NASCAR's Personality Problem
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 дек 2023
- Compared to the icons of yesteryear, current NASCAR drivers can't even hold a candle to those that came before them; in popularity, marketability, and relatability. Today we tackle the reasons why because as of right now, the stars of the present have nothing on the stars of the past.
To those of you who are already subscribed, thank you so much for supporting my channel and helping me reach 30K SUBSCRIBERS!!!
To those who aren't, that's okay! You can still be a part of 40k! That's still pretty cool!
If you wanna be the coolest broski on the quad, hit up my merch store for all of the sickest threads: elly-productions.myspreadshop...
Credits: pastebin.com/PxmbSiUf
#nascar #racing 
Спорт
Nascar also missing a huge opportunity not adding the garage 56 to every Motorsport game they can
You haven't heard? Motorsport games is dead
@@TheUncancelable1I think they meant games about motorsports and not the company
@@Fandom_Junkie oh that makes sense
@@TheUncancelable1yeah i despise motorsport games lol
Lol I was so confused to start, because I thought you meant take the G56 entry to other form of motor sports, and I was like, “where else are they supposed to run a hybrid between a stock car and a trans-am car?”.
However, once I read it again, I completely agree with you. Get that car into every game you can, across every platform. From mobile games all the way up to iRacing / rFactor. It captured the world’s attention, but the world moves so fast now that within a day of LeMans, everyone had moved on to the next thing.
As a relatively new fan, (since 2020), I can say the problem I have with the sport is interviews tend to be “Well the “brand name” car was fast today, and I’d like to thank “more brands here” etc.
Everything feels formulate. Watching these drivers talk is like watching paint dry, man.
Idk man, drive to survive did wonders for F1 in capturing personalities.
You've summed it up perfectly. Like, I get thanking all of your sponsors, but doing it every single interview after practice, qualifying, and after the race is extremely excessive. Let the drivers show their emotions and real thoughts after a session, not just say "oh the car was good today and I'd like to thank 'xyz' for their support." It's unbelievably boring and stale
@@smokeybandit9760 imagine taking a shot every time they mention a sponsor
@@BKLegacy Id be dead before I move on to the next driver 💀
I agree. I haven't watched driver interviews since covid.
Instead of bitching, come up with a solution. Those sponsors literally are what pay them.
The paint schemes thing is a huge part of it. I remember Jimmy Johnson when he was young was ALWAYS lowes. And I went to lowes all the time with my dad! So seeing a poster of him above the entrace, and the same car design every single race, I always knew who was in the lowes car.
Paint schemes were a huge part. They even have throwback races, which in itself proves the point.
The sponsors pushing their driver was just as integral. So much so that Budweiser made a commercial for Dale Jr, 10 years later.
It was a great run.
I personally think stage breaks are NASCAR'S actions detrimental to the sport. These new cars (or the last ones) aren't quite as close to equal as they want. If they'd do away with the breaks I think we'd see the field work itself out. It's like they've designed the races so that there will never be another JJ, King or Intimidator.
Same with me except with Tony Stewart and Home Depot haha
I always liked the number 18 Interstate Batteries car, and I cam definitely say that if I ever need a battery, I know where I'm going. I don't think NASCAR realizes that paint schemes have a big impact.
@@piedpiper8355 All the stuff added on like the playoffs/stages/cautions/chase/whatever are all WAYYY too confusing to ever grab the attention of an outsider.
I've been a fan since I was little, but I was less so for the last ~decade. I still catch races now and then, but not like I did before. And I have NO CLUE what half the stuff is.
F1 and Indy were easy to get into more seriously because they are fairly simple.
Points add up, finish better for more points. No track is generally worth more or less, no race doesn't matter (for the most part) to the championship results, etc.
It's a huge mistake to complicate a potentially simple thing.
The strange rules and layout of the season, plus the difficulty finding a place to watch without cable that doesn't suck (for someone who doesn't already know), the drivers and cars never having a distinct semi-perminant look, all makes it hard to follow.
I can still remember Dale Jr.'s car from like 2005, of which I had a diecast model. I can remember FedEx, M&M's, Jeff Gordon (ironically not the brand), home depot, Napa, etc. - but I couldn't name a current sponsor that isn't a legacy sponsor off the top of my head.
I think part of it that sponsors don't get while trying to cut the costs is that just seeing the name at the Daytona 500 ONCE all season, and in no other races, does not accomplish much.
Would I remember Jimmy's Lowe's car if it was a 4x/year livery? Hell no. But I can still clearly picture it a decade after I was crazy about it, purely because it was so consistent.
You don't even need to have a winning car, just an attractive color that sticks in the head, and *consistency* of appearances.
@@jordanberube7305 yeah, that bright orange really sticks to the mind!
NASCAR superstars don’t exist because the championship format doesn’t allow it. It’s too random that unlike the stick and ball sports dynasties can’t be formed.
Yeah, like why not revert to the old points system or modernize the current format, surely there has to be some change
Jimmie Johnson was a superstar in this playoff format.
@@GRASCARCupSeries i would disagree. in the chase format yes, in the knockout playoff format no.
