Dale Jr gets it right...

[bubba]

http://http://blogs.orlandosentinel....ck-owners.html

Might be the first time I agree with the guy, seems like NASCAR/ISC really doesn't get it.

[OLD STYLE RACER 2]

I can't get it to load.

[john tenney]

I fixed the link - here:

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/spo...ck-owners.html

Dale Earnhardt Jr. unleashes profanity-filled response to NASCAR track promoters
posted by Matt Humphrey on Feb 5, 2009 12:22:14 PM

The headline from this NASCAR media day will be Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s profanity-laced response to NASCAR track owners who've asked drivers to do more.

Here is what Junior said.

(My apologies, to everyone: I was told to by my superiors to strip out the full s#*@)

“S#@! we were in Daytona and I read off 20 damn scripts about selling tickets. I don’t know. They have to take responsibility for themselves. I was thinking the other day they could build their own hotels that way they could bring the hotel prices down and control the prices in the region and make a little bit of money.

"People aren’t (not) coming to the racetrack because drivers don’t give a s#@!. People aren’t coming to the race track because it’s expensive to do it. Drivers do pitch in and drivers go that extra mile and we’re willing to do more. It’s very easy to sit down and shoot a damn 30 second commercial. It’s a piece of cake these days. I can do it at home. We got that NASCAR bake sale. We can do live teleconferences for a f#@!ing hour, whatever they want. So, you know, we can push all we can push, but they can’t expect people to come out and spend that kind of money in this economy.”

Junior has a point, because this is what I’m hearing most from NASCAR fans in recent days. After I posted his earlier Sports Illustrated shot at NASCAR track promoters this weekend, fans have rallied around Junior’s cause, calling for lower hotel costs, ticket prices, etc.

And regardless of what you think about his choice of words, he is NASCAR’s defacto working-class hero – a role his late father played and took to the bank.

Now Junior is hoping the sport that’s made him a multi-millionaire doesn’t break the bank of ordinary NASCAR fans.

I'm working on uploading the audio. I'll let you know it's up.

[Edm]

Wow, sounds like it a nerve.
Lets see, Tue night I spent $29 at VSP and saw the entire track, 2 really good features and some damn good heats. AND wasnt stuck in traffic for 2 hours. Or I could spend 3X that for some ok tickets at Daytona, see half the track and watch follow the leader for 3 hours, then sit in traffic for 2 hours. hmmmm

[andre]

I think the non accessibility of today's Cup drivers does not help the cause neither. It's like the checkered flag has not wave yet and the helicopter is already running and ready to leave.The days where the hero of the day(that's you, the drivers) would stay at the speedway after the race to talk with fans, sign autograph are almost non existent today.

We even see that at short track. As soon as their own feature is over, if they brake down or do not qualify for the feature, they load up and leave. That is not good for the sport or for your team. Many race fans like to go in the pit area after the show is over to shake hands, talk about the famous pass of the evening, or whatever, just be around the drivers, it gives them a feeling of being involve with the show.

We had a guy up here couple of years ago, started to race as nobody. Then he teamed up with ''Mr I'll make a star out of you''. Within two years, the kid was a one of the best, if not the best known racer around. How? First at speedway, last to leave. Had poster he gave away at driver's introduction, walk the grandstand at intermission, had small postal card size pictures he sign and gave away, made all car shows possible, contacted every sports writers known in the area, had his own car show where he invited other drivers and team to join, and on and on. He made it happen, he did not wait for it to happen.

So if they want their track(s), their sport, or their own team to progress, racers as well as promoters will have to stop putting the needed effort on somebody else's shoulder and just do it. If you see that both your feet are in a hole, first thing to do, quit digging.

Just my 2 cents!

André

[SRQ77]

Applause to Jr. for having the guts !

I went to a Nascar race at Pocono as a kid in 1987 and then went to my second one in 2004. What a big disappointment !! It was at Homestead and it was so commericalized that the race was 2nd to the freebies and promotions that the companies were giving away. Nascar causes so much hype that the race is boring compared to what they hype it as. Jr. is right in saying that they can foot the bill to build their own hotels etc. The average race fan can't afford NASCAR anymore. I have more fun going to East Bay for the Winternationals than I would Daytona. You can walk the pits, talk to the drivers and have a good seat no matter where you are. You can tell when you go to a NASCAR event that most of the fans have never been to a small track before just by the way they talk about racing. But I guarantee you, if I brought that fan to Volusia or any fast dirt track in the state, they would see NASCAR in a different light. Jr. grew up old school with his dad when NASCAR wasn't the corporate giant it is today. He saw how Sr. dealt with the fans etc. so he knows the way it is. If NASCAR and the businesses that surround it don't realize that Joe Six Pack is getting laid off and/or doesn't have any money during this time, they're going to start have financial troubles themselves for years to come.

