A Good Year for the Outlaw

I started to give up on NASCAR, or more appropriately NAZICAR, a couple of seasons back, and haven’t watched more than 100 laps of racing all year to this point. Out of about 12,000 or so.

Tonight, I’m whipping through the dial looking for more college football and I see they’re running at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In front of what looks like a pretty sparse crowd, by NAZICAR standards. But it’s hard to tell. Because the ABC/ESPN crew is keeping the shots down so tight, you barely get a look at the stands.

However, at the end of the straights and into the corners, there appears to be a whole bunch of fans disguised as empty blue seats. I love it. NAZICAR has been driving more fans away than bringing new ones in over the last few years, and I’m glad to see this trend. I looked for stories online about this, and I see NAZICAR blaming “fuel prices” for keeping fans away. Wouldn’t be the actual ticket prices, or the terrible racing, or the favoritism of certain teams and car makes over others, now would it? Nah.

Well, with gas a dollar lower this month than last, that argument doesn’t wash tonight. So why all the empty seats at Lowe’s? I know. But I bet they won’t listen to me.

One more thing about the tight camera shots: NO professional sports organization is more heavy-handed and dictatorial over the media than NAZICAR. Not even the NFL. And what NAZICAR wants from the media that covers them, they get. First, they FORCE the networks (it’s in the contracts) to carry the “invocation” (read: christian bully pulpit) before the start of the race live, and then they force the networks to avoid anything that might be “controversial” or anti-NAZICAR in their coverage. Hence, the extra-tight camera shots that don’t show the grandstands.

Believe me, if the stands were full, you’d be seeing pictures of those packed bleachers about every 12 laps.