I think that NASCAR seriously miscalculated the fans' loyalties to the different manufacturers. NASCAR assumed since they were all running tube frame cars that were not actually made by the manufacturers (or really, having anything at all to do with the manufacturers) that all the fans already knew about it and it would be an easy shift to the CoT.
Apparently, the NASCAR fans really did think that Ford made the Ford, etc and are not happy about the CoT. It is also funny that the CoT really should be the CoYY (Car of Yesteryear) since it has nothing new in it.
I also think it is funny that these loyal core fans can't deal with Toyota being out there. But, it might not just be Toyota. If you grew up as a NASCAR fan 30 years ago, I can't imagine you being all that impressed with the changes over the last few years. One more straw is enough to just turn you off completely.
On the other side though, and this is what I really think is happening, is that NASCAR was just on a fast ride and overshot the apex. In other words, people jumped on the NASCAR band wagon because everybody else was. Then those "fans" find out that it just isn't the thing for them after they get past all the hype. They just fade away and are no longer fans. I would expect this downward trend to continue until NASCAR stabilizes at some lower level. Probably back to about where it was 10-15 years ago. |