Brian France Comes Clean to Dale Earnhardt Jr on NASCAR’s Incapability in This Regard

NASCAR has been among the top motorsports in the world for quite a long time now. Its elite status is reiterated by the fact that its viewership continues to grow despite the issues posed by the the COVID-19 pandemic. A former insider opened up to Dale Earnhardt Jr about how they scaled the top.

Brian France was at the helm of affairs in NASCAR for 15 years before retiring in 2018. Speaking to Dale Earnhardt Jr on the Dale Jr Download podcast, he explained what difficulties he and his team had to overcome to make NASCAR so good.

“I had to challenge my team all the time. Because we can get in a real vacuum at Daytona. We could be at Daytona, and we think that you know we are the number one in autoracing by a lot in this country, and not think through about the other leagues…”

“They are doing these things. They are making their product safer, better. They are taking it to more people. They are making their stadiums bigger, their fan experience better.”

“So that’s all happening around you. You don’t really have… once you make the decision that we’re gonna be a major franchise sport in this country, once you make that deal, be careful what you ask for because it requires you to do a lot of things,” explained France.

“If you’re the NHRA [National Hot Rod Association] or many other series, they’re not gonna have to worry about some of those things, making some of those decisions, those expansions. They don’t have to do that. And that’s what makes NASCAR great and also makes it difficult to manage. Get everything right, because there’s a lot on the line.”

Post Michael Jordan Advisor’s “Broken” Economic Model Criticism, NASCAR Aiming for Record Media Deal After NFL Secures $100 Billion Deal

NASCAR heads into one of the most crucial off-seasons in a long time. They will be renegotiating the media rights deal for a higher price on the back of strong numbers in the previous year. This insider look from France tells us what managing it all is like.

Dale Earnhardt Jr thinks NASCAR could lose its elite status soon

While NASCAR continues to grow from strength to strength, one of its biggest legends doesn’t feel it should be resting on its laurels just yet. Dale Jr thinks NASCAR might just have shot itself in the foot with this recent change…

NASCAR’s scoring system has seen a number of shake-ups in the recent past. But according to Dale Jr, that move wasn’t the best decision to take. He said “But the only thing I’ve kinda struggled with how expanded the playoff feeled… When the chase was 10 drivers, it was like damn it’s hard, it’s hard to get into. It’s 16 now. That’s half the field of the guys that run every single week.”

“I never loved the fact that the chase field grew because I felt like it really made it difficult to get into, and something about it being that difficult when it was limited to being 10 or 12. Something about it being harder made it prestigious or powerful.”

He also made a case against the winner-takes-all final race, “You could still have that guy that wins one race be the champion and the guy that won 6 not even make the final round. So I wish we could figure out a way to make that Championship moment not an all-or-nothing 3-hour affair.”

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Dale Jr makes a good point; when it comes to dedicated fans, this kind of format is not exciting for them to watch. But at the same time, for itinerant fans, this might seem more exciting. It is now NASCAR’s decision to make – who do they cater to…