Lisa Fowler - SCR

The Racing Blues

June 3, 2008
Lisa Fowler - SCR

I am usually really bummed out when racing season ends in November. I look forward to February and Daytona each year. I enjoy the anticipation of the year ahead. I get so excited about racing that I start sharing that excitement with everyone I know, whether they like it or not. As the season

progresses, I enjoy Monday morning discussions about the weekend's action at the track.

I have noticed my excitement level has waned a great deal this year. I have heard the same thing from friends that are race fans. Instead of heated discussions about Sunday's race, some are not watching at all, other's are channel surfing and catching highlights, even those that still make a real effort to watch the race, like me, are not finding much to talk about.

It seems that NASCAR's plan to get back to the roots of the sport and to reach out to the long-time fan may have come too late. Of course the powers that be in NASCAR had no way of knowing that at the time that they decided to try to bring more of the "old" back into the sport, a new generation driver would be stealing everyone's thunder every week.

It seems like we are at a really weird time and place. How did kids like Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and now Joey Logano become the main focus of this sport that dates back to a time long before any of them were born? These young guns are not even the children of our one-time great drivers. I think we could have more affection for them if we had followed the careers of their dads, uncles or older brothers. With this group of young drivers, we are seeing a change in the sport that we see every day in the newspaper and on TV.

I worry about the racing world being taken over by this generation of young drivers. They have a completely different view of life than any generation before them. They are arrogant, bold, seemingly entitled from birth. They show no respect for their elders and certainly no respect for racing tradition.

I also have a sense that they may not stay in the sport long enough to mature and become a part of the future (or the past). They may take this opportunity as far as they can and then move on to something else.

Racing may not be the most important thing that they do in their lives. They may not bring their children into the sport. Heck, it looks like many of them may not marry and have families until after their racing careers have ended.

I am sad as I write this; I never thought this sport would come to this point. I always thought there would be the Petty's, Allison's, Earnhardt's, Labonte's and Jarrett's racing against each other. I always thought I would come into work on Monday morning anxious to talk about the exciting race that I watched on Sunday. Lately, I find myself answering with very short answers when asked by my co-workers how the race went.

I hope before this season ends in November, my attitude has changed. I want to be sad when the season ends and start immediately looking forward to February in Daytona. If not, it will make for a long hard winter.