What can be done to jump start racing in America? Someone needs to put me in charge of NASCAR. Why? I’m a man of the fans and care what the fans want because I’m just another NASCAR fan myself.
If I were running NASCAR, this would be my stimulus plan:
The name of NASCAR’s top series will be the NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup Series. I selected Coca-Cola as title sponsor because it is from the south. Also, it has a very rich history and Coca-Cola is able to market to all demographics.
The NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup championship structure will be all about winning races. Having a points system and being consistent is absurd stupidity and I will have none of it. The driver will wins the most races in a season will win the Coca-Cola Cup. Any tiebreakers will be decided by top 5 finishes, 6-10 finishes, most poles, laps led, races led, laps complete, least DNF’s, etc. The championship should be about winning races, not being consistent every week.
I will bring new car manufacturers into NASCAR. There have vast appeal, great demographics, and tremendous potential. Most importantly, they are American car manufacturers. This is the Great American sport and should stay that way. The cars and manufacturers in the NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup Series will be the Chevrolet Impala, the Ford Fusion, the Dodge Charger, the Pontiac G6, the Buick Lacrosse, the Cadillac CTS, the Lincoln MKS, the Mercury Sable, the Saturn Aura, and the Chrysler Sebring. That is a total of ten different manufacturers. These car companies will be active in the NASCAR Coca-Cup Series, the NASCAR Busch Series, and the NASCAR Wrangler Road Series. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be in action with the Chevrolet Silverado, the Ford F-150, the Dodge Ram, the Cadillac Escalade EXT, the Lincoln Mark LT, and the GMC Sierra.
I plan on taking certain aspects of today’s current Cup Series teams and making new teams out of them and letting the manufacturers fully own them. The manufacturers have very deep pockets and will be able to produce great teams with unlimited competitive potential. This way, the teams will compete as a whole, not just one or two standout cars. The teams will be known as Team Chevrolet, Team Ford, Team Dodge, Team Pontiac, etc. Each team will not be allowed to field more than four cars. Ten manufacturers times four cars equals a starting field of 40 cars for every NASCAR Coca-Cola cup race. The manufacturers support all of the NASCAR teams, so why not let them own the teams?
All teams will be permitted to purchase the street production versions of the current Cup cars. The production cars are built from scratch, saving a lot of money. All you have to do then is put in a souped-up engine and the mandatory safety requirements and you’re ready to go racing.
A driver will receive $1,000 for every lap he can lead in every NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup race. If he can lead the most laps, he will receive a special award called the UPS Laps Leader Award.
The Top 35 in owner points will be completely done away with. The 40 fastest cars will race every Sunday. I think it is blasphemous that cars that put down a great qualifying lap and qualify in the top 10 miss a race to a much slower driver because of a stupid points position. Why should sponsors and owners be guaranteed anything in this sport? If you miss a race because you weren’t fast enough, too bad, try again next week. Actually, there will only be 40 drivers in the NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup Series.
All qualifying sessions in NASCAR will be 50-lap heat races. The 40 Coca-Cola Cup cars will go at it for 50 laps at all tracks. The way they finish will be the way they will start the race on Sunday. The heat races will be known as NASCAR STP Pole Runs.
There will be no aerodynamics whatsoever in my NASCAR. Rear spoilers, air dams, and side skirts will be permanently banned from all NASCAR racing cars. Now, racing will be about pure driver talent and not aero technology. Also, we will go back to bias-ply tires with a very soft tire compound. My main philosophy is real drivers and real racing.
Restrictor plates will be banned from NASCAR at last. All the drivers and millions of fans say that they want the plates gone. Well, your wish is my command. The racing at Daytona and Talladega will be better and safer with the cars not in one big hornet’s nest. Also, what we need to do with the cars is keep them from going airborne, not slowing them down and keeping them from passing. To me, it isn’t the high speeds that are the reason for the restrictor plate elimination. It is the drivers being able to pass each other without the need of drafting help.
Drivers in NASCAR will be allowed to race back to the yellow flag again. There is no danger in that. When the yellow flag waves, the drivers race back to the line and we freeze the lap count. Caution flag laps will not count. In the event of danger to a driver, the red flag will be displayed and the race will stop immediately. I think races should be stopped only if it is absolutely necessary. When the driver and safety vehicles are all off the track, the green flag will wave and the race will resume.
