What happens in Vegas better not stay in Vegas
We all know the famous saying "What happens in Vegas, stays in
Vegas," but let me tell you that after being out there for a couple
of days last week and after watching the awards banquet Friday
night on SPEED, I thought it was great for our sport to make the
journey out there to celebrate our champion.
There's just so many things that went on behind the scenes
this past week.
I had some great meetings — we had our annual FOX
production meeting as we gear up and look forward to the Daytona
500 with all of our head honchos: David Hill, Ed Goren, Bill Brown,
the people you see that produce the football games, our producer
Barry Landis, our director Artie Kempner — these are all
award-winning people, folks — as well as all of the talent
you see in the booth and on pit road. Every time we get together,
it's like we are starting all over again, and I guess it's because
our NASCAR on FOX schedule is pretty short when you think about it
— we've got 13 major races plus two special events, the
Budweiser Shootout at Daytona and the Sprint All-Star Race, and
they go by pretty quickly.
Folks, it's an exciting feeling.
And I know 2010 is going to be an exciting year, and I'll
tell you why: I had a crew chief, Jake "Suitcase Jake" Elder, and
I'll never forget in 1987 when Bill Elliott had a fast, fast car
and he qualified at 210 mph at Daytona. Well, old Jake went around
until we got to Talladega talking about Bill Elliott running a
two-oh-ten. "How fast did Bill Run at Daytona?" "Man, he ran
two-oh-ten." So I've been waiting for "two-oh-ten" to get here
because I know this is going to be a very significant year.
I got to tell you, after leaving Las Vegas and returning
home, I really believe 2010 could be the year of so many things
— the year of good racing, the year of good competition,
the year that another team wins the championship and the year of
NASCAR waking up. We've all whined, complained, criticized and
pointed out the things we all thought were wrong and needed to be
fixed. You know that saying "Don't just stand there, do something?"
Well, in the past, I thought NASCAR was saying, "Just stand there
and don't do anything." But right now, I get the gut feeling that
won't be the same next year.
We had a great meeting with all the people from NASCAR in Las
Vegas. They came to our production meeting to check in, see how we
felt about the past year and to see what we got geared up for the
year to come. Remember the article I wrote last week "Let's talk
Turkey"?
Well, that's what we did. We threw everything we could at
NASCAR — everything from the car, the Chase, the crowds,
the economy, the rules, too many penalties, too many fines ...
basically, everything we had on our minds including the stuff I've
written about during the last year as well as stuff people have
been complaining about.
Normally, I get the feeling that the NASCAR reps are watching
the clock and thinking, "Come on boys, let's go" at these meetings,
but this time I didn't feel that way. The NASCAR officials that
came were very engaged, and they listened with a lot of interest
and concern.
I felt really good after the meeting because I honestly
believe that there's some changes in the wind. I think there's some
things that's going to happen with the car — and the other
thing that I was happy to hear is that the new Nationwide Series
car is a second-generation Car of Tomorrow. Well, if the teams can
improve the car as much as they have, and NASCAR can improve it as
much as they have, then we are heading in the right direction.
The only problem I have is that the new generation car is
getting introduced into the Nationwide Series and not the Sprint
Cup Series. Problem is, we need it now — we don't need a
better car sitting on a shelf, we need it on the racetrack and we
need it in the Cup Series. My suggestion — and I didn't
bring this up at the meeting but I will tell you — is to
let every Cup team give every Nationwide team two cars, the best
two they have, and let the Cup teams start building the new model
COT's. That'll take a little burden off the Nationwide teams, and
it'll give the Cup Series teams a chance to build this new car and
get it out on a racetrack ASAP.
I just feel the new car looks better, and from what little
testing has been done with it, results suggest it drives better. I
also like the identity of the car, it is something you and I can
look at and identify, even though it may not look exactly like a
showroom model — but it's closer than anything we've had
in a while.
While I'm on this subject — and I did bring this up
to the NASCAR officials — I wish the manufacturers, the
public relations people, the sales people and everybody else
involved would stop calling the cars something that they are not.
This is a strong suggestion, and I think you'll agree with me.
Everybody needs to stop calling these cars the Impala SS, the
Fusion, the Camry and the Charger. They should just call them by
manufacturer: Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota and Dodge. I think that would
create better product identity and would help to separate the cars
from each other.
In my mind, and you may or may not agree, but when you put
something on a bumper of a car that says it's a particular kind of
car when it really isn't, that doesn't give me a lot of confidence
in the marketing. If they just had a big old Chevrolet, Ford,
Toyota, or Dodge emblem on the bumper, I could identify with it
more rather than trying to pass off one of these cars as a specific
type.
