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Published March 4, 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Spin GameNo, I am not talking about Michael Waltrip on Sunday, or any other NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who found the rear end of his car chasing the front end until it hit a wall. The spin game I am talking about is NASCAR’s TV ratings. My son Matt is the best informed race fan in our family and alerts me to articles he thinks I might find interesting. He sent me the following: NASCAR ratings drop again.NASCAR continues to be the biggest draw of the winter sports, even as its numbers continue to decline. The Shelby 427, won by Kurt Busch, drew a 5.5/10 overnight rating on FOX Sunday, off 11% from a 6.2/12 for last year's race, and tied as the lowest overnight rating for the race since 2006. This marks the third straight NASCAR race to see a double-digit decline in overnight ratings. The Daytona 500 (-15%) and Auto Club 500 (-13%) also saw declines. Despite the downward trend in ratings, NASCAR continues to easily outdraw its competition. The 5.5 for the Shelby 427 was the highest overnight of the weekend for a sporting event on broadcast, beating second-place Lakers/Suns (3.8/8) by 45%. Overnight ratings for the final round of the Accenture Match Play Championship are currently unavailable. Overnight ratings for the NASCAR at Las Vegas. Now Fox Sports would probably interpret this as kicking everyone’s butt on the ratings. I see it as fewer people are watching NASCAR telecasts, and their problem is not dissimilar to the problems facing dirt tracks. People have many more entertainment opportunities then ever before, and are opting for non-racing entertainment. Are race promoters doing a bad job selling their product, or are other entertainment options more enjoyable for people? At its best, I don’t think anything is more exciting than auto racing, but it has also been a long time since racing has been at its best. Again, I am talking about NASCAR and short tracks. To do nothing is to fall behind, and to do the wrong thing is worse than doing nothing. I hope that 2009 will be a wake up year for NASCAR and for dirt tracks as well. Racing can be and should be a great family entertainment value. However, what worked in 2002 is not going to work anymore. Sometimes I feel like I am a Baptist preacher, preaching the same sermon on sin time after time after time. I know there are others who believe as I do because I hear from them. I also think there are many who believe but don’t speak up. It is time for racing powers to quit sinning against racing fans-the best fans of any sport, anywhere. Thanks for stopping by.
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