We're All in This Together
2/9/2009For our first words on Motorsports 2009, I will follow the example of Howard Cosell, and tell it like it is.
It is going to be a very difficult season.
The economy's roller-coaster plunge has left all of us with our heads spinning. It's changed the world, this country, our daily lives. So, of course, it has changed racing - as a sport, and as an industry.
No one is immune. Not Joe Fan, or Ferrari, or Jeff Gordon, or Tony George. Or even Bernie Ecclestone.
Whatever happens at Daytona, it's what will happen in the following weeks that we'll notice most. Short fields. Unsponsored cars. Rideless drivers. Empty grandstands.
I'm not smart enough to tell you I know how this will affect competition. The consensus opinion is the gap between the haves and have-nots will increase. Will not being able to test at Daytona or Bristol or Charlotte somehow make Roush Fenway, Hendrick, Gibbs and Childress more vulnerable against the Sprint Cup field? Will testing restrictions hurt Penske, Andretti Green and Ganassi vs. their IndyCar rivals? Or Schumacher, Force and (especially) Alan Johnson's new operation to getting beat in NHRA?
That's difficult to imagine. But maybe, just maybe, the odd upset could occur as the Big Boys' untried parts break or unrefined setups prove to be as sour as the mood on Wall Street.
To be honest, an unpredictable year probably would be good for business. It just might spur a few more ticket sales. It could give the TV ratings a little extra boost. (I would not be surprised if those numbers edged up as fans park on the sofa, not the infield.) It might create some extra headlines and electrify an otherwise languid media.
However it all turns out, though, I'm most especially hoping for this:
That we all ENJOY the entertainment. The distraction. The chance to think about 500s rather than 401ks.
There will be controversy along the way, but despite what some say, we don't need a replay of Daytona's 1979 Allison-Yarborough-Allison fight to make NASCAR "good." (Although I'm sure you'll read plenty about that incident, since this is the 30th anniversary.) We don't need Danica Dramas or Tony Tantrums or Kyle Kayos to say we're having fun. There's more than enough negatives out there.
Especially now, when we're all in this mess together, I ask you to join with me. Let's accept the racing for what it is . . . and for what we most enjoy about it. At a bad time, Motorsports 2009 can be a good thing for all of us.
Let it be so.
[ Next column: February 23]
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(I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.)
BackAbout I.N. Sider
I.N. Sider is the pen name for an independent motorsports business-person who has a quarter-century of professional experience working in almost every major North American racing series. The writer is not an employee of Valvoline or Ashland Inc. The column is intended to inform, entertain, and stimulate thought on the contemporary motorsports scene. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of Valvoline or Ashland Inc.