Tuesday
NASCAR in Need of American Idols
Caught in the Catchfence™In racing, or anywhere else for that matter, money talks and everything else walks. It’s why a driver has to have a pocket full of money behind him to get a ride in one of the elite NASCAR divisions, and why there are start-and-park teams in Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck series.
The current state of affairs could be part of the reason fans aren’t watching races on TV in numbers that they have in the past and why there are empty seats in the grandstands at even the most popular venues.
Maybe what NASCAR needs is to borrow the “American Idol” format. I’m not a fan of the show – it’s not exactly my kind of music and I don’t care to spend much time in front of the TV – but I like the idea of an everyman or everywoman having a chance to make it to the big time.
It once was that way in NASCAR. People could leave jobs in textile mills and sawmills and farms and moonshine stills and become a racing star, relying only on their talents and a little luck.
And in later years, a veteran short-tracker like Jody Ridley could get in Junie Donlavey’s middle-of-the-pack Cup car and drive it to a top-five finish. Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd could get noticed driving Bill Champion’s under-funded Ford.
Article Tags: American Idol, Bill Champion, Bill Elliott, Jody Ridley, Junie Donlavey, NASCAR Camping World Truck, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NCWTS, NNS, NSCS, Ricky Rudd
