Drag, Danica, and Fanatics
By Richard Tix
Hot Laps will be a weekly article on news in the world of NASCAR. I will write these articles any weeks where I have a thought or opinion on NASCAR news that is worth sharing. So, this could be an every week thing, or just every few weeks. Its an opinion piece, so it is open to discussion and debate and would love to here your thoughts.
High Drag
This past weekend NASCAR headed to Michigan International Speedway for the second time in 2015. Something was different this time and no I don't mean that it didn't rain. This time NASCAR was using a high drag package for the second time during the season.
The first time NASCAR tested it out was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the results were lack luster. That might actually be giving the IMS package too much credit. Side note: I do want to mention that in the past 5-7 years the racing at Indy hasn't been very good as it is. The main point here is NASCAR is trying. NASCAR is trying and testing new packages because of its drivers, fans, and sponsors by trying to product better racing.
That is why I can't fault NASCAR, they're trying because everyone is demanding it. For the record, they also tested out a low downforce package at Kentucky and will for a second time at Darlington. It's all for us, the drivers, and any potential sponsors out there.
But, back to MIS. Because IMS is a pretty unique track NASCAR wanted to test out the package again (the MIS package was a bit different, but pretty close in concept). The best was (in my opinion) to test any package and get the best results is to test during a real race. Even in a simulated race drivers are testing things out and not fully tying to push for the front. But, in a real race drivers don't have a choice but to work with the package and push it, because they want to win.
In the end, the MIS high drag package was a disaster. I have gone to at least one MIS race a year (always AUG) since 2006 and it ranks #1 on my worst attended races list (I don't have a real list, but you get the point). Only one other time comes to mind where it was so drawn out, and that is because of a limited amount of cautions.
Even in the beginning laps where we had cautions to bunch them up, the racing quickly became single file with limited passing. The only one passing seemed to be Kyle Busch and he was passing guys from 20-42 who should be slower than a guy like Kyle, especially when JGR is on fire. So, for a package being tested to facilitate passing, it came up way short.
Where do we go from here? Well, I for one hope NASCAR completely scraps the idea. For one, it hasn't worked in two different tests (IMS and MIS), in fact it completely failed. Second, the drivers have been calling for less downforce since the 2015 areo package was first tested.
After Bristol NASCAR heads to Darlington where for the second time this season will test out a low downforce package. At Kentucky we got to watch this package turn a Kentucky track that has produced some less than stellar racing lately into one of the better 1.5 mile races of the season. So, many fans have hope that the low downforce package is the way to go, as do drivers. So far, many of the drivers idea's have been working so Darlington should be a fun one.
So, I want to credit NASCAR with trying. They're giving both a shot which is great and needed to be done. But from here on out lets scrap the high downforce and focus on better things, maybe that is the low downforce...
NASCAR Fanatics
This season it was announced that NASCAR was going with the merchandise company Fanatics for all of its track side retail. This partnership would be in the form of large tents set up on race weekend in place of the traditional team haulers.
I for one was hit hard with the news as one of my favorite traditions on race weekend is hitting up the team haulers with our race group. I was disappointing, but as I always try an do, I held off full judgement until I checked it out for myself.
So, this past weekend at MIS it was my first experience with the new Fanatic tents. We went on Friday (as we always did with the haulers) so we could beat the race day rush and frenzy. My first thought was -- huge shopping mall tents. It is much different to see large tents set up in a sport that is surrounded by big rigs and haulers, but I thought I could work with it.
After walking in I noticed that there was much more space in between the tents (one stretch on the left like a strip mall, on in the center, and one on the right like a strip mall). So, the walking area between the main areas was greater than the stretches of haulers.
However, that is where many of my pluses ended (spoiler, it also ended with a plus). I walked into the first driver stall and quickly noticed how cramped it was. The walkways inside the merchandise tents were narrow and hard to navigate. On top of that, many were set up just slightly different than the next, so finding what you wanted was a bit more difficult then the haulers that were all set up pretty much the same. Maybe I could adjust to this, but I thought it was a messy way to have it set up.
Everything is now on racks and hangers (or shelves if you're looking for die casts or other small items). This seems great for being able to test t-shirts and hats, but in reality it sets up more clutter. Many people are standing in front of the t-shirt you want to look at and because they're all sideways (most, not all) and not on display you have no idea what the shirt looks like. The haulers had all of them facing forward so you could look at a shirt at a distance. If you wanted to see how the shirt was sized you could always ask a friendly worker at the hauler for assistance. Now you have to wait for some other fans to get done hanging out in front of the shirts.
