I keep reading all of these commentaries and blogs implying that NASCAR needs Dale Earnhardt Jr in order to salvage its popularity and reverse the fledgling television ratings.
NASCAR is in a worse state than I thought they were if they need one driver to do well in order to maintain its allure. Now, I do not believe that Earnhardt Jr’s recent lack of success is totally to blame, but what if I am wrong, and it is true?
My question is….if NASCAR ratings are dropping because of Earnhardt Jr’s lackluster results, then what does this say about his fans? Now, I am not attacking Dale Earnhardt Jr fans by any stretch of the imagination, but shouldn’t fans keep watching, through good times and bad? The good times appear to be on the horizon since Earnhardt Jr has joined Hendrick Motorsports.
Obviously, Earnhardt Jr, despite leaving DEI for Hendrick Motorsports, has maintained his status as NASCAR’s most popular driver, so a majority of his fans are still tuning in. Nevertheless, the notion that one driver’s success or lack of success can affect the state of NASCAR to the point where they need him to succeed is rather disconcerting.
Take this quote from Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage for example. “As a sport, we need him to do well. If he’s doing well, it’s the Tiger Woods effect. If he’s in contention going into the final round, look at the Sunday TV ratings, and that golf tournament is up, up, up. So if Junior’s doing good, that’s going to have a positive effect on the gate and a positive effect on the television ratings. Very important.”
How about this quote from Dale Earnhardt Jr’s crew chief Tony Eury Jr? “You don’t know how many people are like, ‘Hey, y’all wrecked and I shut the TV off.’ Well, if we’re sitting there leading, we’re going to be better for the whole sport, the commercials, everything. It’s a big deal. We’ve got a great sport going on here and we’ve got to keep it on top and we’re a bigger piece of it than most and we got to help out as much as we can.”
Is that how it should be, Tony Jr? Should NASCAR’s status have so much dependency on one driver? What if Dale Earnhardt Jr wins the title and decides to retire? Is that the beginning end of NASCAR? What if he suffers a career-ending injury? I pray that never happens, but if it does, is all hope gone for NASCAR?
What should be the saving grace for NASCAR is to attract more NASCAR fans. And by saying NASCAR fans, I am referring to the fans who watch because of the racing. Of course, all fans have their favorite, and should, but if their favorite driver has trouble, and is forced to the garage prematurely, they keep watching to see who wins just because they are a fan of the sport.
Of course, there is no conclusive corroboration that Dale Earnhardt Jr is fully to blame. Perhaps the television ratings declined due to the popularity peak, and the ‘Johnny come lately’ fans have lost interest. Hopefully, the ratings will stabilize for awhile until the next wave of new age fans gain interest.