@@janyogyog76the guy in charge is a fucking idiot and has no idea how to run a motorsport. Tony Stewart talked about how he had a meeting with someone he couldn’t name but they told him everything he said would fix issues were completely opposite of what they wanted to do. Hearing the CEO say they are determined to keeping the playoffs after the Phoenix race I am 100% confident he’s the guy Tony talked to. He’s also the same guy asking drivers and fans what we believe will fix the cars but then says we’re all wrong
@@GRASCARCupSeriesin the 10 race chase format he was dominant. Not in the stupid knockout format as someone also mentioned above. Although both are flawed, the chase was definitely better than the knockout format.
i know why nascar has a personality problem…
it’s because paul menard retired. we gotta bring him back.
Nice
Paul Menard. The antithesis of Michael Waltrip, and we loved him for it.
HARD FOR MENARD
STIFF FOR BIFF
it’s been 2 years… 💔
@@Gerarghini WHAT😭
People can say what they want about Ross Chastain, but in reality NASCAR needs that guy more than ANY other driver in the entire garage.
Him & His Teammate could change the entire sport
Him and Hamlin are the most entertaining tbh
Everything you said about the young drivers was spot on. I used to have the dream of being a nascar driver. Then one day I went to a local legend car race. One of the Parents told me most of the racers were homeschooled and he would invest $8 million into his average-skilled son’s racing career. At first I was pissed, but then I learned that racing is no longer about raw talent. It’s about whose dad foots the bills.
It's unfortunately the case for a lot of modern sports, especially if there happens to be a sizable financial investment barrier. I used to play junior golf; the amount of talent you could see was absolutely amazing. Sadly, as you went up the age groups, the sheer cost involved would cause more and more people to drop out till only those whose parents could comfortably afford it were the only ones left.
It may sound like hyperbole (ok, fine, I admit there's a little bit, lol), but there are golfers out there who could *beat the brakes* off Brooks Koepka/Jon Rahm/Jordan Spieth etc...their families/living situations just couldn't pay for them to take the jump.
@@BirdmanDeuce26 yeah Sawalich and Lewis have CEO dads. And the kid I’m referring to was getting so much hype from his dad and has barely gone anywhere
That's literally how our entire world is structured. WEhat you're skilled at or no literally means nothing anymore. It's all about how much money you have.
Brother. You can't think that way. Dale didn't think way. Racing has ALWAYS had these rich MFS in just walking in. If you want to race, the god dammit brother GO RACE
I think the biggest issue here is legitimacy. I’m a Ryan Blaney fan, but him winning the championship actually felt weird and depressing. The rest of the world used to care who won the championship, but they don’t anymore because it isn’t real. Everyone knew who Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon were. If you won the Cup, you were considered the best. Nobody thinks the #12 team was the best this year. In F1, you usually know who the best team is. NFL, NBA, Soccer, they all know. NASCAR spends the entire year focusing on the championship, then just gives it to whoever has the best couple races at the end. There’s really no buildup to it because nothing really matters til the end. Imagine if Verstappen finished 2nd in the last race and wasn’t the champion. Ryan Blaney has a great personality for a champion, but if someone who isn’t a NASCAR fan just learned about him then learned he was probably the 6th or 7th best driver this year, just think of how stupid that sounds. Jimmie Johnson won 7 championships all while the sport continued to lose viewers. The season long buildup from Winston Cup meant that every single race mattered. What happened last week affected this week and this week mattered for next week. If your favorite driver finished 5th it was a good day. Now it only matters if he wins, and even then only one win really matters. The battles for position all over the race track were important, now there is no difference at all from 5th to 26th, DNF, who cares because it’s all about a championship that will be decided in one race where a guy can have 30 wins and lose to a guy with zero by finishing just one spot behind him.
I'm done with Nascar and for the exact same reasons you posted. I've followed the sport since the 70s but what I have witnessed the last 10 years or so just isn't what I would consider racing. Hell, despite it's detractors, F1 has been better. I look forward to Daytona. The 24 hours of Daytona. The 500 I will probably sleep through
As a European observer, I can’t begin to fathom why anybody thought the playoff system would be a good idea.
To me it seems like it’s designed to reward pure luck, where you can fluke a win during the regular season and be pretty much guaranteed a spot in the championship 16.
And then during the actual playoffs themselves, someone could have n absolutely dominant season but having a few bad races during the round of 16/12/8 kills any chance they have of claiming the championship.
It just seems a really bizarre and counterintuitive way of deciding a championship.
@@wingracer1614f1 is dogshit idk what you are smoking that makes you think it’s remotely good but my god it’s awful. Watch endurance racing, namely IMSA, it’s the best on track product out there rn
The Winston Cup era ended at the end of 2003. I have not watched NASCAR since honestly. Your statement William does explain well a big reason why.
Y’all can thank Jeff Gordon for the playoff system. Look what he did from 1995 to 2001. NASCAR didn’t want him or any driver to dominate so they came up with the Chase.
When NASCAR Drivers have no Personality: 😡
When NASCAR Drivers have Personality: 😡
I hate it when NASCAR fans complains about the issues, but complain about when NASCAR fixed it. This is why I watched NASCAR Fans who are actually have maturity.
The Fans are the ones with that said Personality issue because they don't know what they want
To be fair, when almost every driver has the same personality, thats not the same as them having no personality, but it still really sucks.