[john tenney]

I kind of see it from the NASCAR driver's point of view. They just got our of a hot car they were strapped in for four hours or so, and then some mob of autograph hunters wants to pester them for a signiature, and they don't really give a crap about the driver.

Not that I ever made it big, but that would annoy me after a while.

[Edm]

I kind of see it from the NASCAR driver's point of view. They just got our of a hot car they were strapped in for four hours or so, and then some mob of autograph hunters wants to pester them for a signiature, and they don't really give a crap about the driver.

Not that I ever made it big, but that would annoy me after a while.

Lol, at first I thought you were talking from personal experiences.

[andre]

They just got our of a hot car they were strapped in for four hours or so, and then some mob of autograph hunters wants to pester them for a signiature

That's the difference between driving a race car for a living and being a racer. Is racing what you DO or what you ARE????

Not so long ago, with Dale Sr, the King, the Allison(s) to name only a few, the inside of their cars were as hot if not worst and THEY would stay to welcome the fans after the race.

This is a never ending subject because it relies on opinions, but the bottom line is: if you do take care of your fans, they will take care of you too.

André

[roundtracker]

They just got our of a hot car they were strapped in for four hours or so, and then some mob of autograph hunters wants to pester them for a signiature

That's the difference between driving a race car for a living and being a racer. Is racing what you DO or what you ARE????

Not so long ago, with Dale Sr, the King, the Allison(s) to name only a few, the inside of their cars were as hot if not worst and THEY would stay to welcome the fans after the race.

This is a never ending subject because it relies on opinions, but the bottom line is: if you do take care of your fans, they will take care of you too.

André

Andre', Hate to disagree with you as I was a huge fan of Dale Earnhardt SR.
He was notorious for getting out and away from the track as fast as humanly possible. Maybe even legendary about it!

[andre]

Sorry for the slip. I put one in there that might not belong there. But the point of all this is stays the same, the majority of racers used to be more ''fans friendly'' than they are today.

André

[Todd McCreary]

the majority of racers used to be more ''fans friendly'' than they are today.

ask Kyle Petty why he's not as "fan friendly" as he used to be.




seems like NASCAR/ISC really doesn't get it.

there's a lot of non-ISC track owners in NASCAR. and i would really need to see their quote to know what they want the drivers to do 'more of'.

but i get Jr's point. between all the time they've got devoted to sponsorship promotion, Fox racing promotion, SpeedTV promotion, NASCAR promotion and then sitting out in front of their own sales trailers ... i'm not really sure how much more time they're supposed to be devoting to this.




"People aren’t (not) coming to the racetrack

this is hilarious; a parenthetical editorial correction which makes the statement grammatically incorrect. who says people aren't getting their money's worth out of college degrees?

[ocalasp76]

Exception To The Rule

Last week at Ocala Speedway we had Kenney Wallace and his crew in the modified races. Kenney made himself available to the fans when not racing and even set up and manned his souvenier cart and signed everything for fans in the grandstand area. He had his motorhome in the parking lot, not in the pits. He went to a local bar on Thursday night after the rain out and partied with the fans. Now thats the way a driver should be with his fans.
I was at Daytona during the Rolex practice last month and spoke with Danika, Boris Said, and Kyle Petty. They were all very nice and accomadating to their fans.
There are some racers out there that still get it.
----JIM----

Boris and I. Can't miss that hair....LOL

[OLD STYLE RACER 2]

You know, when Jim was YOUNGER, HE was as tall as Boris!!!!.............Sucks getting OLD!!!!

[ocalasp76]

Hey Jimbo

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT. GETTING OLD AIN'T FOR WIMPS.

I TRIED TO GET BORIS TO GET OFF THAT BOX, BUT HE SAID (NO PUNN INTENDED) HE HAD AN IMAGE TO DEFEND WITH HIS HEIGHT.
GEE WIZ, THAT HAIR ADDS SIX INCHES OR SO..........LOL
----JIM----