, Motels jacking up prices for race weekends....

NASCAR and NHRA have done a few things to help, but nothing monumental so far...It's the same old race venue for both associations that it's been.

Some excitement needs to be pumped into racing to gain people's interest, even if the man of the house is a computer geek, and not a gearhead.

Smokey died in 2001, even then nobody outside of the mechanics that built the engines knew what the inside of the Indy car engines looked like, or knew how they worked. These are things that stimulate the interest of a lot of guys (w/ mechanical interests), to have an interest in the sport.

Everything's a big bad secret!!! It's no secret where the sport is headed though...

Anyone notice the amount of attention that those crazy outlaw street racing guys are getting? Or I should say, do you know HOW MUCH attention they are getting.

The essentially only 1/4 mile drag strip in central Oklahoma is in Noble, Oklahoma. The first Saturday of each they have a pro-street drag race event, 14.00, 12.00,10.00, and a 275 tire class and an outlaw class ( I might have missed one, Chief ?). Years past there might be about as many spectators as participants, roughly 1000-2000 folks, a fun event...

Three years ago was the last time they held this event on Friday night.....The event was advertised w/ the outlaw racers being there...There were probably 10,000 (or more)in attendence (yes I was there!) all to see the outlaw racers, it was insane.

Anyone see something small that's working and two large something's that are not???
I don't know how to connect the dots and jump start the larger two, but some heads need to start coming out of their perspective tailpipes soon, or it'll BE over......

I'm done

[Simple Man]

here we go again.....

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Simple Man

here we go again.....

[rexs73gto]

I want the old rules on the books to make it work again. If your car is a Pontiac it better have a Pontiac engine in it, if it's a Chevy you have to run a chevy engine. If they don't make a real wheel drive car Tough Sh!t you don't race. That will bring back real cars not these eggs on wheels with the front wheels doing the work of what should be the rear wheels job. Plus the cars shouldn't all fit into that stupid ass mold of the cars that run today. If it's not made it's not run,,,, Period.....

[cuz68]

Forget it, It will never be like that again.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by cuz68

Forget it, It will never be like that again.

Like he says, that is never going to happen in NASCAR.

The equity of having the same shape body and being able to keep the power of all engines within a few HP, never lets the lead car finish 11 laps ahead of second place, as in the "GOOD OLE DAYS"

NASCAR is devoted more to showcasing driver talent, merchandising sponsors, and keeping the playing field level, than it is to promoting car brands in this day. Even though the manufacturers spend a big chunk of money on race programs the trickle down effect from race innovation to production line cars is very minimal any longer. Cup holder innovation isn't coming from NASCAR.

The cars in the horsepower wars today, aren't raced in the cup series so watching a ford win on Sunday doesn't equate to someone buying a new Shelby/5000/whiz bang/Bullit mustang on Monday because they saw it on TV.

The amount of deception that was going on in the 60s by people like Smokey Yunick, Hollman Moody, etc., the cars looked like they were stock, they were heavily modified for competition by means of cheating so the deception of stock cars was taking place then as well. It was just less noticeable from the fan side.

It ain't never going to be the same as it was in the 60s, even though stock wasn't stock back then either.

Another thing that has changed is BIG Bill France died and his son was at the helm, things changed some. When Brian France comes along things change more. As the management changes, the world changes, things in NASCAR must evolve too. Natural evolution.

Also the car culture has changed a ton since the sixties. Todays young adults look at their cars the same as they do their refrigerator or their washer and dryer, appliances. People can't work on their own cars as much as they did in the 60s because of the complexity, and they just plain don't have the desire to.

OMG, how did you get so much grease/dirt under your fingernails!!!!!
I pay someone to work on my car, don't you have enough money to pay someone to work on yours?

Watching racing has much more competition now in the electronics age. People would rather be on Facebook talking about themselves and spreading gossip than sitting at a race track, or devoting 3-4 hours of watching a cup race on TV.