NASCAR fans don't know what they want
@@xxJayKxx That's what I said
For all the hate that Denny Hamlin gets (some deserved, some not), the sport is better for having him in it. I reckon people will look back on him and his shit-talk heel moves with nostalgia. Stuff like his Actions Detrimental podcast and the "Didn't win most popular driver. Maybe next year" post are great, he'll be missed when he's gone
The only reason people will miss Denny is because there is no one else so easy to hate.
You are so correct on this.
That most popular driver post might not even be his best this year. He had the "Booooooooo" after winning the xfinity race at Darlington and had the "thanks for the love Pocono. Lots of 11s out there", while zooming in on fans flipping him the double bird (did it with the other post too). People just hate him cause he whines (which is true), but he's not a driver programmed for PR. He will go against the grain and that's what fans have been begging for for years, and he's making headlines weekly for it
Idk. Denny isn’t being himself. He’s basically admitted that it’s a persona to stir up drama. I think people miss someone like Tony Stewart more for being the opposite of Hamlin. Denny is too contrived.
He and Kyle Busch are the last of a dying breed and were guys who were rookies when guys like Gordon and Rusty were the last of a dying breed.
Dale Jr. Download is 100% the best way to reveal the personalities of drivers/team members without jeopardizing their careers. My favorite episode was the one with John Force.
What I have to note here as a European observer who has been to some sportscar races (WEC, GT World Challenge, DTM) recently: having access to drivers is massively important, as you can actually get what makes them tick. From what I’ve heard, actually getting to meet NASCAR drivers is becoming a rare, expensive pursuit, whereas I was able to walk into a DTM paddock for 20 bucks and meet whoever I liked
Huh funny I heard the opposite
@@xavierjuno4572 your were probably reading about F1, where (usually) only the richest fans and celebrities can mingle with the F1 drivers
Edit: corrected a spelling error
@@AS19Motorsport ya but from I've heard Nascar fans usually have no problem interacting with drivers
I met a Truck Driver, Spencer Boyd at a go kart place several years ago.
@@xavierjuno4572 That used to be the case. Hell, I remember going to a car dealership in the 80s to meet Darrel Waltrip. That's just not the case anymore. And I really can't blame the drivers or Nascar. The sport just got too big. When I went to that dealership, there were maybe 30 fans there. He signed autographs and talked to everyone for an hour or so and was gone. Now there would be a thousand people or more for such a thing.
100 percent agreed. When I started following the sport again a few years back it took me ages to find MY favorite driver, someone who could compete with the personality of my faves from the 1990s/2000s. And just like you, I gravitated towards Ross Chastain.
I’m still searching for a driver. I’ve watched just about every week since 2018 and just hope for a good race. It was a cool feeling watching Jr race at Bristol and actually rooting for him to win.
Hope you find someone to root for! It's always fun to have "that guy". Maybe a newcomer like Josh Berry will do it for ya.
I used to work briefly in the sport and I heard that NASCAR does want to get the drivers into doing a lot of commercials and media stuff but the problem is most of the drivers don’t want to do any of that stuff. Drivers back in the day didn’t want to either, but they knew it was good for the sport and most of the time did it anyway
NASCAR is just so corporate right now, feels like they try to maintain a main stream image, yet like what the video says, is taking away the personality of the sport.
The Lowes carts hit me with nostalgia
The current playoff format from 2014 to now makes it difficult to win multiple championships, compared to the format from the Winston or the early chase format. With the current elimination style format we will probably never see a back to back champion
They need to go back to Winston Cup era and do a straight up full season Championship. You won't get a last race of the season dash. But when you did it was special. The last race at Atlanta Speedway at the end of the 1992 was so incredible to watch live on TV...which I did.
Something that doesn’t really get mention, NASCAR’s merch (namely the older stuff like shirts and jackets) will sometimes get appeal. This could be a video idea that could get fleshed out more but I do want more people to talk about the merch and how it’ll sometimes leak out into the mainstream.
Yeah. I still see people wearing merch from the ‘90s and 2000’s today.
I wear 90s/2000s NASCAR drip consistently because I think it looks really cool.
Yeah, the NASCAR gear goes in and and out streetwear every other decade or so.
I remember getting clowned on by "Gangsta" kids in elementary for wearing a Home Depot pit crew jacket. Those same dweebs, would wear those kinds of jackets years later 🤣
NASCAR has the opportunity to take advantage of a renewed interest in motorsports for those under 30. They can present themselves as the modern, innovative sport that they are and start cutting into to the people who found F1 through netflix. I'm hoping with the new TV deal we start to get a more premium and professional presentation of the races. Above all though, they gotta make the drivers household names. Bubba and Blaney are my favorite drivers because they put themselves out there and speak their minds. As you said, these teams are babysitting their drivers and that stifles any opportunity for brand building. Hell, Hailie Deegan is a household name based solely on her RUclips channel and last name. It can't be that difficult to market people if all parties involved are committed to it.
Not a nascar guy, never have been just ended up here somehow but I realize even I knew about the drivers back then and now I couldn’t name one if you had a gun against my head.
