Does Candy grow on Shrubs? Mars to Kyle Busch?

Silly Season continues to shock and amaze us! This week saw Kahne wearing the Bud crown, and JR getting AMPed with the National Guard.

Last night, a surprise hit the internet, with it all but confirmed that Mars will sponsor Kyle Busch!

I have known for some time that the Mars company had decided to leave Robert Yates Racing. The teams have not performed this year. Yates has been struggling with below standard equipment, and lack of engineering, and a lack of clear direction. Yates has made so many plans for the future, and we have watched them swimming in circles.

Yates and Mars apparently had a 3 year contract. Last year, after Yates lost both drivers, and one sponsor, Mars stepped up to sponsor a second car with Ricky Rudd in the seat. Mars has indeed paid for three years of sponsorship, two years on the 38 and one year on the 88. They have fulfilled their end of the deal, as far as I can tell.

I will be sad to see them leave Yates. From comments I have read, Robert will always respect the Mars family, and he is grateful for the support they have shown in the last year.

I had a deep and gnawing fear that my favorite candy company was going to take a step backwards and return to sponsoring Elliott Sadler. Elliott may still be popular, but his performance since transferring to Ray Evernham's stable has been less than spectacular. One Mars associate summed it up recently...."That guy didn't stay with us, why should we follow him?" I agree with that person.

That leads us back to Kyle Busch. I am still reeling in shock! Logic dictates that Kyle will provide Mars with some potential to win. Even with the change to Toyota, the Gibbs stable cannot be discounted on its quality of cars, drivers, and operations. Kyle is a helluva driver, one hungry to be on top, and he has the talent to get there.

However, the emotional side of me wants to shriek "Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" I just can't see the Shrub wearing the Candy colors. I don't want the Candy driver to have ANY association with Tony Stewart. Hamlin I can handle, but Tony the Terrible is not an ideal team mate! Kyle is adored by the media, mainly because they can ALWAYS get a sound byte from him that makes headlines. Kyle will be giving his media handlers a headache, instead of a sugar high!

So, Mars, if this is true, I send congratulations! You have an awesome driver in your future, and I am sure there will be lots of wins! I hope the headaches will disappear as Kyle matures.

But, in the meantime, I will continue to support the current bearer of the Candy M. Next year, I am still going to be a Gilliland fan, and very proud of it!

Elliott Sadler, Were You Watching Trackside on Speed?

One of the most enjoyable, fan-interactive shows on Speed TV is the Friday night "Trackside." During the second half of the year, Good-Old-Boy Elliott Sadler is one of four hosts, along with Steve Byrnes, Larry MacReynolds and Jeff Hammond. The tall Virginian brings a sense of fun to the show.

Many Sadler fans tune in to the show specifically to see him. Many other fans travel to Sadler's version of Mecca, known as Richmond International Raceway, to specifically see him. As the show opened, Steve informed the audience that Sadler was not going to be on the show. It is a pity, because Elliott may have been required to explain a VERY prominent sign in the background audience.

The sign stated: Sadler 19 We Miss the Barn Party. It was viewable during a majority of the program.

For those who are unaware, last year the Sadlers threw a hellacious party on their property, known as The Barn Party. Over a thousand fans were reported to be there, and Sadler brought in his buddy Blake Shelton for extra entertainment. This was actually the second event of the year for Sadler Fan Club fans, as there was a Karting event earlier in May.

This year, the Sadlers are hosting a bowling event in October, in conjunction with the Charlotte race. According to various message boards, this event has caused a bit of ill will with many of the fan club members. It was announced with such late notice, that many of the fans will be unable to attend. Those who will already be in the Charlotte area have already made their flight arrangements, and won't be able to change them without financial pentalties to the airlines.

If you go to Sadler Foundation Webpage you will discover a list of events from the past.

