NASCAR's Many Problems

As another season goes into the history books. I sit back and can't believe how much NASCAR has fallen. I grew up watching my hero Bobby Allison race with and against his son Davey Allison. I grew hating Dale Earnhardt, but as the years went by I grew to appreciate him more as a person then as a driver. Mainly because he was not afraid to speak his mind. Even if it meant going against what the powers that be wanted. Here are a couple of points that I would like to address that I feel if NASCAR would address, would go a long way.

1. Stage racing
   This type of racing makes no sense. This type of racing is way too complicated for the casual fan who just wants to sit and watch a race and to enjoy the company of great friends. I can not stay up with all that is going on during a race. It makes no sense to me how a person who finishes first is not the leader compared to one who finishes 7th is actually the leader in points. Maybe it is just me but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it. I had a discussion with a friend a while back. She was bored one Sunday and was flipping through channels and she came across a NASCAR race. So we talked about it, she tried to watch the race and she said that she couldn’t make any sense of it. I tried to explain to her the system and after about 20 minutes of trying to explain it to her we got nowhere.
2. High Ticket prices
   With people not working and not getting paid like they used, they can not afford the high prices to attend the races. They also can not pay for the food and hats, shirts, toys.

3.  Do away with the Lucky Dog
   

   Guys getting their laps back discourages drives to go all out during a race. Cause they know that all they have to do is to “hang around” and not to race in order to stay or get back on the lead lap.
4. Races not on free tv
   With the economy being in a free fall, people have had to cut back on their expenses and this means cutting back on cable/satellite or dropping it all together. With races being on the pay for tv side, people are not able to watch the races. So this means that people are going to watch other things that will catch their eye. And in the long run, losing touch with the sport.
5. Racing in general is horrible.
   The racing incident where Austin Dillon didn’t shove but speared Aric Almirola into the wall to win the Daytona 500. It is one thing to do the bump and run, but to spear a guy into the wall, that is not racing.
6. Not allowing drivers to be themselves.
   Not allowing the drivers to express themselves in how they truly feel. People are able to see through all of the fakeness. Tony Stewart said it himself, that when he was driving, he had a phone full of text messages that the drivers were unhappy with but were terribly afraid to speak out, cause they were afraid of the blowback from NASCAR.