As a 50 year old man I’ve been watching “racing” for a while. The sport of racing overall across the globe has changed. In all forms of racing “men” built cars, then raced them. Now the majority of drivers are just the kids of parents that have more than enough money and connections to put their kids in seats. As a 50 year old, it’s difficult to make a connection with the new age of child drivers, especially when you have no idea why they are in a top tier of racing, other then, somebody close to them has a lot of money
Well, I'll tell you why they are in the top level of motorsports. It's because they proved themselves through the lower categories. Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Gasly, Schumacher, Piastri, Tsunoda, DeVries, Stroll, Norris, Albon, Waters, Brown, Feeney, Lundgaard, Lawson, Giovinazzi, Vandoorne, Cassidy, OWard, Herta, Kirkwood, Malukas, Byron, Elliott, Briscoe, Gibbs, they all proved themselves through the lower categories before making it to the big leagues. And once they made it, most of them proved they belong there. And with guys like Drugovich, Ticktum, Pourchaire, Vesti waiting for opportunities while you still have guys like Martins, Bearman, Hadjar, Maloney and Antonelli coming up, there's a lot of talent around. Liam Lawson only ever finished 4th in F2 but was quite good in his stint in F1. Giovinazzi was relatively bad in F1 getting beaten by an out of form Kimi, but he won the 24h of LeMans this year. It's a sentiment to the talent of today that even drivers that are middle of the road in F2 end up very competitive in Indycar, the WEC and Formula E.
@@nickklavdianos5136Ya basically we have so many young and talented drivers that every motorsport barely has enough seats to house them all
@@nickklavdianos5136 Liam Lawson would've won Super Formula if it wasn't for that f1 stint, fyi.
Super Formula is more competitive than INdyCar.
@@Dexter037S4 nope, it is not. Super Formula has only Japanese drivers and the odd outsider.... Indycar has drivers from all over the world.
@@xavierjuno4572 Exactly the issue now with modern racing. What was said in the video is very true, if you want to be a racing driver now you need to spend just about every hour of your life from childhood in the driver's seat of a racecar. If your parents couldn't afford for you to start out Karting from childhood or a little later, you're basically already done. That's not to say it's impossible to start a career later on like Chastain, but you're going to be fighting an even more uphill battle than the drivers who were already racing since childhood. Of course this is all if you don't have money. Becoming a racing driver is starting to become something exclusively for the wealthy.
I think there being barely any post-race interviews anymore also has to be taken into account as well. You get the race winner and that's pretty much it.
I thought last year's Ally car was the best they've done, and I really disliked that previous hood. This also reminds me of when Kyle Busch won in the McLaren Custom Grills car. So many people went their website right then, that it crashed
As an overseas viewer I've watched a few races and i noticed that the winning driver seemingly says the exact same things everytime, usually something like "I'm grateful to be with X team, thank you to W, Y, Z sponsors for giving me this opportunity" like i get that but why say it every race? Just let them be themselves on camera and let them bring out their emotion and personality. Also im surprised NASCAR still doesn't have their own Docuseries yet but series like WEC and IMSA do. It'll allow drivers to be themselves on camera and help fans get closer to the sport. With the gold-mine of flair, action and character NASCAR has under them im surprised they haven't done it yet.
They have Race to the Championship and Full Speed.
It feels like there are a lot of fans who dont want big personalities. My favourite example for that was the championship finale this season. Ryan Blaney got the best car from the remaining top 4 in the race tries to overtake Ross Chastain who wants to win the race. Ross fights him fairly and Blaney shows his anger. Probably the most interesting laps of the race but afterwards there was a big discussion of who was in the wrong while i just thought it was cool to watch (although a bit scary as a Blaney fan).
I'm a Blaney fan too. In my opinion, neither of those 2 did anything wrong. Ross went there to win a race, just like 35 other drivers did. That is what he is paid to do. Ryan was aggravated as all hell ! He wanted around Ross so bad, he wanted that buffer between him and the 5 car, and he was also under immense pressure to win since so many said he never would. BOTH drivers acted accordingly to the situations they were both in at that moment.
11:00 you freaking nailed that part man. I'm really enjoying your videos. You should have more subscribers.
Not if he can't tell the difference between Michael Waltrip and Rick Hendrick he shouldn't! No seriously, go check the part where he was showing the clip of the NAPA commercial featuring Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip singing NAPA-Know-How, he actually called Michael Waltrip Rick Hendrick dressed up like Elvis Presley, now how in the hell did he do all that research for this video and get THAT wrong?! X_X @6:16
@Crater7928 The hell are you talking about? That's nowhere close to what he meant
You made this enjoyable to someone who has no interest in, and has never really seen NASCAR or racing. Good job.
They have to reign back the team pr managers. Blaney doesn't have a sponsor defying personality, yet when he went on the Bussin with the Boys podcast he was so uptight compared to the laid back hosts.
I think the current point system as it's set up also serves to make sure that long-lasting legacies can't be built. The all-season points format would have led to guys like Harvick, Edwards and Elliott becoming multi-time champs but because of how random it is, it's nearly impossible to have a driver's consistent successs translate into championships or season-to-season success. Hell, look at how Logano has made the final 4 every other year, while in the off years getting knocked out early. And he's one of the better drivers in the sport right now, and those "off seasons" aren't that much more different than the good ones.
