Wrecks Equal Ratings, Whether We Like It Or Not

(Originally published on April 6, 2008)

"Even when things don't go well for the driver, it can mean big-time exposure for the sponsor."
I found this line, next to a picture showing cars colliding, on the Web page for Front Row Motorsports. (By far the most lucid comment on the site, but I'll explain later.)
We saw as much this weekend. Good Morning America. The top story on SportsCenter (on Final Four weekend, no less). More than 1 million page views online. I'm talking about Michael McDowell's barrel-role during Texas qualifying Friday. NASCAR truly is in a tough position as it pertains to trying to attract casual fans. Forget a Dale Earnhardt Jr. victory. There is nothing that turns on a usually blasé public to auto racing more than a spectacular crash.
But NASCAR has dedicated itself to putting together a car that will make this kind of carnage the exception rather than the rule. Nobody, of course, would argue that we should go back to convertibles and open-faced helmets just to give the Evil Knievel types a chance to anticipate some morbid pleasure.
It's just that when I try to initiate those not enlisted in the sport with talk of "tight" cars, they want to run for the hills. However, I know that Monday I will enter an office full of NASCAR neophytes who will come up to me and say, "Did you see the crash?" with an energy that will come off as borderline orgasmic.
The fact that such is the only time some will get so energized about such an intricate sport, well, sucks. I was that way once. But I was 6. NASCAR and its rivals actually pay a price for being responsible, an irony that no other sport in America has to deal with.

* That said, what was up with NASCAR officials trying to shield SPEED cameras from showing footage of what was left of McDowell's Toyota Friday, long after McDowell had left the car and pronounced OK? It had a Pentagon-esque level of paranoia to it, as if to say, "What if the Taliban knew about the COT?" Get a life!
* Congrats to John Andretti for making the field in the No. 34, but Front Row Motorsports might as well hang it up if it can't do a better job of marketing. Sunday, there was some kind of lettering on the car. But because Front Row went with that stupid orange paint scheme with the round Herbie-like number setup, I couldn't tell what the black lettering said, even though I saw the car multiple times while being lapped. (Granted, I didn't see every lap, but if I need eight opportunities to see what it says, that's a problem. When the company ran that plain black paint scheme early in the year, you could clearly see the white Makoto Japanese Steak House lettering.) FRM should have kept things simple. What's worse, I went to NASCAR.com, Jayski.com and even the Front Row Motorsports website and still couldn't find out what it said. Could have been an associate sponsor. Could have been a plea for sponsorship similar to the Yates gang. Could have been a nod to charity. I do not know for the life of me. Here's where it gets pathetic: In the www.frontrowmotorsports.com "News and Notes" section, it said, "News and Notes will be distributed monthly beginning in April 2006." How embarrassing! I hinted at this during Speedweeks, but now I'm saying it outright. If this is the kind of drivel that is going to keep serious teams like Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates (Dario Franchitti) out of the lineup, then the upstarts are doing more harm than good.
* Speaking of being behind on updating, what's up with the old-school Geico Mike/Warren Wallace commercial? It remains as entertaining as can be, but it still says that Mike Wallace drives the Geico Chevrolet. He switched to Toyota for this year after taking the sponsorship to Germain Racing. A little editing not possible?
* In baseball, pundits often talk about a competent American League pitcher who will dominate when he hits the NL. And all I can think about when I hear that is J.J. Yeley. When Hall of Fame Racing finally dispatches him and there's no room in NASCAR, he's going to make it happen in the newly merged IRL. That will be a boon to open-wheel racing in America while also establishing NASCAR more than ever as the gold standard.