Opinions must vary if sport is to capitalize on growth

Larry McReynolds, Kyle Petty and Jimmy Spencer are well-respected voices in the NASCAR community. They've "been there, done that" and that experience lends to their credibility. They're also fans of the sport who pay their bills by offering opinions -- none of which are filtered by the sanctioning body, as evidenced by their roundtable discussion with Dustin Long.

Dustin's six-part series in his Frankly Speaking blog touched on a lot of topics that are top-of-mind for fans and racing insiders. Again, Larry Mac, Kyle and Jimmy meet both of those criteria and spoke openly about the sport that has given them so much (and to which they have given).

Given that Jimmy was part of the discussion rest assured that there were some comments that ruffled a few feathers. Certainly the interview was not NASCAR-sanctioned; it was frank, open and on the record. It was a dialogue that a lot could be taken from for more discussion:

The daily highlights:

• Oct. 20
Spencer: "I'll tell you how to point it in the right direction. This series is in trouble. This series is in serious trouble. All you've got to do is look at the grandstands. And when you see less and less people involved in this sport. It's not the drivers. It's not the car builders. It's simply competition is not where it needs to be."

• Oct. 21
McReynolds: "You know the debris cautions drive me freaking crazy. They do. But it's a catch-22. ... These cars are very fast, and, you know what, they can't sit there and debate. Is it something that could cause a problem or not while they're debating and somebody runs over it and cuts a tire and hits the freaking wall, then you always ... I do applaud them erring on the side of safety or conservative or whatever you want to call it with cutting a tire down and hitting the wall."

• Oct. 22
Petty: "[Becoming a parent] changes your perspective on where you're at in life. Anybody that says having kids doesn't change where you're at in life is full of crap. That's the fact, Jack. It changes your perspective. ... You don't take as many chances. You don't do as many things. Unconsciously. It's not that you think, 'I'm going to stuff this thing down in there.' It's different."

• Oct. 23
Petty: "With drivers coming in with cash, buying rides, the consolidation of a single car that all look alike with the same wing angles and the same stuff, with two or three engine manufacturers, lining them up in cars and let's go racing. It killed those races. [And consolidated] ownership. It killed those series. We're right there at that right now. It's not going to be a step or two more. If we don't study what happened to those two organizations 10 or 15 years ago ... then we stand right on the edge of that abyss reading to leap into it."

• Oct. 24
McReynolds: "Our media, I call them our pencil pushers, have not helped. ... Darrell [Waltrip] has put a great analogy. He goes, if you go to a restaurant and you've been going to that restaurant for years and you love that restaurant but you constantly read in the paper, 'It's a bad restaurant, it's a bad restaurant.' Eventually, you're going to say, 'I'm not going to that restaurant.' Even if they rehire a complete new chef, staff, you're still going to be hesitant about going back to that restaurant. Like Kyle said, one thing has not put us in the boat that we're in. Not even close."

• Oct. 25
Spencer: "They're supposed to freaking race and win. You're supposed to come in here and if you push that guy out of the way, say that I really didn't mean to do that but that's part of racing and I won. These guys have lost focus on trying to win races. Old man Earnhardt didn't care who it was. He tried to win the race."

As we learned Newton's laws of motion in school, "To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Larry Mac, Kyle and Jimmy spoke out, NASCAR answered back. In response to the series, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, Ramsey Poston, posted a blog in the NASCAR.COM Community:

• Novel Idea: Broadcasters' Opinions Based in Fiction
"Throwing out 'controversial' statements isn't 'telling it the way it is' or 'righteous' if there are no facts and is driven by ego. It's meaningless. Every executive at NASCAR would be quick to say that there is room for improvement. We know that not all fans are satisfied and we've taken steps to improve NASCAR on and off the track. ... We want to make it even better and even more competitive."

This is where the fans come into the equation. Everyone has an opinion on the state of NASCAR -- good, bad, indifferent, it doesn't matter. Fans make their own decisions in regards to the new race car, which races to attend, which races to watch on TV. Attend, watch, draw your own conclusions as to whether those actions will repeat.

No one has to agree with everything the analysts said. No one has to agree with everything Ramsey said in his rebuttal. I certainly don't believe the argument that racing is "better" today than it was in 1994. I also don't believe it's worse. It's different. Cup Series racing has evolved -- and continues to evolve.