Keep in mind, this was Friday, I could not imagine how busy it was on Sunday... Moving past the part about it being hard to navigate and even looking at each shirt. I moved into the next few driver stalls and notice they started to look the same. Yes, in fact almost all of these shirts were generic from driver to driver. Same patterns, same area's the name and car went, just different colors and driver names. Nothing seemed unique. It makes sense because now one company makes them all, but gone are the days where your driver shirt was a different style than your rivals.
Still moving on we headed to my most anticipated "Legends" stall. I absolutely love throwback merchandise in any sport, but even more so in NASCAR (as do most fans). I walked in and there were two rows, one that was lined with up and coming drivers and the other classic NASCAR. What? One whole row devoted to these pioneers of the sport? The same amount as all these guys who haven't even come up yet? Don't get me wrong, I love that up and coming drivers have shirts now, but as many as some historic drivers?
Fans would eat up throwback merchandise. I saw about two Earnhardt shirts, one Bill Elliott, a few other's, and one Richard Petty item (a sweatshirt in Michigan during August). What a let down. Side note: SMI and Penske still had two trailers there. Keselowski's was loaded with MGD and High Life stuff and we ate that stuff up! Imagine what Fanatics would do with some good throwback merchandise?
Once leaving that buzz kill I had enough. I had found a Chase Elliott #25 die-cast and a pretty cool MIS Nike Dri Fit Polo. We headed to the checkout where I finally had my last plus of the Fanatics experience. At checkout Fanatics had a million registers to pay at and they also had flags for workers to wave when they were open. It looked cluttered, but this idea worked pretty well (other than confused people not getting that the flags mean people were ready to help). I think down the road when people adjust to this style of check out (you bag everything up while shopping, think Target/Walmart, and check out in one spot) it will run smooth and quick.
Prices were about the same as before, so nothing much to touch on there. Overall I was very let down with the Fanatics tents. I really do not like generic driver to driver merchandise. I'm not a fan of looking over at a guy with Matt Kenseth gear on and saying, "hey, that's my shirt but with Kenseth on it."
I was just so hopeful that the idea could work, and maybe with some adjustments it still can, but first impressions mean a lot in this sport and it turned me off from the start. The merchandise needs to be something fresh and new, not what I can pick up at Walmart for $10 less. If I am getting stuff at a track it needs to be worth it to spend $24 on a t-shirt. They also missed the mark on a huge market for throwback material (as you can see by all the Darligton paint schemes). Lastly, I can not imagine this place on a busy day the way the isles are set up and how you have to look at a shirt. You need much more space to see if you like a shirt when you take it off a rack compared to looking at it on a wall.
Fanatics, here is your warning like the high drag, get better or get out.
Danica Patrick's New Deal
Going into this season whispers started to swirl that Danica Patrick didn't have a 2016 sponsor yet. GoDaddy announced that they were splitting ways with Danica which left her in no mans land. She was not assured a deal with SHR at the time (although both sides talked about wanting to stay together).
Then after MIS news popped up that she had a press conference on Tuesday. Almost immediately the press conference had a topic, Danica's new sponsor.
Once social media caught wind, Danica herself posted a sneak peak photo of her new car with her 2016 sponsor. It was rumored to be a totally new sponsor to NASCAR and one that would enter the market for the first time. Well, on Tuesday all the talking about "who" finally ended.
In come's Nature's Bakery. Nature's, SHR, and Danica broke the news Tuesday that the three of them have reached a multi year deal starting in 2016. No news on how long the deal is, but most speculate that it will be at least three years for Danica at SHR (driver contracts are normally about three years at a time). Nature's Brand will at least be around for two of those (could be longer, but again all we know is it's multi year).
This is great news for SHR, Danica, Nature's Bakery, and NASCAR. Danica has no doubt gotten better over the years, some don't think fast enough, but she has improved none the less. She also brings in a huge crowd, one that would normally not even bat an eye at NASCAR. Plus, it is always a good thing for the sport when a new sponsor comes into town.
The hope here is that this works out for Nature's Bakery. They're a small company that has been growing quickly in the healthy food market and if this works out will gain more profits. At the same time, if it works out for them other small growing companies might find the same blueprint and join the NASCAR market.
So, good luck Nature's Bakery and welcome to NASCAR!
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