There are many issues hidden amongst those listings. For years, the Sadler boys held a Fan Appreciation Day the week before the Spring Richmond race. Many fans were planning to join the Day in 2004. Plans were made, airplane tickets were purchased, race tickets were purchased, and suddenly it was announced there would be NO Fan Appreciation Day, and there would be a different event in May. There had been repeated requests for more information from the Sadlers, from Elliott's business manager, his PR person, and indeed even from the SFC office. By the time it was announced, the Richmond bound fans could not change their plans. There were no appearances planned by Sadler during the whole weekend. Those fans put a brave face on it, had a wonderful time meeting with each other, but it still rankled. Those fans, myself included, have not forgotten that they did not feel in the least Appreciated.

Look carefully at the list at the Sadler Foundation site, there was NO event in 2005. Nope, none, nada, zip, zilch!

Here comes 2006. Elliott is struggling at Yates. He already knows he is going to leave for Evernham, and plans two events to bolster his popularity. Both events in 2006 were by all reports, awesome!

Then, 2007, there is no announced event until the end of August. Again, it left fans scrambling, as many fans plans were already formulated for the rest of the season.

One wonders how long the Sadler fans will tolerate this total lack of caring. When you look at the opposite extreme, the fans of Kevin Harvick can look forward to an awesome event every fall. The date for the fall event is always announced very early in the year. Fans of Kevin prepare for it, plan around it and talk it up even before the event is announced.

Another comparison is due here, also. Kevin's fan club event attendees take part in a meet n greet, and a signing. EVERY Fan Club member gets this. They do not pay for the event, nor the autograph. Sadler, long ago, abandoned the free events along with his Fan Appreciation day. Now, the events require payment to enter. For some of them, he even requires more money to have the privilege of getting an autograph. It is couched in Fund-raising, but at the same time, why must all events be fund-raisers?

If you step away from the fan events, and look at the treatment of his fans as a whole, it is apparent that his fan base is not quite as large as he would like. He has been signing souvenirs in closed haulers. I have reports of at least three signings this year where his fans were able to go through his line at various appearances 2 to 3 times. Three years ago, if you did not arrive 3 or 4 hours before and stake out your spot in line, you were not even assured of being able to see him. In addition, his fans are now being asked to participate in his on-line poker venture (currently free, but payment requirement is expected soon), and his online football/racing fantasy betting venture.

One hopes that Sadler will reevaluate his priorities. His fans are becoming more aware of how he feels about them. I am sure that the fans who spent an hour holding the sign at Speed TV's Trackside show are certainly more aware!

ESPN - It Was Pretty Ugly!

ESPN has stepped on my last nerve!

A few weeks ago, August 18th, 2007, I was sitting in my local Goodyear store while my car was being prepared. (Yes, I am a NASCAR fan, and choose to use NASCAR sponsors whenever possible. Fortunately, I find this particular Goodyear store to be excellent!) This Goodyear store happens to have a flat screen tv set up, and I was able to watch the Busch race while work commenced on my car!

Watching that race was challenging. I had to change channels several times to follow the channel switches, while ESPN was waiting for the tennis match to finish. Trying to follow the directions on the scroll bar was a struggle, as I had to figure out what channel was where. Thankfully, the other Goodyear patrons were patient! I was willing to forgive it happening once. I do remember at least one time in the past, with the former broadcast package, where it happened and the start of the race was held up. So, I shrugged it off, and resigned myself to not having a TiVo recording of that race.

But then last night, it happened again! This time the scroller directed the watcher to ESPN360. I searched my channel guide frantically to find that channel. When I could not find it,I 'googled' it, and discovered it was internet content only! I clicked on it, and received the message:

Sorry, your internet service provider does not carry ESPN360.com. Please contact your service provider to add ESPN360.com as part of your service.

At this point, I was pounding my keyboard in frustration! I quickly went over to NASCAR.com, and started up their pre-race coverage. Well now, I received more content from TURNER than I received from ESPN. Then to add insult to injury, I instant-messaged a friend in Canada, to vent about the situation. She had no idea that there were any problems. You see, TSN had the whole feed! She even got to see OUR Anthem sung!

Last night was a travesty. I can forgive quite a few of the perceived errors with broadcasting. I understand the need for commercials. I understand that we can't predict when the cautions will happen, and that they can happen during commercials. I do understand that it is especially challenging to get the commercials done during a caution period at a short track. I even understand that sometimes some one pushes a wrong button. I can even forgive that I don't like the folks in the booth. I get ALL of that, and forgive it, as long as it looks like a effort is being made to improve the product. I don't see that effort being made here!

