DAYTONA 500: FROM GREAT AMERICAN RACE TO WHO CARES

Today is the annual running of what was once called the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. It was a few years back one of the great sporting events in the America. Tickets were hard to come by and the Daytona International Speedway was sold out. Spectators and Fans would arrive days in advance and set up camp in the infield and all around the 2.5 mile facility. Hotels for miles in any direction were commanding to top rates and were booked solid as much a year in advance. 

From Pole Day qualifying, the Busch Clash, the Gatorade Twin Qualifying Races, to the Goody's 300 on Saturday and finally the Daytona 500 on Sunday, there was always thrills and anticipations. For me it meant taking off from work and kicking back and watching or listening to each event. 

I can remember those classic duels between Richard Petty and David Pearson, and the likes of Cale Yarborough and the Alabama Gang.  I can also remember Junior Johnson both as a driver and as an owner who employed such stars as Darrell Waltrip and Neil Bonnett.

Yes, as they say, those were the good ole days. But they were also NASCAR's Greatest days. During the 1970's, 80's and early 90's NASCAR has a tremendously loyal fan base, that was centered in the south. Fans would not only flock to the super speedways of Daytona, Charlotte and Talladaga, but to places like Darlington, Rockingham and North Wilkesboro. Every track was sold out and were installing more seats to handle the demand for tickets. Places like Daytona, Charlotte and Talladega were seeing sell out crowds totaling well over 100,000 people. 

But in the mid to late 1990's something happened. NASCAR forgot where it came from and started to expand. Abandoning such places as Rockingham and North Wilkesboro in favor of place like Chicago, Las Vegas and Southern California.  While the first few races sold out at those new tracks, the novelty soon wore off and more and more empty seat began to show. There were no solid fan base in these new cities and the curious spectator stopped showing up. 

Along about the same time the politically correct police legislated the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company out of the sport.  For more than 20-years R. J. Reynolds had been the title sponsor of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The loss of Winston and the abandonment of it's southern fan base was the beginning of the end of NASCAR as a major player in the world of sports.

Then in the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR lost it's biggest star when Dale Earnhardt lost is life in a last lap crash.  When Dale Earnhardt died, so did NASCAR.  The final blow came in 2007 when NASCAR's long time President and CEO Bill France, Jr., died leaving control of the sport to his son Brian France and other members of the France Family. Bill France, Jr., and Sr., spent 50-years building NASCAR into the worlds Premier Motorsports Organization. It has taken less than 15-years for the sport to be destroyed under the current France Family leadership.

In the years since NASCAR abandoned its southern fan base, and since the death of Bill France and Dale Earnhardt, the sport has plummeted in popularity. Today there are thousands of empty seats, and hotel rooms are readily available. The tracks of today have no character and are basically all the same. The same can be said for the cars. In the sports hey day it was call Stock Car Racing because the cars resembled those on the local dealers showroom floor.  Today, the cars all look the same, you can't tell a Toyota from a Ford. And the Drivers of today are aloof and could care less about what few fans the sport has left. 

Gone are the days of drivers like Richard Petty and David Person getting out of their cars after a 500 mile race and signing autographs until all the fans has been satisfied. Gone are the days of drivers having character and personality. Driver Interviews today are sound bites written by PR firms. Drivers rarely go off script. Today the drivers only care about their sponsors and how quick they can get back to their motor home and isolate themselves from the fans. 

Back in the day where NASCAR was king, this entire week would have been something that I would have marked on my calendar. There was a time when I wouldn't miss a Busch Clash, or a Goody's 300 and certainly not the Daytona 500.  But today, its just another day, I haven't watch a NASCAR event in years. I can't tell you who is on the pole or who won the qualifying races.  Hell, I can't even name 5 drivers who are starting today's race. 

I haven't watched a NASCAR race in years and won't be watching today.  I could care less about what was once known as The Great American Race and from the looks of all  the empty seats, I am not alone.