I will lift the pit road speed limit. For safety reasons, cars will only be allowed to pit one at a time. When a car hits pit road, the pits will be closed to all other cars. Also, a pit crew can only service the car after a driver has made a complete stop in his respected pit stall. This will eliminate the possibility of a driver accidentally striking and killing crew members should he lock up his brakes entering his pit stall. This is just for green flag pit stops. Under a caution flag, all the cars can pit, but will maintain caution flag speed down pit road. Why should it take a mandated speed limit to make the drivers slow down in the pits? Driving slow on pit road should be common sense.
The HANS device will be forever mandated. I, personally, am forever grateful that NASCAR introduced this thing. Personally, I only believe in five safety devices: the steel roll cages, the head and neck restraint systems, the ball/fuel cell valve system, the window side netting, and the fire retardant suits/undergarments. I and many other fans cannot think of all the lives that those five innovation have saved and will continue to save for years to come.
The SAFER Barriers are a repulsive eyesore and will be ripped down. There is no need for those things in NASCAR. Drivers have been barreling into concrete walls at 170 MPH and walking away like it was nothing for a very long time, especially with a HANS device on. My main point is that we didn’t need them then, and we definitely don’t need them now.
Every current NASCAR tracks (excluding the road courses) will have just one race. This is the best way to balance the old and the new. This way, there is room for the old tracks of NASCAR history and the big venues.
Staying on the topic of tracks, the finale will be held at Bristol Motor Speedway. I can tell you why in just five words: Save the best for last.
Rockingham and North Wilkesboro will return to the NASCAR slate with a vengeance. Rockingham’s seating capacity will go from 60,000 to 80,000, and the track will receive lights. North Wilkesboro will also go to 80,000 seats as well. These tracks have been great to NASCAR for so long, and NASCAR repays them by getting rid of them. Shame on you, NASCAR sanctioning body.
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will be banned for life from NASCAR. Those two are the absolute worst thing to every come into this great sport. It repulses me to see these two be so perfect and run up-front and win every single week. How can any other more deserving drivers go to victory lane and compete for the title with those two hogging it all for themselves?
I will never, ever forgive NASCAR for getting rid of the Southern 500 and moving the Labor Day weekend race to the California Speedway. I don’t see how you can run something for 50+ years, thus becoming a NASCAR staple, and then you throw it away for no reason. Brian France, you should be ashamed of yourself for that. Your leadership is disgraceful, for reasons such as that.
I don’t understand why NASCAR wants to compete with NFL football. I, along with millions of other people, want NASCAR to go hand-in-hand with the NFL. Besides, the only way NASCAR will ever beat the NFL would be if the NFL collapsed or disbanded, and that will never happen. Stop trying to beat pro football, NASCAR sanctioning body. You never will and this sport is suffering because of your idiocy.
A new fan sweepstakes will be introduced for the Coca-Cup Series. It will be called the Crown Jewel Challenge. It will be held at NASCAR’s five crown jewel events: the Daytona 500, the World 600, the Brickyard 400, the Southern 500, and the UPS Championship 500. The Crown Jewel Challenge works like this: A lucky fan will see if their favorite driver can win the race. If their driver can, s/he will win $1,000,000. If their favorite driver finishes second, the fan wins $750,000. Third place pays out $500,000, it is $250,000 for fourth, and it is $100,000 for fifth. In the event that the chosen driver finishes sixth on back or is unable to finish the race, the fan will still receive $25,000.
I mentioned something called the NASCAR Wrangler Road Series before. The NASCAR Wrangler Road Series is a new NASCAR series exclusively for road courses and road racers. This NASCAR series is built just for accomplished road racers like Boris Said, Robby Gordon, Scott Pruett, and lots of other drivers with a pedigree in road racing. I picked the name Wrangler Road Series because I think Wrangler Jeans is a great sponsor and I just think Wrangler Road Series sounds good.
All the races on the Coca-Cola Cup circuit will be on the major networks. The first 12 events will be on CBS, the next six will go to NBC, FOX gets the next six events, and the final twelve races will be on ABC. There will be two guys in the broadcast booth for every race. For a long time, this was the way sporting events were called. For NASCAR on CBS, it will be Mike Joy and Dale Jarrett. NASCAR on NBC will have Eli Gold and Terry Labonte. Steve Byrnes and Rusty Wallace will call the races for NASCAR on FOX, while NASCAR on ABC will have Bob Jenkins and Dale Earnhardt. The pit road reporters will be at each network’s discretion. Every NASCAR Coca-Cola Cup race will begin with a one-hour pre-race show called NASCAR Racetime. NASCAR Racetime will feature Bill Elliott, Ray Evernham, and your host, Dr. Jerry Punch.
