NASCAR: Brian France Seems Oblivious To His Sport's Issues

Brian France has done a lot for NASCAR but it’s hard to argue that what he has done is positive for the sport. In fact, it’s easier to argue that he is oblivious to some of the biggest issues facing NASCAR.

NASCAR’s biggest issue is the rain delays? Well, this is at least what Brian France believes.

For NASCAR chairman Brian France to even joke about the sports biggest challenge being the rain not only shows that the man entrusted to help NASCAR to grow is completely blind to the problems that plague his sport, but that he also doesn’t have the gull to look fans in the eyes and tell them that there are huge problems with the sport they know and love.

Sure, any NASCAR fan with eyes to see and ears to listen probably already know this, but it is astounding how in the dark France appears to think that fans are about these issues. If anything, this comment should be considered a slap in the face to NASCAR fans who follow the sport religiously. It should serve as an official notice that NASCAR doesn’t care about their fan base or at least the real issues plaguing the sport.

For those of you that still hold some kind of small glimmer of hope that Brian France and NASCAR still care about the fans, I highly suggest you pull your head out of the sand and look at the amount of ridiculous changes that NASCAR has implemented over the past couple of years. Better yet, just look at all the problems that have arisen from the changes that NASCAR has made over the past couple of years.

Let’s start with their holy grail of a playoff system known at the Chase for the Sprint Cup. While NASCAR continues to fight tooth and nail to defend the new flashy playoff system that they tweaked two years ago, fans and even drivers know all too well that the Chase system is nothing more than the sports attempt to create excitement in situations that sometimes severely lacks it.

The biggest problem with the Chase format from day one was the fact that fans never really asked NASCAR to create something like it. In fact, the original Chase format was created in 2005 by NASCAR officials to combat runaway championship victories and to give the 36-race season a sort of reset after the first 26 races of the year.

While some fans may argue that this isn’t true and that fans were the ones that were unhappy with the runaway victories that plagued the early 2000’s, one only has to look at the severe backlash that the Chase has received over its 12 year lifetime to know that simply isn’t true. If nothing else, the backlash that the Chase has received over the years should have been enough to force NASCAR to abolish it completely. Unfortunately for fans, that was never done.

To NASCAR’s credit, they have tried several times to change-up the Chase format over the years, giving two drivers wild card spots, expanding the field from 10 to 12 to 16, and even finally adding four rounds of racing to the format. While done with positive intentions, all these changes have done is left NASCAR fans with a sour taste in their mouths and caused more and more of them to leave the sport in droves.

Another big problem that France failed to discuss during his interview with ABC News is the sports incompetence with it comes to rule changes and their inability to be transparent with both fans and drivers. If nothing else, that was one of the biggest things that plagued the sport throughout the 2015 season.

One example this incompetence, was when NASCAR decided to cut down from three green-white-checkered attempts to one at Talladega Superspeedway. The move was made to decrease the chances of a huge accident happening in the closing laps of the plate-track race, but NASCAR ended up throwing their new found safety measure out the window when the race didn’t end the way fans were hoping it would.

Sure, NASCAR tried to play the whole thing off with an excuse that since the drivers never crossed the star-finish line before the wreck occurred, it didn’t count as an official attempt, but that really only showed just how insanely desperate NASCAR was to justify their actions that day. While the last minute move admittedly didn’t cause an injury to any drivers, even after a huge last-lap incident bunched up the field, it still caused NASCAR to take a huge hit to their public image that day.

Another problem with this incident was that it seemed like former series champion, Kevin Harvick, wrecked another driver intentionally to bring out the final caution of the race. While Harvick claims that he simply made a misjudgment when he tried to get out of line and let the pack go by due to a engine problem, some fans still think Harvick’s move was a way to ensure himself a spot in the next round of The Chase.

Of course nothing was done to punish Harvick for his actions during the closing laps of the race and he even made enough points to gain him a spot in the semifinals of the Sprint Cup Chase. Not only was this a huge lapse in judgment on NASCAR officials part, it was also a huge sign to fans that NASCAR would let certain drivers off the hook if it created a more interesting storyline for their sport.

Finally, there’s the waiver rule. Nothing else has caused more debate amongst NASCAR fans this year and it will continue to do so until NASCAR finally does something about it. The rule came to light during the 2015 season, when Kyle Busch was able to return from a 11-race absence after a brutal accident, make the chase, and ultimately win the Sprint Cup championship that year. Sure, the waiver had been awarded in previous instances as well but none of them appeared to be as egregious to fans as the Busch waiver was.

While the championship was a huge accomplishment for Kyle Busch, who suffered a brutal leg injury in the Xfinity Series opener at Daytona, it also caused fans to debate whether a driver should be allowed to compete for a championship if they miss a certain number of races during a season. Furthermore, it begged the question if a championship is considered tainted if it is won by using the waiver rule.

Whether that is true or not is still up to debate for NASCAR fans, but the fact that NASCAR hasn’t even bothered to listen to the fans and try to make some kind of changes to the rules listed above is beyond frustrating. It’s almost as if NASCAR really is blind to how their rule and format changes are hurting the sport and no amount of yelling by fans can make them see it.

The question is, why? While there is no definite answer to this question, it seems like France is simply trying to give his sport a positive image ahead of this year’s upcoming season. Think about it. Why would France want to go do an in-depth interview about the challenges facing his sport, when the race that draws in the biggest number of first time fans is only a few weeks away?

That might just be why he answered the question with a joke during his interview with ABC News. Unfortunately for France, the problems that plague the sport are nothing to joke about and no matter how many times he tries to put on a little song and dance for the potential new fans of the sport, there will always be an amusement park size line of longtime fans walking out the back door.

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NASCAR: Brian France Seems Oblivious To His Sport’s Problems

By Brian Thornsburg | Feb 9, 2016

Brian France has done a lot for NASCAR but it’s hard to argue that what he has done is positive for the sport. In fact, it’s easier to argue that he is oblivious to some of the biggest issues facing NASCAR.