The New Season
By M.L. Morgan
Well, race fans, we frequently hear from many of our readers wanting to tell us about a particular article they have read on one site or another. Quite honestly, we rarely read anyone else's writing - not because some of it isn't very good - just because we don't want to be influenced. Race Views is quite proud to be original. We would never stoop to paraphrasing anyone else's work.
We have had two articles brought to our attention recently by several readers. One concerns what you can't say on t.v. as a race commentator and one concerns the ending of an era for Winston Cup Racing. We'll post the URL's for both articles at the bottom of this page, in case you'd like to read them for yourselves.
The article about what you can't say on t.v. is in reference to some veiled threats made by the new crowd which just paid $600 jillion for the rights to broadcast Cup Racing for the next 4 years. The implication is the constant references to the sponsors of the various race cars will be taboo. No more stuff like "The #3 Goodwrench Chevy". Now it will be "The #3 car". Spare me, please ! This deal reminds us of the hornet's nest Nascar swatted last season when they claimed to own the rights to every sight, sound and smell which occurred at any of the races sanctioned by Nascar. That didn't work. We know where the fans stuck that hornet's nest. And rightfully so.
If this writer's conjecture has any credibility, the next logical step would be to ban all the decals on the race cars. They would have to be removed from the race cars, if the particular sponsors of the race teams are not also paying Fox, Fx, NBC and Turner, their particular logos would not be allowed to be shown. Race Views doesn't happen to agree with this writer. What a bunch of crap !
The simple fact is this: the preposterous ticket prices and concession prices support the track owners and Nascar. Often the same entity, sadly. With the new t.v. package, both Nascar and the track owners will make a few bucks more. We have no problem with that - that's bidness. We are not naive. But there would not be a show without the race teams and they survive only with the help of their sponsors. If these same sponsors are denied the t.v. exposure they are paying so much for, they will go somewhere else. This is not a "Catch 22" deal - this is a no-brainer. No race cars - no races. Remember where you heard it first.
We agreed more than we disagreed with the article about the Dawn of a new era. The new t.v. deal will influence Cup racing a great deal. But we think this is the end of an era, and that the end has been quite visible for a long time.
If you don't have a multi-car team, don't waste your money trying to compete. And if you don't run a Dodge in 2001, you can also save your money. And, if you are a mere fan, as we are here at Race Views, be prepared for pay-per-view. Pay-per-view is not on the horizon - it's here.
Mike Morgan
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