Boys Have at it

Last season ended with a new driver on top of the points standings, a new kid with a loud mouth. Jimmie Johnson had fallen, but not without a fight. I may be a Brad Keselowski fan, but I try to keep everything on my blog as unbias as possible, but I thought last year was one of the most entertaining finishes in the past chase seasons. I think this not because BK won the title, but because it was so much more riveting to have someone fight Johnson for the top spot. Every lap mattered, every pit stop was important, and it happened to finish up with one misstep meaning the biggest difference for Jimmie Johnson. Phoenix seemed to be the end to JJ's title hopes when he finished 32nd. During the 10 race chase the two drivers won 4 of the 10 races, 2 for Brad and 2 for Jimmie. They lead the most laps often, they got poles, and they just fought hard down to the last race.

Nascar has fallen on some hard times. Fans are showning up less and less to tracks and even some TV ratings have slipped. Car sponsorships have been slipping as well and the top manufacturers seem to have a strong hold each week.  Nascar thus has tried everything they can, from "Have at it boys" to the new Gen 6 car that looks more like the car's fans can buy on the street. Drivers getting after it can be entertaining at times, and some old school fans found it appealing and had flashbacks of Dale Earnhardt Sr in a competitors rear view mirror, but in the mass media it created a frenzy. The Gen 6 car has brought some fans back in by appealing them to an actual "stock car." But the racing has been par so far, whether that's the tracks or the cars fault, the ruling is still out.



Is a garage clearing brawl really what Nascar needs to get fans back? Or is the fan base all about the car and how it races? I think one huge key that gets overlooked is the rivalries within the sport. Does that mean Dale Earnhardt Jr has to hate Greg Biffle because he drives a Ford? Does that mean BK and Carl Edwards should get back into it again and pull a Jeff Gordon and purposely take one another out? No. But back in the day when drivers were on the track they hated Earnhardt, but they respected the hell out of him off the track. Would they trade paint with him on it? Hell yes, and every now and then some arguments came from it off the track but ended before the next week.

That's where Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson come back in. Entering 2013 did every fan expect these two to be back 1 and 2 so soon? This is the perfect opportunity to start a real rivalry. BK has a big mouth and says what he feels, Jimmie hold back some and appeals to higher Nascar most the time. These two can be made opposites and the media needs to hype this up, every week they're head to head fighting for points. If their was more emphasis on these rivalries I think it would help bring in some casual fans. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards fighting for comeback racer of the year or heat up the Gordon vs Bowyer rivalry from last year but in a good light. We are heading to Bristol where trading paint is normal and their is nothing more natural than rivals that can be enhanced there. More love/hate relationships never hurts a sports following but rather helps it blossom. Yankees vs Red Sox, Lakers vs Boston, UNC vs Duke, Michigan vs Ohio State and on and on. These are what make the regular season something to watch.

If this season keeps going the way it is I think we could be in for another interesting finish. Brad and Jimmie fighting for the top, can Carl regain form, will Kyle Busch get going earlier rather than later, and will Jr finish the season as strong as he has started it? If the media can make something of the million story lines out their and stop worrying so much about the Gen 6 car, this season could go somewhere and be the turnaround of Nascar.

So, "have at it boys," lets see some racing.