I'm surprised NASCAR still doesn't have a docuseries like IMSAs Win The Weekend, WECs Full Access and F1s Drive To Survive. I think that would be a nice way to not only get drivers to express themselves and show them who they really are but also help get fans closer to the sport.
Nascar owns IMSA so they can literally mess up every thing in that seris
@@NoName-gv6pi Yet, they haven't.
It's like Jim France is cannibalising NASCAR, hell he never liked it, he refused to be the next guy when Bill Jr. Passed on (he was the next one in line, because Brian was a nutcase) but his love was Sportscar racing, he would take the idea of IMSA, and make it cheap, creating Grand Am in 2000, buying the Motorola Cup in 2001, and going on to merge with IMSA (which was sold to Don Panoz as it cost NASCAR money throughout the 90s following the F1 murder of Group C), and now it's probably the thing that kept NASCAR afloat during the dark ages.
They actually do now, it's on Netflix and called NASCAR Full Speed.
They do. NASCAR Full Speed. However, this is another problem in my opinion. The trend now is to build a streaming platform and pull content to your platform to force subscriptions. You make tons of money but you alienate fans who now can't follow the content because they either don't want to or cant afford to subscribe.
@@NoName-gv6piIMSA is Jim France's baby, he hasn't allowed anything NASCAR planned to be put in.
The cars changing every week is very difficult for the on boarding of new fans. Yes we understand the number stays the same. It’s sometimes hard to see a number in a crowd of cars.
It’s because they are forced to regurgitate sponsors in every interview, aren’t allowed to fight and have to be squeaky clean on all social platforms. They aren’t allowed to be a person.
Ross Chastain’s blue collar backstory is manufactured and untrue. His family has a history of racing and they don’t own a small time watermelon farm. That watermelon farm is huge and footed the bill for his racing ventures. He is not a Josh Berry or a Ryan Preece.
Ya but much like Berry and Preece, he didn't have a lot of opportunities in NASCAR, until Chip Ganassi took a chance on him, so it's not like he was a rich kid who was fed good opportunities
@xavierjuno4572 That's on Ross. Everyone forgets that Ross skipped ARCA and the East Series; instead going straight to trucks. He even bought his way into a Brad Keselowski truck. If Ross truly "clawed his way up" he'd have ran developmental series. Instead he blew his wad early in Trucks and was forced to buy backmarker rides. Mind you, all those rides were paid for with Melon money from his dad. He keep throwing money at teams until he got with JD Motorsports and caught Chip's attention
@@NascarNixon well even if he did climb up the ranks properly there's no guarantee he would even be in the Cup series today, after all good opportunities are hard to come by in motorsports, and unlike other rich kids, he proved he had talent, and made the most of his opportunities
Finally, someone talking about this. They need more commercials and brand marketing at stores with the drivers like they used to do. I personally, and may be biased, but I feel Truex was one of the last guys to do commercials, when he did the Five Hour Energy ones and a few Bass Pro Shops ones I believe. (except for the Harrvick and Bowyer Formula 1 commercials and Chase Elliot you mentioned.)) Also, Truex and Dillon are the last guys with a long season sponsors with Bass Pro.
This idea has been in my head for quite a while, but NASCAR and Netflix should collaborate to make their own Drive To Survive like F1 have atm. In that way, drivers will finally showcase their personalities on the main stage. It has so much potential honestly…
It is coming on 30 of january!
I am old enough to remember "The Winston Open". It was an event in the 1990s that happened every year before the season in Winston-Salem, NC (where I lived) where you could meet all the drivers and get their autographs. As a kid, THIS is why I really started loving Nascar. Dale Earnhardt, who was winning championships and races... my hero, I got to meet him multiple times, shake his hand, and still have his autograph. Those were the good old days for sure. But today, these drivers do not interact with their fans like in the 1990s. Sure Twitter (X) is a good way, but there is something about meeting your favorite driver that was so exciting. I do not hear of any drivers doing autograph sessions. Heck! Harry Gant did an autograph signing in a new car dealership in Winston-Salem, as did Dale. It seems today that drivers have this "celebrity status". They don't want to be bothered by meeting fans and signing autographs. I think that goes back to the "silver spoon" entitled mentality. On another note, I do not like sons of drivers. Including Dale Jr. You said it perfectly, they didn't have to work for anything! When your name is Gibbs, you know that ride is coming no matter what. There was something about Dale Earnhardt (to an extent because I know his dad raced, but Dale EARNED his spot in Nascar), Rusty Wallace, Bill Elliott, and Jeff Gordon who earned their way. I have such a hard time liking any drivers because I bet half of them have no idea how to even turn a wrench. Morgan Shepard for example, worked on his car along side his team.
Regarding Sponsors & Team Identity - I've noticed some of the newer orgs out there: Trackhouse, RFK, 23XI, and your own Faction 46 using the car number more than the sponsor as a symbol to get behind. I personally find this idea far more appealing than your standard eponymous orgs of days gone by. These are sports teams after all, not the Great Houses of Westeros.
That said, every team needs stars, and stars need to shine bright enough to be seen from space. Hendrick in particular could stand to benefit in particular from this - I swear they still never learned their lesson after firing KFB for his attitude all those years ago.