Anyway, going back to the point of my column, another thing
that came up during these meetings is the distance of races. As you
all know, I do a lot of truck races — I've raced trucks in
the past and I also get a chance to work with my brother Michael
— and they are exciting. I never thought I'd say this, but
I think Cup races are too long.
When I think about what makes a truck race exciting, it's
because it happens so quickly. You don't have time to ride around
— you have to get the job done by racing hard from the
start. It's a totally different feeling when you have a short race
like the trucks versus a 500-600 mile race in the Cup series. We
can keep races at "500," but make it kilometers like at Phoenix
International Raceway — just look at those races, they are
great.
I'm not suggesting shortening the races on behalf of the
drivers, I'm doing it on behalf of our TV audience in the hopes of
creating more excitement.
You know the old saying "Help me, help you?" If NASCAR would
do a few of the things being suggested by people that care, have
some knowledge of the sport and that watch it with passion, I think
it would help the sport. I think we all have good ideas —
whether it is about the Chase, letting the drivers be more
emotional, etc. These are things that NASCAR can't just put off.
They have to do something about them.
This is the year to get it done. We can't just sit there and
not do anything. For me, this is going to be a breakout year
— and we need one.
Now, on our part, it's going to be a great year for FOX. I
think you are going to enjoy the coverage we are going to have for
you this year and I'll tell you why:
<li> We are going to have a lot of overhead shots from
the blimp. I love overhead shots because you can see the movement
of the cars, particularly at Daytona and Talladega where they run
so close together in packs. When you look from above to see how
much they move around, it is really impressive.
<li> We are going to have better graphics. We are going
to have a lot of stuff you are going to understand that will better
help explain what is going on during the race, in the pits, etc.
<li> We are going to have more telemetry. We are going
to have things that will intrigue you and explain why and how
things are happening. I'm a big hands and eyes guy — I
love to watch the drivers hands because it tells you a lot about
what's going on inside the cockpit. We got some things next year
that will help explain that to all of our fans, whether you are new
or old.
There's more to come, but overall, I'm excited. I know the
season just ended, but I thought moving the banquet to Las Vegas
was an absolute hit. I know I could go around freely and enjoy
myself when I was out there, and I think they will only make things
better in the future. The awards show was a little long, it always
is, but they can tweak on that. The entertainment was good. Mike
Joy, my hero, and Krista Voda did an outstanding job.
For a year where there was a lot of criticism, I thought the
year ended on a positive note. To see Jimmie Johnson make history,
that was great and I'm glad I was around to see it.
Oh by the way
Congratulations to Dale Inman for winning the Buddy Shuman
award. Inman doesn't get enough recognition for the job he has done
throughout his 51 years in the sport. He was a hero of mine, but he
also used to scare me to death because when he would grab on to
you, it hurt, and he did that quite frequently —
particularly to a young rookie from Tennessee. They talk about Dale
Earnhardt being The Intimidator, but in my world, Dale Inman was
The Intimidator back in the day and I did not want to deal with
him. Richard Petty, I can handle that, I just had to deal with a
poke in the chest from that big ol' index finger, but Dale Inman,
that's a whole different story.
Also, congratulations to Barney Hall for winning the National
Motorsports Press Association's Myers Brothers Award. Barney has
been around longer than I have, and to turn on the radio or just
listen to Barney MC an event, there's something comforting about
that. He has a soothing way of telling you what's going on, and he
paints a beautiful picture. He's been a really good friend, and I'm
proud of him for everything he's done. To be in this sport as long
as he has, that's inspiration for a lot of us.
And congratulations to Rick Hendrick for winning the Bill
France Award for Excellence. It doesn't get any better than that,
folks. Of all the trophies and honors that I've ever received, when
you know the old man the way I did, the way Rick did and the way
several of us in this sport did, when he hands out a compliment it
says you did something good. When Bill France Jr. said, "You've
done good," that's the highest honor you can receive from this
sport. I know why Rick was so emotional when accepting the award
Friday night, and he deserved that award — the man has put
25 years into the sport and built an empire unlike anyone has ever
done before. I'm proud to say Rick Hendrick is one of my best
friends.
Congratulations to Rick, Barney, Dale, Jimmie, the list goes
on and on. The whole week in Vegas did this sport good, it let
everybody let their hair down and have some fun.
And if you can't have fun, why would you want to keep doing
this?
Just ask Lynda Petty.