As the NASCAR Says blog points out: "In that year (1994), there were an average of 9.2 leaders per race and an average of 18.9 lead changes with an average margin of victory of 2.85 seconds. Oh yeah, 1994 was the last year when a race winner lapped the entire field. How does that compare to today? There are an average of 10 leaders per race and an average of 18.8 lead changes with an average margin of victory of an astounding 1.1 seconds. Here's what I have to say about the competition today: NASCAR is the best racing in the world, period."

• 1994: 9.2 leaders per race
• 2009: 10.0 leaders per race

• 1994: 18.9 lead changes per race
• 2009: 18.8 lead changes per race

• 1994: 2.85 seconds margin of victory per race
• 2009: 1.1 seconds margin of victory per race

OK, the first two stats are a wash. As for margin of victory, there weren't green-white-checkered finishes 15 years ago. I also don't remember as many debris cautions -- especially late-race with the leader checked out. Of course, that's just my opinion.

However, I do agree that NASCAR is the best racing in the world. And while the communications world has changed (who surfed the Internet 15 years ago and had the access to so many people's opinions?) there were gripes and complaints in 1994 about the competition; you just didn't hear about them as often.

At the end of the day the vitality of NASCAR is good for the sport, the fans, the broadcasters, the writers -- everyone who is touched by a race weekend of two each year. From the sanctioning body's viewpoint as well as the media's, the fans are the common denominator.

Let the open dialogue continue. Understand that everyone is not going to agree. Accept someone else's opinion as having merit -- even NASCAR's. Encourage the exchange of ideas. Foster the wants, needs and desires of Joe Fan. We're all in this together. Act like it -- and act on it.

FIVE RANDOM THOUGHTS

• ... Denny Hamlin averages a top-10 finish at seven tracks: Martinsville (7.2), Loudon (7.5), Watkins Glen (7.5), Darlington (8.0), Richmond (8.5), Pocono (9.5) and Phoenix (10.4). Once he gets the intermediate-track program in tune ...

• ... Jimmie Johnson averages a top-15 finish at 16 tracks. It's easier to list the tracks at which he "struggles": Bristol (15.9), Michigan (16.0), Sonoma (17.4), Talladega (17.7), Indianapolis (17.9) and Richmond (18.2). ... Yeah, he averages a top-20 across the board. Might someday the Mount Rushmore of NASCAR includes Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, David Pearson and Jimmie Johnson?

• ... Raise your hand if you had Joey Logano holding a 262-point advantage over Dale Earnhardt Jr. with four races remaining ...

• ... There have been 12 drivers win a race this year; seven have won multiple races. Last year, 12 drivers won a race; six won multiple races. In 2007, 16 drivers won a race; six won multiple races. Has the new race car leveled the field or has the economy taken its toll?

• ... Forget trying to Jimmie-proof the Chase. Maybe other teams should focus on trying to get just a little bit better. Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the entire No. 48 team are better than everyone else for one reason: hard work. Appreciate the effort of these guys. Don't mock them because they have made the commitment to excellence.

MAILBAG

• ... E-mailer John took me to task over "some stupid a** comments about small low budget teams doing what they have to do to try and get a foot hold in racing." C'mon John, start-n-park is not the way to get ahead. The higher you finish, the more money you can make. Of course, the more laps you race, the more money it costs. If NASCAR weren't so enamored with 43-car fields, the racing might be better.

• ... E-mailer William took exception to my contention that North Carolina is the heart of stock-car racing country, then asked that I research where and when the first closed course auto race was held in the U.S. ... Well, no matter the demographics of where today's drivers were born, N.C. remains the heartbeat of the sport. And as for the trivia: Rhode Island State Fair Grounds in Narragansett in September 1896. (Very cool crib in the bay, too.)

• ... E-mailer Tim queries whether Jimmie Johnson dropped the s-word a couple of times on a recent post-race interview on SPEED. I didn't hear it; I've gone back through our video but did not heard it.

• ... E-mailer John contends what Tony did in Watkins Glen was way nastier than throwing up in a Ziploc bag. ... Guess it depends on where you're sitting, John. Or if you're sitting in it ...

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.