Heck people don't even read books any longer. The younger generation can't do a math problem without a calculator. Spelling and comprehension is mirrored in the tests the gov't puts so much stock in, and we all know how low the scores are on those tests are because it's on the news seems like everyday.

When you live in the past, you will get left in the dust.

If there is something that's good, just leave it up to a human being to screw it up. It's a wonder we've survived as long as we have.

[necdb3]

I was never a big fan of NASCAR but when you go back to the days when they were truly stock cars, that was cool.

As stated above, the average spectator has no connection to the cars running around the track. Their Chevy has nothing in common with the Chevy running around. So much for win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.

Unfortunately, that's the way this country is going. Everyone has to have an equal chance at everything, and all the cars basically are the same. Long gone are the days of trying wild things like when the Superbirds hit the track.

[tom s]

JMO,racing has never been better.Look at the "good old days"see how many cars finished on the lead lap and also how many laps were between the 1st and 2nd place cars.Everyone remembers a few races where they were bumping and grinding the last lap but really go back and see the results.I loved the old stock car racing because of the cars but the side by side racing virtually everyweek has never been better.TomTom

[goatwgn]

Originally Posted by necdb3

I was never a big fan of NASCAR but when you go back to the days when they were truly stock cars, that was cool.

As stated above, the average spectator has no connection to the cars running around the track. Their Chevy has nothing in common with the Chevy running around. So much for win on Sunday, Sell on Monday.

Unfortunately, that's the way this country is going. Everyone has to have an equal chance at everything, and all the cars basically are the same. Long gone are the days of trying wild things like when the Superbirds hit the track.

X2! that about sums it up for me. A rear wheel drive Toyota Camry (body style)of all things, with an OHV V8. and the other assorted FWD bodystyle (or named ) cars over the last 2 and a half decades with RWD, and OHV V8s. Why not just run giant electric slot cars with the drivers pulling the triggers in the overhead booths, so no one has a chance of getting injured.

[David Holmberg]

IMHO, they (NASCAR) lost a lot of fans when they went too PC and cleaned up the sport. People wanted rivalries and fighting, DW made them famous with his mouth and the rivalries that followed.

The other thing, again IMHO, that they did that really hurt was the ricer spoilers a couple of years ago. They were going after the Fast n Furious section, but that went against the faithful fan base they had. Its somewhat better today, but...

Perhaps they should look into WWE wrestling and Mohammad Ali to learn about creating a large fan base...

[David Holmberg]

Tom I agree with that 100%, but they took away the "show" aspect of it.
Fans want to root for their driver, and hate the other guys. This, lets all be friends deal isn't working.

FWIW, I never liked NASCAR even though my Father was a lifetime fan. I loved drag racing, period. Then in the early 90's I started looking at them running 9K RPM for 500 miles and I became a fan because of the technology. Then I got to know the drivers and became an Earnhardt fan. Today I'm an 88 fan, but honestly Jr drives too clean and is way too nice, NASCAR needs more attitude like Kyle Busch brings to the game.

[RAJ7395]

Toyota entered NASCAR. I stopped watching. That about sums it up.

[J.D.]

[MikeNoun]

I think a lot of it has to do with the depression (called economic downturn to be politically correct), coupled with the fact that as every year passes, fewer and fewer younger kids are interested in auto racing in general. They're being raised to believe the internal combustion is evil, and because of their financial status, they rarely get to enjoy muscle cars. Plus, they simply don't care that much about cars anymore. They don't turn wrenches, and they're far more engaged in escaping reality via videogames and social networking.

Of course, NASCAR isn't dying because younger people are losing interest, but it's part of the reason.

TV coverage is TOO good now, and it's much cheaper to watch a race on HDTV, or via the web, tied into your favorite driver's radio, or following them using their in-car camera. The NFL is facing the same problem. It's much better to watch (or DVR) a game, watch it in HD, takes breaks, etc., than freezing your butt off in 15 degree weather watching a single big screen TV, and paying $75 a ticket.