Honestly with sponsors ever-changing, this seems like a natural evolution tbh
Geez, you can't put Chase Elliot in a commercial. There's more personality in a Napa pamphlet.
Michael Waltrip "I'm at the wrong track!"
To me the biggest failure comes from doing almost nothing with rivalries. Ross Chastain isn't just aggressive, he's outright said he does not care racing our 2023 champion hard to win the race at Homestead. Gragson, Larson, Hamlin, Blaney, Almendinger, the list goes on with people he's pushed around and very little happened outside of Rick Hendrick threatening to scale back their partnership with his team Trackhouse if he continued fucking around and found out
Whether it's a dedicated segment on TV/streaming, a podcast, or something else, get everyone together to hash it out. Not saying for it to become Jerry Springer or Bloodsports, but this is far and away the best chance to flash personality. Smoke used to get by doing the interviews and confrontations after races, but now due to programming priority they can cut away after the checkered flag, robbing any insight outside the website (which you need to be a fan of in the first place)
Suarez's best flash of notoriety came when he slammed the fuck out of my boy McDowell. Can you imagine if Ross pushed the envelope in an interview and they elect to settle it hockey style until a person falls on the ground? Sponsors are here for exposure, you see Chastain getting a clean hit on Hamlin/knock him to the ground wearing a Busch jacket, it only further cements him as a grizzled human of testosterone (which they are likely clamoring for after this Summer) and will likely get more beer/merchandise sold
When I grew up, I was a Jaime Mac fan simply because "McDonald's" those colors popped on the race track ESPECIALLY the "Mac Tonight" throwback, also I was 5 and loved happy meals. 😅
What you said about Ross is spot on. He’s the only relatable guy out there
Yeah, and his career had a lot of interesting antics. Maybe his seat at Tackhouse was destiny after he replaced it's owner Justin Marks, for his first truck start.
3:12 how is nobody talking about how great this transition was!?
It truly is crazy how years ago almost anyone could be a driver if they had the skill and drive. Now it’s all about who has the most money and connections. I hope one day they change that because I wana drive, my family goes back to when nascar was still moonshiners running from the cops. But a man can dream ig
It’s pros and cons anyone can win, but that also means you can’t have anyone stand out and dominate.
Lots of people are becoming champions but then the identity of being a champion gets diluted because everyone has one, like degree inflation today.
New opportunities and new challenges there is no perfect system.
I hope your channel blows up man! I'm not even interested in NASCAR but I'm captivated by the pro-level content, editing, and sound quality.
They're all kids! Rookies used to be around 30 because they were the best of the best from every other series. Grown men wont look up to a C Bell like they would Earnhardt or Petty! They made drivers a throw away commodity..
My man can push outamazing videos like every week
Your content goes hard man thankyou for making these videos
The 2021 48 scheme was absolutely 🔥
Imma be real, I have maybe watched one nascar race in my life, but the effort and quality of your videos make me so invested in learning about the sport that now I can’t help but invest time into watching every video multiple times to learn more and more. Truly do not get as many views and praise as you deserve. One of the few channels I check for new videos daily. Keep it up, you make all of our days a little better🙌
as a mainly f1 fan (tryna get into nascar) all the points u brought up are all things that made getting into f1 so easy-distinct colors for teams what lasted all season, driver personalities distinct from another, and yes, a superstar to head it all off. the grid being so small also helps lol, as well as a shitton of fan content being readily available
Nascar needs to start pushing these drivers out there and have them go mainstream, like have them on more talk shows, podcasts, tv shows, movies, commercials, etc. Hey, they can put them on a livestream with Adin Ross or Kai Cenat that would give Nascar alot of that 18-49 viewers
Not really they have the Tv agreement
@@alexfire53-ze7px Still they have to push the drivers out there
"Adin Ross" lmao are you 12
@OccasionalNASCARRaces I'm actually 14 and the reason why I said Adin Ross is because he has that age demo graphic that Nascar is looking for
For the holidays NAPA should make a commercial with Chase Elliot snowboarding.
I have never been interested in nascar, but I just found your channel and can’t stop watching
OMG when you showed all those commercials THE NOSTALGIA!!!! My family and I loved those commercials.
This phenomenon, along with ‘Cars,’ was entirely responsible for my (admittedly not very committed) fandom of NASCAR. Going to Home Depot with my carpenter Dad who worked long hours was one of the most special things in my early childhood, and when they would bring Tony Stewart’s Home Depot #20 to our local store, it was heaven on earth. From then on, partially nurtured by my nascar-fiend uncle, I was obsessed with the hero of my favorite place, collecting books, posters, cards, models, etc., regardless of how little I understood the sport. It is a real shame to see drivers, no matter their prowess, no longer sporting superhero-like theme colors throughout long stretches of their careers.
Thank you for making this! All of your videos are truly outstanding, not just in this genre but across all of RUclips. Real quality and talent.
I love how you use all the colorado teams for the sponsor things that's amazing!