The NASCAR Busch Series will be entirely on TNT, with Allen Bestwick and Mark Martin in the broadcast booth. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be on FX, and every race will be called by Rick Allen and Phil Parsons. The NASCAR Wrangler Road Series will be entirely on ESPN, with John Kernan and Ricky Rudd calling the shots. One important thing I should mention is that I want every single NASCAR race, practice session, and STP Pole Run to be live and in High Definition.
One final thing for NASCAR TV is the formation of the Classic NASCAR Channel. This channel will feature every televised NASCAR race that exists, being shown 24/7/365, non-stop. The classic races will be hosted by high-profile NASCAR people. This will allow NASCAR fans, young and old, to see the races that helped make NASCAR the great sport that is has become.
Seeing so many commercials during NASCAR racing burns me up. During the races, we will do what TNT did with the 2007 Pepsi 400, which was NASCAR Wide Open Coverage. I thought that was a brilliant innovation and that, I think, is the way to go.
There will be no penalties whatsoever for fighting or using profane language, in victory lane or anywhere during a race. If you want family programming, go watch the Disney Channel.
I have plans for new tracks for NASCAR. They will be located in the New York Metropolitan Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and upstate New York. They will be called the New Jersey Speed Plant, the Bay Area Motorplex, and the New York State Raceway. The New Jersey Speed Plant will be a 2.5 mile superspeedway with 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 250,000 seats. I want this track to be somewhere in northern New Jersey. At last, NASCAR will have a race track in the country’s biggest media market.
The Bay Area Motorplex will be a renovation of the Altamont Raceway Park in northern California with 32 degrees of banking and 150,000 seats. This will give NASCAR the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose statistical area.
Another task I will undertake is transforming local short tracks into big-time NASCAR tracks. There are four that I want to renovate: the Evergreen Speedway, the Wall Township Speedway, and the Thompson Speedway. The main renovation for all of these tracks will be building thousands of seats. For the Evergreen Speedway, 30 degrees of banking, an asphalt racing surface, and 100,000 seats will be constructed at this .646 mile short track. This will bring the NASCAR circuit to the Seattle area and fill NASCAR’s void in the Pacific Northwest.
The Texas World Speedway will be coming back to NASCAR. The Texas World Speedway is a 2-mile oval track in College Station, TX, with 22-degree banking in the turns. Without aerodynamics and radial tires, cars can run lightning-fast, five-wide, and flat-out all race long here. This track hosted NASCAR eight Winston Cup Grand National races from 1969 to 1981, even serving as the season finale for the 1971 and 1972 Winston Cup Grand National Series. The only thing that will change is that the 23,000 seating capacity will be jacked up to 100,000.
The quarter-mile Raceway Park in Shakopee, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul, will receive fresh asphalt, 25 degrees of banking in the turns and 90,000 seats. It will also be increased to a half-mile and be renamed the Minnesota Speedway as well. The current Raceway Park already has high banking, so I will build on that. The Minnesota Speedway will attract the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area, one of the largest in the country and establish NASCAR in the Northern United States.
The Thompson International Speedway will go from 13,000 seats to 113,000 seats, and that will be it. The track has 26 degrees of banking and is .625 miles in length, so I don’t want to tamper with that.
The New York State Raceway will be a renovation of the New York State Fairgrounds in Weedsport, NY. This track will be a mile in length, have 20 degrees of banking, have 80,000 seats, and will attract the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse crowd. This will also be a true oval track.
One final thing about tracks is that I want to renovate and reopen the Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado. Pikes Peak is a great track which always produced excellent Busch Series races. A new asphalt surface, 28 degrees of banking, and 85,000 seats will make this into a fantastic stop on the NASCAR tilt. Most importantly, this place puts NASCAR in the Denver market. Now that is what I call rocky mountain high.
One key thing about the renovation of all the tracks I’ve mentioned is that I want to use corporate funding to pay for the entire construction and furnishing processes. I hope to enlist dozens of corporate sponsors and ask for their services. I will name Turner Construction as the company to spearhead these speedway developments. I absolutely do not want, under any circumstances, to go into public funding. The people get really mad when you take their tax dollars from them, as well as causing taxes in that area to skyrocket. So corporate funding is the way to go when building a new track or anything in this country.
