With the 2001 season over and the 2002 season set to begin within a few weeks, one cannot help but look back in retrospect at a year filled with controversy and drama, missteps and heartbreaks, and tragedy and triumph.
NASCAR surely had its missteps that, in my opinion, damaged the organization's credibility and brand image, and ultimately, the bottom line.
NASCAR must take strong steps to bring in, through a figurative umbrella group, its core constituencies. The drivers and the fans are the organization's most important assets, not automobile manufacturers, track operators and even corporate sponsors-and certainly not NASCAR's marketing partners.
Don't misunderstand me: without corporate America this sport doesn't thrive. But without healthy drivers with outstanding talent and fans who park their butts in those expensive seats, the sport doesn't thrive; it's not even alive. All one has to do is look at CART's implosion to get a glimpse of the ingredients it takes to bring a once mighty organization down to its knees. I have prophesied for years that this is where the sport is headed.
There is no need in this space to rehash the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt almost a year ago, and the public relations fiasco that followed. No need to rehash the apparent lack of sensitivity by NASCAR to drivers' concerns about restrictor-plate racing. A 16-car pileup on the last lap at Talladega last October rang more than a few bells and whistles for change on that one. And no need to send a message to track operators that says their prices are too high because the fans have already done that with their "no-shows" at many events this past season.
Yes, the economy was going sour as early as the summer of 1999 and that showed up in ticket sales. And yes the tragic events of September 11 had an impact. But ticket prices (and parking prices, and concession prices, and souvenir prices) have been way too high for some time now. Looks like track operators would get the message. I would rather have lower ticket prices and seats filled than higher prices and tens of thousands of unsold seats in my inventory. And Wall Street may soon ultimately agree with me.
The end of the season and the tougher economic times have brought about another unpleasant item felt this year more acutely than in the recent past-sponsorship woes.
The end of the 2001 season was especially hard on veteran team owners. The sponsorship search was more than a challenge as corporations tightened their belts in anticipation of bleaker economic times. Sponsors had reservations about laying off workers, then plunking down millions for racing.
Securing financial backing was a problem that grew even more critical in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Teams such as Cal Wells and Andy Petree were looking for sponsors late in the game. Bill Davis Racing had to switch drivers and crew chiefs to land Hills Bros. coffee. Petree wanted to keep Rockingham winner Joe Nemechek in the car, but let him go as the search for a sponsor dragged on. Melling Racing will field a car in February in the season-opening Daytona 500, but after that, there is no guarantee the team's Dodge will be back.
Only a couple of new sponsors will come into the sport in 2002 as of press time for this column. That's not nearly as strong as previous years. And who knows which of those two will see their own financial troubles and drop out in mid-season. That's been known to happen.
Duke's Mayonnaise is not back in 2002 after going on the now defunct team Kenny Wallace drove for at the beginning of 2001. Duke's could have come back in 2002 with another team, but chose not to.
The price tag to sponsor a Winston Cup team has skyrocketed in the last few years. Reported deals for Conseco, UPS, DuPont and Viagra are all in the $10 million to $16 million a year range. Salary inflation and runaway technology costs are as much to blame for that rise as anything.