Another thing that doesn’t help is the sponsors themselves. To even say Corporate America is almost like a slur in modern terms. And by no means am I a person who cares about left vs right, conservative vs liberal, or republican vs democratic, but my lord woke culture has ruined transparency on so many levels. It’s like no one is given a fair margin for error and major companies buy into the propaganda thinking they’ll make more money from it. Also, the playoff format has to go and so does any form of post season. Id rather nascar not fix the short tracks and road courses if it means getting a proper season long format and promote the best driver year in year out. Love Ryan Blaney, but I would be lying to potential new fans that he was the best this year when we all know deep down 2023 was the year of Big Hat Byron. The fact that Willy B got comfortable winning and has a hyperbolic signature apparel means he’s doing his part and isn’t being just the guy who started his career on a computer. But since he’s not champion, I guess we missed out on not just crowning him, but telling America and the rest of the world that he was the best driver this year. What a shame.
I lost interest in stock cars years ago. Stage racing, green/white/checker, the Chase, champions decided by luck in one race. Drivers who either are there because of who they're related to, or have daddy's money, and don't think twice about wrecking cars or take responsibility. Even though I hate Max Verstappen's blitz through F1, we know we're seeing history being made by a once-in-a-generation driver. Compared to NASCAR's manufactured results?
I wouldn't say manufactured per say
@@xavierjuno4572it works as they intended, so yes it is as close to producing a script for every race and the whole season
- mandatory stage breaks basically automates and guarantees their "debris cautions" from pre-2017, alongside competition cautions that both bite into a race's runtime
- a playoff system that includes a guaranteed qualification if you win, effectively making races 1 through 26 basically meaningless, and the last 10 as well since they throw everything out the window for NASCAR's obsession with empty "Game 7" moments instead of naturally evolving storylines all year
Love the Song of Storms playing in the background
Im not sure how I actually got here as I have never been very interested in motorsports, but it's kinda interesting. Also, your music choices are peak.
Every time I feel like making a NASCAR video essay I see you posted something premier worthy and I decide to just watch and share yours instead lol
Na you have to make it. For anything do something better
Ngl I really liked the intro showing the Faction46 car. Nothing else to say I just liked how it was edited
I know it's tired by this point to argue about the playoffs format, but I really think it's relevant here. A season long championship naturally creates a season long narrative. Who's leading the points right now? Who's there biggest threat? What happened to them this race? None of that matters when you reset everything before the big climax that crowns the championship. You trade all the momentum of the season for more drama at a few individual races at the end. Any attempts to get audiences to connect with the stars of the regular season get completely undercut when someone comes out of nowhere and is suddenly the champion.
Point2: Having someone dominate a sports can be okay but it create a problem if it goes on too long. I mean if say the Saints for example in the NFL won the Super Bowl 6 years in a row that might be good for Saints fan but after a while you don't want to see it anymore. I'm more in the parity is good area. In terms of the respect well it goes both ways. From the guys coming up and having their career stalled because of cup guys coming in a bushwacking its not hard to see why they might be not willing to give respect.
Doesn't help that it's an eat-or-be-eaten landscape in motorsports, not just Nascar
I know this is a nascar video but thr point you mentioned about all the superstars leaving is very true for f1 also. When Alonso and Lewis are gone, only Max will be left as a superstar. Leclerc, lando and others are popular but they lack that star value right now.
Love the video, I’ve been in and out of nascar. Totally agree with the personality and sponsorship issues. Watched the Netflix series and yes I kinda helped just seeing who the drivers really are as people.
I still want my Chase Elliott dip stick
While parity with spec car or playoffs is a common thing, that's why there won't be dynasty anymore at NASCAR because winning the championships are so random especially with this "One Race Championship"
This was a great sentiment and video overall. I'll have to check out Dale jrs podcast as I honest thought all these new drivers were the same as new baseball players. Media trained and quickly growing out of showing big emotion.
10:15. I was expecting to see a hurricane on the track with the song playing.🤣
Sponsors don't want RP nightmares, and driver personalities can be a migraine headache to businesses. So yeah...
You leave Ryan Preece outta this!
I wouldn’t call myself a nascar fan because I don’t follow year to year but damn do I eat up nascar RUclips content it’s all so great
The only problem with nascar’s personality problem is the fans. Personality isnt a requirement to win anything. Its more of a skill and strategy thing
And personality sometimes just means "is a huge dickhead"
Great video as always. Pinpointed exactly why I love Ross as well
Ok man. Great video. Keep up the good work.
I feel like the MLB struggles with this now too. Most sports will down the road in my opinion. And there’s not much marketing that can be done by the actual leagues to sway that. Look at someone like Mike Trout.
Well the MLB is reinventing itself now as well, they’re heavily pushing guys like Acuna, Harper, and Ohtani.
It's basically what happens when you Moneyball capitalism
Elly out here dropping banger after banger.
Great video essay about the lack of superstars that NASCAR has in 2023/24. I sure wish that NASCAR and definitely Indycar market there drivers better to the mainstream public. During NASCAR Champions' Week Q&A that happened in Nashville in late November, I got to know a little bit more about Chris Buescher, and I became even more of a fan of his after that Q&A. I wish the NASCAR can get behind more on drivers like Chris Buescher because I think he is a throwback to Dale Earnhardt before he became the man in black (hard working farm boy, likable and such.)
