Backstretch Motorsports

Race fans are a not a fickle bunch. They chose drivers to follow, cheer for them and buy the swag at amazing proportions.

They latch on to winners. And they display their allegiances with conviction.

It is easy to not like winners. Listen to the boo-birds at any session of driver intros at any given event. Wait till somebody that is a proven winner takes the stage. They boo because it’s not their winner.

They consider themselves to be hard-core.

I submit that they are not.

Read on.

True hard-core fans know performance. Not just winning. They are not concerned if the star-du-jour gets television time. They may smile and recognize that the pop culture may latch onto a driver for the short-term, they also know that the driver better be able to prove his worth on the track.

This ain’t your mama’s beauty contest. Points aren’t given for television commercials. There isn’t a swim-suit competition; there is no Ms. Congeniality award.

This is about racing performance.

Thoughts of how to retain NASCAR’s core fans, or I should say the hard-core fans, is swirling through the minds of NASCAR’s corporate brain-trust, the R and D division.

The thought process began with the beginnings of the season when the hierarchy, specifically Brian France, took pain-staking measured steps and emotionally-infused terms to the media… “No more changes this season — it’s time to let the fans absorb the mass changes that have happened”… in the effort to tell the fans, specifically the old-school fans. That enough was certainly enough, for now.

There is a way already in place.

Read on.

Still, there was a change of sorts this season — allowing drivers to speak their minds — allowing them to complain in the heat of the moment and be heard in the point of no return.

The ‘unleashing’ of drivers and the expectations of same speaking freely has been largely the breath of fresh air.
As expected, Tony Stewart has certainly taken complete advantage of that policy. And as usual, the inventions of driver talk get the entire buzz for a few hours and goes away just as quickly. With the exception of a few mid-streamers in the media that like a good lynching and will do anything to keep the over-zealous in view.

Journalism 101 — bad stuff sells, push the pith to its limits. And beyond. Play both ends against the middle and jump out of the way as they crash into each other.

That’s the easy way to push anything. Allowing the general population to gormandize on the outer fringe of what’s important and ignoring the absolute.

These are truths: drivers have always complained about tires, drivers have always complained about other drivers in specific circumstances, veterans always complain about rookies. They complain about track conditions, how their cars drive.

In short, drivers always complain. In some cases, even in the praise they give to the teams and other good things, there’s an underlying hint of complaint.

That’s simply Competitive Nature 101… They always want more; there’s never enough success even in the outstanding performance.

The hard-core folks get that.

The hard-core understand performance.

Fans of Dale Earnhardt Sr. talked about the way he drove. They talked about the way he won. They talked about the hard-nosed ‘take-no-prisoners’ style he wielded towards other competitors without exception.

When Dale Sr. complained, people listened.

That was a different era. An era that was lost when he was lost.

This has been the era of back-flipping, model-marrying, would-be-TV-talk show icons. As much Hollywood as Daytona.

There is a place for those. There are fans that want exactly that.

We’re seeing a new era in the works. There’s a new star that is the mold that’s needed to bring some hard-core fans back to the fold.

If they want it.

Kyle Busch.

Now I am not comparing Kyle Busch to Dale Sr., rest assured of that. And before the uninformed even begin to try and tell me how crazy I have to be, look at the facts.

He’s hard-core. He is cut from the cloth. He takes the chances. When he drives, the skinny kid from Vegas is an 800-lb gorilla with a chip on his shoulder. He drives to win and more importantly, if he can’t win, he doesn’t drive to lose.

He drives that way in everything he gets into.

He shows muscle on and off the track. He wins; he’s a threat to win at any given moment. He’s as cock-sure and head-strong as anybody has been in the sport’s history. He races as hard as anybody ever has. He’s got a mile and a half wide smart-a**ed streak and doesn’t mind showing it.

The new version of hard-core. Pure punk, no pop.

No Hannah Montana, this is Motorhead.

I suggest to the “Old Schoolers”, hook your wagon up to this kid. He’s the best you’ve got right now.

Stay Tuned.