NASCAR Debate: Did Fans Overreact During The Daytona 500?
It’s time for another Beyond The Flag debate and this week’s topic has to do with whether or not NASCAR fans should be upset with the quality of the 2016 Daytona 500.
The Daytona 500 is a different beast entirely and it’s about time NASCAR fans start to recognize that. While this year’s edition of the Daytona 500 delivered one of the most exciting and intense finishes of its 58-year history, fans still seem content to complain about the quality of racing that took place Sunday afternoon in The Great American Race.
So that brings up the topic of this Beyond The Flag debate, should NASCAR fans be upset with the product that was the 2016 Daytona 500?
Brian Thornsburg
Let’s start by defining the word race for a moment. A race, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary is to compete with another or others to see who is fastest at covering a set course or achieving an objective. Keep in mind that the definition makes no mention of excitement, number of passes or anything of that nature.
With that in mind and the heart pounding finish that fans were treated to in the closing laps of the 500, how was that not the textbook definition of what a race is? Sure, there wasn’t a lot of lead changes during the race, only 15 to be exact, and the outside line was at a major disadvantage throughout the afternoon, but should factors such as these really impact a races overall quality?
If anything, these kind of factors not only increase the overall quality of a race, but also showcase just how hard it is to get a win in NASCAR’s top race. Seriously, how prestigious would the Daytona 500 be if it was easy to pass and the drivers took a bunch of ridiculous risks to win the race?
Not only would this kind of racing essentially turn The Great American Race into a little more than a demolition derby, it also makes winning the race more about luck then about actual skill. While those aspects of racing are fun to watch during any other race on 36-event season in the Sprint Cup Serious, The Daytona 500 should present drivers with a special kind of challenge.
Christopher Olmstead
While I appreciate Brian’s thoughts, I will have to disagree with him.
The Daytona 500 was a race by definition but NASCAR is not just in the racing business, they are also in the entertainment business. Putting cars on the track isn’t enough to sell tickets and fill tracks. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the ratings and profit margins over the last 15 years. NASCAR is just as much in the entertainment business as it is the racing business and as a result they need to produce an exciting on-track product that lasts 200 laps, not just three laps.
NASCAR’s issue is similar to what the NFL and the NBA went through.
Defense might win championships but a 10-7 game in the NFL and a 72-68 game in the NBA is not the recipe for success over the long run. Sure, those games now and again are nice but if it was the product the majority of the time, both leagues would suffer. This is why the NFL protects the offense the way that it does and why there is a lack of defense in the NBA. Fans want to see scoring and action and excitement.
In NASCAR it’s no different. NASCAR fans don’t want to see cars go around in a straight line for 190 laps only to have a shootout over the last 10 laps or so. If this is the product that NASCAR is providing, than the fans have a right to be upset about it.
Brian Thornsburg
In the end, it doesn’t matter what I say or what NASCAR does, because fans will never fully be happy with the racing product that is taking place on the track. Fans claim that they wanted exciting passes every lap and heart pumping finishes in the past, but then complained and cried when it came in the form of tandem draft racing.
While it understandable that fans would be unhappy with the tandem racing that plagued plate track for several years, it almost makes them look hypocritical when they continue to complain about it after NASCAR listened to the fans and fixed the problem Strange enough, now it seems that NASCAR fans want the constant passing, insane risk taking and close finishes that made up tandem racing.
In all honesty, these fans don’t know what they want and will continue to complain about the quality of racing until ultimately every single race ends in a 20 car pileup and no driver is able to make it to the line. Maybe fans need to look at the skill that goes into racing at a track like Daytona and stop wanting to just see a wreck fest in The Daytona 500 every year.
Christopher Olmstead
I agree that some fans will never be pleased but those fans are not the majority even though they might sometimes be the loudest.
When it’s all said and done it’s the fans that run NASCAR. If the fans stop coming it will eventually kill the sport. Will the fans ever stop coming? No, probably not. However, the loss of fans over the last 15 years cannot be ignored. When the Daytona 500 used to easily draw more than 20 million viewers and it currently struggles to draw six or seven, it’s an issue.
More racing: Winners And Losers From The Daytona 500
Finding a happy medium is not easy and the answer is not simple but it’s NASCAR’s job to keep working on it in an effort to provide the best product for the fans.