The new drivers have had their personalities distilled out of them to make them billboards/canvas' for sponsors.
Excellent video.
The Fans will never be satisfied Even if NASCAR does give them exactly what they want
I was made a fan of NASCAR when I saw Ross’ wallride and I watch NASCAR religiously and go to my local speedway. I love the sport.
6:16 is one of my favorite commercials related to NASCAR!
What you said about Ross is exactly why I gravitate towards him as my favorite driver.
Could be worse, NASCAR still has more publicity than MotoGP, Indycar and WRC combined. MotoGP had Agostini, Rainey, Doohan, Rossi, Marquez (pre-injury), Lorenzo and Stoner. Indycar had Andretti, Unser, Foyt, Mears, Mansell, Fittipaldi, Villeneuve, Montoya, Zanardi, Rahal and Sullivan. WRC had Kankkunen, Auriol, Alen, McRae, Burns, Makkinen, Gronholm, Sainz, Solberg, Loeb and Ogier. Now?! Sod that, who cares
MotoGP has Bagnaia now i guess
Jeff Gordon was my Boy. Dale Earnhardt Sr was my dad's. And my Uncle use to own a hobby shop that had model cars and player cards.
Good video. You touch on a lot of great points, although it's hard to pinpoint that one thing that does make a personality - charisma. Wrestling has the same problem right now in. It's a lot of cookie cutter training where whatever personality is there seems to get trained out of them. A lot of that too as you touch on is the corporations themselves have moved away from marketing with a company-wide persona in favor of not offending anyone. Let's face it the machine gets the most of the screentime, that requires the car itself being the personification of the personality rather of the driver or the sponsor. Just like wrestling the way around that seems to be linking to the past when the personalities weren't so watered down -- why so many next generation people end up being the ones fans gravitate toward. It appears NASCAR is leaning more toward an F1 model lately, marketing the organization itself, and bringing fans in that way. That's way tougher for NASCAR as it's own personality is changing against what old timer fans and even the 2000s boom fans remember of it.
Kind of feels like the "young guns" problem may be a long-term effect of '08.
There's an entire generation of drivers who were either competing when it happened or were making their first moves when it happened, and they were obviously affected in some way.
AMA Superbike was hit particularly hard by that, for example.
Sorry, I'm very slow, 2008?
@@MarkPentler The Great Recession, I mean. It did have a major effect on all motorsports.
The aforementioned AMA Superbike, at that point one of the world's premiere motorcycle racing championships, pretty much collapsed and is still struggling to recover for example.
@@TheEmm4lpha AMA Superbike had been struggling since the 90s, after Duhamel dominated for years.
Guess who owned it at that time, yup NASCAR.
NASCAR singlehandedly killed AMA Superbikes because it was a threat to it's popularity, same with IMSA in 1992 (co-joint with Formula 1 killing Group C).
F1 Fan here, honestly the thing that brings me back to F1 over NASCAR over and over again, Isnt figures like Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton, it’s the actual driving itself. I feel like when I’m watching F1 I can’t look away for a single turn or lap Because each one is so important to the race whereas NASCAR I feel like I could take an hour long break and I wouldn’t really miss much because they’re all kind of driving on highway lanes in a oval. I mean 60-70 laps is pretty golden..
As someone who grew up around Charlotte and has been to a few NASCAR races, I don’t know why, but I always had trouble finding the entertainment in NASCAR. Im really excited theyve integrated road and dirt in recent years and those sound like races id watch. Also F1 has a huge advantage in consistent sponsorships and liveries and the fans can incest a lot in a select field of 20 drivers that change ~every 4 years.
Love this channel tho and its taught me so much about the sport of nascar.
if nascar could be just a LITTLE bit less brand dependent it would be infinitely better. ik the money is the heart of it but it stifles personality so much.
man out hear preaching what ive been saying for years. hopefully NASCAR can remedy it. being genuine and accessible is the best selling point for drivers.
2:09 probably would be purple and fluorescent yellow....wait
I remember NASCAR did a crossover with a TV show where contestants make giant lego cars and Gordon and Byron were there
I agree 100% and had all these feelings since all the greats' reteered... Nascar is stiall great on the track but off it bearly exists anymore.
I wish we had the same looking cars all season like we used to. It made the couple times a year where the car looked different a lot more meaningful
I'm gonna quote what IanPerez2000 said a couple weeks ago after Chase Elliott won MPD for the 6th straight year. "The people that voted Chase Elliott for MPD, or any other driver, are the same ones that complain about drivers having no personality."
Personally, I haven't complained once about driver personality when it comes to the drivers I root for, and I think that's what fans should do too. If you're gonna root for your favorite drivers, then don't complain about the lack of personality from other drivers.
for what it's worth, I, a normal person who doesn't watch NASCAR but likes videos like these, have never heard of Chase Elliot before this video. But I remember vividly guys like Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, etc... so you are definitely correct
I stopped paying attention to NASCAR years ago but i listen to Dale Jr’s Download regularly.
Speaking of NASCAR trying to be a stick and ball wannabe no more is this more evident than their stupid playoff point system we currently got. One size does not fit all when it comes to point systems in sports.
honestly the wild road course racing is about enough to get me back into NASCAR LOL.