*The Egg Roll Theory: There are certain things that a person believes they should like despite evidence proving otherwise. They continue trying said thing occasionally with the same poor reaction, just hoping to like it one day. For me these items include: Egg Rolls (of which the theory is based), olives, classic movies of yesteryear and NASCAR to name a few.
Just over a week ago, NASCAR held its self-proclaimed 'Super Bowl of Racing' in the Daytona 500. As much as I would like to write about how silly it is to kick off your sport's season with its climactic event, I will save this for another day. Instead, I want to draw attention to what NASCAR has become. The sad realization I came to after digging only a couple levels into the structure of the car behemoth is that NASCAR is run much like a state organization. This became painfully true after the nauseatingly poor coverage of the race last Sunday.
For most who watched, the Daytona 500 was a disaster. Multiple delays, lasting past the hour mark, were caused by a pothole on a portion of the track. You can't make this kind of stuff up. The ratings show that some 30 million people watched some part of the NASCAR showcase, so there is no debating whether the 500 is a major sporting event. Unfortunately, NASCAR has not administered itself like a major sports league. The push has been so strong from everyone involved in NASCAR to tell the world that they are the fastest growing sport in America; that they will be the next major sport; that they will be the number two (behind the NFL) before we know it. Well, NASCAR, turns out you are in no way ready to take that step (and you are getting passed by MMA within your own demographics, you know, with the meatheads).
We have to go back to the beginning of NASCAR to understand why some of these problems have surfaced. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (or NASCAR, who knew?) was founded in 1947-48 by Bill France Sr. It began as a grass roots movement based on the country back-roads of the southern base. Fervor built and built as risk takers, drivers and fans spread across the southern end of the country. Mr. France was a mechanic who moved to the racing heart-bed of Daytona to escape the Great Depression. His exposure to early stock car racing provided him the inspiration to put in motion the basis for a governing body to organize the sport. At the time, promoters were as slick and shady as they come (much like boxing, except boxing is still like this, stock car racing somehow figured it out 60 years ago. NASCAR, if Don King wants to get involved at any point, run). Good ol' Bill was on to something because his little idea in 1948 has turned into a multi-billion dollar industry sanctioning over 1,500 races a year. Luckily, the NASCAR management had the foresight to understand that as their grassroots movement boomed and became a phenomenon, changes would have to be made to provide more structure.
Wait, this didn't happen? Hmmm. So who runs NASCAR now? Brian France?! The grandson of the original creator?! Come on France family, this is not a local store down in Podunk, Alabama. You cannot turn a global sports organization into you own family legacy (Unless you are Wal-Mart. All hail the Walton's). For the good of the sport you must open up the management. I know what you might say, "Plenty of good organizations have passed leadership down from generation to generation". This is true. You know when it has never worked? For a sports league. You are getting crushed by other sports organizations because you have an archaic structure that leads to cover ups, corruption, being cheap and amateur moments like the pothole at the 500. Let this latest set back be the last straw. It is time to bring yourselves into the new century. No more France State Run Organization (FSRO).
Almost any criticism of NASCAR (or FSRO from now through the end of the article) can be traced to the ideas of the France family. First, let's tackle the pothole issue. The marquee track in stock car racing has not been repaved since 1977. Sounds odd, right? This was a major point of contention immediately following the race. Many outside observers (read:non-FSRO reporters) and some drivers took FSRO to task over this clear bit of mismanagement. Any city roads which went this long between work would be a source of debate, the city organizers would be overcome with criticism if they let this happen (I would craft such an angry letter to my alderman. Even if this was the wrong person to talk to, I just love the word alderman). After cooler heads prevailed, it was explained that tracks age over time and provide a better racing surface. As I am not a racing enthusiast, I'll leave this to the experts. I do no one thing, though, there is a major difference between letting a surface age gracefully and having huge potholes causing delays during the biggest race of the year. But maybe this isn't FSRO's fault, I mean, shouldn't the Daytona Speedway take care of its track? Well, yes. Then I guess we need to figure out who owns the Daytona Speedway.
(checking)
(checking)
Hmmm...something called the International Speedway Corporation owns and operates it. Well, who runs that?
(checking)
(shaking head)
Dammit, it's Jim France. It's all the same thing! The France family runs the governing body, sanctions the races, builds the tracks, owns the tracks, created the Jimmie Johnson robot, etc. Can anyone argue that this is to self-contained? (Jimmie Johnson may not be a robot)
Good thing we have the media to keep an eye out for us. Take the coverage of the race. Man, were those analysts for FOX and ESPN cutting into FSRO for how they handled the problems. They held nothing back.
""Dammit, again! They did nothing of the sort. All we heard was how exciting this race was ("One of the greatest sporting events ever!") because the finish was so close. Well, shoot, of course it was close. The drivers were not given any time to separate because of all of the cautions and full delays. No one heard a word of criticism from anyone affiliated with coverage. This is irresponsible and cannot be tolerated. I cannot be sure why they acted this way, but there is an ugly undercurrent to racing coverage that has to do with the power FSRO has to censor coverage. They are the only game in town and let you know it. Take for example the show Pit Bull on the SPEED channel which was critical of NASCAR policies on occasion. SPEED was heavily influenced by the FSRO. SPEED gets scolded for coverage on Pit Bull. SPEED cancels Pit Bull. Additionally, if you are a driver, you will be fined if you say anything even slightly critical of the mother-ship. There is a zero tolerance policy when it comes to real reporting on NASCAR.
Those who have gotten the chance to criticize FSRO (by which I mean no one who wants another paycheck for covering racing) have complained about the reluctance to pay for new, safer technology, a reluctance to pay for repairs to tracks (like potholes), race fixing (the outcomes may be predetermined), limiting driver appearances in other races, not releasing banned substances lists (effectively being able to ban drivers for over-the-counter medications), and so on.
So NASCAR/FSRO is a self contained organization which has no democracy, limits speech, unfairly ostracizes racers/media members, covers up stories and controls all aspects of its existence. Sound familiar? It should because it is exactly how China or any other "evil government" has ever operated. Maybe this last scandal will open the doors and let the world into NASCAR, until then they will always be a minor league establishment.
GRM