There will be a universal price for all race tickets at all tracks for all races in all NASCAR series: $10. That’s right, $10. That is a great, affordable price for a race ticket. This $10 price will apply to all seats in all locations on the tracks. All luxury suites will be a price of $100 for a two-day weekend. That is about the same price as a two-night stay at any hotel room. I think that this is the way to go in terms of selling tickets. Lets get something straight: race fans are not made of money. Most race fans punch a clock, pay bills, budget, sacrifice, and do what they can to make ends meet. Attending NASCAR races should never be a financial burden.
I have an entirely new format for Daytona Speedweeks. The Budweiser Shootout will be 80 laps in length. Eighty laps equals 200 miles. The Budweiser Shootout will be worth a million dollars to the lucky winner, while other positions pay out $100,000. Leading a lap in the Budweiser Shootout is worth $10,000.
The Sunday qualifying session for the Daytona 500 will be a 50-lap qualifying heat race for the Gatorade 125 Qualifying Races on Thursday. The order they finish on Sunday will be how they will start on Thursday. Drivers in odd number positions will be in the first Gatorade 125 race, and even number position drivers will race in the second qualifying race. The winners in each Gatorade 125 qualifying event will be the front row for the Daytona 500. The finishing orders for each Gatorade 125 race will be the starting order for the Daytona 500.
The All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will become The Coca-Cola All-Star Race. The Coca-Cola All-Star Race will feature all of the winners from the previous Cup Series seasons, the current Cup season’s race plus the winner of the Coca-Cola Open race, and a popular fan-vote driver. The starting order will be a random draw, just like in the Budweiser Shootout. The Coca-Cola Open will be a 50-lap dash for a ticket to the big show. The Coca-Cola All-Star Race will be a 75-lap race for all the marbles. With races of just 50 and 75 laps, drivers would be up on the wheel for every single one. Unlike in the championship races, the Coca-Cola All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola Open will pay out $10,000 for every lap a driver can lead. The winner of the Coca-Cola All-Star Race receives $10,000,000. All other positions pay out $100,000, in addition to any laps led money.
The NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge will be held where it has always been, and that is in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, NC. The Pit Crew Challenge will fall on the Sunday after the All-Star Race. The 40 Coca-Cola Cup teams will compete in the standard Pit Crew Challenge format. The sixteen fastest teams will advance to the next round. The sixteen finalists will be cut to eight, then four, then two for the Big Showdown. The fastest team through every round will win $1,000,000, plus a brand-new car for each crew member. All other teams will receive $50,000.
The city of Charlotte does not deserve the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The NASCAR Hall of Fame will be located in Daytona Beach, FL. The sport of NASCAR was founded in Daytona Beach, FL, and that’s where and why the Hall of Fame should go there. The Hall of Fame will be somewhere in between the Streamline Hotel and the Daytona Speedway. In my eyes, the Streamline Hotel should be a national monument. In fact, the main award for a person being inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be a gold bust of William Henry Getty France.
There will be no more awards banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. These drivers and crew members have worked almost non-stop for ten straight months. I think the NASCAR off-season should be a period of well-earned rest. Also, The awards banquet is the most pathetic excuse for entertainment, period.
There will be a new special event for the very best racers in America called the NASCAR Coors Race of Champions. The NASCAR Coors Race of Champions will be a 200-lap shootout at the Daytona International Speedway on the first Saturday night in January. The race will feature three past and/or current champions of the NASCAR Coca-Cola-Cup Series, the NASCAR Busch Series, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA RE-MAX Series, the World of Outlaws Series, the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, the ASA Late Model Series, the ASA Northwest Tour Series, the Northwest Sprint Car Racing Series, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the NASCAR Camping World East Series, the NASCAR Camping World West Series, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, and the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. The NASCAR Coors Race of Champions will pay out $10,000 for every lap lead, which means a lap leader pot of $2,000,000. Every position will pay out $100,000, while the race winner receives $10,000,000. The main rule of eligibility for this race is that a driver must win a national championship in their respected form of auto racing. The drivers with more than one national title will receive special consideration.
One final thing, and that is that no Cup drivers will be allowed to compete in Busch, Truck, or Road events. Those series are for full-time series drivers only. If you want to compete in those racing series, you must commit yourself to those series full-time.
A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM ME
My main conquest with my taking over NASCAR is not selling out tracks or new safety implentations or sponsor exclusivity. It is about the feeling of going to a race track and watching a bunch of drivers put on the greatest show on Earth. I want fans who come to each NASCAR race to leave there saying that that was the greatest day of their entire lives. NASCAR Racing shouldn’t be about lawsuits or schedule realignment or safety innovations. It should be about fans and racing and competition and cheering your driver and just being a proud fan of this great sport.