I see this as being a huge negative for the Busch series. In fact, it is probably it's death knell! There are commercial purchasers who did not get their value of having commercials during the countdown. NASCAR is already stressed about finding a series sponsor, and they are running a 'blue-light special' to try and attract one. With constant snafu's from ESPN, what potential series sponsor would want their name attached to something so negative? If the broadcaster does not care enough about the series to schedule it properly, why would any sponsor care?

In fact, if ESPN does not care enough about the Busch series, why should I care?

NASCAR, you have a problem here!

An EMBARASSMENT of NASCAR Fans!

I have always been amused by collective nouns for animals. Some of those nouns are amazing in how descriptive they are for groups of animals, and go far beyond the nouns of “herd” “pack” and “litter.” Those nouns, while somewhat anthropomorphic, appear to reflect the appearance, behavior and antics of the animal group. For instance:

• A Shrewdness of Apes

• An Intrusion of Cockroaches

• A Quiver of Cobra

• A Charm of Finches

• A Murder of Crows (how Poe-etic!)

• A Tower of Giraffe

• A Parliament of Owls

• A Pride of Lions

Unfortunately, the behavior of NASCAR fans in the recent weeks makes me think we should be labeled as An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans! Sadly, we fans of the Big Oval Sport are being cast in a variety of negative lights, and these stereotypes may never go away, due to our own behaviors.

Sharyn McCrumb, in her recent NASCAR-related novel, tells of one fan that is hopelessly in love with her chosen driver. This character waits for hours in a line for an appearance, only to be heartbroken by an offhand comment by the driver. She continues to defend her driver on a message board, and indeed goes to the length of becoming one of his team members, just so she can be closer to the ‘love of her life.’ While that scenario made me personally uncomfortable (due to some fans I have met), it is a very valuable insight into what some fans feel about their driver.

Recently, I was lurking at a message board, where friends congregate to meet and discuss the career of a favorite unmarried driver. Suddenly there were a few new folks jumping into the group, and they were all taking part in trashing the driver’s girlfriend. For some reason, the new fans decided that it was their duty to tell all of the other fans that a significant other was somehow lowlier than they were. And these same folks have espoused their personal agenda at several message boards, tag-teaming each other to argue with the other fans. An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans!

Also, the recent failure to agree between a Team Owner and a Widow over something as simple as a car number has caused the true ugliness of people to come out. Indeed, these fans remind me of the Quiver of Cobras, as they remain poised to strike out at the Widow, leaving a trail of venom dripping behind with every post. The venom includes pretty vile name-calling and pornographic references. The moderators of message boards involving the current driver of that number have been very busy, trying to delete threads as soon as they are created. How sad, as most of those fans, by this time next year, will not even care about that number. An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans!

A recent verbal and only slightly physical spat between two drivers caused fans of both of those drivers to turn ugly. One group proceeded trash one of the drivers for his nationality (they got it wrong, most of the time) and his background. Fans, RACE should never, ever be called into play here, unless it is a discussion of THE RACE, not the person's heritage. An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans!

That same driver was featured on a Primetime show recently. It broke my heart when I saw his wife and children join him on Pit Road. The camera was squarely on the face of his son, who was listening to the crowd boo his father. An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans!

A new, foreign based manufacturer entered into NASCAR NEXTEL Cup this year. Some callers to Sirius Speedway, and posters on many message boards, have shown an amazing amount of ignorance on global economy. The conversation in some cases disintegrated into calling the manufacturer scatological names, and professing the ‘common knowledge’ that the “Japs” were out to take over our country. An Embarrassment of NASCAR Fans!

I realize that not all fans are this drastic. I know many wonderful NASCAR fans that would be mortified to be included in any of the groups I mentioned. However, these behaviors continue to support the notion that NASCAR fans are red-necked, toothless, uneducated idiots. If we want our sport to grow and be taken seriously, then we as fans have to change our antics. We should aspire to being something more than being An EMBARASSMENT of NASCAR Fans.